NixAdd 10 points to Power and 10 to Agility. Try and hunt some small game in the forests, bring them back to John for food or for pelts.
By hunting animals in the forest over a few days, you are able to improve your family's available resources. It isn't much, but it might be just enough. Assuming the Dragon doesn't arbitrarily decide to increase the land tax, that is.
John's mother trusts you more. Your cunning solution to the problem gains you some Blue Mana as well.
The sun is going down. The Collector will soon arrive...
+2 +3 +3 Mana: 8 5 4
Corporeal Form: A medium-sized dog. You have all of the natural abilities of a regular dog.
Power: 40
Defense: 30
Agility: 40
HP: 30/30
Comforting Aura: Your presence brings a sense of safety, instilling confidence in believers.
Soul Bond: You spiritually empower to a believer, enhancing their senses and physical abilities.
Well, let's grab Soul Gaze and try it on the kid to know what he is thinking about. Then, attemp this clever prank:
1) Inception: Make the kid believe there is something absolutely fantastic behind him. Make him turn and stop seeing me.
2) Unseen Movement and Joint Lock: Change my position to something that could be seen as "laughing" or "chuckling".
3) When the kid turns back after not seeing anything behind him, he will see me laughing at my own trick and his naivety. He he he!
4) ? ? ?
5)...Profit? I guess?
Also, Soul Gaze again to see his reaction.
You do this. The kid is seriously spooked!
+2 +1He slowly backs away and reaches to to the window. Seems he plans on throwing you out, but the lock is stuck.
You gaze into his soul.
-3The boy has trouble with school and not a lot of friends. He originally picked you up hoping to show you around to his classmates, but now he's way too creeped out to do that...He turns away for a moment to unlatch the window.
Mana: 3 1 0
Joint Lock: When being played with or jostled, you may choose to make particular joints stuck or unstuck to position yourself in a particular way.
Unseen Movement: You may move your puppet body slightly under your own power, but only when not being watched.
Inception: You may plant a simple idea in the mind of a person who looks into your eyes.
Soul Gaze: You can read the thoughts of anyone who looks into your eyes. Works passively, and can be used actively to read more deeply at a cost of 3 blue mana.
Bound Form (Puppet): Your presence is currently bound to a particular puppet. This increases your influence, but renders you unable to move independently.
Name : Vigil
Incident : As village smith Bob was looking at his masterwork - black suit of full plate armour, band of robbers entered the open door and demanded him to handle over any gold, arrows and steel weaponry he had. As band chief pointed his sword to Bob, plate armour fell on him cracking his bones, his screaming attracted village guard and all members of the band except its chief retreated into the forest.
Appearence : suit of plate armour.
You are hidden behind a secret panel in a dark basement, and you have been here for a long time. You dream of the day that you could be worn by a hero and defend the village against its enemies, but alas, the Dragon no longer allows the villagers to arm themselves. All of the weapons and armor are gone except you, who your creator hid away. Sometimes he opens up the hidden panel, looks at you, and then shakes his head sadly before closing it up again. Nobody else knows you exist.
The blacksmith does have two children, however - a pair of twins, both just coming into their prime.
One is a young man, Donovan. He is not a fighter, but his father has raised him in the smithing trade and you assume he is broad-shouldered and very strong. You don't hear him talk very much, but he seems to be gentle and calm-headed.
The blacksmith's daughter, Edana, is more brash and foolhardy. You have often heard her telling her father that he should make weapons so that the villagers could fight back against the Dragon.
Call of Destiny: You create a small compulsion in someone's mind, calling them to your location.
Soul Seeker: You cast your mind adrift, seeking out a person with particular qualities of your choosing.
Bound Form (Armor): Your presence is currently bound to a suit of armor. This increases your influence, but renders you unable to move independently.
I will take Corporeal Form and will travel to the East
*bawk!*
I shall take the Spectral form for now, and head to the East.
The Grue
I will take Corporeal form and head towards the forest.
A small troop of soldiers goes about their business, not far from the boundary of the camp. There is a row of tents nearby. A pair of red-shirted guards duck into a tent, and a third sits beside the smoldering remains of a campfire, eating what appears to be a chicken leg.
The sun is setting.
Not far away, a large chicken (the size of a Brahma chicken) and an invisible apparition watch from beneath the trees. A strange black creature hangs back a little ways into the forest.
Mana: 4 0 3
Corporeal Form: A large, bloody chicken. You have all of the natural abilities of a regular chicken.
Power: 20
Defense: 15
Agility: 15
HP: 15/15
Command Chickens: You may influence the behavior of any chickens in your vicinity.
Aximodus gained a new ability:
Will o' Wisp Mana: 5 0 4
Strife Sense: You passively gain a bit of knowledge about the future as pertains to creating and encouraging conflict.
Strife Aura: Your presence increases egoism and anger, increasing the likelihood of conflict.
Inflame: You may cause flames to increase in strength and increase the likelihood of objects catching fire.
Spectral Form: You may choose to appear as a hazy apparition at a cost of 1 red mana per 6 seconds.
Will o' Wisp: You may create a small fireball. Costs 3 red mana.
Grue - Spirit Evolution:
Unknown Creature Your Corporeal Form's base stats are as follows:
Power: 40
Defense: 30
Agility: 20
You may add 20 points, distributed among these stats as you choose.
Mana: 8 0 1
Corporeal Form: An unidentifiable black creature of some description. You have all of the natural abilities of a creature with this size.
Fear Aura: Your presence creates a sense of terror, making believers panic at the slightest sound and increasing the chance of injury.
Darkness Affinity: Your influence increases in the dark, but weakens in the light.
Continue listening. If the humans do become aware of my presence, make it as clear as day that I am benevolent.
The woman in the gray text scares me lmao. What chroma is she then? Here's hoping she doesn't murder me with some kind of sorcery.
You continue to listen. What you learn is as follows:
It seems the soldiers are restless. Some want to attack their enemy, who seems to be a feudal lord of some description that rules over the nearby village. Others want to attack the village itself.
They all work for
Queen Iolaion, though their actual loyalty varies. Seems the big, armored one is a mercenary, the one with the tomahawks is just plain crazy, and the woman in gray... her motives aren't clear, though it seems she is particularly interested in fighting monsters for some reason.
Argent is somewhere in the camp. If he is not their leader, he is certainly someone they respect greatly. It seems that he is the main reason why they are not attacking yet.
You wait at the edge of the camp until the five soldiers return to their tents. As the sun begins to set, a man in blue robes walks around the perimeter of the camp. Every few meters, he pauses to trace a shape in the air, causing the momentary image of a floating eye to appear, then fade away and disappear.
He is moving closer. You have a feeling that crossing over the perimeter after he passes by may be a bad idea. If you are planning on sneaking into the camp undetected, this is your last chance...
Calming Aura: Your presence creates a powerful sense of calm, reducing the likelihood of conflict in your presence.
Wood Shift: You may move roots and tree branches as if they are being manipulated by invisible hands. Only works on living wood still attached to a tree.
Danger Sense: You passively gain a bit of knowledge about the future as it pertains to danger.
Tree Affinity: Your influence increases among trees, but decreases away from trees.
Nymphwalk: You can separate from your home tree and move around, but your influence diminishes as you move away from your home tree.
Octavian hesitates, then pulls out the coin. He hands it over to Rosa, who examines it closely.
"It's quite old - I believe it predates the rise of the Queen herself. They are quite rare.""It's nothing special. Just a good-luck charm. A silly superstition, I know."
"Mr. Gray, in all of my travels, I have never seen anything that I would call a 'silly superstition'." She turns the coin over a few times, then hands it back.
"Keep it safe."Octavian takes the coin and puts it back in his pocket. "So what's your story? You don't exactly look like someone who typically goes traveling on long sea voyages."
"You'd be surprised. This wouldn't be the first time I've been on a...diplomatic mission for Iolaion.""You work for the Queen?"
"I'm her niece, in fact."Octavian reels. "You're serious?"
"Well, a descendant of her niece, anyway.""I suspected you were a noble, but I never would have guessed you were in the royal family! What are you doing on a ship like this?"
"Oh, don't make so much of it, it's quite unprofessional," she says, leaning back in her chair.
"Iolaion has quite a large number of relatives, and she isn't quite as concerned about all of them as you might think. If you ask me, she mostly sees us as tools for maintaining diplomatic relations with distant fiefdoms. Her command does not extend quite as far abroad as she would like her subjects to believe. As a matter of fact, she is currently at war with several hold-out lords on the corners of her kingdom, which makes finding allies in those regions that much more vital.""So you are seeking an alliance?"
"Yes, with Lord Sinocard. The very man you aim to do business with." She smiles.
"A good choice, too. The man is quite wealthy and powerful. I expect your venture will prove to be quite successful indeed." Mental Influence: When a believer wavers on the edge of a choice, you can directly influence their decisions.
Money Sense: You passively gain a bit of knowledge about the future as pertains to business deals.
Face Reader: You become very good at reading faces. It's hard to hide secrets from you.
Bound Form (Coin): Your presence is currently bound to a particular coin. This increases your influence, but renders you unable to move independently.
let us explore our enviornment, maybe investigate the rooms of the passengers. Draw calico's curiosity there.
The storm rages outside, but Calico is no stranger to rough weather. The big man left his bag in one of the rooms - maybe there is more food in it! She enters the room where the man sleeps.
The bag is there, but it seems that all of the food is sealed away inside hard metal containers. Calico can't open them.
Curiously, she explores the rest of the room. There is the pink bag that the woman was carrying. She sniffs it carefully, wondering if there is food in it. The smell of strange powders makes her sneeze and fall backwards.
There is an odd
scratching noise. Something moves just on the edge of her field of vision, and she turns just in time to see something small and sleek, with many-jointed legs and a long, furry tail scuttle behind a dresser.
Slowly, she creeps closer, and peers into the gap.
A furry thing, about the size of a mouse but with
far too many legs and a pair of fins on its sides, stares back at her with a single, deep purple eye. It raises a pair of sharp, lobster-like claws and hisses sharply!
Calico jumps back in surprise and the thing lunges out of the gap, dodges a reflexive scratch and scampers away across the room!
Calico:
Power: 4
Defense: 1
Agility: 20
HP: 5/5
Unknown Creature (fleeing):
HP: 3/3
Curiosity: You may make a believer curious about something.
Comforting Aura: Your presence brings a sense of safety, instilling confidence in believers.
Confusion: You cause a weak-willed target to become momentarily confused.
Get Kevin Attention on the garden
Encourage Abelia to pursue the virtue of Harmony by exploring the garden and courtyard and attempting to socialise with friendly classmates she might encounter there. Create a spirit link to help her out.
In the garden, Professor Basil is just finishing giving a class to a group of second-year students. He is a short and stocky, balding man in yellow-green robes. A large tapir with deer-like antlers stands at his side. Many of the students have small animals alongside them as well.
"So remember, even though it is common for familiars to reflect their humans in some way, there is merit to bonding with a spirit that complements your own abilities and personality as well. Class dismissed."
Kevin enters the courtyard to find a few students still lagging behind. He is surprised to see Esme already there as well.
"Hey, I thought you were a first-year."
"I am. Professor Basil let me sit in on his class since I already have a familar.""Wait, really?"
A small, fox-like creature appears at Esme's side.
"Yes! His name is Arbus. He's still spectral, but I'm hoping to manifest him physically this year." The creature fades away and disappears from sight.
"That's cool. Is there any way for me to tell if I have a familiar?"
"Oh, you probably do. Most achromals who take a sudden interest in the Green school do. Their familiars generally guide them here.""Wait. You mean I came here because there's a spirit controlling my brain?"
"'Controlling' isn't the right word. Oh, hi there, you must be Abelia," she says to another girl who has been standing there watching them silently for a few minutes.
"Karin told me about you. Why don't you sit down? I was just telling Kevin about familiar spirits."The three of them sit down on a stone bench. A feeling of
connection fills the air.
"This is a bit advanced, but you can think of a spirit as a belief that takes on its own life. They are created and powered by humans who believe in them - which means that, in a way, they are a reflection of the mind of their believers."Abelia considers this for a moment, then points to her head with one hand, while making a solid fist with the other.
So are they real, or are they just our imagination?"One of the first things all magic users need to understand is that the boundary between imagination and reality is not quite as clear as most people believe," Esme explains.
"Remember what Iris said about magic being powered by 'virtue and belief'? Another way to think of a familiar - or any spirit, for that matter - is as a 'free-living spell'. They have their own minds and their own Chroma, but their presence and the nature of their abilities are created and shaped by human belief.""But I don't
believe I have a familiar. So shouldn't that mean I don't have one?"
"It might not be on a conscious level. Maybe you were saved from a dangerous circumstance, or experienced an unexpected stroke of luck, and your mind associated that with an external force. Arbus's first manifestation was saving me from falling out of a tree."Abelia looks up in the air. Then she takes a small notebook and a pen out of her bag and begins to draw something.
Kevin pauses, and takes his pen out of his pocket. "You know, before I decided to come to this school, I was nearly hit by a car. If I hadn't stopped to pick up my pen a moment before, I could have died. I thought for a moment that there might be some kind of power protecting me, but then I guess I forgot about it."
Abelia puts her pen away and holds up a picture of a circle with small lines coming out of it, connecting a bunch of stick figures together. Kevin and Esme look at the picture, confused.
"Some kind of force connecting people?""Oh, I thought it was supposed to be a giant jellyfish."
Abelia shakes her head, then writes the word
NAMI above the picture.
"Oh! Is that your familiar?" Abelia nods.
Esme smiles.
"Actually, that's a great idea. Kevin, why don't you try drawing a picture of your familiar?""Drawing it? But I don't know what it looks like. I don't even know if I
have one."
"That doesn't matter. Just draw whatever comes to mind.""Well, okay." Kevin takes out his notebook and pen.
Spirit Evolution - You gained a new ability:
Guide Hand You may cause Kevin to draw the physical form you will take later on.
Alternatively, you may remain formless and take on the following ability:
Bound Form (Pen). This will cause you to attach to the pen and become unable to move independently, but may unlock unique drawing-related abilities later.
There are three major wings of the school.
The East Wing houses the library and laboratories.
The West Wing has the cafeteria and gymnasium.
The South Wing has the dormitories. It also has a large, open courtyard and garden.
Esme (First Year, aspiring Green)
Amy (First Year, aspiring Magenta)
Cole (First Year, aspiring Blue)
Karin (First Year)
That boy with the troll
Headmaster Fintan
Professor Iris (Teaches Introductory Chromatics)
Professor Basil (Teaches Second-Year Shamanics)
Attention: You can draw a believer's attention toward a particular location or item.
Guide Hand: When a believer is using your pen and opens their mind, you may influence what they write or draw.
Butterfingers: The pen becomes slippery, causing it to fall out of someone's hands.
Danger Sense: You passively gain a bit of knowledge about the future as it pertains to danger.
Mental Pull: You create a minor compulsion for a believer to look or move in a particular direction.
Spirit Link: You form a link with a new individual, allowing them to recieve basic thoughts and feelings from existing believers.
Mana: 6 18 12
Soul Bond: You spiritually empower to a believer, enhancing their senses and physical abilities.
Spectral Form: You may choose to appear as a hazy apparition at a cost of 1 red mana per 6 seconds.
Speech: You may speak to a human at a cost of 1 green mana. If used along with Spectral Form, there is no extra cost.
Jostle vessel while continuing to borrow the mouse's senses for as long as it stays in range, hoping that it will be startled and run off to give me a good view of my predicament.
The book lurches, and the mouse jumps in surprise, tumbling off of the shelf! Stunned, it sits on the wooden floor for a few moments, then scampers toward a small hole in the wall. There are a few confused moments as it scurries through the wall, then it looks out through another hole into a moderately-lit room full of books. You can see two students sitting there - a girl wearing blue robes, and a boy in green. Both are reading.
Spirit Evolution: You can choose one of the following abilities:
Suggestion - You are able to give instructions to a creature you are currently inhabiting. Only works on the weak minded.
Mindsurf - Allows you to jump directly from one inhabited creature into another, provided you can see them. Expands your maximum range of influence. Replaces
Borrow Senses.
Jostle Vessel: You may move the book slightly.
Borrow Senses: You may see directly through the eyes of a nearby target.
Unseal Page: You make it easier to open the book to a particular page.
Devour Spell: You can absorb a spell cast in your vicinity. It seems you can only use this (2) times, however.
Bound Form (Book): Your presence is currently bound to a particular book. This increases your influence, but renders you unable to move independently.
Author
Topic: Chromatic Spirits RPG: Ghosts to Gods (Chapter 2 - Strange Creatures) (Round 8) (Read 34067 times)