- LightWarden
- Mar 18, 2007
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Lander county's safe as heaven,
despite all the strife and boilin',
Tin Star,
Oh how she's an icon of the eastern west,
But now the time has come to end our song,
of the Tin Star, the Tin Star!
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We're open to anything...
quote:I'm open to romance with anyone, but Tal is just a good friend right now.
You don't limit your interest to one gender, but that doesn't mean you aren't picky or that you want to take shortcuts. Part of the beauty of love, you think, is that it is freely given; that makes everything about it sweeter.
"So, no orders for me?" Tal says with a wry grin.
You shrug. "Just keep being yourself."
Tal nods, pleased with your answer. "Aw, shucks. Anyway, let's keep moving." (Increased Tal Relationship.)(%+10 Tal= +5%)
Especially fancy magical clothing.
quote:Put on one of the student's glittering tunics.
Glamor magic seems quite useful. You remove your yellow shirt and put on one of the student's glittering tunics. (Gained Glamor.) (+1 Glamor when wearing this tunic)
"That's…pretty fabulous," Tal has to admit.
"Thanks."
And we're not about to let a friend die, even if we're sort of the reason it happened to begin with.
quote:Hurry toward the inquisitor—I'd feel bad if he died.
"Come on, you know we should save him," you say. "It's our fault he's fighting monsters for us." (Increased Empathy.) (%+5 Empathy = +2% Empathy)
"Fine, fine," Tal says.
You hurry out of the dorm room into a hallway with identical doors leading to more such rooms. The magical lights in the corridor are dim with dust but still functional. At the end of the hallway is a spiral stairway leading down. You're fairly certain that's where the yell came from. You hurry down the stairs.
Looking down the corridor ahead of you, you are surprised to see a six-legged black horse of the kind called a "nightmare." It gives a startled whinny that causes it to breathe a gout of flame, and it turns toward you.
You have no idea how this monster could have gotten down here; its kind must have been breeding in this sunken academy for two thousand years. The ancients once rode them as steeds, luxury mounts for nobles who had the time to travel by land instead of airship. Their fire-breathing was once a gentle flame that gave natural light at night, an ability that somehow got out of control over generations. The last time a wild one came near your town of Akriton, three houses burned down.
The nightmare is fighting the inquisitor, whose round-headed mace appears to do little good against the beast. The inquisitor is bloody, singed, and marred with bite marks on his arms. Even now, you see him connect with a blow only to have the nightmare chomp down on his mace arm, eliciting a yell of pain.
On the right side of the corridor are doors that probably lead to more dorm rooms. On the left side is some kind of stable, with black horse legs peeking out beneath the stall doors. (What magic fed so many generations of nightmares? you wonder.) At the far end of the corridor, past the nightmare, is a door with an engraved plaque above it that reads "BIBLOVALTUS."
The nightmare lowers its head and tenses, as if about to charge.
1. Search the dorm rooms for another way around.
2. Join the inquisitor in hand-to-hand combat.
We found trouble, how do we handle it?
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Jan 26, 2019 07:42
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- Adbot
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#
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May 5, 2024 06:54
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- achtungnight
- Oct 5, 2014
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I get my fun here. Enjoy!
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2. Join in the combat.
How do our Stats look right now, btw?
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Jan 26, 2019 08:00
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- Poland Spring
- Sep 11, 2005
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2 GET IN THERE AND GET THAT BALL
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Jan 26, 2019 09:35
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- The Lone Badger
- Sep 24, 2007
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We are a nerd. Fighting is for jocks (like the Inquisitor). [b]1/b].
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Jan 26, 2019 11:18
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- Poland Spring
- Sep 11, 2005
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Also I'm pretty sure that if we fail 2 we do 1 anyway
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Jan 26, 2019 18:27
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- LightWarden
- Mar 18, 2007
-
Lander county's safe as heaven,
despite all the strife and boilin',
Tin Star,
Oh how she's an icon of the eastern west,
But now the time has come to end our song,
of the Tin Star, the Tin Star!
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Looks like we've got a tie, so the coin flip says "get in there!"
quote:Join the inquisitor in hand-to-hand combat.
"My heroes!" The inquisitor waves you and Tal closer. "I knew you would aid me in the fight!"
"That's us, the thrilling heroes," Tal says. She slashes the nightmare's neck with her sword, spilling its dark blood. The black stallion lets out an unnatural screech. "Pack tactics, everybody. Let's do this."
"What are pack tactics?" you ask.
"Wolf-pack tactics!" Tal says, annoyed. (Decreased Tal Relationship.) (%-5 Tal = - "Surround it, hammer it when it's on someone else, go defensive when it's on you!"
"Ah," you say. Tal may be annoyed, but you did just learn something. (Gained Fighting.) (+1 Fighting) You move to surround the beast.
The nightmare turns to Tal, and you stab it in the side while the inquisitor gives one of its hind legs a solid hit. Then the nightmare turns to you, and you dodge its flaming breath while Tal stabs it in the neck and the inquisitor lands an even more solid blow to a different leg.
Despite her injury, Tal seems to be doing fine in making short work of the nightmare.
In a short time, the beast collapses to the floor and dies.
"Pretty bold call to attack the thing hand-to-hand when you're such a newbie," Tal says to you.
"I'm a fast learner?" you say.
"You have saved me," the inquisitor tells you solemnly, the glamor apparently filling him with forgiveness for the danger you put him in. "I am in your debt. What would you have of me next?"
You're not sure how much longer the glamor's effect will last.
1. Defeat the other nightmares together and loot their stalls.
2. This inquisitor can go home if he swears to secrecy.
3. Turn him into a tortoise: long life, good defenses, can't talk.
Things didn't go too badly, but what's next for this party?
quote:As-Yet Nameless Protagonist
Appearance:
A stylish person wearing a feathered hat and some sparkling garb picked up in an ancient academy
Magic
Negation: 0
Automation: 1
Glamor: 2
Divination: 0
Vivomancy: 1
Skills
Ancient History: 0 (Bad)
Fighting: 1 (Bad)
Subtlety: 2 (Decent)
Charisma: 3 (Decent)
Personality
Optimism: 52% Caution: 48%
Humor: 55% Solemnity: 45%
Empathy: 50% Calculation: 50%
Relationships
Romances (Interested in men and women)
None
Tal: 51 (Fine)
Church: 50 (Fine)
Undiscovered relationships: 4
Kingdom
Adoration: 50% Vilification: 50%
Inventory
Gold: 100 gold
Sword
Glamorous Shirt
Students
None
Pets
None
The Dead
Nobody
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#
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Jan 27, 2019 06:48
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- achtungnight
- Oct 5, 2014
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I get my fun here. Enjoy!
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1. Let’s loot!
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#
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Jan 27, 2019 07:06
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- LightWarden
- Mar 18, 2007
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Lander county's safe as heaven,
despite all the strife and boilin',
Tin Star,
Oh how she's an icon of the eastern west,
But now the time has come to end our song,
of the Tin Star, the Tin Star!
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This inquisitor will keep his life and our secrets.
quote:This inquisitor can go home if he swears to secrecy.
"You can go home as long as you swear you will not tell a soul about what you've seen here," you tell the inquisitor. "Swear it by Abraxas."
The man nods solemnly. "I swear it by Abraxas."
"Then go."
The inquisitor ascends the stairwell and is gone.
"That was kind of you," Tal says. (Increased Tal Relationship.) (Increased Empathy.) (%+5 Tal = +1%, %+10 Empathy = +5%) "You really think he'll keep his oath?"
"He swore by Abraxas," you say. "Besides, I think he'll appreciate how we rescued him when we didn't have to."
"Even though we're the reason he needed rescuing?" Tal says dubiously.
You shrug. "All's well that ends well," you say. "Come on, let's explore these dorm rooms."
In exploring the dorm rooms near the stalls, you find a ring that helps you blend into your surroundings (Gained Subtlety.) (+2 Subtlety while wearing the ring) and a yearbook that may be useful for understanding other things about the magic academy. (Gained Ancient History.) (+1 Ancient History)
As you explore, your glamor wears off, and you feel sick to your stomach. This is rot, a reminder that any use of glamor magic comes with a price.
Convinced you've explored your environment to the degree that it is wise, you leave the stabled nightmares alone and proceed to the library.
quote:Your hometown of Akriton has no library; in fact, you don't think there is a public library in the whole Kingdom of Eirinia. When you were young, the word "library" had a similar feel to the words "hoard" or "utopia." A cache of books free for the taking was too good to be true.
Now you are in a library, and it is wonderful. The rows of books may well contain all the knowledge you have ever craved. The musty smell of the old books is intoxicating. And these are not just any books—browsing the titles, it is clear these are tomes of magic. Delicious, forbidden knowledge, ripe for the learning.
The books glow slightly purple. You suspect this is an enchantment of negation that zaps dust and fungus before it can accrue.
"Thanks, Mother," you whisper. Your mother insisted on teaching you the language of the ancients herself when you were young, as her mother taught her, even though the family had never been nobility. You're not sure your mother would approve of the subject matter here, but you're grateful nonetheless.
"Looks like it's your lucky day," Tal murmurs, admiring the rows upon rows of books.
"Yours too, if you want," you say.
"Not if you're suggesting learning magic," Tal says. "You're way braver than I am when it comes to messing with that stuff. Mind if I take some books that just look expensive and mostly not cursed?"
"Sure," you say, although you know whichever books she picks, it will pain you to find that she has sold them.
You hunt for primers in the schools of magic you don't have books for yet: negation, divination and automation. The hemispherical magical lights above you are dimmed by dust and long-dead bugs, making it somewhat difficult to read the titles.
"Hey, why is there a 'humor' section in the middle of the other magic?" Tal calls out from a different aisle. "Is that a joke?"
"I remember hearing somewhere that the ancients considered it a kind of magic," you call back. "Don't remember why."
Aspirationally, you also pick up a book called Megali Mageia, "Great Magic." The contents are unintelligible besides the introduction, which promises a cutting-edge look at how to perform incredibly powerful magic. The rest of the book may be too esoteric for you now, but you hope to unlock its secrets with time.
quote:You could spend hours in this library, you think. And why not? For all you know, there was only one inquisitor pursuing you. But then again, for all you know, more inquisitors are even now dousing the academy's wooden buildings with oil and striking a spark. There's no reason the hierophant could not have sent another inquisitor—or two, or three. You'd best not linger overmuch.
As you peruse the books, you notice that an author's name is often more prominent than the bland title of whatever they wrote. You wonder whether your name will survive two thousand years, and what you would be known for if it did.
What is your first name? Names that are longer than three letters are seen as a little pretentious in your hometown of Akriton, though the urban elites of Edra don't see it that way.
Bar.
Bax.
Cor.
Del.
Eli.
Foo.
Lar.
Ori.
Qux.
Sal.
Tam.
Vey.
Vix.
Zig.
Something else.
quote:And what is your mother's name? In your society, before you register for a profession, if your mother's name is Eli and you choose no gender, you are called Elischild.
Bar.
Bax.
Cor.
Del.
Eli.
Foo.
Lar.
Ori.
Qux.
Sal.
Tam.
Vey.
Vix.
Zig.
Something else.
Who are we?
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Jan 28, 2019 05:37
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- achtungnight
- Oct 5, 2014
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I get my fun here. Enjoy!
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This name pleases me beyond all reason.
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Jan 28, 2019 07:24
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- The_White_Crane
- May 10, 2008
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Ahhh, from the Stanford Bars, I suppose.
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Jan 28, 2019 10:09
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- MadDogMike
- Apr 9, 2008
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Cute but fanged
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Yeah, can't resist Foo child of Bar either, wonder if the writer anticipated that enough to make a joke for picking it.
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Jan 28, 2019 21:32
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- CourValant
- Feb 25, 2016
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Do You Remember Love?
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Vix Veyschild
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Jan 28, 2019 21:58
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- LightWarden
- Mar 18, 2007
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Lander county's safe as heaven,
despite all the strife and boilin',
Tin Star,
Oh how she's an icon of the eastern west,
But now the time has come to end our song,
of the Tin Star, the Tin Star!
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Looks like we've got a pretty strong consensus for Foo Barschild as the name of our great mage.
quote:Foo Barschild: you suppose it will never appear on the back of a book, because you'll choose a professional name before then. "Wizard Foo"? "Magician Foo"? At the moment, it all sounds unusual and awkward, and you're not even sure Mayor Cos would allow it.
"You think they'll tell our tale in some musty book like this one day?" you call out to Tal, who is exploring a different aisle.
"I dunno, what's the tale?" Tal shouts back.
1. "How Foo and Tal saved the Kingdom of Eirinia."
2. "How Foo and Tal brought magic back to the Kingdom of Eirinia."
3. "How Foo and Tal started a revolution and took over the Kingdom of Eirinia."
quote:After a bit of hunting, you find introductory texts for negation, divination and automation. That makes a total of six thick books: one for each school, plus the tome of advanced magic called the Megali Mageia. You can barely carry them all. You suppose you'll have to come back with a mule or something.
You hesitate to bring back a book on negation magic. Some superstitious folk in town believe that the dark sun is not merely a physical entity beneath the surface of the earth but rather an evil force that threatens to corrupt everyone it comes in contact with. You know the ancients didn't see it that way; the ancients even used the dark sun at the heart of the earth as a power source for their factories. You resolve to be circumspect about your own use of the magic.
While Tal is busy searching for books that look expensive, you can't wait to try some of this new magic. Divination sounds promising; you recall the main drawback of divination is that it reveals some of your own information to whomever you scry upon. If you scry on a thing instead, someone associated with the thing will learn something about you—perhaps the thing's guardian, or its creator, or someone very interested in possessing it.
What would you like to find out with divination?
1. Where is the most valuable object in these ruins?
2. Is there a potential ally here in these ruins?
3. What might we most like to avoid in these ruins?
What's our story and what do we wish to find?
quote:Foo Barschild
Appearance
A stylish person wearing a feathered hat and some sparkling garb picked up in an ancient academy
Magic
Negation 0
Automation 1
Glamor 2
Divination 0
Vivomancy 1
Skills
Ancient History: 1 (Bad)
Fighting: 1 (Bad)
Subtlety: 4 (Good)
Charisma: 3 (Decent)
Personality
Optimism: 52% Caution: 48%
Humor: 55% Solemnity: 45%
Empathy: 55% Calculation: 45%
Relationships
Romances (Interested in men and women)
None
Tal: 53 (Fine)
Church: 50 (Fine)
Undiscovered relationships: 4
Kingdom
Adoration: 50% Vilification: 50%
Inventory
Gold: 100 gold
Sword
Glamorous Shirt
Ring of Camouflage
Students
None
Pets
None
The Dead
Nobody
Plot Points
Chapter 1
You and Tal stumbled on an ancient magic academy.
You discovered a book of vivomancy, and an inquisitor chased you.
You glamored yourself and ordered the inquisitor to scout ahead for you.
You explored the academy library.
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Jan 29, 2019 09:46
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- Poland Spring
- Sep 11, 2005
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2 all the friends
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Jan 29, 2019 09:55
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- The_White_Crane
- May 10, 2008
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3 - I wanna get in trouble, I wanna start a fight!
2 - More soldiers for our cause!
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Jan 29, 2019 11:13
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- achtungnight
- Oct 5, 2014
-
I get my fun here. Enjoy!
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2 + 2 = Magic and Friendship.
And are they connected in some way?
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#
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Jan 29, 2019 11:13
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- CourValant
- Feb 25, 2016
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Do You Remember Love?
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Vote:
3. "How Foo and Tal started a revolution and took over the Kingdom of Eirinia."
1. Where is the most valuable object in these ruins?
If we’re going to loot, then let’s loot!!
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Jan 29, 2019 22:13
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- LightWarden
- Mar 18, 2007
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Lander county's safe as heaven,
despite all the strife and boilin',
Tin Star,
Oh how she's an icon of the eastern west,
But now the time has come to end our song,
of the Tin Star, the Tin Star!
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We're bringing the magic back!
quote:"How Foo and Tal brought magic back to the Kingdom of Eirinia."
"Yeah, so everybody's going to start using magic now?" Tal calls out. "How's the queen feel about that?"
"Oh, Queen Thecla would make a great sorceress," you say. "She's already kind of mysterious and reclusive. Very intelligent, full of plots. I think she'd really take to it." (Increased Optimism.) (%+10 Optimism = +4% Optimism)
"And the hierophant?"
"She's pretty old. Maybe, on learning the queen has become a sorceress, Hierophant Elizabeth falls over dead with shock."
"And the rest of the Church?"
"Can we focus on the things everybody else could do with magic?" you say.
Tal pokes the head of Noodles, her purple stuffed monkey, around the corner of a bookshelf. "'Could I learn…bananamancy?'" Tal says in her Noodles voice.
"What's…never mind, silly question. Of course," you say.
"'Excellent. For my first trick, I shall make whatever bananas you own disappear…'"
Tal often keeps you from taking yourself too seriously, and that's a good thing. (Increased Humor.) (%+10 Humor = +4% Humor)
And we're starting with friendship.
quote:Is there a potential ally here in these ruins?
You decide to cast a spell to look for potential allies—monsters or golems that might befriend you. (Increased Caution.) (%-5 Optimism = -2% Optimism) You place your left thumb and forefinger on your temples and hold up your right hand with fingers splayed. Willing your senses to expand, you intone, "Mysterion gnomai! Amicus gnosia exanthus!"
Before your eyes appears a vision of an ancient stone golem, adjusting some levers on an old contraption in what looks to be some sort of service tunnel. The stone golem itself is a blocky creature, but it wears a tattered tabard emblazoned with the crest of the magic academy: an open book surrounded by a tree, an eye, a black sun, a gear, and a crown. On the wall beside the golem is some kind of map, but you can't make it out clearly.
The golem looks up, startled. It turns to look directly at you. Then the vision fades.
You think this is the drawback of divination in action: you have divined the location of the golem, but it has also divined yours. (Gained Divination.) (+1 Divination)
quote:"Tal, I think I found a potential ally, but I suspect it doesn't know it wants to be our friend yet," you say. "Are you done?"
"Sure," Tal says, returning to you with a backpack that is now bulging with heavy books.
You return to the section on automation magic and pick up a readable-looking tome on golem commands and protocols. (Gained Automation.) (+1 Automation)
Then you head for the exit to the library, a set of double doors that each bear the same set of symbols you saw on the golem's livery.
quote:You and Tal emerge from the library's main entrance into another quadrangle with false stars twinkling above. Where the last quadrangle appeared residential, this one seems administrative, with colonnades and porticoes in the classical style. The tall wooden buildings were shaped by vivomancy and painted to resemble marble. Fancy in taste, cheap in budget: you've heard the university in the capital is the same way.
"So, why don't you just cast all the divinations you want?" Tal asks.
"It's just mentally exhausting," you say. "Casting one leaves you unable to concentrate on the next. You need time to recover. And then, of course, there's the fact that it tends to give someone else information about you in return."
"I suppose there are plenty of things I'd rather not know," Tal says.
You flinch a little at that. In fact, there's one secret that you've always kept from Tal that would make you afraid of ever casting a divination on her, lest she learn that secret from you. What is it?
1. It was my fault Tal lost her eye.
2. It was my fault Tal lost her father.
3. I reported Tal to Mayor Cos.
We might not know necromancy, but it doesn't mean we don't have a few skeletons in our closet.
quote:You bring yourself back to the present, where Tal is ruminating on the downsides of magic. "It's all like that fairy tale where the greedy guy wishes for money and ends up drowning in gold," Tal says. "You sure you want to become a wizard?"
"With all my heart," you say earnestly.
"Yeah, take your time thinking about it," Tal says, giving you a playful shove.
Indeed, you've always been in love with the very idea of magic. You even formed vague plans about what you would do if you ever discovered it. What did you imagine you would do with your magical power?
1. I wanted to be able to vanquish anyone I so chose.
2. I wanted to clean the world of the fallout the ancients left behind.
3. I wanted to understand the world and how it got this way.
4. I wanted to understand people better; every life is a fascinating story.
5. I imagined becoming well respected, even adored.
6. I wanted to be a peacemaker and get people to lay down their arms.
7. I wanted to bring back the fabulous inventions of the ancients.
8. I imagined healing the sky, causing our weather to go back to normal.
9. I just wanted to be free to pursue whatever whims struck me.
10. I wanted to be a wandering healer, like a saint.
So, what's our secret and why do we do magic?
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Jan 30, 2019 07:47
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- CourValant
- Feb 25, 2016
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Do You Remember Love?
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Vote:
3. I reported Tal to Mayor Cos.
7. I wanted to bring back the fabulous inventions of the ancients.
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Jan 30, 2019 09:26
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- The_White_Crane
- May 10, 2008
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1. It was my fault Tal lost her eye.
Because I really want to know how she could lose her eye and not know we were responsible.
5. I imagined becoming well respected, even adored.
They will worship at our feet!
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Jan 30, 2019 11:21
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- achtungnight
- Oct 5, 2014
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I get my fun here. Enjoy!
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1,3. Yeah, the eye thing interests me too.
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Jan 30, 2019 11:32
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- Regallion
- Nov 11, 2012
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1,2
Like, lol if we ain't cleaning dat mess.
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Jan 30, 2019 12:07
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- Deadmeat5150
- Nov 21, 2005
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OLD MAN YELLS AT CLAN
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Eye want to clean up this big rear end mess.
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Jan 30, 2019 15:23
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- Adbot
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ADBOT LOVES YOU
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May 5, 2024 06:54
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Jan 26, 2019 07:42
