Watching the House (Nobilis)

[Sigmundr]

Skills/Passions:
Friend to all living things (Even those who aren't so friendly) - 3
Cool - 2
Innocent - 1
Creepy - 2

[X] 5
Inhuman 1
Omnipresent 2
Attention Grabbing 1
Never Truly Die 3

[X] Aspect - 4
[X] Domain - 1
[X] Personal - 1
[X] Treasure - 0
[X] Miracle Points - 0
[X] Active Immortality - 6

 

[Robotninja]

I've always found that concrete estates are easier to work with than abstract estates, and are no less powerful. (Seriously, in a matchup between the Power of Cats and the Power of Love, my money would be on Cats, almost every time.)

Click to shrink...

I disagree. Love when wielded properly can be absurdly broken in an animist world.

 

[Latewave]

Shine 3
Guardian 1
Cool 2
Trusted 1
Trickster 1

[X]Are shadows that you see out of the corner of your eye 1
The nagging feeling that you aren't alone 1
The seductive feeling of the dark. 2
Lovely and terrifying 2
Charming and well spoken 1

[X]Domain 2 and Persona 2

 

[Darkened]

Latewave and Hyposoc's votes are valid. None of the others are. (Again, one point of aspect/domain/persona/treasure costs 3CP not 1).


I'm worried I gave a bit too many options. Rushed the vote out between flights so it was kinda off on the whole. I'm sorry about that.

To that end, since many people aren't voting on bonds/afflictions, and no valid votes have them yet, let's move those to next round. Don't worry about adding those in.

 

[Xicree]

Charming 1
Charismatic 1
Dark 2
Inspiring 1
The Abyss of reason 3

[X]
Born from the dreams and hopes of man 1
Undying 1
The seductively repulsive 2
Beautiful in their twisted form 2
Beyond the ken of mortal men, less than human, more than gods... 1

[X]Domain 2 and Persona 2

 

[Robotninja]

By the way, what happened to Dark Lord quest?

 

[Warslick]

Charming 1
Charismatic 1
Dark 2
Inspiring 1
The Abyss of reason 3

[X]
Born from the dreams and hopes of man 1
Undying 1
The seductively repulsive 2
Beautiful in their twisted form 2
Beyond the ken of mortal men, less than human, more than gods... 1

[X] Domain - 1 [3cp]
[X] Personal - 1 [3cp]
[X] Active Immortality - [6cp]

 

[Darkened]

Bit of a tie, so asked Latewave to tiebreak on Estate properties:

(8:21:32 AM) Latewave: Xicree.

Click to shrink...

Sheet updated and post incoming.

 

[Darkened]

You're Marlin Gale kinda creepy but all around cool guy. You're mysterious when you want to be. And not in that 'call the cops it's a stalker' mysterious way, but in the vaguely ancient and strange and intriguing mysterious way. When you're not trying people tend to find you a little spooky. Maybe it's the way you loom up on them, or that way you go so quiet and still and just stare at things when you're thinking or... well, any of a thousand little things you do.

And yet, despite that, people like you. Animals like you, mad dogs become little more than playful little puppies when you're around. Monsters and serial killers find themselves opening up when you sit down and lend a comforting ear. Really, you guess that nothing's so bad in the big scheme of things, though sometimes call you naive just because you can sense a little of the good in everyone.

Maybe that's what made that god appear and stick a little of the divine in your chest. You're someone who can understand monsters, who can speak to them and make friends with them, even if you are a little strange about it. And that's all there is about the person you were. Or are there any other last details to mention?

Spoiler: Background details/appearance

[X] Early twenties, gaunt pale complexion and so thin people call you anorexic. You don't try to look this way, but your attempts to pass for normal, well, the less said the better.... You've had a pretty ordinary life until now, going to school, college, getting your shitty first job and then suddenly discovering yourself god.

[X] Late teens, you're pretty normal as long as you don't open your mouth and show off that huge grin and the sharp sharky teeth. You tend to be a little on the wild side, but you've always been popular with the other students. What would scare people in others is just kinda quirky in your case, at least after people get past that first visual impression and start talking to you.

[X] You're pretty normal, if people ignore the fact that you dress in all black, wear sunglasses even indoors and never say a thing unless someone asks you a question directly. It's not that you've had a terrible secret or something, but you just find that actions speak louder than words. Besides, everyone's a talker. What they really need are more listeners

[X] Write-in

But now things are different. You're a little bit less human and a little bit more god. Those everyday quirks of yours have turned into mythic traits. Just a little, you're held to fairytale logic. People change from day to day, they wake up one morning and decide to break a principle or a promise, to part their hair differently or to do something new. And maybe it's a big deal for them! But the world in general moves on. It doesn't really care or react.

But you, you're important. When you break a belief it reverberates. A creed for you isn't just something you decided to do, it's a law, something written into the world itself or at least written into your core. The laws and connections that define you are ever so slightly larger than life.

Spoiler: bonds/afflictions

Choose your bonds and afflictions. For now you have 6 points total of bonds and afflictions to allocate (+ your treasure rating.) A bond or affliction can be rated up to 5, granting it a lot more weight and ability to influence your life for good or for ill.

Bonds are brought into play by you, the players. If you take a bond "blind" (I can't see) you will determine when that hurts you or use it to help you at some times. Bonds can give you MP when they make your life hard, empower your miracles further and generally do awesome stuff when you choose them to. A broken bond may hurt you though.

Duties, emotions, relationships (on your end) and weaknesses/limitations are usually bonds.

Afflictions are brought into play by me. Afflictions grant auctoritas, sheltering themselves from miracles and things that would impede them. They also create whatever miracles they need to function.

Pseudo-powers and unfortunate circumstances are usually afflictions.

Spoiler: Sample builds

[ ] 1
Affliction: The savage and nightmarish things in the world hold me in fearful awe 2
Bond: I'm a good person good! 2
Bond: I can't refuse when a friend seriously and sincerely asks me for a favor 2

[ ] 2
Bond: When someone sick of being human begs me to help them, I must make them into a monster 3
Affliction: When someone ventures alone into a dark alley and whisper my name three times, I am there 1
Affliction: Nothing in this world may wish me harm 1
Bond: I see the goodness in everything 1

[ ] 3
Affliction: Some beast, primordial, dark and twisted, has fallen in love with me 2
Bond: There is nothing in the world worth hating 1
Bond: I can sneak up on anyone! 2
Affliction: The world around me grows deeper and darker and quieter and scarier when I am near 1

[ ] Write in

And that is finally, all there is to say about you that's worth saying. Well, except for one last question. Where the fuck are you now?

Spoiler: Chancel options

[ ] Academy of Adventure: A sprawling city of classrooms and hallways with automaton teachers and where everyone who matters, yourself included, seems to remain a highschool student no matter how much time passes. Some of the classes you can take are rather strange. Can you conquer the student council and take your place on the throne?

[ ] Dungeon Crawl: An endless dungeon with gangs of roving adventurers and monsters carving out their own small kingdoms. No matter how far up you go or how low, you never run out of space, though in either direction the beasts and monsters only get stronger. Well that's a little convenient for your plans though.

[ ] Cyberpunk: A dark and twisted city, where corporations have replaced the law and hope has died. Crawl forth from the shadows. Technology has gone mad. Can you really find a place for yourself here, much less claim this brutal futuristic land as your own?

[ ] Fantasy Classic: Actually a pretty ordinary medieval kingdom, except for the dragons and whatnot.

[ ] Wasteland: A sparsely populated land where massive worms spring up out of the sands to devour the unwary. Nomadic tribes move from water source to water source and every day is a fight for survival.

[ ]Write-in

 

[HypoSoc]

[X] You're pretty normal, if people ignore the fact that you dress in all black, wear sunglasses even indoors and never say a thing unless someone asks you a question directly. It's not that you've had a terrible secret or something, but you just find that actions speak louder than words. Besides, everyone's a talker. What they really need are more listeners

[X] 1
Affliction: The savage and nightmarish things in the world hold me in fearful awe 2
Bond: I'm a good person good! 2
Bond: I can't refuse when a friend seriously and sincerely asks me for a favor 2

[X] Academy of Adventure: A sprawling city of classrooms and hallways with automaton teachers and where everyone who matters, yourself included, seems to remain a highschool student no matter how much time passes. Some of the classes you can take are rather strange. Can you conquer the student council and take your place on the throne?

 

[Warslick]

[X] You're pretty normal, if people ignore the fact that you dress in all black, wear sunglasses even indoors and never say a thing unless someone asks you a question directly. It's not that you've had a terrible secret or something, but you just find that actions speak louder than words. Besides, everyone's a talker. What they really need are more listeners

[x]
Affliction: Some beast, primordial, dark and twisted, has fallen in love with me 1
Affliction: The world around me grows deeper and darker and quieter and scarier when I am near 1
Affliction: The savage and nightmarish things in the world hold me in fearful awe 2
Bond: I can't refuse when a friend seriously and sincerely asks me for a favor 2

[x] Fantasy Classic: Actually a pretty ordinary medieval kingdom, except for the dragons and whatnot.

 

[Xicree]

[X] You're pretty normal, if people ignore the fact that you dress in all black, wear sunglasses even indoors and never say a thing unless someone asks you a question directly. It's not that you've had a terrible secret or something, but you just find that actions speak louder than words. Besides, everyone's a talker. What they really need are more listeners

[X] 2
Bond: When someone sick of being human begs me to help them, I must make them into a monster 3
Affliction: When someone ventures alone into a dark alley and whisper my name three times, I am there 1
Affliction: Nothing in this world may wish me harm 1
Bond: I see the Wonder inherent in all things 1

[X] Urban Fantasy. Everything is hidden within the city. Monsters lurk in the wake of man's progress... waiting for those who fall at the edges of their world. Every fantastic thing still lives and breathes in the dark... waiting for the time that Mankind will will dream... and the sleep of reason lets loose all bonds. You are their dream...

 

[Winged One]

[X]Xicree

 

[Dreadis]

[X] Xicree

 

[Winged One]

Because I hear QMs like discussions: I picked Xicree's vote because I think the bonds and afflictions suit the character described by the skills listed, and an urban fantasy setting is a great place for monsters to exist.

 

[Darkened]

Because I hear QMs like discussions: I picked Xicree's vote because I think the bonds and afflictions suit the character described by the skills listed, and an urban fantasy setting is a great place for monsters to exist.

Click to shrink...

We do like discussion!

Now that I have a computer again.... [X] Xicree again. I'm beginning to notice a pattern here.

---------------------------------------

There's a whisper, a sound carried across the wind that bears your name, and then you find yourself there, staring at stained concrete walls, a dumpster and a woman in a grey pinstriped pantsuit clutching a card. A few moments ago you were in the bar, listening to Jim, an old sailor you just met, talking about what it was like to haul in a catch. You'd slipped your name and that got him talking and he was just starting to get excited about it and...

And then someone called your name three times, and here you are, dressed in a black jacket, a white button down (no tie) and, of course, your shades. Present on demand, regardless of your will.

The woman, her suit not quite fitting right, looks around in front of her, then side to side, never noticing you in the darkness.

It's weird to be called like this, to know that you're slightly removed from humanity, well, slightly more than you were before. Well, your god told you you'd be brought to his city somehow, and you guess this is it.

A moment's focus puts aside the transitory questions about how you'll get back or where you might sleep tonight if you can't, and you turn to the important question. This woman, this weather-beaten slightly wrinkled woman with a sag in her shoulders, she called for you. Why? How? You've scarce been callable this way for more than half a day or so. Her suit's nice enough, tailored well, made of nice fabric, it oozes money. But, it's too worn. Her hair's wrong too, starting to go gray at the roots and barely styled or brushed at all. Why dress nicely and then let your appearance fall to shambles? How interesting.

So you watch, the way she glances around, the way her shoulders slink ever so further down or her head gradually starts to bow. You watch the shaking in her hands, the way her face gradually shifts to scorn. You watch the other presence in the alley, the one you wouldn't notice if it wasn't for what you'd just become, the predator hanging on the wall, something of yours, though you haven't spared the moment's effort to know what it is yet.

Only as the woman turns to leave do you adjust your shades and speak up. "Hello. You called?" She whirls to face you, stumbling on one shoe made more for looking formal than for walking and slipping as she stares. Her face shifts from shock to bewilderment to fear to grim focus. You don't bother to suppress the tinge of curiosity as you watch her.

"That's... Are you really...." She trails off, waiting for an answer. You let the silence stretch, watching calmly behind the comfort of your shades. People want to talk, to fill the silence less their own thoughts, or the imagined judgement of others, consumes them. It doesn't take long.

"I... I heard you can help me." You cock your head to the side, watching, waiting. She swallows nervously staring at you, so you give her the time to gather her thoughts. No sense in rushing her.

"With revenge... That girl said you you could, you can help me get back at those bas... boys who who hurt my Cat."

You blink for a moment before you realize that the 'Cat' is a person's name. You quietly push your sunglasses up, it is fairly hard to see anything with them when it's this dark out. Above you the presence tenses, readying itself to strike. Your eyes flicker upwards and it freezes for a moment, whether at attention or at your attention you don't know. Well, it might attack or not.

The woman stares at you pleadingly, love, anger, fear all plain on her face. So human! So beautiful!

Well should you offer her help?
[ ] Ask what she wants?
[ ] She asked for revenge no matter the cost, give her the power to do as she wishes
[ ] Don't respond just yet
[ ] Write-in

And the monster watching in the wings?
[ ] Decide to know what it is
[ ] Try to send it away
[ ] Write-in

 

[Xicree]

Well should you offer her help?
[X] She asked for revenge no matter the cost, give her the power to do as she wishes

And the monster watching in the wings?
[X] Call it to you. Settle into a conversation with it... as far as conversation can be made.

 

[Redon]

[X] She asked for revenge no matter the cost, give her the power to do as she wishes

[X] Decide to know what it is

 

[Warslick]

[X] She asked for revenge no matter the cost, give her the power to do as she wishes

[X] Decide to know what it is


So would this fall under:
Bond: When someone sick of being human begs me to help them, I must make them into a monster 3

 

[Darkened]

So would this fall under:
Bond: When someone sick of being human begs me to help them, I must make them into a monster 3

Click to shrink...

It could if people decide it does! But bonds are on you guys to bring up. Or rather, I'll suggest if I think a bond really obviously applies to a situation, but it's entirely up to the players to choose to invoke it. And you can also choose to try to invoke any of your bonds at any time for any reason (I'll veto any that really don't fit).

By contrast, notice the affliction invoked in this post. Your name got called in an alley and there you were. It was outside player control. It happened to you because you have that affliction. Afflictions are up to me. But since I control the world that means they can be pretty big in their effects. They can be flashy.

If you want to use a bond, it won't let you do things you can't already do. But it will make your actions better or, like afflictions, reward you when it causes you trouble or prompts you to do something cool. I may prompt if I think one really clearly fits, but the ultimate decision is on the voters (and you will benefit more from bringing them up yourselves)

 

[Void]

[X] She asked for revenge no matter the cost, give her the power to do as she wishes

[X] Decide to know what it is

On the topic of the bond, i don't think it applies to this event in particular.

Bond: When someone sick of being human begs me to help them, I must make them into a monster 3

Click to shrink...

Looking at the wording of the bond this event only covers the bold bit, her request and actions don't quite fulfill the other part of the bond.

Yes shes begged for help, but she didn't outright say nor give off an inclination towards being weary of being human in general, misanthropy or seeking escape from her life stemming from her human form or life as a human.

No her request and emotions point to a normal request to be empowered so she can carry out a revenge against a specific group of people. It just doesn't ring my 'fuck the human race' detectors.

 

[Nolrai2]

Sounds like a plan.
Maybe make her a cat girl? But not the sex toy kind?

Do we care if this turns out well for her long term? Are there side issues we want to affect one way or the other?

 

[Nolrai2]

I can't Find our char sheet; do we have a Song?

 

[Darkened]

You contemplate the woman in front of you. Her faintly wrinkled face torn between anger and fear. Neither seems wholly directed toward you. It wouldn't be hard to help her, to give her what she's really asking for. But...

Hesitating to decide, you turn your attention to the other presence, finally sparing it the stray thought to know what lurks above you. Your eyes dart upwards, and you know.
Action: Lesser Divination of Monsters: Cost=0MP
Consequences. That's what forms the core of the twisted little gargoyle-imp above you. An incarnation of karma, the inevitability of reprisal, transformed from a conceptual being into a decidedly physical one over years. Nimblejacks, what else could they be called. are fast first and foremost: faster than thought, faster than light, fast enough to be behind you no matter which way you turn and how far away they were when you looked. Simple creatures, bringing down twisted and cruel reprisals. The one here is plotting something against the woman then? No, watching you. Its instincts tell it to hunt, to hurt and mock, to chase the woman down. But something restrains them, some other force from above. The nimblejack is following orders. Whose?

It's simple enough to figure it out. A single thought is enough to simply know what drives monster before you and... Hands dripping blood, mocking laughter, terror, ripping, tearing, eyes forming a window to a soul so dark it has you stepping back queasily. Almost against your will you stop the process of knowing. There are some things it might be better not to know as naturally as you can know the monsters around you. It feels as if the knowing itself would taint you, change you so fundamentally into something worse.

You aren't one to judge horrors or bind them. Far from it. But that... The thought of it sends you reeling, stumbling backwards into a wall. The woman startles and you look toward her again. And in that moment the nimblejack moves, vanishing from sight, crawling to the other end of the city. Well, that was disturbing! Better to focus on something a little easier to handle.

You step away from the wall, shake the spots out of your vision and smile sadly at the woman. You could let this woman go, let her live with the horrors that happened to whoever Cat is. Maybe she'd learn to deal with it, to bear the unbearable. She'd grow and learn with time, and even if she didn't forgive that fire inside her that demands revenge would eventually wither. It, if you're being honest, would probably be better for her in the long run. Kinder.

But she's begging for vengeance. She doesn't want the path of forgiveness of growth of healing. One look at the lines forming too fast on her face and the profound rage lurking behind her eyes is enough to tell you that. You're not a saint, or an angel to tell people what's best for them. So you don't say anything to this to her.

Instead you softly press a finger to your lips gesturing for her to be quiet, then with a sad smile, you place your hand on her forehead and focus. There are any number of ways to grant her revenge. You could call that nimblejack back and set it to hunt, or take the form of a beast and tear her foes to shreds yourself, or simply reach into a nearby shadow and pull out a monster perfectly suited to the task. But that wouldn't give her what she wants.

She wants to do it herself. Sure she's asking you, but s just because she doesn't think she's capable. That anger, that passion isn't something you've ever really experienced yourself, thought it's beautiful to watch. There's a price to this. She'll become something more than human and ever so subtly less. If you don't help her she might forgive someday, she might transcend the horrors, learn to live with them. She might grow as a person. She might become good. But now she won't.

So you smile sadly and place your finger to your lips gesturing for her to be silent. Then you step forward and place your palm on her forehead lovingly.
Action: Lesser enchantment of monsters, Cost=2mp, chancel discount applies (-3), cost=0MP
It pours out from your hand. Twisted, reshaping. You call forth the dharma of monsters and plant it in her. Darkness and horror and everything nasty in the world flow forth into the woman, beautiful and disturbed, born of dreams, unstoppable.

She moans and screams, torn between agony and bliss. Only your hand and the link between you and her stops the woman from collapsing as her legs give out under her.

Darkness engulfs the woman, pulsating rhythmically as if driven by the frantic beat of her heart. It spreads and then pulls inward. And with each contraction there is a change. Her flesh smooths, losing wrinkles and years by the moment. You watch impassively as the story of her life vanishes, leaving behind smooth, but simple, perfection. Her figure shifts, her bones creaking and snapping as she gains height and her proportions shift subtly.

Gradually the pulses come faster and smaller, making more and more detailed changes. The shape of her cheekbones shifts ever so slightly. You note the faint smell of smoke and cinnamon and sex that wafts around her.

Monsters are but dreams and hopes carried away. It's not hard to guess what dreams slip into the woman in front of you. Promiscuity, aggression, sexuality. Always sexual women have been feared. Daji, Tamamo no Mae, succubi. Tormenting and taunting men. Petty societal judgements about purity, about 'goodness', as if being modest and chaste actually made a person good. And yet the creature before you rapidly begins to vindicate those fears. Possessed of a beauty that draws your eye, curves that make her modest suit look like something you'd see in the raunchiest seraglio and lips so red you find yourself stepping toward them before you catch yourself.

And then she stumbles, stepping backward in shock and awe. She raises a hand to catch herself and the illusion is broken. Where a normal person would have fingers, the woman's hands instead end in jointed knives. Her fingers are ar too long, far too sharp, and anything but beautiful. Almost they remind you of the legs of a spider, twisted and narrow and long. But spider's legs aren't blades and certainly not sharp enough to gouge the concrete wall they rest on.

Seeing those twisted cruel hands, you can't help but spot the thousand other signs in her form. The way her lips are tinged the color of blood, the sharpness of her teeth, the way her eyes are just so slightly too dark. An Anglerfish. Luring people in with a beautiful light before the real body devours them.

"This is...." She runs one claw over her bodyf, torn between hating and fearing her changes and loving them. Even this act is sexually charged, though she clearly had no intention of moving in such a fashion. "What did you do to me?"

You shrug. "I gave you revenge."

She starts to open her mouth, her lips peeling back to expose the fangs within, and then stops contemplatively. Idly she licks one claw, rolling her tongue around the exposed bone in an unconscious gesture entirely at odds with anything she'd have done a few moments ago.

"So what, you turn me into this and I get to go kill them?" You shrug, not seeing much of a reason to control her revenge.

The woman pouts, "And then what? What's the cost here?" Abruptly she steps toward you, pushing her chest outward. "Do I have to come back and, what, sleep with you? Be your servant, your pretty little slave-girl?" She grins despite herself, wrapping your hand in hers with enough gentleness that it barely cuts and slowly bringing it toward her chest.

You shrug once more. The price of getting to be a monster is having to be a monster. In giving her revenge you've taken away something fundamental. Complexity, moral agency, choice. These things are no longer for her. You've bound her in her nature, a thing of myth and abstractions. She is the yearning hatred of sexuality as much as she's an individual now. So far more than mortal, and yet so much less. A more specific intent to your power might have changed her less or more, might have shaped her into something less distorted.

But you let your power flow freely and it fulfilled your intentions exactly. This is the monster most suited to revenge. You gather a few ideas about what must have happened to Cat, but you set them aside. It's not really in you to judge someone else. If they'd come to you you probably would have helped them instead. But that's what makes you suited to hold the estate of monsters.

But, it wouldn't be hard to control her if you wished... And given her nature, sleeping with her would probably be rather unwise.

Still, you've been called to an unfamiliar city, one you've been ordered to make your own, and a guide could be useful. You also, kind of, don't really have anywhere to sleep tonight.


Well?
[ ] Let her go. It is not in you to leash the things you've made.
-If you let her go, what should you do instead of finding a place to crash or information?
-[ ] Wander around, drinking in the sights and the people
-[ ] Find a little hole in the wall bar. There's always something interesting there.
-[ ] Go find that Nimblejack and figure out what the hell was going on there.
-[ ] Write-in
[ ] Ask for a place to crash tonight. Maybe a little info about the city.
[ ] You need to start somewhere. Let her take her vengeance but bind her to serve you for a year and a day.
[ ] Or forever. Really.
[ ] You created her, which basically makes her your daughter or something. So you should probably stick around and help her adjust. It's the right thing to do, isn't it?
[ ] Write-in

 

[Darkened]

Sounds like a plan.
Maybe make her a cat girl? But not the sex toy kind?

Do we care if this turns out well for her long term? Are there side issues we want to affect one way or the other?

Click to shrink...

If people had given more direction to the miracle, "non sex-toy" catgirl would have been a perfectly valid option. Something like a great cat hunter type thing going all stalker on her enemies.

But people didn't, so it defaulted to the path of least resistance.

I can't Find our char sheet; do we have a Song?

Click to shrink...

Not as of yet. I didn't want to get things too bogged down with character gen stuff for those unfamiliar with Nobilis. As play goes on, I'll be introducing those and the choices (Quests next post and chancel properties over the next few. )

Given your bonds/afflictions you're a really obvious fit for either the Dark or Hell though, so I might push those two a little bit first.

 

[Xicree]

[X] "It's not my place to judge what you do with the power I grant... I simply give what is beautiful a chance to bloom. You don't owe me anything at all for the price of monstrosity, is being monstrous... but if you like once your vengeance is complete then you can come back to me. I will not give you humanity again... cannot. But I can take care of you as part of my night parade. You will always have a place with me as you desire. It is only right that a father should care for his daughter. Twisted father though I am."
-[X] You created her, which basically makes her your daughter or something. So you should probably stick around and help her adjust. It's the right thing to do, isn't it?

 

[fitzgerald]

[X] "It's not my place to judge what you do with the power I grant... I simply give what is beautiful a chance to bloom. You don't owe me anything at all for the price of monstrosity, is being monstrous... but if you like once your vengeance is complete then you can come back to me. I will not give you humanity again... cannot. But I can take care of you as part of my night parade. You will always have a place with me as you desire. It is only right that a father should care for his daughter. Twisted father though I am."
-[X] You created her, which basically makes her your daughter or something. So you should probably stick around and help her adjust. It's the right thing to do, isn't it?

 

[Warslick]

[X] "It's not my place to judge what you do with the power I grant... I simply give what is beautiful a chance to bloom. You don't owe me anything at all for the price of monstrosity, is being monstrous... but if you like once your vengeance is complete then you can come back to me. I will not give you humanity again... cannot. But I can take care of you as part of my night parade. You will always have a place with me as you desire. It is only right that a father should care for his daughter. Twisted father though I am."
-[X] You created her, which basically makes her your daughter or something. So you should probably stick around and help her adjust. It's the right thing to do, isn't it?

Sounds like a valid plan. It seems we might to pay more attention to how we gift people with the change so we can control more of the outcome.

 

[kinglugia]

[X] "It's not my place to judge what you do with the power I grant... I simply give what is beautiful a chance to bloom. You don't owe me anything at all for the price of monstrosity, is being monstrous... but if you like once your vengeance is complete then you can come back to me. I will not give you humanity again... cannot. But I can take care of you as part of my night parade. You will always have a place with me as you desire. It is only right that a father should care for his daughter. Twisted father though I am."
-[X] You created her, which basically makes her your daughter or something. So you should probably stick around and help her adjust. It's the right thing to do, isn't it?

 

[Darkened]

Almost as many of the same vote as there were votes last round and I have time so.....

-----------

She stares at you quizzically, holding your hand in a way that tries not to hurt it while inadvertently reminding you how much it might. It seems like you won't get away without talking this time.

"The price of monstrosity is being monstrous." You don't talk much. You're not one for spoken eloquence though you appreciate it in others. "I don't judge or limit what you can do with this power."

You start to pull your hand away, then change your mind and hold her claws tightly, letting them cut into you a little. "But I'm your father in a sense now and I'll always help if you need it."

Your creation hesitates for a moment, then lets go of your hand as she starts to shake, and finally bursts into full-blown laughter that does very distracting things to her chest, and entirely dispels the rather melodramatic moment. Eventually she stops,wipes away the tears from her eyes and smiles at you.

"Thanks 'Pops'," she snickers again, trying and failing to restrain her laughter, "But you seem a little on the young side to be my dad."

You shrug helplessly. "You're new to this side of things." Well, you are too but no need to mention that. You reach out, ignoring the way that your bleeding hand brings back uncomfortable images of whatever it was controlling the nimblejack, and place it on her shoulder. Besides, she doesn't really seem any older than you are now.

The woman frowns for a little, "I'm Jenna... I guess if you wanted to come back to my place tonight it would be nice. This is... a little new. I need to see what I can do before I hurt them so it should probably wait a little." There's a hint of suggestion in her voice, one that you're fairly sure is more instinctive than intentional.

You nod, adjusting your shades as you smile at Jenna, putting your arm around her in a purely platonic hug.

"Just... Cat gets back from the hospital in a few days and you..." her gaze falls to her palms, "We shouldn't be around when she does." The note of pain in her voice, and the resolve to abandon one she loves fills you with admiration for your new daughter.

-----

It's the claws slicing into your back that wake you early. They slide gently across your back as you roll in your sleep, digging painfully through the skin.

Immediately you open your eyes, staring at the sleeping girl wrapped around you in the narrow confines of her guest-room's bed. You're sure Jenna had her own bed in her own room, but such is life. Carefully you extricate yourself, staring down at your changeling. She reaches out in her sleep, slicing cutting through a pillow without any resistance.

Reaching down gently you stroke Jenna's hair, no less sensuous in the light of day though you suspect that she's clearly a night hunter. Quietly she moans in her sleep.

"Cat... I'm sorry" and you slowly pull your hand away. So she didn't want to sleep alone then? You suppose you can understand that. Still something seems a little off about her. It's hard to place the monster's age, but you'd have guessed mid-twenties last night if you were to judge by appearances. This morning you'd be more inclined to guess late teens if that. Strange.

You pull a sheet over her sleeping form, doing your best not to stare at how little Jenna's wearing to bed, and step out of the tiny guestroom into the apartment proper. You didn't really spend much time talking last night, Jenna was far too tired from her transformation to do much besides sneak you past the gate-guard and into a large penthouse apartment, but it doesn't take a genius to presume she's fairly well off, or at least that she was. You doubt Jenna will be returning to any prior work now.

Still, the apartment does offer a wonderful view of the city-scape. Tall dark spires of glass and steel surround you, standing head and shoulders above their lesser cousins. And taller than any of them is a twisted blackened building. Almost Gothic in design, it's tall enough to be visible from anywhere in the city, rising up to pierce the clouds like some modern Babylon. It's the kind of building that invites such poetic language, and exudes a sense of menace all around it.

Below, the people and cars scurry about like ants, going to and fro in a medley of daily-life entirely unaware of the scattered other presences you can feel amongst them even from here. You don't know how long Jenna will sleep, but it's probably a good idea to figure out what you're going to do from here.

Spoiler: quests

Quests are your primary method of character advancement. Narrative goals, each quest has a set XP requirement to complete after which it moves its relevant plot forward. Not all plot is determined by quests, only things that happen on your end. Fulfilling the conditions stated in a quest will award you with either 1 or 5xp. When you finish a quest by obtaining all the needed XP you'll get a small reward such as a new skill or bond, gift or the like. To an extent quests will inform the plot. However, many quests can be background events, lurking around as you steadily work on them while dealing with more obvious plot complications in front of you.

You may work on up to four quests at once. Quests may be picked up or dropped whenever you choose.

Completing enough quests to earn 100xp will complete an arc and give you a new point of aspect/domain/persona or treasure.

Minor conditions of a quest can be completed repeatedly, to a maximum of once a day for 1xp each time.

Some triggers on a quest instead award 5xp and may be completed whenever they appear. You may only earn each 5xp bonus once.

Some XP will not come from quests but from completing events in story or acting appropriate to the genres of the world around you. This experience may be assigned to any quest.)

Example Quests:

Spoiler: Connecting to Jenna: 20XP

You spend time getting to know Jenna better.

5XP: Jenna saves you from some threat or crisis
5XP: You assist Jenna in completing her revenge or witness her doing the same.

1XP: You share a moment of affection with Jenna.
1XP: Jenna helps you with some day to day problem
1XP: Jenna helps you learn more about the nature of the city
1XP: Jenna confides some deep seated anxiety in you.
1XP: You help Jenna learn to use the functions of her new form.

Spoiler: Adventure GET! 30XP

You're starting an adventure! It may be sucky at times, but it's an adventure!

5XP: Trouble starts or gets much worse in a well-staged way — whether that's accidentally walking backwards into an enemy camp, breaking into a supposedly empty manor during what turns out to be a dinner party, or declaring that everything's fine as long as there aren't any werewolves around just before werewolves show up;
5XP: Someone rescues you;
5XP: You stand in a shadowed place and tell someone a secret, then run away before they can react.


1XP: risk trouble by digging into somebody's secrets
1XP: drag others into your affairs/arrange their lives for them
1XP: propose a theory about the underlying situation you're in
1XP: tell someone a story related to the underlying situation you're in
1XP: get into trouble trying to help somebody else
1XP: risk trouble in the name of adventure!

Spoiler: Finding a Place to Live 20XP

You're, well, trying to find a place to live.
5XP: Get hopelessly lost while looking for housing.
5XP: Encounter a haunted apartment while trying to locate a place to live.

1XP: Spend some time looking up information about houses or apartments
1XP: Sleeping either at a friend's place or somewhere strange because you don't have your own yet.
1XP: Enlist a friend to help you look.

Spoiler: Studying the City 25XP

You're supposed to know this city and you don't know anything about that. Well, you can learn.
5XP: You discover some building threat lurking in the darkness of the city
5XP: You investigate the strange tower in the center of the city
5XP: You learn one or more of the metaphysical properties under which the city runs.

1XP: You try to read up about the city's history online or at a library.
1XP: A local shares some anecdote about the city's history or structure
1XP: You encounter some denizen of the city removed from humanity in some way.
1XP: While exploring the city you find yourself in some lost or forgotten place that doesn't seem entirely natural.
1XP: Your inquiries into the city's truths attract some attention from another power.

Choose up to two quests for now.
[ ] Connecting to Jenna
[ ] Adventure GET!
[ ] Finding a Place to Live
[ ] Studying the City
[ ] Write-in

Anyway, what do you want to do now?

[ ] Wait for Jenna to wake up and....?
[ ] Go wake Jenna up and...?
[ ] Leave a note and go start exploring the city.
[ ] Wait around the apartment till later. You're more of a night person really.
[ ] Write-in