View Full Version : Principal Entropy's School
Hollyhock God
2017-02-10, 10:25 PM
CHAPTER ONE
It was the eighth week of Spring. School had been in session for only a week and already it was horrible.
Some of the teachers want to eat you. Others just hate you. Some are too deranged to even recognize your presence. The ghosts were strange at first but everyone else acted like it was normal to see them but unlucky too see past their death-masks to their true faces. That meant you were a dweeb and or a weirdo. Not cool.
The Principal is intense. His assemblies are quite ominous, like a political speech delivered by a Disney villain, punctuated by the ever dripping blood on his hands. Worse are the Student Council who are each and every one probably some sort of unfathomable evil under the guise of a student under the guise of a mask. If Lee Scathing gets to assign you detention you may never come back from the labyrinth below.
Ah well. School is tough for anybody. Growing up is hard.
[Sound of a school bell ringing]
[Cue the opening sequence]
THE RITUAL OF THE OPENING SEQUENCE
I initiate this Ritual Action as my first XP Action for the chapter. Taking part doesn't have to be an XP Action for you, but if it is you can declare that your Ritual Action is particularly meaningful and add an XP to the pool.
Everyone will post twice, in no particular order. When post you may do one or two of the following;
-Describe your character waking up and getting ready in whatever fashion suits their ideom, describing their room and routine is they have one
-Post a YouTube link to some music evocative of your character and their part of the opening sequence
-Show your character "posing" in some iconic fashion for them and their story
-Say something cryptic, poetic and evocative of your character Arc as a vaguely in character quote
-Post a picture of your character
-Narrate a dialogue free "clip" of some future scene in the show, no matter how unlikely, or add your character's reaction or involvement in any previously described clip
Remember you only have two XP actions for the chapter but you want to do them both to move forward. I expect minimal fading, a bit of letting others have their moment if you've been hogging it but forum games are fragile so I don't want you ghosting on us.
Taking normal actions in the opening sequence suffers a level 3 Obstacle or Affliction.
There is nothing.
No space, no time, no movement.
There are fires frozen like crystals, without time to move or space to spread-
-there are words, captured in a timeless moment, unmoving.
There is a wall of blue fire, a thing of pain and suffering and anger.
There is a thing beyond the wall.
A thing with space.
A thing with time.
He rode in the flesh, into existence, you became a thing of space and time and movement and words.
He raised his sword high, his sword named-
-then he woke up. His name came back to him.
Maxwell Maxim.
The sword's name did not.
He is in his room. It is exactly ten feet by ten feet.
Maxwell is at school. He is almost always at school. For lack of better options, he is boarded here.
His room is exactly ten feet by ten feet. It has walls painted white, a single bed, a dresser, a sink. It is bigger than it needs be, Maxwell is sure.
He prepares to go from the part of school that he lives in to the part of school he endures in.
Uniform- On!
Hair- Fashionably disheveled!
Eyes- Full of falling stars!
Sword-
The rider glances. He hefts the naked blade, looking at the smooth whiteness of the metal.
...Sword- Nameless.
He shakes the sword twice; it sparkles slightly as it fades from a instrument of death to a pure white umbrella.
Maxwell looks in the mirror, umbrella over shoulder, eyes bright with tumbling stars.
"You know what you're doing!", he says in a firm, confident tone.
This is a lie.
Merilan
2017-02-11, 01:26 AM
Ruza was adrift.
Adrift on a sea of stars, a tapestry of cosmic colours, an aurora of unknowable points upon an uncharted map that flavoured the great beyond. The Outside. It was here that she spent her unwaking moments, unable to lapse into what humans would call sleep. Or perhaps she was asleep, and she did not know it? The border between sleep and wakefulness was unknowable to her, much like the border between dreams and reality made themselves hazy.
She reached forward and her eyes widen-- and the view zooms in upon her irises, which emanate with an inhuman ebb and flow. Soon, the camera is dominated by the gaze reflected upon her eyes, which is that of an even greater beyond, a nothingness upon which she is thrown into, so far, so fast, hurtling like a silver shooting star.
Then, Ruza awoke.
Her body spasmed as she stiffly sat up, in the darkness of her very formal and sparse room within the shrine. She slept on a bare futon, not decorated in any way, and wore a pure white yukata, not decorated in any way.
Compared to the colour that the Outside brought, Town -- Arcadia -- was very stark for her. There was peace in the nothingness of her room, devoid of soul and characteristic. She rose, quietly walking to a clean and empty desk, where she poured a glass of plain water, from a plain jug. She took a careful sip from the plain cup.
Her eyes continued to shimmer in the dark, the only splash of colour in the room.
She quietly exited her room in the next shot, dressed properly in the school uniform. Nothing about it spoke about her individuality, and her eyes had faded back to a normal, dark brown colour. Normal. That was what she was at the moment.
She left before she could be late.
Jane's mornings were more theory than reality. Humans slept, right? So Jane presumably slept too. She even had a bed of her own. But she had no memory of ever waking in it. Jane looked down at herself. She was walking through a school hallway. When had that started? When had she left her room? It felt as if she'd always been here. Maybe a part of her always was here.
But this was no time to be existential. The school day had just begun! The crisp morning air was filled with promise. Jane moved with a spring in her step, and a song in her heart. Soon she'd be among her fellow students. She'd share in their triumphs and tribulations. And in doing so, she'd help them reach their full potential. It was literally the reason for her existence. After all, her own achievements were...pointless...
For the briefest instant, Jane faltered. Her internal soundtrack skipped a beat. Then, as if nothing had happened, she continued onwards. Such stupid thoughts didn't belong in her head. Everything was just as it should be. Full speed ahead, to greet this wonderful new day!
Yuki Akuma
2017-02-11, 10:11 AM
A pair of pointed ears twitch.
A bushy tail swishes through the frame.
A pair of yellow eyes open.
A ribbon is tied in Mimi's pink hair.
An arm is pushed through the sleeve of her school uniform. The ribbon around her neck is straightened. The toe of her right boot is tapped against the floor.
Mimi regards herself in the mirror, her right hand clenched into a fist. "Today, I promise to do my best!"
Mimi bursts out the front door of her shrine, toast in her mouth, as she races to School.
Afgncaap5
2017-02-12, 05:42 AM
https://youtu.be/WWtoyi_WhbI
An alarm clock rings.
Caspian covers his head with a pillow. As the ringing continues, he reaches down to the floor and picks up one of the scattered books near his bed. He throws the book and it sails past the clock, knocking over a carefully stacked arrangement of plastic cups which had been supporting a small basin of water. The basin falls onto a small toy car. The basin-bearing car tilts forward because of the new weight and begins rolling down a long, circular ramp that makes an arc around the room, passing a switch that activates a tape player. Caspian's voice begins speaking from the tape, joining the alarm clock.
"If you can hear this, it means you're wanting to sleep in. You know you can't."
Caspian groans in protest.
"You also know that a car is about to roll on its track out of the room and down the hall. The water will destroy the Strange Fiasco tokens you've put there."
Caspian sighs from under the pillow.
"At this point you have forty-five seconds to stop your collection from being ruined."
Caspian sits up, blearily staring at the light in the room, stumbles past the clock which he deactivates, and slowly picks up pace as he moves to catch the rolling car just as it rolls out of his room.
"Don't forget to check the calendar! Lots of wheels in motion, as usual!"
Soon he has a collection of bags with tags balanced on top of his books and a rucksack slung over his shoulder while the tape player continues.
"Note to self, automate breakfast so I don't forget it again."
Caspian winces with his hand on the doorknob, sighs, and steps outside as the tape ends.
<Clip>
Two teams stand facing one another, across a muddy football pitch. Dirty rain blankets the area. Jane is there too, panting heavily. Her sporting uniform is barely visible beneath the layers of grime; Her long hair keeps getting blown into her eyes; And she can barely manage to stop shivering from the cold. But nonetheless, she's smiling. What a game this has been! And it's not over yet. All attention is focused on the grimy sphere that will decide everything. One way or another, Jane will get it past the enemy goalie. The referee blows her whistle...
</Clip>
Yuki Akuma
2017-02-12, 05:28 PM
In another place...
Mimi stands on one of School's many tennis courts, across from a dark shadowy figure that's hard to make out. Suddenly, Mimi slumps down, gasping for breath as fatigue catches up with her. The shadowy figure takes this opportunity to leap across the net, claws and fangs bared, aiming right at the fox-eared girl!
Mimi digs down deep within the well of her soul, and lets out a primal scream as lightning flashes across her body, a fox-shaped aura of flames erupting around her. She gives the shadowy beast a wicked grin, shifts one foot back into a stance, then unleashes a brilliant beam of plasma!
Nobody's ever really been able to get an explanation out of Mimi for why she burned down a tennis court.
Click, click, click.
The final bell had rung, signaling the end of the school day.
Click, click, click.
Maxwell, rider dweeb, walked along the empty hallways, eyes on an open door at it's end.
Click, click, click.
He taps the metal tip of his umbrella against the tiles.
Click, click, click.
Through the door there is, just visible, another student who is seated and discussing something with other, unseen students. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Maxwell's approach.
Click, click, click.
She shouts something, then leaps for the door, hoping to close it in-
Click, click, shhhhhh-
Suddenly, a pale sword jammed in the crack of the door, just in time.
"Hello," said Maxwell, "I heard your writing club was having an open reading!"
The student sighs, "Yes," she say, glancing at the thick stack of papers under the rider's arm. She can just make out the bolded title of the papers-
In the room, there's the sound of muffled discussion, swears and the occasional soft sob.
A 75 page novella of how I, MAXWELL THE MAGNIFICENT, defeated the GREA-
-the title continued on, with the font size gradually shrinking until it could no longer be seen.
She took a deep breath and opened the door.
Merilan
2017-02-12, 10:44 PM
<Clip>
Two teams stand facing one another, across a muddy football pitch. Dirty rain blankets the area. Jane is there too, panting heavily. Her sporting uniform is barely visible beneath the layers of grime; Her long hair keeps getting blown into her eyes; And she can barely manage to stop shivering from the cold. But nonetheless, she's smiling. What a game this has been! And it's not over yet. All attention is focused on the grimy sphere that will decide everything. One way or another, Jane will get it past the enemy goalie. The referee blows her whistle...
</Clip>
The school washroom was dark, with the lights off. Cold and barren, with a clammy and unwelcoming feel.
A single drip of water falls from a faucet.
The droplet touched against a rectangular sink, rippling and reflecting the sight of Ruza staring out the window, gazing at the game that's going on down below. The scene panned towards her profile as a single burnt ofuda floated into sight against the water's surface, and then burst into a small spiritual flame. The reflection turned into a drowning youkai, before rippling back to reality. A low howl echoed through the washroom.
Her attention was not on her enemy, but on the grimy sphere that will decide everything, too.
"You can do it, Jane..." Ruza whispered to no one in particular, but she knew Jane would know. Jane always succeeded, after all.
Afgncaap5
2017-02-13, 03:17 PM
<Clip>
Two teams stand facing one another, across a muddy football pitch. Dirty rain blankets the area. Jane is there too, panting heavily. Her sporting uniform is barely visible beneath the layers of grime; Her long hair keeps getting blown into her eyes; And she can barely manage to stop shivering from the cold. But nonetheless, she's smiling. What a game this has been! And it's not over yet. All attention is focused on the grimy sphere that will decide everything. One way or another, Jane will get it past the enemy goalie. The referee blows her whistle...
</Clip>
Caspian convulsed as his hand brushed against the live wire again, his quick shriek drowned out by the sound of the crowd in the bleachers overhead and in front of him.
<It's too late>, said a voice inside himself. Caspian was too tired to roll his eyes. He looked up and wiped the the droplets of rain out of his eyes, wishing it wasn't being filtered through the gaps in the bleachers up above. He looked through the narrow slots in the seats and, by a wild coincidence, saw Jane on the field and, more importantly, the grimy sphere that would decide everything. He smiled.
"I dunno," said Caspian. "Never too late for school spirit."
He gritted his teeth, grabbed the unconnected power cable in the wet, grimy grass, and reached out for the live wire, trying to avoid its frays so that he could connect them, ignoring the sound of amused roaring in the back of his mind.
Hollyhock God
2017-02-13, 05:48 PM
The opening credits ends with a group shot of the cast in School uniforms, looking either like a yearbook photo or the hottest hip hop album to drop in Town since Jade Irinka fell. A bloody hand-print stains the bottom left corner. Drops of blood on the picture eventually spell out the words:
WRITTEN and DIRECTED by THE HOLLYHOCK GOD.
We hear the bells of School ringing and pan over the sprawling, crumbling cityscape of Horizon. Unwordly Tribes and undead things slink into the shadows and catacombs beneath the buildings. The new sun silhouettes School, the tallest building for miles, looming and impressive beyond reason or comprehension. An Evil Island descends from the sky and parks in thousands of parking spaces in the School's otherwise vacant parking lot.
The camera swoops by a menacing nimblejack perching like a gargoyle on one of the massive building's windows and into a classroom where all of our main characters are gathered sitting at their desks chatting.
It is home room class. It is the middle of this useless period and naturally you are bored out of your skull. The home room teacher, a cat who you are not sure the name of but are very clear about her qualifications (she has a degree!), sits at the front of the class grooming her calico paws. She makes no attempt to curtail the game playing, paper airplanes flying, gossip and high school drama brewing. The class is noisy and lively and yet somehow you can't wait to hear the bell ring and move on to your next class, Math with Mr. Red.
He may be a homicidal maniac, but at least Mr. Red can keep your attention for a period, and when he's not glaring with blood thirsty madness in his eyes he isn't a bad teacher either. Better than this cat anyway. How does she avoid getting fired? How did she write her thesis paper and get that cute little degree? These are questions nobody asks because all of this...
...like everything else you see in School...
...is perfectly normal!
And here we go!
You are trying to accomplish your Quest goals, your Basic Quest, invoke your Emotion XP and do two XP Actions. The Gothic options are always available but you may use the others if you get approval from me (and risk a greater than usual chance at gaining Issues). After doing an XP Action minimal "fading" is expected.
Remember you can only get one 1 XP goal from a Storyline Quest per chapter, so the faster we push ahead the faster you will progress through them. If you would like something specific or unlikely to occur spontaneously from your Quest to happen you may simply narrate the situation occurring as you wish or request of me to work it in the next scene or so.
Were any of your opening sequence Ritual actions of particular significance that you want to declare them an XP Action? I really liked what I got from everybody.
Afgncaap5
2017-02-14, 12:27 PM
Caspian kept chatting with everyone sitting nearby, but his eyes kept drifting to the clock. How could it still be the middle of class?
"I swear, it takes ten minutes for a single minute to advance on that clock sometimes..."
He glanced down at the paper showing the problematic class schedules complete with not-quite-Euclidean floor plans and probably linear timetables. Getting the laser disc players and slide projectors to their destinations between classes would be hard enough even if the schedule made sense. If he could somehow make a delivery at roughly negative one-half way through third period (a time that was, apparently, not the same as just half-way through second period) then everything would flow properly.
Caspian's eyes flickered back to the clock and beheld exactly the same time again. He narrowed his eyes and was just about to begin counting seconds mentally when he saw the second-hand jump forward, apparently at a regular pace.
Caspian slumped forward onto his desk.
"Time has left us here... we'll die of boredom, forgotten... this moment will continue for us as our true selves continue moving forward through the timeline, with us never again synchronizing with our future... so bored."
Merilan
2017-02-14, 04:33 PM
Ruza was quiet as she focused upon her studies, but unlike those that were afflicted with boredom, she was afflicted with something a bit more mundane: Trouble with her understanding.
Ruza couldn't really understand Math, she always struggled at it. There was a level of abstraction that she felt alienated from, the way you expressed numbers as things that don't exist and the way you split and divide them and had to use formulas espoused by people who died long ago that she never met or spoke to, since as taught, it'll point towards some universal truth, like what the ratio of a circle's circumference was to its diameter, or what the hypotenuse of a triangle was--
It's vexing.
She set her pencil down and stared at the mess of numbers she'd started working with, increasingly creating more and more fragmented decimals and no closer to a clean, simple answer.
She flicked her eyes up and around, but was too nervous to ask for help. But the clock was ticking, and she didn't want to go to class without her homework finished... even if she'd spent all night on it...
Maxwell M. Maxim, legendary destroyer of scriptwriters and astounding humbler of liars, was feeling the bore set it. The yawning slowness of a ticking clock settling in like a great migratory bird.
He looked around, betwixt the occasional paper plane, seeing a lassitude touch some of his fellow students.
This simply couldn't be allowed! Not while he, astounding, if slightly restless student.
The rider lept up upon his desk, pointed his umbrella dramatically at the clock and said with a firm, clear voice, "This class is boring and not full of monsters at all!"
His words clicked out of his mouth with sharpness and an unexpected aural quality- they sounded like the sensation of a warm, crackling fire.
And they came out, more importantly, an absolute, 100% complete contradiction of what was actually happening.
They were, in short, all lies.
Due to his Alchemist arc, the locality currently has the property Maxwell's statements must contradict that which is.
He's trying to use his magical skill Axiomatic Speaker to bend reality around his words such that they become an obvious falsehood, which of course has an obstacle of 3, and if possible is leaning on the region property.
He's spending 1 point of will regardless.
4 Axiomatic + 1 will + 2 property - 3 obstacle = Intention of 4, for "Make my statement false, thus freeing us from the boredom of a placid class free of terrifying monsters."
Assuming he can't use the region property to help make his statement false, he instead musters an intention of 2.
Make of that what you will!
Afgncaap5
2017-02-16, 02:01 AM
Caspian saw Maxwell jump onto his desk and brandish his umbrella! His eyes flickered from the umbrella to the clock it was pointing at and then back to Maxim's dramatic pose.
"Wha-... Max, what are you talking ab-"
Suddenly, Caspian's eyes grew wide and his hands clutched the edge of the table. From deep inside him he felt a stirring of claws, a skirring of feathers, and a slinking of scales. He felt something... he felt Chios... stretching curiously, as if a very, very wrong answer had been given to a riddle that hadn't been posed.
Caspian looked back and forth, suddenly worried.
"Max, uh... there's at least one that... that wants you to know that there's at least one..."
Caspian stands, frantically not sure what's about to happen. He grabs a few nearby vacant desks and drags them into a triangular shape around himself.
Not sure how best what to make of it, but if nothing else it'd be strong enough to make Chios wake up a bit.
Also, it may be a bit early for a major story reward, but I note that I've technically constructed "some kind of defensive perimeter", though I don't know if protecting others from Chios would count as well as protecting myself from other things might be.
Hollyhock God
2017-02-16, 12:11 PM
After Max's white hot declaration there is a sudden lull in the noise in the room. All eyes, even the yellow cat eyes of the home room teacher, begin looking around to see what will happen next. Some follow Caspian's example and begin bracing for anything. The anticipation lingers for a moment, palpable to everyone.
Then, a note on a shamisen (https://www.youtube.com/shared?ci=NJg1_qHzMxI) is plucked, breaking the silence. The teacher leaps three feet in the air in surprise.
A pale girl at the front of the class plays her antiquated instrument for a few bars before turning to face the Rider boy. In synchronized movements three pale boys of varying levels of obvious delinquency also turn. They are all wearing the Dead Colours.
They are the Sanzu River Gang and they have a wicked gleam in their eyes (save for the girl, who keeps hers shut). They don't seem monstrous but rumours abound that the Sanzu River Gang constitute all that is left of some unwordly tribe of vaguely demonic origin.
One of the boys, Juzo, stands up. He has a kendo training sword (or bokken) slung over his shoulder and his shirt is not tucked in. He points his wooden weapon at the grandstanding Rider and says with trademark delinquent coolness; "You wanna go? My blade longs to taste blood, I have kept it asleep for so long. Will you be the one to justify its long slumber?"
He tilted his head to the side. The girl (whose name is Dayu) plays a few dramatic notes on her shamisen to underline the challenge. The other kids (and the cat) remain in edge-of-their-seats silence.
"Don't you dare!"
A new voice rang out across the classroom. The veil of boredom receded, to reveal Jane Smith. She'd actually always been there, of course. Jane was in every class. The camera just didn't linger on her during the monotonous middle part. But now that Maxwell had dispelled said monotony, she was free to draw focus. Jane moved to stand between the two brewing factions. Her immaculately tailored uniform contrasted sharply with the sloppy delinquent ones.
"You just let that sword keep sleeping! Hit its snooze alarm and sing it a lullaby. Kendo duels are for the practice ring! If anyone draws an unauthorised weapon around here, then be prepared to lose it."
That was no idle threat. Jane had the power to confiscate bothersome items like that. Admittedly, the technique had its limits. It couldn't take Maxwell's sword while in umbrella form, for instance. And it couldn't confiscate these ruffians fists, should they decide to use them. In which case, Jane would reluctantly (though not very reluctantly) be forced to show them what a real punch felt like...
Hollyhock God
2017-02-16, 02:04 PM
"Need your girlfriend to protect you Maxim?" Juzo taunts. The other two boys laugh. Dayu covers her mouth and suppresses a feminine giggle. "Thought that umbrella would be good for something. Ah well."
He puts the bokken back behind his shoulder.
Pfft.
Maxim swung his umbrella around, stabbing it's point into his desk, neatly impaling undone homework.
He opened his mouth to say, no, Jane wasn't his girlfriend, then caught himself just in time.
The rider sneered at Juzo, "I don't need anyone's help! Once, with this blade I defeated no less than a hundred ogres all with one hand tied behind my back! I remember it like it was yesterday..."
He took a deep breath.
"...It was a dark and stormy night, the worst since time began! The thunder shook the very earth, nay, the very pillars that uphold the ground, such that even the mighty mountains shivered in fear that their roots might be made forfeit from the pealing shouts of the sky; yea, the rain was so crushing, so flooding that the earth itself began to drown beneath the waves (And as I understand it some human made a ship), such was the monumental quality of water that sprang from the vault of the heavens! And despite this downpour, which would surely have completely impaired a lesser man, I was utterly unencumbered, for the water and the wind so feared me that nary a single drop deigned to splash upon my vestment; those fool thunderclaps that dared rustle my hair were soon bisected by my impossible blade! And..."
"...these were not merely ogres, these were unto the ogres what gods are to men! They were beings divine, of unquestionable strength and power. This mother of storms, this matriarch of the power of air and water bothered them no more than it did me! They stood, unshaken, before thunder that did send shivers into the bones of mountains! So great was their strength that when the water rose above them, they gripped this titanic ocean, this vast sea of water and air; they did toss it away with the contempt that one might a displaced paper or napkin. Such was their power, which drew from a source so primal that it predated man itself, from the very concept of fear and the tearing of flesh and bone. They were borne of the nightmares of gods, given flesh by fear and pain! But you must remember..."
Maxim continued to speak. Words cascaded from his mouth in an unstoppable flood, one after the other. They cut through the ambient noise, passing straight thorough the fog of inattention to be heard.
It quickly became obvious he'd just.. keep... talking until someone shut him up.
Merilan
2017-02-16, 10:34 PM
Ruza blinked a few times, her eyes widening for a moment--
--but it settled as soon as quickly as it widened, and she turned to lower her head to face her papers instead. She didn't need this distraction. She only had the gap of time between now and the end of homeroom to finish her homework. This was normal. Annoying, but normal. Right now, she was more terrified about the consequences about not being able to find the solution to what x and H were in the right-angled triangle, given that the angle was 51 degrees... er... or was that the right angle? It was on the right, right?
The Outside will always be the Outside. Demons will always be demons. Boys will be boys. Boisterousness will always be boisterousness.
But math...
This was one challenge she couldn't overcome. "Jane, I need help," she begged, seemingly more concerned about her homework than
Jane stood helpless before Maxim's new assault. Interrupting an illegal fight was one thing. Interrupting a heartfelt, passionate speech was quite another. It went against her basic nature. She hovered uncertainly, as the seemingly endless tale unfurled: Until, at last, four simple words freed her.
"Jane, I need help."
And just like that, Jane was by Ruza's side. The prince of liars vanished from her mental radar. All that mattered now was helping her dear friend.
"Maths trouble again, Ruza? Don't fret. We'll get through this together. Let's take each problem step by step..."
Yuki Akuma
2017-02-16, 11:54 PM
What has Mimi, the fox-eared girl in the back of the room been doing all this time?
She's been sleeping. She's simply that bored. And, well, she was up all night fighting mischevious monsters like she has been for the past several nights.
Maxwell's sudden declaration does startle her a bit, but it's not until he starts to outright rant about his obviously-fake past deeds that she actually lifts her head up to look blearily at him. With a yawn, she sits up and stretches. "Man, Max, do you ever shut up? Some of us are trying to sle- uh, think."
What has Mimi, the fox-eared girl in the back of the room been doing all this time?
She's been sleeping. She's simply that bored. And, well, she was up all night fighting mischevious monsters like she has been for the past several nights.
Maxwell's sudden declaration does startle her a bit, but it's not until he starts to outright rant about his obviously-fake past deeds that she actually lifts her head up to look blearily at him. With a yawn, she sits up and stretches. "Man, Max, do you ever shut up? Some of us are trying to sle- uh, think."
The rider blinked. He wanted to respond, he really did. After all, not responding to someone talking to him probably violated some deep-set and integral part of his personal dharma or something.
But at the same time, shutting up to do so would be almost as bad.
He decided to split the difference.
Maxwell poured himself into his words, into his story- he poured the cold flame and the static diamonds, he poured the darkness and the light of the void-
He closed his mouth to cut the string, to free the burning words from his mouth, to leave them hanging in the air like crystalline fire. To make them echo and resound, self-supporting and self-consuming, an oroborus of tales that folded in on itself, that constantly and endless reflected like a soul trapped in a hall of mirrors.
Magic again! (He should probably not indulge so much in this so early in the day, but gosh darn-it what's the point of magic if you can't prove a point.)
Maxwell is trying to make his words self-supporting and somewhat eternal, ala the obstacle 3 version of his skill.
I'm not sure if the region property will be helping in this case! It feels a bit edge. If you'd like to rule that it does, I'll revise my Will expenditure, otherwise:
Flames From the Void 4 + Will 2 - Obstacle 3 = Intention 3 for "Make my rant last forever (or at least for the rest of school or something).
Also, I'm probably still supporting the old intention of "Make something interesting happen with magic." If there are no objections, I'll mark that one as a success and let it end- he made interesting things happen! A gang showed up and he's about to make a living word oroborus!
If you agree, that leaves him at 6/8 Will, otherwise 5/8 Will. (If his region property helps him out, then instead that's 7/8 or 8/8, as I'm mostly interested in this effect happening, rather than in it being productive or effective at anything.)
Hollyhock God
2017-02-17, 12:16 PM
The words from Max's mouth blossom like wildfire, shatter and reforge themselves like molten glass, writing themselves, speaking themselves, being in and of themselves. Like a balloon untethered the rant bobs and floats towards the teacher's desk, enticing the feline educator to bat at it like a sparkly toy mouse.
"You're all talk, Maxim," snorted Juzo as he sat back down. "You're so full of nonsense it has literally taken on a life if its own. Akumaro, give 'em the score.
The tallest of the three Sanzu boys, Akumaro has a constant grin just a bit too wide for his teenage face. His eyes sometimes looks like two hungry little fanged maws. He points a finger at the Rider boy and tilts his head back. "After school, by the flagpole, two students enter unscathed, only one leaves their hide, and their pride, intact. Don't make Juzo wait, if his sword awakens he cannot resheathe it until it has tasted blood. Oh, I'm beside myself with excitement!"
The bell rings. The teacher is too occupied with Maxim's self-propelled soliloquy to do anything else, but the students know what to do. You have fifteen minutes before next period Math begins. Something always happens before class starts however. The Sanzu River Gang pack up their stuff and keep their eyes on Max menacingly.
So this is your first break. Do with it as you will. Talk amongst each other. Do your own thing. Declare unlikely Quest fodder occurring. Have strange things happen and act like it was just a mild distraction on the way to class. A Region Property aids any attempt to create a significant event. If this event causes you trouble it might even reward you with Will/MP
"...So then we cancel out those two parts of the equation. Doesn't it look simpler now?"
Jane left side by side with Ruza. She patiently guided her fellow student through the forest of mathematics. Every so often, she'd search the other girl's face for traces of comprehension. Was any of this getting through? It would be useless to simply tell her the answers. Jane needed to teach Ruza how to find them on her own. Until one day, she'd stop needing Jane's help at all. Ruza would spread her wings and fly away; Just like all the others.
Yuki Akuma
2017-02-17, 02:22 PM
Mimi has an inkling in her head - she could probably use her own magic to spoil Maxwell's display. But was she petty enough to do that?
Yes, absolutely. Unfortunately for her, Maxwell's immortal lies are saved by the bell, quite literally. With an overdramatic sigh, the fox-eared girl gets to her feet and streeeetches. The challenge to Maxwell from the Sanzu River Gang does have her slightly on edge though. Maxwell may be a horrifix creature of Nothingness - maybe, Mimi had her suspicions - but at least he usually behaved himself. Those three, though?
Walking over to him as she makes to leave the room, she attempts to put an arm around his shoulder. "Hey, Maxim. If those guys give you too much trouble, come find me, okay? I like you marginally more than I like them." At least she's honest. "On my ears and my tail, I promise I'll aid you if you ask for it." She puts a weird emphasis on 'promise' there. Not to mention swearing on her own physical features.
Merilan
2017-02-17, 08:29 PM
Jane knew that it would be a long journey, which required patience and understanding from her. For Ruza, mathematics was one of the subjects which she had trouble digesting; there was a certain axiom upon which the formulas sat upon that seemed foreign to her, who was accustomed, some say by virtue of being, to open interpretation. "I see..." Ruza nodded, smiling very softly and quietly at Jane. "When you show me, it seems so simple. The numbers simply... work with each other, and divide cleanly. Where is it that I stray, I wonder? It is as if I am trying too hard to force them to do what they couldn't."
She closed her notebook and packed up her bag, bowing towards Jane, her tengu wings flicking very gently as she shuffled up to her feet. "Your performance yesterday, at the football match..." She lowered her head. "It was really good."
I think that was a good Shared Action!
Jane knew that it would be a long journey, which required patience and understanding from her. For Ruza, mathematics was one of the subjects which she had trouble digesting; there was a certain axiom upon which the formulas sat upon that seemed foreign to her, who was accustomed, some say by virtue of being, to open interpretation. "I see..." Ruza nodded, smiling very softly and quietly at Jane. "When you show me, it seems so simple. The numbers simply... work with each other, and divide cleanly. Where is it that I stray, I wonder? It is as if I am trying too hard to force them to do what they couldn't."
"Numbers are defined by the rules they follow. If you try to make '3' greater than '4', then it loses its identity. I think a lot of your troubles stem from a reluctance to accept that."
After so many tutoring sessions, Jane had a decent sense of Ruza's mathematical issues. Ruza wasn't stupid, or unmotivated. She just had trouble with rigid frameworks. In time, Jane hoped to teach her the value of conforming to a common standard.
She closed her notebook and packed up her bag, bowing towards Jane, her tengu wings flicking very gently as she shuffled up to her feet. "Your performance yesterday, at the football match..." She lowered her head. "It was really good."
Jane allowed herself a bashful smile. Being praised like this felt satisfying. However, she was quick to reign in that satisfaction before it grew too big. Excessive pride would make her role more difficult.
"Thank you! I think I stood out a bit too much, though."
Afgncaap5
2017-02-17, 11:54 PM
Caspian finishes extricating himself from the small desk-fort he'd fashioned. He overhears Mimi's promise to Maxim and pauses at the door of the class, thinking. He turns back.
"Uh, hey... Maxim? Me as well. I mean, I doubt I'll be as useful as Mimi, but if you need any kind of preparation or... really positive moral support that flies in the face of reality... well, you've probably got that covered, but... look, if you need anything for the fight that Mimi can't cover, I've got your back. Any plans?"
Merilan
2017-02-18, 12:08 AM
"'3' is only defined by its relation to '2' and '4'... forever greater than 2, yet never greater than 4..." Ruza murmured to herself, closing her eyes and shutting her eyes. "There is a sadness in these numbers... I feel..."
Ruza tilted her head with a quiet smile, before glancing to Maxim, Caspian and Mimi. She wasn't sure she would be of any help in a fight, really, but... "Are you going to be all right...? I could help or-- um, talk to a teacher for you, perhaps?"
Afgncaap5
2017-02-18, 01:41 PM
"Do you think many of the teachers would actually help? I mean..."
Caspian glances back in to the class at the teacher, currently batting a crumpled hall pass between its paws.
"...okay, maybe not a fair example, but you know the kinds of teachers around here. Even the well meaning ones are a little... I mean, just look at my deliveries: I've personally spoken to some of the teachers that I can't deliver to, and they just can't seem to help me. I'd love their help, but they're just as confused as I am. Doesn't mean it still isn't somehow my fault, of course. Ugh..."
Fair to call that an XP for complaining about the state of my investigations?
Jane found it strange to treat numbers as if they were people. But then, wasn't it strange to treat school spirit as if it were a person?
"Maybe those numbers are perfectly content with their place in life. There's nothing wrong with enjoying the part you've been chosen to play."
The talk about Maxim's duel passed right through her. Now that the brawling had been rescheduled to a more appropriate time and place, Jane had no problem with it. It was just sword fighting in class that bothered her.
Mimi has an inkling in her head - she could probably use her own magic to spoil Maxwell's display. But was she petty enough to do that?
Yes, absolutely. Unfortunately for her, Maxwell's immortal lies are saved by the bell, quite literally. With an overdramatic sigh, the fox-eared girl gets to her feet and streeeetches. The challenge to Maxwell from the Sanzu River Gang does have her slightly on edge though. Maxwell may be a horrifix creature of Nothingness - maybe, Mimi had her suspicions - but at least he usually behaved himself. Those three, though?
Walking over to him as she makes to leave the room, she attempts to put an arm around his shoulder. "Hey, Maxim. If those guys give you too much trouble, come find me, okay? I like you marginally more than I like them." At least she's honest. "On my ears and my tail, I promise I'll aid you if you ask for it." She puts a weird emphasis on 'promise' there. Not to mention swearing on her own physical features.
Caspian finishes extricating himself from the small desk-fort he'd fashioned. He overhears Mimi's promise to Maxim and pauses at the door of the class, thinking. He turns back.
"Uh, hey... Maxim? Me as well. I mean, I doubt I'll be as useful as Mimi, but if you need any kind of preparation or... really positive moral support that flies in the face of reality... well, you've probably got that covered, but... look, if you need anything for the fight that Mimi can't cover, I've got your back. Any plans?"
A part of Maxim demanded that he shake off their comfort and pity and rage against them, that these were petty insects beneath him!
He did none of those things. The rider looked up to the spinning words, floating like lost embers or flower petals on the wind. They should have seemed familiar, these cold fire and crystal bits of magic, plucked from a far and distant land. Instead...
He felt a touch of apprehension, a bit of fear, maybe? Maxwell glanced at Mimi and Caspian, his eyes full of emptiness and falling stars; there was some of that, something slight worried and maybe even vulnerable-
For just a second, a trace of something- then he shook himself and coughed awkwardly.
"Thanks. I.. appreciate it", he said.
And that was... a truth.
"I, er, ah, do have a plan!", Maxwell said, "All I need to do is catch one of his goons on their lonesome and, well-"
He glanced over at Jane, then continued, "-the rest certainly doesn't involve anything that might violate school rules or policies!"
Hollyhock God
2017-02-20, 12:31 PM
The bell rings for the start of the next period, and you all have Mr. Red's Math class. The room is ghoulishly decorated, dried and fresh blood staining most of the desks, walls and posters, both the educational (the first million digits of pi) and the motivational ("you don't have to be crazy to work here, but it helps!").
Red himself is a bug eyed fiend of a man, his eyebrows animated, his clothes unkempt, his fingers nervously wringing and his sweater stained with flecks of red. "Ha ha, what a mess!" he laughs nervously as the class enters, fetching a clothe and spray bottle of vinegar. "I just got so caught up in today's lesson I plum forgot to tidy this place up a bit. Do come in and find your seats!"
There are quite a few students who are supposed to be here missing. Besides the main characters there were only three other students, one of them, Dayu of the Sanzu River Gang. Several people you know should have been here because you had seen them earlier in the day are very conspicuously not present.
Mr. Red wipes his white board down with a cloth until a patch of it is acceptably light pink enough to begin writing. He begins sketching an elaborate algebra problem, using the occasional skull or bloody knife in his symbols as is his hilarious quirk. He cackles to himself as he does so, interspersed with the occasional "No! No! NO! WRONG!" followed by a furious arm sleeve erasing and a completely different formula.
The other students yawn. Pretty normal stuff.
It only took a quick glance at the classroom to make Jane nervous. Attendance was far too poor. Jane searched in vain for faces that she knew should be there. Even Kari Lane was absent. That girl had once dragged herself to class with one foot caught in a bear trap. Someone with that much school spirit would never play truant. She and those other students had gone capital-M Missing. Determined to [right this wrong/maintain perfect attendance], Jane [slipped out the door/took a seat at her desk]. Duty demanded that she [wander the hallways/take excellent notes] until [the students were rescued/the lesson ended].
I think that this is an Obsessive Action. Jane will travel the school, in pursuit of the lost souls. Other PCs are still free to interact with her, though. She's in the class with them too.
Hollyhock God
2017-02-21, 02:20 PM
As Jane [sits at her desk/slips away to investigate] the shamisen playing Dayu waits for Mimi to enter Mr. Red's class. When she does she waves a hand calmly but insistently at her.
If she responds and sits near her, Dayu smiles a sickly wan grin and asks her: "Are you doing anything Friday night, kitsune?"
She strums a note on her stringed instrument. It sounds mournful. "I happen to know a half-yokai who has his eyes on that tail of yours. Ever seen Juzo slice an apple into the shape of a crane? It's quite impressive."
After writing out his (existentially horrifying) algebra equation, Mr. Red turns around and says; "Last night's homework people, right here on my desk!" He uses a damp rag to make sure there is an eight and a half by eleven space on it where your papers won't begin sopping up blood.
Merilan
2017-02-21, 03:03 PM
Ruza had to always wonder -- how could someone as chaotic as Mr. Red teach something as frighteningly axiomatic as algebra? There seemed to be a fundamental contradiction that she couldn't understand... yet, she knew contradiction. It was everywhere in her life. She took her seat gently and looked at her homework, smiling at Jane for a moment and then down again at her homework.
She stood up and handed her homework, expressing, "Here it is, Mr. Red, I did my best..." as she handed it in to the desk pile.
Yuki Akuma
2017-02-21, 03:57 PM
Once she enters the classroom, Mimi promptly flops down into her seat and places her head against the desk. So tired. She should really start drinking coffee like her parents if she's going to be staying up all night and then going to School the next day. And she has her shift at the shrine gift shop this afternoon!
Her grades are starting to suffer, honestly. She's never been great at academics to begin with, but even the teachers might be starting to figure out there's something going on that's making her lose focus on schoolwork. Or maybe not. The teachers are mostly insane, after all.
I'm not sure whether I'm supposed to post yet. If not, then please ignore the following.
"Hello? Is anyone here?"
Jane shivered a little. This part of the school was always so cold. There were a lot of competing rumours as to the reason for that. Hidden frost elemental? Witch's curse? Cuts to the heating budget? Regardless, it meant that barely anyone came here during the day. The Night School lot pretty much had it to themselves: Or at least they had, until students started turning up here for no apparent reason.
"Kari? Rin? Eldiansandeialpus?"
Jane rubbed her hands together as she walked. It made sense to start the search in an unpleasant place like this. If someone had got trapped here, then they couldn't afford to linger. Next, Jane planned to check around the library's infamous Restricted Section...
Afgncaap5
2017-02-22, 04:30 PM
Caspian tosses his homework onto the pile and indulges Chios enough to give a jaunty salute to Mr. Red before turning back to the desks. As he sits, he notes Mimi's utter exhaustion and assumes that it probably has some cause beyond... or at least in addition to... whatever the shamisen player is saying to her.
He leans over enough to let his whisper carry without interrupting Mr. Red's frantc expressions of algebra. "You okay? You seem kinda beat today."
Yuki Akuma
2017-02-22, 06:22 PM
It evidently takes Mimi several moment to realise someone's actually talking to her. "Bwuh...?" She looks up at Dayu, who she seems to just have automatically sat next to. "Friday..? I have (yawn) work on Friday... Although I guess I don't work at night..." Bleary-eyed blink. Then a sudden blush. "My tail? H-hey, come on, that euphemism's a bit explicit isn't it...?" She does not appear to be rejecting the attempted set-up, though.
Caspian is given a glance. Yawn. "'M fine," she lies, before getting up to hand in her homework. Her... acceptable homework. Like, probably a C grade, anyway.
Afgncaap5
2017-02-26, 04:27 PM
Caspian nodded. "If you say so."
He glanced at the teacher. Mr. Red was agitated by the math, which was perfectly normal and meant class would be entertaining but potentially dangerous. Still, idle chatter was probably safe enough. He leaned back to speak to Mimi again.
"Do you know anyone in class with a... my notes say 'Mrs. Bertram'? I've got a video on laser disc for her class, but I can't even figure out where her class... is. Or what she teaches. Usually I can at least find one of those two things. Anyway, does that name ring any bells?"
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