>>1007417
>increase intensity of training?
Maybe when we have a better way of reducing stress, but for now, my answer is no thank you.

>adopt Meowret?
I don’t think we should, I’d be worried for the Meowret‘s safety. I know it’s only a 15% chance for a pet related shenanigan to happen, but since the Meowret would spend most of its time in our room, it could be dangerous during those shenanigans!

Our room is also our lab where we experiment with Runes. If the Meowret bumps into something or knocks something over or sits on something we’re currently working on, it might activate a Rune and set itself on fire or something! I’d feel terrible if it ends up getting hurt or killed by some Rune related accident in our room!

Of course, I don’t want to leave it here or take it to the Outreach Shelter, so I think we should bring it home and let Pon or Noodle have it.

>>1007417
>pet
Uh... I don't know. How likely is it to break some of our stuff? Magitech inventions are expensive. If we can keep it out of our fragiles, then sure. Everyone should own a pet at least once, it's a good learning experience! After the gambling background task ends we can use that slot for the pet.

>[???] Its… So… PRECIOUS!!!! <3 <3 <3
Hmmm... Maternal Instinct? Love? Hormones? If Anger can be a stat, then I don't see why Love can't be one.

>guile stuff, soft cap requirements
Why only intimidation and deception? What about stealth and lie detection? I wonder if Noodle has learned much about stealth, maybe we can ask her for advice.

>goals
Pay off Debt
Befriend Pawn, or at least get a Contact relationship with him
Find out what Black Lotus wants
Visit Nub in Dopus

>UNDERSTANDING's task
Find a compound rune or special runescripting skill.

>time points
Negotiation class. With either a TA or a Tutor.
Bond with William. Ask how his goals are going, and if he has decided how he's going to build Karma. It should be obvious what you're doing, by now, and it seems like Marth is taking a path of violence. Nothing wrong with that really, so long as she stays true to herself.

>>1007417
>Your body is becoming firmer and more muscular, especially in your LEGS and THIGHS
If we keep going, Chi is gonna have some thicc thighs! Eventually, we'll be able to crush someone's head between our thighs! (And I don't mean that in a sexual way, I'm serious about being able to crush an enemy's head as an attack.)

>Pet
Awww! It's so cute! Can we please keep it?

Bring that thing to the shelter, no thank you.
New goals: Business time! And while we’re at it, goal: get an edge over the human kingdom. Probably some invention of runescripting you’ve solved and they haven’t! Publicly anyway.

I agree with others, Chi's household is probably not the best for a pet.
Might wanna tell our friends in case they want a go at it, though.

Adopt the meowret and take care of it as a background task. Yes to the enhanced training.

Oh yeah I'll vote yes for the intensified dojo training as well. Stress can be managed while being productive, thanks to meditation, the mind campus project, and book memorization.

AUTHORS NOTE: You can only have 3 BG tasks going on so if you adopt the pet you'll need to drop a BG task since you're full, or spend at least 1 tp a year with them, so keep that in mind.

>>1007537
I'd drop gambling for the kitty.

TP 1: Negotiation Class
TP 2: Meditation

Pet: I don't know if its as great for us... but Pon could use a mascot!

Go for the intense training.

I'm against a pet at this time, though I'm not against asking if our roomies want it before taking it to the outreach folks.

The pay off debt goal suggested is reasonable.

I think we should put aside a time slot for Ignis. That's all he really wants despite doing so much for us. We should show him that we appreciate him.

I also think we should meditate. We recently had another weird migraine, that usually means we need to do something mentally.

If we do the negotiation class this update, id say do it with a TA instead of a tutor.

I want to save our tutor money for Tactics class as our last class next time (if we do that class after this update as one of our final time points. Otherwise we'll save the 2000 for ignis). Strategy and Guile works well together, so raising strat up as much as we can with the tutor will be very helpful

>>1007417
>Legs and thighs are getting more muscular
Why do I feel like we could become Chun Li if we keep training like this? We might be able to emulate some of her moves and start kicking really fast!

>Pet
I agree with everyone saying that it'd be too dangerous for us to keep it. For now, let's bring it home and see if one of our friends wants to adopt it.

Edmango 2021/08/12(Thu)06:03 No. 1007726 ID: afe7de
File 162877338180.png - (69.96KB , 500x500 , SR_186.png )

> NO PET
You’re concerned about adopting this poor fellow, you’re always so busy and you handle volatile materials frequently that you’d be worried of it HURTING ITSELF. You think it would take you SEVERAL TP to train the thing, maybe less because you are GOOD AT TEACHING. But you feel bad for it and think it would be cute if PON had a mascot, so you bring it home and talk with your friends. It slinks around you curling around your arm and neck eventually settling on your hat. It’s a cute little creature. After some discussion at home PON decides to adopt it with IGNIS’S blessing, so long as it’s TRAINED PROPERLY. PON decides to name the creature DORA. It squeaks excitedly and seems to enjoy it’s new home. You keep your door closed for the most part while it’s being trained just so it doesn’t get hurt by your inventions.

> NEW GOALS AND BG TASKS
You decide to set yourself a new goal, PAY OFF YOUR DEBT EARLY. You were already planning on paying it off, but setting a personal goal to do it faster will put a bit of a fire under your tail-feathers. Perhaps the emotional reward will make it feel better.

Your torn between what to do for your second goal, but feel like the general idea should be STARTING YOUR RUNESCRIPTING BUSINESS. You’re not sure if it will take the form of a GUILD, or a COMPANY, you think that it’s important. You’re also completely fine with whatever you make being eventually folded into an official branch of the crown. You’re not in it for the money at this point, but for the betterment of your kin, and as far as you know, the royalty here hasn’t been as corrupted as countries have in your past life. This might have to do with them being a FLEDGLING NATION, but it gives you HOPE.

You also don’t reach a consensus on intensifying your training. You’re at a 2-1 vote mentally towards pros and cons for it, so you decide to hold off for now, but maybe that’ll change in a few TP. And as for the TICKET and PAWN, you’re torn between SELLING it to him and GIVING it to him. You’re not sure which approach would lead to a more favorable outcome and you’re floundering on it, it’s a bit of INDECISION that’s bothering you. You really need to put your foot down on this and decide, so you consult your STATS and others. No one else knows about your PHOTOGRAPHIC MEMORY, but they know about your LIBRARY VISITS, so when you say you have a ticket on offer, wanting to give it to PAWN, they suggest either a trade, or offer it to him in good faith to have him join the RUNESCRIPTERS.

[CHARISMA] I don’t think he’ll join us until we get a strong BOND with him
[CHARISMA] He seems to care about the plate as well,
[CHARISMA] maybe a gesture that shows we also care about the plate to him will move him.

You’re not sure what PAWN is going to be doing next year, but he will be graduating. You assume something MAGITECH RELATED, probably in the city. You might not have a shot of BONDING with him if you don’t act soon though.

> FREE TIME - IGNIS
You dedicate a significant chunk of time to IGNIS. He’s been a part of your life for a while now, hes been supporting you, offering loans, and being what would generally amount to ONE OF YOUR PILLARS OF SUPPORT, both emotionally and realistically. The two of you spend some time flying throughout the skies, just sort of drifting, enjoying yourselves some days. Others you mess around and try to make some less serious RUNESCRIPTING INVENTIONS, one day IGNIS makes a FARTING DEVICE that makes it sound like you shit your pants when you sit on it. He laughs and laughs and eventually you laugh too whilst everyone present generally also got in the fun times. He confides in you his concerns for the plate some times, he’s deeply worried about the state of things, coming from a more MILITARISTIC PRIOR LIFE gives him a unique perspective.

Ignis: We’re alright in the interim, but some things truly worry me.
Ignis: Did you know that there are some plates that are CRUMBLING faster than others?
Ignis: This isn’t happening on colonized plates, but some of the outer plates with MONSTERS are starting to shrink
Ignis: One has even VANISHED, leaving no TUNNEL.
You: That’s really strange, and with how restricted we are I doubt we can actually figure out the cause
Ignis: That’s what worries me. What if it happens to us, what if it happens outside of CANUS
Ignis: It’d be great if we had one of those PLATE DETECTING DEVICES, but that’s a distant dream at best.
You: SIGH, I wonder if there’s something we missed, a hidden piece only WING-KIN could get to
Ignis: No one’s seen the true bottom of the plate, it’s possible, they just get TELEPORTED when they get too far down
Ignis: There’s also deep underground caverns, but the easily accessible ones are already mapped.
Ignis: I just worry about escalation, if the HUMANS are doing this, doesen’t that mean they’re hiding POWERFUL WEAPONS?
You: The bigger stick can enforce things the way they want after all
Ignis: We don’t have a big enough stick, but that just leads to harder escalations
Ignis: Why can’t things be simple like with CANUS and DOPUS, somewhat reasonable regional relations
You: And making the biggest stick doesn’t guarantee it wont get used without the creator’s consent
You: It happened in my old world, I’m sure it will happen again.
Ignis: I just have a bad feeling is all, I have a big sense of uhh I guess its NATIONALISM
Ignis: A holdover from that other life.
Ignis: I’m worried our way of life will be overwritten like CANUS is, or that it will happen to DOPUS.
Ignis: If we can come up with water breathing devices for the DOPUS expedition, why can’t the HUMANS?
Ignis: What reasons are they not pushing harder on our plates, it’s things like this that keep me up at night.
You: Whose to say they haven’t? I’d bet a large amount of SHINIES that they have.
Ignis: And yet they don't engage in trade with them, this isn’t speculation mind you, this is hard facts
Ignis: You know we’re in negotiation with them? A mutual research agreement and trade?
Ignis: But there’s heavy push-back from the HUMANS and CANUS, they might intentionally sabotage it.
Ignis: And for what? To keep us from progressing? Why?

There it is, that feeling again, it’s like seeing a shadow at the periphery of your vision. You can almost make out what it is, but the moment you truly look it’s gone, as if it never was there. You can tell IGNIS is in a similar position. Your [UNDERSTANDING] is straining itself, but you’re drawing a blank. There’s more talks, a few debates and even a single argument with IGNIS over something kind of stupid. He’s stressed over many things and is trying to juggle what he can. From your perspective it seems he’s genuinely concerned with the progress of your people, but knows that working with you on MAGITECH and it’s processes will be his best way to impact the kin in a significant way. Eventually he brings up something that’s been bothering him.

Ignis: Hey Chi, can we talk?
You: Sure, what’s up Iggy?
Ignis: Can I be in charge of NEGOTIATIONS for our business.
Ignis: I know you’ve been talking about taking NEGOTIATION classes so you can do a better job
Ignis: But this is what I’ve been training myself for.
Ignis: I- I trust you a lot, but I want you to trust me on this
Ignis: That I could do a good job on it
You: I was thinking about asking you for a FAVOR for you to do it
You: But I held off because I wasn’t sure if it was time for us to do it yet.
You: Not because of the financial, but I guess my STATS told me to wait?
Ignis: STATS?
You: Uhhh, mind, my thoughts, sorry, there’s a lot in here, imagine a bunch of voices
You: Not in a crazy way or anything!
You: Uh you know how you have an internal monologue going sometimes
Ignis: Yeah, sure, everyone does.
You: It’s like that, only it perks up in different situations
Ignis: Sounds convenient, I only have the ONE VOICE
Ignis: And it’s mostly just CHARISMATIC
Ignis: Though sometimes I hear small inklings of LOGIC which used to be my worst subject and TACTICS
Ignis: Honestly if it wasn’t for you I probably wouldn’t have figured out RUNESCRIPTING
Ignis: but now I know it like the back of my mycellium. Uh, hand.
Ignis: But uh, think on it would you, I’d appreciate being given the opportunity to flex my skills.

Ignis and you spend the remainder of your time together visiting various diners, you see him perform his SINGING, he’s got quite a beautiful voice and can be both deep and light in tone depending on the situation. It turns out he does know A LOT of kin, most kin you come across in these places really. He’s 17 right now, almost 18. You forget that he’s 2 years older than you sometimes. You ask him for some tips on breaking through your CHARISMA DEADLOCK, he says it’s not too hard, that if you take the SINGING class he’d be willing to act as a PERSONAL TUTOR for FREE to help you break through in one go, or you could spend another TIME POINT or TWO with him to get it done outside of a class. You get the feeling he could help you with PURSUASION as well, but that he wants to show you his skills to prove his competence first. You get the feeling he would be A LITTLE UPSET if you used him to learn PURSUASION and didn’t at least let him help or attempt a negotiation on his own.

IGNIS has issued you a REQUEST, [LEAN ON ME] there is no time limit
- This REQUEST fails if you NEGOTIATE for your business without allowing IGNIS to attempt on his own
Your INTUITION warns you that rejecting this offer will cause IGNIS’S TRUST in you to drop significantly
IGNIS is willing to act as your PERSONAL TUTOR for SINGING to give you CHARM at RANK 3

Edmango 2021/08/12(Thu)06:04 No. 1007728 ID: afe7de
File 162877347914.png - (75.25KB , 500x500 , SR_187.png )

> FREE TIME - MEDITATION
You were torn between what you wanted to do this [TP] but go with MEDITATION for now. You dont use the MIND AND BODY technique for this one, wanting to see just how STRONG your MEDITATION is after ranking up. You decide to be a bit cheeky and establish what you’re lovingly calling [ANGER’S DOGHOUSE] it’s a slightly large doghouse with a nice open roof and open entryway. You make a little grass path on top of the wood or whatever ethereal material it’s made out of to give it a sort of Hobbit-house look. It takes you about half of your meditation time to make this, you imagine this to be a [RANK 1] building. You get the feeling that you can easily expand it later unlike the MIND DORMS for some reason. You also manifest a few decorations when you feel a slight warping occur, and with a POP you hear a [STAT] speak to you.

[ANGER] Did you seriously fucking build me a goddess damned doghouse
[ANGER] WAIT, I’M A DOG NOW
[ANGER] ARF WHAT IS THIS DOGSHIT
[ANGER] I’m only kidding I was already going to use this form
[ANGER] I Guess I should thank you for building my place first but you made it a fucking doghouse
You: Uhhhh
[ANGER] Fine, fine. Thanks “MASTER” Is that how you get your sick kicks, don’t adopt a real pet so you adopt your SIN?
[ANGER] Whatever, I have a place now. At least this means you like me more than PRIDE.
You: So like, ummm, HI I guess?
[ANGER] Yeah, hi. Don’t expect much from me, I’m fairly weak and doubt I’ll ever be important to you.
[ANGER] At least now I have a place to sleep, but can I get like a cushion or something

You will a cushion into the doghouse, she heads in and lies down.

[ANGER] I’ll go bother [UNDERSTANDING] later, you can just ignore me
[ANGER] I want to help you in the long run anyway, so I’ll just stay out of the way

Seeing as how finishing a room for a STAT appears to make them manifest you spend the rest of your time building a sort of QUAD, a meeting area, it’s really bare, some tables, a big tree in the center and some flowers. It’s cozy, kind of the CAMPUS SQUARE as you’re calling it. You’ll probably add to it more and more as time goes on but you get an idea for something. For a CAMPUS GATE. You’re not sure WHY you want one, but you slap down a rudimentary one anyway in front of the MIST. The Gate is a simple arch made of stone of a similar color to that of your DORM. You think about making a FLAG of some kind to represent your mind but wonder if that’s too PRIDEFUL or SELF ABSORBED. You turn to the mist as your time here draws to a close, It’s fluctuating, but attempts to enter it are met with you being pushed outside of it. You suppose you’ll have to keep waiting to find out what the deal is.

You’ve provided housing to your ANGER
- Despite it’s complaining, it seems quite pleased with the arrangement
- Your ANGER is too weak to provide any bonuses
- Your ANGER says it will try not to be a BURDEN
You’ve created a CAMPUS GATE and GATHERING AREA
- Your STATS will occasionally congregate in this spot
- You’re not sure if this will have any effect in the future
Your MIGRAINES are a problem, and would have given you [1 STRESS], but your MEDITATION removes [3 STRESS] instead.

Edmango 2021/08/12(Thu)06:05 No. 1007729 ID: afe7de
File 162877350003.png - (59.74KB , 500x500 , SR_188.png )

> SOMETHING STIRS IN YOUR MIND
It’s late at night when you get an intense flicker of pain, a migraine like before. Instead of being constant it’s throughout the night, it interrupts your sleep and is annoying as all heaven. You later find out that something similar happened to WILLIAM and IGNIS. It’s suspicious, your [UNDERSTANDING] Says that maybe you are [LINKED] by something that is causing this pain. Only time will tell what exactly it is that is happening. The GEARS ARE TURNING in your mind, not only do you feel something coming in what is quite possibly the other INNATE SKILL, but it’s as if a fundamental REVELATION is coming to you as well, but you’re just missing that last damn piece and you’re not sure what it even is really. Is it related to the WORLD PLATES, is it related to the HUMANS, is it related to KARMA, you’re not sure, but you feel like it will provide a small but impactive PUSH to you in the near future. For some reason in this moment you think of two things, NUBS, and your world plate TENGU. You dismiss the thought a moment later as it fleets away from your memory, which it by all rights and purposes shouldn't given your impeccable memory.

Speaking of memories, you’re nearly at the end of SABA’S just a few more TP and it’s done. You’re not sure if there’s anything left to learn as you’ve already absorbed all of his KNOWLEDGE and surpassed his EIDETIC MEMORY gaining PHOTOGRAPHIC MEMORY. You suppose the other LOGIC skill you haven’t earned yet, VISUAL CALCULUS would be a good thing to gain, there’s also that LOGIC SOFT CAP you still have to break, but maybe you’ll get something that SURPRISES YOU in the final moments, a gleaning of INSIGHT perhaps.



UPCOMING EVENTS
- TEACHING INITIATION [in 2 TP] [costs 1 TP]
- PIERCING THE MIST - RESULTS [IN 2 TP]

Your CURRENT GOALS are as follows
- REACH BASIC MASTERY OF A MARTIAL ART OR WEAPON (R7), 5/7 (ETA 2Y)
- PAY OFF YOUR DEBT EARLY
- START YOUR RUNESCRIPTING BUSINESS
- FINISH YOUR MIND CAMPUS
= MIND DORM PROGRESS 100%
= MIND LABS PROGRESS 0%
= HALLS OF KN 0%
= ANGER’S DOGHOUSE [RANK 1] 100%
= total ???
- 9/10 GP, next reward: UNKNOWN BOON

Your CURRENT CHALLENGES are as follows
- INCORPORATED [ Negotiate with HUNTERS, ROYALS, or FOOD VENDORS and establish your BUSINESS]

Your CURRENT BACKGROUND TASKS are as follows (3/3)
- MIND AND BODY DOJO TRAINING (-20S/yr) [Can improve to -200S/yr +3Stress/yr for continued gains]
- GAMBLING (-700S) [ENDS at the beginning of year 16]
- LIBRARY MEMORIZATION [4 TP of books MEMORIZED]
= LINK TO BOOK SUGGESTIONS: https://forms.gle/5f7ofmtzVRfkmvmbA

You can take on the task PRECISION WITH NICO costing 300 SHINIES a year
You can always drop or remove a task, but you forfeit the invested FUNDS if any.

Your CURRENT RESEARCH TASKS are as follows (2/2)
- UNDERWATER BREATHING [ETA TP1 of Y16] 75%
- INNOVATE ON THE SCRIPTING PEN [ETA TP1 of Y16] 75%

Your current OBLIGATIONS are as follows
M&B DOJO MEMBERSHIP - 20 due at [TIME SLOT 4]
RENT AT IGNIS’S - 800/y due at [TIME SLOT 1]
COMFORTABLE LIFESTYLE ~ 160Y [TIME SLOT 1]
DEBT TO IGNIS - 20k SHINIES due before the end of YEAR 18

You have a REQUEST
- LET IGNIS NEGOTIATE ON YOUR BEHALF

You have [5123 SHINIES]

You can take out a LOAN from the ROYALTY for [30,000 SHINIES]
- You need to pay it back within 4 years with a yearly interest of +2000 SHINIES a year
You have [0 STRESS]
You can SELL your unused LIBRARY TICKET, or give it to someone who needs it for 10,000 SHINIES
- You can now memorize books, so it’s only useful if you need to take a specific book out for others

You have [2 TIME POINTS]
What do you do?



1. Take a CLASS
- See https://questden.org/kusaba/quest/res/1002288.html#1004629 for current roster (You took one class this year).
+ Blacksmithing part time job is now available
+ You can tutor up to 3 kin for 1800 SHINIES per student using [1 TIME POINT] gaining stress per student taught
2a. Go SHOPPING for something
2b. Commission something from CHIPPER
3. Do an ACTIVITY with someone else
- GAMBLING WITH RIICHI
4a. Work on a PROJECT
4b. Try to INVENT something with RUNESCRIPT
- Using a blueprint speeds up the development process
- You currently have the following blueprints: Incubator, Mana charging device, Mana battery, Mana link, fridge, WEAK mana pistol (req power source), Experimental weapons (incomplete), Runescripting pen, Cooking plate, Crank Dynamo, Crank Lantern
- EXPERIMENT with making COMPLEX RUNES (describe the runes you use and your intended result)
4c: RESEARCH something
- COLOR THEORY - ??? TP
- INNOVATE ON THE SCRIPTING PEN - 1 TP (in progress)
- MANA VEINS - 1 TP
- MONSTER CORES - 1 TP
- SENSOR GLASS - ??? TP
- WEIGHT RUNE - ??? TP
5. PRACTICE or STUDY something
6. Use a Skill
[DRAWING/METALWORKING/SCULPTING] Make a thing
[CODEBREAKING] Invent a low level cypher
[MEDITATION] Meditate on a topic or in general
- Continue construction of MIND CAMPUS
- can use MIND AND BODY TECHNIQUE to meditate at half efficiency, but also gain XP in ATHLETICISM and COMBAT stats
[TEACHING] Improve other kin’s stats and give them skills given time
7. Forge a new BOND or spend time on BONDS
8. REST
9. Take someone to dinner (DOES NOT USE A TIME POINT BUT USES MONEY)
- Chose between a LOW (4S (shinies) Per person), NORMAL (8s Per), HIGH (16s Per), and EXQUISITE (30 per) quality meal.
10. Other (suggestions welcome, I’m trying to include everything, but I might’ve missed something!)
11. Use your LIBRARY TICKET to check out a new book (the black book is MIA)
12. EXPLORE, go out into the world and your plate, if you have a destination in mind, go there and look around.
13. NEGOTIATE with any of the following groups to start your business and make money
13a. HUNTERS - WEAPON AND ARMOR SALES
13b. ROYALS - WEAPON, ARMOR, and CHI-LLER sales
13c. FOOD VENDORS - CHI-LLER sales

Yeah, we'll take Ignis up on having him be our negotiator... And after hearing Ignis talk so much about negotiating, I don't think I want to take the negotiation class anymore and just have Ignis handle negotiations to make him feel important. Plus I don't want him to feel upset if he finds out we take a negotiation class. So I'll be against taking a negotiation class. He'll handle that weak part about us so we can focus on other things. That's what the BONDS are for after all. We can just learn to sing from him and get our charisma to CHARM.

and give Pawn the ticket for free to help build bridges.

IMPORTANT:
STRATEGY is still at LEVEL ONE, and this is probably our LAST CHANCE to level him up easily before the academy arc is over. Poor guy has been at level one since year 5, so I propose for his tenth birthday, we take a TACTICS CLASS with a TUTOR. Tutor gives a 1x to 4x bonus in efficiency, so maybe we might get lucky and have that level up more than one level to make up for neglecting him? I think he deserves it for waiting 10 long years to be given attention.

Strategy I feel will be very helpful with planning things especially when Canus and the Black Lotus starts becoming more of a problem. Plus, Strategy was very helpful as a tagteam partner with GUILE when against Shimon with that pincer strat during planning >>1006145 though I think he could have been better if he was stronger. Imagine what it could do if it was stronger. soo

TIMEPOINT 1: TACTICS CLASS WITH A TUTOR (take it with Hook maybe)

TIMEPOINT 2: REST WITH GRADUATION PARTIES with our friends, Chi deserves this after completing the academy, plus it'll be fun to hang out with friends and reminisce the good times we had. These moments with friends are always heartwarming.

or ENERGY THEORY CLASS for timepoint 2 with Ignolia

but my main choice is graduation party. we can't have a graduation without one.

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

Our background research projects are almost done. After that is done and we see what inventions chi and the runscripters came up with, then we'll spend a timepoint to perfect them.

That said, for now, I propose we all come up with wacky invention ideas and runes for breathing underwater they came up with for the background resarch. shape runes with wood helps with water breathing if I remember. I'll come up with some ideas later.

> WHAT ARE WE READING?
If nothing else, the first book we should be analyzing is THE BOOK OF ORDERS (for that sweet GUILE and KNOWLEDGE OF OUR LIKELY ENEMIES). (Although I was sorely tempted to suggest THE FANTASTIC ADVENTURES OF KAMAL LIN: OMNIBUS - that 8-TP monster of a book - for both the random stat gains (including almost certainly GUILE at some point) and the fact that it's almost certainly where PAWN got MICROSCRIPTING from.)

> FREE TIME
This may be our last chance to IMPROVE OUR LESSON PLAN before we make our teaching debut. This is where you incorporate some concepts from SABA'S world that are actually kind of useful, such as making a SYLLABUS for each class and dedicating the first session of class to going over it, including CLASS EXPECTATIONS, SCHEDULING, GRADING AND DISCIPLINARY METRICS, and COMPLIMENTARY COURSE RECOMMENDATIONS (such as MANA THEORY, ENGINEERING, and ONE OF SEVERAL CRAFTS CLASSES). Draw up a THIRD CLASS that goes before the first two, that goes over the basics of decoding a manual, with everyone starting with the same black one (likely [TRIGGER] - it's not like they can do much with a single rune no matter what it is, anyway), while moving on to other black manuals if they finish early, and RETOOL THE SECOND CLASS to be about learning your students all six main syntaxes (with passing mention to how GOLD and PRISMATIC syntax are beyond our knowledge for now). The LAST CLASS is mostly unchanged, except for dropping the outright dismissal of LOGIC GATES. Maybe ASK SOME FAVORS to ensure that you HAVE THE REQUIRED MANUALS AND OTHER MATERIALS for this class structure ready, along with potential TEACHER'S ASSISTANTS we can hire.

The TEACHING CHALLENGE may happen on [TS 8] this year, but if it's not - that is, if it's actually [TS 1] next year - then let's spend the last slot of this year ensuring we aren't going into this challenge STRESSED - for specifics, let's do FOCUSED MEDITATION: VISUAL CALCULUS. I want to knock out the last skill we've yet to inherit from SABA before we're done absorbing him, especially since it might have been a critical part of his ability to use [UNDERSTANDING] in tandem with his INVENTION skill.

> WORLD-BUILDING
(Speaking of - making a WORLD-ESTABLISHMENT suggestion to propose incorporating PICTOGRAM CHARACTERS into CANON's writing system, on top of the PHONETIC LETTERING borrowed from ENGLISH; I can't imagine CALLIGRAPHY even emerging as a viable style, otherwise.)

- Tactics class with tutor
- meditate visual calculas

Haha, and who says we don't have time for pets? Oh wait, me, I did. Well, set Ignis to the task of negotiation! I say he does two, we do one (the food vendors?) just for practice. And learning to sing with Ignis sounds like a Disney princess moment, do it.
Speaking of housing pride, since you do need to manage that too. You should give it a humble abode. Maybe an office under the stairs.
Well, you still didn't take the hunter class. So take the hunter class! Seriously! Just get it done with! Bookend your education, I guess!

In the meantime, ponder what your first official inventions as a business will be. For something that could benefit archaeology, how about a life decoy? A deployable object that will mimic the signs of life that commonly serve as trap triggers (body heat, humanoid weight, movement and breathing) and possibly prematurely trigger traps, letting adventurers know where it is and possibly get by while the trap is on cooldown, or study its effects. The royals could also use these to create false troop movements for anyone that might be scouting the worldplate out using remote sensing technology. And the hunters... well, they can use different shapes of decoys as bait!
You'd need a run that can make something heavier, a shape rune could project breath and/or a humanoid silhouette, the warmth rune would simulate temperature. Lastly, you could optionally add a method of self propulsion or just design it to be thrown at a spot and unfold/project itself there. Perhaps you could use that wingkin's method of an air skirt, like a hovercraft. The skirt would probably need rubber in order to build.

>TimePoint 1
Get TACTICALLY TUTORED! Probably gonna need that if you ever go into the ruins, you might not be good enough to direct tactics, but at least you'll be able to understand them.
>TimePoint 2
I think one of our timepoints is being used by the teaching initiation, but if we still have another then...
Meditate on VISUAL CALCULUS. This seems like a good practical skill to have in ruins as it may help you deduce if there's a trap or how a trap works if you can't decipher it with runes. Also goes hand-in-hand with strategy, as you could tell how soon something's gonna go somewhere, and where it'll go simply by calculating it's trajectory, so this plus strategy may improve your dodging capabilities.

>>1007762
I feel like an office might be troublesome, as it promotes boasting to work partners and such, so maybe make it a cozy homely place, as I feel pride is useful if we keep the prode for ourselves, but don't spread it around by boasting and all that, simply knowing that we're competent is enough, and we don't need to let others know.
A personal pride rather than a boastful one.

>>1007729
>Pawn
Yeah let's offer the ticket to him as a gesture of goodwill.

>Ignis
Sure, he can do the negotiations.

>training
Intense training please.

>Understanding's task
Can we tell it to figure out what the migranes are about? Or figure out how to investigate the bottom of TENGU?

>time points
Spend Time with William, find out what his karma strategy is and if you can help.
Tactics Class with a TA or Tutor, see if anyone wants to join you.

>>1007726
Yeah, we should let Ignis handle negotiations, he’s going to be way better at it than us.

And take him up on his offer to teach us singing for free.

>>1007728
We should try and make something for Pride. It’ll help us control our boasting so that we don’t start doing that during the classes we’ll be teaching.

>MEDITATION removes [3 STRESS]
Wow! That could cancel out the 3 stress from the intense training with Lou Xin!

I say we should start the intense training! This might be the final push we need to finish out Basic Mastery Goal!

>>1007729
Let’s take a Tactics Class with a TA or Tutor. We should do what we can to improve Strategy! I feel bad for neglecting it for so long.

Oh, and I like the graduation party idea but I don't think it's gonna cost a time point. Sounds like the equivalent of a dinner.

I'd imagine Pride's place being a room of mirrors or vanities, just to get distracted with looking at and admiring herself

>>MEDITATION removes [3 STRESS]
>Wow! That could cancel out the 3 stress from the intense training with Lou Xin!
>I say we should start the intense training! This might be the final push we need to finish out Basic Mastery Goal!
Keep in mind the teaching class is likely to cause stress, especially the first one.

So I'm seconding Detective Caillou: Let's improve our lesson plans.

>>1007830
Meditations supposed to only do 2, and occasionally something random or cool will happen, this time it was getting a third stress out, so please be aware that this is NOT the norm.

Let Ignis do the negotiations.

And take a class to improve our strategy stat.

>>1007839
If that's the case, the let's not do the intensive training. We'll wait until we have a better method of dealing with the stress.

>>1007729
>>Ignis's Plate worries
Wow. A lot of information to unpack here. That point about the uninhabited plates disintegrating faster, I wonder if theres something about not having kin on a plate or having a lot of monsters on a plate that makes it deteriorate faster?
And about the Humans...Ive been thinking, you know that theory the group came up with about how runecrafted items degrade, and how there might be a rune keeping the plates floating somewhere and thats why they're crumbling? The Humans have been using runecrafting a lot longer, what if they had the same theory, and thats why they want to discourage others from developing runecrafting? Maybe they think theres a finite amount of mana or whatever , and runecrafting uses it up faster. It'd be pretty hypocritical of them to keep using it themselves in that case, but that'd e pretty in line with what we know of humanity still. Also, if Monsters use up a lot of mana, it'd make sense why their cores contain so much and why the plates with only a lot of monsters would crumble faster.
Alternately, maybe the Human's super aggressive trading has less to do with greed for currency, and more with them wanting the Shinies themselves, like, as an object? Maybe they want them for some other reason.
Hey, did we ever look at Shinies with the Mana Goggles? Where exactly do the things come from anyway?

>>Let Ignis negotiate
Thats a big yes, though if he coould let Chi help if he ever makes a deal with the Hunters it would be nice, seeing as half of CHi's family are Hunters.

>>Pawn
Yes, Give Pawn the Library ticket. if we really want to bond with him, I think it also might help if we COMMISION something from him, shows that we trust his skills even though we compete in the field, put our Shinies where our mouth is, and all that.

>>Time Point 1
Take the Tactics Class invite William. If hes still aiming to be a King, he might be interested, if he hasnt already taken it.

>>Time Point 2
Research COLOR THEORY, because it may be important to our teaching to find out how a students Mana Color correlates to learning. If Pawn is open to it after the gift, maybe he'll be interested in helping .

>>Free Time
IMPROVE LESSON PLAN, make a Syllabus and all that
Also, Put together that graduation party, invite everyone!

If we haven't already, check Shinies with Mana Goggles.

Since we are nearing completion of the breathing apparatus research task, I’m Trying to figure out the breathing apparatus invention.

So overall, I’m thinking as far as materials go we will need:
-WOOD
- METAL (since metal can be the only one that stores energy)
-TUBES
-SOIL (only if we do the green absorption rune)
-GLASS (only if we do the green absorption rune)
-GLASS BULB (only if we don't do the green absorption rune)
(though EARTH might not be needed if we absorb something like light with a yellow absorption rune or regular energy with a white absorption rune, plus it could cause weight issues if we filled a tank with soil, mainly those as materials to make a rebreather or oxygen tank of some sort.)

Then, for runes, we’ll need
- ABSORPTION (either green, yellow, or white)
- STORAGE
- TRIGGER (BLUE SENSOR and INTENSITY),
- SHAPE (WOOD for AIR)
- LIGHT (only if we don't use green absorption)

Now it would be easy to just have the absorption absorb water for energy, but if we mass produce these, this could drain the water of Dopus which we don’t want to do. That is what the storage is for, to take energy from outside, store it, and the activate the air when we’re under water with the shape rune.

Here’s what I’m thinking how we’ll do it: we’ll make an enclosed metal container and connect some wood inside it, and maybe some soil in another compartment of the container if we decide to use the green absorption rune.

Then, We’ll put a GREEN ABSORPTION RUNE inside the compartment that contains soil so it can absorb earth (The glass is to show us how much soil is inside left before we have to refill it), or a yellow or white absorption rune outside of the container to absorb energy from the light or natural energy outside.

We then link whatever color ABSORPTION RUNE to a STORAGE RUNE inside or outside of the container to keep the energy stored for when we need it later.

Afterwards, link the STORAGE RUNE to a BLUE COMPOUND SENSOR RUNE so that when it detects water, it will activate the storage rune and give energy, and an INTENSITY slider so we can control how much air we’ll get, and energy we’ll use (unless intensity and sensor doesn’t count as one rune, in which case, forget intensity). Connect the BLUE SENSOR RUNE to a GLASS BULB (maybe if we don’t use a green absorption rune since we’ll see how much soil is left) with a LIGHT RUNE So that we can get an idea of how much energy is left before we have to surface for air before the tank runs out of air. If the light starts dimming, we’ll need to surface for air and more energy before it runs out. Then, have that BLUE SENSOR RUNE also connect to the SHAPE RUNE on the wood inside the container that we inscribed on so it dispels an air bubble inside once the SENSOR activates from detecting water. We will be able to breath through the tube from inside the container.


ALTERNATIVELY: if it is just us and our friends visiting Dopus, and metal can’t be gotten to store energy, we could just have it be a different material instead of metal as the container with a BLUE ABSORPTION RUNE to absorb water around us when we’re diving, and link it to a SENSOR, and connect that to a SHAPE RUNE on the wood to trigger the shape rune to give us air from the water around us. Though keep in mind this is just for Chi and her friends to use temporarily, and will need to come up with an invention so it doesn’t absorb water when we mass produce it with METAL.

So for the alterantive solution: a non metal container with a BLUE ABOSORPTION rune on the outside, linked with a SENSOR RUNE to detect water, as well as an INTENSITY SLIDER to adjust how much air we can be given so it isn’t too much or too little, and link that to the SHAPE RUNE ON WOOD on the inside to give us air to flow through a tube we can breath through from the container.

Hmm... Sounds like humans are only interested in plates they can exploit... Or Dopus is fucked. We'll find out when we go there.

Increase the training intensity, three stress over a year isn't terrible.

Give pawn the ticket, don't mention we can memorize books, he'll likely be resentful if that.

Let Ignis Negotiate. He wants to and we trust him.
Royals are probably best bet. Less money, but more freedom and protection.

I think we should spend a time point refining our lesson plan and making sure we have the proper scripting manuals, perhaps making copies secretly just in case the old ones disappear...

I think we should also do the metalworking job for a time point. Less for the money more for the crafting experience, the money is good too though.


A thought strikes me: What if we manifested all 7 sins? Would that not be it's own form of enlightenment? We would effectively gain strength from every mistake we ever make.

If we're working on the lesson plans, we should talk to MINNIE for advice, and moral support. tell her we're nervous about our first day as this was kind of our life's dream to become a runescripting teacher.

We should consider giving students scripting runes that match their color of the mana veins

Still having my vote be tactics with Tutor and Hook

but changing the second timepoint be meditation on VISUAL CALCULUS since more people are voting for that, only if we can have a bonus event for a graduation party (doesn't have to raise stats, or anything, just a cutscene)

I'd be willing to switch my metalworking suggestion for meditation on Saba's logic skills, starting with visual calc

Edmango 2021/08/16(Mon)23:53 No. 1008126 ID: afe7de
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You look at some SHINIES with your goggles, not having thought to do so before. When you look at them you actually see some MANA in them, just like when you look at a chunk of ARCANUM or something you’ve RUNESCRIPTED. You use your LOGIC and UNDERSTANDING to come to a conclusion, that it might be possible to extract MANA from the SHINIES. But you’re not sure what the conversion rate would be. They’re not THAT DENSE, so it might take a lot to equate a chunk of ARCANUM. And you still have the whole BATTERY problem, meaning you still need to make one. You’ll start with SHINIES, but if you can get access to MONSTER CORES you could do research there as well

You’ve gained the RESEARCH TASK - MANA DENSE MATERIALS I [SHINIES]
- This task costs 4000 SHINIES worth of materials to do
- This stage costs [1 TIME POINT] to do
You’ve gained the RESEARCH TASK - MANA DENSE MATERIALS II [MONSTER CORES]
- This task costs 16000 SHINIES worth of materials to do
- This stage costs [1 TIME POINT] to do
- The cost can be reduced by owning actual cores

> MULTI SKILL CHECK - GIVE PAWN THE TICKET
You visit PAWN one day, he looks stressed. There are papers everywhere in his apartment. He moved out of the grad dorms a little while ago and has been living here whilst attending his final classes. To your surprise he’s happy to see you and pours you a cup of tea. You take a look at the designs all around the room, it’s hard not to. The one you look at is a HYDROMANA CONDUCTOR, taking the flowing movement of water to produce energy. There’s a RED X on it with a note that says, AQUEDUCTS NOT POWERFUL ENOUGH. There are several diagrams for attempted PERPETUAL MOTION MACHINES, but all have RED Xs on them, saying NET LOSS on them all. The last has a YELLOW SQUARE, it’s of something he calls a ENERGY CONTAINER. The actual cost of the materials is rather expensive, it’s a crude unoptimized thing, but just by the design you can tell that it should work in theory. Pawn’s been busy. He walks in as you’re looking at that design.

Pawn: Oh yeah, sorry about the mess.
Pawn: It’s been kind of a haze lately
You: These are some good designs, you’ve been busy!
Pawn: Yeah, most of these are failures though, or cost too much
You: What are you trying to generate all this energy for?
Pawn: Well, LIGHTS, WATER, and HOT PLATES, if we can somehow get it into kin’s houses it could really revolutionize things
Pawn: It’s hard, but rewarding work. But you came here for something, you considered my offer?
You: I, I think we got off on the wrong foot.

You hand over the Library Ticket and he looks confused.

You: I don’t want to be antagonistic with you.
You: If we can work tangentially, or even together I think we could achieve more good then anything.
You: I kind of just…
You: I want to make the plate a better place to live
You: I want to try forming a more coherent BOND if that makes sense
You: Or failing that have each other as CONTACTS, able to trade information if need be or help even.
Pawn: Uh Huh.
Pawn: I won’t say its impossible for us to get there or anything.
Pawn: We kind of did start off on the wrong foot after all.
Pawn: It’s just…
You: Just what?
Pawn: All the other RUNESCRIPTERS kind of suck
Pawn: Not your group, but like the totality of the kin that learned the trade.
Pawn: I’d say that your group, me, and like 2 others are actually competent enough to do something.
Pawn: The rest kind of just… Don’t know what to do with the knowledge?
Pawn: Ever notice how the kin taking the second class was nearly nonexistent, or at least the ones that passed it?

You think on that for a moment. You can probably count 20 kin that you remember passing it that used your services. And of those 20, potentially 8-10 that you could see becoming scientists. A lot of the kin here did treat it as a hobby more then as an actual career field. Pon was kind of like that, only using it as a supplement to his cooking, rather then diving deep like you were. And those that passed the first class, even with your efforts, kind of just seemed to drop it due to the difficulty and LOGIC needed. It’s not your fault, the teacher didn’t do a good job of even explaining what you could be capable of doing with the knowledge.

You: Yeah, I kind of get what you mean.
Pawn: Then I see you, the first kin to pass it, actually doing stuff with it
Pawn: It’s just frustrating. It takes me like 2x as long as you to do the same thing.
Pawn: So you get why I’d be at least a little competitive, flustered, or JEALOUS?
You: Yeah.
Pawn: Listen, the other two girls that I was talking about, they tried to get me to join them, but their offer was just.
Pawn: Let’s just say it sounds like SLAVERY more than anything, and I don’t SIMP for girls like that.

You wonder BRIEFLY where PAWN learned about SLAVERY and SIMPING as those are two distinct things you haven’t heard mentioned on your plate. Pawn recognizes your expression of confusion.

Pawn: Ah, I learned those words from a book, basically SLAVERY is restricting a person and forcing them to do what you want
Pawn: And SIMPING is… Well I’m not sure, something about blind worship?
You: Uh Huh. Yeah, I know the terms.
Pawn: OH! So you read the OMNIMBUS? What was your favorite part?

[GUILE] You’re in the process of reading it (lie)
You: I’m in the process of reading it, can I get back to you on it?
Pawn: Aww, yeah sure.
Pawn: Well, if we can be amicable like this then maybe I can help you out later on.

Eventually you leave him after offering some advice on a few of his designs. He says that he’ll be around his place for a while, he’s getting a job to pay off the bills but he’s vague about what it actually is. You can feel a BOND forming with PAWN as his attitude shifts from ANTAGONISTIC to NEUTRAL.

You’ve formed a BOND with PAWN at RANK 1
- You know that PAWN is seeking employment so that he can RUNESCRIPT
- You’ll either need a GOOD PITCH to hire him, or INCREASE YOUR BOND to find out his terms
- Spending time with PAWN will be helping him with his EXPERIMENTS and BLUEPRINTS

Edmango 2021/08/16(Mon)23:54 No. 1008127 ID: afe7de
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> LET IGNIS NEGOTIATE
You decide it’s a good idea to let IGNIS negotiate. He’s fairly good at interacting with KIN and he really wants to show you his skills. He’s ecstatic at this and promises not to let you down. You should hear back from him at the end of [TP 1] of NEXT YEAR. He plans to make preparations, find key individuals in the royalty, and get the best possible deal.

> CLASS - TACTICS + TUTOR
You decide to take the TACTICS class, you invite WILLIAM along and he joins, noting he hasn't been in the class for a while, so it should be fun. The class is… Not what you’d have expected at all. There’s about 11 students in total in the class if you include WILLIAM and YOURSELF. The first class is a short lecture on rules, then all of you are issued a 20 page or so manual. You’re told this is the latest version of what he likes to call PLATE TACTICS. It’s a tactical and logistical game of his own design meant to test battlefield tactics and orthogonal thinking. It plays eerily similarly to a few other games you remember from Saba’s world. You have a single plate on one of 6 tables in the room. Apparently there are more tables in the back if there were more students, ready to be put out. Then you have a variety of tokens of various colors and shapes. Each side will have an opposing force. One is the DEFENDER, the other is the ATTACKER. You have points to spend on units and some units do specific things. Then you have the duration of the class to settle the conflict. Some kin take a full week to play out one skirmish, others make a CAMPAIGN out of it. This is just BOARD GAMING. You try out the single class matches at first, playing against each student that’s interested in turn, then you start week long matches with one kin in particular. She introduces herself as TINUPTUA DE PHANTOM RANDOLPHUS, 6th to the throne. She points to her sister and brother VICKY and GOOB, 5th and 7th, respectively. She seems nice enough at first, but is extremely fierce when it comes to these tactics games.

Now, you’re a LOGICAL person. And you tend to play these games in the most LOGICAL manner. But TACTICS is a branch from LOGIC that requires a different mindset. Every individual you play against sans the teacher, who is very obviously holding back, royally kicks your tail-feathers in these games. William is no different. You’re left questioning nearly every move you make, what’s right, what’s wrong, you cave and get a TUTOR for the class, spending the [2000 SHINIES], your PRIDE almost refused to let you, but you’re desperate. The teacher ends up being your tutor directly, so that it’s as unbiased as possible. He spends the classes giving you tips, tricks, openers, platoon formations, and the like. But the problem is that he’s TOO familliar with the game and is more BACKSEAT GAMING you, giving you directions but not GUIDANCE. It’s frustrating, it looks like you didn’t get a GOOD TUTOR this time. William steps in every now and again to give you ACTUAL ADVICE and you cut the TUTORING in half, getting some SHINIES back because you can tell it’s not really going to be useful and WILLIAM is way more capable at helping then the teacher.

In the end you do end up learning about TACTICS a bit, but the progress is a lot slower then you would have preferred. You feel a little sad about that. In the past you prided yourself in your LOGIC and PLANNING, but you never lead large numbers of units, not in this kind of way. This kind of WARFARE is different from what you’re used to, you think it will probably be one of your weaker links in this life.

Your STRATEGY stat has increased to RANK 2
You spent [1000 SHINIES] on tutoring, refunding half due to bad teaching
You did not form a BOND with the PHANTOM RANDOLPHUS TRIPLETS
- You think they’re a package deal, and that to form a bond with one of them, you need to befriend ALL of them
- You’re an acquaintance to TINUPTUA, just two more to go

Edmango 2021/08/16(Mon)23:54 No. 1008128 ID: afe7de
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> FREE TIME - MEDITATION - VISUAL CALCULUS
> END OF THE MEMORIES
You finally absorb the last of SABA’S memories. He lived a fairly long life, 65 years. There were lots of ups and downs, mysteries he never solved, and lives lost. But he impacted everyone in bits with his research. You’re proud to have been him for what its worth. You feel the memories have one last gift to give you, the knowledge of VISUAL CALCULUS.

You’ve gained the VISUAL CALCULUS skill!
- You can examine a scene in detail and recreate the physical events if you have enough KNOWLEDGE and EVIDENCE
- You feel like the FIRST of TWO barriers has been broken towards completely removing your LOGIC SOFT CAP
Your mind has fully integrated it’s past memories, your second INNATE SKILL will now awaken.

> LINK
The headache comes, but you’re meditating at the time, in your MIND CAMPUS and you watch as streaks of light break through the mist. Many ripples go out knocking you, ANGER, and UNDERSTANDING to the ground. It’s several moments of pain, then it dissapates. A few minutes later it’s stronger pain, you think you hear something in reality, but you’re concentrating. You think it’s Ignis and can feel someone sit next to you. The pain ebbs and flows for a bit in a much more intense fashion than before until suddenly a cool and refreshing feeling washes over not over your mind, but your body as well. But it doesn't stop there. You see the Prismatic egg now, it’s coming out of the mist and heads to the center of your CAMPUS SQUARE, above the big tree. The tree bends and morphs to become more nest-like and the egg CRACKS. You see two things pop out of it, one is a rather large CRYSTAL-LIKE object. It’s almost like a FOUR POINTED STAR. Two of the points fire a beam out into the darkness, you’re not sure where to. The other thing that pops out of it is a girl. No, It’s YOU. But like [UNDERSTANDING] it’s abstract, like a painting, spritework, and illustration all at once. The girl stands up and walks over to you, [UNDERSTANDING] is close by and is watching.

[LINK] Heya, I’m [LINK]
You: Uh, Hi. Are you my new INNATE SKILL?
[LINK] Basically, yeah.
You: And this uh?
[LINK] Oh, I was just being theatrical!
[LINK] You only get to introduce yourself once right?
[UNDERSTANDING] This is very interesting, Hello there!
[LINK] Heya yerself.
[LINK] Yeah I can either let you just like intuit how I work or explain stuff
You: Explain please.
[LINK] Coo. Coo. Coo.
[LINK] So I’m a manifestation of your desire for BONDS
[LINK] I’m also a manifestation of your FEAR of losing TIME
[LINK] Honestly if you didn’t try so hard in the beginning I probably wouldn’t have popped up
[LINK] There was even a time when You almost abandoned getting your BONDS up at all
[LINK] But I’m rambling.
[LINK] I link to up to 4 karmalings that you’ve BONDED with.
[LINK] I picked two that you seemed to like to start with.
[LINK] Then those you’re linked to grow FASTER.
[LINK] You kind of had a ridiculous growth rate there for a while
[LINK] So that’ll be slowing down a bit now
[LINK] Not skill growth though, just STAT growth.
You: Uhhh, that sucks
[LINK] You got like 80 STAT POINTS already, you’ll suck it up I’m sure.
[LINK] Most people get to 40/50 by the time they’re 16, you just got a head start.
[LINK] Oh, but there’s also good news.
[LINK] If they have an INNATE SKILL you get a portion of it.
[LINK] It’s why I picked these two.
[LINK] Oh, and you can remove a link for free at any time
[LINK] But you can’t add a new link to that slot until 4 years have passed since someone’s been set in it
[LINK] That doesn’t count for the IGNIS and WILLIAM ones, but I doubt you’ll be changing those.

An image of WILLIAM and IGNIS appears in your mind. And you [UNDERSTAND] their innate skills. You also realize they can feel the LINK between them to you. You feel like if you just… tug on it. William’s doesen’t respond, you think he’s too far away physically. But Ignis is right next to you, and you hear confused squawking from the CAMPUS GATE. It’s IGNIS. Wait, he’s in your MIND CAMPUS?

[LINK] OH, you can do that?
[LINK] What is this place even?
[LINK] I don’t think I’ve ever seen a
[UNDERSTANDING] *AHEM*
[LINK] Ah right, I forgot.
[LINK] Anyway, I’ll let them tell you what they can do, and you’ll just know what you get out of it.

Ignis: What in the 8 heavens?
Ignis: Uhhh Chi? Chis? Are we in space?
Ignis: Is this a spacecraft?
You: No, No, c’mere Iggy!

Ignis comes over and you introduce him. He’s got an intense expression of confusion on him, but calms down as you explain the situation. He’s in your MIND DORM, some sort of metaphysical representation of your mind. He takes it in stride after his panic dies down as you’ve talked briefly around the subject before. He’s surprised at the abstract-ness of your INNATE SKILLS, but greets them politely. That’s when a look of excitement appears on his face.

Ignis: SO YEAH
Ignis: I came to you because the headaches were back and I was worried you were having the same problem
Ignis: So I just sat next to you because you seemed to be handling it well and copied your meditative stance.
Ignis: And I like just kind of instinctively KNEW what my INNATE SKILL was.
Ignis: The weird thing is that apparently it’s been affecting me for a while now, but now it’s supercharged.

Ignis explains his INNATE SKILL. It turns BONDS into POWER. Anyone IGNIS is bonded to at rank 3 or HIGHER gives him a BOOST to his stats based off of that kin’s main stats. It essentially adds floating points to his stats making it so he acts as if the stat was higher, its easier to learn new things, and skips caps if he knows the right kin and the bond is HIGH ENOUGH. Like for example, because you’re so close to IGNIS he gets LOGIC AND PHOTOGRAPHIC MEMORY from you. He’ll always be acting at least at RANK 7 for LOGIC rolls.

You instinctively know that this bond is heavily restricted for you. You only get IGNIS’S main stat, CHARISMA. It’s at a whopping 8, which means your CHARISMA checks will always operate at that rank, and breaking past your soft caps will be even easier. You feel that if you were to get closer to IGNIS you’d get more gains, and potentially even get to use this on others you are LINKED to.

After a bit of time passes you gather at WILLIAM’S house, or you would have if William hadn’t appeared at your door with a worried expression on his face. You invite him to your MIND DORM and are seated near the tree. William’s INNATE SKILL is that of a BATTLE TRANCE. When in combat he can ignore intense levels of pain, and even debilitating injuries, allowing him to fly with a broken wing, or eke out a final strike with the last of his willpower. However as soon as he’s to safety he will collapse and suffer from those injuries as they’ve most likely been exacerbated by his movements. William has always been a pretty fierce warrior, he’s been floundering in a few fields lately but eventually settled into trying to become a GENERAL or LEADER OF THE GUARDS. He mentions that it feels like he had a lower form of this skill already, before it awoke, but now it’s more complete.

[UNDERSTANDING] So if you’re destined for an INNATE SKILL, it can lightly manifest in advance?
[UNDERSTANDING] Though I guess it was a bit different for us since I’m around.
[LINK] Cause I’m the best!

You instinctively know that this bond is also heavily restricted for you. WILLIAM has no time limit on his BATTLE TRANCE, the only limit is his STAMINA. You can use a weakened version of his, for 10 seconds, but this doesn’t have to be in battle. So if you’re injured and broken but need those last 10 seconds to do something, anything, you’ll have them. The three of you chat amongst yourselves, wondering what even to do right now.

Edmango 2021/08/16(Mon)23:54 No. 1008129 ID: afe7de
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You: So, got any secrets you guys were too scared to share in the real world?
You: I get the feeling we’re going to stick together, and this is kind of a, well, unreachable domain.
Ignis: You know what, yeah, I’m down, I trust you guys.
William: Trust trio? Yeah. We’re bound to each other now.
Ignis: So I heard a rumor from a human spy we have
Ignis: It’s that the HUMAN PLATE actually MOVED at one point
Ignis: Apparently it was around 154 years ago and caused a big cacophony

[KNOWLEDGE] That was a few years before our plate met the humans.

You: That was right before we met the humans
Ignis: Yeah, weird right. But what caused them to move?
William: I feel like this is on the tip of my tongue.

[UN LOGIC] Didn’t the Humans only discover RUNESCRIPTING around 200 years ago?
[KNOWLEDGE] They existed for more than 1200 years, and got it 1000 years in from what MIZU said so, yes.

And thats when it hits you. Your brain has been floating around these puzzle pieces for a few years now, but it was like making a puzzle in the dark, with only a dim back-light to show you the way. You look to [UNDERSTANDING], the both of you coming to the conclusion at the same time.

You: They used RUNESCRIPTING to move their plate.
Ignis: What?
William: Is that even possible?
You: Think about it, we theorized there’s a rune keeping our plate floating right?
You: What if-
Ignis: What if-
William: What if-
Everyone: What if they found the rune?

[UNDERSTANDING] This is all conjecture but a lot of this lines up.
[INTUITION] What if they didn’t find the rune?
[INTUITION] What if they made a rune?
[UN LOGIC] That’s another possibility
[UN LOGIC] Though, thinking about this now, they must have been able to contact other races before that
[UN LOGIC] and ARCANUM is rare
[CREATIVITY] Could it have been more than just a move?
[CREATIVITY] What if the move WASN’T INTENTIONAL?

William: We’re just in conjectures at this point. But if this is the case.
Ignis: It’s a good argument for why they wouldn’t want us to learn RUNESCRIPTING
Ignis: So we couldn’t LEAVE?
You: But couldn’t they just follow us?

That silences the group of you. If they could just move like you theorized, then why haven't they done that to invade other plates, to invade HIVEN, or TENGU even? This brings more QUESTIONS then ANSWERS. Eventually you stop meditating and continue your conversation outside, things have changed for you all in a kind of significant way. That night your [INTUITION] speaks to you.

[INTUITION] You need to use one of your remaining two bonds on a DOPUS kin.
[INTUITION] No, please, trust me, its like. It’s like something’s screaming at us, in our metaphysical head.
[INTUITION] If we don’t do it with at least 1 kin from DOPUS
[INTUITION] I know you don’t believe in prophecy but I get the feeling only bad will come from NOT doing that
[INTUITION] But only GOOD will come from doing that

You think on that, there is NUBS that you could [LINK] with. And you are visiting DOPUS in a while, maybe you’ll find another INNATE SKILL USER there. You wonder why your [INTUITION] thinks this is a good idea, shouldn’t you just go for whoever gives you the max gains possible? Or maybe the kin you care the most about that will be involved in your day to day? You hope your [LINK] can evolve, or that you can invite others to your [MIND CAMPUS] from farther away if your BONDS are higher or something. You’ll have to try this out at some point.

You’ve gained the INNATE SKILL called [LINK]
- You gain the ability to create links between you and 4 kin
- Links provide a passive multiplier to their STAT GROWTH
- After a short adjustment period all linked Kin will have their stats adjusted to be SIMILAR or GREATER than yours
- Depending on their current stats
- You will also gain a portion of the linked individual’s INNATE SKILL should they have one
- You can invite LINKS to your MIND CAMPUS if they meditate in close proximity to you
- You can force a LINK with someone non consensually, but this could have unintended consequences.
- You can terminate a link at any time, but a link slot cannot be set to another kin until 4 years have elapsed
- WILLIAM and IGNIS as links does not count to this for now and they can be removed and reset at any time
= Though you get the feeling they both wouldn’t appreciate it and it might not be the best idea to do so

Edmango 2021/08/16(Mon)23:55 No. 1008131 ID: afe7de
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> RESULTS - UNDERWATER BREATHING
You and your team have come up with a few prototype ideas. Like before they have their pros and cons.

You come up with a REBREATHER design, it involves a mouthpiece, a tank that stores energy to convert it to air, and tubing. Unfortunately there are several problems with the design. And they mostly come down to NOT HAVING RUBBER. William’s been searching and he says that there’s still a few areas with different trees that there MIGHT be some at, it’d go a lot better if you could pay an expedition to look for it instead, but you’re all strapped for SHINIES at this moment. This design would have been pretty good, but your BIRD BEAKS can’t make seals whilst clamped on something without some sort of rubber or waterproof sponge to block it and prevent drowning.

The second prototype idea comes from DRIFT and involves making a headband that uses about 1/3 an ingot of ARCANUM. It will create a bubble of air that will surround your head and should last long enough for you to get down there and up several times. You think with clever rationing of ARCANUM you could probably make 3 per ingot, but this is the expensive yet safe alternative. This could also be made into a CHOKER with relative ease and he implies that it might be safer that way.

The third prototype is unique to say the least. WILLIAM came up with it, It requires making a literal helmet out of wood with a glass window and some straps. You can strap this over your head and the inside of the helmet will produce air by absorbing water from the outside. There are major safety concerns with this one though and it all comes down to lacking RUBBER. You don’t have a way to make a seal. And you don’t have a way to accommodate for water pressure the further down you go, so you’re worried the wooden helmet might rupture the deeper you go.

IGNIS came up with another option, one based off of a pressure suit he vaguely remembers from his past life. It’s a GILL and PRESSURE system. Several points along a suit are inlaid with runes to absorb water via motion, your swimming. Motion makes oxygen go into the suit and he even has a few ideas for regulating pressure depending on the water level. His dreams are also dashed from the lack of WATERPROOF MATERIALS THAT YOU CAN SEAL. You have glue, but it’s water soluble based off of your tests. You’ll need to INVENT a new glue that isn't along with the RUBBER. You’re starting to get upset that all of your good ideas are being shut down by lack of resources.

Then there’s a 5th option, an alteration on the second, a large carryable device that eliminates the water in the area, you’d have to stay close to the other kin, but then you could walk on the floor of the water without it ever touching you. You also have to make a light, so you add a lantern to it, which only increases the power consumption. You sigh, It all comes down to money again. You’re out of personal ARCANUM, and the last 1/3 that remained from before is getting passed around and reused until it runs out. You hope your dad has good news from his hunt, or that IGNIS can come up with a good trade with TENGU, you let him know to mention this part to the ROYALS as part of the deal in case they’re interested.

You can decide between making a HEADBAND OF AIR or a LANTERN OF BREATHING
- HEADBANDS OF AIR cost around 5000 SHINIES in materials to make (1/3 an ingot of ARCANUM)
- LANTERNS OF BREATHING cost 15000 SHINIES in materials to make and let you bring multiple kin with you
= But you have to be careful, accidents could happen if you’re not tethered together.
You might also want to bring along a SUN SCEPTER so you can see in the dark as this is underwater

You bring up these ideas and concerns to NUBS and she lets you know that the kin they brought, the one that was drowning, they were able to safely bring them down at high speeds without any problem by giving them constant mouth to mouth. Which almost didn't work since they had a BEAK and all, but that she’d prefer not to have to do that as the process is a little demeaning and highly risky. At least you know that WATER PRESSURE won’t kill you at the depths you’ll be going to for the city. Nubs says that she’ll see about getting some SHINIES so you can make 3 HEADBANDS. You’re obviously putting in the effort that excites her, making her want to also put in the effort.

> RESULTS - SCRIPTING PEN RESEARCH
Your scripting pen research provides partial dividends. You figure out a way to modify it so that you can make THICKER and THINNER rune-scripting inscriptions. The effect of drawn runes is the same, but now you know that if you learn MICROSCRIPTING you’ll actually be able to inscribe things much smaller then even PAWN could, unless he also knows how to do this. You use your goggles to check and it’s possible to make barely visible inscriptions with this. You can’t figure out how to siphon other color mana yet, but if you learn MICROSCRIPTING you can make a more STREAMLINED SCRIPTING PEN. The ones you are all using are unwieldy, tattoo-gun-like things. MICROSCRIPTING could let you turn it into a more traditional ballpoint pen or pencil.

Edmango 2021/08/16(Mon)23:56 No. 1008132 ID: afe7de
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> RESULTS - PIERCING THE MIST
Your father and his team comes to your house a little before the end of the year, he’s got a satchel he puts down and you look over the team. They look a mixture of EXCITED and FRUSTRATED. You look to the group and your [PERCEPTION] spots something. SNOW PEA is missing one of his feet. You ask what happened and he looks embarrassed.

Snow Pea: It’s my fault. I… I got pulled into the mood, everyone was so excited with their new gear
Snow Pea: I forgot my claws weren’t modified too, this is my hubris.

[GUILE] He’s lying, hiding something

Snow Pea: I’ll probably become a trainer or a guard now.
Snow Pea: This is a risk of Hunting after all.
Snow Pea: But other then that it’s good news, great news even!
Draco: It was terrifying, but yes, other then this AVOIDABLE INJURY
Draco: It was successful
Draco: You know I love you SNOW PEA, but that scared the shit out of us
Gungnir: Us giving you shit is how we show we care y’know.
Snow Pea: I know, I know.

[GUILE] It’s subtle but I don’t think he lost his foot from a PUMA

Your father explains how they entered the mountain and stalked for weeks until they found the lair of what they thought to be a single Puma. It turned out to be a PRIDE of them, there were at least 10, but using your gear many of them froze and were cut down with ease. Draco pulls out a softball sized peach-pit like object. A Monster core.

Draco: And this. This was the LEADER’S Core. You said you wanted one, well this is the best we could get.
Draco: All the cores are in here.
Draco: There’s also a few bones, claws, etc. There’s also the pelt of a large one in there, it’s a heavy bag.
Draco: I figure you could make something out of the stuff with your MAGITECH

You’re told that the parts from a single MIST PUMA sold for between 4-6K SHINIES without the CORES. The cores themselves are normally worth 2-3K SHINIES and are about fist sized. You look at them with your Goggles and they are DENSE with MANA. You don’t have accurate data on them, but you imagine that one of these cores has more or less around 1/3 of an ingot of ARCANUM’S worth of MANA in them. But the LEADER’S core might sell for as low as 30K SHINIES or as high as 100K SHINIES. That one is much denser then an ingot of ARCANUM that’s for sure. The surplus parts from the leader gave them a bonus of 10K SHINIES and that was a very pleasant bonus. Unfortunately, due to SNOW PEA’S injury, the funds they were going to give you as compensation are being given to him instead so that he has backup funds. In total they earned over 66000 SHINIES from that one endeavor.

You ask them why the trip took so long, they explain it was [1 TP] of traveling to come there and back, [1 TP] of scouting for the location, [1 TP] for the encounter, and the other [3 TP] was for a separate job. And with that the entire group thanks you and wishes you well. Your father remains behind and tells you that he left you another surprise in the bottom pocket of the backpack. He leaves and you open it up. There’s a single ingot of ARCANUM there and a note. The note essentially says that your weapons were beyond amazing, so he spent his share of the gains on an ingot of ARCANUM to pay you for the enchantments. He couldn’t say it in front of the group because they agreed to hold onto their shares and he’s the leader. And that you shouldn’t worry, the other job paid as well so him and your moms won’t go hungry. You’re touched by your father’s kindness but still feel like something is off.

[INTUITION] I don’t really think confronting him will gain anything, he’ll probably tell you when he’s ready
[UN LOGIC] That does tend to be how macho men act.
[CHARISMA] Not PON tho!
[CHARISMA] He’s a softie!

> RESULTS - GAMBLING
Your mom is heading back home soon, so you squeeze a lot of time for her this year. You also gamble a non insignificant sum of [700 SHINIES]. It’s time to see how you did. You avoid some of the higher roller tables, avoid that penguin guy who keeps messing your games up, and play the long, safe game. You don’t take TOO many risks. Some might say you played it TOO SAFE, but not you. You came up with a profit of [635 SHINIES]. Your GUILE doesen’t increase this time, but that just means you need to gamble more! Your mom says you need to take more RISKS when you’re at the lower end of gambling. It’s the best way to improve faster.

You gained [1335 SHINIES]

Edmango 2021/08/16(Mon)23:56 No. 1008133 ID: afe7de
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> EVENT - GRAD PARTY
You and your BONDS decide to get together after the last day of classes. You all take that weekend to relax, have fancy meals, and party! Your parents come, their parents come, it’s generally a good time. PAWN even shows up at your invite and after a few minutes of awkwardness ends up being rather sociable with the others. Nubs is there, celebrating with you even though she still has classes.

16 years. You’ve certainly grown up rather fast these past 16 years. So much has happened, from a baby bird to nearly an adult you’ve gone from putting things in your mouth to putting things in the minds of others. A TEACHER. It’s a noble goal. Some kin might not like what you’re doing, but you’ve got STRONG BONDS. Good CONNECTIONS, and tons of IDEAS. There’s no doubt in your mind that you’ll bring CHANGE to this plate. Sure you’re a bit PRIDEFUL, but your LOGIC is KING.

So what if there are CONSPIRACIES abound? You can UNDERSTAND them. Armies? You’ll ARM your PLATE and protect them from the back lines. Who knows it will come to any of that, but you’re preparing yourself and those close to you as best as you can. Is it weird that you feel more IN CONTROL of your life this time around? In your previous one, you were just a leaf floating on the breeze. A leaf that got shocked with Electricity and grew powers, but a leaf nonetheless. Holes eventually appeared but you were still floating along the breeze. That is until that same electricity came and burnt you to ash.

This time is different. You’re a literal bird in the sky. The sky is the limit, you have FREEDOM, you have KNOWLEDGE, you can make things BETTER. Though this might just be your PRIDE speaking, you don’t think its far off.


END OF PART 1

Edmango 2021/08/16(Mon)23:56 No. 1008134 ID: afe7de
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AUTHORS NOTE: Wow unholy shit, thanks for reading everybody. SHARDS was meant to be a simple side quest I ran whilst doing the CATALYST INTERMISSION, but it ended up as so much more. It became this strange, really in depth life sim. I certainly learned a lot by running this, and I’m hoping to apply what I’ve learned to the future of SHARDS. For example, TIME POINTS, I went really in depth with some of them and it kind of caused bloat, but I tried my best not to make it all fluff and apparently you all really enjoyed that.

I thought up the idea for this quest because I was inspired by WUXIA, REINCARNATION, and ISEKAI stories. I wanted to tell something that I had floating in my head, of a universe that only cared if you paid it (lmao) and thats kinda how KARMA works, it doesent care how you get it as long as it feeds the machine in the end. I think the decision to become a teacher is going to be an interesting one and lead to some interesting plotlines.

I’m really looking forward to part 2. I have a few events planned that I think are going to be pretty interesting. Including a few ADVENTURE styled events where you play as Chi in a more CATALYST style, exploring an area like DOPUS and doing things or meeting other kin. There’s also a few ruins I’ve got planned, and if you trigger a few scenes there will be a major plot event and slight tonal shift. Can’t be a happy peaceful life all the time. Well actually it could, but it requires both doing some things and not doing others, which I of course won’t spoil for you ;).

Thanks for sticking with me these past 2.5 months, this thread went on longer then I expected, heck I was originally intending to speed through your adolescence and jump into an entirely different quest but you guys came up with so many cool and unique setting bits that I just had to make it the main thing. Sometimes the coolest ideas can come from allowing your first idea to float away, and I think this is a good example of that.

Stay tuned for PART 2, we’ll hit the ground running with TEACHING INITIATION and also any missing resolutions like what breathing apparatus style you’re going with, what’s your new research, books, etc. I’m probably going to have [TP 1 and 2] get used during the first update just so we can do the syllabus and the first class all in one, but we’ll see.

~Later~
-EDMANGO

You, Good Sir Or Madam Or Any Configurations Thereof, have bedraggled us with pure awesome. Well done!

Thank you, Edmango. It's been amazing.

>>1008134
I found myself absolutely OBSESSED with this quest.
I really appreciate staggering amount of effort you put into each update. The writing alone looks like it must have regularly taken hours.

Thank you so much for making it happen!

What a ride it's been. Congrats!!!

This has been an awesome quest so far, one of a few that got me regularly checking for updates.
Thanks for all your efforts running it; looking forward to the next part as well.

>>1008139
What they said!

Aww thanks for the kind words everybody! I'm doing some job app stuff so I wont be starting the next thread until I have a job in place or know if I need to start hunting for more jobs. Once that's out of the way I can get the next thread up and running. Sorry to keep ya waiting!

>>1008614
Nah maen, we saw how much work you put into this. You more than deserve a break!
And that goes double if you got life stuff!

Take your time. We'll still be here when you get back on it.