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In Progress [LP CYOA] Tower

treave

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Codex 2012
Days of Scotsfield


The days fly by in a flash as you busy yourself with your daily work. You spend your time working at the school as promised, and also going out into the woods where you practice your hunting skills. The Book of Theseus, the Astra you found in the ruins, proves to be very handy for the hunt. It is not long before you found that you had likely mastered all that you could regarding the book.

You did not bother yourself much with the rest of the village, but your diligent work and down-to-earth manner meant that they grew to accept you as part of them. It did not mean that all of them liked you or even cared about you, but if anyone were to ask any of the villagers about the scarred, wrinkled boy, the reply they got would not hesitate to refer to you as a resident of Scotsfield. That, at least, you could be certain of now.

Your little social contact was spent on playing with Rain, making up for leaving her behind during the ruins fiasco. It was an unforgettable journey, especially for someone your age, and it also seemed to leave its mark on Sophie and Elizabeth. Though Andrew and Scottie never returned to the village since, the two girls began talking to each other a little more despite Andrew's absence. You spent more time with them too, both together and separately.

Sophie started to open up to you about books and school, and at times would help you look after Rain. You would spend an hour or two every Sunday cleaning the classroom together with her - no longer did she skip off and leave all the tasks to you. The time you spent together was quiet and calming, and neither of you felt forced to talk during those little periods of peace.

Elizabeth would practice her Astra and talk to you about adventures, sometimes even coming together with you for hunts. She seemed to have gained a even greater thirst for adventure, as well as some sort of competitiveness with you on top of her existing rivalry with Sophie, which intensified for reasons you don't entirely understand. You can still remember her skipping ahead of you in the forest, her red hair bouncing, her eyes bright with the curiosity and desire to learn.

"Cloud, Cloud, are we going to visit Lizzie today?" asks Rain, tottering up to you and pulling at your sleeve. She has taken to calling you that after learning that rain falls from clouds. A strange nickname, to be sure, but you haven't decided to correct her yet. After all, the rest of the village calls you Wrinkly, and you haven't really seen the need to decide on a proper name for yourself.

"If we are, can we go get some flowers?" continues Rain. She's grown quite a bit in the past year or so - the little baby now had her beautiful blonde hair in pigtails, and stood almost up to your waist. Father McClellan had told you that you were supposed to be experiencing a growth spurt soon, too, though you're not sure if it has already started.

"I'll come along too if we're going today," says Sophie, coming into the classroom. She is definitely going through that growth spurt that Father McClellan spoke of - at times you find yourself wanting to avert your eyes from her maturing body, feeling strange whenever you see her. Today is one such day. Sophie frowns at your behaviour, folding her arms in front of her chest. "What's wrong?"

"No, nothing," you reply quietly. "Sure, let's visit Elizabeth today."


***


Rain knocks on the door politely, a basket of flowers in her other hand. As usual, Elizabeth's mother opens the door, a pretty woman with hair as red as her daughter's. "Oh my, you are here again today. Thank you for visiting Lizzie so much," she smiles kindly. "She might not admit it, but she feels lonely really easily."

You are brought to Elizabeth's room, where she is sitting on her bed as always, looking out the window. Her bright red hair has lost its luster, her cheery cheeks now gaunt, and her sparkling eyes dull and tired. It looks like her conditione has worsened again since the last time you saw her. Even so, when she sees you, she smiles.

"Oh, hey. You don't need to keep coming with flowers, mom wouldn't know where to keep all of them," Elizabeth says jokingly. She takes a few short breaths after the sentence, as if even that effort tired her out, when once she could speak on and on without ceasing.

Rain and Sophie moved forward to talk to Sophie, while you stood back and watched. Elizabeth was sick. It had started a few months back, when her legs suddenly gave way during a party for her 12th birthday. No one, not even the village doctor, could tell what was wrong with her. The sickness had only swiftly gotten worse since... and so here you are, watching someone who called you a friend waste away before your eyes, being unable to do anything about it.

The girl puts on a brave face before you, but you know, don't you?

The Hound's voice echoes in your head.

For someone like her, who wants to travel and see the world, to have adventures in places never before seen, being unable to even walk, to even breathe, to sit in bed every day of the rest of her short life, just waiting for the end...

You shake your head, but the voice continues.

But an illness can be hunted. It can be devoured.

The voice fades away with that. You know what it is offering.

"Hey, I need to tell you guys something," says Elizabeth suddenly.

"Is it another silly joke, Liz?" Sophie raises her eyebrows disapprovingly. "Your mind is healthier than your body if you can afford to think of such stupid things. Guess your body will just have to catch up soon. But there'll be no stupid jokes while Rain is here, okay?"

"That's not fair," pouts Rain. "I want to learn stupid jokes too!"

Elizabeth laughs. "No, nothing of the sort. I just wanted to let you three know before anyone else." She combs at her straggly hair with her fingers, looking at you directly. "We're leaving Scotsfield. My dad's moving us to New Vienna. He knows a doctor there, at a big hospital. Apparently they can cure me of... whatever it is I have."

"Well, at least it'll be quieter once you've left the village," says Sophie. "I'll enjoy the peace and quiet alone."

"Alone with him, you mean," grins Elizabeth, and Sophie snarls back quickly enough, refuting her words, as they begin their usual bickering.

"You're leaving, Lizzie?" asks Rain, interrupting the two. To their credit, they stop immediately and pay attention to Rain, as they usually do.

"Yes, Rain. I need to go somewhere else to get better. It's a really big city, with a lot of really smart people."

"Wow, that sounds amazing!" Rain turns to you, her eyes hopeful. "I hope Lizzie gets better soon, then she can come back. Right?"

You nod. "Yeah. That's right."

Elizabeth smiles at you, a sad look in her eyes. "It's too bad about our promise, but I don't think I can keep it now. Apologize to old Tlalli for me when she swings around, will you? Thanks for everything, really. I'm going to miss you. And Rain." She glances at Sophie and says nothing except for a cheeky grin on her face, suddenly reminiscent of how she looked before, as you remember her during your journey. Sophie looks away - her own eyes are a little red, and she bites her lip briefly.

After some more time conversing, you bid Elizabeth goodbye as evening comes. By the time you are about to leave, her eyes are barely able to stay open. She must have been pushing herself to talk to you and the others.

Once you reach home, you begin preparing Rain's dinner.

There are some things that you have to think about.

Should your life change, or should it stay the same?


***


A. You decide to uproot your life and bring Rain with you, accompanying Elizabeth and her family to New Vienna. While leaving Scotsfield is a shame, you feel it is time for new horizons, and this is as good a reason as any.

B. You decide to stay in Scotsfield for the time being. Your life here is comfortable and Rain is still young - she needs the stability. You can always visit Elizabeth later, when Rain has grown older.

C. Elizabeth doesn't need to go anywhere if you can cure her illness. And if the Hound knows how to do it, perhaps you can give in to the temptation and try to wield its power...


***
 

Baltika9

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C. selling our soul accepting the nice doge's offer for a friend's sake will add a cool nuance to Wrinkly's character.

"Cloud, Cloud, are we going to visit Lizzie today?" asks Rain, tottering up to you and pulling at your sleeve. She has taken to calling you that after learning that rain falls from clouds.
:desu:
I win, Codex.
 

a cut of domestic sheep prime

Guest
Anything is better than Wrinkly, but yeah, you win, you cornball you.

Actually, it’s not nearly so bad now that Rain is the one who named us.
 

Nevill

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Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Ah, the first part of the update brings a smile to my face. We get to be Cloud, after all! Even if it is unofficial.

I wish Sophie told us what was up with her, but then it must be private. And come up at a suitable narrative moment.

As for the second part...
No! Not the Best Girl! How did that happen!?

And d'awww, we really are one big family, Rain, Cloud, Liz, Sophie and... Uridimmu? :?
Come'ere you big hairy fluffball! What are you even doing here; I thought you only talk when we are asleep? I certainly haven't heard from you while awake before. I wonder if it means we are getting more comfortable with the fragment inside us.
Wait, will he be offering us Unlimited Power every time we get into a pinch? Is this how this is going to go?

...what's the fine print? Letting the dogs out?
Spiral taught me to never "attempt to wield" someone else's power when they ride in your head. They tend to wield us instead.

Elizabeth smiles at you, a sad look in her eyes. "It's too bad about our promise, but I don't think I can keep it now. Apologize to old Tlalli for me when she swings around, will you? Thanks for everything, really. I'm going to miss you. And Rain."
No you aren't. 'cause we are coming with. No way are we going to send you off somewhere and hope things get better on their own.

A. You decide to uproot your life and bring Rain with you, accompanying Elizabeth and her family to New Vienna. While leaving Scotsfield is a shame, you feel it is time for new horizons, and this is as good a reason as any.

We are going to find the best Goat Doctor and befriend the hell out of him, just you see!

Edit:
Should your life change, or should it stay the same?
It's like that thing Papus was talking about.
And finally, he turns over the final card. It depicts a skeleton wielding a scythe. "Death, reversed. While upright it symbolizes transformation, the end of one phase of your life and the beginning of the next, reversed it tells of stagnation, inability to change, and a lack of self-esteem in love... and ne'er will love come, should that stay the same."

Edit2:
Character Sheet

Wrinkly

-----

Stats:

Strength: 5
Intelligence: 6
Dexterity: 6 (5)
Perception: 6
Constitution: 8
Willpower: 7
Beauty: 3
Charisma: 4

-----

Karma:
15 (Drifter)

Factional Reputations:

Scotsfield Village: 25
Hunter's Association: 10
Al'tayyih: 25

------

-100 Sworn Enemy
-75 Hated
-50 Disliked
-25 Shunned
0 Neutral
+25 Accepted
+50 Liked
+75 Loved
+100 Idolized

-----

Combat Skills:
Melee Weapons - 2/5
Ranged Weapons - 3/6
Astra Proficiency - 2/7
Unarmed - 1/5

Active Skills:

Alchemy - 2/6
Arithmetic- 1/6
Artistic Aesthetics - 0/6
Astrology - 0/7
Sleight-of-Hand - 0/5
Stealth - 2/5
Traps - 3/6

Passive Skills:
Astra Affinity - 2/7
Drinking - 0/8
Etiquette - 0/5
Intimidation - 0/4
Speech - 0/4

-----

Astras

Tome of Theseus (Water, mutability)
Rank 1/3 - Maps your surroundings in a 1 meter radius.
Rank 2/3 - Allows you to view the immediate 1 meter radius of the map in your mind
Rank 3/3 - Marks and tracks a single living entity that you sufficiently understand; this entity can be used as a proxy for mapping.

Astral Amulet of Akasha (Aether, mutability)
Rank 1/9 - Manifests a small, unbreakable silver shield that can be controlled with the mind.
 
Last edited:

Kalarion

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Strap Yourselves In Codex Year of the Donut Shadorwun: Hong Kong BattleTech Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath I helped put crap in Monomyth
C. I'd like to choose B so we can quietly wait for Tlalli. Unfortunately a hero isn't made by living a quiet, dignified life. It's time to start making some well-intentioned mistakes. And it's also time to hunt some challenging game.
 

a cut of domestic sheep prime

Guest
Anyone else find it a bit too useful for Uridummu that Liz is suddenly falling ill, and he's offering a cure?
I smell a rat. Not a doggy, but a rat.

A > C
Wouldn’t that mean going with her would kill her?

Nah, I don’t think it’s doggy. Maybe she was exposed to some pathogen while we were doing one of the myriad of dangerous things we did. Or maybe her father brought it with him in his travels.

Disease was still rampant at the time, even without Deep State conspiracies to create biological weapons and pathetically flawed containment protocols managed by communists.

:M
 

Tigranes

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Messages
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Oh man, that's a twist.

Nobody up for a cheeky A? I see good reasons for B or C, but I'm not sure spending our entire formative years in Scotsfield is ideal, and of course, I'm always firmly in the "no devil's deals unless we really have no choice" camp. I would imagine that if we go to New Vienna somehow, we'd be able to see what the doctors think and if there are alternatives.
 

Orbit

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A. Go to New Vienna. Be there for Liz until the end. Learn from the best doctors. Drift slowly into insanity. Dig up Liz body and reanimative her with electric energy astra. Bonus: Teach Rain how everything in this world is ultimately turning to shit.
 

ERYFKRAD

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Strap Yourselves In Serpent in the Staglands Shadorwun: Hong Kong Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
A>B
I don't see the point in trusting a demon thing that wants to take the form of a dog just to fuck with our heads.
 

Baltika9

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Jun 27, 2012
Messages
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Nobody up for a cheeky A? I see good reasons for B or C, but I'm not sure spending our entire formative years in Scotsfield is ideal,
Uh, maybe? But I want to be here when Tlalli arrives, so that we can join the Hunters' Association. And I want to start bonding with Uridimmu. Whether or not you trust or like him, he's definitely an important character in the setting and I just plain like the character.

And I like the idea of dealing with the devil for a friend's sake.
 

Nevill

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Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Anyone else find it a bit too useful for Uridummu that Liz is suddenly falling ill, and he's offering a cure?
I find it more suspicious that it first manifested on her birthday. Could be a coincidence, but could also be some kind of... timed curse? Hey, quite a few fairy tales deal with those!
With the local doctors not having a clue I have to suspect some kind of non-trivial reason.

Edit:
But I want to be here when Tlalli arrives, so that we can join the Hunters' Association.
Hey, Tlalli offered to pick up us and Elizabeth both. We made a promise to go to the Association together, and I believe we would if she is healed, since it's everything Liz dreams about!
 
Last edited:

Baltika9

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Hey, Tlalli offered to pick up us and Elizabeth both. We made a promise to go to the Association together, and I believe we would if she is healed, since it's everything Liz dreams about!
Exactly. Instead of relying on overpaid hacks that live millions of miles away, we can just trust the nice, totally not-evil fragment of Uridimmu that lives in our leg to cure her instead. I'm sure that this will have absolutely no negative side-effects on Cloud or on Elizabeth.
 

Nevill

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Shadorwun: Hong Kong
I'm sure that this will have absolutely no negative side-effects on Cloud or on Elizabeth.
Positively.

I mean, last time we asked a voice in our head to mediate a scuffle between schoolchildren, it said the parties involved were hopeless and omnomnommed them all. The scuffle got resolved, with no negative side-effects and no survivors.

But I thought we might want to learn at least a little about Uridimmu (hey, didn't we want to tell Tlalli about it? would it even be safe?) before allowing him to do surgery.
ba097c8ee5eadcbd8ca92e033de0ade12726783bced726d853b571650c2919a6.jpg
 

Tigranes

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Actually, I'm willing to bet that the curse is an output of whatever happened to Elizabeth in her own trial-dream sequence, which we don't know about because we passed up the chance to talk to her about it.
 

Baltika9

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Actually, I'm willing to bet that the curse is an output of whatever happened to Elizabeth in her own trial-dream sequence, which we don't know about because we passed up the chance to talk to her about it.
If that's the case, then could Uridimmu genuinely be her best chance for survival?
 

Kz3r0

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May 28, 2008
Messages
27,012
Wait, I remember:
“The Astra that they use for walking the dreamlands is facilitated by use of a particular incense. It’s safe for their people, but there are the rare outsiders who have a nasty reaction to that sort of drug,”
Could be this?
In this case Tlalli knowledge and alchemy could be the answer.
treave is it possibile to have this as choice?
 

CappenVarra

phase-based phantasmist
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damn, this is a tough one

leaving early means we miss the earliest (and possibly best) opportunity to join the hunters
staying behind means we have to read more about Sophie and her body changing :shudder:
we have better doggie style opportunities than ancient demon princes

A > B > C
 

Grimgravy

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Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire
B>C

Sucks Liz has Polio or something. Lets be real, Liz isn't coming back if she goes to New Vienna. Either she dies anyway or gets the bigger things she has dreamed of. The big city will provide enough distractions that she'll forget out the hunters. Of the two ladies, she is my choice and I hate to see her go, but I want to stick around for Grandma and join the Hunters.
 

ChumBucket

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May 16, 2010
Messages
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C. The key element of a hero's journey is to descend into darkness before finding our way back to the light. And saving a childhood friend is good motivation to descend into darkness.
Also :shittydog:
 
Last edited:

hello friend

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Feb 26, 2012
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I'm on an actual spaceship. No joke.
Fuck no, we're not uprooting Rain from her stable existence this early in her childhood, not to mention bailing on the first person who ever showed us any kindness at all. Sophie also seems like the better choice as a mother figure for Rain, although that might not matter if they reach adulthood at the same time. And she's filling out, making Wrinkly feel all weird. Of course we're going for harem ending, but family first eh? Doggy seems like a fun dude, let's go kill that sickness!

C
 

ChumBucket

Augur
Joined
May 16, 2010
Messages
349
A character motivation standpoint for C: We are playing a character that up until recently never had a friend in his life. In fact he was effectively a slave for his formative years. Now he has two close friends. Loosing one would be devastating to him. While making a deal with Uridimmu would not be a rational decision, it would be an understandable one.
 

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