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Entry tags:
Power/Swap Event
Characters: Ensemble cast, any/all characters of Xistentia!
Summary: Power fluctuations across Xistentia affect not only the electricity of the city, but also the supernatural abilities of the residents. Will you get caught up in the chaos, or try to help out the next poor bastard who accidentally sprouted telekinesis overnight? Check out the mod announcement!
Date(s): Month of March 2018
Warnings/Notes: Potential violence/accidents
Early Saturday evening, the power goes out across Xistentia. Of course, if you were out in the woods roasting marshmallows or hunting elk, it doesn't make much of a difference until you approach the city and find the twinkle of lights has gone out. However, if you were enjoying some of the city amenities, it's immediately obvious that something is very wrong. Almost all stoves, lights, stereos, and heating systems cease to work. Television is right out. Devices running on indepedent power— such as cars, and cellphones and earpieces that relay the daemon network-- continue to work as long as they have battery power.
Or maybe you'll take advantage of the rise of community spirit in the nighttime, and come together to drink and tell stories in the one part of Xistentia that seems to continue to offer a little light— the Temple. There, people congregate to play a drinking game of truth or dare, or possibly complain about them millennials and their dependency on technology.
On the third day, residents begin to find that their daemons are malfunctioning a little. Accidental shitposts, distorted audio, and bizarre typographical errors are the least of it. It's as if your sentient personal assistants have gotten terribly drunk, though they reassure you that it's just part of the repair process...
On day four, the power comes back on and the daemons begin to sober up. It's awesome.
Except that that's when everybody's supernatural powers promptly go haywire.
For some, this is a sudden amplification of powers— superstrength or speed suddenly doubling in measure, or stone skin and magic swords will suddenly jolt into activation in the middle of brunch. A couple of werewolves wake up fuzzy on the morning after a new moon, whereas several wizards find themselves casting unintentional, messy spells while mumbling "shit" over something ordinarily innocuous. Arguably worse, a few people find their powers nullified. It's easier to manage, assuming you arranged your life so that a normal person could go about it. You may have to help one of our local giants escape from their seventy foot suburban home through a towering window, though.
And then there are the swaps. You'll hear about it on the network mainly— people squawking in dismay, that not only have they lost their old powers, but now they have something completely new. Keep your eye out— maybe someone will need your help, managing a terrifying set of abilities and weaknesses that you are familiar with.
Though many PCs have powers available for swap, several NPCs have also unleashed their abilities into the pool! Brief descriptions are below. Players may choose to handwave some off-screen help or instruction from these NPCs, or try and figure it out with the help of PCs.
Summary: Power fluctuations across Xistentia affect not only the electricity of the city, but also the supernatural abilities of the residents. Will you get caught up in the chaos, or try to help out the next poor bastard who accidentally sprouted telekinesis overnight? Check out the mod announcement!
Date(s): Month of March 2018
Warnings/Notes: Potential violence/accidents
Power/Swap Event
That sing the ecstasy of the soul and senses
Blackouts & Brownouts (March 10-13)
Early Saturday evening, the power goes out across Xistentia. Of course, if you were out in the woods roasting marshmallows or hunting elk, it doesn't make much of a difference until you approach the city and find the twinkle of lights has gone out. However, if you were enjoying some of the city amenities, it's immediately obvious that something is very wrong. Almost all stoves, lights, stereos, and heating systems cease to work. Television is right out. Devices running on indepedent power— such as cars, and cellphones and earpieces that relay the daemon network-- continue to work as long as they have battery power.
Or maybe you'll take advantage of the rise of community spirit in the nighttime, and come together to drink and tell stories in the one part of Xistentia that seems to continue to offer a little light— the Temple. There, people congregate to play a drinking game of truth or dare, or possibly complain about them millennials and their dependency on technology.
On the third day, residents begin to find that their daemons are malfunctioning a little. Accidental shitposts, distorted audio, and bizarre typographical errors are the least of it. It's as if your sentient personal assistants have gotten terribly drunk, though they reassure you that it's just part of the repair process...
Swaps and Supercharges (March 14-24)
On day four, the power comes back on and the daemons begin to sober up. It's awesome.
Except that that's when everybody's supernatural powers promptly go haywire.
For some, this is a sudden amplification of powers— superstrength or speed suddenly doubling in measure, or stone skin and magic swords will suddenly jolt into activation in the middle of brunch. A couple of werewolves wake up fuzzy on the morning after a new moon, whereas several wizards find themselves casting unintentional, messy spells while mumbling "shit" over something ordinarily innocuous. Arguably worse, a few people find their powers nullified. It's easier to manage, assuming you arranged your life so that a normal person could go about it. You may have to help one of our local giants escape from their seventy foot suburban home through a towering window, though.
And then there are the swaps. You'll hear about it on the network mainly— people squawking in dismay, that not only have they lost their old powers, but now they have something completely new. Keep your eye out— maybe someone will need your help, managing a terrifying set of abilities and weaknesses that you are familiar with.
NPC Swaps
Though many PCs have powers available for swap, several NPCs have also unleashed their abilities into the pool! Brief descriptions are below. Players may choose to handwave some off-screen help or instruction from these NPCs, or try and figure it out with the help of PCs.
- Telekinesis— 2 tonne maximum left (equivalent of a player vehicle), may throw or catch knives. Special feats, such as flight, may also be available but require study to master.
- Elemental Control
- Hydrokinesis— 15 cubic feet of water may be moved at one time, such as the volume of a square room of 'typical' adult bedroom height. This volume may be shaped or hurled around with the force of an ocean wave (for surfing, rather than storm). Water cannot be generated, but with effort and concentration, it may be pulled from the air or smaller bodies at a distance. Bodily transformation into water is an option.
- Pyrokinesis— the ability to generate and manipulate flames. Fires will start small, such as fireballs the size of a fist, and be fairly easy to maintain. However, with greater effort, larger, shorter-lived fireballs may be summoned for attacks, such as they may destroy 1 normal passenger vehicle in one shot. Bodily transformation into fire is an option.
- Terrakinesis— shockwaves through stone/earth/sediment or 15 cubic feet of earth may be moved at one time. Characters may raise pillars or shields of earth for offensive purposes, generating enough destructive force to flip or destroy a car in a single shot. With less offensive goals, they may reshape landscapes. Bodily transformation into earth/stone is an option.
- Touch Telepathy - Characters may read or affect the thoughts of others by coming into physical contact with them, with effect proportional to effort. Weaknesses will include that the target's willpower can overcome the ability, as characters learn to detect intrusion over time; they may also suffer from difficulty 'shutting out' the thoughts of others that they touch. Opt-out/consent pages will be required.
no subject
His attention drifts back to the television when she answers.]
Don't tell me you figured out a way to get to Earth without D.E.S.T.I.N.Y. breathing down your neck, [he says, with an odd little bubble of hope, then an odd little deflation of guilt after. Pepper, Pepper. He thinks briefly of Pepper, and his image flickers again.] You've been exploring? What's stopping you today?
no subject
The cats, who have been largely ignoring what's been going on, haven't taken their eyes off of the birds on the screen. There is a particularly bright and strange looking bird prancing around on it at the moment and even the raggedy old cat seems very into it.
Era herself is momentarily distracted by it as well (what strange birds!) and misses the flicker of Tony's form. She inclines her head towards the man at his question. ]
My methods involve going to the library.
[ She's confused by Tony's following question, though the look of confusion she wears is replaced by realization rather quickly. The people here don't know what her title means, nor her expertise as an adventurer. They wouldn't know that it's a given what her time is spent doing. ]
If I am not training I am exploring. [ Pretty much everything she does is some manner of training, really. ] An accident took me home recently, and I returned with grave injuries. I promised Aymeric I would rest and recover, and so I am.
[ Appreciate how candid she's being with you, Tony!! Hopefully it will keep him from teleporting into a wall or something!! ]
no subject
I think I remember you talking about that. On the network. [A beat.
He stares at the birds on the TV, a little absently.] Have you been trying out the native healing tech? [It sounds a little like that isn't the real question that he wants to ask.]
no subject
I used it to rapidly regrow my horn. [ It's easier to admit to that now that it's back in all its strong, sturdy glory. She will be glad to never again enter one of those machines. Despite knowing that they heal Era doesn't trust them entirely. ] I've had no need to try it out beyond that. Anything less than a lost limb or death can be healed with my magic.
[ The more severe injuries would need focused healing over a longer period of time, but in combination with practical medicine done by chirugeons the success rate is very high. Perhaps if she can return to Hydaelyn one day with memories intact it would be beneficial to have blueprints for the machines, or at least the more advanced medical technology available here.
She's awful at diplomacy, but she's gotten fairly good at judging body language and tone (at least when it comes to combat - outside of battle it's a bit more hit or miss). Deciding there's nothing to lose even if she's interpreted things wrong, Era asks quite bluntly: ]
What is it you wish to ask?
no subject
His attention wanders to her, next.] In your subjective opinion, [his voice is wry, the way he tends to get ... always, but especially when he's getting clinical,] did you feel like our work here was really paying off?
[He remembers at least one post that indicated she did. But time has passed. They've been through Panultima. Apparently— and he glances at her head-- she's even lost a horn. It's been chaos. They're less than they were before, 'depowered' somehow, with fewer resources at their disposal. And all for what?] What did you see? D.E.S.T.I.N.Y. agents crumbling to ash and blowing away. Vaginal dentata opening out of the ground, consuming them en masse.
no subject
The upper half of her tail begins slapping the couch cushion with a faint thwap once Tony asks his question. It's a slow rhythm brought on by thoughtfulness rather than restlessness. Or at least more thoughtful than restless.
She speaks up after a long stretch of silence to consider her words. ]
I do not have full faith in what we are doing. [ Worrying absently at her bottom lip, Era continues: ] There has been progress in my world, but only for stretches of a handful of months at a time. Inevitably something goes very strangely awry and I fail, leading to another calamitous event.
If you're asking what I saw in terms of the catastrophy being averted my answer is disappointing: I saw nothing. Events changed back to what I imagine they were meant to be all along. An enemy I should have been able to kill had become invincible, and when I returned it was no longer invulnerable to my attacks.
I believe Aymeric would likely be able to offer more insight, for he actually witnessed some of our world's destruction himself while I had been unconscious at the time.
[ When the safekeeping of your world depends almost entirely on you even when disregarding D.E.S.T.I.N.Y's nonsense... Well. It certainly doesn't need to put in much effort to bring Eorzea to ruin - not when it can simply interfere with one small thing and watch everything fall apart around it.
Era tries not to think about the last thing from home she remembers. ]
I trust neither side in this war, but I am willing to continue doing as F.A.T.E.S. desires for the time being. Risking my world is something I am not willing to do unless I have absolute proof what we do here is not helping. Thus far I only have proof that it does, if only barely.
[ Her voice is quieter by the end of her long answer. Thinking about how horribly she keeps failing - interference or not - makes it difficult to speak. It's a heavy burden, though she's glad to have Aymeric by her side to help ease it. Still, the stress is nigh unbearable at times, squeezing her chest in an invisible vice and buzzing through her skull.
She breathes in and out in careful, measured breaths. ]
...It's likely my voice will desert me soon, but Emeraldd will act as my voice when it does.
no subject
It's a little reassuring for him to think, that if he runs into an enemy that's functionally invincible against the Avengers, he could mark it off as D.E.S.T.I.N.Y. Right? That's what she means. (heh heh heh)]
It's all right, [he says.] I think you should take a break. You look— [and there's a mean joke somewhere on the tip of his tongue, but he bites it back.] --like you could use it. I'm gonna try to use that door. [he points over his shoulder with one hand.] And this rock. [He holds up the rock, cinched now between forefinger and thumb of his other hand. He twiddles it by way of illustration.]
Enjoy your stories of Earth, Era.