Bay 12 Games Forum

Ok then, well, we have time. We just need to figure this out and get everyone mobilized.

C2, if you are reading this, here's a note. Egyptians had a large focus on balance. If Apophis rises, we need an equally strong force of order and good, such as Ra, to rise as well.

Hold on, Apophis is said that be so powerful that even Ra always needs help to bring him down. Now we, a handful of demigods belonging to a foreign god, could do what we can to aid him. Of course, even we may not be enough, giving however relatively recently we'd emerged after Sind left the world.

However, there is a much more powerful group of people who'd been here the longest and host the biggest political entity in the world: the Cisharni and their Atlantean minions. If what Serena says is true then the Cisharni really hate the Pharaoh. If we were to drop hints that he's willing to go full-blown Femto on everyone just to feed his colossal pride at controlling a snake-like eldritch abomination who will no doubt eat him first and then the entire world, then they will do everything they can to stop him. They'll swoop in to kill or apprehend him, doubtlessly losing most of their strongest members in the progress, then (hopefully) have to fight a brutal civil war with his supporters and heirs (if they're just as hated) that will cripple the Atlantean Empire from the inside. Meanwhile, we Sindari and our human minions allies will make the civil war last longer grow worse until their 'new world order' crumbles, then swoop in to pick up the pieces. This is the best case scenario.

Worst case scenario; however, the Cisharni become too reluctant to strike down the Pharaoh in time and we are forced to fight side by side with our hated enemies to take down Apophis. If we survive the battle, they will inevitably turn on us and most of us will die while the rest change their forms and go into hiding. The Pharaoh will either live to fuck us over yet again or get executed. What's left of his supporters; however, having experienced firsthand how expendable their liege really considered them, will defect to the new Pharaoh (who will probably be the Inquisitor or someone far worse). Doing what Archaementes would do in his position if he was a Cisharni, the new Pharaoh will spin tales of the struggle against Apophis to the masses, ultimately blaming the Sindari for the incident. The entire world (the still intact parts of it, of course) will hate our guts, we will find it much harder to infiltrate their societies and to do stuff, and the Cisharni will be sitting pretty.

Yup, this can swing both ways.

((I'm just going to move on to the tour. All questions that had been asked will be answered as if they'd already have. If you still have any more questions for the Q & A session, they will be in the past tense. If you have any questions during each section of the tour or if you just want to write in greater detail your characters' actions, please reference those sections as well. Shall we begin?))

"I'm not asking to go around fixing holes and leaks my whole life, I'm asking if it would be possible to learn how to fix any holes or leaks that happen while I'm close by. Keep the mess I an' any I work with make to a minimum, ya know? As for adverse effects, since when was life completely safe?"

"bit shallow to assume that's all I want in life, isn't it? Shooting is a hobby of mine, but it isn't everything to me. I'm sure you know a bit about farming, and how there's pests that try to hurt or eat the animals and crops under your care."

"I'll hunt, that's not the question. It's more of "what is the next target", be it mental or physical."

"I understand, Metz," Madeline said, nodding. "Good to have you on board. I trust that you're find no shortage of physical targets to keep you busy and perhaps mental ones to master. As for your offer of assistance: we could teach you how to repair tears in the near future. However, it's a complex process that will take a toll or your body and mind. Perhaps if you become stronger, we can ease you into the basics first and make our way up from there."

As the headmaster talks about Jun's experience with foster care her body language tightens, and even though she tries to hide it it's evident that the subject is still a bit of a fresh wound. She slowly loosens up as Madeline talks more in depth about the nature of the Academy's predicament. At the end, she takes another minute to consider what she's learned, and then leans back in her seat. "Alright. I'm game." she says. "Just one last question: Are these things mandatory?" she asks, pulling at the collar of the school uniform shirt.

"You are required to wear your uniform while on these premises and during missions. You are representing Altera Vita Academy, after all. However, during school events where dress codes aren't enforced and while visiting places outside the academy when not currently on a mission, you may wear whatever you want," Madeline then smiled reassuringly. "Of course, in the meantime, you have speak with our tailors if you wish to modify your uniform to your personal tastes, providing that its new look isn't too... revealing."

Lemmy doesn't look impressed at the light show and the talk about how whatever you want in the world, the one and only solution to all your problems is right here.  He also looks unimpressed by all the dewey-eyed people around him, behaving as if this is some kind of personal fulfillment.

"So we're all immortal here?  Does that mean we can do whatever we want?"

"You certainly can, within reason of course and as long as you respect your fellow classmates," Madeline said cheerfully as she opened a golden scroll. Reading the contents, the headmistress frowned slightly before glancing at your chest. She sensed that unlike the other students there were no blob of spiritual matter within your chest. "I see that you haven't activated your weapon assembling gem and your Psyche along with it. I could ask why but, telling by your expression, you either doesn't trust it or would rather remain normal."

Pursing her lips, Madeline shook her head slowly in pity. "A normal human usually won't survive very long in a fair, toe to toe fight with even the weakest of Contorted, Lemmy. That's how dangerous they are. There's no doubt that the Wall of Snark will become more acquainted with you than anyone else."

Madeline paused before a wide smile stretched across her face. "However, we'd seen how humans in every universe surpassed trials that would've broken lesser creatures. Despite having pathetic nails, shorter and blunter teeth, a relatively long gestation period, a puny sense of smell, poor night vision, slow running speeds, and frail bodies, humans have always overcame challenges using nothing but their ingenuity, tenacity, and the help of their fellow kin, Perhaps such things still apply here and no one tried it before? Either way, I have no doubt that you will make me proud, Lemmy. Now, any more questions, my dear student?"

THE WALL is not pleased.

Well. THE WALL doesn't have that name yet, I don't think? THE WALL's just... well. Not sure what THE WALL is, really. Not really Karl anymore, what with the circumstances. Karl was a proper man's name. He was, quite obviously, not a man anymore. There were promises of glory, and of reward, and of fulfilment.

These were immaterial. There were two things which fulfilled THE WALL. Meaningful work, and TRUE AND EFFICIENT GERMAN ENGINEERING. And there seems to be a MAJOR OVERSIGHT HERE. A MAJOR BREACH OF EFFICIENT FUNCTION.

"Yes, Frau Goldenchilde, I have a question pertaining to what appears to be a slight oversight in that I appear to now be a small girl-child."

"Ah yes, of course you would want to know why you're a little girl...," Madeline summoned a scroll and unfurled it, reading the contents. "... and not a strapping, luscious hunk of a man. Humanah humanah...<3 The headmistress is practically drooling as this point.

Noticing your expression, Madeline immediately regained her composure, clearly her throat. "A-ah YES! The reason for you-your change of appearance is another effect of being transferred here. The idea is that since you've come here to basically get a second chance, a second life, your age and appearance, sometimes even gender, will change. Just think of it as essentially being reborn as a new person."

Madeline then gave a sideways glance at Jun. "Of course, it's extremely rare for someone to be reborn with the exact same age, appearance, and gender."

---

Only she have finished answering all of the students' questions, Madeline clasped her hands together as she passed her gaze upon them.

“Now that this Q & A session is over, I can commence with the tour,” she said after taking a deep breath. “Don't worry about the total volume of people I will be guiding; in addition to the ability to speak one-on-one with each of you simultaneously, I have the ability to form multiple mirror images of myself while I'm still inside Altera Vita. You must understand that this academy is a huge place, full of many sectors and the rooms they are comprised of. In fact, there are even many iterations of the same room, hence the thousands of auditoriums. However, I am the only one overseeing all of this so put two and two together and you'll get a headmistress who's all over the place, literally...”

“...and almost everywhere at once!” came a sudden outburst of synchronized shouts. Looking frantically around, you find yourself surrounded by hundreds of Madelines, each standing next to a section of students. Each Madeline wore something different to differentiate her from her sister copies. The one standing next to you wore the same garb as the one on the stage but also donned a wide-brimmed summer hat.

“Don't be alarmed by them,” the Madeline on the stage continue with an impish smirk. “They're just as cordial as I, provided that you don't attack them. At the very least, you'll survive their first hit, just barely, but I digress. Each of my images will guide your group to your assigned home sector and the facilities and amenities therein. You will be given codes to access whichever rooms you want to enter provided that they're not off limits. Once we've given you a tour, we will hand you two-part assignments. Once you complete the first part, the second part will come shortly. Enjoy your second life and good hunting.”

With that, the headmistress and her Seraphim disappeared in a burst of gold, white, and black confetti and a loud pop. The Madeline, the one wearing the bonnet, turned to give you a grin. If one looks closely, they can slightly see through her. “Now that that's over with, let the tour commence!” she said as she materialized a cyan scroll of shards. Several purple writings appeared on the surface as if by an invisible hand. “Okay let's see, here are the students I will be guiding today...”

Metx, Sully, Jun, Roland, Alicia the Entombed, Lemmy, MEDEA MAUR, THE WALL, Clint, and many other students are now part of Group 1000. Since Corvo is Roland's familiar, the both of them are counted as one person.

---

“First stop is the kitchen and dining room!” Summer Hat Madeline said cheerfully as she inputted the numbers into the rollers, making sure to inform your group of its code (1021). Soon enough, your entire group found yourselves inside a huge room filled with groups of round tables and chairs. Gold and mahogany wallpaper covered the walls, accented by rows of golden sconces that gave off a dim and relaxing light. Chandeliers that consisted of orbs of crystals locked in concentric orbits around a golden icosahedron hanged from the ceiling in a grid-like formation As the headmistress' copy guided your group through the room, most of the students breathed in awe as they gazed with starry-eyes at not just the impressiveness of the interior but its dimensions. After all, the room looks large enough to hold an entire football field.

Summer Hat them led you to a pair of doors at the other end of the dining area which opens to a huge kitchen lined with dozens of refrigerators, stoves, and other cooking appliances. She explained that the refrigerators are always stocked with the ingredients for whichever meals you want to prepare if you choose, just input a request through their HUDs. In case you are unable or unwilling to cook, she explained that someone will come to assist once you press a button near the door.

“Now that you're acquainted with the main kitchen and dining area for your sector,” Summer Hat Madeline said as she turned back to your group. “It's time to show you the recreation area!”

The recreation area (code 1022) is smaller than the dining area but was full of a variety of entertainment. From table games to VR gaming sets, the recreation room has everything for everyone. There was even two doors that led to two areas: one of them led to an indoor ball court and gym and the other even led to a smoking area.

“I trust that you already know about your dormitories, which is accessed using the code 1024, so the next place that I will take you is your sector's library, which will be the last part of our tour of the amenities,” Summer Hat Madeline said. “Books are wonderful things, no? You have only to imagine yourself being there and you will be in the blink of an eye! Perhaps we are all characters living inside a grand story of adventure, blood, and triumph!”

The library (code 1025) was absolutely massive. Shelves full of books tower three stories high and were accessed using floating platforms, some of which were being used by either students who'd been here longer than any of you or the librarians. To those of you who hate reading or found it useless, this was a place to be best avoided. However, to those who loved reading, this is nothing less that a slice of paradise.

“Now that you seen what we have to offer for your bloody business, do any of you have any questions?”

---

After Summer Hat Madeline answered every question, she then brushed a strand of hair from her face. “Now that we'd gotten the amenities out of the way, it's time to meet our long-time guest of honor! Sure, he's a bit of a… jerk but you'll warm to him, eventually.”

Dialing the code (100) into the rollers, the mirror image and your group find yourselves floating in a starry expanse. However, instead of the pitch-black of space, the background was white and the 'stars' were grouped into swirls of colors. Finding that you can move in any direction by 'swimming', you followed Summer Hat Madeline to what appeared to be a giant silver wall ahead that stretched to unfathomable distances in both directions. Its surface was unbelievably smooth and polished. In fact, you can see your reflections on the wall. There were several epithets etched into the surfaces, some depicting the particularly gruesome deaths of the referenced people.

“Unlike the rooms we'd visited, this is one of the few is which only one version existed. You won't find another room like this. Even now, I suspect that the other groups are busy examining other portions of this wall.”

Suddenly, the epithets parted, revealing a blank area that quickly became opaque. Before anyone could ask what's happening, a set of symbols appeared on the surface that looked something like this:


Blinking in confusion, Summer Hat Madeline begin to ask tentatively, “Is there anything wrong WOS?”

The set of symbols moved around the wall's surface as if looking at each student before disappearing. A few seconds later, some words etched themselves into the surface, reading, “-Not sure if I'm looking at walking corpses or future dead guys.-”

As the students murmured among themselves, Summer Hat Madeline placed her hands on her hips and gave the wall a disapproving glare. “Now, now, WOS, be nice! Please introduce yourself to these new students.”

The words disappeared, only to replaced by more which read, “-Yo, I'm the Memorial Wall, a.k.a. 'the Wall of Snark. When you spiritual bags of guts croak for the umpteenth time, your name will appear on my surface along with how you bit the dust and who or what did the dirty deed. You can revisit me anytime to peer over your novel-worthy epithets and mayyyybe have a chuckle or two.-”

“It's our understanding that humans are fond of dark comedy, usually concerning death,” Summer Hat Madeline added, raising a finger. “Most students do in fact enjoy the Wall of Snark's company.”

“-Like maggots on a putrid corpse, they just can't get enough of me,-” the Wall of Snark continued. “-What's with the look? Surely you didn't think that any of this was going to be family-friendly? You obviously wanted this sort of life after the real Madeline broke it down for you to understand or you would've asked to be transmigrated by now. She never lies, after all.-”

Some of the students looked disgusted at the WOS's antics. It wouldn't be far from the truth to say that they are seriously considering wanting a way out of this life. Others; however, looked on with interest, even anticipation some might say.

“An excellent use of the WOS's… specialty is finding out who killed you. Let's say that you're in the middle of a mission and suddenly something takes you out in one hit before you can determine who. Let's say that you're fuming in the medical area, thinking that an enemy killed you. However, if you go back to the WOS and ask to see your epithet, you may find out that, for example, that it was actually one of your fellow students who'd attacked you for a perceived slight. Unless your attacker finds a way to hide their deed from even the WOS, their name will always appear on his surface.”

“-Hah!-” the WOS 'scoffed'. “-People will have a better chance smuggling a demon into Altera Vita from the Tartarus Realm than fooling my skills!-”

Turning to the students, Summer Hat Madeline rocked on the heels of her feet. “Right… Anyway, do any of you have any questions?”

“-Don't bother asking whether you'll truly be remembered, meatbags. I have plenty of space on my body just for you!-”

---

The next area (code 1026) looks for all intents like a medical wing with enough rooms to fill a big city hospital. One half of the Medical Section as it was called was full of hospital beds, each surrounded by strange equipment and machines. Here is where seriously injured students will be placed to be mended by the machines with replacement tissues and organs made from their tissue samples, which Summer Hat Madeline instructed them to give. By her estimate, even the more heavily damaged student will spend no more than 25 hours being mended to full health.

The other half contained full-body nutrient vats for when the students do die in combat. According to Summer Hat Madeline, special recovery soul link machines will retrieve each slain student's Soul, which contained all of the student's memories, activated or unactivated Psyche, conscious, and skills and put it in a cloned spiritual body for the student to take control of and leave to go back into battle or get stronger. Due to the current rate and capacity of the machines and vats, each student can only use up a maximum of three bodies before they have to wait for them to be completely refreshed each day. Each vat room contains lockers full of spare uniforms for the students to wear once they returned. Summer Hat Madeline pointed out that although all of the students' items are also retrieved a few minutes after death, it's possible for more intelligent enemies or even your fellow students to take the items after breaking the soul seal. However, your weapon, if any, cannot be taken away as it has literally become a part of your Soul.

The next area visited was called the War Room (code 101). Showing holographic maps of local areas and a huge globe of the Animus Realm itself, with Altera Vita Academy being represented as a golden cube for some reason, the War Room also has doors leading to teleporters, which can send you anywhere in the Animus Realm. Near each teleporter were dozens of bracelets with numbers that matched those of the teleporter itself. Named Beacons, each of these bracelets enable the teleporter to zero in on the general location of the other wearers in the field, allowing team mates who died or got pulled out to rejoin their team quickly. As long as at least one student is still alive and is still wearing their Beacon in the field, they can get reinforced easily.

“Now that we toured the places where you will no doubt be seeing a lot,” Summer Hat Madeline said with a wry smirk. “Any questions you would like to ask?”

---

"So, what do you think we're supposed to steal from the vault for our mysterious patron?" you ask as you position you doll to open the door.
"No idea. I'm betting whatever it is, it's going to be dangerous." Jack says as he takes position on the other side of the door and readies his last two club cards.
The moment you give the signal, Jack transforms the cards into two somewhat crowbar-shaped clubs. Knowing that such transformation won't last long, Jack quickly throws one to your doll and then immediately moves to use his.
"These things tend to get ridiculously difficult." he says between grunts as he and the doll try to make the door budge.
You help the doll synchronize its motions with him. Their combined strength is enough to break something inside the door's mechanism and allow them to start opening it.
"I'd say we've been lucky so fa-UCK!" Jack transforms his last word into a swear as the crowbar dematerializes and he falls on his butt.
"Only my first challenge was somewhat easy. The rest were as difficult as you described." he adds as he gets up and goes to inspect what's through the door.
"So, what were they like?" you ask him as he squeezes through the small opening.
"Oh, you know, nothing hard. Just getting to an exit door, sometimes having to unlock it first."

You squeeze through the opening yourself and take a look around. The area beyond is quite absurd for a safe. The safe itself is merely a giant cube containing a great structure, with stairs leading down to its level. The structure is cylindrical, about 4 storeys high and made of stone (probably marble). The entire building excpet for the side facing you is covered with great cables and giant pipes coming out of the walls, some of them making their way inside the building through holes in the stone. The side facing you has a great wooden door on it instead.

Beyond some emergency lights near the elevator and some blinking lights scattered around the walls, it's quite dark in here. Normally you'd worry about triggering any alarms but at this point you've probably triggered every alarm you could, so there's probably not much point in being careful.

Something about this entire thing (and the door in particular) gives you a bad feeling but you don't think you have much choice in the matter. It looks like whoever designed this challenge wants you to enter this strange building within a vault.

"Wait, which is it? Were they hard or not hard?"
"Well, uh, you know what I mean, the objectives themselves were not difficult. I mean, not complicated. But getting to them was."
"Why is that?"
Jack sighs, sounding a bit angry for the first time since you met him.
"Come on, do we really have to keep talking about this right now? We are in danger, we have people after us, we have a job to do. When we're done we can chat to your heart's content." he says, trying to evade your question as he goes down the stairs and approaches the door.
Hm.
 

♚The Doll Prince: Behind Closed Doors♚

"Fair enough then," Napoleon muttered in resignation before focusing on the big wooden door below.

Making use of his superior intellect and perception, Napoleon has notice that Jack's story was a bit... odd. Now that he thought of it, if what Jack said about his previous challenge was true then it sounded like he had it easy. Sure getting to the place could've been difficult but winning a poker championship for the third time seems like a cinch if Jack really has the ability to win at card games. While Napoleon fought for his life during his first trial in which his ability and plans were being turned against him, this self-proclaimed 'King of Card Games' was no doubt facing challenges that seemed to be tailored to him. Finally, the bit about his powers just sort of manifesting without any explanation and his refusal to speak of it further got his attention. Though it could be possible that powers like that could manifest a la 'X-men style', most people wouldn't feel too ashamed to discuss it further. Besides, Napoleon is a dollish man who has the ability to summon dolls to do his bidding, an ability that can't be considered by most men to be less embarrassing than the ability to use spells based around playing cards! Though Napoleon has taken care not to be too open with Jack in case he ultimately can't be trusted, he can't help but to ponder if this should be taken much further, as least while this many red flags are popping up. In the best case scenario, Jack's just too embarrassed by his trials to discuss it with a stranger he'd just met an hour or so ago. Understandably, Napoleon himself would've acted the same way too. Worst case scenario, Jack's story could be nothing but a facade and he's actually a crook who plans to betray him and take the object for himself, which would be a shame since he kind of liked Jack.

To determine what kind of person Jack ultimately is, Napoleon made a mental note to pay closer attention to everything Jack says and does without alerting him. Whether he is genuinely a fellow pawn who's just more lucky than himself or a double-crosser looking for a sacrificial lamb, it's quite obvious that they both need each other to get the item the Queen wants and to get out of here alive. Whatever vindications or betrayals that will happen will happen once this is all over and if Jack turns out to be a traitor then Napoleon will see to it that he regrets it. After all, he is the Doll Prince and his judgment is absolute.

In the meantime, a door needs to be breached.

Enter the strange tower provided that the door is unlocked. If locked, morph the 'twisted doll's' right hand into a large axe-like implement and hack the door to pieces. In either case, move the doll in front of Napoleon and Jack to absorb the brunt of any attacks that may suddenly erupt.

I was told this game existed and would be remiss to not do something with it.

so... yeah this is

this is a thing I made.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

revious Name: Karl Amadeus Volksmauer
Previous Gender: Male
Previous Age: 30
Previous Appearance: A large, sturdy-looking German man covered in muscle, with a large handlebar mustache, deep-set brown eyes, and a permanently angry expression. Notably, this has changed upon death, somehow having been converted in what appears to be a small girl with large grey eyes and skin like some unholy fusion of concrete and the core of a neutron star.
Background Story: Karl worked in a factory his entire life, refusing to quit, refusing to change jobs, even as the actual work became mostly meaningless and the products they produced even moreso. Noone could afford such things anymore, the company shut down, and still he went into the ruins every day and set about building things. Working metal, stone, and whatever he could find into useful objects for his own use, mostly. The story started to get out that someone was making loud noises in the old, disused factory. A farmer thought it was children making trouble, and went in to investigate, taking his shotgun with him to scare them off.

Turns out it was an eight-foot-tall incredibly angry looking man. This resulted in Karl's untimely death via buckshot. The farmer never recovered.

Current Name: MEDEA MAUR, THE WALL
Current Gender (if different from above): Female
Current Age: 12
Personality: Rather similar to when they were alive, the new incarnation possess a gruff, direct, and distinctly LOUD presence, boisterous and stubborn, still the kind of person to fix and build with percussive force more than true skill.
Likes/Dislikes: Likes building things, dislikes change.
Fears: Farmers and shotguns. Change.
Berserk Buttons: the destruction of TRUE GERMAN ENGINEERING
Favorite Things: TRUE GERMAN ENGINEERING, quality worksmanship.

Caste: EARTHDUST
Weapon (Has both melee and ranged modes): FIST - not a true weapon, but just THE WALL's own bare hands enhanced by her Psyche to become either massive weapons or cannons.
Psyche (Ability that's unique to the student): THE WALL can convert her body into some kind of malleable stone, or perhaps metal, of unbelievable hardness that not only absorbs blows, but REALLY FUCKING HURTS to strike with any force. Any time an enemy hits THE WALL and fails to damage them, they instead take damage.

Acquired Skills:

Acquired Items/Totems:

Acquired Augments:

Current Q-Gems: 3 (+1 capacity every five levels)

Current Status Effects:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Might: 1
Fortitude: 30x2
Endurance: 1x2
Accuracy: 1
Agility: 1
Stealth: 1
Perception: 1
Intelligence: 3x2
Charisma: 1
Willpower: 0

EVER LOOKS GREAT AND INTERESTING WALL! FOR YOUR PSYCHE, I'M THINKING OF HOW TO REPRESENT ITS EFFECTS IN THE ROLEPLAY! BASICALLY, YOUR CHARACTER'S FORTITUDE IS INCREASED BY HALF, WITHOUT THE POINT BONUS FOR BEING AN EARTHDUST, AND ANY ENEMY WHOSE MIGHT SUCCESSES DOES NOT OVERCOME THE NUMBER OF SUCCESSES FOR HER FORTITUDE WILL HAVE A THIRD OF THEIR DAMAGE REFLECTED BACK TO THEM, BUT ONLY IF THEY'RE ATTACKING IN MELEE. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THIS?!

IN THE MEANTIME, I'LL SHOOT YOU A LINK TO OUR DISCORD CHANNEL SO BE THERE OR GET SQUARED! YOU MAY GO AHEAD AND POST IN THE IC LINK HERE!

@Everyone else, I apologized for not updating as quickly as you would like. I have a lot to do, like adding two new people and more writing. I'll update either tomorrow or Monday evening!

"Either way is fine. Metz is jus' a nickname some of my friends called me. dunno if it's cos of the Canadian rock band or the french town, but apparently they saw a relation between one of 'em and me, and the name stuck.
He shrugs off the name drop as if it didn't really matter to him.

"now, I won't mind cleaning up my messes. Hell, I wouldnt mind fixin holes in reality if I knew how to. But you'd have to teach me how to do that first, now wouldnt ya?"

"from what I'm getting, you know a bit more than yer lettin on bout them contorted folk. Is this some sorta test, an we're supposed to be fightin them to improve our grade with the big guy upstairs or somethin?"

"If you've been very naughty in your past life, then fighting the Contorted will improve your grade with Him," Madeline said, nodding. "As for the assistance you're offering for fixing our rifts in reality: even if humans can fix them without suffering adverse effects, I serious doubt that you will enjoy your afterlife playing the role of a custodian."

Madeline's projection drifts closer to you until she is practically within arm's reach. She then leaned forward, resting her head on her hands as she continued to regard you warmly. "You must've had big plans for your life, aspirations during your time as John Mackerfield. Shooting competitions and hunting just to name a few, anything where it's just you, your gun, and your target. You may have even dreamed of becoming a championship hunter and marksman, working hard to earn medals and pelts to hang on your wall. Unfortunately, such aspirations have been cut short when a fellow hunter mistook you for a deer or some other animal."

For emphasis, Madeline made a gesture with an index finger that resembled a trigger being pulled. She mouthed the word 'bang'.

"However, in Altera Vita, we give you the skills and tools to hunt even more dangerous game, to become the hunter of unknown horrors. If you want no part of this, I will understand. However, if you wish to essentially get a second chance in life, then don't let this opportunity slip through your fingers. So, what say you?"

---

Jun listens, furrowing her brow as she thinks about what she's learned. "So, like, is this place just the afterlife equivalent of a Chuck-E-Cheese?" She makes a broad sweeping motion to the whole auditorium. "If we win enough tickets by doing... Whatever, we get to go back as the reincarnation equivalent of the giant teddy bear?" She draws a vague outline of a stuffed bear in the air with her hand for emphasis. "Cause it looks like you guys have enough resources here to take out a small country. Dealing with a bunch of freaky cronenbergs should be a walk in the park." There's a pause, and she takes a breath before adding, "I guess what I'm trying to say is I don't really get why we need to be here."

"This place is more like a second life than some sort of game with a point system, my dear student," Madeline said, chuckling as she gestured to the entire audience the same way you did. "Everyone here have either had a dull and unfulfilling life or they'd been cut short at the cusp of their newfound personal purpose. Everyone have felt unfulfilled, even cheated out of their potential future, or they would not have come here. You should know that feeling better than most, Jun Yeung. Passed around from foster parents to foster parents as an unwanted child, feeling lonely and unloved, you would've easily been doomed to live an unfulfilling life if you haven't been introduced to skating. Whether it's learning new tricks or even building skateboards, you must have felt a deep sense of accomplishment at succeeding at difficult tasks. It's a shame that it all ended when you became gory goop sticking to the treads of an 18 wheeler."

After listening to you speak of how potentially powerful Altera Vita Academy are and how easily they could deal with the Contorted, Madeline smile sadly, "Dear Jun, you know so little about our predicament! Yes, you are correct: we are capable of conquering small nations. However, and if I still correct about human political entities, small nations are still... well...  small, compared to entire worlds and when you bring up more than one possibly infected world into the equation then you have a big issue. The Seraphim and I are powerful, yes, but we're so few in numbers. We cannot comb through the Animus Realm without the Contorted slipping through the gaps, not to mention that the Seraphim are still needed to keep things in working order here."

"Humans; however, are far, far numerous. In both large and small groups, you can more reliably seek out and destroy the Contorted wherever they're hiding. You will receive the necessary training and skills to help you succeed in your endeavors and the academy will function as your home base and place of learning. How does this ties into why I'd said you're all here? Just think of all of this as similar to your life among the living: you found yourself being born into circumstances that you didn't choose or don't have complete control of. However, only by overcoming adversity and finding your purpose can you truly be fulfilled. Perhaps you may soon find satisfaction in surmounting even bigger challenges than just brainstorming which skateboards to build next."

Unsummoning her scroll, Madeline clasped her hands together. "So, are you willing to meet the challenges ahead?"

---

"Apologies, my lady, I didn't realize. If you truly serve our Lord in Heaven, then your wish is my command."

The headmistress chuckled. "No need to be so formal, Roland," she said. "You're not one of my Seraphim after all. Just act like you normally do and get stronger. All I ask is that you help defeat the Contorted and respect your fellow students. That is all."

Before you turn to leave, Madeline eyed Corvo with interest. The crow, meeting her golden gaze, turned away. "I sensed that your familiar has obtained an object of mysterious origin. A gold watch, am I right little birdie? Perhaps you should research its properties after I finished the tour, Roland. It just might come in handy in battle!"

Somewhere in Corvo's pocket dimension, a gold watch is floating in the ether. Though the crow loves it because it's really shiny, even he is clueless about its origins...

((Meanwhile, a dollish prince is shaking his fist menacingly.))

Quote from: Ozarck on April 09, 2018, 06:56:03 am

((It's been a month. Can I get a general recap?))

Dead people from history came back to life in future japan and have magic powers we all have wandered to the same school and the school was attacked by invisable to mortals monsters now some dude climbed up on the building after the fighting and is asking what the hell happened.

He seems too playful considering that said monsters just launched a big attack on the school. It's kind of like as if he's admiring his handiwork.