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« on: April 01, 2014, 10:59:45 pm »
He watched the results of his work, and they were good. The children of the gods, poorly made imitations at best, had grown up flawed enough for his purposes. Enough for his second stage of deconstruction to begin. He was most familiar with the mad, so he went among the children of the god of senselessness after cloaking himself in mist and wind, walking among them as one of them. He spoke long and persuasively on the goal he wished to pursue, and though the Spectres were crafty, wary beings by his hand, they knew by his force of personality that he was better than them, and bowed to his wishes. Where they had previously focused entirely on undercutting each other, he redirected a cabal of the most talented minds among them and turned them to a singular cause - of course, this didn't stop the rampant backstabbing among them, he even encouraged it to a degree. After many nights sequestered away in secret quarries they found, with many strange odours and lights emerging from their places of work, Trickster returned to them, bearing the weight of magic on his back. Taking it in his spectral hands, he broke it into 19 pieces, for that was the number of his followers, and he gifted a fragment to each of them, claiming that as he had discovered - no, created this force, it had been imbued within him. Their great work done and their dominance over the others assured, for the magic contained within them would extend their lifespans to unnatural lengths, Trickster spoke to them at length about what they could do with their new abilities. They could see into the minds of other beings and shield themselves from the same. They could bend the elements to their will - build walls out of water if they desired, make clothes out of flame, weapons out of the sharpest metal that would cut through even the Specters. All this and more Trickster gifted them that night in the crags, and he spoke of the gods as well. He did not suggest open rebellion, that would be much too foolish, but what business did the gods have demanding their praise when they had created this power entirely on their own? A black discontent crept into the hearts of the nineteen that were there with a Trickster that night, and afterwards, no matter how they tried, they could not remember who amongst them created their powers - they only remembered the words Trickster had given them, not his presence.
1 Act: In the guise of a Spectre of unusual charisma, Trickster creates magic and gives it to the nineteen that were with him.
0 Act (I believe, correct me if I'm mistaken): Trickster talks to the 19, informing them on what they can do with their powers - telepathy, blocking telepathy, elemental bending, enhanced age, and a small increase in cleverness, etc. They can teach this to disciples, but due to their egos and lack of trust it's unlikely they will except in rare circumstances. He also boosts their egos to the point where they begin to question their relationship to the gods.
1 Act: As before, Trickster erases any correlation between himself and the sudden gaining of magic - to the 19 and all observers, it seems to have happened spontaneously.
Trickster spends the rest of his turn watching what the 19 do with their newfound gifts and knowledge.