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[notquitethere]

You are wizards, holy folk, the Sewi Jan. Each of you knows two words in the arcane language of Toki Pona. With these two words you can change your environment by altering the fundamental building blocks of reality. Together you will go on quests for the people of Ma who will reward you with new words.

Setting

Ma is in crisis. Irresponsible and cruel Sewi Jan from before have made a mess of the universe with their bizarre sense of humour. People have forgotten what magic is and have been tricked into spending their lives toiling for others rather than existing as transcendental energy beings. The last good sewi jan, the toki pona kulupu - the good language committee - have banded together to teach a few words to a new generation of speakers. You are those speakers. If you prove yourself, they will gift each of you with new words as you further the quest to transform the world back to its greater sense of pona.

Character Creation

Name: [this is your name]
Lexus: [pick two words from this list. At least one of them has to be a transitive verb (vt) and at least one has to be a noun (n).]
Colour: [Put your speech in different colours. Red is reserved for magic.]
Background: [The game is set in a contemporary but unspecified city. Tell us a bit about yourself!]


Gameplay

There will be a list of quests with known word rewards. Whoever satisfactorily completes a quest first will get the word. Treat this like any normal roleplaying game, you can do anything a normal human can do. The exception is when you use magic: to speak arcane words, embolden in red like so: Jaki Esun!. The potency of the magic is determined by how many words you know in total (so effects aren't very far reaching to begin with). The precision depends on how clear your intentions are. Generally you'll use your magic to do things ordinary people cannot to achieve your unusual quests.

In the beginning, the following word orders are valid:

Verb - Object (shake cat, heat rice, raise bar etc.)
Verb - Modifier Object (shake small cat, heat white rice, raise steel bar etc.)
Verb - Object Modifier (shake cat explosively, heat rice hotter, raise bar quickly etc.)
Verb - Modifier Object Modifier (shake small cat explosively etc.)

As you grow in power you will learn new and more potent combinations.

Players

Spoiler: Sharayna (click to show/hide)

Player: Wipeout
Name: Sharayna
Lexus: meli, sona, olin
Colour: Brown.
Background: Sharayna, is a wizened old hag, who has only recently learned that there is magic. While old, she has been tenacious and gutsy throughout all her life, and she wants to have at least one more great adventure.

Spoiler: Shaon (click to show/hide)

Player: IcyTea
Name: Shaon
Lexus: ala, lawa, pimeja
Colour: "Teal."
Background: A yound wide-eyed anarcho-socialist keen on adventure.

Spoiler: Alurjo (click to show/hide)

Player: Athath
Name: Alurjo
Words: Ken, Ali, Mani
Color: Blue
Backstory: Alurjo is an orphan who was raised under a very strict care-taker. He longed to have freedom, and now he can finally have it.

[wipeout1024]

Name: Sharayna
Lexus: meli, sona
Colour: Brown.
Background: Sharayna, is a wizened old hag, who has only recently learned that there is magic. While old, she has been tenacious and gutsy throughout all her life, and she wants to have at least one more great adventure.

[Kashyyk]

Well, this looks amusing. I may make a character later if I have time, otherwise PTW.

[IcyTea31]

Name: Shaon
Lexus: ala, lawa
Colour: "Teal."
Background: A yound wide-eyed anarcho-socialist keen on adventure.

[Harry Baldman]

Name: Murkko
Lexus: ijo, meli
Colour: indistinguishable
Background: a young, starry-eyed wizard taught by a slavemaster feeling great regret for a life poorly lived, Murkko is determined to use the two words he has mastered thus far to achieve great things in his lifetime and make his master proud.

[PrivateNomad]

Name: Jolar Buraski
Lexus: Tawa Tenpo
Colour: Navy
Background: reserved

[Salsacookies]

Name: Doanski
Lexus: Jaki Jan
Colour: Yellow
Background: A rugged young man from frozen lands, he has become a speaker because the chance to live in much warmer lands was to much of a temptation for him to pass up.

[notquitethere]

The toki pona kulupu gather you together on a rooftop on the east side of town. You have to walk up the fire escape and duck into a makeshift tent they've spread out across some rusty rumbling boxes.

"Welcome sewi jan," they say as one. Their faces are obscured by dark robes. "Here is the first list of things that can be done. Work together or alone as you see fit, but only one may claim each reward. Come to us if you believe you have completed an objective. When at least five are done, an additional list will be drawn up."

As you busy yourself with introductions and the perusing of the list, the kupulu say, "be warned, we do not want to draw the attention of the ike jan, our sworn foes. Be subtle with your power until you can afford not to be subtle.

The list of quests and rewards reads like so:

1. Impart a sense of joy to at least fifty people - musi
2. Bring back three thousand shillings in unmarked bills - mani
3. Adulturate a meal of a stranger at an elite restaurant without being spotted - namako
4. Paint the town red, or enough of it that it gets in the papers - kule
5. Give 5 people the means to overcome their fears - pipi
6. Destroy 30 watch boxes in the east side of town without them seeing your face - pimeja
7. Give a family the means to feed themselves indefinitely - pan
8. Bring two strangers together from different sides of the river over a shared interest - olin
9. Gain dependable access to the sewers and map the routes safe to travel - jaki
10. Permanently give away everything you own (except for what can fit on your back) - pana

"The tasks may seem strange, but there is a method to our madness."

---

((The setting will become more concrete as you explore the city, feel free to invent likely places and people to visit. Here's some to start you off:


The Bridge of Tears
Grand Council Terrarium
First National Bank
Galbrak's Secondhand Meat Emporium
The Commhu
DoZee 25 hour Beverages
Hammonds Hardware
Remembrace Park
Office Zone Aleph
The Apogee & Zenith restaurant
))

[Harry Baldman]

((If two people undertake the same quest and cooperate on its completion, do they share the reward? Also, can we teach one another our words?))

"Interesting! Shall we do this all together, fine friends? Perhaps split the tasks and meet up back here later? I call dibs on number 8."

[IcyTea31]

"I have an extremely convoluted plan that could possibly satisfy tasks one to eight (probably not all of them at once, though), but I'll need an extra pair of hands. If we're calling dibs, task six is my favourite. Stuff blowing up, see?"

What's been on the news lately?

[notquitethere]

((You can't teach each other yet... but you definitely can later when you have the right words and are powerful enough. You're encouraged to co-operate with each other's quests but only one reward can be collected per quest.))

In the city news:

- Tinyware have announced record profits and their sanctum are holding a recruitment drive in the Tiny Outer Ring; Tier 3 passes or above required.
- Newly re-elected  Governor Eskul promises tough approach to malcontents in the city and mandatory chipping is being discussed.
- The Temple of the Gibbous Moon has opened a drop in centre for sufferers of Blueknee, but Council medical experts say that the disease is just a weakness of work ethic.

[Harry Baldman]

"Well, I'll be off, then! Meet you all later!"

Locate a busker.

[notquitethere]

The only buskers allowed on the west side of the city are company sponsored and you don't have the passes to get into their gated areas, so you settle on the east side of the river.

In an underpatrolled area there's the Parts Market where sellers hawk components of dubious provenance. Amidst the brightly coloured stalls, a young zitar player plays, barely audible in the loud market.

[ATHATH]

Name: Alurjo
Words: Ken, Ali
Color: Blue
Backstory: Alurjo is an orphan who was raised under a very strict care-taker. He longed to have freedom, and now he can finally have it.

It was tempting to go with "no", and "everything", but I decided against it. Can we choose which definition of a word we use?

"I call dibs on number three and number two!"

"Does doing number three without being punished count? Is number eight permanent, or just a one time thing? My caretaker owns most of my stuff, and what remains can definitely fit on my back."

Turn in quest number two. I have thirty (29.1, if we're being precise) U.S. dollars' worth of shillings in my pocket, right?

I don't suppose there's room for a sixth wizard? I love the concept of this game, but I didn't have access to my computer until recently.

[wipeout1024]

"Well, hello everybody. I am Sharayna! Pleased to meet you all!". Sharayna says  as she waddles her way in with her cane. "That was a hard climb. I could have died! But it will take more than that to kill an old granny like me!" With that, Sharayna toddles off with her cane to the bridge.
Go to the bridge, and claim dibs on quest number 8.