Depending on Levont's personality, he might be concerned or even gratified to notice Josef soaking in his words like a sponge, committing them to memory immediately with fierce concentration. "Check with Fort Naoth, Blessing adaptation, routine check, use phone and mirror if possible. Thank you, sir." He discounted the possibility of a re-Blessing ritual immediately; the stick was gone, and going through a re-gifting after the stick was gone would be something his father would never understand. --- "Maybe," Josef agrees noncommittally to Heather's statement. Privately, the thought of his powers "growing" makes him wonder if the numbness will grow stronger. He's already found it useful as a stabilizer--almost comfortable, in an uncomfortable way--but it getting stronger might not be good. "As far as I can tell, it's only tactile, yes. I remain the deeply emotional person I always have been." That last sentence may have been delivered in complete monotone, with a corresponding blank face. --- The fact that Karl could effectively attack out of range of Josef's thorns was a constant annoyance... but Josef was faster than Karl was, even when Karl pushed himself, and Josef tried to take advantage of that option to get in close whenever he could. Their spars (Karl was one of the only ones that Josef agreed to spar with more than once) usually still ended in Karl's favor, though, at least in part because Josef was too worried about the possible side effects to really go on the offensive (and Karl was possibly just better, but Josef couldn't admit that). --- At first, Josef is irritated to see Dimitri there again as they prepare to leave for the First Trial. He has managed to hide the side-effect of his power from his father for the entirety of the past week; if only Dimitri wasn't there, and he could be sure of getting away free... He's a bit jealous of the rest for having more normal connections--until he sees Heather looking around for someone to see her off, and Karl's mother pretending like she's there by accident. His irritation swiftly turns to shame. "Please don't do that," he still snaps at Heather, walking up behind her, though with perhaps less force than usual. Looking past her, Josef knows he should say something to his father. He opens his mouth to speak, but what he wants to say is impossible, and nothing else will come out. So, after an awkward moment, Josef reaches out his hand, fully expecting Dimitri to pull him into a hug. The pressure still feels... off, somehow, and Josef tries to carefully extricate himself without looking like he's carefully extricating himself, taking his place back with the other Novices. When the tokens are offered, Josef takes one quickly, before he can let himself hesitate. He understands the practical reasons for such a record--crystals, he can even understand the reasoning from an entertainment standpoint--but it still galls him to be recorded at all, to be forced to play on the stage at every moment from here to Lomorre lest his slip-ups be broadcast to the entire world. He pulls on the pack with his now-customary care, making sure that it isn't unbalancing him. At least he doesn't have to worry about any discomfort from the pack. Although he may have to check himself for any raw spots in the evening... "Do you accept this charge?" "...I do." The gravity of the moment should hide his slight hesitation, this time. "Then your First Trial begins now." Well, that's it then. Josef had, for some reason, expected more... something, in the moment. Heather sways, and Josef looks over to her with concern, only to find himself rolling his eyes slightly at her comment of the "biggest quest of all!" If this was the biggest thing any of them did, they'd be rather poor excuses for Knights... which would fit the way things are going for him, honestly. "Wilderness has mine," Josef says firmly a moment after Heather speaks. He knows he sounds contrarian, but he's already going to be filmed at all times; he'd rather limit the size of his in-person audience as much as he could, at least for now.

Heather might have been just a tad disappointed that nobody in particular had come to see her off, except for the part where her best friends were all here with her! She did take a moment to go over to Dimitri though, and say, "Don't worry, Dimitri, I'll-" keep him safe? Hah, yeah, right. She'd be slightly surprised if the thought that Josef would have any trouble whatsoever had even entered his father's mind. "-make sure to text you whenever he does something especially awesome!" Sure the whole thing would be recorded but it wasn't like Dimiti could literally sit there watching the entire journey. Most of it was just gonna be like walking and stuff and he was a busy man! Heather took the little token as instructed. She went through her pack, and shrugged it on. Her heart started beating fast, and faster as Levont spoke. "Do you accept this charge?" "I do," Heather said firmly. "Then your First Trial begins now." And Heather swayed on her feet, and almost fell over. Something flashed through her mind, when Levont said those words, a sensation as ephemeral as it was powerful. No vision did she see, no whispered words or cryptic rhymes did she hear, although for just a moment she almost imagined that the other Pages were almost glowing. Or...maybe not so much radiating light themselves, as just being more brightly lit than the rest of their environment, as if somehow the first rays of the dawning sun had touched them specifically and nothing else, however little sense that seemed to make. Then it was over, nothing left but a memory...and an odd sense of certainty. They were going to do something. Something important. A story had begun, and one that would be retold through generations. ...Maybe there was something, to the idea that her narrations were predictions rather than alterations. She shook her head to clear it of the daze. She looked to Remy with a grin. "Okay then. Time to start the biggest quest of all!" Step 1: Logistics! Heck yeah! We are off to a rockin' start! "I think road has my vote," Heather said. One might think this was because she less used to the rigors of travel, and would prefer a more comfortable journey even if it took longer. This was not in fact the case; Gen and Remy were two of Heather's best friends after all! Plus being able to survive on her own was a skill Laurel had made sure she learned. She wasn't quite as outdoorsy as the two of them, but she wasn't some pampered city girl either. But taking the roads would take them through more settlements, and they might be able to help some people along the way.

Lily joins in with the sparring with any of you who'll take her on, although her win record is...probably about on par with Heather's, except she doesn't have the luxury of having a Blessing tailored around supporting others to explain it. "How the heck are you guys so dang strong?" she grumbles, on more than one occasion. It doesn't stop her taking part, though - and once or twice she does manage to catch someone off guard with her wild variety of bubblegum powers. She also discovers she can actually produce a 'flavour' of bubblegum that heals minor wounds, which pretty much immediately endears her to the villagers of Greenbrook on account of her being much more friendly than Doc Theo. She, uh...does also accidentally glue herself in place with her bubblegum powers on one occasion, after which she (and probably the rest of you) takes care to avoid the sticky green gum. But hey, that's why you have a week to train before heading out on your constantly-recorded First Trial. *** The day of the First Trial itself comes with less ceremony and fanfare than your Blessing ceremony had. Partly this is because you are requested to assemble at the main gate of Greenbrook before dawn and that kind of time tends to put a dampener on celebrations, but also it's because the Blessing ceremony had, in part, been a celebration of Greenbrook as much as you guys (after all, you would be carrying Greenbrook's name for the rest of your days). The First Trial is much more personal. Only a few close friends and family show up to see you off...which, for you guys, means Dimitri (no longer wearing his goofy outfit), Remington and Ydrale...and also Karl's mother who, uh, doesn't seem to have a name defined, but she's here too, and definitely isn't here solely because they would've been the talk of the town if they hadn't gone to send off their own child on the First Trial. She does...kinda seem to be acting like she just sort of happened to be in the area and figured she'd stick around. The net result of this is that until you guys arrive, the people are outnumbered by the camera drones - one for each of the six of you, plus one focused on Levont himself. For that matter the people are also outnumbered by the big backpacks that have been procured for each of you. "Greetings, Novices." Levont gives another bow to you. Dimitri sort of starts to mimic him, glances over and notices that the Dragomirs aren't following suit and tries to pass it off as just brushing some imaginary dirt off his trousers. "As you know, your First Trial will begin at dawn." Watched by his camera drone, he retrieves a neatly folded map from his bag, unfolds it to show it to you all, before folding it up and handing it over to whoever steps forwards to take it (the camera drone rotates to watch you pick it up before returning to Levont once the map leaves his hand). The map is a copy of an old-style map, pretty precise but obviously lacking functions like TNLTeratian Navigation Lines, aka GPS but not one of the words in the acronym makes sense in the setting. that your phones have...although leynet connectivity is not necessarily guaranteed given that you might well be marching through the wilderness at some points. With the business of the map taken care of, Levont produces six small tokens from his bag and hands one to each of you. "Hold those for a few moments, if you please, while the camera drones grow accustomed to your prana." You were never actually given any training in how to handle the camera drones at Fort Naoth, predominantly because they, uh...don't really need much handling. They have enough battery life for a year of activity, evasion protocols that let them stay out of the way in battles, a stable leynet link that lets them broadcast emergency signals even from the most remote parts of the kingdom and - as is being set up now - prana-tracking crystech. Their best feature as far as most Knights are concerned, though, is their onboard recording software that lets them maneuver to get the most dramatic shots for a given moment...something which, as you've discovered over the past week with the periodic use of the drones, can get kinda irritating because the drones care nothing for either distracting their subjects or getting right up in someone's face when they do. (You aren't allowed to break the drones.) In any event, after a few moments, Levont activates the camera drones and they start to move, flitting back and forth in kinda 'searching' patterns before hovering over each of your heads to show that they've found you and that the prana tracking is working right. There are a few awkward minutes of silence, during which you have the opportunity to check the contents of your supply packs (tents, basic rations, a little money, and the like - the Knights aren't so cruel as to throw you completely unequipped into the wilderness), before the first rays of dawn begin to creep over the horizon, and Levont clears his throat and continues in a much more formal, ritualised tone as the camera drones (except his) spread out to start getting establishing shots. "Just as His Majesty the First King marched to Denaya to pray for the mercy of the Dragons, so too will you march to Lomorre. Only that which you fair gather or trade, or that the Dragons have graced you with, is yours to use. You will be conveyed by no beast of burden nor artifice, nor use the name of the Knights to unjustly gain more than you are owed. You will comport yourself as Knights, and serve this Kingdom with every step you take towards being named Knights in truth." He pauses for a moment to look over the six of you. "Do you accept this charge?" Once you have all confirmed your agreement, Levont looks back to the gate, waiting for the sunlight to hit the city wall. (One has to wonder what they do when it's cloudy or raining). "Then your First Trial begins now." Of course, that doesn't mean you actually have to immediately go anywhere. For one thing, there's one important decision you need to make: do you stick to the roads for a slightly longer and more roundabout journey, but one which will provide you with more options to rest in proper inns and the like (which you...probably don't quite have the money for if you stay in a settlement every night of your two-month hike)? Or do you travel as the crow flies and hike through the wilderness for a more direct path with probably the opportunity to hunt game and forage for food (and get plaudits for doing so), but put up with somewhat less comfortable travel?

Karl nodded along Lily's explanation, positively impressed. A Knight of the People...a kindred spirit, then (or maybe not, but nuances aren't really his forte). "Well, I'd like to preorder a copy of the Page, please" he joked. * ...wait a sec, Lily also kinda reminded him of Heather. Did that make the two of them kindred spirits as well? No, no, she called his spear creepy, that couldn't- Why am I even thinking about this?! *** The next morning, he snuck out of his house at dawn, fleeing tactically retreating from the awkward atmosphere that would have awaited him, and headed for the relative isolation of his favourite fishing spot (he didn't care for being recorded, so he refused the drone while he still could), where he started experimenting with manipulating his blood - was a spear really the only thing he could create? *** At the end of day two, the answer was clear: "yes, but". For whatever reason, the spear was the only thing he could create effortlessly; maintaining other shapes, be they sharp blades or simple cubes, required constant concentration and was extra fatiguing - to Karl, it felt like having to stand perfectly still in an awkward position. Perhaps with intensive training he'd be able to expand his options, but that wasn't going to happen anytime soon. He did, however, discover that he felt much less thirst and hunger, and needed much less sleep, than before the Blessing. Weird, but he wasn't going to complain about extra free time. *** From day three onwards he began asking his fellow Novices to spar - like mostly everyone else, apparently. His first partner happened to be Remy, who...well, had a bow, so wasn't exactly a "sparring" partner, but whatever. Karl welcomed the challenge, and had to quickly learn to focus his prana and blood in his legs to have any chance of catching up to her; on the other hand, her arrows had a hard time dealing lasting damage as not only were Karl's blood vessels doubling as mesh armour, but it turned out every strike of his spear restored him. Still, it wasn't until the third or so match, after he finally managed to throw his weapon like a javelin, that they were truly matched. Of course, it wasn't only her he sparred with - there wasn't much else for him to do, after all, so for the rest of their stay in Greenbrook he was basically either sparring or waiting for someone to be available (he may or may not have creeped out Heather further, once the Sanguine Lance began exhibiting the ability to actually drain blood from its target) - but he felt that the experience of facing an archer was particularly valuable, seeing as with everyone else he was the one with the reach advantage, so he took any chance he could to face her. Well, her and Josef, once he starts making himself available. He did feel a little bad for the whole "can't feel" thing (at least, after seeing the implications in the way Josef moved and compulsively checked himself...his first reaction was more along the lines of "good for him, why is he complaining?"), but I would be lying if I said that using his superior reach to strike while being too far for the thorns to retaliate didn't feel satisfying. Besides, a spear wasn't going to break any bones.

Insight DC 20

"You...can't feel anything?" Heather asked after Josef explained what had happened with his Blessing. There was concern in her voice and on her face. Pain sucked, but it sucked for a reason. And evidently it wasn't just pain he couldn't feel. Heather had never encountered a problem that was simultaneously so "do you need a hug?" while also being something a hug literally could not help with at all! "Well, um, you know, Blessing powers tend to be weakest when you first get them, right? So...maybe once yours develop you'll, like, outgrow the problem, or something?" she offered optimistically, if not very believably. (She knew that the Scouring and re-Blessing rituals and such were a thing but she wasn't sure about the logistics.) "I don't...think I have, like, touch illusions," she said, a little apologetically, not that illusions would actually be a practical solution here even if she did and even if they worked. Although thinking about it in those terms did make her realize, "It's just, um, tactile, right? Because nerves? I mean...you can still feel, like, emotions, right?"

Josef Levont...kinda raises an eyebrow slightly at your comment. "I see. And these effects are...unwanted?" He frowns for a few moments. "You are quite correct that there is nothing a conventional doctor will be able to do to assist you. When you arrive in Lomorre following your First Trial, go to Fort Naoth. The physicians there are trained and equipped to handle Knights with...unusual...physiologies, and will be able to give you more complete advice - and, by then, your soul will have adapted sufficiently to your Blessing that it would be safe for you to undergo a re-Blessing ritual should you decide to attempt to change your Blessing. In the interim... "Not all injuries will break the skin and thus make themselves noticeable via your thorns, and while as a Blessed Knight you are more resistant to disease than most people, that does not necessarily mean completely immune, and if nothing else unnoticed injuries may hamper your capacity in combat. I suggest you make it a routine to check your body over for injuries you might have suffered without noticing, preferably with the aid of a mirror or your phone to examine areas you cannot normally see. Or, if your embarrassment does not preclude it, asking one of your companions to examine you for wounds."

Normally, Josef would never let Karl have the last word. Today, however, he simply grimaces and looks away, turning back to the end of the festivities. --- Josef barely hears Levont's explanations and cautions about the future. Later, he quietly but firmly rejects the idea of filming his training, and would reject the filming of his Trial if it was allowed; for now, his entire being is focused on getting his thoughts in order so that he can address his... situation as quickly as possible. Because of that, he speaks up perhaps a bit too quickly, stepping right on the edge of the Archivist's final statement. "Archivist Levont, I need to speak with you immediately, if you are able." He doesn't look at the others; they'll be traveling in the Trial together, so they'll find out soon enough. Let them enjoy the night. Assuming that he can get the Archivist to one side, Josef cuts quickly to the point. "Due to a... mistaken rune on a tattoo on my part, my Blessing seems to have largely replaced my nervous system with thorns made out of fire." He definitely isn't hyperventilating; he just spoke too quickly, that's all. "Since awakening in the Pool, I have been unable to feel anything I've touched, and breaking my skin has released the thorns from underneath. Doc--that is, Doctor Winthorpe is... not reliable for unorthodox cases, and this is a matter of Blessings. What..." Josef forces himself to breathe slowly. He can't let his words get too fast, or they won't be understood. "What are the next steps, Archivist Levont, sir?" --- By talking immediately to Archivist Levont and then following his instructions, Josef is able to avoid his father until nightfall, when he is much more composed. Then, by claiming the need to train and refine his Blessing, he is able to limit his interactions with his father until the Trial. With any luck, Josef will be able to leave Greenbrook without Dimitri ever knowing just how badly the Pool ceremony went wrong for his son. --- Josef does not appear in front of the other Novices until the second day of training. Lily may not notice much that's different in the young man, but the rest have grown up with Josef; they would notice that his movements are slower, more deliberate, that he looks carefully before sitting down anywhere and seems to guide himself to the seat with one hand, and especially how he has picked up what seems to be a nervous habit of holding his arms in front of him and twisting to see all around them, glancing at his legs, and twisting to check his back, as though checking himself for ticks. Heather is the first person Josef tells when she asks, but the rest learn about the other part of his Blessing soon enough; once he knows how to care for it, he doesn't hide it from them. For the next two days, Josef focuses on calling his thorns out of him and manipulating them in various ways. They burst out easily enough, he finds, but something seems to be missing in his handling of them; unless he wraps them around his dragonsteel club, they quickly burn themselves out, vanishing in a puff of smoke and heat. For some reason, he feels certain there's more to them than that, though he couldn't for the life of him say what it could be. By the end of the first day (the second day of training for everyone else), Josef figures out how to sweep his club and "fire" thorns out at targets, using their tendency to burn bright and then burn out as an offensive boost. He also does a little bit of tests on his basic speed and strength, though he is always extremely careful. By his estimate, at the end of the first day, he hasn't really gotten much stronger, but he has become much faster; he isn't as fast as Gen is now, but he thinks he might be faster than Gen used to be. Perhaps a nervous system made of fire quickened his reflexes, he considers, though he has no way to test that. The second (third) day is spent seeing just how many thorns Josef can call out from him all at once. The answer is, when he stops trying to direct them, quite a few! If he takes a moment to concentrate, Josef can fill a good section of the practice field with burning thorns over the course of a few moments. These thorns burn out just as quickly as all the others, but it is quite a merry blaze during those few seconds. It's a bit too... indiscriminate, for solid battlefield application, but at least its something. In a rare moment of whimsey, Josef imagines that he's sitting in the middle of a thornbush that someone's set fire to, and then his normal character cuts in and he ponders gloomily why such a picture fills him with a strange sort of longing. --- The fourth day of training reveals a somewhat disturbing "advantage" to Josef's Blessing. Realizing that he isn't going to get much farther with such a battle-focused Blessing without some application, Josef accepts Gen's offer to spar. The other boy has Josef (and everyone else there) outclassed in speed and strength, but Josef's Blessing gives him solid area denial, and he has worked to make it punishing to anyone who touches him while he's actively in combat; with that, the two boys are surprisingly evenly matched. They dance around each other for some time, Josef doing everything he can to foul every attack that Gen throws at him, until finally the other boy has the opportunity for a clean stroke. With no other recourse, Josef brings up his club to block Gen's enormous blade. The shock of impact feels... odd, to Josef, even odder than normal, but everything feels odd to him in the past few days. He pushes through it easily enough, smiling slightly as the impact unleashes his thorns towards the other boy even as he catches his balance from the force of the blow. He angles his club for a quick uppercut to Gen's chin, but the blow wobbles weirdly and misses the other boy entirely, despite them being right in each other's faces. Josef steps back to grab some space, and is surprised when Gen leaps back as well. "What.." he starts, following the other boy's eyes towards his club. Oh. His arm's bent the wrong way. And he's fairly certain he doesn't actually have a joint halfway up his forearm... Josef cedes the match to Gen after that little discovery, though the (literal) fire within him seems to push him to continue the fight. Another bit of his warped Blessing unfolds in his understanding, like a flower petal: he can keep fighting beyond what his body would normally be able to endure. In fact, if he's reading his instincts correctly, his Blessing will urge him to keep fighting well past the point of safety. In some surprisingly calm portion of his mind, Josef notes this as another thing to look out for.

Longshot Insight

Remy gave a little chuckle at Lily's comment. "None taken. I admire your intentions. More than a few knights are there for the title and honours and less for the duty; something I've seen in commentary and behavior at the odd soiree. Being a Knight with the people in mind before all else? That's the way it should be. You would get along well with my father; such was his goal initially as well." She would follow that up with a pat of comradery to Lily's back, perhaps a little harder than intended what with the newfound levels of strength. She hadn't commented on her own reasons but it was probably close to her father's, right? *** Following their release from their attendance on center stage, Remy went to speak with her family. She was still somewhat in noble form - something quite reinforced by her mother's impeccable stature - but it wasn't long before the true Remy bubbled forth and she'd given her father a big hug and was laughing and content as could be. Her siblings would come from the crowd to the edge of the stage and earn themselves a short windy flight (which later became something she'd end up doing for any child who asked). She spoke with her family for quite a time before rejoining the rest of the crowd and enjoying the festivities. A few bites and sweet-apple drinks later and she was cheering and dancing with the people as she was more known to do in her earlier days, genuinely celebrating with the rest. When the time came for questions of the camera drone, she seemed somewhat torn but eventually requested to have one. It was clear from her commentary that she'd rather not risk being embarrassed should she flub up her practice but that on the flipside she had a duty as a Dragomir to make a proper showing. So her familial responsibilities came out ahead in the end. The night following the celebrations was a somewhat rough one however. While the nausea and dizziness had been somewhat manageable during the festivities, after a few plates of Aunty Gratchum's Famous Apple Pie and enough milk to drown the cow that provided it, things weren't staying where they should be. Fortunately for her, noone but the bathroom got to see her spray rainbows into the porcelain. Having your entire body rewritten at the cellular level was unpleasant at times. *** The first day of her training saw very little camera use. Her father had gifted her an impressive bow for her successful initiation and much of the day was spent practicing with it. With the increased natural strength she had worried about snapping the string, even though he'd enthused that it was designed with a knight's strength in mind. On the contrary, at first she was unable to draw the string at all, which led to some struggles in making any shots at all. By the end of the afternoon however she'd managed to find the right balance for her draw. This resulted in some footage of her sinking arrows - unenhanced at first - deep into thick wooden targets. The footage of her putting an enhanced shot through the target and three trees behind it, however, was unintended and certainly left in-place merely because she had the misconception that everything was being broadcast live. Day two had her practicing with more complicated aspects of her abilities. Guiding arrows through the air to strike at the sides of the target, intentionally firing far off-mark to try and force it to come around and hit the bullseye. As she got better at her control she started getting a little more confident, changing her target from the sides of the target to the direct back. This was a good plan, until she put another arrow clean through and had to quickly veer it to the side lest she achieve a friendly fire hit in solo-practice. Luckily for her that one didn't end up on her camera. The later part of the day was spent practicing firing while moving herself with her glide, which while difficult, was manageable. Day three she accepted Heather's sparring request. Remy's techniques were intermixed in the spar, mixing ranged shots (with blunted arrows) alongside swift dips into melee for rapid fly-by strikes. Fighting Heather was certainly a bizarre encounter though, given that her illusions had Remy often guessing at what was real and what was not. However Remy's gifts were near-exclusively geared towards combat which earned her the win time and again. While she had deigned not to film the battles due to not wanting to shame Heather (or expose what might be intentionally secret maneuvers) she would if Heather permitted. Remy was certainly not fond of growing in renown by pushing down others' but equally she understood how big a deal the novice training was for the people at home cheering them on so it was considered. Either way she would add an hour of her own efforts, gliding at high speed while unleashing volleys of seeking arrows at hung targets about the estate, likely making the groundskeepers nervous of their potential workload on the morrow.

Insight Freaking high as heck roll but still not gonna do it XD

"I mean...I dunno!" Heather answered Karl a bit defensively. "Narrating for reality seemed cooler...at least until I started thinking about it and realized I'm not sure it isn't mostly a placebo effect." When Gen said the power words were the best part she just kinda hand-shrugged. "Okay I guess maybe I buried the lede..." "My theory is the illusions are to make my stories more immersive. But, uh, yeah. It's pretty weird." -- "Gooot it," Heather said with a sage nod when Lily explained how her Tithe had worked, and what she'd been going for. That made more sense. "That's pretty cool, actually. The whole Knight of the People thing." -- Heather listened attentively to Levont's instructions, nodding a couple times. She...decided she wouldn't request a drone to oversee her training. She wasn't actually sure how much of a show she'd be able to put on. Once they were dismissed, she went to enjoy the celebration, eating and chatting and dancing and catching up with people from the village. She was a bit sad that they would be leaving again so soon, but not so much that it impeded her enjoyment of the celebration, or the time she had. -- She stayed up late and slept in late the next morning, as much just to enjoy the opportunity to do so (which had very much not existed at Fort Naoth) as because of the celebration. But once she was up and showered and had eaten...it was time to figure out how these powers worked. And for some of them it was easy enough. The power words were straightforward. The illusions were easy enough - having a photographic memory and a vivid imagination definitely helped with that. She quickly came to discover that the Blessing had made her...faster. Like, a lot faster, almost as fast as Gen had used to be. She had forgotten to check for physical enhancements despite how common they were, but that was super-cool. She was disappointed to find that she wasn't any stronger though. Oh well. Near the end of the first day, she figured out how to kind of imbue the light and sound her illusions could produce into her sword. She couldn't produce damaging intensities on her own, but focused through the crystalline structure of her Dragonsteel blade did seem to do the job. That was also really cool, because glowing swords were awesome. And yet, she couldn't really tell if any of her attempts at narration actually...did anything. The next day, she came up with a theory that maybe the narration needed the target to hear it. So she fell back into her old habits, going around town and helping people with various tasks. Now, she helped normally as well, since like, she wasn't actually sure her powers were doing much (the super-speed was super-useful here too). But while she worked, she narrated things for whoever she was working with, and when she finished she asked if it had seemed to do anything. And the results were...kinda maybe? Like perhaps the tasks were a bit easier than they would have expected, or they felt a little more focused. She had definitely kept it from being boring! How much of it was actual improvement and how much of it was just them trying to be encouraging she didn't really know. The problem, she thought, was that she was trying to narrate things that were too obviously already going to happen. These were day-to-day tasks in the village, utterly routine. There wasn't really any question that they'd be accomplished successfully. She needed something more uncertain, more random. Where the right narration at the right time could make a difference. And they were all supposed to be practicing with their powers, soo... On day three, Heather asked if any of her fellow Pages would be interested in sparring. If anybody took her up on it, it would turn out that fighting Heather was a little...weird. She spoke as she fought, mostly a sort of running description of what was happening, with occasional quips or dramatic pronouncements, seeming mainly like she was trying to hype herself up. Maybe it worked? She did seem to press a bit harder the longer a fight went on. It was hard to say if she was actually getting faster or stronger or better in any way, or just falling into more of a rhythm. She did seem to describe something happening - like blocking an attack, or one of her own striking home - slightly before it actually happened, but it didn't feel like there was any force, like, interfering with them when she did. And she didn't get it correctly every time. She'd start to wonder if maybe it wasn't so much that her words were changing what happened as predicting it...not necessarily reliably, but maybe yet better than chance. The really weird ones though were when she narrated something more out-there and it did seem to happen, like a stumble, or a move causing a pulled muscle, or something. Things like that were definitely happening more often than you'd expect from chance, after she described them, but it was still hard to say that she was actually doing anything to cause them, aside from maybe manipulating probabilities. Although there would be one point where someone landed a solid hit on her...only for their weapon to pass through her and her to say from three feet away "But it turned out it was only an illusion!" She got really excited when that happened, because she was almost positive she hadn't actually created that illusion before-hand. It was one of the only concrete indications she was able to get that her words were actually doing something, actually editing reality in some way. Regardless she uh...wouldn't actually manageShe's PL 3+1 and excepting Lily everyone else is 4, plus most of her best stuff is ally-support, so pound for pound she'd be at a fairly substantial disadvantage 1v1 against any of the other PCs. to win all that many of the spars, which would be kinda disappointing. She'd keep trying, though, as long as the others were willing to spar her. If they kept it going until the end of the week, then on the last day, the frustration at how finnicky her power was and how it seemed like she had turned out strictly weaker than some of the others, would spill out during one of the spars as an emotional illusion, intense enough to be distracting in combat and potentially even influence behavior. ...So, you know, that was cool.

Routine Insight (DC 20) 24 after Routine

Lily giggles a bit at the reaction to her Blessing when she meets back up with you. "It wasn't s'posed to just be bubblegum." She kinda leaves it at that for a moment or two before explaining. Back when I was preparing, I was thinking...what kinda knight did I want to be? And...you know, fightin' Demons and all that is great, it protects people, but sometimes it feels like folks just do it for the sake of it, for trophies on their wall and stuff. And I really don't care about all the hoity-toity nobility stuff - uh, no offence, Remy, it just isn't really somethin' I like having to do. So I was settlin' on protecting cities, towns, villages, whatever, but...then I started thinkin', it's not the places we want to protect, it's the people. "So, that's what I was kinda aiming for. A 'knight of the people.' Even got a crystal tattoo sayin' that in runescript on my back. And for a tithe I took in...all kinds of stuff, everyday stuff. A phone, one of them official photos of the old King Arator, a takeout mug from Jack's Beans -" (the biggest coffee chain in Terat) "- a few newspaper clippings about knights...and yeah, some bubblegum. I figured everyone has habits, this just happens to be mine. Plus a moonstone, since if any Blessing was gonna cobble all that mess together into what I wanted it'd be a Blessing of the Stars. "But I guess I ain't powerful enough to get the whole whack yet, so instead I just got bubblegum." She gives an idle shrug, apparently none too concerned about this turn of events. "I guess it might be a good thing, in a weird way. Page of the People sounds like a newspaper and Squire of the People makes it seem like I'd be at the beck an' call of the whole dang kingdom." Insight DC20 She seems...oddly confident in her assertion that her Blessing not quite coming out the way she wanted is because she isn't powerful enough. The groups' respective Blessings all get treated pretty equally by the villagers - which is to say, a lot of excited celebration (and also a lot of hypothesising about what you all used as Tithes). Heather's Blessing probably gets the most confused response, especially when the illusory Laurel pops up in the crowd, and honestly Gen's super-strength gets a slightly more muted reaction because, you know, he already had super-strength and super-speed and in comparison to the ordinary villagers it's a bit hard to tell the difference. Nonetheless, the conclusion of the Blessing ceremonies is the signal for the celebration to seriously get started. Inevitably you will end up getting dragged into little contests, dances, and all manner of other festivities, but at least for now you're being left alone, giving Archivist Levont the chance to talk to you. "Greetings, Novices." He gives you another bow, ever-so-subtly deeper than the one he'd done to greet you when you were merely recruits. "On behalf of the Grand Archives, I offer my congratulations to the six of you on your successful Blessing Ceremonies. Now, before you enjoy the celebrations, I will remind you that your First Trial will begin in one week's time. I suggest you use the time to master your Blessings." His eyes might...slightly...flick towards Gen at that. "I will remain in the village for the duration to observe your progress, and will do my best to answer any questions you may have. "Lastly, I am obliged to reiterate that as Novices, you now represent the kingdom of Terat and its Knights. Your actions will often become a topic of conversation, to be dissected and oft criticised by those who know nothing of which they speak. In large part it is for that reason, to prepare you for when it begins for real, that you will be observed using camera drones for the duration of your First Trial. If you wish, you may borrow the camera drones to record your progress training with your Blessing. Some Novices believe that doing so shows willing to be open and demonstrate their increasing understanding of their powers. Others view it as arrogance or that it risks embarrassing the Knights by showing the fumblings of a new Novice trying to come to terms with their Blessing. Whether you elect to do so is up to you, but bear in mind that once recorded, anything you film cannot be rescinded, and will be released alongside the footage of your First Trial - with the usual caveats of removing irrelevant information and censoring the identities of unrelated civilians. "With that all said...enjoy the celebrations."

Gen barks out a laugh at Heather's response to his powers. "That's the best part!" he crows in victory. He would have offered a high-five, but he still doesn't feel confident in restraining his damage output. It wouldn't do to send Heather flying fifty feet because of a high-five. ---- He returns Josef's thumbs-up with one of his own. The other boy seems...off, somehow, but he doesn't bring it up yet. Asking about his well-being in front of literally the entire village would be just rude. ----- "Woah. That thing looks sick," Eugenides says when Karl comes out with his blood-red spear. "Don't listen to Heather." ---- Gen nods along with Karl's declaration to Lily. The girl's choice of Blessing is inspired, her use of it clever, and it's just plain hilarious.

To Heather's jealousy she threw a wink and a gun, which gave a small gust to floof her hair back as a playful tease. To Karl she'd tilt her head a little in consideration. "Well, less blades of wind and more augmenting with wind. I augment my movement to float, I can augment my arrows to steer them or accelerate them beyond normal levels, such and the like. I'll need to toy about and explore the scope of it all, but Augment would be the word of the day." Contrary to her stage voice, her off-mic voice was more the casual Remy that everyone present knew. Noble mode was disabled when the attention was off her.

"Ah, so that was you? I thought I'd heard something. But why didn't you say so earlier?" Karl said, nodding. 'Making stuff go boom' was easy to understand, and it certainly sounded effective. "But then I don't get why illusions. You've got a weird one, huh?" Just lik- uh, no, maybe that was best left unsaid. *** Bubblegum? Another wei- "Wait a sec, is this why you were chewing like a madwoman on the way here?" Karl blurted out. "I thought you were just nervous! Lily, right? I think you're now my favourite person in Greenbrook." he said, with sincere respect. *** "Hmm. Uh, thanks. I guess". He stared a bit harder at his weapon. It was rather simple - if anything, calling it an oversized toothpick wouldn't have been that far from the truth. Yeah, he didn't see how it could be creepy. *** "Yeah, I don't think I'll have to worry about that ever ag- I'm not anemic!" Karl snapped, a bit belatedly. "I was just preparing my Thi- whatever! Well, I'm not planning to bail you out when you set fire to a forest!"

"Maybe," she replied. Her instincts did seem favorable towards the "enhancing" description anyway. "I...think I'm going to have to practice with them before I really understand how they work." -- While Heather applauded Lily with the same enthusiasm she had for the others, it might have been slightly distractedly, as she was admittedly trying to figure out if her narration had actually...done anything and realizing that she had no way of actually knowing that, because she had no idea what the speech would have looked like if she hadn't said a thing. ...She was starting to wonder if maybe her instincts were just pranking her, now. I can speak power words, she thought consolingly. They are very loud and make things go boom! -- The kinda, uh, minty-fresh solidified goo-writing was cool. She didn't...quite understand how all it worked but...wait. "Di-' she started to ask when Lily rejoined them, but kinda cut herself off. "You didn-" she tried again, but aside from getting two syllables further that attempt did not seem to meet with any more success than the first. "Wh-" came a third attempt, no more successful than the prior two at congealing into an actually coherent thought or question. How do you ask someone if they had brought a pack of chewing gum into the Crystal Pool and come back with bubblegum powers? ...Evidently, if you were Heather of Greenbrook anyway, you didn't. And that's the story of how Lily managed to be the only one of the new Pages that day whose Blessing had managed the truly impressive feat of leaving Heather completely speechless.

"You can enhance, but not create whole cloth, maybe?" Josef suggests about Heather's powers, seizing immediately on something other than his own predicament to think about. "If it doesn't have a solid basis, it becomes an illusion, but something solid you can make... more." "...Not sure about the 'stuff going boom' part, though." --- Josef found himself smiling, just slightly, at Lily's power when it was revealed. It was just, so... uniquely personal to the unknown girl, as far as he could tell, without any thought of others or the wider world. He felt a stab of envy, but he didn't know Lily well enough for such envy to turn to real dislike. Nodding to her, he said quietly "Nice," and left it at that. --- When Karl showed that his blood was reversible back into his body, Josef surprised himself by feeling relieved, first and foremost. "Oh! Good. That's... good." A moment later, where he was and who he was talking to reasserted itself. "I just wasn't sure if you knew what anemia was. I'm not planning to drag you with us when you pass out from a hemoglobin shortage on our Trial," he said with lofty detachment, inwardly sinking deeper into a sort of panicked depression. He was the only one whose Blessing went this badly. Well, in one way that's a good thing, but that didn't help him much.

Despite the pronouncement of fortune from Heather, Lily's speech doesn't exactly get off to a flying start, as Mayor Malencon peers at her name when it comes out of the tombola machine. "Lil...whoza-whatnow? Whosis?" After a few more random, rambling exclamations, he is eventually reminded that Lily Stria was using the Crystal Pool alongside Greenbrook's recruits and he had agreed to it at the time, which makes him all flustered. "Yes, well, yes, as I was saying, Lily Strael- uh, Strigel, uh..." (Many of the villagers, who had not known that Lily was coming but who were very aware that the Mayor didn't do well at speeches when something unexpected happened in them like a whole person he'd not practiced for, were doing the polite social equivalent of facepalming, which mostly amounted to awkwardly looking around as though something else might capture attention.) Nonetheless, Lily eventually does get a chance to give a speech, although she doesn't give much of one. "So, uh, I know you guys aren't here to see me or anything, so I'mma just get this over and done with as quick as Archivist Levont'll let me. (Her accent has gotten noticeably less upper-class since you first met her, presumably as she grew more comfortable with you.) "But what I do want to say is...I've only been here a few minutes and I can see how much you care for each other. Even if I din't have my own reasons for coming here...I'd want to get my Blessing in a place like this over all the fancy-pants picture-perfect ceremony in Strael. This is a good place, with good people, and I'll do you proud carryin' Greenbrook's name. And I'm sorry for buttin' in somewhere I ain't wan- uh, expected." And whether because the crowd feel sorry for her after Mayor Malencon...kinda ruining her moment or whether something about Heather's Blessing is already working its magic (so to speak), she gets a much bigger round of applause than one might have expected for a total stranger, almost (but not quite) rivalling some of yours'. When she emerges from the glade, some fifteen minutes later, she draws her dragonblade and ignites it, a beautiful rapier of pale blue, and brings it up in a salute to the crowd before tracing an elegant pattern in the air - and where the tip of her dragonblade passes, a bubbling liquid is left behind, starting to droop before she touches her rapier to the stage and it solidifies into some...slightly wonky writing reading 'Thank You GreenBrook.' It's a nice gesture, but honestly the first thing that any of you notice is the faint minty smell coming from it. And, I mean, you'd noticed her chewing gum on the VTOL - you weren't allowed to chew gum or anything like that while 'on duty' training at Fort Naoth, but once you formally graduated and were being transported to receive your Blessing, most of the rules and regulations no longer applied - and in fact she'd been doing so more and more as you got closer, like it was a bit of a nervous tic. But there's no way she would've done something so wacky as using chewing gum as a Tithe...right?

"I...huh. I don't...think so? Or like...maybe in principle but not in practice? It's...I'm not entirely clear on where the limits are, other than that they definitely exist. And that I can't conjure bananas." ... "I don't think it really...makes stuff happen. It's more subtle than that. Tweaks things so that something that already could happen now does happen. Uh...sometimes. Like, it's not really probability manipulation, I don't think, but it can make...people...luckier...? Wait, but how is that not probability manipulation?" The more she tried to explain it the more she kinda wondered if she was completely misinterpreting her instincts, or something. She felt that there was a power in her voice, an ability to change the world around her with her words. But maybe she was just taking the whole power word thing and building it up in her head to be bigger than it actually was? Like...the more she tried to talk about it the more it started to seem like she wasn't actually making anything happen differently. The fact that she still hadn't managed to come up with a way to show it off didn't exactly help... "...I can speak power words. They're really loud and make stuff go boom! I just didn't want to make anything here go boom, so I went with the illusions instead." That was an exciting power, right? -- "A-and badass! Slightly creepy but definitely also badass!" Heather reiterated, blushing a bit. She hadn't meant to like call him out on his Blessing or anything. Awkward. ...Of course, a few moments later he demonstrated that yep, it wasn't an arbitrarily conjured weapon of blood, but was evidently made from his own blood. How was that not creepy? Sometimes Heather felt like she didn't understand Karl at all...

So, fire, huh? It looked like Josef had gotten what he wanted - well, no surprises there. He sure could have stood to look a bit happier, though...fiery thorns were kinda cool. Only kinda, though. No more that that, ok? *** "If anyone was going to be flying from day one, I shoul've guessed it would've been you." Karl lightheartedly commented once Remy landed back among them. "So, uh...can you also do wind blades and stuff?" *** Karl could only stare flabbergasted at Heather's one-woman show once she came out of the pool. It was...well, it definitely suited her. But what can you actually do? was the question that remained unasked - he was't so insensitive that he would risk ruining the moment. He hoped she didn't get shafted by the Blessing, though...that would be really sad. --- Well, from what she was telling Josef, it seemed it wasn't just illusions, so...good. But he still couldn't quite manage to wrap his head around the concept, and this time, curiosity won. "So you could just buy a lottery ticket and say that's the winning one?" *** Karl had given mostly perfunctory applauses to the various speeches - not as any kind of statement, of course, it was merely that no one said anything particularly outrageous or unexpected. Well, except Eugenides. He got a vigorous applause, and an approving "Ha! Well said". --- When the hlaf-Oleimian (almost literally) shot out of the enclosing and came to a stop in a rather cartoonish manner, he couldn't help but crack up alongside Heather. "Do you even need that sword now? You could be One Punch Gen!" As he laughed, though, he could feel the pressure rising. Being last sucks. *** And finally, finally he too was Blessed. And the first reaction he got was... "...Creepy?" He looked at the spear - somehow at the same time crystalline yet made of flowing, crimson blood - then back at Heather, dubious. "Where?" Man, girls really didn't get it, did they? -- "Huh...me? Well I guess the Blessing left me a bit spent, but I'm...fine?" The question - or rather, the questioner - was so unexpected that Karl didn't even think about putting up a strong front and pretend the process had left him entirely unscathed. Why would Josef of all people be worried about him? "Oh, wait, you mean this? Oh, it's not permanent or anything." he continued and, eager to show off, let go of the Sanguine Lance which immediately lost cohesion and crumbled, threatening to splash anyone nearby - but it never did, instead gathering around Karl's hand and being reabsorbed like tape being rewound. "See?"

Heather replied to Josef's taunt with a kinda wry grin. It wasn't that she was completely oblivious to Josef's relationship issues with his father. She just massively underestimated them. It's like...she knew that Josef was not, in fact, fond of the story of his three-year-old confrontation with a demon (even if she had some trouble understanding why, because it was a great story). And okay, over the years she could admit that Dimitri probably had given it more weight than it likely actually warranted, in considering some of the choices he made regarding his son. It's just...she mostly took it as a basically normal case of high parental expectations putting pressure on their child, which she could sympathize with, plus your typical "parent tells embarrassing stories about their child" type stuff (Heather didn't have any personal experience along any of these lines, of course, but the entire corpus of family-centric sitcoms couldn't possibly steer her wrong!) So she interpreted Josef's statement not as a hurtful taunt, but as sarcastic banter. Sure, his tone was serious, but Josef wasn't exactly the most sociable guy in the village. She'd known him for long enough to "know" he was kinda bad at sarcasm. -- Although to be fair, there were also times when ignoring Josef's tone could get one closer, rather than further, from the truth of what he was trying to express, and Heather took the compliment for what it was. She did notice he seemed a bit distracted, and wondered if he had seen the same sort of thing she had, but she didn't ask because talking about the Blessing process was taboo. And it...kinda made sense, if everyone experienced something like that. It was kinda weird but the idea of talking about it felt wrong to her. It seemed like it should be private. Thinking about it only made the feeling of melancholy stronger, and this was a happy day so they couldn't have that! She distracted herself by...well, first by listening to Gen's speech, but once he had gone for the Pool she replied, "Even more than it looks. I think the illusions are just kinda part of it, and not even a big part. I can say things and...kinda make them more likely to happen, sort of. I think. Like narrating for reality, almost. It's a little weird. And I had stage fright before but not after. I think it's actually kind of a super-storytelling power. The illusions are just there to help make my stories more immersive. Or something. Sooo...yeah! Pretty 'me' power." Which was...more-or-less what she was going for. Heather, like Laurel before her, bought into a theory - she wasn't really sure how common it was - that if you choose things like Tithes and your tattoo for having strong personal sentimental value, the Blessing would be something that was more "true to yourself". Which is why she had only brought her father's ring and her mother's book, and hadn't asked for anything from the Archives. So...score one for that theory, she supposed! ...Oh. Or it was because she had Tithed a book. That...that would also make sense, in retrospect. -- Okay yeah Heather could admit it she did look a bit uncomfortable when Gen used his speech to call out the people that had badmouthed his mother. Not that they didn't deserve it, but still. But he finished up with an encouragement to the kids so it didn't actually slow her applause down any. And then he got back and Heather couldn't help it, she cracked up. Gen, Eugenides, of all people, had gotten super-strength and super-speed. On top of his already existing super-strength and super-speed. Oh man the poor, helpless demons! He was literally running faster than sound! As a newly-Blessed Page! "That is just unfair in all the best ways!" she told him, still kinda giggling.

Before "Take it." Josef handed his plate over to Gen without a second thought; everything tasted like ashes that morning anyways. He tried not to think of that as a bad sign. --- Josef returned Karl's reproachful look with one of cool dismissal; the other boy has his own life and made his own choices, so what does he have to be envious about? "You want him? He's yours," he hissed back at Heather; it was an old taunt, one he had said before he was old enough to understand how it might hurt, now brought back in the stress of the moment. Josef bit back the emotions upwelling in him a second later, returning to the blank mask he was holding for the ceremony itself. --- After Josef stared at Heather for a moment after she spoke, as if he didn't hear her. His mouth opened, ready to reveal the fact that he couldn't feel, that he wouldn't feel again, that he had messed up the ceremony and didn't know what to do-- But no. She was one of his oldest friends, and she was going next. He couldn't do that to her. "Right." He said instead, mastering himself with yet more difficulty. He struggled, trying to form the right words, and then gave a weak "Good luck" before he carefully, slowly took his seat. He was sitting on air, he felt, but there was a solid chair underneath him... wasn't there? --- Josef began to clap politely at Remy's display of power, before the alien sensation forced him to stop. Wind and flight; good, simple powers with lots of utility. Trust Remy to make the most of her Blessing, without any terrible side effects (that he could see). Desperate for a distraction (and inadvertently feeding into the idea that he was uncomfortable looking at Remy for too long), he started scanning the plants and flowers placed around the square, but he already knew their names and how they grew. He ended up looking at his hands again, as though making sure they were really there. --- The appearance of "Laurel" in the crowd caused Josef to jump, and he spent several moments making sure he was still on the chair as Heather returned to her seat. "It suits you," he commented once Heather was seated again; his distracted air and general flat affect might suggest that he was being sarcastic, but he meant it as a genuine compliment. --- Josef felt relieved when he saw that Gen didn't quite have full control of his speed; at least someone else was struggling. Immediately after, he felt ashamed, and tried to distract himself again. Was touch connected to hearing, somehow? Everything felt a bit... muted, or distorted, sitting up there on the stage. Partially out of guilt, and partially just to show support, Josef gave Gen a quick thumbs up when the other boy returned to his seat. No one noticed that he had to double-check his own hand to make sure he was actually making a thumbs up gesture, right? --- Karl's entrance caused Josef to feel a pang of... hope, strangely enough. The other boy was holding a spear made out of his own blood; there had to be some consequences for that, something like Josef was going through. But Karl was grinning, because of course he was, he had no notion of larger consequences but only immediate results... Josef cleared his throat (at least that still felt mostly normal). "Are you... is your body... all right?" he asked quietly and awkwardly once Karl took his seat again. He was desperate for any sort of commiseration; otherwise, he would be the only one who messed up his entire Blessing. That would be fitting, one part of him supposed, but the rest was still trying to get used to the lack of sensation.

It was time for the moment Gen had been anticipating for weeks--FREE FOOD!!! Two of his favorite things: delicious cuisine and lack of required payment. Regardless of what is put in front of him, no matter the size or quality, Eugenides happily takes it and scarfs it down. At one point he's balancing three plates when he turns to see Josef just holding a plate of uneaten food. "Are you gonna eat that?" he asks the other boy. If he gets the go-ahead, then he eagerly takes the plate from Josef and starts to chow down. Whether it's just a good poker face or nerves of steel (not literal steel, he didn't write that request on his body), it seems like Gen is utterly unfazed by the pomp and circumstance surrounding them. And really, why would he be nervous or shy or embarrassed? The only person he would truly want to impress isn't here, after all...and never will be again. By the time it's his turn to speech it up, three of his friends have already gone ahead. And damn, but what a spectacle they made! Josef was a good start, very on-brand for the introverted boy, but Remy and Heather really blew it out of the water. He suppresses a chuckle at the illusory Laurel's antics and stands up to take his turn. As he passes Heather he gives her a commiserating pat on the shoulder. When he takes his place on the stage and looks out at the gathered crowd, he takes a deep breath. "I'll try to keep this short. Hard to follow up both Remy and Heather" he starts with a grin. "For those of you who accepted my mother and me, who took pity on a boy who had lost his mother and helped him keep a roof over his head--thank you so much. I genuinely wouldn't be here without you." "And for those of you who scorned my mother for her past, who laughed behind my back when she died or even said she deserved it--you know who you are--all I can say is: I'm glad I'll never have to see your faces again." He lets that linger for a moment, partly to get his emotions back under control. His gaze sweeps over a gaggle of children, still staring slack-jawed, and he can feel his face soften. "And to all you kiddos out there, take it from me: you can do, or be, whatever you want. Always remember that, and nothing will be impossible for you." ----- Once inside the gazebo and away from prying eyes, tension leaves his body that he hadn't realized was there. Okay, so maybe he had been more nervous than he'd thought--or maybe it was calling out the people who had badmouthed his mom. That probably hadn't helped...well, anything. But what's done is done, and it made him feel, just, so much better. The sight of the pool is soothing to his nerves, like as if just the sight is bathing him in a relaxing pool itself. He quickly changes into the purified robes, then holds his two Tithes. The obsidian--smooth to the touch, but with as many facets as any true gemstone--he plans to bring into the pool with him. As for his mother's diamond ring...he spies a particularly beautiful ley-crystal that had grown tall and proud, with a flattened top like a flower's. He sets the diamond ring on the top of that ley-crystal, with the diamond facing the pool as if to let his mother watch. He steps calmly into the pool, obsidian in hand. The sense of pulling is a novelty that helps take his mind off of the truly monumental action he is taking. His life will forever be changed with this one action, in ways he can't possibly guess. His tattoos burn against his skin, reminding him of his what he wants from this--freedom. It's with that wish that his head fully submerges beneath the surface, and the Blessing begins. ----- After an eternity and no time at all Gen wakes on the surface of the pool. What...what was that? Were all Blessings so...vivid? It had shaken him to his very core, filling his every cell with confusion that overwhelms his senses. He shoves himself up to stand...and suddenly he's flying through the air. He lands with a crashing thud into a group of ley-crystals, making a ruckus that can easily be heard by those closest to the gazebo and pool. "What...?" He pushes himself up with his elbows, and even that small movement sends him ten feet in the air with a yelp. When he drops down he makes the mistake of pushing off with his right foot, which sends him hurtling leftward. He just barely manages to stop himself from crashing into yet more ley-crystal, and even the action of stopping himself leaves deep divots in the earth. "O...kay," he says slowly. Every inch of his body is tense with the force of not moving. He'd never known not moving could take so much effort. The gleam of the ley-crystal catches his attention, and he turns to see the ley-crystal he had put his mother's ring on had grown even further and gained a diamond-like sheen. For the first time today, he feels a twinge of embarrassment, as if his mom had caught him with his hand in the cookie jar. With a sheepish laugh, he slowly starts the process of putting his clothes back on without ripping them at the seams. Before he leaves, he makes sure to harvest the diamond-like ley-crystals. ----- He makes what entrance he can--running out of the gazebo at top speed. Top speed, in this case, happens to cause a sonic boom when he stops. The stopping is the hard part, leaving two trenches from his feet in the ground. He windmills his arms when he stops and gives a sheepish chuckle. "So I'm faster, but also stronger! Watch this!" He goes to the nearest bench of people and tells them to hold on to each other. Going in the middle of the bench, he picks up the whole bench in one shot, all ten of the seated villagers and all. He holds them clear above his head without trembling for a solid thirty seconds before setting them back down. He returns to his seat with a satisfied chuckle, but also with the knowledge that he'll need to be even more careful not to hurt anyone with so much new strength. OOC Deception to Evaluate Mobility to Improve Speed, -2 Impaired