Episode #1: Novices of Greenbrook

[Llyarden]

Darkday of Star's Opal, 564 F.B.

An otherwise unassuming day in mid-spring, it wouldn't be too inaccurate to describe Darkday of Star's Opal as one of the most hotly anticipated days in the year for the village of Greenbrook. Of course, Knight's Day is a national holiday and everyone watches the leynet broadcast from the royal palace, and certainly there's no day in the year where more respect is given. But Darkday of Star's Opal is the day each year when the teens of Greenbrook receive their Blessing.

And it is a festival.

The local school spends most of the week making decorations to put up around the town (although after an awkward incident a few years ago where they spelt someone's name wrong on the big banner and nobody noticed until it was too late, the decorations are no longer personalised to the prospective novices), and a lot of families have their own decorations to put up on their own houses and grounds, often passed down for multiple generations; it's often believed that such decorations will bring good luck to the Knights they celebrate, with the old inhabitants of the village looking down from the heavens.

The town square is turned into a giant buffet of...varying quality, because almost everyone brings something, though pride of place is always given to the half-dozen households whose meals were voted the best last year. For those interested in more consistently good food, Bill's has a Blessing-day discount which rather counterintuitively runs the whole week of Star's Opal.

Greenbrook is small enough that it actually doesn't have a formal landing pad for the VTOL that brings the soon-to-be-novices from Fort Naoth. Instead, you land in the Mayor's garden, which always undergoes frenetic maintenance over the preceding couple of days to make it look perfect (even if much of that perfection is then kinda ruined by the VTOL landing), and pass through the big gates that are constructed for precisely this purpose but kept shut and locked for the rest of the year, travelling the full length of the village in a meandering, hour-long parade to Greenbrook's Crystal Pool (by tradition, civilian centres of power are usually built on the other side of Teratian settlements to their Crystal Pools).

You all know all of this, of course. You've all grown up in Greenbrook and seen the Blessing-day celebrations every year.

But experiencing it from the other side is a little different.

In the early hours of the morning of the Peaceday of Star's Amethyst, alongside the thousands of other recruits who had successfully passed the gruelling exams at Fort Naoth, you march from Fort Naoth through Lomorre to the airfield. The so-called March of the Novices (even though you aren't officially novices yet, merely recruits) is televised and broadcast, although not with sufficient fidelity that anyone could actually pick you out of the crowd, especially since you have to wear your dress uniforms - which, for recruits, are rather less extravagant than those you will wear later in your career, being simple, drab uniforms that could be mistaken for the combat uniforms of the kingdom's military forces but for the grey colour.

Of course, even the extensive airfields at Lomorre and the high-speed ley-trains can't cater for recruits travelling to the myriad of Crystal Pools across the country all at once - and even if they could, the Grand Archives certainly couldn't produce thousands of carefully-selected, double- and triple-checked tithes in the space of a few hours. So, instead, the graduate recruits are given a timeslot to return to Lomorre's airfields (or train station for those whose destinations are in one of the other duchies, although you guys are leaving from Lomorre itself), where you will meet the Archivist who will be overseeing your Blessing ceremony, be given whatever tithes you requested from the Archives (of course, those of you with crystal tattoo templates have already applied those), and be flown to your destination.

These timeslots were randomly chosen, but they don't change every year. Instead, with the passing of each ruler, the timeslots are re-randomised...except King Erasmus announced when he was crowned that since his father had not been declared dead, the slots would not be changed. So, for the past thirty-odd years, Greenbrook's novices have assembled to receive their tithes late on Waterday of Star's Opal. (You stop off at the barony of Colamar overnight, because the Knights are smart enough to know that everyone's going to be celebrating the Blessing and there's no sense doing that in the middle of the night even if the VTOLs could get from Lomorre to Greenbrook in one day.)

When you each arrive at the VTOL (you were told which 'runway,' for lack of a better word, to go to) you are met by a middle-aged man dressed in the robes of a Royal Archivist, who gives you a short bow; even as recruits you guys are due a certain degree of respect, but obviously not nearly as much as a full Knight would warrant. "Greetings, recruit. I am Levont of the Archives." Without any further ado, he activates a camera drone - they're little spherical things that float on an internal crystek levitator - which bobs besides him as he climbs inside the VTOL and beckons you after him, closing the door so as to give you guys privacy from your fellows. (You can choose to stay outside the VTOL in public, but it's pretty common to keep the exact contents of your Tithe a secret from everyone except the archivists). "For the record -" he nods to the camera drone "- please state your name, then check and confirm aloud the contents of your Tithe." Your respective Tithes are held in small, ornate wooden chests, bound in iron - the same chests (ritually purified, of course) have been in use for centuries, albeit repaired and replaced as needed. Some rumours claim that if you get the chest that once held the Tithe of a successful Knight, the Crystal Pool will recognise it and grant you more power than normal (although since the chests are randomly picked, there's no way of actually making this happen short of illegal means like bribing the Archivists.)

Levont isn't the only one by your VTOL, though. Aside from the other PCs if you arrive later, there's also one other recruit, who evidently got there before you guys. You've probably seen Lily around once or twice at Fort Naoth - you were all introduced to her when she was given permission by Baron Gerente to use the Greenbrook Crystal Pool, if nothing else - but you were never in the same training cadres or anything like that. She doesn't interrupt Levont's rote procedures, but she does give you a little wave or a mouthed 'hey' as you arrive.

OOC

And off we go! A couple of points just to avoid story wonkiness:

- Yes, it's been a week and a half since the March of the Novices. You guys have been free to relax and enjoy Lomorre, continue training, or make last-minute adjustments to your choices for the Blessing, for that time, as suits your character. You didn't have to stay together, nor do you have to stay wearing your recruit uniform - although you do have to don it again to go to the airfield. (You will also probably find that many shops in Lomorre give you a discount if you're wearing it, because it's a big city and they can actually afford to do stuff like that.)

- You are not currently allowed to use the 'of Greenbrook' title - that only occurs once you gain your Blessing. So your titles currently would simply be 'Recruit' followed by your full name.

- You're welcome to make up other recruits you hung out with, formed rivalries with, whatever. Most likely none of them will ever show up IC, but you never know.

[Phoenix1]

Heather mostly didn't look it, but she was something of a bundle of nerves as she approached the VTOL. She had a gentle smile on her face, but her eyes were dancing with excitement, and her steps maybe a tad too quick. If she were honest she...kinda hadn't really expected to actually get this far? There was a not-entirely-trivial part of her that kinda just assumed she'd flunk out of Fort Naoth within a month.

Well, she hadn't. The training hadn't been easy, but years of running around the village doing odd-jobs had made her into a quick study, and done well to develop her fitness. And thanks to mandatory combat training that was part of a Teratian(?) education, she had already been an alright fencer. She had gotten into the swing of things fine, and the training had definitely paid off - the past year had dramatically developed her weapon skills and endurance.

And now here she was, about to be on her way home (yay!) to receive her Blessing. It was exciting, but also a little scary. After this, she would be a Page, expected to fight actual demons and win. She hoped she'd be good enough. Or at least get a cool enough power to cover for her if she wasn't.

(Super-strength would be fun. She had earned high marks for speed and agility and solid ones for endurance, but physical strength was something she could stand for more of. Ooh or maybe energy blasts! Then it wouldn't matter how strong she was! Or disintegration beams! Then she could just disintegrate the demons! That would be a fun superpower!!)

Well, those were certainly fun wild speculations, but her Tithes were a moonstone ring and a book, and her tattoo was a runic word for the flower that her sister was named for. Moonstone powers tended to be kinda odd-ball, so it probably wouldn't be any of those. Maybe telepathy? Telepathy would be cool...

She was not so lost in her fantasizing that she failed to notice when she arrived. She returned Lily's little wave with one of her own and went to present herself before the Archivist. Once inside she looked to the camera drone and said in a clear, faintly melodious voice, "I'm Recruit Heather."

She went to check the contents of her chest. "Oh. Um...mine seems to be empty," she said in a slightly concerned, uncertain tone of voice.

Beat.

"Which makes sense, since I didn't request anything! So yeah, that checks out!" Yeah she wasn't exactly flush with wealth. Laurel sent home some of the money she made, but by the time she was getting an actual Knightly salary Heather had been basically about to head off to Naoth, so...yeah. She closed the box and gave it a little pat on the lid in thanks for the, just, critically important job it was doing for her.

With everything in order, she said, "Thanks, Levont!" and headed back out and moved off to the side, going to stand a few feet off from Lily.

"Hey!" she greeted her more directly this time, just falling into some idle chit-chat while they waited for permission to board. "Uh, Lily, right? So, this going to be your first time in Greenbrook?"

Edited April 20 by Phoenix1 (see edit history)

[Zelphas]

There is a rose petal in Josef's pocket. If he doesn't think about it, he can pretend that he forgot it was there.

There is a tattoo on the inside of Josef's left arm, just below his armpit. In runes, he painstakingly placed the phrase "nerves of steel", doing the best with his non-dominant hand to get the tricky characters correct. It's still uncomfortable, but he can ignore it too. Until the Pool.

Josef's father had brought the young recruit his "graduation presents" himself, dropping by Lomorre on the last leg of a business trip before returning to Greenbrook--trust Dimitri to make a profit out of everything, even seeing his son. Proudly, he had given his son three gifts: first, a respectably-large red gemstone, shot through with bits of orange "like leaping flames". Second, a specially-made lens for his new dragonsteel club, which sat uncomfortably on Josef's hip even now. The lens was designed to make his club look like his third gift: a rosewood chair leg, slightly curved, one end blackened from a fourteen-year-old fire.

It was the stick that did it. Josef hadn't been able to stand listening to another account of his infant courage, and so he had claimed to be overwhelmed; the moment was finally here, he said, and he needed to process it all. His father had a buyer nearby, and had drilled punctuality into his son, and so he let his son go with good grace, clapping his son into a tight hug and telling him again how proud he was that Josef was finally meeting his destiny.

Josef had gone immediately to the nearby gardens, a place he had gone often to "study" during his time at Fort Naoth. The gardeners knew him by sight, if not name; a short, solidly-built young man with unruly red hair and brown eyes darkened by the teenage emotional storms, who walked alone in the gardens, sometimes stopping before a flower or shrub and examining it closely. The night before the VTOL arrived, Josef had stopped several times, trying to shove aside what was coming tomorrow, to lose himself in his love of growing things. He leaned in to smell a newly-opened rose, its petals a blend of yellow, orange, and red... and a petal came loose from the flower and drifted down to his hand. Josef didn't let himself consider it; he placed the petal in his pocket and left. Now, it was still there. But he can pretend like he didn't know.

The tattoo on the inside of his left upper arm burned, still healing. His father hadn't noticed, hadn't asked. He could pretend like that wasn't there either; until after the Pool, when none of this would matter anymore.

Josef was early to the VTOL; a true Knight is punctual, and the role was now his for a lifetime. He responds to Lily's wave with a curt nod before snapping back to Levont's words, trying to ignore the itch on his left upper arm, the non-weight of the petal in his pocket. "Recruit Josef Rossi," he responds immediately to the prompt. A true Knight is a clear and powerful speaker, and so his voice is measured and strong. He turns to the small chest and opens it, already knowing what he'd see. "My Tithe is empty; I'm bringing... gifts, to the Pool."

In his hand, the stick gleamed in the light, lovingly polished by his father even after all these years; all except one end, which his father had regularly blackened with soot to enhance the mystique of the item. Dimitri thought his son didn't know that, but he knew. He'd known that his father cared more about the story than the truth.

Josef realizes that he's been staring at the empty box for a little bit too long. He closes the ceremonial chest with a bit more force than necessary and puts it back in its place, stepping out of the VTOL. He waits at command rest, his red hair bursting in all directions the only part of him that is moving. Looking over at the rest of the recruits, Josef can't stop his eyes from narrowing slightly as he sees Heather there, talking to the other recruit (of course). He looks away quickly--if she sees him seeing her, she might talk to him, and that would be its own mess.

There is still a rose petal in Josef's pocket. His left upper arm still itches and burns. These are the only two things of himself he's taking into the Pool; after the Pool, he knows his fate will be sealed.

Edited April 20 by Zelphas (see edit history)

[Hyperbolic sine]

Karl had spent the last couple of days preparing his Tithe - no matter how resourceful the Archives were, they could not have provided him with his own blood - and it was taking a toll on his body. He had managed to procure some anti-coagulant reagents, but being nowhere near actually knowing what he was doing, he hadn't wanted to risk gathering blood too early and wasting everything; and besides, as long as he managed to get to the Pool, what state he was in didn't really matter.

When the lanky recruit arrived the at the runway, it was immediately obvious by his messy attire and hair that he had hurriedly scrambled out of bed that morning; he looked rather pale, a bit unsteady on his feet, and a bandage peeked out from his right sleeve. But there was fire in his eyes, and he after nodding a greeting to the other assembled recruits, he confidently climbed aboard the VTOL, protectively carrying a small urn with him.

***

"Recruit Karl Dimilis" he stated at the drone. "My Tithe is my own; I requested nothing." he then said, temporarily setting aside the urn to open the empty wooden chest.

He specifically did not want to give the Blessing any particular direction, and he had no tattos either. Perhaps that was where the others who offered blood failed.

***

Once back out of the VTOL, Karl felt the tension in his muscles (which he hadn't even noticed was there) relax, and he...kinda flopped down on the ground, remainign seated to fight a dizzy spell.

[RavingScholar]

Eugenides is all confidence and grins, even after the year of grueling training and the March of the Novices. Perhaps unlike most of his contemporaries, he's enjoyed the past year. How could he not? He got out of Greenbrook, finally! He got to see more than just the woods and streams and ponds he had haunted and memorized like the back of his hand. So even when he would go to bed bone-tired and dead to the world, he never stopped counting his blessings.

 

He bid farewell to Kirel and Clayton, the fellow trainees he had been closest to the past year. Well, closest to aside from the rest of his quintet from Greenbrook, at least. Either way, they were good guys, and he wished them the best. He made sure to stay out of sight of Jorel, the brat he had thrashed years ago. They had squared off countless times over the past year, and it was generally best if neither one was within one hundred meters of the other.

 

The weight of his new weapon hangs heavy on his back, and he unconsciously raises his hand to grip the handle as if to reaffirm it is there. It is a masterwork--elegance and weight perfectly mixed together, requiring insane strength just to lift, let alone wield. Six feet of solid steel, Gen is just barely taller and wider. Yet even without a Blessing he can utilize it to its fullest capacity.

 

As he approaches their designated VTOL, he raises a hand to greet his fellows who had already arrived. He scrubs through his longish brown hair, swept back into a ponytail that is both artful and nonchalant at the same time. He moves with a fluid grace that belies his solid, well-muscled body, and his amber-gold eyes peek out from his comely features.

 

Waiting his turn, he enters the VTOL and gives Archivist Levont a respectful nod. "Recruit Eugenides, inspecting his Tithe," he says. Opening his chest, there is a single object within. "A chunk of obsidian that resonated with me when I touched it in the Archives. That is all." Outside of his chest, all he plans to bring into the Pool is his mother's diamond ring, given to her by his sperm donor along with all the lies a man can give a woman. Hidden beneath his tunic is the inscription for "Freedom" written on his left breast; and on either bicep is the inscription for "Fortitude" and "Strength".

 

His intonation done, he nods to the Archivist again and steps outside of the VTOL. A quick glance appraises the social situation--Heather engrossed in conversation with the outlier (as usual), Josef brooding to the side (as per protocol), and Karl...flopped on the ground like a puppet without its strings (out of the ordinary). Gen walks over to the seated teen. Placing a hand on Karl's shoulder, he shakes his waterskin. "Need some water?" he asks with a grin.

[Keramane]

Remy was the picture of noble propriety as she approached the path to the VTOL.  Trained in the ways of a proper posture, a dignified step, how to dress and even how to smile, she was adept at playing her role as the noble knight recruit.  Her attire was one of practicality and ceremony alike, with fitted leather slacks and a comfortable loose-but-well-fitted blouse and corset.  Perhaps the singular oddity to her attire was that her blouse was backless (fashionable, but not her standard preference) which happened to show some of the silvered runes her father had had painted to her skin.  "Swift Wings, True Flight" were what they'd spelled and they went from her shoulders, along her arms and over her shoulder-blades to just above her waist, not dissimilar to wings.  Worn properly in reverse styling was a topaz amulet which let the gem rest at the center-point of her back between her shoulder-blades, right where the comma of the text might best have fit.

The click of her slightly heeled boots would come to a close as she nodded with a charming smile to the Royal Archivist and the camera alike, entering the VTOL after him and speaking as he'd requested. "I am Recruit Remy Dragomir.  My tithe is an arrow from the famed Ser Vaston Van der Gricht," opening it to confirm with a light smile, "with hopes it will guide me forth in service to the Kingdom as it did for him.  Beyond my requested tithe I bear a Topaz and silvered runes which speak Swift Wings for True Flight.  An arrow needs fletching, after all." giving a light smile at the inferred feather joke.

With her interview segment complete, Remy would join the rest in her proper seat.  For those who knew her from Greenbrook you could count on one hand the number of times Remy wore heels in public.  In fact it might have been a standing bet whether she could manage to walk in them at all.  Yet here she was with poise and panache, even dolled up with a little makeup.  A rare day indeed!  She'd give everyone a nod and smile, "Good to see everyone, old faces and new." looking to Lily at the mention of a new face "Forgive me if I miss titles for our first formal meeting, as I've tarried behind your introductory meet.  Remy Dragomir as you've heard, Miss Lily..?" her tone raised slightly as if waiting to be corrected if a noble house or earned title should be added. 

[Llyarden]

"You are quite welcome," Archivist Levont says to Heather, once he's stopped the drone recording. Other than that, though, he doesn't respond to any of your other comments (he does take note of Remy's surname, but he knew who was coming so it's not like it's a surprise.)

"Yep, that's me," Lily nods, with an embarrassed little chuckle. "Recruit Lily Stria, at least for one more day. And, uh, you know...sorry for intruding on your village and all. I got, uh...let's say family problems."

"And no, I've never been. Baron Gerente told me a little bit, but that's it." After a moment, she looks over to Karl. "Is, um...is he okay?" she asks, quietly.

***

Something as minor as a recruit's wooziness, however, isn't enough to stop the regimented logistics of the Knights, and so once you've each received and confirmed your Tithes, you climb back aboard the VTOL and soar into the sky, landing at the Baron's estate late at night - nonetheless, and probably much to the anemic Karl's relief, you get a sizeable meal courtesy of the Baron, and spaces in the barracks to rest (which are, I mean, still just barracks, but are nonetheless a little better quality than what you'd been dealing with for the past year or thereabouts at Fort Naoth.) You only briefly see the Baron himself, when he arrives to see you off in the morning - and do a few last formalities around Lily undergoing the Blessing ritual at Greenbrook.

You guys can't actually see out of the VTOL (it does have big doors that can slide open for combat landings and such, but they aren't open for journeys like this), so the only way you have of tracking your progress is a small map on a screen at one end of the VTOL's interior - and the occasional announcements from the pilot. "We'll be coming into land at Greenbrook shortly," crackles over the intercom.

Of course, the VTOLs are combat vehicles. They can practically fall out of the sky to land if needed. In this case, though, the pilot banks the VTOL around in what is clearly a dramatic circle around the village before touching down so smoothly it's almost impossible to notice the landing.

And then, after a dozen seconds or so (perhaps to allow you to make sure you're presentable for your arrival) the doors slide open, revealing a riot of colour and noise from the Blessing-day celebrations - and the cheers of the villagers greeting the five successful Recruits, an unprecedented number from such a small village.

Thus, just before midday on Darkday of Star's Opal, almost a year since the five of you had left Greenbrook, you return home.

OOC

Sorry for speeding through things a little, once the game gets underway properly I'll be more willing to let side RP go on, but while we're still finding our feet I want to keep up momentum.

I was going to write something about your families greeting you but, uh...as far as I can see none of you have family in the village except Karl, and his parents haven't shown.

[Zelphas]

Josef does a fair amount of flinching in the twelve hours or so between leaving the field with their Tithe boxes and arriving back in Greenbrook, though long experience has taught him how to hide his discomfort from outside eyes--at least, after the initial second or so.

He flinches, just a small twitch, when Remy Dragomir arrives, obviously fully kitted out in custom-made regalia, with professional tattooing done and an intelligent choice from the archives as her Tithe. The fact that the daughter of a noble is free to mingle with the rest of them still puts him on edge, especially with his father pushing Josef's prestige even to her and her parents. He'd resolved years ago to keep his contact with her to a minimum--it still feels like a social minefield, and he felt like he had the grace of a bull in those--but she would sometimes seem to go out of the way to talk with him. Add Heather into the mix, who seemed to get some sort of sick enjoyment from watching Remy and Josef interact, and the whole thing got even more uncomfortable. At least this situation was too formal for anyone to improvise unexpectedly.

He flinches again when the VTOL takes off, this time for a variety of reasons. Josef's never been terribly fond of flying; it takes away one more element of control from his surroundings, putting him at the mercy of the pilot--and any airborne Demons nearby. In addition, they are all now in an enclosed space together, which means someone's going to want to talk. Luckily, he could pretend nerves, or tiredness, and just close his eyes. It looks like Karl's ready to pass out anyways; what did he do, to end up looking so pale and woozy? Something a hair too bitter to be a smirk flashes across Josef's features for just a moment as he tries to imagine the problems someone like Karl could have. Oh well; if he falls asleep on the way, that'll be enough to let Josef avoid awkward conversations too.

Josef flinches a third time wen the Baron arrives to see them off, but that is mostly just an ingrained reaction to meeting someone with prestige and a connection to Knights. Josef's father isn't there; the story won't be told.

Finally, Josef flinches again as the doors open and the sounds and colors pour in. His father isn't there, but he might be at the Pool; even without Dimitri, he's going to be cheered and looked at and congratulated and pushed forward to his "destiny"... Despite himself, Josef takes in a deep breath, betraying his emotions for another short moment. Hopefully, it'll just look like nerves. He's almost through it; once he reaches the Pool, it won't matter anymore.

Every time Josef flinches, the tattoo on his left arm burns, reminding him of its presence. Well, that's what it's there for; after the Pool, all of this flinching will go away... or he'll have a scar, and he'll have to figure out something else. If he kept himself focused on the Pool, he could keep walking forward. Don't think about after.

Caught up as he is in his own head, Josef is likely one of the last to leave the VTOL and face the crowds.

[Phoenix1]

Heather gave little smiles and waves of her own to everyone as they arrived.

"All good! The more the merrier!" she replied to Lily. She gave a kinda sympathetically-understanding look about the family problems, but didn't pry.

She was about to say that if she had any questions or wanted a tour or anything (err, time permitting) to feel free to ask, but she didn't actually get a chance before Lily drew her attention to Karl's sudden wooziness, and she went over to check on him in concern.

But regardless it wasn't long before they were on the way. Heather would absolutely chatter with anyone who wanted to for basically the entire flight, mostly just on matters of like, speculating on what all might have been happening around town while they were gone and such, with some intermittent but not exactly uncommon pauses to send a text on her phone (Laurel couldn't be there for the Blessing, but they were texting regularly as Heather kept her up to date on their progress or occasionally asked for some advice).  Of course, getting a sense that Josef wasn't especially in the mood for conversation, she kept her chatting to the others and didn't pester him.

...Well, she tried. She wouldn't pester him more than once or twice, anyway!

She made sure to thank the Baron for his hospitality when he came to see them off.

When they landed she gave a little excited "Eee!" as she stood up. Not even because of the whole, you know, almost there, about to get superpowers, and all that. That was definitely exciting, sure, but that little exclamation was for being back home. This had been by far the longest she had ever been away from the village. She knew they wouldn't be there for long, probably not nearly long enough, but she was still excited to be back, and see everyone.

She stepped out of the VTOL with a bright smile on her face, waving to anyone she recognized in the crowd - which was basically everyone in the crowd.

[Hyperbolic sine]

Karl waved all concern off. "No need, I'll be fine" he said, though he made no effort to stand up.

Eugenides - as children they hadn't interacted much, as Karl's parents feared the kid's unnatural strength, and as teens, well, unlike the young Dragomir lady the half-Oleimian was not shielded by status, and Karl had not wanted to cause problems for him. Unsurprisingly, once he finally got to know him better during their stay at Fort Naoth, he turned out to be a good guy.

"I just, uh...I guess I got up a little too quickly this morning. Yeah, that's it. Don't worry about me."

***

Karl was, indeed, thankful to the Baron for the hearty meal. After a good night's sleep, he was as new...or he would've been, anyway; between the excitement for the day to come and the fact that he hadn't been very active during the day, he did not manage to get a lot of actual sleep.

***

As he stepped out of the VTOL, Karl ran his eyes over the crowd - and for a moment, his smile faltered. Mentally berating himself for - evidently - having harboured a sliver of hope, and wishing none of the others noticed, he strengthened the grip on his urn and turned his thoughts to the future.

[RavingScholar]

Eugenides shrugs, but sets the waterskin next to Karl anyway. He'll pick it up if the other boy chooses not to drink from it, but that's the least he can do to show his continued concern. The guy always works too hard, way too serious about every little thing. Gen always thought he needed to learn to pace himself. Lily's comment on the Baron piques his curiosity--how much did she talk to the Baron? Is she a noble, too? He muses on those and other thoughts as they board the VTOL.

 

He keeps up with Heather's conversations through the flight, happy to talk like they all had before going to training. Training until you bled and falling asleep immediately made it hard to catch up, after all.

 

The Baron's food is eaten with tremendous gusto; seconds and thirds are asked for by Gen. He always did appreciate a good meal, always licked the plates clean even of the training gruel. He still sleeps like a log, as per usual the past year, and makes sure to follow Heather in voicing his appreciation for the Baron's hospitality.

 

Overall, Gen feels...content, throughout the day. As if everything is falling into place. He couldn't say why he feels that way, only that as the VTOL comes in for the landing in Greenbrook, the thought of hundreds of people staring at him doesn't even give him pause. The only person whose gaze he cared to impress is long gone. He'll have to visit his mother's grave after the Blessing ceremony to let her know how he's doing.

 

With those thoughts in mind, as the VTOL doors open, he stands straight and proud with a confident smile.

[Keramane]

Remy makes sure not to prod about Lily's problem and quite happily makes chit-chat during the flight. While she is sociable and polite, as long as that camera is on and/or an officiate present, she is ever the model of knightly recruit. A prim and proper noble comrade who tempers her eagerness towards the upcoming ritual with the decorum expected of one of her status. Of course, if the camera and escort were ever to cease, she would return to her more casual, fun-loving state. Perhaps the the cynical this would seem evidence of the duplicity of the noble status and how quickly the veneer of perfection can be dismissed, but in truth evident to anyone who truly knew her, Remy just wanted to be friendly with her friends and enjoy her time with everyone.

 

Regardless of impressions during the flight, she was once again on her best and most charismatic behavior at the Baron's mansion, enjoying the meal with refined dignity and engaging in all the conversations and social obligations expected of her.

 

***

 

Remy would take a few calming breaths before the craft came in to land, adjusting her attire slightly to make sure everything sat where it should and not a line was out of place (the expression she let slip showing her mild annoyance at the complexities of this backless ensemble). She would put on her crowd-pleasing smile and once able would stand and greet the crowd with a friendly wave, making her way from the craft when expected to do so. While she has encountered a good amount of pomp and circumstance in her life - nobles are ever fond of making rituals out of everything - this was one of the first that was directed at her specifically. As such, her smile was genuine, and while ritual would have her stand before those lower status, she would instead stay with the others, keeping with her fellow recruits as an ally and not leading before them as a noble might normally. Whether this was intentional or merely a reflection of her joy at being regaled alongside her closest friends, one could only guess.

[Llyarden]

As you emerge from the VTOL, you are...well, not exactly led through the town per se, there's no-one actually going ahead of you, but there's a pretty obvious path winding its way through the town, taking you past the town square - where you have all manner of foodstuffs and other assorted gifts thrust upon you with only a token consideration to whether or not said foodstuffs are actually portable - past Bill's - where you do not get foodstuffs thrust upon you, because Bill always says he has to make a living, but you do get some waves and a few raised flagons from the people who've started drinking already - past the town school - where you get probably the loudest and most excited cheers from the younger kids and somewhat quieter but probably more genuine cheers from those of your friends who aren't elsewhere along the route - and eventually through to the Crystal Pool.

In bigger settlements, the Crystal Pool is housed in an extravagant building that would rival any noble's estate (and indeed many nobles use the Crystal Pool as a way to flaunt their wealth and status without risking accusations of being tasteless and excessive by decorating their own buildings, because who would ever question paying homage to such a symbol of Terat?), with 24/7 guards preventing anyone from sneaking in. Of course, the Crystal Pool in Demaya is practically a settlement all its own (not that anyone's ever seen it other than the royal family), probably bigger than the entirety of Greenbrook and with a literal army guarding it.

Here, it is still sealed off from the outside, but only by a wooden fence, and it's only guarded when the town watch's patrol happens to take them past. The top of a gazebo that does its best to stave off rain, wind and the like can just about be seen from the outside.

Normally not many people go near the Crystal Pool; even - or perhaps especially - in a village like this, such is the reverence the people of Terat hold for the Pools. Today, though, a large stage is set up pretty much directly on the path, with the great and the good of Greenbrook assembled on seats and Mayor Malencon standing by a lectern with a battered old wooden tombola machine. Normally the families of the new recruits get to sit on the stage as well, but Karl's parents evidently haven't taken up that opportunity, leaving two seats awkwardly and obviously empty - Dimitri isn't there either, but that's because he evidently only got here just before you guys did. Even over the general noise you hear a loud "JOSEF! DRAGONS GUIDE YOU!" and see a waving hand pop up from somewhere in the middle of the crowd...is he wearing clothes styled a little bit to look like a burning club?

...yeah, he totally is.

Perception DC15

Oh hey Karl's parents are here! Very like Dimitri, they're kinda in the middle of the crowd; maybe they just didn't get here in time to get into their seats?

DC20

...oh, they're kinda trying to pretend you guys don't exist. Yeah maybe not then.

It's a tradition in Greenbrook for soon-to-be novices to give little speeches before heading back to the Crystal Pool to receive their Blessing, and then show off their newfound power when they return. Originally the speeches were usually just used for people to thank their parents, guardians, teachers and anyone else, but in practice these days the speeches can basically be whatever because the real reason for the speech is for the Pool to be cleansed between recruits. Some particularly confident recruits even use them to announce what they're using as Tithes and what they want their Blessing to be, although for obvious reasons that's best done when you're using a reliable ritual.

Judging from the slightly bewildered, deer-in-headlights look Lily gives as the six of you are shepherded up onto the stage to each wait your turn, the Baron had not actually told her about this particular tradition.

Mayor Malencon rolls the tombola machine around a couple times, rummages in it, and produces a scrap of paper, holding it very close to his face so as to be able to read it (he refuses to wear his spectacles for public ceremonies because he thinks it makes him look old.) "Ahem-hem-hem! Josef Rossi."

***

Once you each give your respective speeches, you are led by Archivist Levont through to the Crystal Pool. It's the first time any of you have ever been there, or even seen a Crystal Pool in person - it's illegal to take photographs or film a Crystal Pool (other than to report a new-sprung one to the authorities), and even during your training you were never shown the one in Fort Naoth. The closest you got was a few sketches that had been done over the years by various Knights, and a dummy Crystal Pool to teach you the ritual of the ceremony.

Neither the sketches nor the stand-in 'pool' can really prepare you for it, though.

The Crystal Pool is often described as being like liquid - that is, after all, where the name comes from - but it's clear even from a momentary glimpse that it's like no mundane liquid. Glittering in a hundred different colours it doesn't just flow or ripple, but dances, intricate, infinite fractal patterns forming across the surface, sometimes raising up a good foot in height or dropping just as far in depth - somehow never spilling a drop over the crude stones that were laid centuries ago to hold the Pool in place. Tiny motes of glimmering light flit around and above the pool like hundreds of insects, and they react to your arrival, spinning and whirling in apparent excitement.

Weaving their way around the gazebo, and growing hither and yon across the unkempt grass around the Crystal Pool, are ley-crystals, pure and unadulterated. Gathering such is one of the privileges of becoming a Novice, though while you're allowed to use them to forge dragonsteel equipment to replace the generic stuff you were given by the Archives, you aren't allowed to sell them until you are officially Knighted.

By the time each of you enters, Archivist Levont has left a ritually purified robe neatly folded on a tree stump (which is almost completely coated in a crystal sheen). Some Novices change back into their normal clothes before leaving the Crystal Pool's glade, others stay in their robes (especially if they're concerned about damaging their clothes with their new powers); there's no real requirement either way other than not leaving anything behind in the glade.

The procedure is for you to change into the robe (okay technically you can also just wear nothing at all, but while it's not much different to a ritual robe from a mystical perspective, that option is even less common than people choosing to stay in their non-purified, mundane clothes), and then either cast your Tithes into the Crystal Pool or - more uncommonly - place them on a ley-crystal plant and allow them to be absorbed before entering yourself. The Blessing itself begins as soon as you fully submerge yourself. There are dozens of rumours about specific permutations resulting in better Blessings - should you throw the Tithes in as hard as you can, or just gently place them? Should you walk gently into the pool or dive in? And so on - but the official position of the Archives is that there's no difference.

Once each of you touches the Crystal Pool, it takes hold of you. Not with any serious force - you could easily get free if you wanted to - but there's a definite physical pull trying to gently tow you into the centre of the Pool, and the more you submerge yourself, the stronger the pull gets. The Pool is much, much steeper than you might have thought from its appearance, and by the time you're barely halfway to the centre you could easily be fully submerged, though the Pool doesn't actually try to pull you under. If anything it keeps you afloat, and you have to actively submerge yourself to have anything above your neck go below the surface of the Pool.

Once you do, though, you sink - incredibly fast, and somehow it feels like the Pool is a dozen, maybe a hundred times bigger than it was a moment earlier. You can still breathe just fine...although if you think about it carefully, you might come to realise that you simply aren't needing to breathe, oxygen being supplied to your body through some means far more ethereal than mere lungs.

And then your consciousnesses drift away as the Blessing begins. The entire ceremony is swathed to some extent in secrecy, but the Blessing itself even more so. Nobody ever speaks about what they experience during the Blessing, so as little prepared as you were to see a Crystal Pool in person...the Blessing is a more unearthly experience still.

Gen You see the Dragon War. It can be nothing else. A great dragon with jagged, dark grey scales being set upon by two other dragons, all three higher in the sky than any VTOL would ever travel, great rents being carved in its skin as it tries to defend itself before the scene suddenly changes in a flash of starlight and the injured dragon is now a good distance away from its attackers. But they don't pursue, it and instead turn on each other as the grey dragon turns and flies away. You could swear it was crying. You snap awake to find yourself lying on the top of the Crystal Pool, now a solid surface of deep grey with spikes going outwards as though you were the centre of some kind of earthquake. As you step back towards solid land, the crystal collapses back into its normal multicoloured, liquid form. Expertise (Crystal Lore) DC25, or (Knights) DC30 People pretty much never speak about what they experience in their Blessing. But you've actually managed to hear someone else talk about their Blessing, and a handful of second-hand rumours. And...okay, it's not exactly a massive amount of data...but you've never heard of anyone seeing anything so cohesive in a Blessing before. Never mind the Dragon Wars, a time that is nothing more than myth. OOC Due to the effect of ???'s Memoriam, you are considered Impaired for...technically speaking a day or two, practically speaking from a PbP perspective just the rest of this scene, should it matter.

Heather You see the Dragon War. It can be nothing else. A great dragon with beautiful, pale scales is standing before a bigger dragon with red scales, between it and a town - or perhaps a city, lacking a proper sense of scale in comparison to the titanic dragons makes it hard to tell. You can't hear anything being said, but somehow you know, as easily as you could read an ordinary person's body language, that the pale dragon's demeanour is calming, soothing, in stark contrast to the aggressiveness of the red dragon - and suddenly the red dragon roars and leaps at the smaller dragon. And a lance of light flies down from the sky and smashes into the red dragon, crushing it to the ground, and as its life fades away, the pale dragon closes its eyes and lowers its head, almost like it's praying. You snap awake to find yourself lying on the top of the Crystal Pool, now a solid surface of glittering starlight, with a variety of (human) figures acting out fairytales you recognise from your childhood, somehow incredibly accurate but at the same time too vague to make out any features if you look too closely. As you step back towards solid land, the crystal collapses back into its normal multicoloured, liquid form. Expertise (Crystal Lore) DC25, or (Knights) DC30 People pretty much never speak about what they experience in their Blessing. But you've actually managed to hear someone else talk about their Blessing, and a handful of second-hand rumours. And...okay, it's not exactly a massive amount of data...but you've never heard of anyone seeing anything so cohesive in a Blessing before. Never mind the Dragon Wars, a time that is nothing more than myth. OOC Due to the effect of ???'s Memoriam, you are considered Impaired for...technically speaking a day or two, practically speaking from a PbP perspective just the rest of this scene, should it matter.

Josef You see the Dragon War. It can be nothing else. Two dragons - one red, one green - fight in the sky, each wounding the other with claws, teeth, tails and blasts of prana - and then suddenly you feel more than see something in the distance, and a wave of magical energy approaches, almost blotting out the sky itself. The two dragons look at it, wide-eyed, and the green dragon turns and flees - but the red dragon, and your perspective of the scene, doesn't. As the magical wave hits, the red dragon contorts in pain, tossed to and fro by the storm - and then a shimmer of prana, or perhaps something more unearthly, flows down it, and its movement steadies and it starts to fly into the storm of magic...even as first its scales, and then its whole body, starts to warp and shift horrifically. You snap awake to find yourself lying on the top of the Crystal Pool, now a field of jagged ruby shards, with ruby-red vines and plants coiling almost to the height of the gazebo above you. They grab at you as you move, thorns running painlessly through your skin. As you step back towards solid land, the crystal collapses back into its normal multicoloured, liquid form. Expertise (Crystal Lore) DC25, or (Knights) DC30 People pretty much never speak about what they experience in their Blessing. But you've actually managed to hear someone else talk about their Blessing, and a handful of second-hand rumours. And...okay, it's not exactly a massive amount of data...but you've never heard of anyone seeing anything so cohesive in a Blessing before. Never mind the Dragon Wars, a time that is nothing more than myth. OOC Due to the effect of ???'s Memoriam, you are considered Impaired for...technically speaking a day or two, practically speaking from a PbP perspective just the rest of this scene, should it matter.

Karl You see the Dragon War. It can be nothing else. A blue dragon, with horrific wounds that somehow you know, despite having never seen a dragon before, aren't survivable without help, forcing itself to swim through the ocean, leaving a trail of blood behind it. Tiny strings are threaded around it from almost-too-small-to-see humans, tied to hundreds, maybe thousands, of boats, and as the wind turns, the dying dragon lets itself slump - its weight almost pulling the closer ships underwater before a gust of wind catches the sails of the armada and the ropes grow taut enough to pull it back to the surface - and is slowly towed towards distant land. You snap back awake to find yourself lying on top of the crystal pool, a solid sheet of sapphire that seems to sometimes turn deep red if you look at it at the right angle, unnervingly warm and with occasional pulses running through it like a heartbeat. As you step back towards solid land, the crystal collapses back into its normal multicoloured, liquid form. Expertise (Crystal Lore) DC25, or (Knights) DC30 People pretty much never speak about what they experience in their Blessing. But you've actually managed to hear someone else talk about their Blessing, and a handful of second-hand rumours. And...okay, it's not exactly a massive amount of data...but you've never heard of anyone seeing anything so cohesive in a Blessing before. Never mind the Dragon Wars, a time that is nothing more than myth. OOC Due to the effect of ???'s Memoriam, you are considered Impaired for...technically speaking a day or two, practically speaking from a PbP perspective just the rest of this scene, should it matter.

Remy You see the Dragon War. It can be nothing else. More than a dozen dragons - some dead, some dying - lie around something unlike anything you've ever seen before. It's not like any Demon you've ever heard of; it looks vaguely like a dragon, but a dragon made of storm and water and fire rather than anything physical - and easily a dozen times the size of any of the dragons there. As you watch, lashes of pure white whip out from its body seemingly at random and crash on the flanks of a trio of dragons - one grey, one pale pink, and one yellow - dealing them gruesome wounds as they shield a party of perhaps two dozen humans from the thing. The yellow dragon 'says' something - you can't hear what it says, but the grey dragon suddenly turns and tries to pounce on the yellow dragon, only to get swatted aside by the yellow dragon's tail as it charges right at the monster and disappears inside. Your perspective follows it, though you don't go inside the monster itself; you do, however, get close enough that can see the yellow dragon arcing and thrashing inside - and catch a glimpse of the pink dragon holding the grey dragon back from doing the same thing the yellow one had - before suddenly the whole thing implodes into beautiful, multifaceted light that erupts out and races off in all directions like a thousand bolts of rainbow lightning, leaving the yellow dragon - now almost unrecognisable due to its wounds - lifeless on the ground. You snap awake to find yourself lying on the top of the Crystal Pool, an elegant spiral of pale yellow like someone has compressed a tornado down to a flat surface, slowly turning beneath you. As you step back towards solid land, the crystal collapses back into its normal multicoloured, liquid form. Expertise (Crystal Lore) DC25, or (Knights) DC30 People pretty much never speak about what they experience in their Blessing. But you've actually managed to hear someone else talk about their Blessing, and a handful of second-hand rumours. And...okay, it's not exactly a massive amount of data...but you've never heard of anyone seeing anything so cohesive in a Blessing before. Never mind the Dragon Wars, a time that is nothing more than myth. OOC Due to the effect of ???'s Memoriam, you are considered Impaired for...technically speaking a day or two, practically speaking from a PbP perspective just the rest of this scene, should it matter.

It's impossible to tell how long the Blessing ceremony takes - at least, to its participants. Those of you on the outside can tell that each of you spends about twenty minutes in the glade, which would translate roughly to about ten minutes in the Pool proper plus time to change, harvest the ley-crystals with the new strength your Blessing gives you (if Gen tries beforehand he discovers that as powerful as his Oleimian blood makes him, the ley-crystals don't yield to it any more than they would mundane human strength), and generally spend at least a minute or so figuring out the general basics of your powers - which are, fortunately, for the most part quite instinctual - before you return.

OOC

Obviously you don't all actually have your Blessing ceremony at the same time, but for convenience you can each RP your respective speeches and ceremonies can all be posted at once.

In order, for reference, it goes Josef, Remy, Heather, Gen, Lily, and lastly Karl.

[Zelphas]

Josef... tries not to look at his father. Foolishly, he had thought the whole burning-club outfit was a joke, when his father mentioned having it made a few weeks ago. His eyes slide over the crowd and discover another somewhat unpleasant scene. He feels a pang of sympathy for Karl, quickly smothered by the odd rivalry that has grown between the two. At least his parents weren't making fools of themselves in front of everyone, and drawing attention to it.

Then came the speech. Josef is surprised to hear his name called first, but steps smoothly up to the podium to speak. He knew this was coming, he had prepared. "Thank you," he begins, nodding politely to Mayor Malencon. "And thank you all. More personally, first I would like to thank my father, without whose constant encouragement, I would not be standing here today."

Josef takes in a breath to continue speaking, then pauses. The sea of people in front of Josef wavers, as if in a heat haze. That last line was as close to the truth as he had allowed himself to come, in his prepared speech. Maybe it was too close.

After just a little bit too long, Josef continues speaking; just the normal thanks, a slight joke to break the tension, all empty words. Going first has its perks; Josef is able to cut his empty speech short, since the Pool has already been cleansed before him. He bows and takes his leave quickly, unwilling to look for his father; too close to the point of no return.

***

The Pool is undeniably beautiful; Josef has to admit that. He sets down the ruby and the stick, careful so that they don't touch any ley-crystals--he plans to cast them into the pool--and then pulls the single, red-orange rose petal out of his pocket. Staring at it for a long moment, Josef reaches out and places it next to the others, on a ley-crystal plant with several smaller protrusions, like a squat cactus. If anyone asks, if anyone somehow knows, he can say he forgot about it there, that it absorbed into the ley-crystals by accident. Josef dresses in the robe slowly, pulling off the bandage on his left arm as well and feeling the new tattoo burn and itch in the open air. The runic simples stand out sharply against his pale skin, and Josef squints at them, cringing slightly at the shaky penmanship. Well, there's nothing he can do about it now.

By the time he puts on his robe, the petal has disappeared into the ley-crystal plant.

Properly robed, Josef collects the rest of his Tithe, walking over to the Pool. The lights and the "liquid" dance in dizzying patterns, almost hypnotic. Kneeling. Josef places the ruby into the Pool, giving it a slight push to send it towards the center. He stands again, the stick gripped in his left hand. His knuckles grow white with his grip, and he finds himself looking around, making sure no one is there. He looks back, into the center of the Pool.

In one swift, savage motion, Josef hurls the stick into the Pool with all his might.

Josef follows the stick into the Pool a moment later, heedless in his haste. Just get it over with. It's too late now, he's already there. The Pool draws him in, and Josef lets it, going deeper and deeper. He dunks his head under the moment he can, just to get it--

He is under, and the Blessing begins.

***

Josef awakes from the vivid--too vivid, and too specific, if his information gathering is correct--vision to find himself in a valley of thorns. Surprised, confused, he moves, and the thorns rip through him, painlessly, without damaging him. In fact... in fact, nothing feels quite... Josef presses his hands together, alarmed when he feels pressure, but no touch. What had... had his nerves literally been replaced by steel? He looks over at his arm, where the tattoo no longer burns, where, as with his hands, he feels nothing. The tattoo stands out--not scoured away, but beautified by the Pool's touch, the runic symbols clarified.

Nerves of Fire-Forged Thorn

***

When Josef returns, he has managed to set aside the fact that things have gone terribly, terribly wrong, at least for the moment. In one hand, he holds the ley-crystal with many thorn-like protrusions, his harvest. If prompted to display his power, he holds up the dragonsteel club, wrapping it in flaming thorns with a thought and a whisper of will. All of it has a feeling of unreality, the world blurry and hard to hold onto. He can no longer feel the ground, except as pressure against his feet.

As soon as he can, Josef seeks out Archivist Levont. Doc doesn't have the know-how for... whatever is happening, and Josef is worried; he had already accidentally cut himself once, back at the Pool, and the outburst of thorny fire had terrified him.

[Phoenix1]

When Heather's turn comes, she takes to the stage with a touch of trepidation, her heart beating a bit fast and butterflies in her stomach. Waving to the crowd with her fellow Recruits arrayed around her was fine, but she wasn't actually super-used to being the individual focus of attention, and she was hit by a bout of stage fright.

Fortunately, she had prepared her speech well in advance, so she took a deep, slightly shuddery breath, and said, "Five years ago, my sister stood here to give a speech. I remember watching it. I was sitting right there," she said, pointing at one of the chairs (in the front, if there were rows). "She began her speech saying she wanted to thank everyone, everyone in the village, for everything they had done for her, for us, growing up."

"I can only echo her words. They say it takes a village to raise a child. This village raised two, when tragedy took our parents from us. Words cannot properly express my gratitude for everything everyone in this village has done for me. I would not have made it here without all of you, supporting me, encouraging me, teaching me. In a few minutes, I'll no longer be known as Heather Templeton, but as Heather of Greenbrook."

"But I think, realistically, I always have been."

"I don't think I could ever properly repay the kindness, support, and love I've been given by the people of this village, not with work and not with wealth. But I hope to do so with honor. I am not yet a Knight, but I hope to one day become one, and so I must act as one. A Knight never forsakes their sworn word. So I make this oath, not yet as a Knight but with all the sincerity of one, that I shall always honor the village that raised me with my words and my actions. I will not swear to bring Greenbrook the honor it deserves, for I do not know that such a lofty goal lies within my power to reach. But I shall ever strive to achieve it."

"If I tried to give individual thanks to everyone who helped me get to where I am now, we would be here all day. But I do have to give thanks in particular to my big sister, Laurel, the Storybook Hero of Greenbrook. She was my hero long before she earned either her Blessing or her title. It was her choice to walk this path before me that encouraged me to walk it myself, and I will keep following in her footsteps until the day I catch up."

"I'm coming Sis," she finished quietly, wiping a tear from her eye.

--

Heather stood marveling at the Crystal Pool for almost two full minutes, awestruck by its beauty, trying to observe all the little plays of light and color, and failing entirely. There was just too much going on. It was beautiful, and unlike anything she had ever seen.

Finally shaking herself free, she changed into her robe, placed her father's ring atop her mother's book and placed them gently into the liquid, and then stepped in herself.

The experience of receiving a Blessing is typically gentle, soothing. But most Recruits weren't hydrophobic.

She wasn't afraid as she stepped into the pool. In her head she expected it to be basically like a bath, which she didn't have any trouble with. But the steepness of the slope surprised her, and the tug of the crystalline fluid even moreso. She flashed back to her oldest living memory, sinking into the river, water filling her nose, her throat, her lungs. She panicked, flailing, but she had never been a strong swimmer, and the pull of the Pool was inexorable. She gasped and held her breath, plugging her nose with one hand, just before she slipped beneath the surface, continuing to kick and flail with her other hand.

In her panic, she didn't notice that she felt no need to breathe at all, that her lungs weren't burning. She felt her consciousness start to drift away, mistaking it for the effects of lack of oxygen as blackness started swirling in her vision, and though her efforts only redoubled, her kicks grew weaker and weaker. She could not believe that after everything, the entire year of training at Fort Naoth, she wasn't going to ever become a Knight, wasn't going to become her sister's Squire, wasn't even going to face a single demon on the field of battle. Her oath broken before she could make even her first attempt to fulfill it. She would bring no honor to her village, she would be forever known as the Recruit who somehow managed to drown in a freaking Crystal Pool.

This isn't how the story is supposed to go! was her last conscious thought, before the darkness claimed her.

--

Heather awoke with a gasp, bolting upright. She was...alive. She was fine.

...Of course she was fine. She cracked up, laughing at herself. Laurel had told her a little bit about what it had been like to receive her Blessing, in sisterly confidence. She had warned her explicitly that she would be submerged but it would be fine, that she could breathe the liquid of the pool as if it were air. Heather had a photographic memory, but that didn't mean every event in her life was always available at front of mind. In her panic, she hadn't recalled Laurel's warning at all.

(It did occur to her that there had been nothing in Laurel's description about...whatever that was. It had been so intense, so real. She kinda couldn't shake the feeling of melancholy it left in her heart.)

Boy was she glad you were alone when you received your blessing. That would have been so embarrassing if anyone had seen it.

"Indeed," came her sister's voice from behind her, as she picked herself up (marveling a bit as she did at the little illusory figures around her). "I vote we never speak of this again."

"Laurel!" Heather cried in delighted surprise, launching herself at her sister in an All-Out Hug that in another universe might have rightfully been described as Robinesque, but for the lack of a tail to wag. "What are you doi- woah!" Her hug caught nothing but air as she passed straight through her sister's image and almost fell flat on her face, only her physical training from a year at Fort Naoth allowing her to catch her balance.

"Laurel" turned to face her with one brow raised and a bemused grin on her face. "Obviously, I'm not here. I'm an illusion."

"Right. Obviously."

"So, come on!" Illaurel prompted. "Don't leave me hanging! What'd you get?"

"Oh. Um...well, illusions, evidently!"

"Yeah I can see that. Anything else?"

"...Okay wait does that mean you're self-aware?"

"No, it means you're subconsciously manipulating light and sound to create a realistic-to-your-expectations illusion of your sister, because you remember her telling you all about her new powers after she got her Blessing and deep down you wanted the same experience but she couldn't actually be here because she has Important Knight Duties to attend, but since your new powers are largely instinctual they responded to your desires with the closest approximation they could provide, i.e. me. So, let's hear it!" Because evidently illusions crafted from your own subconscious desires and expectations inherit your Insight and Expertise (Crystal Lore) skills, which...yeah that checks out.

"Right. Um...you know it's a little odd. I like...I have this sense that I can say something and...make it happen? But...not really that. Like...make something that could happen happen. Like it wouldn't work if it was something like, um..." she held out one open hand. "And then she was holding, a banana!" she intoned.

And poof a banana appeared in her hand.

"Seems to work fine to me."

"No, uh, wait. Wha- Oh! No, sorry, bad example. That's another illusion!"

"You sure?"

"It- Yes! I'm sure! Look it passes right through you!" she said, waving it through Laurel's body for emphasis.

"Uhh, I'm an illusion. It would pass right through me either way."

"No it, guhh-" she started looking around for something else to wave her not-actually-a-banana through.

"I dunno sis, seems to me like you have a perfectly respectable banana-conjuring power there. May the demons tremble at their inevitable and hilarious slapstick falls!"

"It's not a real banana, look it passes through my hand!"

"Hmm. How does it taste?"

"What?"

"If it looks like a banana and tastes like a banana, I'mma go out on a limb and call it a banana."

"But my hand goes through it how would I peel it?"

"You are literally subconsciously producing a near-perfect illusory interaction with your sister, good enough that you already forgot I was an illusion once. If it's an illusory banana I'm pretty sure you can make it look like you're peeling it."

"It...fine." Heather made the motions of peeling the fake intangible banana and though she couldn't actually feel it beneath her fingers to all visual appearances it peeled perfectly normally. With a sigh she took a bite out of it. The banana was still whole (albeit peeled) when she removed it from her mouth. "It doesn't taste like anything. I think I only get light and sound."

"Light, sound, and emotion. You're not actually as happy to see me as you feel like you are, because you know I'm not actually your sister and you still wish it was her here. In fact, you're mostly still kinda sad about the vision you saw, but you're covering it up with false happiness. But I will concede that you lack the power to conjure bananas. Alas, my dreams of hilarious demonic pratfalls will go unfulfilled."

"...I think I can actually make it more likely for demons to pratfall hilariously."

"So it works kinda like my Blessing. Probability manipulation. Only you have to say it?"

"Sssssort of, maybe? Only not really. It's not...changing odds, I don't think. It's changing real things, just kinda in a way that alters the odds? Like, if a demon is charging at me and I narrate them tripping and falling flat on their face, it's not that it makes them more likely to trip and fall in some arbitrary way, it's more like...can anybody actually prove that tree root wasn't slightly raised before I spoke. Or...something like that, maybe? Um..." She looked at one of the nearby ley crystals. "That crystal is loose," she narrated, before going over and pulling it effortlessly free.

Although...a thought occurred, and she pulled on the crystal next to it. It, too, yielded to her grasp. It...maybe took a little more effort, possibly? She couldn't really tell. "I...think that worked?"

Laurel just shrugged, taking her word for it. "You 'narrate' them, huh? So...your power is super-storytelling?"

"...Oh man I think it actually is!  THAT IS SO COOL!"

"That is...literally the most 'you' power I have ever heard of."

"I know, right? Oh man this is going to be great! I'll be the Narrator, and you can be the Protagonist! ...Kinda hard to show off though. Except maybe the illusions, I guess? Although...hmm. If the power is in my voice..." another instinct was kinda rising to the surface. She looked at a patch of ground near the pool and said, "Boom!" There was a thunderclap of sound like an explosion, which probably could have been heard even back at the stage, as a clod of dirt exploded from the ground.

"Oo-ooh~. Now we're talking!"

"Yeah we are! Ooh, wait, I can do light too right, because illusions? Do we have lasers!? Zap!"

...! ...?

"No lasers. Just bananas."

"Maybe an illusion of a laser?"

"Oh right uhh...Zap!" Twin beams of intensely bright pink light shot from her eyes and where they struck the ground there was another explosive sound and flying clod of dirt. "HA! We have fake lasers! All of the special effects with none of the burnination! Let's be honest the special effects are really what you want from lasers in the first place, I'm sure there have never been any demons that are explicitly vulnerable to light-elemental attacks in the history of the world!"

From the empty air, a female voice with a slightly posh accent narrated, "There actually were!"

"...Okay, primary goal for the whole power-practicing bit is to stop subconsciously creating illusions before they do something embarrassing."

"Seems smart."

"Okay. I have to get back out there." She went over to where she had left her clothes, started untying the robe's sash, and said, "Uhh...go away! I have to change!"

"I'm not actually- you know what, nevermind." The illusion of Laurel obligingly vanished.

--

When Heather came back into view of the crowd, a flashy display of colorful fireworks exploded noisily around her! A few doves flew about her head! The sound of trumpets played a fanfare from thin air!

"I got illusions!" she said cheerily as she took the stage again. She noticed idly...the butterflies were gone. She wasn't feeling any stage fright at all, anymore. Super-storyteller powers gooo! "And, um, other stuff!  But it's kinda hard to show off though! But, uhh, um, oh! Hey, take it from me! Lily's speech is going to be great!" she narrated, giving the foreign recruit an encouraging thumbs-up.

"WOOO!!!" Illusiory Laurel cheered from where she was now sitting in an illusory seat in the front row. "BEST BLESSING EVER!!" Heather had only herself to blame. It was exactly what she did five years ago after Laurel showed off her powers.

"Haha, illusions! Super-fun!" she said as she made the illusory Laurel go away again and went back to her place among the new Pages. Training week could not possibly come fast enough.

Mechanics

Using Inspire Competence from Second Person Narration to...well technically Team Check Lily's Expertise (Oratory) not that we're actually making rolls for speeches but whatever she can do her speeching better! Forgoing the option to use Persuasion since her Expertise (Oratory) is only two points lower and the DC would increase by 10, but fortunately I wrote that as "may".

Routine Expertise (Oratory) (DC equals Lily's rank, +5 for Teamwork, -2 for Impaired) Super story-telling powers goooo!

Routine Deception (only because she has Skill Mastery) to not come off as embarrassed as she actually is (-2 for Impaired, -5 circumstance penalty)

Edited April 26 by Phoenix1 (see edit history)