Episode #1: Novices of Greenbrook

[Keramane]

The decorum for nobility generally abhored snacking while walking, especially when one was the center of attention, given the force of the offerings and the general expectation Remy allowed herself a bite or two here or there.  And a drink to wash it down, returning the mug to an offered tray with a winning smile and quiet-vs-the-crowd thank you to the server.  The path was clear and the stage present.  Her eyes were keen and noted both the empty seats and the wayward guests, making no outward sign that she had minus a temporary and minor frown of disappointment.  Of course her own parents were present; mother ever stunning in - what is for her - a modest dress for outdoor revelry.  Her father was dressed sharply in his his knightly semi-formal wear, the sort that is proper but doesn't denote him having any special role in the festivities directly.  A smart choice, by her standards; she had somewhat been worried that he'd be the knight they'd be squiring for and she wasn't keen on being called out for favouritism.

When it came time for the speech, hers was short as she was able to make it (which wasn't the shortest by any means).  Thanks to the mayor for his announcing, for her teachers and trainers, to her family and lastly the people of Greenbrook.  She drew upon an anecdote about her time as a 'junior knight', the title Heather had dubbed her in their tales while running about doing minor 'quests', recounted the inspirations for her seeking the knighthood among those memories and ended with a vow to do her utmost in her service.  All in all a well made and presumably well-written speech.

***

It was no small thing to say that her greatest desire as a child was to look upon the pool.  More than once she had been scolded about the impropriety and that it was simply not allowed.  It was a taboo she had not violated (contrary to so many others when she was young and curious) so to call her excited was an understatement.  She spent a good full minute of gazing upon its unearthly surface in an attempt (and failure) to memorize every hue and sheen eternally in her mind.  She would change into the provided robe and place her offerings where they need lay.  The arrow was left to be consumed by as she uttered a small prayer to her ancestors and the famed knights of ages past.  With her nerves settled she would descend into the not-quite-waters and delve deep within.

***

Her release from its grasp was one of sudden shock that drew in a gasp of air near-audible outside.  Her breath was rapid as she ran her hand over her face, feeling a mix of panicked sweat and a few fresh tears.  She forced down the amalgam of emotions as she steadied herself, replacing them with the dizzying nausea that she was warned might come about.  Her father hadn't told her specifically about his experience but did warn her that it was taxing on the body, giving a short list of symptoms that she was most certainly personally experiencing.  Which, all said, pleased her greatly as it meant everything went well!  Probably..  That vision was something else for sure.

Gathering herself up, she would make to claim her harvest - a long, slender crystal shaft with arched tips and almost feather-like edging at the extremities.  Her runes had indeed been solidified into her shoulders and back and centered between them as it had been placed was the topaz mark of her branding, only noted when she was able to get a reflection from the harvest to display the thing.  She dressed in her own attire once again, the sweat and tears now long suppressed and wiped away, left for investigation another night when dreams called upon the visions once more.

***

Her display for the crowd as she exited was somewhat dramatic, though not as much as Heather's (hard to trump fanfare and fireworks right?).  She would make her way confidently along the walk a few steps before gliding as if she were skating,  chest forward, arms back and to the side, swiftly gliding in an elegant swan-like posture before a sudden flap of her arms buffeted wind about sending her skyward.  A deft forward flip as she landed on the stage.  "The winds are my allies and are quick to come to my call~" gesturing with her hands to cast a strong breeze to flap what flags, banners and so on would be hung and held about the crowd before drawing it back to lift herself into the air in a dramatic display of aerial dominance!  Admittedly she wasn't flying or doing acrobatics, merely floating a dozen feet off the ground but hey, flying was cool enough itself!  Still, she would come down for a landing and let the air return to its own will, making way for the next in line.

[Hyperbolic sine]

Dimitri's shout made Karl's gaze instinctively turn on him, and then he glanced at Josef with a mix of envy and reproachfulness. Sure, the man's outfit was a bit corny, but at least-

Despite himself, he looked back at where Dimitri was, having caught an unexpected sight in the corner of his eyes. Could it be that...

Oh. Guess not showing up at all would've been too conspicuous.

Once again berating himself, he forcefully tore his toughts away from the dark direction they were taking, and turned them to the matter at hand - specifically, he totally forgot about the speech! Hopefully he'd go first and get it done quickly.

***

Of course he was last, and Josef got the first slot. Some people really get all the luck in the world. At least he'd have a bit of time to cobble something toghether...maybe.

***

"Gree-"

*SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE*

Trying to keep up the appearance of being unfazed, Karl adjusted the voice collector crystal in front of him.

"Ahem. Greetings, fellow citizens of Greenbrook. It is an honour to be standing, uh, to be standing here in front of you in such a joyous occasion."

He rattled off some more uninspired platitudes, his eyes darting at quick intervals towards whoever would give him the signal that he could stop talking and enter the Pool...until he met his parent's.

"...and I would like to...to..."

His words kinda petered off, as he was struck by a sudden thought. What was even the point of such a rote, unfelt speech? He was just checking boxes.

When he started speaking again, a fire had been lit in his eyes, and his voice grew louder and firmer.

"Well, enough about that. I think after all the other speeches, I've bored you enough. Let me say this: to those that supported me throughout this journey, thank you, from the bottom of my heart. To those that tried to stop me, well, this is the path I've chosen. Deal with it."

"But to everyone, I say: I take up arms for those we lost, and those we haven't. Even if I lay down my life, as long as I slew a single Demon, as I saved a single person, then it will have been a path worth walking. Dragons watch upon us."

And with that, he stepped off the podium, whether or not he was given the cue to finish.

***

Finally, it was time. After a moment spent gawking at the Pool, he quickly stripped off his clothes, undid the bandages on his right wrist, reached for the robe...and stopped; he looked at the Pool, then at the robe, then the Pool, then the robe again, back and forth several times, and in the end left it where it was. No one would be able to see him, so he might as well go all in with the plan of not bringing anything unnecessary.

So, in his birthday suit, he approached the mystical waters, opened the urn he had closely guarded since leaving Lomorre, and carefully poured the blood it contained over the iridescent liquid; then, taking a deep breath, he steadily advanced inside until the Pool took hold of him.

***

Karl awoke with a start, having forgotten for an instant where he was. Huh...what a strange vision. Though, given the origin of the pools, he guessed it might not have been that strange after all. Who could say? No one ever spoke about these things.

After regaining his bearings, he stood up, and looking down he noticed the large sapphire embedded over his heart; intricate runic script crisscrossed his chest, converging upon (or perhaps radiating out of - he couldn't quite tell) the Soulstone. The wounds on his wrist were gone, and he could feel power coursing through his veins-

Wait. He could literally feel power coursing through his veins. Almost as if...

A sharp pain ran through his wrist, one that he had recently experienced while preparing the Tithe; but unlike those times, the blood spurted out much more violently, and then kinda hovered in midair, forming into an elongated shape as it kept flowing. Once the process was over, the cuts immediately healed, and Karl was left holding a staff - no, a spear, or maybe a lance - feeling no worse for the wear. He gave it a couple test thrusts, and it was unlike anything he'd ever wielded, not even when he tried dragonsteel equipment; it felt like an extension of his body, and in way, it was. Besides, his instincts told him it was not just a spear, but much, much more.

Perhaps it wasn't as flashy as illusions, or flying, but Karl had wanted one thing from his Blessing - the power to slay Demons. For that, this was perfect. Much better than some thorny flames, anyway.

And then, a draft of cold air reminded him he was still buck naked, and he hurried off to put his clothes back on again.

***

His entrance (exit?) wasn't anything special, but as he marched out of the Pool's enclosing, proudly holding the materialised Sanguine Lance, he was positively beaming.

[Phoenix1]

Heather did notice Karl's parents in the crowd...buuuut she also noticed how they were definitely more "in the crowd" than "part of the crowd". Part of her wanted to say to Karl, "Well, at least they're here!" Fortunately, Heather had by this point stuck her foot in her mouth with Josef often enough that she was able to recognize when a well-intended statement of support would probably not have the desired result, so she kept quiet.

Although evidently those lessons, though well-learned, were somewhat selectively applied, because she couldn't help leaning over to say quietly to Josef, eyes dancing with amusement, "Your Dad's the best," with a little giggle. I mean come on, the guy had dressed up as a burning stick to show support for his son! How could you not love that?

--

Heather cheered and applauded all the speeches of her fellow Recruits with her normal and expected levels of enthusiasm. Err...mostly. She could admit it, Karl's speech drew a kind of wide-eyed look of surprise from her, and when he finished her applause was maybe half a second slow and slightly more subdued. I mean, good on him for saying what was in his heart but...oh snap!

--

Little surprise, her reactions to the power displays was similarly effervescent, after each new Page had rejoined the group. "Dude the fire thorns are wicked!" she told Josef excitedly. "Demons gonna get their faces wreecked~!"

...

The look she gave Remy was one of flat astonishment. "You can fly!?" she said immediately. I mean okay sure hover but was she moving laterally while not touching the ground? Yes, yes she was. That was flying as far as Heather was concerned. "Jealous!" she said with a laugh, and though she was certainly at least half-joking, even that was actually a pretty big deal for her. Heather was one of those people who tended to be just honestly happy for the good fortune of others. Remy had a noble heritage, a full and supportive family, access to wealth and luxury, a (I'm guessing) huge house, and still got to enjoy the same sort of personal day-to-day freedom as Heather did at least on most days. And this was still the first time she had expressed any sense of jealousy towards her whatsoever.

...

{Gushing about Gen and Lily's powers will be edited in here or possibly added to a future post!}

...

And for the second time in a row Karl got the most muted reaction from Heather. "Sooo...yeah, blood spear's looks pretty badass!" she said, with a slightly nervous laugh. "Um...tad creepy, not gonna lie, but still! Badass!" She considered asking where the blood for it came from and decided she neither needed nor desired to know.

Edited April 28 by Phoenix1 (see edit history)

[RavingScholar]

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

 

Edited April 27 by RavingScholar (see edit history)

[Zelphas]

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.

[Phoenix1]

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.

Edited April 28 by Phoenix1 (see edit history)

[Hyperbolic sine]

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?"

[Phoenix1]

"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...

Edited April 28 by Phoenix1 (see edit history)

[Llyarden]

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?

[Zelphas]

"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.

[Phoenix1]

"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.

[Hyperbolic sine]

"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!"

[Keramane]

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.

[RavingScholar]

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.

[Llyarden]

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."