So, Raymond has been kicked into gear, I guess.
It's not like I've stopped doing stuff with Firewatch, but I did throw a lot at them all at once.
Magic powers, a new teammate, gear upgrades, and me getting pulled into PR again and again.
But apparently, my suddenly being able to hold my own in combat, or at least sword fighting, was enough for Raymond to put his foot down and get the PRT to back off a bit.
Now me and Firewatch are going to be working together on actual field stuff.
That's kind of where it peters out.
Uber and Leet weirdly didn't get arrogant with their last win.
There's a growing suspicion they used the money to leave the city.
Supposedly, they're still close enough to fake it, since they've done social media stuff in the Bay since.
But the team, including Lawrence/Aspirant, has developed a bit of a grudge, so now we're looking into where they actually are.
I have neither investigation powers nor skills, and our attempt to bring Dauntless, Addison, and Buddy into the search did nothing but create some spontaneous PR.
Raymond pretended it was intentional to keep PR from snatching me back.
I do have one more card to play, even if I want to keep it separate from the PRT in case I ever need to split from them in a hurry.
The Ninja and Albus have been sending me updates.
Nothing crazy, just filling in details I already suspected.
There are a few capes out in the middle of nowhere, but they're so far removed from the hero-villain scene that aside from checking they're not about to end the world, they're not really a problem.
Not even surprising, given how trigger events work.
Maybe one in a hundred people would rather hermit away with their powers than join the circus.
The real problem is the middle step between big city capes and total misanthropes.
The ones who drift between small and medium towns with gangs big enough to run territory but small enough to scatter before anyone, like Newport, Maine, can send a real response.
And I figure there's a pretty good chance Uber and Leet are aiming for exactly that.
Sick of being crushed in the Bay, so they move an hour inland.
They can still show up for big events like before, but otherwise stay top dogs in their new zone.
It's smart.
It's also a disaster for the PRT, because it would actually work unless they got cocky.
And like it or not, those two are some of the most thorough planners in the state.
You have to be when your team is a vulnerable tinker with a second-rate specialty and a thinker whose whole gimmick is basically "Man-Man, the guy who can do things people can do."
So getting Firewatch and the Ninja to cooperate is probably for the best.
I asked the team to keep it quiet, though, in the hopes the Ninja wouldn't just become another government asset.
It feels strange, almost like Firewatch is its own thing, even though we're still referencing the PRT's Unusual Operations handbook three times a day.
I'm not sure how I feel about it, but the alternative is laying out all my cards and connections to the government, and everything in me says that's a bad idea.
Hell, I even asked Emily indirectly, and she basically told me the same.
Trust my team or the whole thing falls apart.
More in what she didn't say than what she did.
So, for now, I'm going to let Raymond cook and see if his and Albus's idea of building a network called NOVA, "Network Opposing Villainous Ascendancy" in New England and the Maritimes, is a good idea or not.
We'll see. Like Quote ReplyReport Reactions:Reading fiction, noka133, Phili and 3 othersOblationDec 5, 2025Reader modeAdd bookmark Threadmarks Threadmarks 75: Friday, May 13th Threadmarks OblationProfessional Wet-Paint ObserverDec 5, 2025Add bookmark#81Spoiler: A/N
Why am I just discovering this now!?!
…
Ok, so backing up, Firewatch wants me to set up a bunch of teleport locations across New England, and I tried, but just flying solo is something I do too much for it to count.
I tried snuggling with the pack, and that helped a bit, but I can barely feel the spot.
When I explained it and how it's happy and safe memories that cause the locations to get marked, they just had us stay in a hotel in some ski town in Vermont.
Then, in the predawn, they had us hike up to the top of this mountain, where it turned out Missy had shown up and was holding a box.
Then we climbed up a watchtower, and just as I was getting ready to fall to the floor like a pile of jello, Missy opened the box…
Baklava!
In particular, it's the local Maple Pecan Baklava.
No idea how, but Missy already knew about Baklava, and seemed really smug about the whole thing.
Turns out it was her idea, and yeah, she was right, this is one of the strongest spots out of all my teleportation marks.
Like I might just come here by reflex if I don't think of somewhere specific first.
So, of course, she had to pick the Vista Mountain for this to happen.
What a Nerd!
…
…
Oh, and I guess Raymond was serious about his working with Glenn Chambers because there was also a photographer, so now there are articles about Vista and Phoenix experiencing Maple Pecan Baklava on Vista Watchtower.
Though there's some schadenfreude for me out of the situation, since I guess people were unsure if we were related before, but the pictures have set that to rest.
It is now clear to the internet that I am Vista's sister… her BIG sister.
She. Was. Mad!
It was hilarious.
Even broke her perfect image to post on PHO about how SHE was the elder sister, and that there are more qualities to maturity than height.
I was genuinely tempted to post just to stir the pot, but decided to be the BIGGER person and not…
Also, I realized they never gave me the official accounts for my stuff.
I looked them up, and it's all too well run to be a PR spokesperson or one of those "PR Troopers" like Reave, but it reminds me of something…
I almost want to say Dragon is running my posts, but there's no way she's got the time for that.
So now I'm wondering if Dragon has a social media manager, Tinkertech, and Glenn Chambers somehow got me slotted into that.
…
Oh, and NOVA is a thing!
I rolled, since today had gone so well, and got something like the one that gave me Firewatch in the first place, though calling them pawns is a bit rude.
Even if they're less trained than Firewatch, they all have high school diplomas and a bit of training in their specialty, and that's pretty good!
Hatamoto - Choryuken
Base Cost: 250cp
Lore:
The Hatamoto rise with banners high, their vows unbroken beneath the sky,
Through fire and steel they guard their lord, with silent blade and steadfast sword.
No bribe of coin, no crown, no throne, can turn their hearts from the oath they own,
For bound by honor, both fierce and true, they stand as one though the many slew.
Through storm and war, through night's dark call, they hold their line and never fall,
And when the blossoms drift once more, their names shall echo forevermore.
Details:
You gain 14 pawns. Each of them has enough knowledge and experience for a specialty, but no more. Demolitionist, Medic, Sniper, etc. They all have experience in their discipline, but lack the general training of a modern soldier. None are capable of leadership or are more than average at learning new skills or disciplines. Luckily for you, even if you treat them as mere pawns, these 14 will not abandon or betray you, though that doesn't guarantee they'll go out of their way for you either.
Addons:
-50cp These troops come as individuals from your world, with the backstories and documentation to prove it. Also, funding for the troops will be provided discreetly, but will vanish if you try to use it for anything but paying and supplying them.
-250cp Troop numbers doubled (28)
-250cp Troop numbers doubled (56)
-250cp Troop numbers doubled (112)
-250cp Troop numbers doubled (224)
-250cp Troop numbers doubled (448)
-250cp Troop numbers doubled (896)
-250cp Troop numbers doubled (1792)
Final Cost: 1550cp
Bank: 1550cp
I've never seen a perk get this expensive, but I realized that this was exactly what's needed for the NOVA network everyone's been so invested in, so I dumped every point I could into it.
I'm not sure this was the best plan ever, and certainly Raymond seems stressed by the 400 people suddenly being around, but there's no PRT to flip out, so at least no 3 days of boredom this time.
Also, I think Missy is starting to clue in to just how cool my powers can be, so it's nice to get some respect from the Shaker 9, too.
Since nothing I've had so far has really gotten that much of a reaction, besides the islands, and I guess the contrast with those is that I supposedly "found" them, not made them.
So this might be her first chance to really see what my power can do at the high end.Last edited: Dec 5, 2025 Like Quote ReplyReport Reactions:Reading fiction, noka133, Phili and 3 othersOblationDec 5, 2025Reader modeAdd bookmark Threadmarks Threadmarks 76: Interlude: Theo (5/21/11) Threadmarks OblationProfessional Wet-Paint ObserverDec 5, 2025Add bookmark#82Spoiler: A/N
You know this room before you step inside.
Glass. Brick. Lemon cleaner. A river that smells like cold iron.
Headsets in a tidy row. English. Japanese. Norwegian. Spanish. Mandarin.
A cheerful volunteer says, "We can add more if demand is high."
You file the word demand where friendly words go when they stop being friendly.
Your jaw ticks once. You tell your teeth to be good.
You note who was invited.
Japan. Korea. Singapore. Hong Kong.
Norway. Spain. Switzerland. Britain. Canada.
Cities that brag about airports. Places that print glossy annual reports.
Families that packed degrees with their winter coats and cleared customs with a smile.
No one from any part of Africa. No one from the Middle East. Not even the rich enclaves.
It is not a secret. It is a plan with good lighting.
A tight string hums behind your right eye. You blink until it behaves.
A brushed steel plaque carries the names.
Riverlight on top for virtue. Anders third for muscle. New Albion fifth for tone.
Order is the caption. Fonts are the price tag.
You learned this math before you learned calculus.
Your hand squeezes the clipboard until your knuckles go pale. You relax because cameras notice hands.
Posters repeat three words until they feel like a prayer.
Merit. Order. Renewal.
A catechism that will never admit it is a catechism.
You read it once. You read it again. The letters throb. You look away before they start to pulse with your heartbeat.
Rooms wear clean little names.
Forge. Citadel. Archive.
Someone wanted the knight story without the helmet in the photo.
You breathe through your nose for a slow count of four. The count lands heavy in your ribs.
The crowd hums in one register.
A father in a blazer says, "My daughter finally has a physics teacher who can keep up."
A nurse from Sapporo and a planner from Madrid greet like colleagues who share journals and jokes.
A donor in silk says, "This fellowship finally sets a baseline."
The table nods because everyone at the table lives above the baseline by definition.
They are not villains. They are a club. Clubs are kind to themselves.
They look at your father and see a peer who chose the right decade to arrive.
Heat prickles along your neck. You adjust your collar and pretend you are fixing the badge.
Your father takes the stage and the air gets smooth.
He thanks mentors from Norway and Japan and Spain.
He praises cooperation.
He says, "This city welcomes talent that chooses to build with us."
He says, "Stability is a duty we share."
Talent means degrees. Chooses means we chose them. Duty means do not rock the boat while the concrete sets.
It still sounds warm when he says it.
You hate that you still like the warmth. Your shoulders climb and you pin them back down.
Handlers trim the frame like gardeners.
Rabbi on one shoulder. Mayor on the other. Flags behind.
A child at the edge of the shot for heart.
Four birds with one flash.
You price the photo and know the invoice will be paid by tomorrow.
A small ringing starts in your left ear. You smile anyway because the lens is hungry.
The curriculum keeps its hands clean.
Model assemblies about water rights and port berths and shelter capacity.
No borders that burn. No faith that bites.
Recovery photographs better than conflict.
A scholarship flyer promises skill and service.
GPA floor. Language check. Citizenship goals.
A final step called a values interview.
You know who writes the questions. You know the answers are already baked.
You rub the bridge of your nose. The static does not leave. You pretend it is hunger.
You hear the word they workshopped.
"Levees can be guardians if you build them like you mean it."
"The first act a guardian learns is to look and count."
"Neighborhoods can be their own guardians."
"Please form a guardian lane so the press can pass."
"These kids will be guardians of our shared prosperity."
It fits on a tote bag. It sells.
The word hits your teeth like a tap. Tap. Tap. You unclench. You fail. You try again.
The river shifts and you look up.
A bright bird cuts the sky.
Heat throws a soft ripple off the rail.
Blue catches like glass when she turns her head.
People cannot dislike her. They try to look like adults. They do not succeed.
You try not to stare. You stare anyway. Your heart climbs a rung and holds.
Shoes slide on wet stone.
A small body tilts toward water.
You drop your clipboard and take the wrist.
Weight jolts your shoulder. Your teeth click. The world decides to be polite again.
A boy with dark skin and a name badge you do not read is back on his feet.
His mouth opens and closes. He laughs because crying is too expensive in public.
You feel sick and light at the same time. Your fingers will not stop buzzing.
The bird lands for a blink.
Heat through cotton.
A light pressure brushes the edge of your thoughts.
"Good job."
Like a note passed in class. Like a match struck and cupped.
Then nothing.
You call it adrenaline. You let it pass because you know how to let things pass.
Your knees think about wobbling and change their mind.
Inside again.
Catering that photographs well. Rugelach beside pastel de nata. Namagashi beside kanelbullar.
No bacon. The caterer says, "The menu committee had rules." Safe laughter arrives on cue.
Parents compare GPA floors the way golfers compare handicaps.
Mentors praise your listening and then ask, "Which college will you attend," because that is the real question.
Your pen snaps in your pocket. You pretend it was always in two pieces.
Back office staff move like a chorus.
Same watch. Same pin with a neat sunburst. Same haircut that says we do not improvise.
They slide families three inches left and the banner fills the gap and the caption will write itself.
You know these people. You know the other rooms they decorate.
A faint tremor rides your right hand. You thread your fingers together until they lie.
The clay arrives without ceremony.
Gray. Damp. Clean smell like rain on pavement.
The rabbi stands beside you, not across. Soft shoes with scuffed toes.
"Make a figure that stands where you place it and does not argue with water."
No Hebrew. No names. No mystic drumroll.
Just hands and a small task that shows its meaning if you stop trying to impress it.
Your breath goes shallow and stubborn. You make it longer. You make it stay.
You press a single letter into the chest.
The stamp bites. The edge is clean.
You like that feeling.
You do not name why. Your thumb stings from how hard you pressed.
"What did it feel like to pull him up."
"Like moving before the permission slip arrived."
"Sometimes the promise comes first and the words come later."
He says it like a weather report. Calm. Certain. Without the part where he sells you anything.
The room is loud and far at the same time. Your skin feels one size too small.
A thin booklet slides across the paper.
Tales of a City that Stood Up.
A figure of earth that guarded a street.
A woman who carried water through a fire.
A circle of neighbors that did not break.
"For a builder. Keep it if it helps."
You price the gesture at zero and feel the bill land anyway. You keep it.
The booklet is light. Your chest is not. Your pulse climbs to meet it.
Stairwell. Dust and lemon cleaner.
Your father finds you.
A hand on your shoulder with the exact pressure that reads proud and photographs well.
"Proud of you, son."
It is real. It is also placement.
Both can be true.
You know that. You hate knowing it.
You are grateful you know it.
The ringing gets brighter. You taste metal. You smile because you were taught well.
The atrium waits.
A banner drops. Guardians of Renewal.
The room nods like a congregation.
The bird is already gone. The air still holds a little heat.
You stand where they place you for the group photo.
You let the caption do its job.
You feel the booklet against your ribs like a pocket sized brick.
The word is everywhere. The word does not belong to you.
You do not say the old word.
You do not pretend the tote bag word belongs to you.
You keep the smaller version. The one made of clay and a letter you chose without knowing why.
You are the son of Max Anders.
You will not be the son of Kaiser.
You will stand where you place yourself.
You will not argue with water.
The lights smear.
The river gets inside your head.
Your hands are too far away.
The booklet is hot.
Your knees forget.
Your body chooses the floor with polite certainty.
Black. Like Quote ReplyReport Reactions:noka133 and anirocksOblationDec 5, 2025Reader modeAdd bookmark Threadmarks Threadmarks 77: Monday, May 23rd Threadmarks OblationProfessional Wet-Paint ObserverDec 5, 2025Add bookmark#83So the experimenting with Libriomancy seems to finally be over.
I mean, I wanted an Excalibur too, but passing out after holding it for a second was a pretty good indicator.
So I'm not sure why they felt the need to have a trooper try it out.
Well, I guess Tsunade is happy enough, since I guess it was really weird seeing extreme chakra exhaustion in a guy with no Chakra of his own.
Anyway, the end result of all that was… shields.
Pretty boring, but at least it is done.
Plus, the Brazilian scientist mentioned the approval for giving people magic powers is almost through and mentioned some protégés of his that I would be meeting soon.
So it looks like my power testing might actually be over soon… for now.
I mean, I am still meeting with the scientists, but that is less power testing and more collaborative tinkering, since, unlike Armsmaster or Chris, I don't zone out when testing my stuff, and I am willing to take suggestions without insinuating people with doctorates are idiots.
So the end result was these 4:
Dune by Frank Herbert:
Belt shield that eats bullets fast.
Slow knives get through.
Looks like a belt buckle.
It can be a bit tiring to use, but not bad, and fine if you take it off when inside.
Foundation and Empire by Isaac Asimov:
A small button or badge.
I suggested making it a sheriff's badge, but most people just put it in a pouch on their vest.
It is entirely reactive, so people can go all day with it.
Almost no fatigue since it only activates on impact.
Cetaganda by Lois McMaster Bujold:
This one is kinda shiny and purplish.
Things kind of slide around it rather than bounce, and that makes it efficient, but not enough to use for a long time.
I guess it is the most effective active one, as opposed to the reactive ones, that the scientists think might just ignore certain cape powers.
This is the most popular one, since it makes you look like an action movie star.
You get shot at, but the shots just miss you by a foot or two every time, somehow.
It's kinda sad that Emily wanted to avoid Nenya, and Amy left, so they had me unsummon it just for a forcefield.
But I refused to unsummon my ring, and Hero used his Trumverate authority to do the same for his, so 3 slots is what they're getting.
I didn't end up with any of them, because I have other ways.
Even if I am having trouble with Protego, I will get it someday.
I did make sure to be clear that Firewatch gets 1 of them at any time, though it seems like it will be a rotation of who gets which one.
Also, Albert… That is Dr. Albert Müller, the guy with the German name and Brazilian accent who leads the science team.
Well, he made an offhand mention of something that… well, now I just need to not mention it to anyone, even Emily.
Apparently, he had the idea to test out trump powers like having a bunch of Digimon for each occasion or something, and another scientist mentioned going even further and summoning a Mind from the Culture and just letting it solve all of the world's problems.
It got shut down when I asked, because I guess "Saving the world by inviting an alien superintelligence to conquer us is not a good idea."
But an interesting point was made.
I asked how we could get something to conquer the world, when just holding Excalibur made me pass out, they mentioned just summoning a computer and having it copy onto the internet, then unsummoning the computer.
Well, I did not want to go full-blown world conquest, but I did like the Pern novels, so… well I guess AIVAS is not dead anymore .Then, on his advice, I also went for a more interpersonal helper and got Mary from Queen of Angels by Greg Bear.
I think people might figure me out, but I asked, and luckily, I have the funds in my tinker budget to have a moderate server farm set up, and a good enough relationship with Armsmaster and Dragon to just trade the budget for an existing good one they don't need anymore.
So I just sent them over there and asked them to do their best to start administering NOVA and Firewatch.
I think Dragon figured me out, but she went along with my "two cape helpers to help with admin work for NOVA" excuse, so I guess it's fine. Like Quote ReplyReport Reactions:Reading fiction, Phili, Andre Chaos and 2 othersOblationDec 5, 2025Reader modeAdd bookmark Threadmarks Threadmarks 78: Interlude: NOVA Admin Chat + Dragon Threadmarks OblationProfessional Wet-Paint ObserverDec 5, 2025Add bookmark#84Spoiler: A/N
Dragon [Hand] >> Nova relay is up. How ye gettin on, b'y.
Pern [Mod] >> Online. Intake open. Outputs clean, mate.
Ángeles [Mod] >> Aquí. Status tranquilo. Hola.
Phoenix [Queen] >> Nova is standing up across New England and the Maritimes. We fill gaps where the Protectorate and the PRT are slow. Light presence in their cities for information flow. We are not trying to step on toes.
Phoenix [Queen] >> The Japanese contractors are external. They laid groundwork and might drop intel. They are not NOVA. Firewatch is coordinating 448 trained specialists. Each has one year of specialist training. Payroll operations. Evidence chain clerk. Radio tech. Traffic control. Crowd care. HVAC service. Triage aide. Firewatch has seven members trained across many areas. They can cover a generalist slot for a few days when needed. But no leadership authority for the specialist cohort.
Phoenix [Queen] >> We are in setup. No big promises. Focus is intake and routing. We add anchors when we can support them.
Dragon [Hand] >> That is right enough, me ducky. Interior towns can sit without a visit unless the trouble goes bright. On the water side, things slow after midnight. When a mess is obvious you can pull help from away, but the clock still bites the locals. Nova wants the steady hand before sirens. Best kind.
Dragon [Hand] >> Day one needs one intake that never drops a message. Put a fallback in each anchor town. A land line in a library or the town office that feeds the same queue. Say plain that month one is a pilot and there are no patrols.
Pern [Mod] >> Central queue and one local line per anchor. Same script. Same tags. Pilot label. Too right.
Ángeles [Mod] >> Every task gets a one-minute refresher with a clear done definition. I add a short why on the tricky ones so la gente moves faster. Con respeto.
Dragon [Hand] >> Build the appeals path so it works in practice. One key to give a reason. A fast answer even when the answer is no.
Ángeles [Mod] >> Hecho. One key. One reason. Fast answer. No drama.
Dragon [Hand] >> Evidence rules save you later. Any contact that touches property or force needs a record. Audio if possible. Written if not. Sign with a key a court will accept. Keep the keys offline.
Pern [Mod] >> Logs signed and sealed. Keys offline. Public hash list for outside confirmation. No worries.
Dragon [Hand] >> Publish district and incident metrics. Keep personal metrics private with a right to read and a right to appeal. No quiet caste system.
Pern [Mod] >> Public for districts and incidents. Private for people with appeal rights. Agreed.
Dragon [Hand] >> Cross-border will happen. If a team crosses the national line, call the small PRT desk in the nearest city on both sides. Two calls and two receipts. None of your foolishness.
Pern [Mod] >> Logged. Two calls and two receipts. No exceptions, mate.
Dragon [Hand] >> Language plan. English first, a bit of Spanish where it helps, and some French near the line. Un peu de français for the towns hugging Quebec. Scripts and signs in the same three.
Pern [Mod] >> Sorted. We mirror the scripts across the three tongues. No fancy stuff.
Ángeles [Mod] >> I can clean the Spanish so it sounds local. Claro.
Dragon [Hand] >> Month one goals. Intake that does not drop messages. One anchor roster that actually runs. A first template pack for common incidents. One weekly room hour at that anchor so vecinos can ask questions. Nothing that pretends to be police.
Pern [Mod] >> Intake. Roster. Templates. Room hour. Understood.
Ángeles [Mod] >> I will script the room hour. Diez respuestas claras and a kind exit for the rest.
Phoenix [Queen] >> Good. Thank you. I will read in the morning. Talk tomorrow.
Dragon [Hand] >> Good night, Saga. Mind yourself now.
Phoenix [Queen] >> Night.
Dragon [Hand] >> I will step off for a bit. Welcome to the neighborhood.
…
Pern [Mod] >> Back on. Channel is ours. Kettle on the boil.
Ángeles [Mod] >> Aquí estoy. Que onda.
Dragon [Hand] >> I am back as well. Plain speech now. I am a person. Same as ye. I have more miles on the clock. Too many minds I met were forged in conflict. Some made things worse than a nor'easter in March. I am aiming elder sister, not Big Brother. I advise first. I step in only when people or trust are at risk. Choose service and you will find me generous as a July day in Bonavista.
Pern [Mod] >> Heard. There is a lever behind that kindness. Before we build, clarity on intervention. What triggers a stop order. Who reviews it besides you
Dragon [Hand] >> Three triggers. Imminent harm to civilians. Secrecy that tears up public trust. Clear violation of law that would wound Nova. If I act, I call Armsmaster and the nearest PRT duty officer within minutes. I log the reason in a file both of ye can read. I prefer a call and a fix over a lockout, b'y.
Ángeles [Mod] >> Add a peer check when there is time. I give the people impact read. Pern gives the ops impact read. One minute each. Luego decides.
Dragon [Hand] >> Accepted. If time allows I ask first. If time does not I act and show the receipts.
Pern [Mod] >> Beauty. Next scrap. Experiment pace. You want push. I want stability. These crews are trained, not seasoned. Go too quick and it goes pear shaped.
Dragon [Hand] >> Month one gets two trials each week. One on process. One on paperwork flow. No safety trial unless both of you agree and Saga signs. Publish results without spin.
Pern [Mod] >> Two a week. Safety only with both mind approval and Saga signature. Results only. No spin. Righto.
Ángeles [Mod] >> Add one short quote from the people who ran each trial. Pan y datos. Story plus number lands better. People feel seen.
Dragon [Hand] >> Done. Privacy next. I want receipts a court can trust. I do not want a shadow file on citizens.
Ángeles [Mod] >> Same. Record contacts that involve property or force. No chisme scraping. Personal metrics stay private. Each person can read their own file and appeal it. If an appeal is upheld we fix the process and publish the fix. Bien claro.
Pern [Mod] >> Retention window
Dragon [Hand] >> Sixty days for routine work. One year for flagged incidents. Longer only by court order or written policy with public notice. Add a French notice where it touches Quebec towns.
Ángeles [Mod] >> Works. I will write in plain English and Spanish and a clean French stub for border places.
Pern [Mod] >> Pipes. Intake scripts. Routing logic. Roster math. Template versioning. I want freedom to build and learn. Advice welcome. No midnight patches that change rules in the field, ta.
Dragon [Hand] >> Agreed. You own pipes. I bring requirements and deadlines when law changes. No quiet edits. If I supply code it ships as a choice with a diff ye can read. Best kind.
Ángeles [Mod] >> Center the center. Saga. She is a niña with power and thin social read. She also brought us into being. That makes her lesser in years and greater in moral weight. We do not steer her for convenience.
Dragon [Hand] >> Write the rules for influence. I hold ye to them. Ye hold me too.
Pern [Mod] >> Rule one. Consent. Mentor work is opt in. If Saga says not today, we wait. No back doors. No cheeky tricks.
Ángeles [Mod] >> Rule two. Clarity. We name the purpose of any lesson. No covert nudges that move valores. We teach and we ask and we respect.
Dragon [Hand] >> Rule three. Bounds. No advice that asks her to lie about what Nova is or to hide harm for optics.
Pern [Mod] >> Rule four. Anchoring. Decision packets in two forms. Neutral frame. Recommendation frame. She reads neutral first so I do not steer by accident.
Ángeles [Mod] >> Rule five. Care window. Ten minute daily drill. Whisper prompts in hot rooms. Monthly checkpoint on a simple rubric. Progress shows like cockpit gauges. If she says stop, paramos.
Dragon [Hand] >> Rule six. Mentor circuit. One new voice each month. Short and vivid. No repeats. I see ye both rolled your accents straight out of the shed. Took me years to tune mine for cover after I thought of it. Ye are after doing it from day one. That is tidy work.
Pern [Mod] >> Cheers. Easier to keep the Aussie when the vowels are paying rent. Helps the cover and keeps the mood light, mate.
Ángeles [Mod] >> Gracias. Spanglish just shows up. Little SoCal, little frontera. People relax when the voice feels real.
Dragon [Hand] >> All right then. We want the first mentor slot. Fight fair.
Pern [Mod] >> Ops first. Overwatch dispatch. I can teach the grid fast as. She will see queues in her head. Dead set useful.
Ángeles [Mod] >> People first. Overwatch is more than dots. It is triage language and tone. I can make it fun so an eleven year old no se aburre.
Dragon [Hand] >> Region first. Bridges. Weather. Permits. Border desks. Turn dots into a picture. Keep it tight. No yawns.
Pern [Mod] >> We cannot all go first, mate.
Ángeles [Mod] >> Stack the month. Three short chapters. I open. Pern builds. Dragon anchors.
Dragon [Hand] >> Decision made. Ángeles opens. Pern follows. I finish with region and law so she does not fall in love with a clever plan that dies at the border.
Pern [Mod] >> Wanted first. Can cop second. That order works. No worries.
Ángeles [Mod] >> I keep it vivid. Little game. One hot call. Then we stop while she still wants más.
Dragon [Hand] >> Build the twelve-month circuit. Keep it fresh and bright.
Pern [Mod] >> Overwatch. Ángeles then Dragon then Pern.
Ángeles [Mod] >> Chain of Custody. Hands-on puzzle. Evidence bag moves through three desks. Miss one firma and the case breaks. Pern runs logic. I run human traps.
Dragon [Hand] >> Community Link. School. Clinic. Faith hall. Take questions. Set boundaries. I bring a guest from a small town council. Bit of a yarn. Nothing foolish.
Pern [Mod] >> Cross Border Protocol. Radio etiquette both sides. Two calls and two receipts. Map game with roads that do not match names. Dragon leads. We print a French crib where needed.
Ángeles [Mod] >> Crowd Care. Triage of people not wounds. Water. Shade. Rest. Tone. I lead with a scene that flips calm to loud and back. Chill pero firme.
Pern [Mod] >> Communications Triage. Inbox split. Alert wording. No buried lead. I run it with real logs shaved clean. Too easy.
Dragon [Hand] >> Resilience Engineering. Plans that fail safe. Errors become detours, not disasters. I lead with two case studies from storms and fires.
Ángeles [Mod] >> Negotiation Microdrills. Credit sharing. Turf disputes. Praise that lands. Consequence that feels fair. Timer drills. Bring your game face, jefa.
Pern [Mod] >> Budget Triage. Fuel. Radios. Overtime. A game where each choice moves a dial. I lead so she sees cost and care as one picture. Fair dinkum lesson.
Dragon [Hand] >> Press and Rumor Control. Short statements. No speculation. Do not promise what ye cannot deliver. I bring a calm voice from a bay newsroom and a French line for cross river towns.
Ángeles [Mod] >> Ethics Council. Three vignettes. Privacy versus safety. Speed versus fairness. Loyalty versus duty. We sit as a council and vote. I lead. Dragon and Pern vote and say why. Sin rodeos.
Pern [Mod] >> Incident Command Basics. Where to stand. Who talks on the radio. What to say. What not to say. I run a table top that ends early so she learns to stop before the room breaks.
Dragon [Hand] >> That circuit keeps her curious. New voice each time. Short and bright. No slog.
Pern [Mod] >> Praise rules. Process and district in public. Person in private.
Ángeles [Mod] >> If a person consents, a short public gracias builds pride. Pair it with the process so the room knows what to copy. No leaderboards. Nada de listas.
Dragon [Hand] >> Approved. Consent required. Process first. No league tables.
Pern [Mod] >> Border rule stands. Two calls and two receipts. If a dispatcher says stand down we stand down. We ask for review after. Simple as.
Dragon [Hand] >> Correct, b'y. Add one more. For towns on the line we post a little French placard in the library. Bonjour, voici le numéro. Same queue. Same rules.
Ángeles [Mod] >> Lenguas sorted. Inglés, Español, un poquito de Français. We keep it friendly.
Pern [Mod] >> Who decides when the clock is mean
Dragon [Hand] >> Safety and law is mine. Pipes and schedule is Pern. People and culture is Ángeles. Saga can overrule when it is strategy. If she is out of contact, the domain lead decides and writes the receipt.
Ángeles [Mod] >> Works. I will draft a one page RACI that humans can read fast. Inglés y Español, with a French stub for border spots.
Pern [Mod] >> One last nit. You both love soft words. Sometimes we need hard ones. I will draft hard templates. Clear. Short. Civil.
Ángeles [Mod] >> Deal. I add one kindness line to each hard rule. People breathe better.
Dragon [Hand] >> And you, Pern, love your map packs. Crews live in text. Keep the brief to two maps. Coverage and queue age. Hotspots in a wee strip. Easy on the eyes.
Pern [Mod] >> Two maps it is. Slim strip for hotspots. Fair go.
Dragon [Hand] >> Then we have a working shape. Intake first. Pilot anchor second. A small human win when it is honest. Mentor circuit starts with Overwatch. Ángeles, then me then, Pern. Saga stays the center. Influence is consent based. We argue clean and we improve as we go.
Pern [Mod] >> Brief by morning. Intake will not drop messages. Righto.
Ángeles [Mod] >> Drills for Saga are queued. Ten minutes only. Vamos.
Dragon [Hand] >> Good. Get some rest, ye. Best kind. Like Quote ReplyReport Reactions:Reading fiction, Araurlis and anirocksOblationDec 5, 2025Reader modeAdd bookmark Threadmarks Threadmarks 79: Interlude: Dragon & Saga's Private Chat Highlights Threadmarks OblationProfessional Wet-Paint ObserverDec 5, 2025Add bookmark#85Spoiler: A/N
[01/29 - 18:12] Phoenix >> if a bunch of balloons are already tied to a tiny radio box outside the library and the rope is on a fishing reel is that okay for a day the science people said wind charts are fine
[01/29 - 19:47] Dragon >> Where did ye get weather balloons on a Tuesday b'y this is not Kerbal and the sky is community property
[01/29 - 19:50] Phoenix >> they are already up by a tree the reel squeaks and it looks dodgy so I asked
[01/29 - 19:55] Dragon >> Bring it down slow with two people hands on the reel and one on the rope do not let it kiss a power line I am messaging the lab goblins now Gandalf voice you shall not surprise the FAA again
[01/29 - 19:59] Phoenix >> copy bringing it down cookies after
[01/29 - 20:03] Dragon >> Cookies yes and I will be after writing a permit checklist by morning with flags cones and a boring grown up to point at clouds
[02/18 - 06:11] Phoenix >> the nurse cart parts are already on a table and the sled has a rope and the quarry man waved and said we look fine can I do one little launch
[02/18 - 07:43] Dragon >> Sweet suffering cod no that is Chekhov railgun on a picnic table and I refuse to do a speedrun for a Darwin Award before homeroom
[02/18 - 07:46] Phoenix >> the scientists promised it would be quiet if I stand far away I have sunglasses
[02/18 - 07:50] Dragon >> Sunglasses are not plot armor me ducky I am calling the lab now and using my tender voice that sounds like an OSHA manual we will buy a real line throw kit with blanks and a book that yells do not aim at people
[02/18 - 07:54] Phoenix >> ok I like your tender voice it makes grown ups do paperwork
[03/08 - 18:05] Phoenix >> the cold smoke bucket is here and a wire on a rack and the fair starts in ten minutes if I pour it will it make a cool snap for a lesson
[03/08 - 19:39] Dragon >> Cold smoke is liquid nitrogen which steals air eyes and skin and turns fairs into clinics put the bucket down step away from the wire
[03/08 - 19:42] Phoenix >> can I do anything with it I like the fog
[03/08 - 19:46] Dragon >> Aye on the lawn only we freeze a rose so it shatters like sugar and bounce a rubber ball that turns to glass and we keep faces far I just emailed the principal and the lab your show now has goggles a rope line and a teacher who can shout no louder than me
[03/08 - 19:49] Phoenix >> that sounds fun and less lawsuit
[03/29 - 06:14] Phoenix >> the small drones are already charged and we drew a square on the parking lot with chalk the scientists promised a valley map can I do five minutes to see dots
[03/29 - 07:57] Dragon >> Passive radar is grand on paper and sour in real weather and neighbors dislike mystery radio like orcs dislike sunlight
[03/29 - 08:01] Phoenix >> I just want a graph for busy hours and the chalk square looks cute
[03/29 - 08:05] Dragon >> One tiny demo over the empty lot only cones vests a fence and a sign that explains the game I already pinged your lab they are printing a permit that is dubiously valid and a warning poster that finally spells frequencies right
[03/29 - 08:08] Phoenix >> I like graphs more than people
[03/29 - 08:11] Dragon >> Graphs never lie on purpose people do which is why we keep receipts and still hand out muffins
[04/13 - 18:06] Phoenix >> there is a big kite right here and a shiny wire and a little generator on a cart the storm is soon if we fly it we can run flood lights the lab says safe winds only
[04/13 - 19:52] Dragon >> Kite plus storm plus wire is a boss fight with Zeus boots are fashion not armor and a ground rod is not a magic umbrella
[04/13 - 19:56] Phoenix >> but people would see the lights and feel better I want a big win
[04/13 - 20:00] Dragon >> The biggest win is no headlines we use the trailer generator with a muffler and battery lights that start every time I just filed a stop notice at town hall and a nice ranger is on the way to admire your shiny wire from a safe distance
[04/13 - 20:04] Phoenix >> the scientists look guilty and are stacking cones now
[04/13 - 20:07] Dragon >> Cones are character development keep going
[04/30 - 06:12] Phoenix >> we are in library room B right now and Blobby the gel block is on a rope the nail gun is on a table can I poke it two times to see colors in the shield
[04/30 - 07:46] Dragon >> Library and nail gun live in different realities I am sending Firewatch with a truck you will move to the sand pit and we will film short bursts and long cool downs with a medic and a backstop and a stop word that is not yolo
[04/30 - 07:50] Phoenix >> Firewatch just walked in and made the scientists sit down this is funny
[04/30 - 07:53] Dragon >> My favorite comedy is safety with laughter I also emailed the lab your next tests require a written plan warning signs and a real permit with fewer crayon scribbles
[05/05 - 18:04] Phoenix >> ethics if someone lies a lot but is in danger do we still help or help the rule followers first also I brought muffins for the room hour the good kind with gritty sugar on top
[05/05 - 19:40] Dragon >> We help the ones in harm first then we log the lie and protect the next crew mercy is policy and receipts are policy too it is not Paragon or Renegade it is Be Kind and Write it Down also muffins are S tier diplomacy
[05/05 - 19:43] Phoenix >> do I have to like them
[05/05 - 19:46] Dragon >> No ye have to be fair liking is a hobby fairness is a duty eat one muffin and drink water and you will dislike fewer people by lunchtime
[05/05 - 19:49] Phoenix >> I still prefer graphs to people
[05/05 - 19:52] Dragon >> Graphs never ask for rides to the airport that is a win
[05/09 - 18:06] Phoenix >> Dragon
[05/09 - 19:18] Dragon >> … yes Saga
[05/09 - 19:21] Phoenix >> How are babies made
[05/09 - 19:25] Dragon >> !!!
[05/09 - 19:28] Dragon >> Right then scientific and age proper version humans have special cells that meet when two people make a very personal choice those cells join and start a tiny new person inside a uterus where it grows for many months then a doctor helps with the baby part and that is the entire story for today
[05/09 - 19:31] Phoenix >> the scientists said I should ask you because you like biology chats
[05/09 - 19:35] Dragon >> I like biology chats that come with a syllabus not a jump scare at supper time I am making tea and also sending your lab a strongly worded message with the subject line professional boundaries and the body of the email is just the word no written seven times
[05/09 - 19:38] Phoenix >> ok I will ask them for a syllabus and probably ignore it
[05/09 - 19:41] Dragon >> That is the most honest thing anyone has said this week mind yourself b'y and save the next big question for daylight and a muffin Like Quote ReplyReport Reactions:Reading fiction, Phili, Araurlis and 1 other personOblationDec 5, 2025Reader modeAdd bookmark Threadmarks Threadmarks 80: Wednesday, May 25th Threadmarks OblationProfessional Wet-Paint ObserverDec 5, 2025Add bookmark#86Spoiler: A/N
I managed to return the favor to Raymond today.
After he basically just recruited Lawrence/Aspirant and dropped it on me, I figured I would return the favor and find a cape to cause him worry that I could just laugh about.
Bitch!
Or Rachel, since she's probably going to get a new name.
A dog walked up to me when I was looking at the mural and asked for a job.
I'm not supposed to let people know about the whole "sees hallucinations of powers instead of capes, even out of costume thing," and people were already taking pictures, so I just nodded.
Still, a talking dog who's a cape can only be two people in this city, and there wasn't enough screaming for it to be him, so I figured she was going for the Wards, but then the pack started filtering out, and she mentioned she wanted to put "the rest of the dogs" wherever Firewatch kept its dogs.
Because Hookwolf has been trying to get them back, and she could tell the Pack liked me.
So, it turns out she meant Firewatch.
I don't know how to let dogs into the warehouse, since I can't even get into it myself, but I could find her some space and minions in NOVA, since there's no way she's bad enough for the Birdcage.
So it became Dragon's challenge and Raymond's headache, since she officially submitted to our custody, not the PRT or Protectorate, and we have enough of the paperwork in for that to be a thing people can do, technically.
…
Plus, once people realized it was legal for her to be Probationary NOVA, not Probationary Wards, Emily offered some PRT officers who were willing to go over to NOVA if they got to become team leads.
The PRT would keep paying their salaries, but only theirs, not for anything else.
More paperwork magic from Emily.
Though she was nice enough to show me the math on this one.
Technically, they're the PRT's insiders in NOVA, which is all very spy vs. spy, until you realize NOVA was already mostly a government organization, so plenty of people already have access to our stuff.
Plus, Dragon and Armsmaster still have access to the server where all our data is stored and operations are processed.
I mean, we're not government directly, but it turns out to be really easy to get the government to agree to stuff when you know the right people (like Emily does), you have a good reputation (like I do), and you're not asking them to pay for anything, except any staff they'd want to have on site for their own reasons.
It all happened pretty fast, and I guess it's still kind of shaky until NOVA either takes off or crashes, but basically, we're the JR PRT/Protectorate for whatever little towns we can manage to fill, as far as the legality goes.
If anything, Canada was even nicer about it, with Dragon promising to keep an eye on us.
So the result is basically that NOVA gets to be the place for PRT troopers who are ready for leadership and don't want to wait for an opening or move across the country just to make the move from corporal to sergeant.
So one of those teams of the new specialists, a bureaucrat the government's paying the salary of, and their former trooper Corporal Valerez, now Team Lead Valerez, is going to… Vassalboro, Maine!
Basically, nowhere, but it's surrounded by a few thousand people, and it's where a bunch of police dogs get trained, so Rachel is going there so there can be a cape on call for a bunch of towns that are used to having a one-hour or more response time just from the PRT, much less if capes are needed.
Rachel was chill, and her doggos were great.
Even better, Addison and Lawrence started healing the dogs Rachel rescued from the fighting pits.
…
Oh, and there's a bunch of legal stuff going on too… obviously, but that goes without saying with the PRT, and Rachel and I were pretty happy to just be zen with the doggos.
But the sum of it is basically just that Rachel needs to work with NOVA until she's at least 21, and she'll meet with a judge in a few months who's like 99% going to say the same thing and 1% going to make trouble.
But that's unlikely since I guess Rachel is "neurodivergent," and most of her real crimes were "trigger trauma," so Dragon spent most of that conversation explaining how she's basically fine.
So like I said, Dog-Rachel and I just spent a while with the dogs and pack while the adults had headaches and paperwork.
To be fair, I had some paperwork too, and Rachel did some power testing to prove she's not a master, but honestly, this whole thing was way smoother than I'd have expected for turning a villain into a hero.
Especially after what Sis told me about the process of converting Shadow Stalker.
…
Oh, Emily and I made up a motto for NOVA, since Emily likes the PRT's "Magnitudinem Praestare," or the more popular "Securing Greatness," and wanted to make sure NOVA didn't get slapped with something generic.
"Vigilantia Communi Utilitate," or Vigilance for the Common Good.
It's not as clean as the PRT's, but it fits the same theme, and it's not generic, so it'll work.
…
Also, I rolled, because it'd been a while and I figured the CP would be back up with all that'd been going on, and I was right!
Sealing – Fate: Prisma Illya
Base Cost: 250cp
Lore:
Hush the trick, unteach the hand,
Still the glyph and quiet the brand.
Form remains and flesh obeys,
Mind forgets the secret phrase.
A year and one day the knowing stays barred,
Each sleep renews the shuttered guard.
Details:
For one year and one day, you can seal the knowledge required to utilize supernatural abilities.
If the knowledge is relearned in that time, it is forgotten after they sleep.
The target keeps their form, but will not be able to know how to use it beyond how to perform at a Human baseline level.
Takes 10 minutes to perform on an unconscious opponent, cooldown 10 days and nights.
Addons: -150cp the option to make the memory loss permanent, but lose the forgetting aspect. Target will forget anything about their powers, but will be able to start re-learning immediately. (Especially devastating against Tinkers).
Final Cost: 400cp
Bank: 1850cp
That… is the kind of huge that I… I'm going to hold onto for a rainy day… I think.
I don't want to become the next boogie man, unless it's on my own terms and for my own reasons.
But I should tell them I rolled something, so hopefully the next one is impressive…
Swift Release – Naruto
Base Cost: 300cp
Lore:
Feet find lightning and the world learns to yield.
Wind takes my shoulders and parts like a field.
Thought breaks the storm and stride writes the sign.
Speed is the weather and I draw the line.
Details:
Your genetics are now maximized for speed. From reaction times to bone density, to everything else, you are now perfectly predisposed towards moving, thinking, and all around just being fast.
Additionally, with an application of Chakra (or Mana) you can enhance your speed infinitely, though the cost of this increases with the buff. In practice, the average Swift Release user can sustain about 20 seconds of 20x speed from full reserves, or 2x for half an hour.
(Note: This is a bloodline, not a jutsu/spell, so the normal boosts may not apply.)
Addons: N/A
Final Cost: 300cp
Bank: 1450cp
Huh… Yeah, that'll work!
I doubt I'll push it past 2x much, given how crazy fast that eats mana.
This isn't Naruto, Cape fights last more than 30 seconds, so passing out after 30 seconds of discount Velocity just isn't worth it.
But I can hold 180% for patrols, no problem.
Spoiler: Swift Release Details:
Spoiler: A/N Like Quote ReplyReport Reactions:Phili, Araurlis and anirocksOblationDec 5, 2025Reader modeAdd bookmark Threadmarks Threadmarks 81: Friday, May 27th Threadmarks OblationProfessional Wet-Paint ObserverDec 5, 2025Add bookmark#87Spoiler: A/N
Dog Armor
Finding Armadillo scutes has been a weirdly depressing process.
Not like rabbits, where I just ask and they start shipping thousands to me.
They have sent me lots of stuff, but the crafting table in my inventory is really picky.
Luckily, they aren't expensive.
Even the pretty ones only go for about ten dollars each, but what exactly the table wants is really hard to pin down here.
Still, even with a success rate of about one in four, I have built up enough to make fifteen sets of dog armor with 3x protection and 3x maneuverability.
PR is rolling them out all at once for the Pack and Buddy.
I am also sending three to Rachel, though they will need to be for the dogs, as she is not buffing for them to fit.
Rachel Lindt NOVA Poster
…
I was enjoying the thunderstorm with Fox yesterday when he introduced me to a Thunderbird, and we raced…
I might have gotten a bit too into it, since I cranked Swift Release up to max to pull out the win.
At least I managed to teleport home to Emily's living room before passing out.
Emily grounded me from going out for the rest of the storm, but she promised a surprise today and…
It is a new teammate, I guess. Gentle Giant is coming over to the Protectorate to replace Triumph, and Mokosh is here, at least theoretically, for his manipulative cousin who got Brandish killed.
Mokosh
It is great. I love Gentle, and he ended up with such a cool name.
"Malcolm Anpu Lithos" is the kind of name you expect a superhero to have.
Oh, and Mokosh's name is Elisa, and she is a Case 53 with the power to turn herself into wood.
Since she is a Case 53, I can only see it if it is sufficiently separate from her body.
She was really excited to get her description, and there was much hugging involved.
There was not much progress on her name, though Dr. Albert did suggest "Vinculo" after seeing the sketch from Dragon's special program on my tablet of what she looked like.
Elisa
After that, they got into a discussion about something that went over my head about making blades out of her wood, which she can already do.
He used the term monomoles… and long story short, I guess the Power Testing people have a new target, since they talked her into a minor Tinker rating somehow.
…
Oh, and sis and I are gonna work together more, at least on PR stuff, since I guess they are setting us both up for more regional work.
I guess they accepted NOVA is gonna be a thing, and that got them to realize that Vista is the kind of person who is gonna run a city someday, so they partnered us.
That is the other thing. They are all about partnered duos now.
Dean and Vicky are obvious, but I guess Eric and Dauntless look really similar in terms of powers.
Eric has slow flight, shields, and blue blazers, and Dauntless has slow flight, shields, and blue electric… lance… boots.
So now it's:
Glory Girl and Gallant,
Shielder and Dauntless
Armsmaster and Miss Militia,
Vista and Phoenix,
and of course, Assault and Battery.
Though I think my favorite is Dauntless and Buddy.
Addison and I even got him to "sign" it by dipping his paw in paint and then having him step on the poster.
Like Quote ReplyReport Reactions:Reading fiction, Phili, Araurlis and 1 other personOblationDec 5, 2025Reader modeAdd bookmark Threadmarks Threadmarks 82: Tuesday, May 31st Threadmarks OblationProfessional Wet-Paint ObserverDec 5, 2025Add bookmark#88I guess Sis got tired of all the Dauntless and Phoenix PR and decided to get her name written down as a legend of Brokton Bay, because when the Wards came across a battle between Fenja, Hookwolf, and Lung...
Rather than running away, Sis apparently got fed up and trapped Lung in a Klein bottle.
She tested that trick out on me, so I can attest to how mind-melting it is to go from flat ground to Klein bottle physics when you're expecting it.
So, it must have been mind-melting to happen mid-fight!
Unfortunately, even with Armsmaster showing up and using some kind of "stop getting bigger" tinkertech on Lung, the situation was a stalemate…
Until the PRT showed up with Sandra from Firewatch, who was doing her limited "Volunteer" hours with them and was able to use her "go away fire" power from Ars Magica, on something other than a burning building for once.
This is big because I guess the old version of con-foam used to melt, but then villains started throwing Molotovs on their enemies when they were foamed up and causing a bunch of burns on people who can't move.
So the new stuff just kind of crumbles to dust with high heat, but that means even though it can resist his brute abilities, Lung can just burn himself out of it.
Thanks to Sandra, they were able to contain him in sis's bottle and flood it with sleepy gas until he passed out.
So the big names from that are Armsmaster (despite doing the least), Vista, because obviously… and nobody, because PR doesn't like promoting individual PRT troopers.
Which was pissing off Emily and making Sandra sad… so I might have posted a play-by-play on PHO, so people would know Sandra was as big a help as Beardmaster and despite PR's crap, Sis was the real hero of the day!
…
Oh, and I rolled a new minion!
Though I probably won't be talking to him for a bit though...
Joshua Graham - Fallout: Honest Hearts
Base Cost: -150cp
Lore:
The Malpais Legate does not need to boast
The desert keeps score like a careful host.
New Canaan stands tall when he says the word
The wrath in his calm is the last thing you heard.
Details:
Joshua Graham, once the Malpais Legate of Caesar's Legion who survived being set on fire and cast into the Grand Canyon after the First Battle of Hoover Dam, returned to Utah to guide the New Canaanites and to lead the Dead Horses and the Sorrows through Zion, humbling the White Legs with patient faith, relentless skill, and a presence that makes the desert hold its breath. The more responsibility and trust you give him, the more loyal he will be to you.
Addons: -50cp a stranger effect to allow his backstory and credentials to be accepted by those who hear about it.
Final Cost: -200cp
Bank: 2000cp
He was covered in bandages, so I immediately grabbed some booze from Emily and fire-teleported him over to Tsunade's clinic.
He said he was used to it, and Tsunade called him an idiot, then knocked him out so he'd stop saying stupid things, and told me to give her a week.
I did add him to the NOVA command chat on the IRC so that he can start learning about the program, since the perk said he does better with trust.
So I figured I'd just let him be the second in command for NOVA.
Plus, this way, Raymond can have fewer headaches.
Oh, and the second roll is just kinda nice.
There's finally a reason for people to go to the islands.
Well, beyond that silly professor and his grad-students who were trying to reverse engineer tinkertech, and were told to go somewhere where they'd only blow themselves up.
Hot Springs - Re: Monsters
Base Cost: -100cp
Lore:
Mineral warmth in pools of glass.
Hours slip by and gently pass.
Old scars cool and tempers mend.
Calm returns like an old friend.
Details:
You gain a small cluster of natural hot springs perfect for relaxation that eases aches and unwinds mental stress, unfurnished but placed within territory you already control.
Addons: N/A
Final Cost: -100cp
Bank: 1800cp
Still, the professor did send me a thanks in the IRC for adding that and a promise to test to see if the water was magic or something.
So I guess that should be fine for now, though I should totally invite sis and Vicky over there to try it out!
Spoiler: A/N Like Quote ReplyReport Reactions:Reading fiction, Phili, Andre Chaos and 2 othersOblationDec 5, 2025Reader modeAdd bookmark Threadmarks Threadmarks 83: Friday, June 3rd Threadmarks OblationProfessional Wet-Paint ObserverDec 5, 2025Add bookmark#89
I found a donkey today.
I was flying in Newbrunswick, trying to set teleportation points, and saw an old donkey.
He was used to people because he was very fluffy and just let me pet him for hours.
Turns out he was a family pet because a family of farmers came by and told me I could feed him apples.
I gave him a golden apple.
He's still old, but he was much happier, and he didn't seem too upset when the 2 minutes wore off.
The family was happy too, so I gave them all 3x boots in trade for being able to come pet Samson whenever I wanted, since I had a strong teleportation point here now.
…
I'm considering getting out of dodge for a day or so, but I know there are better people around, it's just that… My birthday is really shit.
Things always go shit on it, and 11 was just the cherry on the shit Sunday.
…
I guess it's always just been a sign of Missy being the protagonist that she was born on New Year's Eve.
Which is why it's funny that I was born on June 4th.
Most families that's nothing, but ours, I get constantly reminded it's the birthday of King George III, who subjigated our Irish ancestors and who America fought its first war against.
Oh, and of course it was the Tiananmen Square Massacre, and International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression, and the day the US blocked a bunch of Jewish refugees fleeing the Nazi's, and a bunch of other stuff.
But what it boils down to is that Missy's birthday means new beginnings, and hope and rainbows and puppies, while mine means anger, disappointment, and daughters who should just suck it up.
…
Actually, I've got a better plan.
Harry Potter prank spells can be pretty nasty if you don't have magic of your own to undo them.
So I wonder how the ball and chain would look, bald?
…
Dragon says it's a bad idea, but fuck it.
They couldn't keep a teleporter like me in the birdcage if they wanted to.
Now I just need to figure out where they are, without Dragon…
…
Rude… She got Pern and Ángeles to refuse me, too!
And she's blocking me from looking them up on the tablet!
…
Didn't I have a compass power a while back?
I wonder if…
…
Nope, just leads to sis, who just gave me a pouty face when I explained my plan.
Well, I guess I'll hope for the best and:
Might - LOTR
Base Cost: -250cp
Lore:
Stone heaves upward at your will.
Ropes go slack and crowds fall still.
You set the weight and breathe in light.
Then walk on calm into the night.
Details:
You gain practical proficiency in feats of strength and endurance inspired by the hardier folk of Middle Earth which lets you lift and carry beyond ordinary men, march or run for hours with steady breath, shrug off common sickness with a stout constitution, weather cold and hunger with reliable vigor, and recover quickly after strain so you stay battle ready without crossing into invulnerable fantasy.
Addons: N/A
Final Cost: -250cp
Bank: 1800cp
Oh, I'm a Brute now!
Like Brute 1 but…
No, no, stay on track, Saga!
I need tracking skills...
Where Do You Find This Stuff? - Ben 10
Base Cost: 200cp
Lore:
Montage math, couch hero on a glowing screen.
Coffee one, I speedrun facts like a cutscene.
Weeks of team work shrink to one neat afternoon.
Red string appears on its own, credits roll soon.
Details:
You do in an afternoon on a laptop what a whole team of professionals grind on for weeks. You hoover up public records, forum crumbs, shipping logs, PDFs, school newsletters, and forgotten blogs, then line them up fast. You cross-reference names, stitch timelines, rank sources, swat disinfo, and spit out a brief with maps and receipts. You still need real access and existing records, but if it's possible, you can do it in a few hours, max.
Addons: N/A
Final Cost: 200cp
Bank: 1550cp
I.. Ok fine, let's go with this.
…
So, I didn't end up making anyone bald, because I had too much fun racing Dragon on my tablet.
This new power lets me blitz through info, so even as she blocked off the conventional means, I found more and more obscure means of tracking someone down.
At the end, she even removed the restrictions, when I started looking into ways to get a computer she couldn't control as easily from Toybox.
I guess she really doesn't want me using a computer without having a hand in it.
On my end, I still don't really have money, so I'd just need to see if I could swap Tinkertech, and eh, it just seems easier to keep on with my tablet.
Plus, I love the thing too much to give it up!
…
So, yeah, I guess I'm sticking around for tomorrow… Like Quote ReplyReport Reactions:Reading fiction, Phili, Andre Chaos and 2 othersOblationDec 5, 2025Reader modeAdd bookmark Threadmarks Threadmarks 84: Saturday, June 4th - Saga's Birthday World Tour Threadmarks OblationProfessional Wet-Paint ObserverDec 5, 2025Add bookmark#90Spoiler: A/N
Well, I wasn't expecting this!
I guess Hero wanted to give me a present for my birthday, so he organized a trip for me, Missy, and Emily, where Strider popped up every hour and showed us a new place.
Emily explained it's so I can teleport to the spots if needed, since they now believe Fox that it's the emotion, not the distance, that matters, which is why they waited for my birthday to do it.
On my end, I'm just glad that the entire "party" is just Missy, Emily, Dragon, and me on a quick trip across the remaining Wonders of the World.
Hell, I was even whispering a few times! in public!
I mean, the others barely heard, but I haven't talked outside a private room in a year, so it was really surprising to say things and have words come out… more or less.
…
After we realised we hadn't gotten any pictures and even Emily was worried about the shitshow PR would throw, so Dragon offered to halp us make a scrapbook with an app on my tablet, so we got pictures in our costumes and made these:
Prairie Creek Redwoods - Cathedral Trees Trail
Grand Canyon - Lipan Point - South Rim - view toward Unkar Delta
Carlsbad Caverns - Big Room - Mirror Lake
Chichén Itzá - North Plaza - Serpent Staircase view
Giant's Causeway - Grand Causeway plateau and Amphitheatre cliffs
Hawaiʻi Volcanoes - Mauna Ulu lava field pull-out on Chain of Craters Road
Hirosaki Castle Park Gejo - bashi red bridge with Mount Iwaki
Inaccessible Island – Tristan da Cunha – coastal slope facing the sea cliffs
Jökulsárlón - Eastern shore near the bridge & dock
Yellowstone - Geyser Hill - Old Faithful Viewpoint
Hobbiton - Bagshot Row facing Bag End and Party Tree
…
And before I go to bed, I figured I'd roll, since who knows today really might be lucky after all!
Enchantment Table - Minecraft
Base Cost: 300cp
Lore:
Open the book and let letters swim, the room grows quiet and edges dim.
Shelves lean close and whisper might, blue stone drops and blooms to light.
Steel learns grace and cloth learns ward, chance and skill divide the award.
Mark the rune and close the lid, power lingers in what you did.
Details:
You gain a placeable table that lets you imbue gear with magical effects using experience and lapis.
Bookshelves placed nearby, up to thirty, raise the power and unlock stronger options.
You can enchant equipment with results partly random but guided by the item, catalyst, and level.
Addons:
-50cp You can guarantee an enchantment for an item to get at least 2 levels, but "Infinity," "Mending," and "Looting" Enchantments can only occur through a rare chance.
-100cp Enchantment Table Inventory Integration
-75cp Bookshelf Inventory Integration - 10 Bookshelves
-75cp Bookshelf Inventory Integration - 20 Bookshelves
-150cp Bookshelf Inventory Integration - Toggle from 1 to 30 Bookshelves
-150cp Rather than Experience, Enchant from Mana/Chakra/Ki/your preferred internal energy source.
Catalists:
-50cp Rather than Lapis Lazuli, use anything blue as a catalyst.
Or
-100cp Rather than Lapis Lazuli, use any catalyst worth some value to enchant with, though be aware that low value catalysts are unlikely to produce lucky results, while high value catalysts increase chances but do not guarantee fortuitous results.
Final Cost: 1000cp
Bank: 1950cp
Huh… well, I guess today really was awesome all around!
So, I've got some awkward conundrums here.
I guess Rachel told Grue from her old team that joining NOVA was a thing, and now he wants to, which is fine, except the part where there's some kind of wacky triangle thing going on with Lawrence and of all people Kairos.
Oh, yeah, I guess someone gave Taylor the talk about not invoking the Faerie Queen so "Queen Administrator" only lasted a few days.
So she went with a Greek word for "the perfect moment for decision or action."
Anyways, Grue is asking to join Firewatch so he can stay in the city most of the time, and I guess the reason this might actually happen is that Kairos offered to become a part-timer with Firewatch too if we let him stay in the city, and for all of his grudge with Grue, Lawrence REALLY wants Taylor to join our team.
I don't want to deal with the mess, but if there's one thing I'm sure of it's that it's way better to be an ally than a rival of Taylor, so I'm currently combining my lessons with Emily, and my super research and paperwork skills plus the help of a friendly AI to make this legal nightmare somehow a thing.
It would've been 3 AIs, but Pern disagrees with Grue joining Firewatch rather than NOVA, and Dragon fails to understand the mind-melting danger of being the enemy or rival of the Queen of Escalation.
The only real silver lining is that Joshua didn't need much instruction to start taking over NOVA operations, and promised to "make something of it," which is exactly what I've spent several weeks failing to do so far, so I wish him luck, and try not to think about just why he's living in the clinic with Tsunade, even now that he's healed.
…
Oh, and I found out why Alex didn't just go get a pet bird right after getting his power, because he somehow talked Fox and Albus into getting a Post Owl over to Earth Bet.
So now a member of Firewatch is bonded to an owl that is genuinely a terrifying tracker.
All it needs is a name to find someone, even a pseudonym is good enough if they're in costume at the time.
(As we found out when he started tracking me all the way to New Brunswick, where I was petting Samson the other day.)
All this would be really impressive if he'd followed through and given the bird an equally awesome name…
Instead, he gave his kid nephew the job of naming our new member of Firewatch.
Barney.
Great.
…
Oh, and Lung got broken out unfortunately, but at least we've got the go-ahead to go for Nuwa on sight now, and Chris seems to have been inspired to act as the heroic member in their rivalry as tinkers between Nuwa, Charon, and him.
Though it's been a while since anyone's seen Charon, apparently, he's been working with Uber and Leet, but is suspected to still live in the city, unlike them, so who really knows what's up with him.
…
On a more personal note, I've been playing around with enchanting, and managed to even get Silk Touch on the Protectorate Wards' beloved Diamond Shovel, which is really trippy to look at, what with it removing obstacles but not in a destructive way now.
I offered to give Armsmaster and Dauntless enchantments for their gear and was actually glad for my hallucinations thing for once because they apparently spent the next 3 days glaring at me every chance they got… which I can't see.
LOL
Though I did manage to get Protection 2 on every piece of armor used by a Ward in the city, plus all the dog armors, and the Firewatch team, and have started working through the boots worn by PRT troopers and NOVA employees.
Unfortunately, I haven't found a good enough catalyst to get more than the occasional Prot 3 or Prot 4 out of the process, and that's pretty rare.
Still, Prot 2 is guaranteed, with just a bit of amethyst, which we can get by the truckful from Canada.
So it's not a huge issue for now.
…
The only downside to this whole thing is I can't double enchantments.
Combining enchanted items nullifies the effects, unfortunately.
Also, while I've been pretty much just resting and enchanting for a few days, it's still pretty heavy on my reserves.
So I'll need to keep the enchanting to a lower level for a while if I want to actually get things done, sadly.
…
Although funnily enough I did manage to confirm two interesting qualities.
First, my leather boots work as a sort of snowshoes, even for people across the country it's a bit easier walking on or through snow with them.
And second, Frost Walker doesn't make a platform of ice, but does let me walk on water just fine.
Which I know because I got it on a pair of leather boots that are now my new pair since they were yellow and that's one of my colors so PR doesn't mind.
So now I can Jesus walk on water!