Damsels and Dragons

What ever you can. 


Beggars can't be choosers. We can make more intelligent choices when we learn more about this plane. 
 
[2] "Teach me how to use magic."


If we can't go back, we might as well embrace the advantages of our new environment - we could have learnt sword-fighting at home, so let's try to figure out how to throw fireballs.
 
>"To defend myself."


Poor Fighters, they never get any love  :(
 
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It's just that we all want to be able to at least throw some fireballs around to impress the ladies - it's hard to do that by limping home and saying: "I took an arrow to the knee, just because I was stupid enough to stand in the first line."
 
Okay, I think I see the problem here. I've failed to properly communicate just how slow Tier 2 Magic is, and just how utilitarian Tier 1 Magic is. As well as the major differences between the two classes.


Basically, regardless of which class you specialize in, you're going to be on the thick of the fight if you get attacked. Wizards in Damsels and Dragons aren't going to be throwing around Fireballs every few seconds. If they're lucky, they'll get to throw one Fireball towards the end of the fight after spending the entire battle charging the spell.


Granted, It'll hit with enough force to pulverize a fortress wall (because that's what the spell was designed to do), but it's like bringing a trebuchet to a duel in terms of effectiveness. Unless they have time to cast spells before battle, Wizards in combat use Tier 1 Spells that mimic the effects of swords, shields and armor, rather than exotic magical effects.


Wizards are best at acting like high-grade artillery strikes, or employing a broad array of utilitarian magics. Wizards gain a lot of Active techniques known as Spells, but those spell are largely static and do the same thing every time regardless of the Wizard's level.


Fighters are best at single or local scale combat and employing or improving tools to to solve other problems. They have a lot of Passive techniques that scale with their level, and collect gear and equipment that can be employed in different circumstances.


I would like to apologize to everyone for failing to provide this information until now. I thought I had given this overview when you first attained your class levels earlier in the game, but obviously I was mistaken and did not. If this information compels you to change your vote, feel free to edit your post to reflect that.  I just want to make sure everyone is capable of making an informed choice over which class option to pick so no one feels they aren't getting what they asked for.
 
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I'll happily stick with my choice to play artillery for the others - thanks for providing more detail, though, makes the fighter more appealing than I initially thought.
 
>"Whatever you can."


What if Jason is the Anti-Incarnate, chosen by the Black King? This would make for some good character development.


What if Gregori is from Jason's world?


What if Gregori was sent to the village because he was the previous Anti-Incarnate?
 
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>Whatever you can.


"Teach me whatever you can." Jason said. "I have nothing here, so I need every edge I can get."


At this, Gregori's face split in to a wide, almost manic grin. "Oh I will, boy. I will." He said, rubbing his hands together gleefully. "Come back tomorrow and I'll have everything set. You will be my greatest achievement." Then he disappeared in to his house, and the sound of laughter could be heard from within, only fading as Matilda and Jason walked back towards the village proper.


"So what is his deal?" Jason asked Matilda. "He seems crazy. Are you sure he's trustworthy?"


Matilda sighed and nodded. "You can trust him. To a point. Gregori was a great man, once upon a time. A powerful battlemage who was once the lynchpin of the Empire's armed forces. Many thought he would eventually face the Black King when he rose again." She said. "But his utterly utilitarian mindset and his tendency to get fixated on something at the cost of all else caused friction and scandal. Eventually it was found that he was performing experiments on his servants to push the boundaries on his own power. At that point, he was too dangerous to confront with anything less than a full legion and too unpredictable to be controlled, he was exiled instead."


"Are you serious? Then why the hell should I let him teach me anything?!" Jason demanded, already regretting his decision.


"Because his current fixation is attaining immortally. Be it through acquiring eternal life, or making such an impact on the world that he will be remembered for generations." Matilda explained. "You heard him. You're his legacy now, his greatest achievement. Play on that, and he will likely teach you anything you want to know, give you any tool or relic he has in his possession, give you access to secrets he would never tell anyone else. All to secure his place in history."


"That's surprisingly cutthroat for you." Jason said. He hadn't expected her to outright endorse manipulating a crazy old Wizard through his obsessions.


"We are about to go to war." Matilda said somberly. "I will take every advantage I can get right now, and since seem to have an enhanced capacity for learning, I think you will be a very strong asset."


"Hold on, wait." Jason said, backing away from her. "I never said anything about joining your war effort. I just got here a few days ago."


Matilda shook her head. "It does not matter. The war with the Black King will consume the whole continent. From The Aderan Empire to the city of Ren-Hadal, even the northern kingdoms will be touched by it. the Black King wagers war on all, and will be fought by all."


"That doesn't involve me." Jason said, stubbornly. "If I got here, I can find a way back home. I'm not about to risk my life over a war that I have no stake in."


Matilda said nothing, only looked at him in disappointment. Her silence was defining, and went one long enough that he started to feel the itchy pinpricks of guilt settling in his belly.


"We will see." Matilda said finally, turning on her heal and walking away. "It will be a several days before the Emperor's reinforcements arrive. I would suggest you keep yourself busy in the meantime. I believe you have a job, now."


Then she continued  her steady march towards the village, with Jason following at a distance behind her, frustration and guilt eating at him all the while.


>>>


It was slightly before noon when he arrived at the Apothecary. The barman's wife had been expecting him, and after introducing herself she gave him a brief tour of her shop, as well as a rundown on what all the different potions and ingredients on her shelves did, and why he should be careful with them.


She the handed him a rag and a bucket, and told him to clean the top shelves before sweeping the floor.


For the next few days, Jason scrubbed, mopped, cleaned and tidied the entire shop, all the while listening to the shopmistress deal with customers. Once or twice she had him lift a heavy package or help her stir a particularly viscus concoction. It was during these times that his enthusiasm for the job picked up, and he asked questions about what he was getting her or what she was doing.


For her part, the shopmistress didn't seem to mind the questions. Indeed, she seemed happy to have someone take an interest in her craft. According to her, people didn't care about what went in to her medicines or how it worked, so long as it did what it was supposed to do, people treated the whole thing like magic.


Which, in her emphatic words, it was obviously not.


Eventually their discussions turned to instructions, and eventually formal lessons on how to properly identify common herbs and plants that could produce beneficial effects when mixed  and prepared properly.  This was far more interesting to Jason, and began to absorb her lessons quickly. The shopmistress was delighted with his talent, and soon began to teach him more advanced lessons.


You've leveled up!

Gained Alchemist Class: Level 1


Gained Item: Basic reagent pouch


Mixtures per day: 1 + (1/2 level, round down)


Alchemist Mixtures:


Tier 1


Cure Wounds (Active) - Restores stamina and accelerates the body's natural healing.


Bull's Fortitude (Active) - Heightens the drinker's natural strength and stamina.


Delay Malady (Active)  - Temporarily suppress foreign ailments. Cannot cure them



>>>


While his mornings were spent in the apothecary, Jason's evenings were spent with Gregori. The mad old man was ruthless in his training, pushing Jason to his absolute limits. Every evening he would be put through a rigorous training exercise, pushing his body to it's limits with swordsmanship maneuvers and drilling in formal techniques.


Simultaneously, Gregori would read to him passages out of mystic tomes, and expect him to memorize his every word. To Jason's own surprise, he had little trouble doing so, lending credence to Gregori's words about him being a fast learner. Once Gregori was satisfied he had the fundamentals of Wizardry internalized, he alternated Jason's lessons every evening between swordsmanship training and learning new spells.


Eventually as the days went on, Jason's body and mind were honed to a formidable fitness. "I'll make you great, boy, just you see!" The Gregori would say at the end of their lessons, laughing like a madman. Jason, having seen how far he had come in such a short time, was forced to agree.


You've leveled up!

Gained Fighter Class: Level 2, Level 3, Level 4


Gained Strength +3


Fighter Techniques:


Strike 4 (Passive) - Your blows are both accurate and lethal.


Block 4 (Passive) - Your defenses are firm and steady


Dodge 4 (Passive) - Your agility makes you hard to touch.


New Techniques:


Critical Hit (Supplemental) - Study an opponent for weakness, then exploit it.


Parry (Supplemental) - Meet your opponent's attack with your own, disrupting them.


Counter (Supplemental) - Evade an attack, then retaliate, dealing extra damage.


Gained Wizard Class: Level 2, Level 3, Level 4


New Techniques:


Tier 1 Spells


Mage Hand (Active) - Conjure a phantom hand that mimics your own.


Mending (Active) - Repair small objects, or large objects with repeated application.


Detect Magic (Active) - Sense the presence and nature of magical phenomena.



>>>


It was late in the evening, after Gregori's lessons, that Jason took a moment for himself, both to relax and to take stock of things. It had been almost three days since he had begun his training, and in that time he had undergone a radical transformation. Gone was the skinny tech geek who needed help lifting anything heavier than a television. In his place was a fit, athletic man who was also a deadly warrior and skilled magician.


Three days. Unreal. It took weeks or even months for others to attain what he had accomplished in such a short amount of time. Going from knowing nothing about swordplay to dueling professional soldiers for practice was mind boggling.


Lost in thought, he didn't notice that Matilda had managed to sneak up on him. It was only after she cleared her throat did he start at the sudden noise and notice her.


It was the first time he had seen her since their argument atop Gregori's hill. The last they had spoken, she had been in full armor, much like when they had met. This time, her petite frame had managed to find itself in a simple white-brown dress, it complimented her long brown hair, which was still in it's pony tail in back.


She would look the image of a pretty farm girl, were it not for the sword at her hip.


"I see your training with Gregori is going well." Matilda said, looking him over. He was bare chested, having taken off his shirt to try and cool down after a hard workout. He noticed her eyes lingered a little longer on his chest than they should have. He glowered at her, and she only gave an impish smile in return.


"The crazy old bastard is trying to kill me." Jason said with false sourness. "He keeps trying to find my limits, but he's come up short every time."


"Gregori is rarely wrong. Often arrogant, but rarely wrong. You will be powerful under his tutelage." Matilda said.


"I know. I can already do a lot that I couldn't do before." Jason replied. To illustrate the point, he waved his hands over his shirt, which had begun to fray from all the exercises. Speaking words of power, the fabric began to reweave and repair itself before their eyes, after which Jason put it back on, pointedly ignoring Matilda's disappointed look.


"Have you given any thought to what we discussed before?" She asked, after a moment's pause.


Jason tensed at this. He had hoped that the matter had been settled, because he really did not want to argue with the only person he could have a conversation with.


"We discussed a few things." He said, trying to avoid the topic. "Which do you mean?"


"The part where we discussed you playing to Gregori's desire for a legacy." She clarified. "Did you manage to wring any secrets out of him that may have helped you?"


OOC


Did you follow Matilda's Advice and manipulate Gregori for greater power?


>Yes


>No


@Anomaly, @Dullahan Shinigami, @Emiya Shin, @Genon, @Heisenberg, @Killigrew, @Lavender, @Reinhardt, @Riuma, @Silanon, @Silvertongued, @simj22, @Stormblessed, @Syrenrei, @White Masquerade, @wonderandawe
 
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[Yes.] Well, the ends do justify the means.


Christ, do you hear yourself? At this Machiavellian rate you really will be his successor.
 
[No.] We're an honest man, trying to find a way home. Whatever he could tell us, it won't be helpful to get back - after all, he wants us to do something great in these realms. This is not our war, and so we don't have to prepare for it at all costs.
 
[No.] We're not so desperate for power that we'd lower ourselves to manipulate a crazy man. He didn't sweat all the virtue out of us.
 
>Yes. In case we can't get home, which of course is not going to happen for a long time or this story wouldn't exist, we'll need more power. Even if we don't fight the war, the Black King, as Matilda said, considers everyone an enemy. Also, we progressed pretty fast, there has to be some other explanation for that then just 'sucking it all up'.
 
Sorry for the absence, I haven't had an internet connection for almost a week. I'll try to post something in a few days when I get caught up on everything.
 
Silanon said:
[No.] We're an honest man, trying to find a way home. Whatever he could tell us, it won't be helpful to get back - after all, he wants us to do something great in these realms. This is not our war, and so we don't have to prepare for it at all costs.
Click to expand...
 
I'm sure it'll be much easier for JT to work with a tie instead of with "yes" winning. Would probably end with us manipulating the mage, but then not listening when he shares his wisdom...
 
OOC


Sorry Lavender, Anomaly has the right of it, voting was closed while I worked on the post.


Sadly my internet decided to crap out on me for a week again, so fuck posting schedules, amirite? I'll be having words with my landlady over this. Complimentary wifi my ass... -_-


Extremely sorry for the delay. Here's the post I've been sitting on all week.


/OOC


>Yes


"Yeah, I managed to learn a trick or two from him." He said. Jason had played the role of the eager apprentice, dutifully referring to Gregori as "Master" whenever he had addressed the man, and paying rapt attention whenever he had been subject to one of his unhinged tirades, treating them as though it were these deep insightful lessons full of inartistic truths. 


It had been a real chore, and he hadn't liked doing it for multiple reasons, but Jason couldn't find fault in Matilda's reasoning, so he had stuck with it for the past few days.


"I am glad to hear it." Matilda said with a nod. "It may be distasteful, but it will help you in the long run. What did he teach you?" She asked curiously.


Jason shrugged, not quite sure how to explain it. "He showed me how to take the power I was absorbing and set it aside, repurposing it for more immediate purposes, rather than simply internalizing it." He said, placing his handoff his abdomen. He could feel it, that small reservoir of power simply sitting there, waiting to be unleashed. "It's not a comfortable feeling." He said.


You've Leveled up!

Gained Monk Class: Level 1


Awakened Ki Pool - A reserve of raw potentiality waiting to be used.


Monk Techniques:


Ki Surge (Supplemental) - Expend Ki to enhance an action.


Ki Focus (Supplemental) - Channel Ki to augment the body the body and mind.


Finishing blow (Action) - Regain expended Ki more quickly by decisively finishing an enemy.



"It will be worth it." Matilda said reassuringly. "I promise you."


Jason frowned, then turned to look at with a level gaze. "I still haven't promised to join your war." He said flatly, knowing that was the reason why she was pushing him to become stronger.


Matilda raised her hand in a placating gesture. "I know, but I believe you will, in time." She said.


"Why would I?" Jason asked. " I just want to go home. I have nothing, no stake, no involvement, no connection to anyone here."


"No one?" Asked Matilda, raising an eyebrow.


"I like you, but I'm not about to die for you." Jason retorted. "This isn't my world or my war."


"As you said." Matilda replied. She signed and continued. "To answer your question, I believe you will join me because there is an inner goodness to you, an integrity that wont allow yourself to simply turn a blind eye to the suffering of others."


"You're kidding me." Jason said, disbelieving.


"Do you know why I was so willing to take you at your word when you told me you were from another world." Matilda said.


Jason shook his head. "No, I figured my outfit and car spoke for themselves."


"They did lend credence to your word, but I believed you because I could hear the truth ringing in your words. It is... one of the gifts the gods have given me." Matilda said. "You were willing to extend your trust to a stranger in a land that was alien to you. Some would call it naive, but it was a sign of your character." She smiled again, this time more playfully. "Under all your bluster, you are actually a very nice person."


Jason grumbled something under his breath that vaguely resembled 'shut up' and 'go jump in a lake,' which only caused Matilda to laugh.


"I haven't been told to be silent since I was a child." She said, still smiling. "Not since my father scolded me for for crying when mother was sick. Most people would not dare speak agains the Incarnate, even when they know they should."


"I thought you said you were a god." Jason said, confused. "It's hard to picture you as a kid being yelled at by her dad."


"I said I had the powers of a god." Matilda said. "But yes, it may be hard to believe, but I had a childhood and parents, like any other girl." Matilda turned away form Jason and looked in the direction of the sea, her expression turning wistful.


"What was it like?" Jason asked, feeling as though he was expected to ask the question.


"I was born on a farm, not far from here, actually. My mother and father were very good people, who raised me as best they could." She said. "Mother was a seamstress who wove the most beautiful designs, and sold them at market along with our produce. Father was a very diligent man, who worked himself to the bone to 'make sure his girls were taken care of'."


She turned her back on him, and Jason could hear her voice become artificially calm. "The sickness took them from me when I was seventeen. Before they passed, they made me promise to sell the farmland and use the money to make something of myself. Become a scholar, or a physician."She let out a chuckle and turned back to him. "But it seems as though the gods are not without a sense of irony, and instead of making something of myself, they made something of me." She said spreading her arms as if to present herself before an audience.


How do you respond?


>Empathize: Extend your sympathies to her.


>Businesslike: Nod and acknowledge what has been said.


>Humorously: Lighten the mood.


@Anomaly[COLOR= rgb(39, 42, 52)], [/COLOR]@Dullahan Shinigami[COLOR= rgb(39, 42, 52)], [/COLOR]@Emiya Shin[COLOR= rgb(39, 42, 52)], [/COLOR]@Genon[COLOR= rgb(39, 42, 52)], [/COLOR]@Heisenberg[COLOR= rgb(39, 42, 52)], [/COLOR]@Killigrew[COLOR= rgb(39, 42, 52)], [/COLOR]@Lavender[COLOR= rgb(39, 42, 52)], [/COLOR]@Reinhardt[COLOR= rgb(39, 42, 52)], [/COLOR]@Riuma[COLOR= rgb(39, 42, 52)], [/COLOR]@Silanon[COLOR= rgb(39, 42, 52)], [/COLOR]@Silvertongued[COLOR= rgb(39, 42, 52)], [/COLOR]@simj22[COLOR= rgb(39, 42, 52)], [/COLOR]@Stormblessed[COLOR= rgb(39, 42, 52)], [/COLOR]@Syrenrei[COLOR= rgb(39, 42, 52)], [/COLOR]@White Masquerade[COLOR= rgb(39, 42, 52)], [/COLOR]@wonderandawe
 
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>Humorously: Lighten the mood. Laughs seem to be far too rare in this world and we're a pro at deflection
 
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