fictitiouswhimsigot: Fractal art that resembles a collapsing stellar object (Default)
A Magical Skill

The most perfect of Kingdoms was built on June 16, 1932 on a beach in Spain.

It was children who built it. They piled onto the beach as the tide fell down, reached the still wet sand and began their ambitious architectural work. A mound of sand to shape into a towered castle was first, then tiny buildings to sit in its shadow, then a wall to protect them from returning waves and errant crabs.

It was a work of care and love, with carefully shaped columns and the best seashells one could find. As they worked, the sand seemed to be more pliable to their will, acting to show their dreams of the best of castles rather than what their hands could achieve. Birds swept low, dropping feathers and interesting leaves or flowers. Crabs build a pile of shells and stones outside the walls. The tides themselves brought forth the best of building materials for them to use. As they finished, late in the afternoon, and the tide was lapping at the edges of their walled city, tiny flowers began to grow, anemones and carnations and poppies. They dances through the little streets and atop the walls and castle like proud residents. A delicate purple orchid sat near the top, on a balcony, like a queen surveying her kingdom.

The children stood still in awe of this that they had created, and then a gentle wave struck the walls and finally cracked them. Water began to flow into the small streets.

As their parents called them to leave, the children knew their kingdom had but a few hours remaining.

But they knew then that beauty held in the heart can never die.

Read more... )
fictitiouswhimsigot: Fractal art that resembles a collapsing stellar object (Default)
This is a magical skill for a very common type of character in anime and young adult fiction. It’s for characters who live in a world full of demons, ghosts or monsters that normal people can’t see or interact with- but who corrupt or drain ordinary people.

But you are a magical hero! You are a hunter of demons!

You protect people’s lives!

This skill has the following non-magical techniques:

0: Sense the presence of sinister intent, dark spiritual forces or other unclean energy.

The following are magical techniques of this skill:

0: See and hear most manifested demons or wicked spirits.
0: Endure the curses or powers of most wicked spirits or demons.

1: After a few hours or scenes, locate the source of a spiritual corruption or danger.
1: Constrain or ward off most manifested demons or wicked spirits.
1: See or hear very sneaky, subtle or unmanifested spirits or demons.

2: Free someone from demonic corruption or possession; or, allow them to eventually recover from spiritual or magical wounds caused by the same.
2: Locate the source of a spiritual corruption or danger by the end of this scene.
2: Endure the powers of a notably powerful demon or wicked spirit.

3: Exorcise, destroy, cage or otherwise permanently deal with most wicked spirits or demons.
3: Banish a notably powerful demon or wicked spirit from this world for at least a few sessions or books; or, seal them away as a recurring minor character or mascot.
fictitiouswhimsigot: Fractal art that resembles a collapsing stellar object (Default)
Magical Skill
This skill is not healthy. It isn't good for you. It is an obsession that will drive you to uncover things that should not be known. It will drain you.

It will separate you from your life. It will hollow you out and fill you up with the ceaseless need to know- that will be the only fire of your life.

It is a suitable skill for tragic occult detectives, arrogant scholars or servants of the Ceaseless Watcher.

Non-Magical Techniques

0: Discover a relevant folktale, dreadful past event or local legend about some supernatural force or event, after a few days of research.
1: Identify and name a known supernatural force at play in a place or upon an object or person.

Magical techniques

0: Have recording devices or writing implements on hand.
1: Discover a relevant folktale, dreadful past event or local legend with a few hours of research.
1: Cause a willing witness to give you a clearer, more detailed and more truthful account of a supernatural event they witnessed.
1: Decipher something in an archaic text, difficult format or something that's been slightly ruined or destroyed- like shredded files.
1: Recall some piece of public record, such as a phone number or encyclopedia fact, without ever having learned it.
2: Endure long and grueling research sessions without your findings suffering.
2: Understand a language you do not speak.
3: Coerce, with terrible supernatural compulsion, someone to answer a question.

The following are traditional bonds associated with this magical skill:
  • I am always wrestling with some question, enigma or mystery. Once I become attached to one, I dedicate all my time and energy to dragging it out into the light.
  • I can always be drawn into a mystery by…
    • ...a blisteringly attractive person.
    • ...an old friend in need.
    • ...a member of a certain marginalized group.
    • …the memory of someone I failed.
  • My enemies have plans and schemes, and I need to know what they are before it’s too late!
  • I feed off of the terror of...
    • ...exposure or vulnerability.
    • ... revealed secrets.
    • ...observation, or the implication of having been observed.
    • ....the violation of trust.
  • I am sustained by…
    • ...other's recounted tales of horror and pain.
    • …coffee and the hunt.
    • ...the satisfaction of being proved right.
  • I make people feel like I know their secrets.
  • I am repulsed and weakened by uncanniness, distortion and ambiguity.
  • Regardless of their resolve, everyone speaks to me in due time.
  • In my questioning, I am so blunt as to be cruel.
  • I have very odd and distinctive eyes.

The following are some non-standard techniques associated with this magical skill. They are not inherent parts of it, but characters may pick them up as quest rewards.

0 - Manifest either viscerally physical or colorfully spectral extra eyes.
1 - Organize an archive such that anyone attempting to use it as the focal point of research spends hours instead of days, or minutes instead of hours, when performing research there. This fades after a chapter or two of you dropping the intention.
1 - Escape a complex maze, or lead a group out of the same.
2 - Escape a place that is supernaturally entrapping, alluring or inescapable.
2 - Cause a useful source or clue to some mystery you are studying to appear, after spending some time discussing theories and searching the records.
2 - Appear in a surreal and liminal spiritual space, or a dream, long enough to convey a message or observe something happening.
2 - Form a solid understanding of the underlying occult mechanics that govern a particular and specific type of supernatural power, being or place.
3 - Use a solid understanding of underlying occult mechanics to redirect powers, curses, influence or similar to another target, or ward an area against something that uses those mechanics.

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