Observing and Adapting ​

Observant

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19th day of the 10th moon of 482​

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1st day of the 4th moon 483​

Hours later​



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4th day of the 5th moon of 483​

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25th day of the 5th moon of 483​

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10th day of the 1st moon of 484​



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Action Vote

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Explorer

People watcher

Reliable

Determined

Training Vote

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Skill Level Next Level Mobility 3 [0/320] Awareness 6 0/2560] Communication 2 [0/160] Negotiation 2 [0/160] Intrigue 1 [0/80] Martial Ability 2 [0/160] Farming 2 [0/160] Weaving 2 [0/160] Stealth 2 [0/160] Unarmed Combat 2 [0/160] Adapt 3 [0/320]

General Plans

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“How was Pandora today?”Juno looked thoughtful. “Not too different, you know Pandora. She was the model child. Quiet and attentive.” As Juno spoke, Pluto brought the sparks away from Pandora so he could pay more attention to his wife without worrying about burning Pandora. “She’s absorbed in the world around her. She wants to see, feel, taste, and” she glanced at Pandora who had just leapt up to touch one of Pluto’s sparks, “touch it all. I’m sure she’ll grow into a great young woman one day. No matter what she faces, she’ll find out what she needs to do to adapt to the challenge.”Pandora gains trait:Pandora awoke to a voice at their door. Curious, she roused herself awake and listened. She didn’t know this voice.“Juno! Are you home?” The voice shouted, “We’ve got a reading for you.”Mama responded quietly, “I’m here. But can we do it outside? My daughter is napping.”Much more quietly from outside, “Sorry, outside is fine.”Mama left through the doorway and went outside. Curious, and wanting to watch, Pandora got up and walked over to the doorway.By the time she had reached the doorway and looked outside through the opening, she saw Mama, now in her brown skin, talking to a man Pandora didn’t know. He had red skin and dirty blond hair. Pandora hadn’t seen that form before. He spoke again to Mama, but Pandora couldn’t hear what they were saying from where she was.The man gestured to three lanky blue skinned men in loose togas. Juno glanced at the blond haired man, then walked up and down the row of men, looking into each of their faces. Eventually, she turned to the red skinned man, and spoke. The strangers then turned and walked away.Mama walked back to Pandora, shifting back to her native blue skin as she did so. Starting from her feet, her skin turned blue and her legs elongated, making her taller as it went up. It reached the bottom of her toga and continued upwards, skin color change masked by the loose fitting clothing, but the effect continuing to make her head rise up until it was about a foot higher than in her empath form. The change went through her neck, elongating it and sharpening her facial features when it got there. Her hair turned from black to white. The final thing to change were her hands, as the transformation wound down her arms and ended by elongating her fingers.Pandora clapped. She always liked watching mama or dada Adapt!“And what are you doing out of bed little ‘dora?” Mama asked.“Voice hear. Look want.” Pandora spoke.“Did we wake you up by talking?” Pandora nodded vigorously. “And of course you wanted to see what was happening.” A single heavy, unbalanced nod. “Well, what did you think of it?”“Not hear. What do?”Deciphering her speech with the deftness of a regular listener, Juno responded, “The man in the scout form was an overseer.” Pandora looked confused, “or see her?” “He watches over people and keep track of things. Like a Mama or dada.” Confusion resolved, Juno continued with her explanation, “He thought the men had stolen food.” Another frown, “He thought the men had taken food without permission.” Pandora’s frown disappeared. “Anyways, he hasn’t trained his empath form, and heard I did. He wanted me to check who had taken the food.”“Who taken food Mama?”Juno shook her head. “‘Took’ Pandora.” She lowered her voice, “And none of those men took any food.”“Why?” Pandora said what quite possibly was her favorite word.“None of them were guilty.”“Who took food?”Juno shook her head, “We don’t know Pandora. Why don’t you go back to sleep.”The excitement dying down, Pandora returned to her bed to complete her nap.Pandora learns skill:Intrigue is the mundane art of determining when someone is hiding something from you, and, in turn, hiding something from others by reading their body language, examining word choices, and listening for inflections in their voice, while modifying your own.Pandora walked resolutely behind her dad. Today, she got to help with his work! Pandora and her mother through fields of wheat, trailing behind Pluto. Pluto took the lead, grabbing the heads of wheat in his right hand, carefully burning the head off with his spark, then tossing the wheat behind him. Behind him, Pandora and Juno trailed, with a large woven sack. Juno held the sack for Pandora to grab fallen heads of wheat and place them into the sack. When the sack filled, June used a stalk of wheat to tie it closed, dropped it, and went to grab another sack.For a time, Pandora was content to simply grab the wheat heads, give them to her mother, and return to scouring the ground. She liked listening to her father’s deep rumbling hum as he cut, and her mother’s occasional counter-harmony. She liked looking at the zig zagging burn marks on the ground going around the fields of wheat. Life was good.Life was not good. Life was boring, tiring, and painful. Pandora decided to use her developing vocabulary to determine the length of her sentence.“Mama, how long?”“We’ll work as long as it takes ‘dora.” Juno responded. “The crop has worked hard to feed us this year, so we need to work extra hard to return the favor.”“But boring!”Hearing the discussion behind him, Pluto stopped humming and turned around, “Would a change of scenery help?”“Yes Dada!” Pandora smiled and sprinted towards her scaly father. He knelt, and scooped her up with his powerful arm, depositing her on his shoulders where she sat: a resolute sky-blue watchtower, observing the land beneath her. From here she could see so much more! Life was good again.She saw their house with it’s red spark-forged bricks. She saw the dirt paved road going by the field. She saw the hilly land on the other side of the road. She saw the edges of this field and the starts of the next, with the ditch between them. She could see the blue sky above, almost entirely clear today. She felt the crisp breeze through her hair. She felt like she was above the whole world. Life was good.Pandora learns Skill:Farming is the ancient art of making sure crops grow. Boring and repetitive, but useful.“But I wanna go to Delos with you!”Juno and Pluto shared a glance, then Pluto responded, “Not this year honey. You haven’t had your first form yet. Maybe next year. This year you get to go to Leo and Perseus’s house.”Pandora pouted, “I don’t want Leo and Perseus. I want Delos!”“I hear Delphia will be there too.” Juno offered.Pandora’s pout lessened, she liked Delphia. “I guess that could be ok maybe.”“Then it’s decided.” Pluto declared with finality.After some more careful handling by her parents, Pandora had forgotten her initial anger at being denied the opportunity to go to Delos and was looking forward to spending time with her friends.Leo and Perseus’s house was much like Pandora’s. The walls were constructed by adobe bricks. The entrance and spaces between rooms had wood framed doors. There were elevated small openings on either end of the house to let air in, and a fireplace in the center of the three rooms. While Leo and Perseus’s parents mostly stayed inside, the children all played outside.Perseus was the eldest child, now well into his fifth cycle. He had learned the survivalist form and trained regularly in it, allowing him to blend into any surface, or so he claimed. Leo, Perseus’s brother, was the second eldest. He had seen 3 cycles, but not yet mastered any of the forms, though he insisted he was close. Finally, Delphia and Pandora rounded out the group, both now over two cycles old. Pandora had only ever seen Delphia in her martial form. Pandora didn’t know why, and when she had asked her parents, they had told her they’d tell her when she was older and not to pry. Regardless, Pandora liked the quiet white skinned and red haired girl.The first game proposed was hide and seek. Perseus offered to be the first seeker, and he found the others within a few minutes. As the second eldest, Leo took the second seeker position. After an hour of searching, everyone aside from Perseus had been found. Pandora finally noticed that a section of the bricks on the house were all the exact same shade of red, which they normally weren't. When she approached, the cluster of similarly red bricks moved around, skirting around the edge of the building before she could position herself to see if they were protruding from the house. Investigating some more, she found that there were footprints all around the house. From there, it was simply a matter of chasing the bricks around the house, recruiting the other children, and eventually cornering Perseus, who shifted back to his native form. After that, it was declared that Perseus was not allowed to use his survivalist form, as his color shifting ability gave him an unfair advantage.Eventually, they grew tired of hide and seek and moved onto a more physical game. Perseus drew a circle in the dirt, then all got inside. The children then attempted to force each other out of the circle.Pandora warily watched the others, and did her best to stay out of the way. Unfortunately, the brothers quickly formed an agreement to take the girls out first. Pandora did her best to dodge Leo, but eventually, he caught up with her and bodily carried her out of the ring, setting her gently just outside the boundary. When Pandora looked around, she saw Perseus had also been knocked out of the ring. In the middle of the ring stood Delphia and Leo.Delphia stood in a practiced stance, with her small feet wide-spread underneath her. She presented her left side to Leo and crouched, ready to spring in any direction as the situation demanded. She held her left hand in front of her in an open palmed stance, with her right closer to her hip. Leo stood with feet close together in a relaxed stance, trusting his greater size, reach, and age to be sufficient for the challenge. Between Leo’s age difference and the native form’s natural taller stature, Leo stood almost twice as tall as the red-haired girl.Leo bellowed a cry and charged Delphia. Right before he reached her, she pushed herself to her right, side stepping his lunge and giving him a push with her right hand on his back. He stumbled a little, but managed to regain his balance right before he exited the ring.More cautiously now, Leo started circling the girl half his size. His blue face showed surprise while her white expression was unchanged, red hair unruffled. She silently shifted her footing to face him, while backing towards one of the edges of the ring. Now forced to pace from side to side, Leo waited a moment, then, realizing he had the advantage of arms over twice as long, slowly started walking towards Delphia. Once within arms reach, he leaned forward and darted an arm out to grab her.Before he could make contact, Delphia lunged forward, grabbed his wrist and tugged. His lanky blue body started toppling forwards. Delphia slid onto her back, red hair tumbling out behind her as she brought her feet up to boost him over her back and out of the ring.Fascinated at Delphia’s newfound skill, Perseus initially demanded that she shift into her native form for the rematch, since he had to give up his survivalist form for hide and seek, it was only fair she give up her martial form for king of the ring. After her repeated refusal, Leo suggested they could work together to hold her off. Pandora elected to watch rather than get involved directly at first.The second round ended when Leo and Perseus’s ill-coordinated lunges resulted in the two colliding and sliding out of the ring with Delphia untouched. The third round was longer, with both boys carefully circling around the edge of the ring, leaving Delphia in the middle, needing to alternate her gaze between the two. After a moment’s hesitation, Delphia took the offensive, charging Perseus. Red head coming up to his thighs, she darted between his legs, and pushed hard on the backs of his knees, causing him to collapse. During his falling, she used her arms to pivot him out of the ring. Surprised, Leo charged to help his brother, and wound up on top his brother after Delphia dodged his awkward lunge.Intrigued, Pandora rejoined the game. The game shifted from “who can stay in the ring longest” to “can all of us force Delphia out?” To which, experience proved time and again, that the answer was no. Finally, after several hours of exertion, the three of them managed to surprise Delphia and Leo and Perseus cheered as they carried her over their heads as they walked out of the ring, unconcerned over the fact that technically made Pandora the victor. The children all laughed as they returned to the house for the evening.Pandora learns skill:Stealth is the art of remaining unseen and unnoticed. It is what allows one to move silently, find hiding places, and in general walk around unnoticed.Pandora learns skill:Martial ability is the general combat savviness which is useful in any engagement. It is a general skill which will be rolled in any combat situation, often in conjunction with other skills, depending on what strategy is used for the battle.Pandora learns skill:Unarmed combat is the specific battle art of using your unarmed hands and feet to pummel or redirect your opponent into submission. Rolled when fighting with bare hands and feet.After Juno and Pluto returned, Pandora’s life began to settle into a routine. She began to learn to weave straw into different shapes as her mother did. She learned about farming from Pluto, the proper times to plant, when to burn the fields, methods of harvest, and more. She spent her time on her own observing and watching the world at work, learning from all the new sights, sounds and things she saw.The nights became longer and colder, but Mama and Dada made life warm and pleasant. Her days passed as she practiced skills she had learned which interested her. Days began to become shorter, and the family spent more time outdoors. Eventually, Dada declared it planting season, and that Pandora was old enough she ought to help. Pandora went with her father and, as he dug holes with his strong, scaly legs, she placed seeds inside them.Pandora learns skill:Weaving is the art of combining straw together to make more complex shapes. Used to create tools and clothing.One day, Pandora though she might be old enough, so decided to ask. “Mama, why is Delphia always in the martial form?”Juno stopped humming, set down her weaving, and turned to Pandora, “You’re nearing your third cycle. It is time for you to learn about the forms.” Excited, Pandora raptly listened to her mother.“As you know, we can Adapt to many forms.” Pandora nodded, “And all of these forms have their own abilities.” Pandora nodded again. Deciding to give Pandora a quiz, Juno asked “What is the adaptive ability of the farming form?”“The farming form is slow, but strong. It makes carrying loads and pulling things easy. Its tough scales make digging easier. The sparks are useful for light, for cutting wheat, for killing bad plants, and for playing with.”“Very good. Though, remember you are not to grab anybody’s sparks without their permission.” Juno reminded Pandora.“Except Daddy!”Juno chuckled, “Except Daddy. Also, new farming forms need to work to develop their spark, they start with two arms. Now, what is the adaptive ability of the empath form?”Pandora made a frown. That one was less obvious, but she thought she knew the answer. “It makes people easier to know!” Pandora blurted out while looking up at her mother’s thin blue face.“Well spotted. It tells you what someone is feeling at the moment. It takes a fair bit of practice to use, but makes interacting with other people easier. It’s how we can gather in large numbers without strife or secrets.” After Pandora nodded, Juno continued with the lesson. “Now, what about the survivalist form?”Pandora remembered Perseus’s hiding from the year before, “It lets you change colors to hide with your background.”Juno nodded, “Yes, the form is covered in multicolored hair. The hairs can all change color, letting you blend into the background. There’s a trick to it that takes practice, but it’s a great ability. It is how we survive outside the barrier when on our own. Now, what about the scout form?”Pandora’s brow crinkled into a frown, “It... helps you scout?” she guessed.“In a way.” Juno nodded sagely. “It lets you project your sight to an avatar a distance away from your body. Better practitioners are able to project their avatar farther away. We use it to spread news quickly, and to spot beasts for ambushes outside the barrier. Do you remember the man who came here a year ago with some men?”Pandora nodded, “The one with the missing wheat!”“Yes, that one.” Juno responded, “He was an overseer. He’s someone who watches over an important area in the scout form to see if there’s anything bad going on. Other than expedition parties, you won’t see them much where we are, though they’ll be in towns more often keeping an eye on things.”“Ok, but what does any of this have to do with Delphia?” Pandora asked.“Patience Pandora. Now, what is the ability of the martial form?”This one was easy. Days spent attempting to force Delphia out of the ring sprung to Pandora’s mind, “It makes you a super Xeraxian!”Juno’s eyebrow raised, “Oh? Could you describe what makes you a ‘super Xeraxian?’”“You get to beat people much larger than you and can’t be forced out of the ring!”Juno laughed, “So it does. The martial form is a little different than just being able to stay in the ring. It bestows you with Xerax’s own hands and feet, letting you fight with them as if they were his. There is little point aside from combat for it, and it is simple to master, so you don’t often see Xeraxians in the form inside the barrier. Outside, it is what lets us face monsters directly and survive. Now, what is the ability of the native form?”Pandora thought for a while. It was tall, but, if what mama said about the scout form was true, then that wasn’t nearly as helpful. “I give up. What is it?”“Your native form is who you really are. Throughout any adaptation, you must remember who you are, or else you will be lost. The native form and our familiarity with it is how we maintain our ability to change. If you spend too much time in a different form, you cannot switch back or take another form.” Juno’s expression darkened, “Additionally, if, before a mother gives birth, she takes on a form aside from the native form, her child is doomed to an existence with only the form the mother shifted to. In Delphia’s case, her mother shifted to the martial form to protect her before she was born. Delphia will never Adapt. She is a single-form.”Pandora had a hard time reconciling her friend’s vibrant red hair, shining white skin, and confident stance with the tragedy that mama had told her. Surely Delphia would be able to adapt! Everyone could. Mama was just lying. Delphia would just need more time.“But, now that you are approaching your third cycle, and we are approaching the harvest and the trip to Delos, it is time for you to learn to Adapt.”Pandora’s mood brightened, soon she’d be able to be able to Adapt like the adults! “Yes Mama! How do I learn?”Juno started the lesson in properly now, shifting to her empath form, speaking only when the tips of her fingers were replaced by the empath’s shorter brown fingers. “You need to focus on the unchangeable essence that is your soul.” She told Pandora, “Only by first identifying your soul will you be able to maintain the essence of the change.”Pandora’s brow furled as she tried to think about herself and what made her her.“Ignore physical appearances and feel deeper within yourself. Find your unchangeable center, and adapt everything else. For adaptation to mean anything, it must have a purpose, a center about which it revolves. Grab that feeling with your mind and hold onto it.”Small beads of sweat appeared on Pandora’s forehead, “I think I have it.”“Good. Memorize that feeling. Etch it into your mind. For if you lose it, you will lose everything. Now, think about which of the forms you want to assume. Grasp it firmly in your mind, and imagine yourself in that shape.”Learned skill:Adapting is the mystical ability of Xeraxians to change form. They have access to several forms, each with their own unique abilities. Each level in Adapt grants an additional form-shift they can make in a 24 hour window. Every two levels they gain, they may adapt an entirely new form they previously could not use until they have unlocked all the forms. Additional levels in Adapt decrease the time that it takes to adapt and make adapting easier for the user.Voting time! It’s been a long time in Pandora’s life (she’s twice as old now!) so there’s a fair amount to vote for. There are two parts to this vote. First, pick an action for Pandora to take in Delos while she’s with her parents. Second, if you wish, you can customize how Pandora grew this update (how she spent her free-time and which form(s) she learned). If you’re intimidated by the mechanics, feel free to make more general votes for how you'd like Pandora to grow and leaving exact distributions up to me, or abstain from training voting and just vote on actions, or ask clarifying questions.Pandora’s parents will take her with them to Delos, the nearby city that they sell their harvest to each year. How will Pandora act in that city?[] Explore the cityGain trait:. Pandora is fascinated by new things, and wants to see it all. She wants to explore the world and see new things. (Mechanics effect: bonus to awareness when exploring somewhere new)[] People watchGain trait:. Pandora is fascinated by how people work, and wants to understand them. She wants to discover how people work and potentially how to influence them. (Mechanics effect: bonus to social skills)[] Help her parentsGain trait:. Pandora is a dutiful child, doing as she is told and generally trustworthy. She wants to stick to her word and fulfil what she says she will do (Mechanics effect: bonus to actions Pandora has promised to perform)[] Practice her adaptingGain trait:. Pandora knows that true power only comes to those who work for it. She wants to become stronger and will work towards it (Mechanics effect: increase to training time and thus hours earned to spend on skills during updates)[] Write-inSame deal with traits and actions as last time: feel free to propose unique actions Pandora takes, and define your own trait. I reserve the right to veto specific actions or traits, but discussion will likely lead to Pandora doing things more in line with what you want, as will making your own vote.You’ll be determining what Pandora practiced in her free-time and what form(s) she learns first. Actions she took in the update increased some skills (boosted by the observant trait). Between the length of the update, various people who helped her with activities, and Pandora's general competence, she has earned 3000 hours to spend on whatever skills she desires (what she worked on in her free-time). Her character sheet has been updated. Her skills are nowTo which she can add 3000 hours of effort.Which form(s) will Pandora attempt to learn?(gain 1 per every 2 levels in Adapt)- Gain Empath Form- Gain Martial Form- Gain Farming Form- Gain Scouting Form- Gain Survival FormTo make a new training plan, just make a vote which says[X] Training: Plan AThings I want to do in Training: Plan A and whatnot. The exact formatting of this section is unimportant, so long as it is easily understood what your intent is. Be as precise or vague as you wish (vagueness will be subject to my interpretation).Here are some sample plans (which you are free to vote on if you want, but I’m reasonably confident you’ll want something a little different). Note that the formatting is different between them. So long as I can determine what your formatting means, it’s fine. It could just be a paragraph describing what you want, it could be bullets, it could be a single sentence. I’ll ask for clarification if I can’t figure out what your vote means.[X] Training: Super Spy-gain Survival Form-Awareness 7 and 40/5120-stealth 3-Intrigue 3[X] Training: All Ze Magics!-gain Farming Form-gain Empath Form-gain Martial Form-Adapt 6 and [840/2560][X] Training: Balance is life-Gain Farming Form-Gain Empath Form-Adapt 4 (320)-Mobility 4 (320)-Communication 4 (480)-Negotiation 4 (480)-Intrigue 4 (560)-Martial Ability 4 (480)-Stealth 3 (160) and [200/320]Finally, if you have a series of actions you want Pandora to pursue in combination with training (e.g. ensure she use a specific form in Delos), then you will want to make a general plan, encompassing all of the voting aspects of this update. So, for example you could make:[X] General Plan: Super Spy-gain Scout Form-Awareness 7 and 40/5120-stealth 3-Intrigue 3-explore the city with your scout form