Talk:Elizabeth Allegheny

"We thank you, shaper, but this diversion, although pleasant, is not true. Things never happened thus."
"Things need not have happened to be true. Tales and dreams are the shadow-truths that will endure when mere facts are dust and ashes, and forgot."

The Plot

Big Ideas

• Liz wants to encourage belief in narrative causality.

• Heroism is rewarded.
• The good guys win in the end.
• Heart and flamboyant tactical innovation are important elements of games of chance and skill.

• Liz is a sponsor of Plan Super Robot.
• Liz will use dreams to reach the sleepers and mentor promising ones. That way she can reach people anywhere and avoid technocratic detection (to an extent).

Allegheny Rescue Plan

• Get the family into a safe haven in the cockroach apartments.
• The family will be told that the family has gained the enmity of a powerful organised crime group. The chantrymembers are affiliated with the government. Liz was actually under witness protection, not in a remedial school.

Cover Story

Canada

Liz is under a witness protection program and helping the secret service.

The Liz Guide to Figments

Figments, also known as spirits, are beings of the 'Umbra' or 'Shadow World' of fiction between mundane worlds.

Figmapedia

Skeina, Author of the Tale

Jerkface destiny figment that possessed Liz via her Demesne. Under its influence Liz (transformed into a masked villain) took over the Edgewater Casino until exorcised by Cathy. Cathy (angry mode) then bound it and turned its power against the Technocracy response team until the heroes escaped into the Umbra.

• Status: Presumed At Large
• Threat Level: A?

That One Vulture

Guardian of Horizon's Gate of Life. Wants the words, or failing that a tasty meal of you.

• Status: Told what's what.
• Threat Level: A?

Trysobite

Conniving spirits that sneak in through any gap they can find and spread lies.

• Status: Really real!
• Threat Level: Not very dangerous, just a nuisance really, nothing to get worked up about.

Each Uisge

Malevolent horse furries made of water. Pretend to be cute boys with seaweed in their hair, don't be fooled.

• Status: Explosive
• Threat Level: C

Sprite

Tiny nearsighted fairies. Turn you to ice! Stupid stupid stupid.

• Status: Apologetic
• Threat Level: D

Urban Myths

Cockroaches

The walkers in our forgotten paths and the finders of our lost things.

• Status: Protecting the innocent
• Threat Level: E
• Cockroach 54,122,321, aka Eggscuttledumpsterfindcantnukmehahahah protects the Alleghenny family's information in Vancouver.

Glass Walkers

Spiders that drink evil and eat other stories. Empowered by the presence of Mari for some mysterious reason.

• Status: Banished into the darkness.
• Threat Level: D?

NB: Yes, I know this is wrong. Liz doesn't!

Japan

Lord Enma-O

Secret Boss of Japan. Ice demon sealed away in Kikuri, rival of Mikhaboshi.

• Status: Sealed. Known gate in Hokkaido.
• Threat Level: S

Iron Oni

Cybernetic demons in service to Lord Mikhaboshi.

• Status: Banished to the Wicked City
• Threat Level: C

Kitsune

Tricky foxpeople that play and cheat at Hanafuda.

• Status: In full retreat after their king and leader was crushed by Liz's Perfect Palm technique.
• Threat Level: Collapsed.

Lord Mihkaboshi

Big Bad of Japan. Technodemon and ruler of the Wicked City, wannabe ruler of Tokyo and rival of Enma-O.

• Status: Foiled but back next episode.
• Threat Level: S

Tanuki

Nothing but trouble.

• Status: Trouble.
• Threat Level: Troubling.
• Monta is Catherine West's familiar and a real pain.
• Miyu is Monta's wife and a pestering annoyance. However, she is also a useful weapon against Monta.

Yuki-Onna

Ice Assassins as broken as the spell.

• Status: Banished to Kikuri.
• Threat Level: B?
• Tsurara was sent to kill Mikhaboshi's minions in Gyokuei, and nearly succeeded with Kana's help.

Inhabitants of CROSSDOWN

Numion

Tall scrawny future-aliens. Never observed to take independent or hostile action, have presumably evolved past such barbarian concerns.

• Status: Present in force on CROSSDOWN.
• Threat Level: E

Zol

Human-scale combat robots. Have both ranged and melee capabilities. Matched up poorly against (named) Akashic consors.

• Status: Present in force on CROSSDOWN.
• Threat Level: D

Mega-Zol

Gundam-scale Zols. Matched up poorly against Technocratic space fighters.

• Status: Present in force on CROSSDOWN.
• Threat Level: C?

Bargaining Tips

• Spirits like quintessence.
• Different spirits demand different approaches. Some you can defeat in a game, others will require bargaining or beating into submission, or other approaches.
• Be very wary of offering to perform a service.
• Mistreated spirits will spread the word and make you notorious.
• You can gain spirit power from unlikely sources, like spirit-weapon blasts or destroyed spirit-robots.
• Remember your obligations or people will whine so much.
• Sieze the moment if you have them over a barrel.

Mage: The Ascension

Canon Cards

Spell Cards

Spell cards produce a standard, reproducible effect by drawing out the power behind the image printed on them.

• Countermagic

• Universal

This card displays a wizard, palm out in the 'halt' gesture. with it, Elizabeth can stop and undo the works of others.

• Seven Seals

• Universal

This card displays a complex array of runic locks. It can seal gateways and workings.

Plot

• Glimpse of Spoilers

• Entropy 1

This card displays a page of text, seen at an oblique angle that renders it unreadable. With it, Elizabeth can see the threads of plot that run through the world, and their intersection with things and people.

• Dapper Fellow

• Entropy 2

The Dapper Fellow is always well-dressed, and can ensure that his wielders are too.

• Lucky Rogue

• Entropy 2

The Lucky Rogue can sneak anywhere and steal anything, though more by luck than judgement.

Inspiration

• Garden of Eden

• Prime 3

This card displays the wonders of the primordial garden of creation. It was used to channel quint into the barren chantry realm.

• Wellspring

• Prime 3

This card displays the ideas bursting from the head of an artist. With it, Elizabeth can release the creativity (quintessence) stored in objects, locations and people.

Idea

• Psychic Investigator

• Spirit 1

This card displays an image of a noir detective with squiggly lines emerging from his fedora. With it, Elizabeth can call upon his power to discern esoteric influences.

• Second Sight

• Spirit 1
• Prime 1

This card displays an image of the cosmic eye, that sees all. With it, Elizabeth can see the portion of the Umbra that is closest, and the threads of creativity that sustain it.

• Living Legend

• Spirit 3

This card displays a beast formed of words, emerging from a page. With it, Elizabeth can awaken the personal story of an object.

• Map of Myths

• Spirit 1

This card displays a map of a place that cannot exist, yet does. It shows the way to places and what lies through doors.

• Ofuda

• Spirit 3
• Prime 2

This card displays the markings of an ofuda. It can paralyse and suppress demons.

• Porthole of Worlds

• Spirit 3
• Prime 2

This card displays a circle in darkness, through which can be seen all possibility. With it small gaps can be opened between stories that other magic can be used through.

• Spirit-Rending Scythe

• Spirit 3

This card displays a wicked scythe, trailing ectoplasm from the edge. It can wound spirits directly or cut away their support.

Summon Cards

Summon cards have a figment - a spirit of the imaginary - bound to their image, to provide power. However, once they are used the figment escapes.

• Cherry Blossom Blessing

• Kitsune
• 5d healing

This card restores health to the wounded.

Spirit Cards

Spirit cards are like Summon cards, but have a figment permanently woven into their image, which can be called upon repeatedly.

Proposed Mechanics

Current Expansion

Good Idea

• Entropy 2 (affect fate & fortune)
• Spirit 2 (call spirit)

This rote calls a figment helpful in the Mage's current predicament.

Heroine's Luck

• Entropy 2

The Emperor's guards fire at our heroine, but none quite manage to hit her as she makes her escape. Increases difficulty of rolls to hit the Mage.

Stay In Character

• Mind 1 (empower self)

The good storyteller knows that characters must speak from their own perspective, not the author's. She separates her author's mind that knows the truth from her character's mind that speaks what the plot demands. This makes her inventions indistinguishable from honesty, as the mind that speaks is only saying what it truly believes.

Two-Stream Consciousness

• Mind 1 (empower self)

Twin streams squares WPM. The Magus while writing separates her mind into two. One half writes, while the other half proofreads, saving a great deal of time.

Next Expansion

Hijack Character

• Life 3
• Mind 2

The Author, given the image of a character, takes the idea of that character and writes it over their own. The world sees that character in body and mind, but the Author knows the truth and controls them from behind the page.

Moon Portal

• Mind 1 (empower self)
• Spirit 4 (rend gauntlet)

The magus sends a part of herself to sleep and then opens a gate to her dream along the conduit this creates.

Author's Intent

• Mind 2

The magus reads the thoughts and images embodied in a text rather than the text itself, bypassing the need to comprehend the language. Despite the name, the images are not just those laid down by the author, but also those created by readers and the general cultural perception of the work. It is a sharply limited rote, as most texts will not have strong psychic impressions - particularly mass-produced or copy-pasted texts in the current era.

Spirit of the Lore

• Mind 3
• Spirit 3
• optional Entropy 1

This rote fulfils a similar role to Author's Intent but is far more powerful. The spirit of the work is summoned forth and its psychic landscape can be explored by the mage - so long as she does not enrage it and it does not then manage to throw her out. This allows for complex examination of the content, themes and associations of the work through examination of and discussion with the work itself. An optional Entropy 1 enables the mage to percieve what parts relate to the truth of the external world.

Speculative

Create Spirit

• Prime 2 (fuel pattern)
• Spirit 5 (forge ephemera)

This rote weaves an entirely new figment out of pure quintessence. Further spheres such as Mind may be needed to give it intellect.

Dodge the Named Bullet

• Entropy 1 (sense fate & fortune)
• Time 2

Not every stroke is dangerous, many are just scenery. The mage can identify the true killing blows that will threaten injury and death, so that she can focus on evading them and ignore the chaff. Lowers dodge difficulties.

Dream Vortex

• Mind 3 (walk among dreams)
• Spirit 5 (forge ephemera)

The walls between dreams are false. A true storyteller can reach into the dreams of others and move them as one. This rote allows the magus to blend her dream together with those of others and command them as she would her own. Of course, others may contest this command.

Land of Nod

• Correspondence 5
• Mind 1 (empower self)
• Spirit 4 (rend gauntlet)

The author's power is to make their dreams real for themselves and others. This rote sets the mage dreaming, then merges that dream with the real world. As she rules her dreams, she rules 'reality'. Extraordinarily vulgar.

Moon Bridge

• Correspondence 2
• Mind 3 (mental link)
• Spirit 3/4 (pierce/rend gauntlet)

With access to a possession or other sympathetic object of a person, the magus can step into their dream while they are sleeping. Without such an object or knowledge of correspondence they must be present in person.

Brainstorming

• Propaganda is a Knowledge so pretty cheap, and relevant to changing the world. But it's very specific and possibly redundant.
• Prime 4 is 24 xp and not directly relevant to Liz's schtick, but it's needed to write Grimoires. Is it worth it? Are Grimoires worth it? You're not in a tradition so it'll be tricky even to sell it. However, sale to Dreamspeakers or even Hermetics may be possible by proper use of mythic archetypes.
• If you get Dodge 3 before reading the tome you can pick up Dodge 4 for 3 xp. But that's a lot of xp spent on Dodge.
• Is it possible to raise dream? Potential methods: Expanding umbral authority, a blessing from a spirit, consuming an energy field larger than your head. Probably a good idea to get Mind first.

Attributes of the Trickster

• Fundamentally ambiguous and anomalous: Liz as a Mage can defy the rules of static reality, and furthermore as an Orphan defies the classifications of her supernatural society. Avoid integration into the mainstream.
• Deciever and trick-player: Liz is a gambler and liar. Develop these abilities.
• Shape-shifter: Liz should cultivate the Life sphere, and learn how to protect her electronic identity as well.
• Situation-inverter: One masterful bluff or good call can invert a sticky situation. But has Liz managed to do that yet?
• Messenger and imitator of the gods: Liz is a shrine maiden and may yet become involved in native american religion. She should go around collecting various forms of religious training.

Making Things

• Making a CCG requires Gambling & Enigmas for mechanics and Expression for making a compelling world.
• Writing stories requires Expression, and ancillary abilities relevant to the story: Occult for modern fantasy, Science for hard SF, Enigmas for mysteries and so on.
• Building a paradigm requires Arete and Spheres, and abilities like Academics (philosophy), Enigmas and Intuition. It also demands paradigm-relevant abilities like Artistic Expression, Expression and Academics (fine art).

NaNoWriMo Progress

• Plot: An ordinary schoolgirl falls into a world of rote-learned magitech wonder and must quest to save it using the creative old ways the technicians forgot.

Week 1:

• Day 1: 1k (1k total)
• Day 2: 0k (1k total)
• Day 3: 3k (4k total)
• Day 4: 0k (4k total)
• Day 5: 2k (6k total)
• Day 6: 2k (8k total)
• Day 7: 2k (10k total)

Week 2:

• Day 1: 0k (10k total)
• Day 2: 0k (10k total)
• Day 3: 0k (10k total)