So, I figure for future installments, anytime I have a character who has alternate Arcs in Called Away, Keeper of Gardens, or Of a Certain Place, I’d put up a list of concept properties and related powers.
Called Away (The Company of Shades)
You must hold on to what’s meaningful
Truth must be guarded.
Smiles are only for show.
In a world of lies and schemes, trust is the most valued commodity.
You must congregate as evening comes.
Story
I’ve come to remember the pact I made every time I see the corridor, the boy’s easy-going smile most of all.
Funny, there was a time when I was afraid of the things beyond the end of the hall, but not so much anymore.
Colors blur into nothing. There’s a table next to the wall, chairs, an inbox and outbox for messages on top, all are mere silhouettes. The noises of the School, child chatter and the thrumming of science experiments, give way to a light music.
One of the Regents stands at the end of the corridor, his dark blue suit the only color for now, my only means of distinguishing between them. The Regents hide behind their half-moon masks, but their smiles are that same easy-going smile.
I look at the Regent pensively.
He nods at me and smiles, “The preparations have been made, Lady Bogs.”
I try not to groan at the appellation. Subservient Regents were always the worst.
“Master Dunn will present your brother at the gala, as promised,“ he continues, “I assure you his condition will be to your satisfaction.“
I look at him stonefaced, “You’re not going to spring some backroom deal or other plot on me, are you?”
He shrugs as if it were an apology, “I cannot guarantee that.“
Figures, another night likely ending with a knife in my back
“Why do you wear his face?”
He stops smiling, it almost surprises me.
“I don’t remember him being this way. I remember him being more...comforting, open, trustworthy, I guess." I sigh, “Why can’t you be as he was?“
He furrows his brow, I think, and looks almost wistful.
“I’m sorry,“ he says at last, “Trust is the most valuable thing to have and the easiest to lose. It is one of those secrets I keep hidden most of all.“
I get a sense that he keeps his secrets from everyone, but fears me learning them above all others.
On that thought, I reach my hand out toward him. A wisp of him peels away and becomes a mask. It is a fox’s face in dark blue.
I place the mask on my face, “I am ready for your gala, Regent.”
Estate: Secrets, shadows must attach themselves to shape and meaning, but they obscure the truth and image of that which casts them.
Denizens: Forgotten truths and hidden knowledge are as physical things, casting the shadows that are the Realm’s denizens. Intelligent shades are vaguely human-shaped and wear elaborate clothes, but all bare colorful masks and smiles. One can reach for their essential meaning and snuff them out that way. What knowledge doesn’t cast a shade gets forged into daggers and fencing blades that can be sacrificed in their stead. They are little more than shadows when in Town.
Treasures: The truths long buried, interesting food and drink, the fencing schools of the shades, intricate plots and schemes, hard won allies, magics that veil and reveal.
The Shadow: The Regent sits at the center of shade society. He wears different colors, weapons, and personalities, but all versions wear the half-moon mask and an easy-going smile. Sometimes he seems willing to guide Min (with caveats), and other times to stymie her efforts, but he will never seek her death.
Catalyst: Min can have someone keep a secret, or intimate that she knows a secret the target possesses. This can probably manifest behavior or mini-stories similar to a Vice, Complex, or In Over Your Head Issue.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
âś“ Live Streamingâś“ Interactive Chatâś“ Private Showsâś“ HD Qualityâś“ Free Actions
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
The wind died down, the black mass vanished and only Min Bogs was left standing in the shattered husk of our machinery and the debris of the gymnasium. She walked over to her siblings, fussed about how smudged they were as she checked for injuries, and then walked backed to us.
”I believe that was in poor form,” she said to us. We looked to each other briefly and then her shadows fell upon us. For one it was as needles and chitin, for the other she felt like scales and padded fingers.
And then the textures changed as they got a hold of us.
We realized then, they weren’t shadows so much as a shapelessness, taking forms as they pleased before returning to their true state.
We assumed then that her body was just another shape she chose to cast, a polite fiction of some kind.
“We’ll be seeing somebody about this,“ she said, dragging us away from the gym.
From the Sirida Siblings
Mood: Fear
Element: A world of fearsome things that dance around a faint light. Shadows line the edges.
Kaiju: A massive shadow creature, presumably quadrupedal, of no discernible shape.
Cloud of Darkness (Set the Mood)
Over time, Min generates the Region Property “Here is Something to Fear“ or maybe “Here is Something You Do Not Know.“
Fear/Safe-Splosion (Mood-Splosion)
Once per book, Min can wish that a situation gets more fearsome, or more likely, that everyone acknowledges how dangerous a situation naturally is.
Big Sister (Wicked Mode)
Min wears so many masks that none can be said to express or conceal her nature. It is when she removes her overcoat that one knows she means business, that she can totally take care of the situation. Her Mood of Fear becomes a Mood of Security.
Primordial 3 (The Thing of Fear and Shadow)
Principle: Fear, typically interpreted as a shield to innocence. Something to keep you safe until you are wise enough to tackle things.
Transformation: The All-Horror, a thing of a thousand awful shapes and none.
Element: Shadows
Shadows Loom (Unnatural Action)
Shadows stretch and warp to reflect Min’s moods. She can also use the shadows as an extension of her own skills, twisting shadows to mess with one’s sense of perspective and disorient, for example.
The All-Horror (Bindings)
Min will talk to someone about the things they fear, and she develops a limb and power to shepherd them through the things that scare them, should they want it.
She could also talk about what it means that she is the All-Horror, a thing that can be any creature but isn’t.
Powers bound to her Normal Health Levels take the shape of harmlessly spooky masks, slightly uncanny physical mimicry, Halloween accessories, or maybe attract small creatures granting a level 2 Bond or Superior 1 Skill.
At the Tough Level are fearsome masks, creepy, erratic motions, strange textural changes to her skin, nails, and hair, or a swarm of small creatures that grant an Affliction, Superior 2-3 Skills, or a 1-2x/scene miraculous ability.
At the Divine Level are the extra shadows that surround Min, each one suggestive of a different creature. Min can also grow a single body, which serves as her main body for most purposes. Min typically prefers human bodies gained from talking to the rest of the Bogs family.
Run! (A Distant Mood)
1/chapter, Min can aid someone whose experience she holds who is lacking her Principle.
As a practical effect, shadows slowly skew her target’s sense of direction, but always away from the most dangerous locations.
As a metaphorical effect, her target gains a +2 Bond “Shadows Lead Away.“ Someone trapped in a bad social situation can at least figure out a way to distance themselves in the shadows. Those being chased can escape easier through the darker streets. So on and so forth.
1/book Min can bump up this power to a wish level effect, presumably something like:
“I wish you to know safety at the end of this ordeal.“
Maybe,
“I wish that escape is an option. I wish for you to know escape is okay.”
Sample Mystic Quest Miracles
For the purposes of Quest Miracles, Min generally acts through the Lens of Fear. If she picks up Visionary, she might be capable of other Principles.
Mystic 0-1: Min Bogs grows a shadow, crafts a mask, or works the field for a solution to a problem she faces.
Mystic 2: Someone finds that they are being chased by a Shadow that is a Beast, until they are consumed and remember that they are Min Bogs.
Mystic 3: Shadows squirm and work the land to best reflect Min’s preferences. They tend to take the shape of plagues of minor creatures.
Sample Otherworldly Quest Miracles
Her Estate from Child of the Ash is Shadows. It is possible to pick up another estate, presumably Lost Secrets, from Called Away.
Otherworldly 0: Min finds something in her dreams, a divination from the shadows.
Other Arcs of Note:
Called Away: Where Min Bogs quests through the Land of Shadows, where the Shadow Sorcerer quests. Here she will navigate a world of hidden truths and projected meanings and come to terms with Secrets.
Visionary: Min continues to quest through the Land of Shadows. Here, she perfects her Changeling Magics to best blend in, develops elixirs and mystic organs as Blessings, and absorbs the other shadows that plague her. Her Principle, for if it matters, would be Secrets.
Arc Combination: Primordial 3, Child of the Ash 0
Inspired Type: True God
Part 2 of Fear’s Shadow
Nysa and Aylyetta stare hard at where the girl had been previously. Her uniform, arrow-stricken, is still there. Three of her masks, a tiger one among them, are strewn about. The girl herself is gone. At the gate to the Bogs’ house, the two kids who accompanied the girl just stand and wait.
“This is bad, yeah?“ Nysa unsheathes their sword, “You’ve been in a hunt before, Yetta. Do human bodies just vanish?“
Yetta readies her bow again, “No, and I don’t like how her siblings don’t seem all that concerned.“
Nysa’s eyes dart all over the field, “Should we retreat for now? See what happens next?“
“I’m not going back empty handed, let’s at least try to grab...uh.“
“What?”
Yetta readies an arrow pointing just off of Nysa. Nysa tries to follow Yetta’s gaze and sees it pointing to their shadow. It takes a moment to grasp that, current time of day, their shadow is facing the wrong direction. Looking around reveals Nysa has at least two more shadows than Yetta.
“That was impolite,” one of Nysa’s shadows opens its eyes, “I had that body for almost ten years.“
The extra shadow reaches for the girl’s remains and puts on the tiger mask.
”Who are you to think you can just show up unannounced to kill someone?”
The shadow gives Nysa no time to answer. Nysa can feel something like fur and nail dig into them before their view turns upside down. In moments, they hit the ground with a thud.
“What the hell was that?!“ Nysa hisses.
“A suplex?!“ Yetta jumps back lest the shadow reaches for her.
“By a shadow in a tiger mask?“
Yetta looks on wordlessly.
“Nope,” Nysa grunts, “That’s too much for me. Let’s get out of here.“
Excrucian names as always courtesy of Eternity Braid. Accuracy may vary.
Skills:
Superior Shadow Spirit 2 - Min is technically an independent shadow thing.
“It’s good that you’re afraid.“ 1 - She doesn’t see fear as a negative thing.
Farmhand 2 - Min helps around on the Bogs’ farm.
Changeling 2 - A variant thereof, Min is good at fitting in.
Arts and Crafts 1 - Min carves and paints masks.
Perks:
Min has a limb that connects her to her adoptive mother, usually the body she currently occupies. This grants her some guardian or watchful ability.
Bond (Something to Deal With or Primordial) “I fill you with a nameless dread.”
Emotion XP: Placing My Faith in Min Bogs.
Basic Quest: The Things I’ve Left Behind (Green)
Min Bogs was not always herself, and there are things from before that she’ll try and come to terms with. Flip a sign: One end says “Min Bogs, Eldest of the Bog Siblings” and the other “A Time of Loneliness and Running“
Quest Set: At a loss for now, maybe a variant of The Misadventures of Chuubo and Company.
Friends, Family, Other:
Minnie’s mother adopted her, knowing what she was. If nothing else, Minnie will not betray the Bogs family.
Minnie places herself as the older sister of the Bogs twins, who are prone to mishap.
Neither party recognizes the other, but Malcolm Melchior has a shard of Min’s power as part of an agreement to face the numerous shadow worlds.
Relevant Project Characters:
The Shadow Sorcerer (Spiritual/Knave): Malcolm Melchior plunged headlong into one of the worlds that Min left behind.
God Dog (Called Away/Indomitable): Min has an affinity for inhuman creatures.
Heir of Curses (???/Called Away): Min lives near this child in the Walking Fields, who has the blood of monsters.
