Good to know. [ but hm.. ] I think I like that plan better than challenging a guy who'll probably eventually notice we aren't part of his gang. At least not yet.
[ but he glances back to the exit leading to the second floor. ]
Think it's worth our while to try different ones? There's only so many down here. [ i.e. move ahead. he figures if they're up there they can at least keep an eye on the boss before he gets too far. ]
Ay? Well... if you don't have another way... you can always try the roulette near the entrance, the big one.
People who visit the casino try their daily luck usin' that roulette, and take or yield wishpower depending on the outcome.
It's pretty risky though.
[ Said roulette is one of the big upright ones, near the entrance. It's kind of halfway roulette, half-way spin the wheel, half-way a machine with a canister attached to it. Who knew wishpower/luck could be condensed into something material. That's City tech for ya. ]
Worth a shot. [ he shrugs and he just follows the other two. he is. wary about what risky means in this case but they don't have an option so who cares.
we are at this game! and he's suddenly looking over this machine because he's a nerd through and through. does anything actually stand out about the machine? also are they. alone. at this game? ]
Probably higher chances if all three of us play once, right?
[ Welcome to the Wishpower Roulette, there's probably a sign on there that says 'CHECK YOUR FORECAST FOR THE DAY!'. As if you getting a bad result on the roulette wheel doesn't literally sap wishpower out of you and therefore become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Or who knows, maybe you'll get lucky and it'll actually be the other way around?
Security guards stand around both sides of it. Menacingly. They seem to be extremely on the lookout for any form of cheating.
The machine itself is pretty sturdy. Nothing comes to mind to point out about it in particular, aside from what I already mentioned -- big ol' machine, got fancy flashing lights, a canister attached to the side. There's a little open slot that probably dispenses something, reminiscent of the usual kinds you'd find at arcade or casino games where they usually dispense coins or whatever, but you don't know what yet.
Well, here goes nothing! Roll that d20 if you're just playing normally! ]
[ Isabel rolls and... ooh, darn! Looks like your forecast for the day is 区! An Unluck as a treat. You feel rancid. You somehow actually feel like some positivity is being drained out of your life. Your outlook is briefly bleak.
Isabel will take a -2 to her next dice roll and gains +1 NE.
Shoma rolls and... wow, some jaunty music plays! Looks like your forecast for the day is 小吉! Small blessings. The machine spits out a piece of paper with a design on it that looks like your typical Asian talisman, sort of, though somewhat simplistic. Assigns Shoma 'documents-reading-mind-palace' and gives him the info that this is a wishpower sticker, and sticking it to the skin will transfer the design onto him, imbueing him with the talisman's luck temporarily. Be careful though, J Corp's casino is quite picky about when and where you can use it.
Shoma will gain a +1 to whichever dice roll he applies this effect to. You may feel proud about your little blessing.
[he just gives isabel a wry smile back but since shoma had some degree of success meaning that they aren't completely screwed yet, he will do a roll......... gets 15]
[ small blessings! yay. he's going to carefully take this paper and tuck it away in his pocket after looking at it. ]
Wishpower. Cool. [ he watches charles spin the wheel. ] Sticking it to ourselves will give us the luck we need. So...we should try to keep playing and see if we can earn more of these stickers somehow. Higher blessings, higher luck.
[ Charles rolls and... wow! Even jauntier music plays! The machine lights up in some mild colours. Looks like your forecast for the day is 吉! Blessed. The machine spits out a piece of paper with a design that is marginally more complicated than the one Shoma got.
Charles will gain a +2 to whichever dice roll he applies this effect to.
CHARLES
ISABEL
SHOMA
Anyway I love how this sounds like Shoma is suggesting doing some lvl-grinding at the casino. You got your talismans! If you really want to pursue this as an option, I will say that the rest of the place doesn't regularly offer luck trades, but maybe you can convince some people to bet their own wishpower stickers. That's only if you pursue this option though, which is just hilarious.
but i'm still hung up on the e.g.o. present thing so lovelace is going to wander off to find a restroom? because presumably using your e.g.o. looks suspicious as hell if you just do it out in the open.
give me a present! i hope the Bad Thing happens because of all my negative energy. look it's worth a shot. right. ]
[ Isabel sneaks off to the restroom to test her other options! I guess it is gendered :/. Charles and Shoma can wait to see what happens.
And her option is that she activates her Holiday E.G.O. in there and uhh. Well, the unlucky stuff and their current predicament possibly weighed on you a bit more than you realised. Suddenly, you're overtaken by frustration and anger, bubbling up and welling up from within, burning like fire.
The spirit of wrathful holidays consumes you! And with this infinite hatred, you will gift the world the present they deserve.
...
...
...
The bathroom explodes! Rather violently. And the explosion is actually blood and terrible viscera. Sooo, how close were Charles and Shoma standing to that door again?
If you can even get a glance in through the door, you'll see a green present box and a festive, yet horribly distorted body emerging from it that vaguely resembles Isabel (link cw: body horror). Isabel's mind will be struggling greatly, filled with thoughts that can no longer be considered her own, but rather, of the Abnormality and a desire to harm and maim and in general, harsh everyone's Christmas vibes.
Meanwhile, the casino first floor is immediately on alert with multiple security guards dashing over to deal with the threat. ]
Casino Security
Distortion located! Calling request for back-up to suppress this thing!
[DAMN WHY COULDN'T HE HAVE FULL POSITIVE ENERGY FOR THIS. i guess he and shoma are now covered in blood and whatnot. bad. but not as bad as what comes next!!!]
—Isabel!? [UHHHHH TAKING OUT HIS SWORD? MA'AM WHAT DID YOU DO? he will try and intervene between her and these security guards though. please no murder (on both sides).] Shoma, get back.
[he does recall rodya talking about abnormalities in trial as he furiously wracks his brain to remember if she said there was a cure—wait, she did say something about a "whole process" to undo a distortion, but that was about it. WELL, FUCK. MAYBE SHOMA KNOWS MORE!!]
OF COURSE HE DOESN'T KNOW MORE ABOUT THIS, RODYA THINKS HE'S TWELVE.
so anyway they're covered in blood and security's swarming, and shoma has enough sense to grab his dagger and be on guard. are they really letting isabel just try to kill these guards actually, this seems ill-advised. ]
What the hell is that? [ wait okay. thinkthinkthink. ] Rodya said distortions only happy when somebody's emotions get to be too much, right? We have to get her to calm down!
[ Well, Isabel can definitely just straight up present-smash one of these guards because he rolled a 7, just getting knocked back into a slot machine which jingles merrily at the expense of his pain. The other one though rolls a nat20, which I'm not really sure what to do about, but I guess he dodges her murder rampage and stabs her right in the approximation of a neck with his sword.
Does this stop Isabel? Not really. She might register the pain, but it's all distorted and probably only makes her angrier. It's also kind of hard to tell whether you're bleeding when your entire body kinda looks like it. The pain on its own certainly does not stop Isabel though the sword at least stops her physically from moving for a moment.
From the other side, Effie apparently decided he didn't want to get involved with this directly, but maybe he's doing his staff job by guiding some civilians out. Saude on the other hand will rush over, looking panicked. ]
Saude
I-isn't that Ms. Lovelace? What's going on here!
[ This is the right opposite of subterfuge!!!
More casino security are joining the fray. If Charles looks like he's defending this Distortion for whatever reason, they're going to go after him too. What's it gonna be. ]
[HE'S TRYING TO DEFEND THE SECURITY GUARDS TOO EVEN IF THAT IS CLEARLY NOT GOING WELL]
Got any ideas for calming her down? Monster taming isn't my specialty here!
[this is fine. he has lowkey issues about people he likes turning into monsters between home and his closest friend on the ship dying four days ago as of this cyoa, but that's not relevant right now.]
... If worse comes to worst, we might have to incapacitating her and try using the watch.
[but in the meantime, he's going to try and slash at isabel's legs. anyway despite this seemingly very hostile action, he will also call out to her.]
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Think we could improve our... luck any, if we played some games around here?
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[ but he glances back to the exit leading to the second floor. ]
Think it's worth our while to try different ones? There's only so many down here. [ i.e. move ahead. he figures if they're up there they can at least keep an eye on the boss before he gets too far. ]
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People who visit the casino try their daily luck usin' that roulette, and take or yield wishpower depending on the outcome.
It's pretty risky though.
[ Said roulette is one of the big upright ones, near the entrance. It's kind of halfway roulette, half-way spin the wheel, half-way a machine with a canister attached to it. Who knew wishpower/luck could be condensed into something material. That's City tech for ya. ]
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[ roulette, roulette, roulette!!! lovelace will wait for the other two and then head over there. ]
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[unsure about how lucky they are right now but he'll follow isabel if shoma is.]
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we are at this game! and he's suddenly looking over this machine because he's a nerd through and through. does anything actually stand out about the machine? also are they. alone. at this game? ]
Probably higher chances if all three of us play once, right?
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Security guards stand around both sides of it. Menacingly. They seem to be extremely on the lookout for any form of cheating.
The machine itself is pretty sturdy. Nothing comes to mind to point out about it in particular, aside from what I already mentioned -- big ol' machine, got fancy flashing lights, a canister attached to the side. There's a little open slot that probably dispenses something, reminiscent of the usual kinds you'd find at arcade or casino games where they usually dispense coins or whatever, but you don't know what yet.
Well, here goes nothing! Roll that d20 if you're just playing normally! ]
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i have rolled... a 7. ]
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will wait to see if anything happens to isabel and shoma (also rolling) first?]
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Isabel will take a -2 to her next dice roll and gains +1 NE.
Shoma rolls and... wow, some jaunty music plays! Looks like your forecast for the day is 小吉! Small blessings. The machine spits out a piece of paper with a design on it that looks like your typical Asian talisman, sort of, though somewhat simplistic. Assigns Shoma 'documents-reading-mind-palace' and gives him the info that this is a wishpower sticker, and sticking it to the skin will transfer the design onto him, imbueing him with the talisman's luck temporarily. Be careful though, J Corp's casino is quite picky about when and where you can use it.
Shoma will gain a +1 to whichever dice roll he applies this effect to. You may feel proud about your little blessing.
Charles... does not roll yet. ]
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Good job, Enda.
[ i mean it's luck but. anyway, she looks at charles? DON'T YOU WANT TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS? ]
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Wishpower. Cool. [ he watches charles spin the wheel. ] Sticking it to ourselves will give us the luck we need. So...we should try to keep playing and see if we can earn more of these stickers somehow. Higher blessings, higher luck.
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Charles will gain a +2 to whichever dice roll he applies this effect to.
Anyway I love how this sounds like Shoma is suggesting doing some lvl-grinding at the casino. You got your talismans! If you really want to pursue this as an option, I will say that the rest of the place doesn't regularly offer luck trades, but maybe you can convince some people to bet their own wishpower stickers. That's only if you pursue this option though, which is just hilarious.
What now? ]
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[ a little pat on the back for charles.
but i'm still hung up on the e.g.o. present thing so lovelace is going to wander off to find a restroom? because presumably using your e.g.o. looks suspicious as hell if you just do it out in the open.
give me a present! i hope the Bad Thing happens because of all my negative energy. look it's worth a shot. right. ]
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[PRESUMABLY CHARLES AND SHOMA CANNOT FOLLOW ISABEL INTO THE BATHROOM UNLESS IT'S GENDERLESS. WAITS OUTSIDE THE DOOR IG.]
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...are we sure keeping Captain as the boss is a good idea? [ he just follows after charles to also wait? he guesses? ]
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And her option is that she activates her Holiday E.G.O. in there and uhh. Well, the unlucky stuff and their current predicament possibly weighed on you a bit more than you realised. Suddenly, you're overtaken by frustration and anger, bubbling up and welling up from within, burning like fire.
The spirit of wrathful holidays consumes you! And with this infinite hatred, you will gift the world the present they deserve.
...
...
...
The bathroom explodes! Rather violently. And the explosion is actually blood and terrible viscera. Sooo, how close were Charles and Shoma standing to that door again?
If you can even get a glance in through the door, you'll see a green present box and a festive, yet horribly distorted body emerging from it that vaguely resembles Isabel (link cw: body horror). Isabel's mind will be struggling greatly, filled with thoughts that can no longer be considered her own, but rather, of the Abnormality and a desire to harm and maim and in general, harsh everyone's Christmas vibes.
Meanwhile, the casino first floor is immediately on alert with multiple security guards dashing over to deal with the threat. ]
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okay well time to murder rampage, i guess! she will try to kill these security guards!!!! ]
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—Isabel!? [UHHHHH TAKING OUT HIS SWORD? MA'AM WHAT DID YOU DO? he will try and intervene between her and these security guards though. please no murder (on both sides).] Shoma, get back.
[he does recall rodya talking about abnormalities in trial as he furiously wracks his brain to remember if she said there was a cure—wait, she did say something about a "whole process" to undo a distortion, but that was about it. WELL, FUCK. MAYBE SHOMA KNOWS MORE!!]
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OF COURSE HE DOESN'T KNOW MORE ABOUT THIS, RODYA THINKS HE'S TWELVE.
so anyway they're covered in blood and security's swarming, and shoma has enough sense to grab his dagger and be on guard. are they really letting isabel just try to kill these guards actually, this seems ill-advised. ]
What the hell is that? [ wait okay. thinkthinkthink. ] Rodya said distortions only happy when somebody's emotions get to be too much, right? We have to get her to calm down!
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Does this stop Isabel? Not really. She might register the pain, but it's all distorted and probably only makes her angrier. It's also kind of hard to tell whether you're bleeding when your entire body kinda looks like it. The pain on its own certainly does not stop Isabel though the sword at least stops her physically from moving for a moment.
From the other side, Effie apparently decided he didn't want to get involved with this directly, but maybe he's doing his staff job by guiding some civilians out. Saude on the other hand will rush over, looking panicked. ]
[ This is the right opposite of subterfuge!!!
More casino security are joining the fray. If Charles looks like he's defending this Distortion for whatever reason, they're going to go after him too. What's it gonna be. ]
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be a big girl. don't die.
anyway is lovelace in the right mind to at least try not to murder her crewmates...? like she's 100 trying to murder anyone else but? ]
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Got any ideas for calming her down? Monster taming isn't my specialty here!
[this is fine. he has lowkey issues about people he likes turning into monsters between home and his closest friend on the ship dying four days ago as of this cyoa, but that's not relevant right now.]
... If worse comes to worst, we might have to incapacitating her and try using the watch.
[but in the meantime, he's going to try and slash at isabel's legs. anyway despite this seemingly very hostile action, he will also call out to her.]
C'mon, Captain, it's us!
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