Boon and Burden

"Oh, I killed a serial killer." you say, fairly  "The River Ripper? Heard of her?"

Poua closes her eyes, and bows her head. "By the dragons' bones..."

"You know what really makes me wonder? Why there was a serial killer just walking around when you can SEE HOW MANY PEOPLE I'VE KILLED."

"You're sure, then?"

"Well, yeah. With a title like 'River Ripper', and a Vile alignment, it was pretty obvious what was going on. And then I talked to her to make sure, and she was definitely the most disturbing person I've ever talked to."

"That's it? You don't have any proof?"

"I'm not finished! She went into great detail about killing toddlers! If you knew about it and did nothing then you're guilty too."

"I..." Poua fumbles her words. "I can only see the face people are... wearing. Well, the number of kills associated with it."

"Oh, that's different then. After all, I'm sure none of her murders were associated with THE NAME 'RIVER RIPPER'!"

"Different kind of kill. Her mask isn't focused on the deaths of people, it includes animals. Her parents are actual butchers, and I once found a vivisected squirrel in her room while I was looking for evidence. Yours is actually specifically people.

"Even so, I watched her carefully. I spread the kind of rumours that made people keep an eye on her, I... I didn't want to believe it."

She's suddenly silent.

A: Make a wish
B: "So, where do I get a familiar?"
C: "Were you close to her?"
D: "Don't give me that, you are not the victim here."
E: "Any other killcounts you want to tell me about?"
F: "Why have you got a Doom familiar? Your alignment doesn't match."
G: "If I went on an adventure, would you want to come?"

"So," you say, shattering the silence. "Where can I get a familiar?"

"In institutions such as this, there tends to be a sort of 'hub' where they gather to feed off residue. There's a gateway in the boiler room located in the Alchemy block. Ordinary people can't usually find it, but with those new eyes of yours..."

"...I should be able to see it. Thank you."

Poua looks at you, with something like pity in her eyes.

"What have you gotten yourself into? You were one of the few who didn't smell like destruction."

"What?"

"This town, it's – an Elder Celestial of Doom is sealed here. It attracts certain types of people, let's say. There are death cultists, Oblivion-affinitives like me, some teachers even have ties to the Guild of Assassins!"

"Do you want help dealing with any of that?"

"No! The thing with... with the River Ripper may have been justifiable, and worth it in the long run. But interfering with dangerous morally-ambiguous groups like that may make things worse, or even get you killed."

She looks tired. Maybe you should leave her alone for now.

---

The boiler room doesn't seem to have any unique or otherworldly properties, not at first glance. It's awfully dark, maybe you should open the windows? Or would the light scare away whatever you're looking for?

Strange that it looks so much older now. Or could that just be the difference in perspective? It might even be that the firelight doesn't make it look as inviting as it did before. That's a depressing thought.

You refuse to believe that there's just a massive crack in the floor that you somehow missed, however.

Peering down it, all you can see is darkness. Is that a faint white light at the bottom?

"Hello? Is someone there?" calls a spritely voice from the abyss.

"Ah, yes. I was wondering if I could recruit some, uh, familiars?"

"Sure thing! Just step down here, and I'll get you sorted out."

What do you do?

A: Make a wish
B: Step down
C: Probe a little more as to what 'stepping down' actually entails
D: Leave this place, you're likely to not find the sorts of familiars you actually want.
E: "I'm not entering the realm of that Elder Celestial of Doom or anything, am I?"

"Really hope I'm not going to regret this."

You take a running jump, and leap into the chasm.

---

Without feeling like you were falling for very long, your feet hit the ground. You're standing in a white marble building, viewing dark mountains through archways.

"Welcome!" cries the same voice you heard earlier. You turn around, and see a crystalline statue a little taller than you. It's modelled into a woman, and glowing teal.

YorLumecharainseguiri
Emissary of Ice
Altruistic (~) Stickler (~)
Ice Elemental (100%)
Req Bindpoints 8

"I presume you are here due to newly awakened powers? Did you hear tell of familiars, perhaps?"

"Yeah, actually. I wanted to—"

"Say no more. May I examine you?"

"Uh, sure?"

"Let's see... 'Altruistic, 81.3%. Civillian, 34.7%.' Going by alignment alone, it would appear your most suited aspect is 'Crystal'."

"Are there downsides to choosing differing alignments?"

"Well, if you're going to have beings following you around it might be best to make it so you have similar ideologies. You are also likely to find yourself understanding that kind of position if you're connected in that way, it might even warp your own views.

"Here's a little advice though: be careful about any familiar who is Pure, Vile, Paragon, or Anarchist. Each basically loops back around to its opposite. Sometimes it's difficult to tell absolute idealists apart, be it all-loving or selflessly malevolent. Similarly, both the unpredictable enigma, and absolutely random beings will be beyond your understanding."

"That cuts out... 24 of the 49 aspects. Even more if you count just very differently-aligned aspects."

"It's just advice, take it or leave it. Besides, anything below a Helot is going to be more or less non-sapient anyway. They have 'will', but not 'free will', if you get what I'm saying. I'll send out your profile, with no limitations, and you can go through them at your own disgression."

"How long is that going to take?"

"Relative to you? About four hours for a large range of responses. That's equivalent half an hour in your realm."

"Four hours!?" you exclaim. "What am I going to do for four hours?"

"Lots of things! This is a tourist destination, after all. Here's a pamphlet! Each activity will use up about one hour, if you do it properly."

You have 256 silver pieces on you.

What activities will you do? (Pick four)

A: Go to the Tourist Centre
"If you want to meet others like you, this is the place."
B: Visit the Enchanter's hut
"Give your items strange qualities."
C: Go to the Red Bull inn
"Socialise with underworlders. Maybe you'll convince someone who would otherwise have been reluctant to join you? Or pick up a quest?"
D: Go to the Mystical Curios shop
"You don't pay with money!"
E: Work in the ectomines
"In case you need a little extra cash. There are some things that overworlders are just better at."
F: Go to Healing Waters Spa
"Relaxing, AND healing. What's not to like?"
G: Buy some supplies
"A lot of what you can get will just be mundane. But there is some nice underworld-only gear."
H: Ask questions at the information desk
"These people know a lot of things. Things that neither you or I do. The nature of reality, locations of powerful familiars. Beware: they can be cryptic."
I: See what the future holds for you
"Fortune-telling involves a lot of guess-work and imprecision. Still, if you want to know some of the tough choices you'll have to make later on, this is the place."
J: Walk the hall of mirrors
"If you're unsatisfied with the way you are, here's the place you can go to get a few 'add-ons'. I just mean physical characteristics, but any changes will involve trade-offs."
K: Visit the Sanctuary of the Freed
"These are familiars who don't exactly fall in the aspect categories. Maybe they've chosen an alignment not associated with their aspect. Maybe they have unique or unpredictable powers. Maybe they've just been driven insane by external forces. These familiars do not qualify to apply to be your familiars. But if you actually seek them out, you can still recruit them."

Sure let's earn us some money

J! But the second J. That was probably an L.

World Shift, eh?

"Ooh, can I play?" you ask the dark wisp whose stats refuse to appear over his head.
"Certainly! Would you like to be taken straight to the game?"

"Why do I ever bother?" your friendly guide mutters.

"Yes, please."

"Very well then."

You feel yourself whisked away, and you are seated in darkness. Your skin glows with a faint blue cyan light, and you are sitting in a circle of darkness, with nine other people, of various colours.

There are ten domains, each holding a separate people. Your choices here will birth a new world.

You will start off with 1600 World Points, which you may use to influence your people. Once you are out of world points, you shall lose your grip on your people, and be forced to watch as they fall.

The loser of this game will never leave, while the winner can come and go as they please.

You may bid World Points on a realm, but beware: you must pay the price you have offered, even if someone else pays a greater price and earns the realm.

You may not end this phase with any number of realms besides one, but once an auction is over, you have secured the right to auction your own realms.

Here are the options:
An underground realm, whose people who have never seen the stars. The walls are rich with minerals, and they have mastered the art of enchantment.

A sky realm, whose people have never seen the ground. The people live on floating islands, and have developed a kinship with creatures of the air.

A dead realm of ash and fire, with ten people from another land, another time.

A realm of duality, whose people see the sun as one, and rise as another. It is a treetop realm by day, but by night the trees find their slumber.

A realm of water, whose people live in air pockets, catching fish and cultivating seaweed.

A realm of discovery and secrets, whose people have only begun to scratch the surface of the magic they can discover.

A realm of labyrinths, whose people must solve riddles and defeat monsters if they ever want to expand their borders.

A desert realm of names, where if you know a name, you can control that entity.
A realm of possibilities, whose topography you can bend to your will in its creation.

A realm of horrors, where if the people truly comprehended anything outside their bubble, then they would go insane.

Discussion phase has yet to begin

A: Make a wish
B: Make a bid
C: Wait for someone else to bid
D: Switch your title

You decide to just make a bid. Other people make deals, while you just remain a blank slate.

---

You'll have to be careful about bidding. You're guaranteed to lose that amount of money, after all.

Rounds
1: The Sky Realm (Current)
2: The Ash Realm
3: The Twofold Realm
4: The Aquatic Realm
5: The Secret Realm
6: The Maze Realm
7: The Barren Realm
8: The Free Realm
9: The Horror Realm
10: The Underground Realm

1600 WP

How much do you bid?

1: 1 WP
2: A small amount
3: A moderate amount
4: A significant amount
5: Most of what you have
6: All but 1

Playing it safe, you decide to bid just one World Point.

Player 1 bids 0 WP
Player 2 bids 0 WP
Player 3 bids 1 WP
Player 4 bids 0 WP
Player 5 bids 0 WP
Player 6 bids 25 WP
Player 7 bids 0 WP
Player 8 bids 0 WP
( Player 9 bids 750 WP )
Player 10 bids 0 WP

Player 9 has won the bid!

You wonder if some of the others have allied. Well, it's too late for you to try now.

Rounds
1: The Sky Realm 
2: The Ash Realm 
3: The Twofold Realm (Current)
4: The Aquatic Realm
5: The Secret Realm
6: The Maze Realm
7: The Barren Realm
8: The Free Realm
9: The Horror Realm
10: The Underground Realm

1599 WP

How much do you bid?

1: 0 WP
2: 1 WP
3: A small amount
4: A moderate amount
5: A significant amount
6: Most of what you have
7: All but 1