[X] Blue, the colour of logic & technology. Blue mages specialize in meddling, whether disrupting the spells of others or creating powerful artefacts to further their goals.
Blue mages are also capable of accelerating their own thoughts to remember more spells in a pinch. Blue mages can manipulate wind & water to do their bidding.


Fuck blue. Most OP shit in magic with 2 mana counterspells. I'll vote for blue to have some touhou suffer this 2 mana counterspells on their spellcards.

[X] Red, the colour of impulses & freedom. Red mages act & react faster than anyone and often with fire & lightning. Red magics tend to centre around speed & destruction, whether targeted or indescriminate. If it's physical it can be broken by red magic, the question is just how much force is needed.

You follow up counterspells with minions that hit fast and hard. And then, fireball to the face.

[X] Red, the colour of impulses & freedom.

[X] Green, the colour of nature & growth.

[X]White, the colour of order & morality. White mages specialize in protecting others and healing those in need. White magic is also capable of evening any field through imposing laws, disintergrating artefacts & enchantments or just smiting everything. White magics tend to utilize light to accomplish their goals.
[X] Green, the colour of natue & growth. Green mages are capable of summoning bigger creatures than the other colours, generating more mana and destroying the unnatural. Green magics are also capable of temporarily increasing strength & manipulating the earth and nature itself.

[ ] Colourless. Rather than focus on a colour, there is power to be found in its absence. Artefacts are one such thing, as are the entities known as the Eldrazi. To round things off the magic of Ugin, the spirit dragon also belongs here.

Lets see, Izzet 1, Selesnia 1, Gruul 1, and artifact 1 so far. I think I'll vote for Boros.

[X] White
[X] Red

Let's go for Izzet colors.

[X] Blue, the colour of logic & technology. Blue mages specialize in meddling, whether disrupting the spells of others or creating powerful artefacts to further their goals.
Blue mages are also capable of accelerating their own thoughts to remember more spells in a pinch. Blue mages can manipulate wind & water to do their bidding.


[X] Red, the colour of impulses & freedom. Red mages act & react faster than anyone and often with fire & lightning. Red magics tend to centre around speed & destruction, whether targeted or indescriminate. If it's physical it can be broken by red magic, the question is just how much force is needed.

[X] Blue
[X] Red

Opposites attract!

[x] White
[x] Red

Both Boros and the Magewrights have their own merits, but I like the boldness of the first better

[X] Colourless. Rather than focus on a colour, there is power to be found in its absence.

[X] Blue, the colour of logic & technology. Blue mages specialize in meddling, whether disrupting the spells of others or creating powerful artefacts to further their goals.
Blue mages are also capable of accelerating their own thoughts to remember more spells in a pinch. Blue mages can manipulate wind & water to do their bidding.


[X] Red, the colour of impulses & freedom. Red mages act & react faster than anyone and often with fire & lightning. Red magics tend to centre around speed & destruction, whether targeted or indescriminate. If it's physical it can be broken by red magic, the question is just how much force is needed.

Izzet for life

[X] Blue, the colour of logic & technology. Blue mages specialize in meddling, whether disrupting the spells of others or creating powerful artefacts to further their goals.
Blue mages are also capable of accelerating their own thoughts to remember more spells in a pinch. Blue mages can manipulate wind & water to do their bidding.


[X] Red, the colour of impulses & freedom. Red mages act & react faster than anyone and often with fire & lightning. Red magics tend to centre around speed & destruction, whether targeted or indescriminate. If it's physical it can be broken by red magic, the question is just how much force is needed.

Want to use spells that can overload!

Heading out to a standard PPTQ, will call votes & update when I get back.

[ ] Colourless. Rather than focus on a colour, there is power to be found in its absence. Artefacts are one such thing, as are the entities known as the Eldrazi. To round things off the magic of Ugin, the spirit dragon also belongs here.


Abominations are the best

[X] Black, the colour of amorality & death. For a black mage, nothing is off limits. To this end black mages specialize in manipulating death, undeath and darkness. Another favourite trick is to peer into an opposing mind and steal their thought and erode their will. Black mages also have a limited ability to replicate other colours, but there is always a price for this...


[X] Red, the colour of impulses & freedom. Red mages act & react faster than anyone and often with fire & lightning. Red magics tend to centre around speed & destruction, whether targeted or indescriminate. If it's physical it can be broken by red magic, the question is just how much force is needed.

black/red is best combo

[x]White
[x]Red

No idea what the fuck they meant but I want to maximize Danmaku and this is the second best choice.

The first best involves black, and that doesn't seem... positive for this setting.

[X] Blue, the colour of logic & technology. Blue mages specialize in meddling, whether disrupting the spells of others or creating powerful artefacts to further their goals.
Blue mages are also capable of accelerating their own thoughts to remember more spells in a pinch. Blue mages can manipulate wind & water to do their bidding.

[X] Black, the colour of amorality & death. For a black mage, nothing is off limits. To this end black mages specialize in manipulating death, undeath and darkness. Another favourite trick is to peer into an opposing mind and steal their thought and erode their will. Black mages also have a limited ability to replicate other colours, but there is always a price for this...

I like this combo. <nod>

Back from tournament.
Votes called & tallied.
Votes

White: 4
Blue: 6
Black: 2
Red: 9
Green: 2
Colourless: 3

Winner: Blue/Red.
Time for Science!

Writing.

[X] Colourless
[X] Black

A gadget-totin' Color-swappin' wizard sounds like the way to go!

Searching by instinct for the faintest trace of mana, you are almost blinded by an intense concentration of mana that seems to pull you in. In a panic you steer yourself towards the largest collection of blue mana you can find, figuring that at least you'll be able to cast your magic when you arrive.

With a pop, you planeswalk into Gensokyo about 5 feet above the surface of the lake, much to the suprise (and relief) of a small frog. The Ice fairy about to freeze said frog looks up at you as you clamber out of the frigid waters with sparks crackling around off your gear in interesting ways.

Deciding that not electrocuting yourself comes first, you summon a localised burst of heat to dry out your gear. This does not go over well with your observer, who shoots you a frosty glare and the temperature drops by about 15 degrees. "Stop ignoring me!" She yells. "I'm the strongest and I'm gonna prove it to you!" "I challenge you to Danmaku." As bullets of ice are beginning to form, you can see where this is heading.

Mana pool: UR
> Notes on mana: You have a limited supply of mana to cast spells with. Your mana will refresh at the end of a scene (not post). The amount of mana you have available will increase as you travel Gensokyo. Certain artefacts will also provide mana. The mana cost of an action will be given in brackets e.g (1U) This means the spell requires one of any mana + one U (Blue) mana.

[ ] Dodge the duel
- Attempt to planeswalk away (Note: Planes don't usually suck you in upon entry)
- Teleportal (UR) away (Note: Short range, experimental.)

[ ] Fight the duel
- Remand (1U) Stall for an explanation.
- Lightning bolt (R) Bullets? Reply in kind.
- Frostburn Wierd (UR) Summon a minion to tank.

[X] Fight the duel
- Remand (1U)(1 = R) Stall for an explanation.

Do we get an indicator how much of each mana we have?

[x] Fight the duel
- Lightning bolt (R) Bullets? Reply in kind.

Let's get to it

>>187492
Yep. You currently have a full pool at 2 (UR), If it drops I'll give you the current amount. I'll also handle generic costs, so you don't need to specify.

If anyone wants, I could do an Infodump on the PC's home plane of Ravnica, what mana is and how it works, as well as my interpretation of how summoning creatures work.

I'd appreciate the how 2 mana info dump.

Current mana available: UR

How mana is used:
Spells in magic have a mana cost. That cost will include a number and/or one or more letters, and will be in the upper right corner of a card, or in brackets after the card name. First you pay for the letter by removing the same type of mana from your mana pool. Next you pay for the number by removing mana from your pool equal to the number (this part can be paid using any color or colorless).

Example: Teleportal costs UR, so you remove a U and a R from the pool to pay for it. Remand costs 1U,so you remove a U and one of any color (in this case it comes out the same as there is only R left).

If the system is too confusing, I'll remove it at a later date.

TLDR: I'll handle it, just in longer fights it may be optimal save some for later.

[x] Fight the duel
- Remand (1U) Stall for an explanation.

[X] 2
-[X] 1

Votes called for Remand.
While I'm writing, heare's something I prepared earlier.

Mana:

Mana is the energy the land produces and that mages use to cast spells.

A mage can draw on the mana produced by a location they are familiar with, with no impact on the land. The colour of mana produced varies depending on the topography & history of the location.

Mana comes in 5 colours, with each colour allowing spells of varying effects to be used. A character will have an affinity to one or more colours of mana, depending on their personality (a red mage is likely to be rash and impulsive, wheras a blue mage is likely to be hesitant to react before thay know the solution.)

A spell requiring a specific colour of mana uses that particular colour to shape the intended effects of the spell, as well as provide an inital power boost for the spell. The rest of the mana spent on the spell provides the remaining power. The coloured mana maintains the 'shape' of the spell, so any mana can be used.

Figuring that the first priority in this scenario is knowledge. Knowledge about where you are, who this fairy is, why she is attacking you and what "Danmaku" is. To that end you prepare a suitable response.

Focusing quickly, you close your eyes. Picturing the magic the little ice fairy is gathering, you weave ribbons of your own magic throughout her spell. Opening your eyes again, you wait for the ideal time to strike, trying your best to ignore the empty feeling that comes with having no mana left.

The little fairy holds up a card and begins to recite: "Snow sign [Diamond" - "Remand" you interject as your spell reverses the flow of her magic, sending it flowing back to her spellcard.

Breathing heavily, the fairy glares at you and yells "Hey that's cheating!" Your response of "There are rules?" Is met with a blank stare.

After explaining that you just arrived and that, no you don't know danmaku so further attacks will be met with a similar result, you are treated to a rapid explanation of the art of shooting each other nonlethally, as well as an amazing variety of names and ways in which said names 'cheat'. The highlights of this include "Using giant lasers that are too hard to dodge" , " Inventing danmaku, so she's too good at it" and "Being too fast to hit". Amazement is also had at the fact that "Cirno" is a new name to you, despite the fact that she is "The strongest everywhere and super famous".

"So in short, you shoot bullets at each other and the magic of the duel makes it nonlethal. In addition there are 'Spellcards' that form a pretty pattern of bullets to make it more difficult for the opponent. Also the winner a favour from the loser." you summarise. "Yep, so lets get to it! " exclaims Cirno.

"As you have no spellcards all you have to do is last for one minute, but you won't, so when I win you'll have to teach me that cheap trick you used." You smirk. "You're on."

With those words, you can feel a strange effect surrounding you, making your magic feel slightly off. Whilst you are intrigued by the effect, the floating fairy yelling "Ice sign [Icicle fall]" is somewhat more concerning. At Cirno's command, bullets of ice shoot diagonally away from you, before forming graceful curves that sweep towards each other intending to catch you in the crossfire. "This isn't that hard, I was expecting something more after hearing your description" you taunt while sidestepping the occasional bullet that comes close. "Shut up! Your cheaty trick left me tired, so I couldn't fight at my full strength, then you'd definitely lose." With that the timer for the card runs out, declaring you the winner.

"As I won, I'd like you to tell me how to make spellcards and where I can find some food and a place to stay." Looking dejected at her loss Cirno tells you that "I kinda just focus my power on the cards, then give it a name and it works. To make spellcards, either Reimu, the Moriyas or Mrs rainbow will be able to teach you so we can have a proper battle."

"As for food and a place to stay, um... the human village? Perhaps you could stay at one of the shrines or the temple for a while? Ooh! You should try Mystia's lamprey, it's reeeallly good! Not sure where you'd sleep though."

After a few moments to gather your thoughts and let your mana refresh, you decide to head out to...

>It's currently midmorning
>Mana bond with Misty lake formed. U added to mana pool.


Inventory:
"A couple of Ravnican coins (local value unknown)
"One Izzet guild badge (With mana regulator, minor water damage, stable)
"Several minor magitech devices for manipulating heat & water flow (mild water damage, stable)
"Lunch (Major water damage)

Mana pool: UUR


Spellcards & accomodation?
[ ] Hakurei Shrine "Cause Reimu's really strong."
[ ] Moriya Shrine "Cause they're outsiders."
[ ] Myouren Temple "Cause they're nice."
[ ] The human village "Booring"
[ ] At Mystia's "Cause her lamprey is reaally good" (Nope, I am NOT sleeping in a tree)

[X] Hakurei Shrine "Cause Reimu's really strong."

Whatever ore the coins are made of is sure to compensate for whatever aid we receive. Which is for the best, because that way we won't be indebted to one of the many higher powers.

[X] Myouren Temple "Cause they're nice."

Reimu is certainly strong, but I'm not sure how helpful she'll be. The only mage on the list is Byakuren.

[X] Myouren Temple "Cause they're nice."

[X] 3

[x] Moriya Shrine

They need a bit of focus. They've been kind of forgotten by THP

[X] Moriya Shrine "Cause they're outsiders."

[X] Myouren Temple "Cause they're nice."

[X] Myouren Temple "Cause they're nice."

[X] Myouren Temple "Cause they're nice."

[ ] Myouren Temple

Deciding that this Myouren Temple place sounds like the best bet, I follow Cirno's directions as best as I can. This is made harder by the fact that said directions assume that I can fly. After trudging through yet more forest, I start forming schematics for a flying device in my head - perhaps some sort of wings? My musings are interrupted by something large and growling jumping out of the bushes at me. One quick burst of lightning later and said attacker backs off, whimpering and reeking of burned fur.

The rest of the journey is unremarkable, and so after a while I come to the gates of a large temple. In front of the gates a girl with teal hair and some sort of poofy ears is sweeping up leaves. Upon seeing me the girl yells "WELCOME TO MYOUREN TEMPLE, HOW CAN WE HELP?" Ears still ringing, I ask back if I can see Byakuren as I'd like some help with spellcards, as well as a place to stay for a while. As the girl opens her mouth I clap my hands over my ears. The reply comes through at something approximating a normal volume. "She's out at the moment, investigating a strange new youkai that's been prowling around the village. Apparently It's rather distinctive and even the other youkai are afraid of it. She's also been attempting to dissuade a group of young hunters from going to exterminate it. You are welcome to stay until she gets back."

As I take my hands off my ears, an echo of her voice seems to come from right behind me, startling me and setting my ears ringing again. The girl lets out a nervous smile.

Byakuren's out at the moment,I should...

Mana: UUR

[ ] Search for her by
- [ ] Finding the youkai
- [ ] Following the hunters
- [ ] Leap of flame(UR) From the air (Short term flight + combat boost, landing uncertain)
[ ] Wait for her
[ ] Head somewhere else

[x] Search for her by
[x] Finding the Youkai

Can we cast as many things as we want as long as they are within our land amount and only once per turn

>>187626
'Turns' are an abstract thing here. Mana will refresh every 'scene' (Duel, Party, Infiltration ect...) You can cast practically as many things as you want during each 'scene' up to the limit of your mana. (Actually capped at 7+cards drawn this scene, but that should never come up).

[X] 1
-[X] 1

[x] Search for her by
[x] Finding the Youkai

[X] Wait for her

[X] Wait for her

Might as well just wait and

[x] Search for her by
[x] Finding the Youkai

Proactive!

Votes called for [ ]Finding the youkai

Have some background info while I'm writing.
Out of curiosity, how many of you readers are unfamiliar with Magic, and are these background posts appreciated?

A plane is basically one of many universes (That sounds weird). A plane often only consists of a single world (plus sun(s) & moon(s)), but can be infinitely small or large. The space between planes is known as the Blind Eternities. Only planeswalkers and the Eldrazi (cosmic horrors) can travel through unprotected. The knowledge of multiple planes existing is not a widespread thing, with very few non-planeswalkers being aware of them.

The PC is a planeswalker from the city-plane of RAVNICA. Ravnica is a world that consists solely of one giant vaguely European city. The city is ruled by 10 guilds, who are presided over by the Living guildpact, who settles inter-guild disputes. He is currently absent.

A note on planeswalkers: Very rarely a person (or dragon or whatever) is born with what is known as a 'Spark'. This 'Spark' will remain dormant until the person is put under extreme stress, where it will 'ignite' and attempt to send the owner to a different plane. This is called planeswalking. Once the spark has ignited, the owner may planeswalk at will. The technique required varies from planeswalker to planeswalker.

>>187638
So the MC's spark awakening sent him here or he came of his own free will? Does he belong to the Magewrights or is he a free agent, if there's such thing?

Each plane really only has a single planet? Is there no interstellar travel?

>>187639
The MC has been to a few planes before, but didn't intentionally come here. It's not come up in story yet though. (Details in spoilers below)

The MC does indeed belong to the Izzet and was in fact on the way to do a job when he was [spoiler accosted by a demon and [/spoiler] forced to planeswalk away. Then mid planeswalk, something shrieked in the blind eterneties, causing him to become lost.

Most planes do consist of a single planet and any attempts at interstellar travel would end up running into some kind of planar boundary. In addition the tech level in MtG tends to be quite low (Ravnica and New Phyrexia being the exceptions. Even then most tech tends towards magitech and the Izzet have other experiments to occupy their attention so have never tried.)

>>187638
I have a scattered amount knowledge courtesy of casually browsing /tg/, but I have never played.

>>187641
>shrieked
Planeswalkers get out REEEEEEEEE

View image when you find Byakuren.

After thanking the girl for her help, I dash off towards the forest in search of this new youkai. Channeling a touch of blue mana through my guild badge, I let out a sort of 'ping' to search for magic. Many minor results come back, but only three major ones come back. Keeping the pinging going, I crash through the forest in the direction of the largest signal while keeping an eye on the other two.

A few minutes later, I notice that the minor points of magic are beginning to converge on me. As a small cloud of fairies float through the bush towards me, I figure that my constant pinging is probably attracting them. Stopping the flow of mana, I ready a spell to clear them out. As I shape the spell, I force more mana into the spell than it was meant to hold, overloading it. Electrickery I intone, using a spell that I learned ironically enough from a faerie. At my command a small spark of electricity flies out towards the nearest fairy, followed by many more as the effect of overloading it kicks in and sparks fly towards every fairy including some I hadn't seen coming.

With that interruption (and a large chunk of my mana) out the way I continue in the direction of the largest signal.

After crashing further through the bush for a few minutes longer, I come across a floating woman with rainbow hair firing an immense storm of danmaku at a creature tgat seems to be made of spikes, claws and teeth -is that a Tarmogoyf? Feeling the faint hum of a summoned creature about it and noticing that the creature is outgrowing the drowsiness inflicted on it via danmaku, I quickly step in and Unsummon it with the last of my mana. As the Tarmogoyf unravels into shards of mana the monk turns to me and says in a strained voice "Thank you for your assistance, now if you'd excuse me I have some hunters to show back to the village." With that she begins to fly off, but pauses when you yell "Wait!" Quickly you exchange the offer of a lift for locating the hunters and information about the creature. Begrudgingly she accepts and you are hauled up into the sky behind her.

Pinging the area for magic (once!) you locate the remaining magical response and point to where the hunters should be. Byakuren speeds off to where you pointed, and before long voices can be heard. I'm dumped unceremoniously on the ground behind her. Apparently this particular group of "hunters" were some young men from the human village who needed some alcohol in them to head out. Upon seeing Byakuren they pause, then pale amusingly upon seeing the strained expression on her face. When Byakuren tells them that the youkai has been dealt with, they turn and slink off without further words.

With that out of the way Byakuren turns to you and says "Explain."

>You'd better do as the nice lady says.
[ ] Explain everything, including the nature of planes & planeswalkers. Better safe than sorry.
[ ] Don't explain planes & planeswalkers, just explain how creatures & summoning works. Who knows if she'd believe you?

[X] Explain everything, including the nature of planes & planeswalkers. Better safe than sorry.

[X] Don't explain planes & planeswalkers, just explain how creatures & summoning works. Who knows if she'd believe you?
I bet you guys play poker with transparent cards.

>>187650
[X] Don't explain planes & planeswalkers, just explain how creatures & summoning works. Who knows if she'd believe you?

Good to have a trump card

[X] Don't explain planes & planeswalkers, just explain how creatures & summoning works.

If she detects you're withholding relevant information, and demands to know what you're hiding, then

[X] Explain everything, including the nature of planes & planeswalkers.

[x] Don't explain planes & planeswalkers, just explain how creatures & summoning works. Who knows if she'd believe you?

Let's just keep things simple. If and when things get more complex, we can reveal information then.

>>187650
[X] Explain everything, including the nature of planes & planeswalkers. Better safe than sorry.

[x] Don't explain planes & planeswalkers, just explain how creatures & summoning works. Who knows if she'd believe you?

Judging from her expression, I'd better not explain everything. Who knows if she'd even believe me, or how she'd react to knowledge of worlds beyond her own. People tend to react badly to being told that some things are impossible for them. Anyway I'd better get on with the explanation before she gets more annoyed. "What you just fought was a summoned version of a creature called a Tarmogoyf. It's a favorite of many mages due to how easy it is to summon one and their ability to grow."

Byakuren asks about the difference between a summoned creature and a normal one.

"A summoned creature is a construct of magic given the form of whatever the mage summoning it wants, providing the mage is familiar with the type of creature they are trying to create. The mage provides the power and the spell provides the form and a limited intelligence."

Byakuren looks both relieved and slightly embarrased.
"So they aren't truly alive then. In that case I owe you an apology for my behavior, as well as an explanation. I thought you dissolved an innocent youkai. I'll start over by introducing myself. I'm Byakuren, magician and head monk at Myouren Temple. You are?"

With that I introduce myself as a "Magewright of the Izzet league, and wandering magician." I then ask "Was that a spellcard you just used? I'm still new to this whole Danmaku thing, and I'm not sure how to convert my own brand of magic into spellcards."

The rainbow-haired magician replies "I'd be happy to. Would you accept it as my apology?" When you nod she says "Fantastic. I'll give you a lift back to the temple, and we'll discuss it over tea."

With that she grabs your hand and flies back off to the temple with me in tow.

This flight is a lot less oppresive than the last one, and we even get a decent conversation in. Apparently Myouren temple is devoted to buddhism and human-youkai equality, as a result of that many of the temple residents are youkai. I assure Byakuren that I have no problem with that. As we begin to land, I feel the familiar sensation of my mana reserves refreshing.

After Byakuren exchanges pleasantries with many of the temple residents and assures them that the youkai has been dealt with, I find myself in her office with two steaming cups of tea in front of us. As Byakuren rummages around for something, she asks me to concentrate on my magic, and what it means to me.

While I ponder on the contradictions at the heart of my magic (Fire & Ice, Logic & Feelings ect...)she pulls out an ornate box filled with blank cards and puts it on the table. "Keeping your magic in your head, pull out one of these cards." I do so and note that the card developed a border that alternates between blue & red lightning bolts. In addition a faint watermark of a dragon appeared in the centre. Other than that the card remains blank, much to Byakuren's puzzlement. "There should be the spellcard title there, and the pattern should be here." Byakuren says while pointing to two spots on the card. "Here, I'll show you one of mine." Byakuren then pulls out one of her spellcards. At the top the card says 'Light magic [Star Maelstrom]' Underneath is a pattern reminiscent of the one I saw her use against the Tarmogoyf. Eight spokes interrupt an otherwise plain border.

Byakuren ponders for a moment, then asks "You had a duel with Cirno, right? Would you mind explaining how that went?" As you recount your duel with Cirno, she looks thoughtful and when you are finished she says "You don't have a title, so it wasn't a proper spellcard duel. That might be why the spellcard isn't complete.

I give her a quizzical look, so she elaborates "Everyone has a title for spellcard duels, that relates to who they are. Mine is [The sealed great magician], while Cirno's should still be [The fairy of the ice]. You'll need one to make spellcards, but they can be changed fairly easily.

>Incomplete spellcard added to Inventory.

Mana: UUR

>I'll need a title for spellcard duels
[ ] [Magus of Red & Blue]
[ ] [Magewright of a faraway city]
[ ] [Spellsmith of Impulse]
[ ] [Write in]

> Spellcard power assignment
[ ] Red-based spellcards, Blue-based shots. (Aggresive spellcards with fast moving bullets , slow homing non-spellcard shots)
[] A mix of both in both. (Unpredictable spellcards, explosive shot)
[] Blue-based spellcards, Red-based shots. (Tricky spellcards with a longer duration + traps, rapid lightning based shot

[X] [Magewright of Red & Blue]
[X] A mix of both in both. (Unpredictable spellcards, explosive shot)

[X] [Spellsmith of Impulse]
[X] A mix of both in both. (Unpredictable spellcards, explosive shot)

Seems the most fun.

I'm using Mokou's Fujiyama Volcano spellcard as a reference for the explosions.

>>187667
So that's its name? Man, I kept calling it 'Fujiwara Volcano'

[x] Red Blue Magewright

[x] Blue based spellcards, red based shots

[X] [Spellsmith of Impulse]
[X] A mix of both in both. (Unpredictable spellcards, explosive shot)

[x] [Spellsmith of Impulse]
[x] A mix of both in both. (Unpredictable spellcards, explosive shot)

I can see weaknesses in having either primarily red or blue spell cards. Having both makes them unpredictable - thus harder to dodge. In theory, anyway.

[X] [Spellsmith of Impulse]
[X] Blue-based spellcards, Red-based shots. (Tricky spellcards with a longer duration + traps, rapid lightning based shot

X] [Magewright of Red and Blue]
[X] A mix of both in both. (Unpredictable spellcards, explosive shot)

[X] [Spellsmith of Impulse]
[X] Blue-based spellcards, Red-based shots. (Tricky spellcards with a longer duration + traps, rapid lightning based shot

[X] [Spellsmith of Impulse]
[X] A mix of both in both. (Unpredictable spellcards, explosive shot)

"I think [Spellsmith of Impulse] suits me." I say while twirling my spellcard in my fingers. As I do so the card glows faintly and I feel the magic snap into place. I take a look at the card and I see spells slowly shifting into each other in a disconcerting display. Impulse sign [Lightning bolt], Izzet sign [Electrolyze], Dragon sign [Banefire] and Overload sign [Cyclonic rift] all shift in front of my eyes as well as many of the other spells in my arsenal, transformed into spellcard form.

Pulling my eyes away from the card I look up at Byakuren, who takes one look at the card and says "It seems you lack focus. Try focusing on that Unsummon spell you used earlier." As I do, I see the card shift to Dispelling sign [Unsummon] and a pattern appears on the card. Apparently due to some quirk of magic, my new spellcard acts as a translator for my spells. Useful.

Byakuren interrupts my musings by handing me a small case to hold my (one?) spellcard. "Spellcards are based on more than just peoples abilities. Some are based on events that have happened or famous artifacts, I wonder what would happen if you tried to make one of those with your wierd spellcard." I ponder over the possibilities of this for a moment before asking "Shots are just a minor spell used by the combatants right? I don't need to define them beforehand."
"Correct. I would advise on focusing on one shot type for now, as you'll need to be able to cast it rapidly under pressure. If you want to practice, Shou should be in the dojo." Byakuren then gives me directions to the dojo.

With that I thank Byakuren and follow her directions, eager to try out my newfound duelling abilities. While I'm walking I ponder over possible shot types, before coming up with a brilliant idea. I create a small fireball, wrap it in a weak dispelling field and then coat the thing in a shell of ice. I then give the finished product a small shock, and smile as the careful balance of elemental energies disintegrates. The end result of this is that the sphere explodes in a mix of showers of ice shards and gouts of fire, leaving behind a lingering field of countermagic. Perfect, just don't get too close.

Now prepared I step into the dojo and see a tiger-girl practicing forms. I cough loudly to alert the girl to my presence, then say "You must be Shou. Byakuren said I could find you here, and that you'd help me practice danmaku." At the mention of danmaku, Shou grins and says "You're on."

>Universal spellcard added to inventory

> The choice to mix both applies mainly to proper spellcards, rather than translated ones, but will affect general strategy too.
Mana: UUR

>Danmaku duel incoming. Open with what?
[ ] A translated spell
-[ ]Lightning bolt(R)
-[ ]Dragonshift(1UR)
-[ ]Chemister's Trick(UR)
-[ ]Write in
[ ] Try to form a spellcard based on a past event/experience.

[X] A translated spell
-[X]Lightning bolt(R)

[X] A translated spell
-[X]Lightning bolt(R)

Start with the basics, then get fancier later

[X] A translated spell
-[X]Lightning bolt(R)
A classic red spell and one that fills me with dread. Too many good RDW players around where I am.

[X] A translated spell
-[X]Lightning bolt(R)
RIHGTENING BOLTU cannot fail

Unless we can make a spellcard based on being chucked through the planes like a pinball, I don't think there are many events we can yet make a spellcard of.

Arglebargle Sign [Fuck the Eldrazi]

[X] Try to form a spellcard based on a past event/experience.

>>187682
There are a few events to chose from. You've got:
The implicit maze
Your spark igniting
The journey here
Your first magic duel
Visiting other planes
Any one of many Izzet experiments (Weirds)

As for spells, you can cast any blue and/or red spell legal in modern, with the exception of Scars block (just nope), BFZ block (you weren't there) & the set Khans of tarkir (It never happened).
Note that casting a spell takes time, so take that into consideration when using rituals.

As for a [Fuck the eldrazi] sign, the best ones are either white or from BFZ/OGW, so very little luck there. Otherwise Fall of the Titans would be ideal

>>187684
I guess asking Koth for help would be out of the question then?

[x] Create card based on experience : First duel
Appropriate

[X] Try to form a spellcard based on a past event/experience.
-[X] Your spark igniting

For my first spellcard duel, it's only fitting that I use the oldest spell in my arsenal, a treasured teaching of red mages down the years and one of the first spells ever put to paper.

Decision made, we both declare our titles: Shou Toramaru [Disciple of Vai?ravana]. My turn now [Spellsmith of impulse].

That out the way, I hold my spellcard aloft and declare my card Impulse sign [Lightning Bolt]. Shou does the same with Light sign [Absolute justice].

At my command storm clouds gather behind me, lightning arcing through them. With a threatening rumble, a bolt of lightning flies forth, forking continuously until a veritable storm is flying towards Shou. She barely has time to flinch out of the way of the first branch, before another fork arcs straight through her.

The problem with having such a rapid and powerful attack in a low cost spellcard is that although Shou's card has barely started, mine is almost finished barring some cinematic storm clouds that are already dispersing.

A line of lasers fire from Shou's spellcard, bracketing me and restricting my movement for the bands of bullets to try and trap me. Fortunately I came prepared and fire my dispelling shot to clear a path through the bullets. One problem I notice is that said shots cannot pass through the lasers, so due to the fact I cannot fly means that I currently am incapable of actually hitting my opponent. Another unfortunate fact is that Shou's shots can apparently pass through her own lasers. A panicked shot to dispel those results in me being reminded of the explosion radius of my shots in an embarrassing fashion. My arm starts to go numb, and my guild badge cracked in a worrying manner while I successfully avoid the rest of the spellcard.

In the brief interlude before our next spellcards, I take a quick look at my opponent. All Shou's fur is sticking up in an amusing manner. Barely avoiding bursting out laughing, I declare my next spellcard: Overload sign [Cyclonic rift] Shou's next card [Demon of purification] exploits the weakness of my shots by firing horizontal lasers, preventing me from actually firing a shot.

My own spellcard starts to kick in, a mass of cloud swirling around the duel border and slowly spiralling inwards. Shou floats in what is currently a massive safe spot firing glowing orbs at me, while her lasers dissolve into a mess of bullets. Taking advantage of my relative freedom I fire a few shots towards her, dodging the bullets as I wait for my cyclone to close.

More lasers block my fire, but judging from the poorly-aimed fire coming my way Shou is starting to have trouble with the tightening cyclone and the mass of danmaku being blown around. As the cyclone tightens further around her I lose sight of her, but I have my own problems to deal with. Barely dodging the danmaku, I hear a yelp as both our spellcards time out.

After the duel I chat with Shou for a bit about danmaku and how my spellcards were. Apparently a 10 second spellcard is highly unusual around here and would lead to some jokes about being a quickshot, if it wasn't so effective. My second spellcard was much more like a normal spellcard, but twisting any danmaku nearby makes it much harder than it looks. It probably would be much easier a second time though.

When Shou asks about the frost covering my right arm, I feel a bit embarrassed to admit that I caught myself in one of my own explosive shots. This sparks another discussion about my unusual shot type and the upsides and downsides of said shot.

Shou then hands me a small red gem "As a reward for winning, and as thanks for the duel.". It feels oddly warm.

As I turn to leave, I notice that It's starting to get dark. I ask Shou if I could stay for the night. Shou smiles and says she'll show me to a guest room for the night, but suggests that I have dinner first.

Dinner is a curious affair. I sit down at one end of the table with Shou, and I get introduced to the temples residents. (Hi Ichirin, Nazrin, Unzan,Minamitsu, Mamizou, Kyouko and Byakuren) Byakuren then walks into the room, lays out the food she was carrying on the table and says some words to begin the meal.

As the meal progresses, I get more and more confused about the presence of two Byakurens, but I'm too busy enjoying the food to comment.

After the meal, as Shou guides me to a guest room, I ask about the two Byakurens. All I get is a slight smirk. Helpful.

Before I go to sleep, I feel my mana refresh with an extra pulse of red mana from Shou's gem, as well as a vague connection to the temple grounds. Knowing that my mana will refresh again in the morning, I decide to make a quick enchantment to make things easier.

>Fire diamond gained.
>Myouren temple mana bond added.

Mana: 1RRUU

> 1 mana will be spent repairing the guild badge and tying the enchantment to it.

>Time to make an enchantment.
[] Thopter spy network Makes thopters on its own. Useful for investigating, fighting off fairies and enabling artefact shenanigans such as reshape and Shrapnel blast
[] Arcanum wings Magical wings. Enables flight and can be rapidly swapped for an aura in a pinch
[] Jace's Sanctum Make your spells cheaper. Enables two card combos (including rituals + another spell).
[] Braid of fire Generates Increasing amounts of red mana each scene. Improves burn options

[] Arcanum wings Magical wings. Enables flight and can be rapidly swapped for an aura in a pinch

Not flying in gensokyo is tantamount to being paraplegic

[X] Arcanum wings

Do we even have a chance without flight?

Anyway, out objective is now visiting the entirety of Gensokyo, making friends and earning enough mana to be able to fight off anyone.

When we achieve that, we earn the ultimate prize: tea.

[X] Arcanum wings Magical wings. Enables flight and can be rapidly swapped for an aura in a pinch

The others aren't bad, but flight is essential.

>>187732

You won't be helpless without flight, in fact in regards to danmaku, Arcanum wings is the second worst of the options. The flight is more of a general utility upgrade than anything else.

Both Thopter spy network and Braid of fire offer better long term benefits, while Jace's Sanctum offers the ability to output extra red mana for danmaku. (Seething Song turns 21R into RRRRR)
Finally, you have short term flight magic already so you can 'hop'. Arcanum wings upgrades this inefficent flight system to a permanent one, and adds on some extra utility on top of that.

TLDR: It's not a no-brainer, each of the other options have merits and you'll still be able to fly, just in a slightly more awkward fashion with the other choices.

[X] Thopter spy network Makes thopters on its own. Useful for investigating, fighting off fairies and enabling artefact shenanigans such as reshape and Shrapnel blast

>>187734
Interesting. I'll take BoF because it seems that the earlier we take it, the better, but Jace sounds insane

[x] Braid of Fire

[X] Braid of fire Generates Increasing amounts of red mana each scene. Improves burn options

Would love to fly or get Jace, but this is so good early on.

[X] Braid of fire Generates Increasing amounts of red mana each scene. Improves burn options

I know I'm getting outvoted here, but
[x] Thopter Spy Network Makes thopters on its own. Useful for investigating, fighting off fairies and enabling artefact shenanigans such as reshape and Shrapnel blast

Artifact bull$#!* HYPE!

[X] Braid of fire Generates Increasing amounts of red mana each scene. Improves burn options

>Due to the votes being so close and the winning options both having a low cost, you get a lesser flight enchantment as well.

A few options for various enchantments fly through my head, but first of all, I'll need something to tie the enchantment to. Looking down at my current posessions, the easiest solution is to use my guild badge as it's the one thing I have the most experience enchanting, given the array of minor enchantments it already has. Repairing the damage it sustained takes no more than a minute, as all thats required is to reweave a few loose threads of mana together and add an attachment point for my next project.

That out of the way I start work on a Braid of fire, an enchantment that lets out ever increasing pulses of red mana. Focusing on the energies of fire and passion, I etch an image of a spiralling flame into my mind, then watch as the spell starts to take shape, flaring higher and higher, twisting as it goes. As I start to feel the room heat up, I stitch the enchantment onto the loose threads of mana I prepared earlier.

I give the enchantment a quick once over before I go to sleep and make make a minor adjustment so that the mana can safely disperse if it goes unused. (Early versions of this spell had a tendency to incinerate their users.) Thankfully some genius figured out how not to set fire to themselves and the technique has been used ever since.

Satisfied, I close my eyes and attempt to sleep, however the day's events keep running through my head, making sleeping difficult.

This morning I was on Ravnica, relaxing to the sounds of the city after a few years flitting between planes. Admittedly I found the river forming outside outside less relaxing, as I knew that it would be my job to fix it. As I was tracing the flow back through some less than savoury alleys, I felt something planeswalk nearby. Curious, I went to investigate. I rounded the corner and saw a demon, mostly smouldering and with a wing and a leg obviously broken. As I started to slink away, a blast of pain scythed through my readied counterspell and echoed through my head, preventing me from focusing. Before the follow up widespread drain life spell could take hold I planeswalked away. Time went a bit wobbly for an instant, then a screech echoed through the blind eterneties and flung me into this plane.

Giving up on sleeping for now, I begin to form the rudiments of a simple flight enchantment using the last of my mana. At some point between nullifying gravity and crafting a mental interface, the strain of multiple planeswalks mixes with the boredom of crafting such a simple spell and the tiring feeling of having no mana left.

A knock on my door the next morning prompts me to try and roll over to go back to sleep. This proves more difficult than usual due to floating an inch of the ground. At least the magical violation of physics was confined to me, and not my surroundings. A quick mental flick both turns the effect off and wakes me up as I hit the floor with a thump.

The knocker takes this as evidence of life and moves on to bother someone else. As I get dressed and prepare for the day, I ponder on the problem with my flight enchantment.

As I stagger in for breakfast, I see that although several people have already eaten, the room is empty except for an umbrella leaning against the table. I accept a cookie handed to me, and idly munch on it. As I do so, I fail to notice the umbrella eating its way through my food.
Breakfast is further interrupted by a girl in a black dress with three tails, and three metal wings wandering in, yawning, seeing me, doing an immediate 180 and leaving again. The empty room finds this hilarious. A few moments later a ball of light floats in, inhales its food and storms out.

My musings continue after breakfast, but are interrupted by a commotion at the front gate shortly afterwards.

A brief flight test on the way proves that manouvering is difficult, but everything works fine. This does result in me being the last to arrive. Kyouko is looking panicked and babbling an explanation that I hear the end of. "...beasts turned up, prowled around concert. Scary beasts with many, many fangs, glowing eyes and smelling of decay."

When Kyouko finishes, Byakuren says "Since we have an expert on these things present, they should investigate. Due to ongoing talks with various merchants we can spare only one person to help. At this everyone (except Kyouko) starts suggesting the ways in which they can be helpful.

Byakuren narrows things down a bit by telling Minamitsu, Ichirin & Unzan that they are needed too.

Mana: 1(RR)RRUU

[ ] Investigate
-[ ]Alone
-[ ]With Nazrin (She specialises in finding things)
-[ ]With Kyouko (She's scared, but knows where the concert was)
-[ ]With Shou (She can help fight off the things)
-[ ]With the orb of light (It's dark in the forest)
-[ ]With the umbrella (It looks like it could rain)
[ ] Avoid
-[ ]Make traps
-Write in (Why?)

[X] Investigate
-[X]With the umbrella (It looks like it could rain)

He might be a little surprised.

[x] Investigate
-[x]With the orb of light (It's dark in the forest)

Does he know what they are or he considers a glorified flashlight and a fucking umbrella to be equivalent partners as the rest?

[X] Investigate
-[X]With the umbrella (It looks like it could rain)
Can never have enough Kogasa

Due to my lack of knowledge is MTG, I can't guess what the creature our protagonist encountered

>>187757
The MC has dealt with shapeshifters before, so has an idea about Nue. The umbrella vote is meant to be along the lines of going it alone, but grabbing the faintly magical item on the way.

[x] Investigate
-[x] With the umbrella. It might rain.

[x] Investigate
-[x] With the umbrella. It might rain.

First CYOA with the Umbrella working as an Umbrella

I'm curious how Kogasa will react to actually being used as an umbrella.

I imagine she'd be happy to be useful for the correct purpose.

>Sorry for late update, had limited internet (and privacy) over easter.

Figuring that its easier to go alone (Nobody to ask questions about my magics), I tell Byakuren "I don't want to impose, I work better on my own anyway." Byakuren opens her mouth, then abruptly shuts it -as if she went to say something then thought better of it. Politeness over with I turn to leave, but a small voice outside my head suggests that it will rain later, so I should take the pretty umbrella nearby. I grab the umbrella and take two steps down the road, before remembering two things: firstly, that I don't know where I'm going and secondly that I can fly. The first is solved by fighting down my embarrassment, turning around and asking "Where exactly was your concert again?"
"On the road up to the Hakurei shrine, clearing with wooden seating." I thank Kyouko and take several more steps down the path before remembering that I can fly again.

A few moments later and I'm on my way, airborne with umbrella in hand. Syphoning pulses of red mana from my Braid of fire, I launch waves of fire at the throngs of fairies before they can aim properly. Every so often a mysterious danmaku bullet will hit any fairy that dodges my flames.

Looking around for my mysterious assistant, all I see are a few darkening clouds gathering. I realise that I should have been focusing on the damn faeries as several bullets slam into me when my attention wavers, causing me to drop sharply as my focus shatters. Giggles from behind and above me are not helping dammit. Soon I'm back at the proper altitude and fending off the fairies again but I have to continually remind myself to not look around when several fairies get shot out of the sky by my helper.

I get all the way to the forest before I succumb to the urge to look around, but this time I drop down first to catch a small break. The clouds have gathered into one angry mass overhead. A flash of lightning signals the start of a torrential downpour, drenching everything else and even the fairies cease their assault as the sheer volume of water forces them down to earth. Alone in the sky, I continue over the forest, listening to the rain drumming off the umbrella and feeling it vibrate from happiness the force. Enjoying the sensation, I almost overshoot my destination.

Circling above what I can only assume is last night's concert location (a clearing around the road to one "Hakurei Shrine" with several wooden benches glistening in the rain.) I examine the area. One of the benches has a great big gouge through one end. Mentally preparing a Cyclonic rift if anything goes wrong, I slowly float down towards the ground to get a better look. An ill-timed gust of wind combined with the poor maneuverability of my current flight enchantment causes me to screw up the landing and drop the umbrella to avoid falling face-first into the mud.

As I right myself, a voice behind me says "It's not nice to drop a lady like that." Turning around, I see the umbrella floating in midair with its odd face looking at me. I'm allowed a second of confusion before a girl appears holding the umbrella and almost bent double with laughter. "Hahaha, the look on your face. Hahahaha." I give the girl a flat stare which only causes her to laugh harder, and me to feel increasingly damp as the rain starts to soak into my previously dry clothes.

Eventually her laughter subsides, and she introduces herself as "Kogasa Tatara, umbrella spirit and professional surpriser." Introduction complete she takes a look at me standing in the rain, and starts apologising profusely. "Sorry, sorry you're standing there getting rained on and I was too busy laughing to help. Please don't be mad at me." With that, the surprisingly cute spirit hustles up to me and holds her umbrella aloft. My request of "Could you please stop standing so uncomfortably close." is met with a downcast look and a "Now you're angry at me, I'm a useless umbrella." Feeling bad about this I append "... so I don't fry you with my heat spell." Kogasa immediately brightens up and takes a half-step back to let me work while keeping her umbrella over me. One burst of heat later and I'm feeling dry. Sensing that I'm done she scuttles closer again.

This scene did not go unnoticed, as a growl emanates from the bushes. An oddly round beast pounces out of the undergrowth towards us, an odd haze coming off its back and some brutal antler-like tusks projecting from its mouth. I quickly aim a Cyclonic rift at it, but give up that plan as the haze it emits forms a magical shroud around it, preventing me from targeting it. As it rushes closer, I can see its eyes glow red and some black veins protruding from its body. Acting on plan B, I open a Teleportal and drag Kogasa with me as I dive through it.

We appear a fair distance downwind of the creature as it looks around for its prey. Upon hearing footsteps and voices from further up the path, the beast slinks back into the bushes, ready to ambush the newcomers. "I don't know how you convinced me to keep going, but if I get soaked I'm taking away your gourd." The other voice replies "See, Suika's got it covered. Now have a drink Reimu, you're being grumpy." "No, I don't want to wake up wearing someone elses clothes and with a hangover the size of Gensokyo." Upon recognizing the voices Kogasa goes very quiet and tells me to do the same, as well as stay very still.
With that, two figures appear out of the rain. The taller of the figures is dressed in a red and white shrine maiden outfit whereas the shorter one has two horns growing out of her head and is wearing a blue, purple and pink dress while drinking from a gourd. The scent of alcohol emanating from the gourd is strong enough to pierce the foul scent of the beast. 'Reimu' asks "Why do you even care? They're loud and annoying and probably just woke up a youkai with their shouting, who decided to scare them off. You don't need me along to beat up some youkai."

Suika's reply is lost as the beast pounces at Reimu, who proceeds to dive out of the way and fling two ying-yang orbs either side of it. When the orbs fail to home in on the creature, she unleashes a wall of danmaku that only stops when Suika steps forward and punches it in the face. The resounding crack makes everyone wince, except Suika who just looks dissapointed that it didn't last longer and the beast who is now unconsious and leaking black blood.

As Suika takes a victory drink, Reimu goes to put a seal on the wounded beast. Before she does the magics forming the summoned creature fade away, and the creature starts fading away before our eyes.

Both Suika and Reimu look confused at this development.
Reimu states "It looks like we might have an Incident on our hands. The weather's playing up and weird creatures are showing up around the place."
Suika's suggestion that "We should have a giant party to get everyone together and see if anyone knows anything by challenging them to a drinking contest." gets an immideate veto from Reimu in the form of "Nope, Not happening. The shrine has been wrecked enough times already. What we are going to do is head into the Human village and see if either Keine or Kosuzu know anything about that thing."

With that Reimu starts dragging Suika this way! I'll have to make a descision quickly, before I'm spotted.

Inventory:
"A couple of Ravnican coins (local value unknown)
"One Izzet guild badge (With mana regulator + Braid of fire enchantment + flight enchantment)
"Several minor magitech devices for manipulating heat & water flow (mild water damage, stable)
"Translator spellcard

>A challenge to anyone who knows MtG and cares to try. Identifying the creature could lead to making options seem better/worse. Have a guess, or rampantly speculate. If no-one cares I'll not repeat this. There are no negatives for not getting it or guessing wrong.
>Hint: The black veins are a clue as to who is summoning the things, and are a characteristic of creatures summoned by one of the canon MtG planeswalkers. They are not normal for this creature.
>Hint #2: The creatures keyword abilities have been mentioned.


Mana: 1URR

[ ]Help the pair with their investigation.
[ ]Report findings back to Byakuren.
[ ]Continue investigating with Kogasa.
[ ]Write-in (Always an option)

Could the creature be a Blastoderm?

The creature is definitely a Blastoderm. I suspect that the planeswalker is Garruk which would be scary.

[X]Help the pair with their investigation.
Introduce ourselves to Reimu early and avoid any misunderstandings.

>>187824
So we should aim to be the stage one boss, instead of a later one? That sounds fine to me.

[X]Help the pair with their investigation.

Kogasa is really cute by the way. I hope she get's a lot of screen time in the future.

[x] Continue The investigation
Blastoderm? Nothing a small army of rebels can't handle

>>187824
>>187823
>>187826
Correct!

Unfortunately you can't call up an army of rebels due to not having white mana.

For those not in the know, a Blastoderm cannot be targeted, so the ways to beat it were either to blow up everything and catch it as collatteral, or stall until it fades away by either throwing dudes in front of it or just taking 15 damage (you start on 20) from it or countering it when cast.

>Unfortunately you can't call up an army of rebels due to not having white mana.
Oh, that's how I dealt with it back in Nemesis. May God help this poor red and blue bastard though, I lost that vote a long time ago

>>187828
Red has some ways.
Young pyromancer

>>187827
Oh, boy. I don't even play mtg and that sounds terrifying.

So, er, do we just try to trap it somewhere and hope it kills itself?

[X]Help the pair with their investigation.

[X]Continue investigating with Kogasa.

Let's be the final boss!

[X]Help the pair with their investigation.

Um, miss, I happen to be an expert on that creature...

[X]Continue investigating with Kogasa.

Umbrella and blasty crafty mage, the ultimate combination

As the pair head towards us Kogasa starts attempting to pull me out of sight. "Quick, we should hide before Reimu sees us. She'll beat us up for being suspicious, then the oni with her will either want a drink or a fight or both and I'll end up abandoned in a ditch with a splitting headache."

I start explaining to Kogasa that I can handle myself, but sensing that I'm not going to hide she dives off into the bushes and dissapears under her umbrella. I'm immediately soaked by the downpour, but beyond an apologetic look Kogasa stays where she is. A moment later the pair notices me. Remu says "It must be a new record, can we just have a one card duel and be on our way?" I respond by telling her "If you're looking for information about the Blastoderm you just fought, then I'd rather just tell you and not get into a fight."

Reimu considers this for a moment before saying "It's suspicious that I've only just started my investigation and I've already found a stranger who claims to be an expert. I'll just have to fight anyways to make sure that you're telling the truth."

She then introduces herself as [Shrine maiden of Paradise], while I say [Spellsmith of Impulse]. Reimu declares Dream sign [Evil-sealing circle], and a ring of charms spring up around her with many other charms firing off in a spread to restrict my movement. I jump to get a clear shot over the charms before they block the way again.I declare: Passion sign [Fiery temper], and start by throwing a Lightning axe to clear the way. As the force of casting the Lightning axe rips the thought from my head, a flick of red mana ignites the thought and casts it as my spellcard. A maddened archangel swoops down as my spellcard begins to take form, flames flaring in her wake, and a haze of danmaku sparks shoot out from everything.

Reimu sideslips the Lightning axe and hurls a stream of charms my way, along with a few ying-yang orbs either side to make it even harder to move. My own danmaku dispells any shots that would hit me and are slowly working through Reimu's protective circle. The barrage of incoming shots lessens for a bit as Reimu has to dodge a sudden swipe from a shattered spear, courtesy of the angel's return swoop. Something tells me to drop suddenly as an orb that had previously flown past me flies through where I just was. Unfortunately I cannot dodge the next six as they hammer into my back. To add insult to injury Remu twirls away from the last few sparks of my spellcard and emerges completely unscathed.

Remu then tells me "I've beaten you, so tell me what you know about those creatures." I groan up at her from the ground but a few floating orbs convince me to hurry up. I tell her "That was a Blastoderm you just fought. It's a creature that cannot be targetted by magic, but a summoned version doesn't last very long."
"How long?"
"Whoever summoned it did so about an hour and a half ago, and probably did so from a forest."
Reimu looks around theatrically before asking "Specifics?"
"Probably an especially dark and dank patch of forest if that corruption is any indication."

With that, Reimu yells out to Suika "We're going to Marisa's to see if she's found anything weirder than usual." Suika flies after Reimu, still drinking from her gourd.

Kogasa waits for a few minutes before climbing out of her hiding place and holding her umbrella over me again. The shelter is definitely appreciated, as is her warmth. She starts by saying "Sorry for leaving you in the rain, but if they'd seen me that Oni would have gotten involved and she's even rougher than Reimu." She then perks up and says "I'm really excited though, we're part of an official incident. Let's surprise everyone by solving it before Reimu does." She then pauses for a moment, lost in thought with the tip of her tounge poking out the corner of her mouth. "We could follow Reimu and talk to people she beats up, or we could go surprise Mystia and get her take on last night, or we could take a shortcut to the centre of the forest of magic and-"

I cut Kogasa off and say "I have an idea as to who might be behind this, and we might not want to find him before Reimu. We definitely do not want to meet him before I'm recovered from that duel." I shudder at the thought of trying to fight him.

Kogasa tilts her head to the side slightly and asks "Who?"

I answer "I'm hoping I'm wrong, but I think our suspect might be Garruk. He's a nature mage who specialises in summoning beasts and hunting down foes with his axe. I remember hearing that he got cursed and started turning into a demon. Fortunately he was stablised somehow, but was left with an affinity for dark magics and a desire to hunt the biggest game around. At least that's what I've heard."

Kogasa shivers an says "Scary. If he's part demon, he might have ended up in the underground or Makai then. I'm not sure how to get to Makai, though I remember Reimu and Yukari having some way though. Getting to the underground is pretty easy from here."

>Congratulations, you've sped up Reimu's investigations somewhat. It hurts though. "I told you so..." -Kogasa
>Shadows over Innistrad spells now available for meta reasons. Be extra spooky, use madness spells or just call upon especially angry angels.


Mana: 1U

>Options

>Head to the forest of magic
- [ ] Follow Reimu + Suika.
- [ ] Head directly to the centre.
>Head somewhere else
- [ ] Visit Mystia for clues.
- [ ] Head underground on the assumption it's Garruk, and he's there.
>Take a long shot on Makai
- [ ] Get Reimu to help
- [ ] Try and find Yukari to help
[ ] Rest up, then do one of the above.
[ ] Write in (Head where, do what?)

>Head somewhere else
- [X] Visit Mystia for clues

[x] rest and

[x] Underground
Oh man, I can't wait to start throwing vampires all over the place.
Inner struggle cheese hype

[X] Rest up, then
- [X] Visit Mystia for clues

[X] Rest up, then
- [X] Visit Mystia for clues
The Blastoderm problem will fix itself, but Garruk won't.

Realising that charging off with only enough mana for one Remand or Cyclonic rift will only result in pain or worse, I tell Kogasa that I'll need to rest for a while to replenish my mana reserves.

Kogasa seems upset at this choice and complains at me "Reimu'll have finished investigating by then, so we'll have missed out on all the fun."
I tell her "If we rush off now I'll cast one spell, then be out of juice for a while. My magic and my guild are all about making impulsive (and often terrible) decisions, but even I'm not about to chase down a possible killer with only one spell."
I get a pout back as she insists "I can be useful, I'll protect you with my danmaku and prove that I can be helpful."
In the hopes of making her feel better, I say "Right now you're being useful keeping the rain off me, so I don't drown in this weather." An idea strikes as I say this. "I'm going to try and improve my flight enchantment before my mana refreshes. Would you please keep the fairies from bothering me while I work?" This earns me an odd look from Kogasa, so I explain. "I either use the power or it goes away." That being said we move slightly further away from the site to avoid any other visitors.

Somehow the local fairies sense that I'm trying to do delicate spellwork and come to interfere. Thankfully Kogasa drives off the few that were curious enough to endure the torrential rain and looks quite pleased as she does so. I visualise the looping script that forms the wings, tie it to my previous enchantment then force it into reality. A pair of papery wings shimmer into existence briefly before fading away with a thought. Still deep in thought, I feel a force around me, and some music I can't quite catch thrums throughout. With a mental click, I connect to the the land and feel an echo of the passion that sometimes fills the area. For now it feels empty, awaiting the next concert.

That done with we sit back to back in companionable silence and wait, rain pouring around us. Eventually my reserves refresh, so I call out to Kogasa "Let's get going now. Shall we surprise Mystia with a visit?" Kogasa answers back with a grin "About time."

The flight to Mystia's is thankfully uninterrupted (except for the omnipresent rain and some explosions in the distance that I'm assured are fairly common and nothing to worry about), so we make some small talk as I tell Kogasa about some of the more entertaining experimental mishaps I've seen and she tells me about some of the pranks she's pulled on the inhabitants of Gensokyo.

The first thing that greets us is the smell of something cooking and a tuneless chirping rising above the hum of conversation. As we float down below the tree cover I see a fast food stand with some temporary shelter set up. Underneath the shelter a small crowd has gathered to keep out of the rain and enjoy the food in the interim.

I scan the crowd for anyone familiar, and catch the eye of a certain ice fairy who shoots me a cool glance. The blond girl she was talking to floats over to the chef, who is turning lamprey while wearing a ridiculously poofy dress and otherwise fluttering around the kitchen. The two dolls floating behind her also seem to be helping, ignorant of the now-familiar umbrella surreptitiously resting in the corner. As the blond girl catches the light a myriad of minor cuts, grazes and bruises are revealed. She seems prefectly happy though. My sweep continues and a see a formal-looking woman with a sword deep in discussion with a rabbit-eared girl. A white cloud orbits the pair, slowly consuming a lamprey on a stick. Finally an tired looking blond woman holding a large book seems to be trying to escape the conversation with a winged woman with a camera. In desperation she gestures for me to help.

>Mana bond with concert clearing added, 1 added to mana pool.
>Flight enchantment upgraded to arcanum wings. Mobility improved, Aura swap enabled. (2U), turn wings into another aura instantly and permanently.

Inventory:
"A couple of Ravnican coins (local value unknown)
"One Izzet guild badge (With mana regulator + Braid of fire enchantment + flight enchantment (Arcanum wings)
"Several minor magitech devices for manipulating heat & water flow (mild water damage, stable)
"Translator spellcard

Mana: 2UURR(+RRR)

>Talk to?

[ ] Investigate what Mystia and Kogasa are up to.
[ ] Deal with Cirno now, before she gets worse.
[ ] Talk to the injured girl.
[ ] Rescue the book-laden woman.
[ ] (Write in)

[X] Rescue the book-laden woman.

Gratitude can only help when getting information.

[x] Investigate what Mystia and Kogasa are up to.

[X] Rescue the book-laden woman.

[X] Rescue the book-laden woman.

Maybe we'll make a friend. Friendly acquaintance at the very least.

Is it my imagination or has the "Magic" in the subject field of the OP had broken formatting forever and is suddenly fixed?

[X] Rescue the book-laden woman.

>>187966
That's new. I never did figure out why the formatting was broken. My best guess is that the subject field didn't allow formatting. Thanks to whoever fixed it.

>>187968
It was annoying to see it broken on the front page constantly. Won't fix again, so please don't use formatting in the subject field.

>>187976
Thanks. I'll avoid that then.

Votes called for Alice. Writing.

Feeling sypathetic, I move to assist the book-laden woman with her reporter problem. Seeing me aproach, a flash of relief crosses her features. Meanwhile, I wrack my brain for her name and something to say. One of Kogasa's stories about being run off by a couple of dolls comes to mind. While I'm trying to match a name, the woman speaks up. "Hello, how are you doing? I wasn't expecting to see you here.

The winged woman starts asking a barrage of questions. "Who are you? How do you know each other? Who asked who out?" Playing along (and utterly ignoring the reporter -Aya?) I ask about the one thing I know about her. "I owed Byakuren a favor, so she sent me over here. You know how it is. How are your dolls doing? Still using that system of invisible strings?"

I see a glint in her eyes as she answers "As if. I'm currently barely paying attention to them and yet they're performing complex tasks." We both turn to look at the dolls behind the counter, helping Mystia by fetching various herbs and spices. One doll appears to have trouble finding something, so the other one taps it on the shoulder and points to something on the shelf. The woman (Alice?) continues on "Amazing isn't it. They can interact with each other and even other people without guidance. I've been making leaps and bounds in improving their thought matrix recently. They've even been making connections on their own recently, as if they're learning. I've still got a few issues to work out as they keep on learning in the same mental 'space' and forgetting what else they've learned."

At this point Ayas eyes have completely glazed over and her pen hasn't moved for at least a minute. Before she recovers I ask the woman "You're Alice, right?" A nod, I then introduce myself. "Out of curiosity, why were you pretending to know me?"
"Aya there has started trying to find the least social person in Gensokyo, and seeing as I don't want want to find my picture and address in her paper, along with a few 'dating tips' I've been trying to at least pretend be more social recently." I get the feeling that a more than few harsh words were left unsaid.

Before Aya stops blanking out, Alice continues on from where she left off. "I'm sure the answer to the problem lies in the book Marisa gave me, but I've probably got about a week until she asks for it back, and about two before she gives up and steals it."

Upon hearing the name Marisa, a few stray thoughts line up and I ask, "Sorry for sounding like Aya for a moment, but you wouldn't happen to live near Marisa would you?"
"Yes, why?"
"Reimu and Suika said they were going to Marisa's, something about investigating an incident."
A look of alarm crosses Alice's face. "Bother! I'm going to have to fly home so they don't destroy it looking for me."
The sound of Alice's exlamation visibly startles Aya out of whatever daydream she's having, but before she can ask more questions or Alice can fly off, I ask "Have you seen any unusual people or creatures recently?"
"One of my dolls saw Rumia slinking after a shady looking guy with an axe. If you want to know more I'd suggest talking to her about it." While Alice was talking, her two dolls put down anything they were holding and the three fly off as soon as she's finished.

Aya looks a bit confused at all the sudden activity, before flying away with a burst of speed in the direction of the mountain.

A quick scan of the area reveals that not much has changed. The rabbit and the swordswoman are still deep in conversation, and Cirno has moved over to the counter where her and the blond girl are watching Kogasa sneak the occasional lamprey when Mystia looks the other way.

>You know who each Touhou is in theory thanks to Kogasa's stories, but have difficulties matching names & skills to faces.

Mana: 2UURR(+RRR)

[ ] Search for this Rumia.
[ ] Give Cirno that rematch she wanted, so you can get her help when she loses.
[ ] See what the rabbit & swordswoman are talking about.
[ ] Collect Kogasa and chase down Alice.
[ ] (Write in)

[X] See what the rabbit & swordswoman are talking about.

[X] See what the rabbit & swordswoman are talking about.

[x] See what the rabbit and swordswoman are talking about.

Who knows, maybe they're even talking about our old pal Garruk.

[x] See what the rabbit & swordswoman are talking about.

[X] Collect Kogasa and chase down Alice.

We should probably help Alice, socializing can wait for now.

Votes called for seeing what Reisen & Youmu are talking about.

Writing.

Curious as to what has had the rabbit and swordswoman so deep in discussion since I arrived and probably for a while before. I start to weave a spell to subtly eavesdrop on the pair, but before I finish the swordswoman exclaims "It doesn't work like that!" She then looks around to see if anyone noticed her outburst. Sensing a perfect opportunity to join the conversation, I pause my spellcraft and head over to the pair.

"Excuse me miss, but I couldn't help but overhear your outburst and it made me curious as to what it was about." Youmu looks a little embarrassed, but elaborates "Reisen was asking me about my sword, which can 'cut through confusion'. Unfortunately that bit only works on spirits it just cuts anything else like a normal sword. It stings a little more than usual though..." There's a pause as Youmu trails off, but before it gets too awkward, she turns to Reisen "I can help with the ghosts though."

Seeing as I'm shut out the conversation again, for the appearance of being polite I say "Thanks for indulging my curiosity, I'll leave you two to it." I finish my spell and magically bug the table while turning to walk away.

While I walk over to Mystia's stand I get a mental echo of the pair's conversation.

"Can you tell me more about those ghosts?"
"Mokou dropped a strange fellow off at Eientei. Since he woke up he's done nothing but gibber about nightmares and something left incomplete. I'm sure he's haunted, since he arrived weird ghosts have been roaming around the corridors, constantly pushing sensitive equipment over and generally being a nuisance. I was hoping you could cut through his confusion and spare us some of the 'minor side effects' that Eirin's cure will inevitably have."

My concentration is shattered by an angry Cirno marching up to me and declaring "I want a rematch! Four spellcards each, Right now." This is accompanied by emphatically waving a wooden skewer around in an attempt to be menacing.
Mystia thankfully intejects "Not here, last time you froze half the store. How about at the lake when the weather clears? That way you won't get rain in your eyes while duelling."
"Fine. I'll duel you at noon in two days time, by the lake. You'd better be there." Ice creeps up the skewer as Cirno talks, so in the interests of not getting Icicled (and saving power to deal with the other planeswalker) I agree to her terms. Temporarily satisfied, she heads off with the blond girl to play in the forest.

Company gone, Kogasa walks over to me and says "I found that Rumia has a new friend she plays with. Some kinda hunter. I can guide you to where she usually finds him, if you want."

I remember Alice mentioning something similar.

Mana: 2URR(+RRR)

[ ] Visit Alice first.
[ ] Have Kogasa guide you there.
[ ] (Write in)

[X] Visit Alice first.

I want more information on this hunter.

[X] Visit Alice first.

[x] Have Kogasa guide you there.

Let's find him.

[X] Have Kogasa guide you there.

I'll give it another ~6 hours to see if anybody breaks the tie, failing that I'll use the tied option with the first vote (in this case visiting Alice). If anyone objects to this method of tiebreaking, let me know within said ~6 hours, preferably with an alternative (my default alternative is to just write the one I like best).

[X] Have Kogasa guide you there.

Votes called for getting lead there by Kogasa.

Writing

Figuring that I'd better not waste any more time gathering information as I know where he was last seen, I tell Kogasa to lead on. "This way then!" She exclaims and takes off above the canopy.

I quickly fly up after her, runic wings flapping frantically trying to stay underneath her and out of the thickening rain. When I catch up to her she grabs my hand and hauls me along.

As we dash across the sky towards some landmark or other I feel the winds strengthening further. A suspicion rises in my mind and I channel a thread of mana into my badge, pinging for magic. A large reply comes from the distance, obscuring things. Assuming that to be either Alice or Marisa duelling Reimu and Suika, I ignore it and focus on more local signals. Apart from that one large reply, everything is hidden under a haze of background magic. It seems that this area of Gensokyo is particularily magically dense.

An insistent pull downwards drags my attention back to the mundane in time to see Kogasa slip back down through the canopy. Faced with a wall of trees, I twist out of the way of the worst bits then temporarily dismiss my wings to avoid them being shredded. I quickly call my wings back and float down to the ground where Kogasa is looking around. A giant tree, scorched and cracked by lightning is the only obvious thing in the vicinity to me. I ask Kogasa why we didn't just fly the entire way and she replies "Rumia's directions continue along the ground from here. She said that she had to sneak up on him or it wasn't fun." Kogasa continues to look around, then exclaims "Found it!" and bounds off into the forest.

Half an hour of crashing through steadily thickening undergrowth later and I have to conclude that this is probably the most miserable I've ever felt. I'm soaked through, half-frozen and constantly finding new and interestingly sharp plants to stumble through. Meanwhile Kogasa is all but dancing through the undergrowth without even the slightest scratch. At least when fighting for your life against hordes of frothing Rakdos cultists and their pet demon or an unholy mix of everything a bored Simic mage could get her hands on or grow, you were warm (or too warm in the case of the demon). Still, it must be said that at least the trees shelter me from the worst of the wind and rain howling above. As the wind kicks up another notch a shower of raindrops fall down the back of my neck, further compounding my misery.

Every so often, Kogasa would stop by a tree, take a look at the dent in it and continue on her way. Eventually I get over my misery and ask "What are you doing?"
"Making sure that we are going the right way, silly." She starts poking her tounge out at me as she says this. So does the umbrella which I'm not entirely sure how to react to. Moving on, I ask "Do you know what made those dents?"
"Rumia did. When she's trying to be sneaky, she summons this orb of darkness to hide in. Sometimes she makes it so dark even she can't see, and then she crashes into trees."
"Fantastic" I growl. "To clarify we're following the directions of someone who is known for getting lost and routinely crashing into trees."
"Yep." Kogasa chirps.
"Do you fail see how this is a poor idea?"
"Nope. We know that Rumia was at the clearing, and we know how to reverse her path, so as long as we keep following these trees with dents in them we're going the right way." I have to admit that I can't find any flaws in her logic. Seeing as I have no response I'm told "I told you so."

To make sure we are going in the right direction I do another ping for magic and get nothing except the same haze of background magic as before - only stronger. Either someone is working a spell over the whole forest, or the area is extraordinarily magical.

Finally we reach Rumia's clearing and see a magical fog shrouding the place. I can almost taste the magic in the air.
I can smell the stench of a swamp in front and to the left.
To my right I can feel the magical signature of something big. Finally the forest in front of me is suspiciously silent, save for brief snatches of a woman's voice. Whoever it is sounds pretty angry.

Fortunately I can feel mana starting to build up in the lands I've bonded to. It shouldn't be too long before it refreshes.

2URR(+RRR)

>Mana refresh in 3 updates.

[ ] Head to the swamp.
[ ] Move towards the large magical signature.
[ ] Investigate the forest dead ahead.
[ ] Clear out the mists and any lingering magic with an overloaded Cyclonic rift (6U), will attract attention.

[X] Clear out the mists and any lingering magic with an overloaded Cyclonic rift (6U), will attract attention.

[X] Investigate the forest dead ahead.

Find out who this is before attracting their attention.

[x] Movr towards the magical signature

Seems dangerous, better focus on this first

[X] Investigate the forest dead ahead.
Somebody talking means probably multiple individuals.

Votes will be called in ~12 hours. Last chance to force a tie. (Or not)

Curiosity getting the better of me I head towards the voice, Kogasa floating behind me. The complete lack of wildlife noises is rather offputting, but we continue onwards anyway, listening for whatever has scared them into silence.

I feel an odd pattern of mana ahead, not quite a spell but not completely foreign. It reminds me a bit of goblin cuisine in that I have a vague notion of its purpose and ingredients, but no idea how it actually works.

Poking my head around a tree I see a beam of sunlight shining down on a woman with green hair and a plaid dress, who is having a nap in the middle of a patch of strange black flowers.

The whole scene would probably seem rather pretty if it wasn't for the heavy feeling of danger surrounding the sleeping figure. As it is it feels like even the weather is afraid of disturbing them, let alone the thing across from me which lets out a muted growl and flashes bright red before fading back into the mists.

A voice from beside me whispers "Did that thing really have a giant mouth in its chest?"
I jump a little, but thankfully recognize it as Kogasa's voice before I let out a shriek.
"I think so. I was more worried about the sleeping person than anything else though."
"That's miss Yuuka. Her thing is plants. Also she has terrible fashion sense."
"Ok?" I'm not entirely sure how to handle that last piece of information.
Kogasa continues passionately "She has a parasol. A parasol! They're useless things for terrible people. Umbrellas are better in every way! If she had an umbrella like me, she wouldn't have to get the plants to keep the rain off her..."

While Kogasa espouses the merits of umbrellas I feel the large magical signature to the north start to move this way with worrying haste. A tendril of blue mana does nothing but reveal that it rejects all foreign magics.

To make matters worse, it looks like Yuuka is starting to stir.

> mana 2URR(+RRR)

>Mana refresh in 2 updates.
[ ] Get out of here!
-[ ] Head to the swamp.
-[ ] Circle around the large magical signature.
-[ ] Cross the patch of flowers and press on anyway (despite the feeling of danger)
[ ] Stay where we are.
-[ ] Use magic to wake Yuuka up faster (R)
- [ ] Hide and wait (without magic)
- [ ]Use a spell to hide (U)
[ ] Write-in (e.g Cyclonic rift)

Also pick one as an apology for the delay. (A bonus scene from a different POV)

[ ] Hello darkness my old friend.
[ ] Who you gonna call?
[ ] Enter the Matrix
[ ] Elementary

[x] Stay where you are

As long as we remain outside of her turf, we'll be fine. And we may need to help/combat her so wasting mana to wake her up isn't good. Besides, a red spell to wake up someone sounds... Painful. Am I wrong?

[X] Stay where we are.
[X] Who you gonna call?

[ ] Stay where we are.
- [ ] Hide and wait (without magic)

[ ] Hello darkness my old friend.

I've come to talk to you again.

>>188449
Sounds like the danmaku shitstorm is heading this way.

Bearing that in mind and that we need to get to this figure that was watching us just now, I say we Ponder (U) to figure out just what the hell will happen if we stay and wait for the shitstorm to arrive. If we can extract more info out of this, we stay and defend ourselves. If not, attempt to follow the thing by air.

[X] Stay where we are.
- [X] Hide and wait (without magic)
Hiding with magic strikes me as a bad idea, it's much easier to explain hiding behind a bush than being in some chameleon spell or whatever.

[X] Who you gonna call?
Spoopy ghosts

[X] Stay where we are.
- [X] Hide and wait (without magic)
[X] Elementary

[X] Stay where we are.
-[X] Hide and wait (without magic)
[x] Enter the Matrix

[ ] Hide sans magic + (ponder saved for later)

Sensing that this might me a prime opportunity to see exactly what I'm up against, I decide to lurk around.

For a moment I consider using a spell to render us both invisible, but think better of it as it might attract more attention than its worth.

Decision made, I bravely duck back around a bush and pull Kogasa with me. A few awkward moments pass with the two of us peering through the bush, waiting for things to go down.

A large elemental made of a mass of trees, ivory and glowing green energy comes bursting through the forest, leaving a trail of bent and broken vegetation in its wake.

Branches start reaching out and digging into the elemental's legs. It continues on courtesy of its momentum, ripping the trees out of the ground and dragging them along with it.

After it seems like half the forest is being torn up in an attempt to stop the creature it finally stumbles and crashes to the ground where it gets covered in a writhing mass of branches and roots and starts to get slowly crushed into the ground.

A roar from where Yuuka was napping is followed by a yelp of pain and the branches abruptly stop crushing the elemental into the ground.

Throwing caution to the wind I move to get a better view of what's happening.

I can now see the thing from before clearly. It resembles a giant mutant minotaur and is looming over the flower youkai who has a bleeding gash along one arm. As I watch the gash starts to knit itself closed, but not fast enough as the thing starts charging again with another bellow.

This time a bunch of roots burst out the ground and drag it down to the ground where Yuuka unleashes a storm of danmaku at it while its down.

As the bullets slam into the thing they snap off some of its protruding tusks and leave smoking holes its leathery hide. Just before it dies I feel a pulse of black mana from nearby and it regenerates, hide growing back over the holes and horns regowing again.

This cycle of blasting and healing continues for a while until the stench of decay wafts over on the wind and the sound of snapping branches comes from the right.

A dark armored figure is crouching by the vines holding the elemental down and casting a spell to cause the vines holding it down to rot at an unnatural rate.

Now freed, it uses its four arms to clamber to its feet like the very earth itself has risen up for revenge.

If I'm going to intervene, now is the time. Especially since I can feel mana about to refresh.

> mana 2URR(+RRR)
>Refresh next update.

>identifying the two creatures might help.

[ ]Help Yuuka
-[ ] Go all in: Cyclonic rift + lightning bolt (6UR)
-[ ] Go all in: Earthquake x=7 (7R)
- [ ] Ponder (U) to come up with a strategy and attack the beast.
- [ ] Ponder (U) to come up with a strategy and attack the elemental

[ ] Attack the figure.
-[ ] Go all in: Banefire x=7 (7R)
-[ ] hold back a little Ponder + ball lightning (URRR)

[ ]Yuuka can hold on a bit longer. Use cantrips to set up for a big attack. Ponder + tormenting voice *2 (2URR)

[ ]Write-in.

[X]Yuuka can hold on a bit longer. Use cantrips to set up for a big attack. Ponder + tormenting voice *2 (2URR)
Nobody is paying attention to us (overtly), if we can get a big attack in, it would definitely be worth it.

>>188640
>identifying the two creatures might help.

The beast used a black mana to regenerate itself. Based from that description and it's appearance, I'll hazard a guess that it's a Spiritmonger.

The elemental is Gaea's Revenge. The first clue is

>While Kogasa espouses the merits of umbrellas I feel the large magical signature to the north start to move this way with worrying haste. A tendril of blue mana does nothing but reveal that it rejects all foreign magics.

from a previous update which would suggest a hexproof-like effect and haste and the second clue is

>Now freed, it uses its four arms to clamber to its feet like the very earth itself has risen up for revenge.

which pretty much confirms it.

Bearing that in mind -

[ ] Write-in.
-[ ] Incinerate (1R) the beast + Earthquake x=5 (5R)

>>188719
Thank god we have someone who actually knows magic cards

>>188719
Correct!
Funnily enough, I was thinking of adding Incinerate as an explicitly written option, but thought that it might be more interesting if people figured it out.

Remember that Yuuka is still fighting as well and is standing in a Lotus vale and has proven capable of targetting the Gaea's Revenge.

[X] Write-in.
-[X] Incinerate (1R) the beast + Earthquake x=5 (5R)

>>188722
The alternative is to use something like Unsummon on a Spiritmonger and Banefire Garruk for 6, but if Unsummon (or any blue spell, really) gets countered by Guttural Response we're in a pretty bad shape.

>>188731
Wait, you can just use Void Snare instead of Unsummon, it's a sorcery so it won't get countered. Disregard that I suck cocks.

>>188722
Yuuka counts as a flying creature, no?


[X] Write-in.
-[X] Incinerate (1R) the beast + Earthquake x=5 (5R)

>>188767
If she's in the air then yes. She'll probably take off when you start casting. She's currently on the ground though.

Votes called for [ ] Write-in.
Writing.

My first thought us to just Cyclonic rift everything away and counter the creatures as they are recast but that won't work so well with the Gaea's revenge, so on to plan B.

Turning to Kogasa with a grin, I say "You might want to get airborne when I give the signal. I'm about to cast some real magic.

That done, I consider the timing of things. When I make my presence known I'll likely be attacked by Garruk and staying airborne against a green mage is just asking for disaster. That being said, getting hit with my own earthquake would be both painful and embarrassing.

Starting my spellcraft I form the basis of my earthquake spell and channel power from my Braid of fire into it. I then form an Incinerate spell, but don't cast it until I feel the ground start to move.

"Now!" I yell as I unleash a blast of fire at the Spiritmonger. Kogasa and I take to the air and Yuuka jumps back as the flames fly past her and into the beast, cauterizing its wounds and preventing it from regenerating.

About a second later the ground starts to shake and cracks begin to fprm, spewing forth gouts of flame from deep beneath the earth. Trees waver and fall or simply burst into flames around me. The wounded Spiritmonger falls down one of the cracks and vanishes, while the elemental gets a foot caught and is quickly roasted. Garruk stares straight at me while bits of flaming elemental rain down around him, setting his hair and clothes aflame. He growls "Planeswalker" and the air around me shifts, causing me to plummet as my wings beat against nothing.

I'm saved from a painful impact when Kogasa hauls me sideways and we both tumble into a bush rather than slam directly into a patch of jagged rocks.

Clambering to my feet I survey the surrounding area. The two creatures are gone and Kogasa, Yuuka and myself appear unharmed. Garruk seems to have put himself out and is now approaching, axe in hand. Upon seeing me unhurt he lets out a growl with a pulse of mana behind it. I suddenly feel the stares of thousands of tiny pairs of eyes.

Fortunately my mana has just refreshed and I've got the initiative.

>Mana 2UUR (+RRRR)

[ ] Summon a Young Pyromancer and hold up burn/ countermagic. (1R)

[ ] Go full aggro and summon a Ball lightning and a Delver of secrets. (URRR)

[ ] Summon the biggest thing you can (6RR)

[ ] Go big or go home: Epic experiment X = 7 (7UR)

[ ] Write-in (No combos)

>On the roof of the Hakurei shrine, a celestial wakes up and gets a feeling that she's in trouble for something she didn't do.

>Deep underground the Oni look up from their drinks and feels like they're missing out on a party.

>>188881
>[X] Go big or go home: Epic experiment X = 5 (5UR)
>[X] Hold up mana for Trickbind (1U)

[X] Go full aggro and summon a Ball lightning and a Delver of secrets. (URRR)
[X] Hold up mana for Trickbind (1U)
Can we do both?

I dont play mtg, but using trickbind to negate the... masses of eyes staring at us, sounds like a good idea.

[X] Go full aggro and summon a Ball lightning and a Delver of secrets. (URRR)
[X] Hold up mana for Trickbind (1U)
[X] "Hello, Garruk. You suck. How'd you even get here in the first place?"

>I suddenly feel the stares of thousands of tiny pairs of eyes.

Seems important. Something was put onto the field, what are we about to walk into?

>>188902
Unfortunately, googling 'green black eyes mtg' doesnt help at all.

Might be Eyes of the Wisent? It'd make sense with our blue nature but not sure where the thousand bit comes in from that.

>>188906
I think it's Lurking Predators. Considering we have to hold up Trickbind to dodge Garruk's "destroy us" +1 trigger and we only have one blue mana afterwards, we can't do much about it other than limit the amount of spells that we cast. However, we can ask Yuuka to deal with it, since she's the one with green mana here.

>>188911
Either way, we have to limit what we cast.

[x] Summon the biggest thing you can (6RR)

>>188911
"All are prey to the eyes of the wild"

Are you guys enjoying guessing what he's casting?
I'm just a little worried that those who don't play might be feeling left out.

Also good catch on the Trickbind thing. You wouldn't have been OHKO'D by it, but it would have hurt.

Any feedback is appreciated. I'm kinda new to writing, so I'm making it up as I go along (Barring bullet pointed plans).

>>188917
I'm enjoying it thus far, despite my only exposure to mtg being browsing the pretty art on /tg/.

I don't mind not being able to guess the cards, as long as there are other guys who know what they're doing.

I can just google the names of spells/creatures to get a general idea of what to expect.

>>188918
That's good to hear. I was beginning to wonder if people were only voting because it was there, rather than because they enjoyed it, so it's nice to hear otherwise.

>>188917
Don't be afraid to give us votes that would characterize the protagonist a bit more. Another Incursion did that early on and while it did get some flak for it, the result was arguably better than watching Blank Slate Protagonist Adventures #456.

Also, I have to ask - how many cards can we use per update? Because in theory, there's nothing stopping us from bolting everything in sight if there is no limit and we have lots of mana left.

>>188921
I'll try to inject a little more personality into the PC throughout the fight. After the Garruk arc is sorted, there will be some downtime/ social time which should allow more characterization than the middle of a fight.

As for cards, I previously said 7 + cards drawn/refresh. I'm going to change it to 7+cards drawn per day (+1 per refresh). That puts you at 4 cards remaining today by my count. I will start putting this with the mana count at the bottom of each story post.

On spellcards:
[spoiler]I'm kinda regretting giving you guys the "Translator" spellcard as I feel like it's a cop-out. Expect it to become redundant later.

How it works at the moment is that any card "Translated" costs you mana and a card. When you make actual spellcards they'll cost you a card when you make them, but will only cost mana on use. This will only be useful later.[spoiler]

Calling votes in ~3 hours.
[X] Delver + Ball lightning is currently winning with holding up trickbind and asking yuuka for help.

Thanks for the feedback. I'll try to make use of it.

update when

Feeling the need to put some pressure on Garruk before I'm overwhelmed by an army of various beasts, elementals and lhurgoyfs (and keep that axe away from my face). I begin to shape the energies for a Ball lightning before a stray thought crosses my mind and I stop.

I call out to Yuuka "Can you deal with the enchantment he just cast? It should be anchored to the trees." She nods and the trees begin to twist, revealing a rather small mongoose which twists and turns to avoid the grasping plantlife.

Seeing that I'm not going to fall into his trap, Garruk keeps advancing and sigils flare up along his axe. I feel an uncomfortable tugging sensation in my chest that gets worse as he closes.

As the sensation slides towards agonizing, I clench my teeth and say "Stop that." Glowing blue ropes fly forth at my command and clamp onto his axe, binding it and its magic.

Snarling, he tears his hands away from his axe and lunges at me. His lunge is cut short when a barely sub-lethal ball of lightning meets him halfway.

While he's down, I summon a Delver of secrets to deal with any more of his creatures, then pause to see how the others are doing.

Kogasa is firing danmaku at the mongoose, which is nimbly weaving through the bullets until Yuuka swoops down and crushes it.

We all turn to look at Garruk, who has pushed himself to his feet and is changing. His fingers are growing claw-like, his veins have gone black and protruding and there's a strange darkness in his eyes that wasn't there before.

Kogasa and Yuuka go to unleash their strongest spellcards, but Yuuka stops midway when the thought is ripped from her head, but starts moving forward.

Blood starts pouring from Garruck's nose as the mental feedback hits. Four Vengevines burst from the ground, two of which move to intercept Yuuka, while the other two charge at me.

One of the vengevines gets caught and shredded as Kogasa shifts her spellcard over to cover me, while I throw the delver in front of the other one. Just before the two creatures collide, the delver shudders, transforming into an insectile abberation, which ends in mutual destruction.

Meanwhile Yuuka just snarls at her vengevines and they shrivel up and die as she continues towards Garruk.

He is sent reeling when Yuuka's fist connects with his head, knocking some teeth out and sending him sprawling.

Again Garruks body rises, but this time he seems to have left his mind behind. Something else stares out of his eyes as two demonic wings emerge from his back and bear him skywards.

A hollow laugh echoes from his mouth as the surroundings go dark. The shadows start to solidify and move towards us, dissolving anything in their path.

The flowers around us let out a soft glow that makes the tendrils of shadow recoil momentarily, before probing at the edges of the light.

We appear to be at a stalemate, as any danmaku we launch is swallowed up by the darkness obscuring our foe, but at least the tendrils are being held at bay.

The stalemate is broken by a popping sound as flowers around us begin to burst. Yuuka starts trembling from the strain of maintaining whatever she's doing. As the light begins to flicker I grip Kogasa's umbrella and begin mental preparations to planeswalk away.

Thankfully before it comes to that I hear a muffled "M--t-r sp--k" and a blinding light shatters the darkness.

Garruk plummets in a cloud of talismans, wings smoldering but just before he hits the ground he vanishes, leaving a strange ripple in the air where he was.

Marisa, Reimu, Alice and Suika float down. Reimu asks "are you alright? What happened in there?"

The invocation to planeswalk echoes in my head. If I leave now I could chase down whatever's left of Garruk.

>Mana: 1RR
> 1 card left

[] Chase down Garruk - He's heavily injured and probably low on resources, the ideal time to strike. People will be asking awkward questions though.

[] Stick around. I'm also low on resources and chasing after Garruk alone seems like a poor idea. Besides I felt something weird when I arrived.

[x] Stick around. I'm also low on resources and chasing after Garruk alone seems like a poor idea. Besides I felt something weird when I arrived.

What the fuck are we going to do with 1 card? If it were like before, were only mana is the limit, I'd go for sure (we can do some damaging things with 3 mana) but...

[X] Stick around. I'm also low on resources and chasing after Garruk alone seems like a poor idea. Besides I felt something weird when I arrived.

[X] Chase down Garruk - He's heavily injured and probably low on resources, the ideal time to strike. People will be asking awkward questions though.

[x] Stick around. I'm also low on resources and chasing after Garruk alone seems like a poor idea. Besides I felt something weird when I arrived.

One card is barely good enough for self-defense, attacking seems stupid.

[x] Stick around. I'm also low on resources and chasing after Garruk alone seems like a poor idea. Besides I felt something weird when I arrived.

Is Planeswalk multi-target?

Prerelease over with, time to clarify some questions:

>>190468
Draw some cards? There is card draw in red, it just requires you to have an empty hand to actually gain an advantage. Also you'll draw a card when your mana refreshes. You have the entire modern cardpool to chose from (excluding planeswalkers, phyrexian mana costs and those that require <>)

>>190488
Nope. Its limited to you and items on your person. You most notably cannot transport other people with you. Then again Kogasa is both an object and a person.

As a note watch out for what is an ability, what is a spell and what is a "special action" (almost anything else) when it comes to countermagic. The wrong type of counterspell won't work. Also expect some fuzziness when it comes to how the mtg rules are applied, especially when it comes to tohous and how long effects last. Trickbind might for example seal an unnamed youkais powers for a whole day, stop Rumia for an hour and barely work on Yuuka or Aya. Using it on Marisa would also prove risky as she mostly uses spells.

So, what would happen if we cast inner struggle on those three? And, just to satisfy my curiosity, "Awe for the guilds"?

Speaking of technicalities that only I care about, do our allies count as 'creatures you control'? Like, would Stensia Masquerade work on allied Scarlet Siblings?

>>190501
Inner struggle would vary based on how aggressive the target is at the time. A feral youkai would get destroyed, Rumia would vary from almost unaffected to wrecked based on if she was playing around or hunting, wheras Yuuka would be mostly unaffected unless something had happened to her flowers.

As for awe for the guilds, I have a mental note of which Tohous are which colour(s) based on powers & personality. Yuuka would be effected (mono-G), whereas Reimu (WR) and Marisa (UR) would not be.

Masqerade would help the scarlets, but they wouldn't get the full benefit. As a general rule effects that persist after the source is gone only work on summoned creatures.

How exactly do water dependent spells like the various krakens, and crush of tentacles, work in the absence of water? Seems like we'l have to rely on red for big creatures if we cant access the blue ones without being adjacent to misty lake.

>You most notably cannot transport other people with you. Then again Kogasa is both an object and a person.
That's a neat workaround.

>>190504
Cool, thanks.

Y'know, I never knew how much I wanted a MTG CYOA until I got one.

>>190504
Can we exploit stuff like Browbeat to refresh our card pool while there's no one nearby?

>There are suprisingly few mtg cards relevant to this situation.

I'm snapped out of my mental reverie when Reimu repeats her question.

"I'm alright. I must say, you lot have an impeccable sense of timing."

"Nah, that's more Sakuya's sort of thing." - Marisa butts in. "Even I can't be awesome at everything."

"That's a first, coming from you."

"Jeez. Thanks Reimu."

Alice yells "Would you two stop bickering for a moment and come over here. Yuuka looks ready to collapse."

We all turn to look and see Alice's two dolls supporting a strained looking Yuuka. The dolls drop abruptly as Yuuka's legs give out.

We all rush over to help, when Yuuka says "Just give me a moment and I'll be better." She reaches down and brushes her hand against a flower. There's the brief tingle of mana in the air as Yuuka begins to look better.

She says "That'll wear off soon. Could I beg a bed off someone? I don't want to be out in the rain for too much longer if possible.

It's at this point that the others realise that with the exception Kogasa and myself, everyone's slowly getting soaked. A brief discussion breaks out as to who's closer but Alice's wins out when Suika mentions that Marisa was brewing potions when they arrived.

On the flight over Marisa says "I'm Marisa, local witch and problem solver. Who are you?"

"I'm a travelling spellsmith and a proud member of the Izzet league."

"Who or what is an Izzet league?"

Whoops. I'd better remember to leave that last bit off my introduction.

"A group of mages back where I'm from. They keep the city running. That is when the latest experiment isn't busy destroying it."

"They sound like fun. Horrendously irresponsible, but fun."

"That they are."
With that our conversation stops until we reach Alice's house. We all hurry inside and Alice goes off to fetch a futon.

There's a brief silence as we all listen to the rain on the roof. This is quickly broken by Suika loudly announcing "Now that thats over its time for an after incident party. Who wants drinks?"

Reimu replies "Its the middle of the afternoon."

"So? Anytime is drinking time."

"Tea, yes. Sake, maybe. Whatever concoction is in that gourd of yours, no. Marisa, mind making us tea? You know where it is."

"Ok. I'll be right back."

There's another lull in the conversation as Marisa leaves the room.

Who should I talk to?

>Mana: 1RR
>1 card left

[ ] Go help Marisa make tea. She reminds me of my guildmates a little.

[ ] Yuuka is slumped against the wall looking troubled. Perhaps I could help?

[ ] Go talk to Reimu. She might want to know that Garruk could come back.

[ ]Ask Kogasa how she's doing. She's been quiet for a bit.

[ ] Have a drink with Suika. It'll make her happy.

>>190543
Nope. Browbeat is about getting answers out of someone. Punisher cards require an opponent to work.

>>190523
Water themed spells can be used away from the lake. There's a certain amount of physics bending that will occur however such as tentacles shooting out of a puddle or an Elder-deep fiend emerging from a small stream. Creatures will however require an appropriatly sized body of water to stick around. Remember blue still has other large creatures though.

[X] Yuuka is slumped against the wall looking troubled. Perhaps I could help?

This Yuuka seems reasonable, and we didn't exactly have any time to chat during the fight.

[X]Ask Kogasa how she's doing. She's been quiet for a bit.

[x] Yuuka is slumped against the wall looking troubled. Perhaps I could help?

[x] Youkai seems troubled

There will be time to meet with Marisa, who is basically in the same frequency as out Mc, but Yukari received quite a besting and pretty much saved the battle there.

[X] Yuuka is slumped against the wall looking troubled. Perhaps I could help?

>>190598

What? Yukari wasn't even present.

>>190598
Were you lucid when you wrote this?

>>190591
[X] Yuuka is slumped against the wall looking troubled. Perhaps I could help?
Time to help the scary lady.

>>190602
I meant Yuuka. And, to be completely honest, I really wasn't.

Uh, is there something we can do with this mana before it is refreshed ? Like craft an extraplanar lens (the two magicians would surely be interested) or cure Yuuka with an elixir of immortality?

[x] Yuuka is slumped against the wall looking troubled. Perhaps I could help?

>>190607
Artifacts require some base materials to craft. You could always make another enchantment though.

Votes called for [ ] Yuuka is slumped against the wall looking troubled. Perhaps I could help?

Writing.

Might be a good idea to make a thopter spy network as a way of recon at some point.

>>190612
So for a darksteel plate we would need darksteel?

I'm guessing the same applies to artifact creatures.

I wander over to where Yuuka is slumped against the wall and say "Thanks Yuuka, you really saved us back there."

"I was just protecting the plants and saving myself. Just one question though: why did you help me? I'm an elder youkai known for being hostile to humans, and the two of you seem strangely similar yet different. Like two flowers, one red the other black."

"I helped you with Garruk because...

[ ] I felt somewhat responsible."
[ ] He needed to be stopped. You seemed like you could help."
[ ] Those things don't matter. Its what you do that counts."
[ ] I couldn't let him give the rest of us outsiders a bad reputation."
[ ] I enjoy challenges. That being said, I'm not about to just let people get hurt.
[ ] write-in."

There's a brief lull in the conversation as Yuuka ponders over what I just said. In this lull an idea occurs to me.

"What were you doing back there with the light? It felt similar to my own spellcasting."

"It's only fair I tell you after my question. The plants gave me a strange power. I just did what felt right."

Yuuka still looks troubled and when I point this out she says "I am. I've never felt anything like that. It felt like he just ripped my spellcard out of my head. I'm still having trouble remembering it now."

"If its any consolation it hurt him more than it hurt you."

"Really? I doubt it."

"I meant physically. The feedback actually damages the caster. Also he only took your surface thoughts. It should come back soon."

"Thanks."

At this point Alice walks in and announces "I've set up the futon in the guest room. The rest of you are welcome to stay or go."

I now notice the empty cups around the room. Looks like our conversation took longer than I thought. Marisa gets up and leaves, saying "I'm going to try and rescue my brew before it explodes again."

Reimu does the same, explaining that she's been away from the shrine too long. Suika follows her out. Before she leaves completely, she turns, looks at me and says "We'll need to talk soon. You can find me at the shrine. Don't make me wait too long."

Kogasa looks at me expectantly.

[ ] Stay here with Alice and help keep an eye on Yuuka.

[ ] Go have that talk with Reimu before she gets mad.

[ ] Head back to the temple to report back to Byakuren. Perhaps work on some enchantments/artifacts.

[ ] Marisa's exploding potion has me curious.

>>190619
Or similar materials. At the very least some harder than usual metal. The magic will do a cretain amount of transmutation. This also applies to artifact creatures. However if a card effect would make an artifact token, no materials would be required (E.g: Pia & Kiran Nalaar or Confirm suspicions.)

>>190592
>Nope. Browbeat is about getting answers out of someone. Punisher cards require an opponent to work.
I meant in a more general sense, there's not just punisher cards that deal in draw here. There's tons of draw in blue, but since we only have red right now, we could in theory spend that mana to cast Dangerous Wager to draw 2, or even better, Wheel of Fate to draw 7. I don't know how suspend works here though.

>>190620
[x] He needed to be stopped. You seemed like you could help.
[x] Stay here with Alice and help keep an eye on Yuuka.

[X] I enjoy challenges. That being said, I'm not about to just let people get hurt.
[X] Go have that talk with Reimu before she gets mad.
Better get this out of the way before the magic of anonymous recollection makes us forget altogether.

[x] He needed to be stopped. You seemed like you could help.
[x] Go have that talk with Reimu before she gets mad.

Let's not get beat up again.

>>190625
Suspend works like it normally does, until the last counter is removed (1 counter is removed at each refresh). When the last counter is removed you have until the next refresh to use it, at which point it casts itself.

I also forgot to include the usual mana+cards information at the end of the last post, so I'm including it now.

>Mana: 1RR
> 1 Card remaining.
>Refresh next update.

[x] Those things don't matter, it's what you do that counts

[x] Follow Marisa

Ironic they the black white is actually red and blue.

Is there anything stopping us from using seething song (besides the embarrassment if it involves actual singing) or pyretic ritual or manamorphose?

Also, we didn't really had a chance against Garruk without help, no?

Calling votes in ~3 hours. If you want to cast a spell before refresh, include that.

>>190640
Seething song is banned in modern, so no on that one. The others are fine though, now I've introduced the card limit. Just no chaining manamorphose into manamorphose.

You could have taken Garruk down on your own, it would have been significantly harder though, and require some broken things that I'm sure you are thinking of with those suggestions. Tell me if the picture is not what you were thinking of.

[x] Cast Wheel of Fate before a refresh
draw 7 is too good to pass up, even if it is delayed

Votes called for:
[x] He needed to be stopped. You seemed like you could help.
[x] Go have that talk with Reimu before she gets mad.
[x] Wheel of fate.

Writing.

>>190645
While it has the benefit of suddenly changing the opponents' plan, I think our problem always end up as mana.
Besides, whouldn't you want to have more variety?

[x] Manamorphose
- [x] One white mana
- [x] One green mana

I'd play this into desperate ritual, if allowed.

>>190649
>our problem always end up as mana
b-but refresh is next update, we get all our mana back

>>190651
This spell increases our max mana, afaik.

>>190652
Mana added to your pool is temporary. The reason braid of fire feels permanent is that it does it every turn.

Pyretic/desperate ritual temporarily increase mana by R at the cost of a card. Manamorphose uses two mana and a card to make two (temporary) mana and a card. It's intended use is to filter mana from one colour to another.

>>190649
You are an Izzet mage. No casting spells green, white or black spells.

>>190655
Interesting. So manamorphose is useful only if we run out of blue mana or we need to pay an extra cost in lands we don't have, but the spell needs to be blue/red or mono blue or mono red, right?
And those two still have a 1 mana gain so they're useful as preparation just before a battle... Good thing you called the vote.

Sorry to bother you that much but, it IS a new and interesting system for a CYOA.

After apologising to Alice I depart for the shrine. The flight over is blessedly devoid of fairies, as they are all hiding from the rain. Taking the opportunity I ask Kogasa to keep an eye out while I set a wheel of fate in motion.

Once finished, we fly in silence with only the sound of the rain drumming off the umbrella for company. Something seems to be bothering Kogasa, but she doesn't seem to want to talk about it. I give her a while to think about it.

For some reason the silence is getting to me after a while, so I speak up "Whats-"
"-that?" Kogasa also chooses to start talking at the same time.
After a brief series of "You first." and "After you."s Kogasa finally gets around to asking her question. "What happened to that man you summoned?"

"He dissipated back into the magic he was made from when he died. Was that what's been bothering you?"

"No. Just before he died, something happened. He turned into something else."

"You saw that? Sorry. Its pretty awful the first time you see it"

"What was it?"

"It's a bit of a long story. Sometimes I can summon creatures based off stories. His is a bit gruesome."

"I'm not scared."

"That was the story of a man who wanted knowledge. He began experiments on insects, but one day his supply ran out. He decided to do one final experiment on himself. He survived, but became that thing you saw. There's more if you want to hear it."

Kogasa replies rather quickly "No thanks."

Thankfully we are spared further silence as we arrive at the shrine. It has a feeling of importance and liveliness to it, but looking at it in the rain, thats all overshadowed by the underpinning forlorn feeling about the place. I wonder what religion is practiced here.

I notice a donation box beside the steps, so push in a couple of coins, which make a thudding noise as they hit the bottom. Hopefully the owner will be able to spend them alright.

As I ascend the steps, Reimu opens the door and ushers me inside with a pleased look on her face. The interior of the shrine is very spartan, compared to the Orzhov churches back on Ravnica. Just a plain room with a couple of doors off to one side and an alcove at the end with a table for offerings.

Reimu vanishes off into a side room for a moment and comes back with a some tea. "Since you're here I assumed you like tea. Now sit down while I give you the basics. Normally I'd warn you about youkai but you seem to be able to handle yourself, so I won't."

Partway through Reimu's talk muffled thumping comes from one of the doors. A seal is tossed on the door and the noise stops. Reimu then continues her speech. "Onto the spellcard system-"

I cut Reimu off here and explain that I already know that and even have a spellcard of my own, although it's a bit weird.

"Can I see?"

"Sure." I pull out my spellcard and slide it over. Reimu takes a look at it for a while and says
"Odd. This is technically a spellcard, but barely. It also requires a lot more focus to use. I'd recommend creating fixed spellcards from scratch. I'll show you how."

Reimu then helps me make Impulse sign [Lightning bolt] properly this time.

"One last thing. If you ever want to leave Gensokyo, talk to me and I'll toss you back across the border."

"This border wouldn't be to keep things in would it?"

"Mostly yes. Why?"

I swear under my breath, look Reimu in the eyes and say "That demon will still be here then."

Reimu stares back and says "You know something else don't you."

At this point Kogasa has snuck behind Reimu and pulled the seal off the door. Suika and a green-haired ghost come tumbling into the room. The distraction has given me time to think.

>Mana: 2UURR (RRRRR)
>1 card left
> 3 refreshes until Wheel of fate

[ ] Reimu knows something's up. I'd better spill everything, including the fact that I'm a planeswalker and all that entails.

[ ] Avoid mentioning planeswalkers. It's not necessary and might make people jealous, angry or afraid.

I'm going to be busy over the next 3 days so I may or may not get an update out. I should still be able to answer questions though.

>>190667
Correct.

It's pretty much a simplified version of the mana system from MtG. It seems to translate pretty well, from what I've felt. Also manamorphose can also be used when you want a spell that doesn't cost cards or mana (see picture as to why that could be useful.)

I'm also surprised that THP hasn't tried (or even suggested) to do anything broken with Grapeshot or Dragonstorm yet. (Although that one Anon was probably thinking about it.)

>>190674
>11 fucking mana
Aren't we essentially a god now. We can cast pretty much any spell from either color

Will vote in morning.

[x] Reimu knows something's up. I'd better spill everything, including the fact that I'm a planeswalker and all that entails.

>>190675
>not Kiki-Jiki/Deceiver Exarch with 3 mana counter backup
It's 3 cards and 11 mana exactly. We can flood gensokyo with a potentially infinite amount of minions for a short time, and that's not even close to breaking the system.
The only reason why I'm not suggesting outright broken things is because I don't know how OP will react and I really like the system
>>190674
[x] Avoid mentioning planeswalkers. It's not necessary and might make people jealous, angry or afraid.

>>190680
>Deceiver Exarch is in Scars
Pestermite then, same CMC and effect.

>>190680
I don't mind. I was expecting broken things from day 1. I'm actually curious as to what you consider truly broken. For reference, I play living twin in modern and Ojutai+always watching in standard.

[x] Reimu knows something's up. I'd better spill everything, including the fact that I'm a planeswalker and all that entails.

Don't really see a reason not to at this point.

[x] Reimu knows something's up. I'd better spill everything, including the fact that I'm a planeswalker and all that entails.

>>190684
If you truly want max cheese, we'd go Thopter Assembly + Time Sieve since we can play whatever cards we want (so long as we have cards in hand)

>>190686
Time sieve requires black mana, so is a no-go. Infinite turns is about as cheesy as it gets. It's not like someone can already do that though.

[x] Reimu knows something's up. I'd better spill everything, including the fact that I'm a planeswalker and all that entails.

Trying to cover it up will make her more suspicious.

>>190684
Gilded Lotus + Twitch = infinite draw (or draw 4 for free if there is a card limit)
Isochron Scepter pitching Triton Tactics + Gilded Lotus + Ensoul Artifact x2 = infinite mana
Eye of the Storm + bolts/pacts = INFINITE FUN

Omniscience is ten mana and we have 11

After a moment's contemplation, I decide that I may as well come clean about this. I look over at the three on the floor and ask Reimu "How discreet are those two?"

Reimu responds by saying "Mima, get out."

"I can keep secrets."

"Mima, you're a self-proclaimed evil spirit, are grinning madly and I can see your fingers crossed. Get out." Pouting, Mima backs through the door.

Reimu says "Now that's out of the way, start talking."

"I'll start by explaining that I'm from a different outside than the one you are used to. In fact I'm from an entirely different world altogether. So, as you might have surmised is Garruk, the fellow who you ran into earlier. We both have the rare ability to move between planes and he tried planeswalking away when you lot blasted him. He's probably stuck here until someone lets him through that barrier of yours."

There's a brief pause as everyone takes in what I've said it stretches longer, I add "This is the part where everyone either calls me crazy, starts drinking heavily or tries to kill me and dissect my corpse to find out how I do it. Your collective silence has me worried."
I look at Suika, who is taking another swig from her gourd and back to the other two.

Reimu asks "What's stopping hin from just planeswalking away again when we confront him?"

I reply "Either you can do something with that barrier of yours, or I can chase him down and finish him off. Either way we've got time until he's recovered enough to be a problem."

"You sound like you know him."

"I know of him. He was once a guardian of nature who hunted down those who tried to abuse it. He was then cursed by a demonic artefact called the chain veil. Now he hunts the most powerful beings he can find for the thrill of it. Last thing I heard there was a hedron holding his curse in check, although that no longer seems to be the case."

"If you can find that hedron, then I could probably mimic it with a seal. We'll also need to get everyone together again to come up with a plan. Do you want to search or go visiting?"

>Mana: 2UURR (RRRRR)
>1 card left
> 3 refreshes until Wheel of fate

[] Search for the Hedron:
-[]At the battle site
-[]Write-in
[] Gather up people
-[]Alice & Yuuka
-[]Marisa
-[]See if someone at the temple can be spared (who?)

[x] Search for the Hedron:
-[x]At the battle site
[x] Gather up people
-[x]Alice & Yuuka
-[x]Marisa
-[x]See if someone at the temple can be spared (who?)

BETTER IDEA:
[x] Organize Gensokyo-wide scavenger hunt with ABSOLUTELY EVERYONE.
-[x] SOMEONE has to have a printer to make copies of this announcement. (Someone needs to tell Aya of this plan.)

Organizing a hunt like that is likely going to end up with people killed or maimed. This isn't just a threat, it's a threat with a decent bit of force to back it up, given that Yuuka even had an issue holding off Garruk's strength for a prolonged period of time.

A warning might be more appropriate than attempting a manhunt.

This might however be a valid time to reexamine the Theopter Spy Network however.

>>190780
[x] Gather up people
-[x] Alice & Yuuka
[x] Search for the Hedron
-[x] Maybe Rumia took it?

We need someone to deal with Garruk's enchantment spam, which is where Yuuka comes in.

[x] >>190789
Can't we use a spy network

Thopter Spy Network requires an artifact to function, I believe. If we're gonna use it, we should also form another artifact to support it.

Perhaps Yuuka could provide a flower to create a gilded lotus?

>>190793
Shou gave you a Fire diamond way back, so another artifact won't be necceary.

>>190793
Seconding the "Ask Yuuka for Gilded Lotus materials" plan. More mana's always good.

Votes will be called in ~2 hours. I'd recommend casting a card draw spell before working on the lotus.

[x] Gather up people
-[x] Alice & Yuuka
[x] Search for the Hedron
-[x] Maybe Rumia took it?
[x] Ask Yuuka for Gilded Lotus materials

Ok:
11 mana
Divination (draw 2) -> 11-3 = 8 -> gilded lotus -> 8-5 = 3 -> tap lotus -> 8 -> remaining blue mana to make spy network -> 8-4 = 4

Leaving us with 4 colorless mana

That work, or did I fuck up?

>>190804
There's probably a better way to do this with card synergies, but I dont know it.

>>190804
Called for this. Writing.

>>190804
>Divination (draw 2) -> 11-3 = 8 -> gilded lotus -> 8-5 = 3 -> tap lotus -> 8 -> remaining blue mana to make spy network -> 8-4 = 4

Divination (draw 2, 2U) -> URR (RRRRR) -> Gilded Lotus ([T]: add 3 mana of any color to mana pool, 5) -> URR, tap lotus for UUU -> Thopter Spy Network (2UU) -> UR left in mana pool

>>190814
For some reason I thought gilded lotus gave 5 colorless. Durr.

We could easily get out the Scepter, Crown and Throne of Empires.

>>190822
Same with the pieces of Kaldra

>>190822
>>190823
those combos die to removal and you need materials to cast artifact spells

>>190824
It's more fun than anything. I'm not suggesting we do it soon.

>dies to removal
Other than shrouded and hexproofed creatures, what doesn't?

We have a deluge of counterspells, so removal wont be the biggest deal.

We autosage now~

New thread.
>>190896