We wake up as Magical Girls - Maid the RPG Game

The worm turns to look at the laughter and frowns. "Well, at least you didn't call me a Vapu-worm, like the last girl did. What is a Vapu, anyway?"

Vapu: One of several measurements of distance used in Atlantia. Vapu is named for Empress Vapu, who is said to have provided the thumb used as the basis for the original Vapu unit. It is unknown which Empress, if any, provided the 'foot' used as the basis for the Atlantian measurement equal to twelve Vapus.

Edited by Nodrog on Jul 8th 2020 at 9:25:14 AM

After either having a conversation with Maria or giving up on that happening tonight, Houston finally gets around to something they had been trying to find time for since many, many pages ago.

🎶

Houston focuses on their breathing, and soon finds themself in a grassy field, filled with flowers.

"Hahh... Glad that works the same as always."

They look around, not seeing anything unexpected. Or, well, anything at all. As far as she can see, there's nothing but the grassy field.

"As expected," he mutters. "Still disheartening, though..." He shakes his head. "Next step, though."

"Yuki!" Houston calls into the distance.

... No response.

Houston sighs. "I knew it was a long shot, but I was still kinda hoping..." He shouts into the distance some more ... and still nothing.

"... Guess I really did come here alone, then." He shivers slightly. "I don't think I've ever actually been alone like this before... I wish I didn't have to get used to that now, of all times..."

"Why, if you wanted for company, you need only have asked!"

Houston whirls around and spots someone who anyone would be tempted to describe as their evil knockoff — a woman whose face looks just like Houston's, wearing the robes of a dark magician.

They rush forward and hug the everloving crap out of the other party, much to her surprise.

"Well! You were never this affectionate before... You must have missed me quite dearly."

"I did, actually!" Houston exclaims. "Have you been lurking in here the whole time?"

"Indeed I have," says 🖤. "I woke up at the same time you did."

"Then why'd you keep quiet this whole time?"

She smirks. "As I told you once before — I appear only at your desire."

Houston facepalms. "So you hid away just because I didn't ask?"

"Well, I certainly couldn't ask you whether you wanted me to reappear, now could I? I tried that last time, you remember how that went."

Houston baps her in the forehead. "We can read each other's minds, 🖤! You didn't need to show yourself to know I missed you..."

🖤 makes a show of rubbing her forehead. "If you say so... 'Houston'. Interesting alias, by the way."

"Hey, I had to come up with something, and I didn't have time to think about it."

"Yes, I can tell..." says 🖤. "That aside — I believe you came here seeking the erstwhile owner of this body?"

"Mm-hmm. A person named Yuki. I would imagine she looks like the body, but it's possible her self-image is something else. Also possible she's not a 'her', for that matter, but it's not like she— well, not like they're in a position to be asked..."

"Well, I haven't seen them, but when you called their name, I did see something interesting appear." She grabs Houston by the shoulders and turns them around.

The field has now been cut in half, an inky black void running down what was once its center, behind which nothing more can be seen. Houston touches the void tentatively, noting that the world seems to simply stop at the boundary.

"But... that doesn't make sense," they say. "This isn't — we're not actually in a grassy field, this is a metaphor — how can something like that... be?"

🖤 shrugs. "I know not how it works. Only that it's there. Given the timing, though, I would assume that it's what's left of the original inhabitant. The others always came when we called for them, after all. This may be the child's response."

Houston rubs their eyes in exasperation. "That's... so... what does that imply?"

🖤 takes a few moments to think about that. "I'm not entirely sure... but whatever it is, it's probably very interesting. To someone. On another note — isn't it well past our bedtime by now?"

"Mm. Yes, I suppose it is," Houston says. "Not gonna make much more progress on this til we've gotten a proper night's sleep, I suppose."

If anyone's wondering how the hell you pronounce 🖤, the real and also true canonical answer is "as infrequently as you can get away with".

Dreaming...

Houston drifts aimlessly through the hedge maze. He has no idea what's going on right now, but in his dreaming trance, he also doesn't particularly care.

"Hehe. A talking worm. How cute. Say, what do worms like to eat...?"

The worm looks thoughtfully up at Houston. "Depends. You wouldn't believe some of the.... poo... other worms eat. I, however, enjoy books. The more purfused with puffery and pretensions, the better."

Edited by Nodrog on Jul 30th 2020 at 6:54:31 AM

Houston tilts their head in thought. "Hmm... I don't think I have any of those on hand... I wonder where I could find one in this world?"

The 2.54 cm long worm cocks its head to the side, considering. "There's a book-mobile in the castle." says the worm, after a moment. "If you could get one of the books for me, I'd be ever so grateful."

The worm uses its tail to point to the side of the hedge. The sides of the hedge back pull back to reveal a brick wall with three doors. The doors open and, out of each door, a knight in metal armor marches out. One knight is wearing a garland of white roses, one other knight is wearing a garland of red roses, and the third night is wearing a garland of alternating red and white flowers.

"One door leads to the castle, and the other two lead to uncertain death." the worm explains. "You're allowed to ask the knights questions, but each knight will answer only one question each. Ed always lies, Eddy always tells the truth, and Billy Bob Bo Barnaby the Third... the one guarding the door to the castle... always strictly alternates between answering truthfully and lying; that's why they're wearing different colored roses. Sadly, I'm color blind so I can't tell them apart."

Edited by Nodrog on Aug 14th 2020 at 6:26:28 AM

"... Uh-huh," Houston mutters, sounding annoyed. "We read an entire book of these puzzles when we were a kid. ... Didn't solve anything past the third chapter, but we did read the whole thing."

He walks up to the guard with the red roses. "In your personal opinion, should I just solve this logic puzzle like a logic puzzle, or should I do a... wild outside-the-box thingy that humorously exploits the fact that this isn't actually a strictly pure logic exercise?"

The knight thinks for a few minutes. "Technically, since I'm just a manifestation of the underlying artificial intelligence maintaining this metaphysical mental space, I don't actually have opinions." he finally says.

Edited by Nodrog on Aug 14th 2020 at 10:01:14 AM

Houston nods. "That makes sense," they say, not able to apply much critical thinking to this odd statement since they're dreaming. "I guess I'll just use the 'I win' button." They walk over to the white-rosed knight.

"If I were to ask you 'which door leads to the castle', what answer would you give me?"

The white knight thinks for a moment, and then says "I would always give you the correct answer."

Edited by Nodrog on Aug 21st 2020 at 10:47:24 AM

Houston looks directly into the camera. "These guys don't actually know where the castle is, do they?

"I'll just take the risk of uncertain death, I think." She walks past the red-and-white-rosed knight and takes the door behind him. "Just for funsies, though — what's the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow?"

The knight thinks for a moment, the says "Ask Billy Bob Bo Barnaby the Third, he's the bird watcher."

Edited by Nodrog on Aug 21st 2020 at 4:54:13 AM

"Honestly..." started Ian/Daisy to the 2.54 cm worm. "...I don't know. But judging from the context, I would assume that it's a unit of measurement, like an inch."

Ian/Daisy then thinks to themselves, "I have the slightest feeling that I might be a bit lost..."

"Do you know where I can go to find out something? I haven't been here for quite some time..." Ian then asks the worm.

The 2.54 cm worm looks around. "You could try the Search Engine." it says, and points off in a direction. "Just go down any pathway and, when you come to the end of the path, turn around three times."

It begins to move off, moving first the rear legs until it's mid point is raised up in the air, then moving its front legs until it's stretched out. It repeats the motion, moving about one Vapu at a time, until it vanishes into the foliage making up the maze.

Edited by Nodrog on Sep 1st 2020 at 12:29:58 PM

"Good night," Ryo responded sleepily to Shizuka. And with that, he trudged up the stairs to the door that had Rosa's name on its placard.

Once he walked in, Ryo got to take a good look at how the real Rosa made this space her own. Of course, she couldn't really do anything drastic due to dorm guidelines, but you could definitely tell this was her base of operations.

On one side of the room was her desk, upon which sat a laptop computer, some pink candles (which, upon further inspection, were revealed to have been rose-scented), and a single framed photograph.

Ryo picked up the photo to get a better look. It was a group photo of all of the real Magical Maidens in their civilian forms, goofing off in front of the camera and enjoying a moment of respite, however brief, from fighting the forces of evil. The one in the center of the picture, however, was totally unfamiliar to Ryo.

This particular girl, clad in a navy sweater with silver stars, had wavy white hair piled upon her head in a large bun and sparkling black eyes behind thick, square-shaped glasses. She was playfully pushing away with her finger the real Rosa, who had her arm around her shoulder and looked like she was about to kiss her on the cheek. Ryo deduced that this unidentified girl was most likely Princess Star White/Astra Albus.

It was strange; looking at this photo somehow managed to stir up some sort of response, as tears suddenly started flowing from Rosa's eyes. Bewildered, but not knowing what else to do, Ryo wordlessly wiped away the tears before setting the picture back down and began getting ready for bed.

After washing her face, brushing her teeth and quickly slipping on a nightgown, Ryo basically faceplanted on top of the grey cotton comforter of Rosa's bed, too tired to bother tucking themself in as they slipped into slumber.

—

((If you want any changes to Star White's description, i can edit it if you'd like.))

Edited by Akkun_K on Sep 19th 2020 at 5:35:00 AM

Ryo 'awakens' inside what looks like a giant stone cavern, the walls carved into the shape of screaming, weeping people. The floor is covered in jagged black shards but Ryo finds herself able to walk easily barefoot on a surface where she should slip and fall. The giant room is lit by a massive bonfire, which blackened quasi-humanoid figures dance and cavort around. A massive black throne is in the middle of the chamber, facing the fire.

Ryou looks up at the throne to see a giant figure sitting in the throne. If he was standing, then the horns on his head would probably scrape the ceiling thirty feet above. He is naked, from the waist up showing a well muscled but heavily scarred form, a golden chain around his neck. From the waist down he is covered in black and red fur, with his feet replaced by a pair of cloven hooves.

The massive figure looks down at Ryo and speaks, in a language of guteral growls and hisses, which Ryo's mind insists is perfectly understandable. When he speaks, the entire cavern trembles, causing more of the black rock shards to fall from the ceiling, and breaking when they hit the floor. Oddly, none of the shards hit either the throned figure or Ryo.

"Oh, devils.... did I forget your birthday again, sweetie?"

Edited by Nodrog on Sep 20th 2020 at 6:46:59 AM

As Shizuka entered Gracieuse's room, she took a look around at the finer details of the place to get a feel for this room that she could be staying in for a little bit or a long while. There wasn't any harm in not doing it, after all.

As she observed the room, she would find that it had many books on self-care, meditation, and strange creatures, presumably Faerian ones. There were also some diaries that seemed to be hidden from the view of anyone who would visit briefly. They could be diaries, they could be some manga that Gracieuse didn't want to admit to reading, they could be nearly anything. Apart from that, there was a closet that had many of the things Shizuka needed in this new body.

But whatever it was didn't matter at the moment, it wasn't any of Shizuka's business. She should probably get some sleep anyway, as she had to be up for school.

So I'm in the body of a girl who goes by Gracieuse, who was supposedly brave for coming here at the age that she did. She doesn't seem like that bad of a person, probably one that'd be pretty pleasant to talk to. Oh well, I probably shouldn't think about it too much. After all, that's never ended well in the past for me. Shizuka thought to herself as she dozed off to sleep.

Shizuka feels her mind 'slowing down' but, instead of falling asleep, she just goes into a state of deep meditation. About four hours later, her mind speed up, leaving her feeling totally rested even though it is the middle of the night.

Edited by Nodrog on Oct 6th 2020 at 5:05:17 AM

As Shizuka found herself with the energy if a full nights rest, despite only having done that strange meditation, she got out of her bed, confused. What the hell? It is still dark out, yet I have the energy of a full night's rest? Am I dreaming? Shizuka thought to herself as she exited her room to go look around late at night.

As Shizuka was left alone in the dark hall with her mind, she wondered about home. Did they miss her? What was her body doing right now? Can she go back there? What is this body's original host doing? All of it became a swirl of thoughts, constantly running, yet not making any practice, as if the swirl was in an enclosed room, not being allowed to break free no matter how hard it tried.

Shizuka hears a noise from downstairs, near the front door.

The closest word for sleep in the Elven language translates to 'Little Death'. So, Sleep in Elven would translate in French to the term for -REDACTED UNTIL YOU'RE ALL OLDER, BY ORDER OF FELIX-.

Edited by Nodrog on Oct 10th 2020 at 6:48:59 AM

That is certainly interesting. Shizuka thought to herself as she headed towards the source of the noise, trying to be as quiet as possible as she snuck around the place. She didn't want to wake anyone up, and especially not Felix. That would be a very unpleasant encounter.

Although she wondered what the noise could possibly be. Maybe someone was making something? An intruder? Whatever it was, it probably would not hurt to check it out and sneak back to bed, or maybe snoop around a bit more.

Shizuka's keen elven hearing allows her to track the sound to the recently repaired front door. She moves closer to see if she can identify the cause of the noise and...

Shizuka's Cunning [2] x Dice [1] = 2

The noise suddenly stops as Shizuka walks closer. It seems likely that whoever or whatever is on the other side of the front door has sensed Shizuka's less then stealthy approach, but has not yet chosen what they are going to do.

Dammit. Of course I messed up again. I guess I could send that little raptor thing to check it out, although that’s a shot in the dark. I could try to make something new, but that’s also a risk. Shizuka thought to herself weighing her options. This would take a bit of thinking.

The new summon would be a good choice, but given Shizuka’s unfamiliarity with it, it’d be a bit...difficult, to say the least. Oh well, it was better or equal than whatever else she could do. Might as well try a wraith.

A thin, gray form appears in the middle of the front living room. Details form until it looks like a bedraggled and much thinner version of Gracieuse, as if a version of Gracieuss that was starved to death. The figure is draped in gray-white rags that cover it from the neck down, until about the waist the rags and body both fade out. The figure turns pale, milky-white eyes at Shizuka and seems to inhale, its mouth opening as if about to scream.

 You have summoned: Wraith - Banshee.  Wraith - Banshee currently knows four moves: 

 * - Life Drain 

 * - Sonic Scream 

 * - Pass without trace 

 * - Bubble 

Edited by Nodrog on Oct 16th 2020 at 12:45:38 PM

Shizuka, panicking that it might scream and give away her not being asleep like she is supposed to, made a motion for the banshee to quiet down. Although, since she had a ghost-like companion, that could be quite useful for checking the thing out without getting caught. And pass without a trace was one of its abilities? This should go as smooth as butter.

"Go towards the front door and find out what the noise is about while being as quiet and sneaky as possible. And use that pass without a trace thing while you're at it." Shizuka whispered to the ghastly figure, praying that it had the intelligence to comprehend what she was saying. She really did not want to have to strain her mind trying to investigate a noise that could be harmless.

The floating figure nods. It becomes even more translucent, until it's basically just a thin haze. Even with her keen sight, Shizuka can only spot the wraith when it is moving.

The wraith floats over to the door and then passes through it.

It floats over to the door and then sticks its face THROUGH the door.

 Pass Without Trace: When you or another person you are touching makes a cunning roll for stealth,  roll with advantage (roll two dice and use the higher). 

 Wraith / Banshee cunning (4) * dice ( 2, 4) = 16 

The Wraith returns, solidifying as it comes back to Shizuka. The figure places its hands on Shizuka's shoulders and whispers in Shizuka's ear, but all Shizuka feels is the sensation of a puff of cold air as the Wraith whispers 'A man in dark clothes is listening at the door. He is carrying lock picking tools and has a tool box next to him.'.