Gestalt Quest: 01-Birth

>>284658
>C) Look around more.

>>284687

The remains of the building are all around you, and you notice that you are buried in a heap of what were once books, probably, as well as parts of the roof. You push off the ash and rubble to stand up. You can't shake the smell of ash from your nose, and as you feel around your body for any damage, it appears that you are unharmed.

The area is vacant, and what foliage had surrounded the fieldhouse had been heavily reduced by the flames. Most of the trees were felled to allow room for growth from the other trees. In the distance, towards the end of the block, you see a single cop car parked off the road, presumably to keep any meddling youth from investigating the scene.

Your thoughts are interrupted with a cough as you see a cloud of black ash emerge from your mouth. You clear your throat several times and spit onto the ground. The spit emerges a sickly gray. Thumping your hand against your chest, you shake your head and realize that your clothes, of course, had burned away in the inferno.

>A) Go to the officer for help
>B) Escape quietly into the night, hopefully to find some clothes.
>C) Investigate the stone.

>>284716
>>C) Investigate the stone.

>>284720

You can't keep your eyes off it for too long, however, as you feel your attention drift to the new addition to your body. The stone is warm, almost hot, to the touch. However, as you feel it under your fingers a sense of comfort fills you. You breathe in deeply and then out slowly, closing your eyes and then opening them slowly as you look down at it.

The center of the stone, as you look into it, has a very small detail deep within it, but you cannot divine its details from so far away. You'll need a mirror or something to look more closely at it. Having a cell phone would also be helpful, but that's the least of your issues. You shiver slightly as the wind picks up and you wish that you had a blanket or something, anything to keep you a bit warmer.

As you think of warmth the stone in your chest heats up, red hot, and you withdraw your fingers in surprise before the heat, which centralized in your chest begins to radiate outwards throughout your body and you sigh, contentedly. It feels not unlike being in a hot bath, something you haven't felt in a very long time. You silently thank the stone, whatever it is, for helping you. While you'd like to understand more about it, that will probably have to wait for a time when you can get a more clear look at it.

Now that the blade of the cold is off of you, the issue of moving around naked needs to be addresed. You do know a place that you can get access to clothes, but it's quite far away in the garbage near a clothing retailer. Looking around quickly you see a few houses nearby, some illuminated, others not. You consider your options carefully....

>A) Break into a house and get some clothes
>B) Cross town in the buff
>C) Ask the cop for help.

>>284759
>>A) Break into a house and get some clothes

>>284759
>B) Cross town in the buff

>>284774

You aren't fond of breaking and entering, especially in some of the rougher neighborhoods around here, but you are fairly experienced at it. Making sure to slip past the officer's notice, not that you expect he'll notice much this late at night, you cross the street and approach a smaller house without a car in the driveway or any lights on.

Carefully, you check the windows as best you can while remaining hidden and listen for any sounds of running appliances or water. After a few minutes of silence you hop the shitty chain fence into the backyard. Fortunately, there is no dog there waiting for you, but unfortunately, the door has a metal grille in front of it and after a few minutes of valiant jiggling, it appears quite well locked.

There is a window near the door, but it too has bars over it. You can try another house, there's bound to be one that's hopefully not so secured, or you can try your luck at the door. As you think about the door again your chest grows warm and you clench and unclench your hands, feeling eagerness at the prospect.

>A) Force the door open.
>B) Find another house.

>>284783
>>284774
[For split answers I'll go with first come, until it's 3 or more responses, then majority vote.]

>>284793
>>A) Force the door open.

>>284793
>A) Force the door open.

>>284793
Find another house.

>>284800
>>284803
Sheesh guys, if it works, won't that make a ton of noise? :P

But might as well get to superpower fun times sooner.

>>284830
Sure it will! If you gonna sin sin boldly I always say chap.

>>284800
>>284803

You grip the bars and squeeze hard, leaning back slowly and then feeling, to your wonderment, as the stone in your chest starts to heat up, humming as you struggle with the bars.

[Conflict Resolution Introduction]

[Whenever you are called upon to overcome a challenge, or are opposed by another character, you must expend Power to triumph. Conflicts come in two forms, opposed and static. An opposed conflict will be covered later. A moment like now, forcing a door, making a jump, is a static conflict. The difficulty is pre-determined and you must spend an equivalent amount of power to overcome it.]

[On the character sheet you will see under Physical is listed the number 4. That is amount of Physical Power we can use in a single scene. At the end of the scene, if you do not use all of your Power in a single stat, you do not suffer any penalties. If you use all of your Power, you suffer Exhastion, a penalty that can accrue cumulatively and have increasingly degenerate effects on you. To break the door, a Physical Score of 8 is required, making it far beyond our realm of ability. However, the stone in your chest can grant a +5 bonus to your Physical Power for the scene, which will allow you to spend the requisite Power and force the door. To power the stone you must consume your CREDES (pronounced "creeds") power, of which you have 2.]

[For this instance we will assume you use it. In the future you may use CREDES as part of a conflict.]

You grit your teeth and feel the stone's heat radiate out to your arms and with amazement you feel the steel bars bending outwards slowly before, eventually, you wrench the bars off the door entirely, throwing it into the yard with a grunt. The massive sound of the metal escaping the brick and the thud of throwing the door down reminds you that perhaps it would be best to hurry.

With little effort you drive your shoulder into the door and pop it off its hinges. The outside lights illuminate the kitchen area, which is relatively clean, meaning recent occupancy. Perhaps the owner is out for the night, or on vacation. Or...they're still inside. How to best proceed.

>A) Stealthily, don't use lights and just try to sneak around in the dark.
>B) Swiftly, rush from room to room as quickly as possible and find clothes, then get out.

>>284855
>A) Stealthily, don't use lights and just try to sneak around in the dark.

>>284855
>>B) Swiftly, rush from room to room as quickly as possible and find clothes, then get out.

>>284858

You prop the door up against its frame and start moving as silently as you can through the house. At each door you stop and listen for any sounds of activity before proceeding, check behind you regurlarly, and finally navigate to the bedroom.

To your great fortune the room is empty, but it's full of crap. Old food wrappers, dollar bills, and strange chemicals are lying around the floor. It gives you a bad feeling, but you quickly root through the closet, finding a pair of baggy jeans that fit alright and a loose white t-shirt. Miraculously you find a belt and winch the jeans tight around your narrow waist.

The entire house has an odd smell, you realize now, as you cover your nose. It's a pungent sort of odorous smell that reminds you of a skunk. You walk over to the bed and grab the small lamp there, turning it on to get a more clear image of what you're dealing with.

Sure enough, the floor is covered with loose dollar bills and small plastic baggies. Spoons also are lying all around the floor and that chemical smell burns your nose.

>A) Gather up the money and search for more.
>B) Gather the money nearby and run.
>C) Just get out, you've been here long enough.

>>284886
>C) Just get out, you've been here long enough.
Oh shit. It's a crack house.

>>284886
>>C) Just get out, you've been here long enough.
We aint getting shanked by crackheads or dope fiends today senpai.

>>284902
>>284903

You turn the light off and start heading quickly through the hall towards the kitchen. As you pass the living room, however, the white flash of lights pulling into the driveway floods the room with brightness. The beat of your heat bursts into overdrive as you sprint towards the kitchen and out into the back yard. Loud voices, boistrous and angry, reach your ears as you clamber over the fence, your sock-covered feet slipping a bit on the metal fence pole before you make your escape.

You don't stop running away until you're a good half mile away. The cold air stings as you bend over, resting your hands on your knees, gasping at the air painfully from exhaustion. You aren't used to this sort of intense running. Still, you think to yourself, it was a fairly good break-in as far as break-ins go. The last time you tried that a man chased you out with a baseball bat.

After you catch your breath you breathe out and look around. From the quick glimpse you stole of the clock in the kitchen, it's around four in the morning. Being homeless, you don't really have anywhere to go, and of course, the old feeling of tangible boredom fills you again.

Unfortunately for you, what few possessions you had were lost in the fire, burned to ash. At least, you console yourself, you didn't have to burn with them. A few minutes of wandering later and you stroll into a 24-hour gas station and wave at the attendant behind the glass who barely nods at you. You make your way to the bathroom, flick the light on and look into the stone in your chest.

The red stone, a near crimson, has at its center an orange symbol that resembles a bird with its wings spread. You tap the stone idly as you think and feel its warmth and vibrancy. Pulling your shirt down you flush and wash your hands and face quickly, leaving an ashen residue in the sink.

You head back out into the night, still warmed by the stone's weird effect, you would guess. Glancing up at the night sky, you wonder where to go next.

>A) Just walk around, maybe something will come up.
>B) Go investigate the burned out fieldhouse
>C) Go find somewhere to sleep.

>>284939
>>B) Go investigate the burned out fieldhouse

>>284939
>B) Go investigate the burned out fieldhouse

>>284945

You find yourself drawn back to the scene of your death. The thought sends shivers down your back as you walk back to the fieldhouse, slipping past the cop without a problem. After you duck under the police tape you start to scrounge around in the ashes, trying to find the source of the fire.

After ten minutes of searching, and leaving your hands black with soot, you can't find a single thing, reasoning that the police probably took it away when they investigated. Your eyes catch a spot in the ash that, with horror, you realize was where you were. The tile ground has the outline of your figure traced with ash and you kneel down to look at it a bit closer.

As you do so you feel the memory of the events surging up to meet your thoughts. The pain of the smoke and the heat are present, but the clarifying thought is that of the refusal to die. While you think about that, however, you hear the sounds of heavy footsteps outside, two of them, moving through the grass. They're on the other side of the burned out wall.

>A) Run from them.
>B) Hide
>C) Talk to them.

>>284964
>B) Hide

>>284964
>>B) Hide

>>284970
>>284969

There's not a lot of room to hide, but you climb into some rubble and quiet your breathing as much as you can. The footsteps stop and the two figures come into sight.

A massive man, taller than any man you've ever seen in person, around seven feet or more you would guess, towers in the middle of the wreckage. His sharp features and short blond hair give him the look of some sort of viking warrior. Next to him is a beautiful young woman with richy curled hair that tumbles down the back of her elegant business suit. It is strange to see figures such as these here in such a place with no reason to be there. The man puts his plate-sized hands into his pockets and speaks in a deep voice with some sort of foreign accent.

"Looks like he's not here anymore. Did we miss his awakening?" The woman next to him shrugs, adjusting her small glasses and glancing around, her eyes passing over your hiding place without notice.

"I'm not sure," she says off-handedly as she paces around, careful to not step in any ash and gingerly lifting a few pieces of rubble and pushing aside some ash with her toes. "Titan, could you be so kind as to help me, dear?" The man grunts in affirmation as he moves over to where you fell and starts throwing the large pieces of rubble aside with a single arm. He stops when he sees the outline of your figure. "He was here. Recently. We must have just missed him."

She clicks her tongue is frustration, "You just had to have that stupid hotdog...." he shrugs his shoulders in a feeble gesture of apology as she traces her fingers around the outline of your figure. "He's a pretty average specimen, it seems. Around six feet tall, pretty thin...I can't really determine much more." Her partner, the man called Titan, speaks again.

"Maybe we should head back to the Temple, they'll be able to give us his location, or at least give us some direction." She shakes her head, sending her hair bouncing, "No, no, no! They sent us out to find him tonight, and that's what we're here to do. Remember what happened the last time a new-born wandered around with supervision." Titan nods and glances around pointedly, checking for any observant eyes before he closes his eyes and, from out of seemingly nowhere, a thick helmet appears around his head. It looks almost like a gargoyle's hideous face on a church as he glances around again with renewed eyes.

His gaze descends on your hiding place as the helmet disappears again. He doesn't immediately speak, but looks at you with a meaningful stare before standing up.

>A) Emerge and announce yourself.
>B) Keep hidden.

>>285018
>A) Emerge and announce yourself.
What could possibly go wrong?

>>285020
Agreed! seconding

>>285020
>>285025

You step out from your hiding place which elicits a gasp from the woman, whose face brightens as she stomps over to you, angrily. The man just smiles and nods. The moment is then ruined as the woman starts to tear into you.

"There you are! Didn't your parents ever teach you that eavesdropping is wrong? You saw that Titan knew you were there and decided to come out, eh?" She says and pokes your chest with a finger. Titan steps forward and puts his huge hand on her shoulder and upper arm. "Easy does it. He came out and didn't make us chase him. I'm thankful, that hot dog was filling." You glance up at his face, quite the distance away, and he extends his other huge hand, "I am Titan." You grip his hand and shake.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Ta-" you start to give your name before the woman covers your mouth, muffling it, "Easy does it, new-born. You don't just go handing your name out like that. What if we're your enemies?" You shrug, baffled at the notion that you would suddenly have "enemies", but nod.

"Alright then, what should I go by?" She smiles thinly, "Well, it's common for us to call new-borns, Initiate. But let me back up a step." She clears her throat and produces a very elegant looking piece of paper and hands it to you.

"We, by the order of the Elder Council, have discovered your awakening on this the fourteenth day of August, the year of two thousand and fourteen. As such, we have orders to return you to the Temple for you to undergo education on the fate that awaits you." You lean back in surprise and laugh, more caught off guard than anything. "Wait, wait," you say and wave your hands, "Council? Temple? What are you guys, some sort of cult or something?"

Titan laughs softly and shakes his head, "No, but we are kind of cult-like I suppose." The little woman elbows him in his side as she purses her lips and leans in close, her bright green eyes lock with yours as she waggles her finger at you like a teacher, "Now listen here! We came quite a long way to get you, and we're not going to take no for an answer. We can't let you wander around with that thing in your chest without some guidance. It's only for a few months, then you can go back to being a homeless bum."

You scowl a bit at the term and are about to respond before Titan interjects, "What my partner means is we would like to help you. Maybe we can give you some direction? At the very least we can give you a roof and regular meals while you understand what is happening to you."

>A) Agree to go.
>B) Try to escape.

>>285064
>A) Agree to go.
Sounds good. A place to stay, free food, and no more crack heads!

>>285064
>>A) Agree to go.
Yeah gotta have them train us before we murder the younglin- continue the cause!

>>285075

"Well, I'm not really in much of a position to say no. I just lost all of my stuff in the fire." The large man nods and smiles at his partner, "See? He agreed. Why you go and jab everyone in the chest? It makes them feel like children." The woman appears to choose to ignore him as she clears her throat and adjusts her glasses.

"Alright, Initiate, then I'll introduce myself. I am Artemis. It's a pleasure to meet you." She quickly shakes your hand and turns, leading the way. The three of you head away from the scene of the fire and reach a dark parking lot. You recognize this area of town as extremely dangerous, but they walk through it as if it were nothing.

Fortunately you reach the vehicle without incident. The man climbs into the driver's seat of a huge pickup trick and Artemis slides into the middle, with you taking up the passenger seat. "So," you ask as you buckle up, "Where are we going?"

TItan looks in the rear-view mirror before responding, "Outside of the city. Then we'll head to the Temple." And with that the vehicle takes off and you enjoy riding in a car for the first time in many years. Artemis leans away from you as you drive, and focuses the air conditioner on you, as well as keeping the window open. Apparently you are not very pleasant smelling.

You decide to make some conversation towards the end of the trip. "So, nice truck, is this yours, Titan?" The man laughs, "Oh, no, not at all. I....borrowed it from someone in a suburb. I'm from Denmark." You nod, continuing the conversation until he pulls off at an exit and steps out of the vehicle, leaving it on the side of the road and heading towards the wood line.

The three of you trek through the woods until you reach a small clearing with a crude circle of stones formed. As you near it Titan smiles and looks at you. "I will show off now, and you will get a feeling for what exactly it is that we do."

He steps towards the stones and as he does so the air seems to wrap around him and build up in speed, kicking up a cloud of dirt and dust before eventually it blows away with explosive force, revealling something incredible.

Where once stood Titan, in jeans and a flannel shirt, now stands a massive hulking figure made of some sort of rock-like material. His hands are shrouded in stone gloves and the gargoyle-like helmet, fierce and stern, is over his face. He steps into the ring of stones and raises his hands, the stones rumbling before a tear appears in the air in front of him and a radiant doorway opens.

"Step in." He indicates, his voice deep and rumbling through whatever the thing he was wearing. Artemis nudges you towards it and you step through, Artemis following and Titan pulling up the rear.

On the other side of the portal is a completely different scene. A place you had never been before stands in the distance.

[cont]

>>285109

In front of you, nestled in a vale and seemingly built of the forest, is a massive castle complete with walls and a complex. However, it is not a European castle, but has sloped roofs and angled shingles. You would venture a guess that it is Chinese or Japanese, but you can't quite tell for sure. You blink in wonderment, simply blown away by what has just transpired. However, you are not given long to sit jaw agape.

The two of them lead you down the path that eventually ends at the gates, neither of them answering questions as you move with haste. The gates open up when Titan calls up to them and closes behind you.

The area right past the gate is full of training equipment of all sorts and types. The light of the sun overhead is fading, but still bright enough to show you the layout. A few people are in the yard, training with archaic weapons or just sitting around and chatting. Their eyes turn to you, watching with curiosity as you are taken inside the complex.

A few more confusing minutes pass and you are eventually brought into a dark room with a single cusion in the middle of it. You are instructed to sit on the cusion and wait. Your two escorts leave and you quickly catch your breath.

Your thoughts are interrupted by a figure of glowing light appearing in front of you, person sized. This figure has a medieval-style outfit on, but with some embelishments that are clearly not common, such as tall antlers on his helm. He sits formally upright and speaks.

"Greetings, Initiate. I am Elder Valiant. I am sure that you have a hundred questions to ask. Please, let me answer them however I can."

>A) Where are we?
>B) What are you, Artemis, and Titan?
>C) What happened to me?
>D) Other

>C) What happened to me?

>>285124
>C) What happened to me?
>A) Where are we?

>>285129
>>285128

"Where are we?" You ask and he nods, "You are in an area in the Japanese countryside. This is the Temple of the Gestalts." You put that aside for now and ask the question that has been burning most in your mind.

"What happened to me?" The figure nods solemnly and sighs, "Well....you died. In your case, I believe, a fire started while you slept and you burned to death. However, there is something within you that stands apart from other people, and that something manifested itself as that stone in your chest." Your hand goes to touch the stone as he speaks, "Yes, that. It is unusual to see such an old-fashioned Core on such a young man, but I digress. Your body may have died, at least in part, but in the process of your death your Gestalt awakened."

"Alright, I guess I understand that....but am I alive? And what's a Gestalt?" The man quickly responds, "Yes, you are alive. Your body was reconstructed and your spirit, your will to live, endured. As for what a Gestalt is....well, a Gestalt is an expression of your inner self. It is the militant reflection of your soul's true nature. Even we Elders do not understand its full nature or purpose, but that is what we have most divined. When an exception person is put under extreme stress, usually fatal in nature, their spirit revolts against the fate and their Gestalt expresses itself. However, your spirit is not used to being more than within your body, and as such, you are incomplete."

He pauses and touches his chest, where you can see a large and very ornate stone in the middle of his armor. "A Gestalt is formed from three pieces; the Core, which powers their existence and serves as the gate from the inner to the outer, the Shell, the armor that allows a Gestalt to perform their super-human feats of power and grace, and the Shroud, the most complicated element of the Gestalt....but in summary it is not an expression of your soul, but rather it is your soul given form."

This all seems too confusion for you to fully process, so you say nothing as you think on what he has said. He speaks up, "I can help you with any specifics, if you have any questions?"

>A) Write in specific questions
>B) No, I'm fine for now.

>>285154
>What am I going to learn here?

>>285173

"So, why am I here? What am I here to learn?" The man nods his head, remaining largely motionless as he speaks to you, "That's a very important question. I'm glad you asked. If you were left to wander around with that thing in your chest it would start reacting with your subconscious mind's desires. Part of what you will learn is how to control the actions of your Core so that it is not dangerous to you or those around you. We have had cases in the past where someone destroyed a house because they were feeling slightly irritated from work. It can be dangerous without a proper vent for its energy."

He gestures now as he continues, "The other reason is that there are elements out in the world other than us who are gathering Gestalts. You will learn more about them over the course of your training here. Once you have a proper understanding of your ability, your potential, and the world beyond the world you knew, we will allow you to go free."

[And that's going to have to be it for me for tonight. I've got work in the morning. Thanks for playing along you two.]

>>285184
Thank you for running. Had fun.

>>285184
Thanks man!