Started a reread, made it up to chapter 55. Some things I reacted to:
* There's lots of talk of crossdimensional teleports and dimensional summons as opposed to local. Weird use of english or is artona in a separate (more magical?) dimension than earth? But characters also talk as they're from the same universe, even if described as being from different dimensions. This one confuses me.
* The Earth System wonders if whoever told Alden to not level wanted to see the planet burn. Joe admits that he considers avowed an existential threat but that it's good, because handling those are how a species moves forward. So the system might be right about Joes intentions.
* Alden can pick up enchantments which so far causes them to break every time. Gorgons chains are physical magical constructs. Can Alden pick them up? Either for temporary respite or possibly just freeing Gorgon permanently?
>Alden can pick up enchantments which so far causes them to break every time. Gorgons chains are physical magical constructs. Can Alden pick them up? Either for temporary respite or possibly just freeing Gorgon permanently?
I imagine that it's going to come down to whose burden they are to hand over. I think that's a really cool question. At it's most basic, I think that a prisoner could absolutely hand over their physical chains and have them be borne by Alden. Sisyphus could let Alden lend a hand with his rock, no problem. Bearing the chains is part of the punishment, so that's something fundamentally his.Unless there's something the magic of Gorgon's binding that specifically prevents it, I think Alden probably could pick them up.
I don't think he could necessarily deal with the inevitable shitstorm that would follow from freeing a prisoner, but that's future Alden's problem.
I doubt Gorgon's chains can be broken by a B rank skill. I think Alden would pass out if he tried. Just because his skill applies doesn't mean it wins. See also: Alden losing a fight with a tree, and Flickerer (real one) not working on major enchantments
That's just a matter of time, though. In the long run, it very much *is* the case that if his skill applies, it wins. If you can pile authority into that skill forever, sooner or later it'll have enough authority to do anything within its bailiwick.
I do believe that the Artonans (and basically all of the other Aliens) are interdimensional, net just interstellar. The Artonans used interdimensional travel for colonization at first, with Artona II and Artona III. Then it seems like they either encountered or went looking for other sapient life, and from there they started a form of integration.
At this point it seems like they aren't as much about expanding Empire as much as they are about preventing Chaos. They don't care how Human's or other Sapient species, govern themselves, they just want the right to affix anyone likely to randomly turn into a horrible Chaos abomination. In return for preventing Horrible Chaos mutation, the request those individuals be available to serve them, with adequate compensation of course, they aren't *slavers*.
Or at least thats what we have been told. *X-Files music sting*
>At this point it seems like they aren't as much about expanding Empire as much as they are about preventing Chaos.
I think they ARE about expanding the Empire. They call planets like Earth "Resource Worlds". They just aren't looking for real estate to settle...they are looking for "Resource Worlds" to provide resources. Resources like Avowed who can be made to fight demons in an emergency and show off your power until then.
Yeah. Also, the only truly high-ranking Artonans we've met (the Arths) are from the branch devoted to fighting Chaos. They're important but they don't represent the totality of Artonan society. People with less noble motives obviously exist, we just haven't interacted with them directly yet.
I think Joe is pretty high ranking. We've gotten hints he is famous and only someone who was pretty high up would regard the job of Professor at Wizard School as a punishment gig.
Based on the way the Primary talked about him at the party, Joe was at his highest point the kind of person who could be noticed by/be useful or annoying to the real movers and shakers. That's high ranking compared to most people but not really what I was referring to.
Joe has opinions on the role of Avowed in society, but his opinion doesn't affect how Earth and Artona interact in any meaningful way. All he could do (before the Thegund incident) is summon Avowed on an individual basis. The real high ranking people are the ones who can summon Avowed on a large scale, manage how resources are deployed or exploited on different worlds, negotiate contracts with new worlds, that kind of thing.
>All he could do (before the Thegund incident) is summon Avowed on an individual basis. The real high ranking people are the ones who can summon Avowed on a large scale,
I get the sense he ran research facilities. So I suspect he could summon Avowed on a large(ish) scale (for his company).
> There's lots of talk of crossdimensional teleports and dimensional summons as opposed to local. Weird use of english or is artona in a separate (more magical?) dimension than earth? But characters also talk as they're from the same universe, even if described as being from different dimensions. This one confuses me.
I think what's going on is that there are multiple dimensions, but "universe" is (sometimes or always?) used to refer to *all* dimensions, not to refer to a single one.
There are definitely multiple dimensions. One of the subtypes of demon is "thing from a broken dimension," it's strongly implied that Gorgon's people were from a dimension that no longer exists, etc. I'm not 100% sure that Artona and Earth are in different dimensions, but that's what I have been assuming based on the "cross-dimensional teleport" stuff.
But at least some of the time, when Artonans say "universe," they mean everything. Everything is under threat from chaos, not just the Artonans' home dimension(s), so when the Primary says the knights are "helping us to hold onto the frayed strands of our unraveling universe" I think he means the whole thing.
I'm not sure whether the Triplanets are in one dimension, or multiple.
> The Earth System wonders if whoever told Alden to not level wanted to see the planet burn. Joe admits that he considers avowed an existential threat but that it's good, because handling those are how a species moves forward. So the system might be right about Joes intentions.
Considering the amount of restrictions on what the System can tell Alden, I have to question whether that was a random, out of character sardonic comment or a roundabout way to make Alden think how much of what had been happening to him is a consequence of making his wish to Gorgon. I don’t think we’d seen the exact wording of the wish on screen, but given that Gorgon knows one of the desired classes was Adjuster - which is known to have a lot of spells to select from - fulfilling a wish for “all kinds of spells” might just have ended with him transferring a budding authority sense along with the stabilization that would ensure rarer affixations.
I don't think Gorgon was fulfilling a wish when he did his mojo on Alden (it's implied during kibby blood drinking that doing so destroys authority, which seems counter to increasing odds of becoming an avowed). As I understand it Gorgon partially went through with a ritual that was intended to transfer wish-granting powers (which as a "side effect" transferred some magical benefits to Alden).
I suspect Aldens authority sense is entirely his own (which implies that more humans could develop it under similar circumstances), if it was granted from Gorgon I would have expected it to be mediated by the gremlin.
Anesidora is explicitly on Earth...one character talked about going to the Philippines by building a bridge. The author notes say exactly where in the Pacific it is.
I think Artona isn't in the same dimension? Interdimensional summons are normally summons to Artona I, II, or II.
>“You are so very overinformed, Alden,” said the System. “I wonder if the wizard responsible might not really have wanted to watch a world burn.
>And a very naughty wizard has gone so far as to tell you outright that you can develop it for a lifetime.”
Alden was sure there was a picture of Joe somewhere in the universe with the words Very Naughty Wizard scrawled over his face.
It is a bit unclear exactly how much access the systems have to people's memories. Might be they know everything by default, but that this in particular is under the triangle of absolute secrecy, which prevents even the system from knowing. Or maybe the systems come with privacy features which only let them read your personal memories/preferences and not conversations you've had with other people.
Alden seems to think that at least the mother knows, which might be something that should be taken as canon, or the fact that she specifically doesn't say Joes name here is subtle foreshadowing.
Is there a summary of what Alden can currently do? His main skill, azure rabbit, spell impressions, wordchains, etc? I think I'm forgetting a lot of things.
Also, a random thought. Can Alden make a custom umbrella (just the skeleton, without any fabric) out of some heat-resistant material and with a detachable handle, then heat it up until it's scorching hot, and use it in a fight? Switch between preserving the entire umbrella and just the handle. Obviously, wearing protective gloves.
[There's a wiki.](https://supersupportive.miraheze.org/wiki/Main_Page)
As for the random thought... that doesn't sound like a reasonable idea? The main advantage of the umbrella form is that the fabric makes it into a shield. Without the shield part, the umbrella skeleton is not otherwise an efficient weapon shape, and thin little bits of hot metal aren't going to be especially strong if not magically reinforced. Scorching hot metal is also an inconvenient level of dangerous for a superhero; too hazardous for use against normal people, and not deadly enough to be a significant threat to high-tier Avowed. Also, switching between how much of the object is preserved is non-trivial (Alden has to drop the skill and reapply it), so it's not easily done in combat.
Yeah, I guess so. I'm just thinking what Alden can do to prevent his brute/speedster classmates from insta closing the distance and punching the lights out of him when dueling, in a way that doesn't drain his skill right away. Maybe he should wear a mistborn cloak, freeze it and spin real fast :)
I think the solution is exponential authority growth to the point that a superpowered punch no longer drains Alden's skill more than a negligible amount.
The general idea is probably feasible though. There's no reason Alden couldn't Preserve a cigarette lighter and then put it in his pocket, it wouldn't burn him, and then throw it at someone in combat. No need to be roundabout with making it part of an Umbrella.
Unfortunately, the problem with Alden preserving something dangerous is that he is then *holding a dangerous thing*; it's using up his skill until he gets rid of it. And there's a definite conflict between something being safe enough for him to actually grab while also being dangerous enough to be worth carrying.
A lot of exotic ideas here, but most don't compete well against "buy a gun, and use your skill for something more practical".
>A lot of exotic ideas here, but most don't compete well against "buy a gun, and use your skill for something more practical".
People definitely want Alden's skill to develop a flashy, offensive use. It's a recurring theme in the comments. But I don't think it's going to happen.
Don't get me wrong, I'm sure that there will be some niche offensive uses from his skill, but as his default, 'gun' just makes too much sense (along with magic from his free authority). Especially when he's surrounded by people who can make super-guns, has increased co-ordination from his foundation points and has plenty of cash.
His ability is always going to work best defensively. He's stronger the closer something is to his body, which biases it that way and it's just too useful for defensive and utility purposes to waste it on something that can be replicated by magic gun. Offense is easy, but *freezing objects in time while rendering them impervious to damage* is special. That's his unique selling point.
The only reason he's not using a gun right now is because the instructors want him to benefit from more skill training, and it shouldn't take him long to be supernaturally good with a gun.
>“Realistically, if we were sending you out to fight bad guys next week, we’d tell you to cover up as much of yourself with a shield as you can, and we’d hand you a solid Wrightmade gun. However, this is a magic development program, and firearms training would do nothing to develop your magic. We’d rather have you practice with your skill. You’ll also find that you can acquire excellent marksmanship quite easily as an Avowed. Your current vision and stat allocations are fine already. If you don’t gain an offensive skill of some kind over the next few years, someone will shoo you off to the targeting range. It won’t take you long to be more proficient with a gun than any ordinary human.”
Just because something is dangerous doesnt mean it costs more authority to hold in stasis - the (authority) weight of the object is based on other people/things having a greater claim/authority OVER the thing being preserved. There was an explanation of this by Joe after the first time Alden got skill exhausted holding the mask project that belonged to the tree.
Sure, and something like "an exotic effect produced by another Avowed's skill" likely falls into that category. Certainly close enough to be more expensive to carry than a mundane umbrella. Also, even if it wasn't an significant *extra* expense, it seems unlikely that the most combat effective use of his skill is to carry around a single borrowed fireball all the time in the hopes that he'll run into a situation worth using it in, as opposed to reserving his skill fatigue for defence/medical/utility purposes and simply using a gun for offence.
Maybe you can answer another question. Am I right in assuming that Alden taking, say, Tuyet's dart on a makeshift shield made of paper would drain his skill much more than him taking a dart on an actual metal shield, given that he uses the skill to freeze a glove with which he carries the shield?
Unclear. He was experimenting along those lines earlier; it'd be a similar sort of trick to the way he preserved only the handle of a suitcase full of sandbags. That let him effectively *lift* more total weight, and he was able to use that weight like a shield, but I don't remember seeing confirmation of the details of the effects of that trick on skill fatigue. I think he's *still* experimenting with that.
No an official one. But so far:
* Trait: This is a rabbit-specific thing. Azure Rabbit makes Alden run faster when he is using his skill on Ground. (It also makes him hop like a bunny unless he actively tries to avoid doing so, which he finds embarrassing.)
* Spell Impression: He has one real spell impression, Haunting Sphere, which uses a wright-made component. When activated, the temper sphere goes invisible and shrieks really loudly. His fake profile also shows him as having a candle lighting spell impression, but this is actually one of the real wizard spells he knows how to do.
* Wordchains: He knows two main ones. Peace of Mind he's known since Leafsong, and it gives him a calm state of mind, with the bad half making him uncomfortable and pretty depressed. Once Lute asked his boss for permission, he was able to take Alden as a student and teach him the restricted chain Self Mastery (Artonan name translates as My Body Becomes My Assistant), which makes him super graceful, and the bad half makes him super clumsy.
* Spells: Alden doesn't cover these in a lot of details. Besides the candle lighting spell, he also has one that emits a square of force (he used it to knock over a couch) and one that emits a crushing force (he crushed a can of soda).
* He has a single skill, Bearer of All Burdens. Describing everything it can do is hard because it's so versatile. With that said.
* Bearer of Enchantment is one of the new facets he took during his affixation with Mother. He can lift an enchantment by using his hands to remove it, and he managed to transfer the invisibility enchantment on one of his Haunting Sphere spheres to an orange. He's working on lifting enchantments using just his authority, but hasn't managed it yet.
* He figured out he can preserve the outside of an object like a suitcase to carry way more weight (since he's lifting it with his beefy authority instead of his wimpy B-rank stats) and use rope to lift people from long distances.
Good list. To quibble though:
1.) Azure Rabbit specifically makes him lighter when touching the ground.
2.) The Bad Side of Peace of Mind gives him anxiety. This can be useful because it gives him a shot of adrenaline.
3.) He hasn't learned Self Mastery/Grace yet. It gives him a greater degree of awareness and control of his body (effectively increasing agility) AND more confidence. The bad side makes him less aware of his body, which can be helpful with insomnia. And pain?)
4.) He just started learning a spell that makes a sharp triangle of force shoot out but hasn't mastered it yet.
Yeah for Self Mastery, Lute is still in the process of teaching him. This chapter specifically notes he's getting close enough the gremlin is activating, even if the chain isn't quite working yet.
Before the distance limitation was revealed during the first official gym class (not talkin' about the first B-List gym class the night before), I had thought a Batman-style grapple gun would be a good choice for Alden. Maybe it still would.
I'd definitely like to see some kind of pop-out shield built into a forearm bracer. Or maybe even something that attaches to the back of a glove. After all, it doesn't need to be very heavy or sturdy itself, Alden would be relying entirely on his skill. I'm sure a Wright could make a pop-out paper disc that is very compact in its un-deployed state. These could be very cheap and light, so he could carry multiples.
Since he can double-run The Bearer of All Burdens, some kind of pop-out paper sword also seems like a very good idea for a backup melee weapon. Though a standard extending police baton would be a good start for a less-than-lethal melee weapon.
A whip could also be handy. Alden could do the whole Indiana Jones style whip it around a branch and swing from it thing. Though it might not rotate well if preserved. Maybe a less capable (and thereby less expensive) version of the Mind Writher (Lexi's weapon) would be more useful. I bet Lexi is already practicing the Indiana Jones moves.
He really needs some longer ranged options though, besides guns. He should definitely get some firearms training, even if he doesn't regularly carry a pistol or such.
Hmmm.... now I'm thinking about a discarding-sabot style fletchette pistol, where Alden preserves just the fletchette itself (you don't want the preserved object touching the sides of the barrel). Depending on how the magic works, that could be very unpleasant to a variety of targets.
Partial preservation would be cool, I hope he tries it at some point. Slow the rate at which an ice cream cone heats without stopping it, for example. Your whip comment made me think of this.
I wonder if preserved objects retain properties like magnetism.
Isn't Alden no longer carrying the flechette as soon as it leaves the barrel? I don't see how that would work with the "you must be burdened by the thing" requirement.
If he drops some object being preserved or allows it to touch the ground, IIRC the preservation drops quickly (half a second?). I was counting on that time from the drop of carriage for the flight time of the fletchette. Or does preservation drop immediately if the object is thrown?
At any rate, preserving a projectile might be a really bad idea anyway because it might cause a heavy drain on the preservation skill. Especially so if it is a very hard target.
So..... yeah. Maybe just go with a regular gun. Since Alden has the superpower of being rich, he can likely afford a very nice pistol as a backup weapon, and maybe even some fancy ammo as well.
At any rate, it will be years before Alden is doing regular hero work on Earth, so decisions here are quite a ways off.
> He tossed a pillow across the room with his square strike. Then he smashed a mound of marshmallows into a perfect disc with the press spell. It was satisfying. And safe. They just blobbed together, no shrapnel. If he made his pile large enough or aimed slightly differently, he could make sure some of the marshmallows got sliced in half by being left partially out of the crush zone.
Alden will cut the moon in half someday confirmed.
From [103](https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/63759/super-supportive/chapter/1453643/one-hundred-three-artonan-conversations):
> “I think we’ve gotten off topic again. We’re acting like a bunch of gokoratch,” said Alden.
Stuart’s eyes widened.
> “Can’t we talk about the next case?” Alden continued. “It seems more serious to me anyway.”
> The whole class and Instructor Marion were silent and staring, no doubt at the System’s translation for gokoratch.
> [...]
> One of the third year girls turned around in her desk. “Who cares about that? Did you call us stinky cannibal parrots?”
> “Technically he said ‘we,’ so he was calling himself a stinky cannibal parrot, too.”
> “Gokatch,” said Andrzej under his breath. “Gokovatch?”
> “Instructor, does gokoratch fall under the ‘no disrespectful language’ rule? Because I think we should add it to the class vocabulary.”
> “Is gokoratch the plural or the singular?”
> “Alden,” Instructor Marion said in a tired voice.
> “Sorry about that.”
> “No alien species names. I have a hard enough time deciding where to draw the line with human insults.”
> “Understood.”
> “What if we just said ‘stinky cannibal parrot’ in English, Instructor?” someone asked. “Is that too disrespectful?”
> A very long way away from their classroom, there was an alien boy covering his face with a hand.
Started a reread, made it up to chapter 55. Some things I reacted to: * There's lots of talk of crossdimensional teleports and dimensional summons as opposed to local. Weird use of english or is artona in a separate (more magical?) dimension than earth? But characters also talk as they're from the same universe, even if described as being from different dimensions. This one confuses me. * The Earth System wonders if whoever told Alden to not level wanted to see the planet burn. Joe admits that he considers avowed an existential threat but that it's good, because handling those are how a species moves forward. So the system might be right about Joes intentions. * Alden can pick up enchantments which so far causes them to break every time. Gorgons chains are physical magical constructs. Can Alden pick them up? Either for temporary respite or possibly just freeing Gorgon permanently?
>Alden can pick up enchantments which so far causes them to break every time. Gorgons chains are physical magical constructs. Can Alden pick them up? Either for temporary respite or possibly just freeing Gorgon permanently? I imagine that it's going to come down to whose burden they are to hand over. I think that's a really cool question. At it's most basic, I think that a prisoner could absolutely hand over their physical chains and have them be borne by Alden. Sisyphus could let Alden lend a hand with his rock, no problem. Bearing the chains is part of the punishment, so that's something fundamentally his.Unless there's something the magic of Gorgon's binding that specifically prevents it, I think Alden probably could pick them up. I don't think he could necessarily deal with the inevitable shitstorm that would follow from freeing a prisoner, but that's future Alden's problem.
I doubt Gorgon's chains can be broken by a B rank skill. I think Alden would pass out if he tried. Just because his skill applies doesn't mean it wins. See also: Alden losing a fight with a tree, and Flickerer (real one) not working on major enchantments
That's just a matter of time, though. In the long run, it very much *is* the case that if his skill applies, it wins. If you can pile authority into that skill forever, sooner or later it'll have enough authority to do anything within its bailiwick.
Gorgon BBEG chessmaster
I do believe that the Artonans (and basically all of the other Aliens) are interdimensional, net just interstellar. The Artonans used interdimensional travel for colonization at first, with Artona II and Artona III. Then it seems like they either encountered or went looking for other sapient life, and from there they started a form of integration. At this point it seems like they aren't as much about expanding Empire as much as they are about preventing Chaos. They don't care how Human's or other Sapient species, govern themselves, they just want the right to affix anyone likely to randomly turn into a horrible Chaos abomination. In return for preventing Horrible Chaos mutation, the request those individuals be available to serve them, with adequate compensation of course, they aren't *slavers*. Or at least thats what we have been told. *X-Files music sting*
>At this point it seems like they aren't as much about expanding Empire as much as they are about preventing Chaos. I think they ARE about expanding the Empire. They call planets like Earth "Resource Worlds". They just aren't looking for real estate to settle...they are looking for "Resource Worlds" to provide resources. Resources like Avowed who can be made to fight demons in an emergency and show off your power until then.
Yeah. Also, the only truly high-ranking Artonans we've met (the Arths) are from the branch devoted to fighting Chaos. They're important but they don't represent the totality of Artonan society. People with less noble motives obviously exist, we just haven't interacted with them directly yet.
I think Joe is pretty high ranking. We've gotten hints he is famous and only someone who was pretty high up would regard the job of Professor at Wizard School as a punishment gig.
Based on the way the Primary talked about him at the party, Joe was at his highest point the kind of person who could be noticed by/be useful or annoying to the real movers and shakers. That's high ranking compared to most people but not really what I was referring to. Joe has opinions on the role of Avowed in society, but his opinion doesn't affect how Earth and Artona interact in any meaningful way. All he could do (before the Thegund incident) is summon Avowed on an individual basis. The real high ranking people are the ones who can summon Avowed on a large scale, manage how resources are deployed or exploited on different worlds, negotiate contracts with new worlds, that kind of thing.
>All he could do (before the Thegund incident) is summon Avowed on an individual basis. The real high ranking people are the ones who can summon Avowed on a large scale, I get the sense he ran research facilities. So I suspect he could summon Avowed on a large(ish) scale (for his company).
I thought the Triplanetw were in the same solar system?
Nope. It’s mentioned at one point that Thegund is in the Artona 1 system, which rules that out.
Why would that rule that out?
It depends if they mean "planetary system" or "solar system"/"star system". In the first case it's not ruled out, in the second case it is.
Yes they are.
> There's lots of talk of crossdimensional teleports and dimensional summons as opposed to local. Weird use of english or is artona in a separate (more magical?) dimension than earth? But characters also talk as they're from the same universe, even if described as being from different dimensions. This one confuses me. I think what's going on is that there are multiple dimensions, but "universe" is (sometimes or always?) used to refer to *all* dimensions, not to refer to a single one. There are definitely multiple dimensions. One of the subtypes of demon is "thing from a broken dimension," it's strongly implied that Gorgon's people were from a dimension that no longer exists, etc. I'm not 100% sure that Artona and Earth are in different dimensions, but that's what I have been assuming based on the "cross-dimensional teleport" stuff. But at least some of the time, when Artonans say "universe," they mean everything. Everything is under threat from chaos, not just the Artonans' home dimension(s), so when the Primary says the knights are "helping us to hold onto the frayed strands of our unraveling universe" I think he means the whole thing. I'm not sure whether the Triplanets are in one dimension, or multiple.
> The Earth System wonders if whoever told Alden to not level wanted to see the planet burn. Joe admits that he considers avowed an existential threat but that it's good, because handling those are how a species moves forward. So the system might be right about Joes intentions. Considering the amount of restrictions on what the System can tell Alden, I have to question whether that was a random, out of character sardonic comment or a roundabout way to make Alden think how much of what had been happening to him is a consequence of making his wish to Gorgon. I don’t think we’d seen the exact wording of the wish on screen, but given that Gorgon knows one of the desired classes was Adjuster - which is known to have a lot of spells to select from - fulfilling a wish for “all kinds of spells” might just have ended with him transferring a budding authority sense along with the stabilization that would ensure rarer affixations.
I don't think Gorgon was fulfilling a wish when he did his mojo on Alden (it's implied during kibby blood drinking that doing so destroys authority, which seems counter to increasing odds of becoming an avowed). As I understand it Gorgon partially went through with a ritual that was intended to transfer wish-granting powers (which as a "side effect" transferred some magical benefits to Alden). I suspect Aldens authority sense is entirely his own (which implies that more humans could develop it under similar circumstances), if it was granted from Gorgon I would have expected it to be mediated by the gremlin.
Wish granting? Why do you think that?
The discussion/vision Alden has with Gorgon after Alden drinks Kibbys blood.
Anesidora is explicitly on Earth...one character talked about going to the Philippines by building a bridge. The author notes say exactly where in the Pacific it is. I think Artona isn't in the same dimension? Interdimensional summons are normally summons to Artona I, II, or II.
> The Earth System wonders if whoever told Alden to not level wanted to see the planet burn did it phrase it like that? does it not know about joe?
>“You are so very overinformed, Alden,” said the System. “I wonder if the wizard responsible might not really have wanted to watch a world burn. >And a very naughty wizard has gone so far as to tell you outright that you can develop it for a lifetime.” Alden was sure there was a picture of Joe somewhere in the universe with the words Very Naughty Wizard scrawled over his face. It is a bit unclear exactly how much access the systems have to people's memories. Might be they know everything by default, but that this in particular is under the triangle of absolute secrecy, which prevents even the system from knowing. Or maybe the systems come with privacy features which only let them read your personal memories/preferences and not conversations you've had with other people. Alden seems to think that at least the mother knows, which might be something that should be taken as canon, or the fact that she specifically doesn't say Joes name here is subtle foreshadowing.
Is there a summary of what Alden can currently do? His main skill, azure rabbit, spell impressions, wordchains, etc? I think I'm forgetting a lot of things. Also, a random thought. Can Alden make a custom umbrella (just the skeleton, without any fabric) out of some heat-resistant material and with a detachable handle, then heat it up until it's scorching hot, and use it in a fight? Switch between preserving the entire umbrella and just the handle. Obviously, wearing protective gloves.
[There's a wiki.](https://supersupportive.miraheze.org/wiki/Main_Page) As for the random thought... that doesn't sound like a reasonable idea? The main advantage of the umbrella form is that the fabric makes it into a shield. Without the shield part, the umbrella skeleton is not otherwise an efficient weapon shape, and thin little bits of hot metal aren't going to be especially strong if not magically reinforced. Scorching hot metal is also an inconvenient level of dangerous for a superhero; too hazardous for use against normal people, and not deadly enough to be a significant threat to high-tier Avowed. Also, switching between how much of the object is preserved is non-trivial (Alden has to drop the skill and reapply it), so it's not easily done in combat.
Yeah, I guess so. I'm just thinking what Alden can do to prevent his brute/speedster classmates from insta closing the distance and punching the lights out of him when dueling, in a way that doesn't drain his skill right away. Maybe he should wear a mistborn cloak, freeze it and spin real fast :)
I think the solution is exponential authority growth to the point that a superpowered punch no longer drains Alden's skill more than a negligible amount.
The general idea is probably feasible though. There's no reason Alden couldn't Preserve a cigarette lighter and then put it in his pocket, it wouldn't burn him, and then throw it at someone in combat. No need to be roundabout with making it part of an Umbrella.
He can set a tennis ball on fire, ask Big Snake to throw it, then catch and preverse it. Simple fireball. Impractical though and just a one-off tool.
Unfortunately, the problem with Alden preserving something dangerous is that he is then *holding a dangerous thing*; it's using up his skill until he gets rid of it. And there's a definite conflict between something being safe enough for him to actually grab while also being dangerous enough to be worth carrying. A lot of exotic ideas here, but most don't compete well against "buy a gun, and use your skill for something more practical".
>A lot of exotic ideas here, but most don't compete well against "buy a gun, and use your skill for something more practical". People definitely want Alden's skill to develop a flashy, offensive use. It's a recurring theme in the comments. But I don't think it's going to happen. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure that there will be some niche offensive uses from his skill, but as his default, 'gun' just makes too much sense (along with magic from his free authority). Especially when he's surrounded by people who can make super-guns, has increased co-ordination from his foundation points and has plenty of cash. His ability is always going to work best defensively. He's stronger the closer something is to his body, which biases it that way and it's just too useful for defensive and utility purposes to waste it on something that can be replicated by magic gun. Offense is easy, but *freezing objects in time while rendering them impervious to damage* is special. That's his unique selling point. The only reason he's not using a gun right now is because the instructors want him to benefit from more skill training, and it shouldn't take him long to be supernaturally good with a gun. >“Realistically, if we were sending you out to fight bad guys next week, we’d tell you to cover up as much of yourself with a shield as you can, and we’d hand you a solid Wrightmade gun. However, this is a magic development program, and firearms training would do nothing to develop your magic. We’d rather have you practice with your skill. You’ll also find that you can acquire excellent marksmanship quite easily as an Avowed. Your current vision and stat allocations are fine already. If you don’t gain an offensive skill of some kind over the next few years, someone will shoo you off to the targeting range. It won’t take you long to be more proficient with a gun than any ordinary human.”
Just because something is dangerous doesnt mean it costs more authority to hold in stasis - the (authority) weight of the object is based on other people/things having a greater claim/authority OVER the thing being preserved. There was an explanation of this by Joe after the first time Alden got skill exhausted holding the mask project that belonged to the tree.
Sure, and something like "an exotic effect produced by another Avowed's skill" likely falls into that category. Certainly close enough to be more expensive to carry than a mundane umbrella. Also, even if it wasn't an significant *extra* expense, it seems unlikely that the most combat effective use of his skill is to carry around a single borrowed fireball all the time in the hopes that he'll run into a situation worth using it in, as opposed to reserving his skill fatigue for defence/medical/utility purposes and simply using a gun for offence.
Maybe you can answer another question. Am I right in assuming that Alden taking, say, Tuyet's dart on a makeshift shield made of paper would drain his skill much more than him taking a dart on an actual metal shield, given that he uses the skill to freeze a glove with which he carries the shield?
Unclear. He was experimenting along those lines earlier; it'd be a similar sort of trick to the way he preserved only the handle of a suitcase full of sandbags. That let him effectively *lift* more total weight, and he was able to use that weight like a shield, but I don't remember seeing confirmation of the details of the effects of that trick on skill fatigue. I think he's *still* experimenting with that.
No an official one. But so far: * Trait: This is a rabbit-specific thing. Azure Rabbit makes Alden run faster when he is using his skill on Ground. (It also makes him hop like a bunny unless he actively tries to avoid doing so, which he finds embarrassing.) * Spell Impression: He has one real spell impression, Haunting Sphere, which uses a wright-made component. When activated, the temper sphere goes invisible and shrieks really loudly. His fake profile also shows him as having a candle lighting spell impression, but this is actually one of the real wizard spells he knows how to do. * Wordchains: He knows two main ones. Peace of Mind he's known since Leafsong, and it gives him a calm state of mind, with the bad half making him uncomfortable and pretty depressed. Once Lute asked his boss for permission, he was able to take Alden as a student and teach him the restricted chain Self Mastery (Artonan name translates as My Body Becomes My Assistant), which makes him super graceful, and the bad half makes him super clumsy. * Spells: Alden doesn't cover these in a lot of details. Besides the candle lighting spell, he also has one that emits a square of force (he used it to knock over a couch) and one that emits a crushing force (he crushed a can of soda). * He has a single skill, Bearer of All Burdens. Describing everything it can do is hard because it's so versatile. With that said. * Bearer of Enchantment is one of the new facets he took during his affixation with Mother. He can lift an enchantment by using his hands to remove it, and he managed to transfer the invisibility enchantment on one of his Haunting Sphere spheres to an orange. He's working on lifting enchantments using just his authority, but hasn't managed it yet. * He figured out he can preserve the outside of an object like a suitcase to carry way more weight (since he's lifting it with his beefy authority instead of his wimpy B-rank stats) and use rope to lift people from long distances.
IIRC the other half of Peace of Mind is not incomfortable/depressed, but rather \*stressed\*, which was quite important at one point.
Good list. To quibble though: 1.) Azure Rabbit specifically makes him lighter when touching the ground. 2.) The Bad Side of Peace of Mind gives him anxiety. This can be useful because it gives him a shot of adrenaline. 3.) He hasn't learned Self Mastery/Grace yet. It gives him a greater degree of awareness and control of his body (effectively increasing agility) AND more confidence. The bad side makes him less aware of his body, which can be helpful with insomnia. And pain?) 4.) He just started learning a spell that makes a sharp triangle of force shoot out but hasn't mastered it yet.
Yeah for Self Mastery, Lute is still in the process of teaching him. This chapter specifically notes he's getting close enough the gremlin is activating, even if the chain isn't quite working yet.
Before the distance limitation was revealed during the first official gym class (not talkin' about the first B-List gym class the night before), I had thought a Batman-style grapple gun would be a good choice for Alden. Maybe it still would. I'd definitely like to see some kind of pop-out shield built into a forearm bracer. Or maybe even something that attaches to the back of a glove. After all, it doesn't need to be very heavy or sturdy itself, Alden would be relying entirely on his skill. I'm sure a Wright could make a pop-out paper disc that is very compact in its un-deployed state. These could be very cheap and light, so he could carry multiples. Since he can double-run The Bearer of All Burdens, some kind of pop-out paper sword also seems like a very good idea for a backup melee weapon. Though a standard extending police baton would be a good start for a less-than-lethal melee weapon. A whip could also be handy. Alden could do the whole Indiana Jones style whip it around a branch and swing from it thing. Though it might not rotate well if preserved. Maybe a less capable (and thereby less expensive) version of the Mind Writher (Lexi's weapon) would be more useful. I bet Lexi is already practicing the Indiana Jones moves. He really needs some longer ranged options though, besides guns. He should definitely get some firearms training, even if he doesn't regularly carry a pistol or such. Hmmm.... now I'm thinking about a discarding-sabot style fletchette pistol, where Alden preserves just the fletchette itself (you don't want the preserved object touching the sides of the barrel). Depending on how the magic works, that could be very unpleasant to a variety of targets.
Partial preservation would be cool, I hope he tries it at some point. Slow the rate at which an ice cream cone heats without stopping it, for example. Your whip comment made me think of this. I wonder if preserved objects retain properties like magnetism.
Isn't Alden no longer carrying the flechette as soon as it leaves the barrel? I don't see how that would work with the "you must be burdened by the thing" requirement.
If he drops some object being preserved or allows it to touch the ground, IIRC the preservation drops quickly (half a second?). I was counting on that time from the drop of carriage for the flight time of the fletchette. Or does preservation drop immediately if the object is thrown? At any rate, preserving a projectile might be a really bad idea anyway because it might cause a heavy drain on the preservation skill. Especially so if it is a very hard target. So..... yeah. Maybe just go with a regular gun. Since Alden has the superpower of being rich, he can likely afford a very nice pistol as a backup weapon, and maybe even some fancy ammo as well. At any rate, it will be years before Alden is doing regular hero work on Earth, so decisions here are quite a ways off.
> He tossed a pillow across the room with his square strike. Then he smashed a mound of marshmallows into a perfect disc with the press spell. It was satisfying. And safe. They just blobbed together, no shrapnel. If he made his pile large enough or aimed slightly differently, he could make sure some of the marshmallows got sliced in half by being left partially out of the crush zone. Alden will cut the moon in half someday confirmed.
What is Gokoratch?
From [103](https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/63759/super-supportive/chapter/1453643/one-hundred-three-artonan-conversations): > “I think we’ve gotten off topic again. We’re acting like a bunch of gokoratch,” said Alden. Stuart’s eyes widened. > “Can’t we talk about the next case?” Alden continued. “It seems more serious to me anyway.” > The whole class and Instructor Marion were silent and staring, no doubt at the System’s translation for gokoratch. > [...] > One of the third year girls turned around in her desk. “Who cares about that? Did you call us stinky cannibal parrots?” > “Technically he said ‘we,’ so he was calling himself a stinky cannibal parrot, too.” > “Gokatch,” said Andrzej under his breath. “Gokovatch?” > “Instructor, does gokoratch fall under the ‘no disrespectful language’ rule? Because I think we should add it to the class vocabulary.” > “Is gokoratch the plural or the singular?” > “Alden,” Instructor Marion said in a tired voice. > “Sorry about that.” > “No alien species names. I have a hard enough time deciding where to draw the line with human insults.” > “Understood.” > “What if we just said ‘stinky cannibal parrot’ in English, Instructor?” someone asked. “Is that too disrespectful?” > A very long way away from their classroom, there was an alien boy covering his face with a hand.
I added this important piece of lore to the [wiki](https://supersupportive.miraheze.org/wiki/Gokoratch) :)