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Camrad_RIP 05.04.25 в 06:38

The winter evening shrouded both the city and the apartment in darkness, where the lights were not turned on, and its only inhabitant was enthusiastically sitting at the computer in the company of an exceptionally huge cup of godlessly sweet and sadistically strong coffee, not a bit sad about his loneliness. Igor had such a trait - loss of control over time, tunnel vision in the direction of the current hobby. An empty apartment, dust in the corners, where the young man who was too lazy to do a proper cleaning could not reach, and also the silence, broken by the strokes of fingers on the keyboard and a barely audible hum from the headphones. Shooters do not shoot themselves, and he successfully passed the first session of the first year of study with excellent marks. He can afford a little idleness, fortunately, the cushion of gradually thinning finances provided by his relatives has not yet completely disappeared. Then again, there is no need to pay the rent. The apartment is his own, even though he did nothing to get it.

Camrad_RIP 06.04.25 в 08:16

He didn't really remember his parents, who had died in a car accident. Or rather, he remembered them, but those memories were pretty faded. He was about twelve years old then. He had time to recover and forget. Moreover, he hadn't grown up in a boarding school, but under the care of his maternal aunt and her husband, who performed their duties as guardians quite well, since she had taken on the responsibility. The couple had raised him conscientiously and supported him, but you didn't have to be a particularly advanced psychologist to understand the simple fact which they didn't really hide. He was a burden to them, which they didn't really hide.

Camrad_RIP 06.04.25 в 08:30

Uncle Dmitry and Aunt Veronica were convinced childfree long before it became mainstream. Igor suspected that this couple really slept together in bed. Bohemian, what can you do? He is a teacher at the music conservatory and a pretty good pianist. She is a violinist in an opera orchestra, also quite famous in narrow circles. Both are quite talented, both had the opportunity to go on tour more than once, and not just sit in their hometown, and both lived and breathed their craft. They needed an unwanted parasite about as much as a fifth leg is needed by a random dog.

Camrad_RIP 06.04.25 в 08:32

So when Igor turned sixteen, his relatives gently but very persistently kicked him out the door, sending him into the big life. Not with a bare ass, of course. He had a parental apartment that wasn't in the best condition, but it was close to the downtown area, as well as a bank account where the money from renting out the apartment was kept while his relatives managed it. Despite the teenage shit seething deep inside him from the fact that he, unloved and unwanted, was being pushed far away from their life, and also asked to call less and visit less often, preferably never at all, the young man understood the situation very clearly. His aunt and her husband did a very, very good thing. He was treated much better than many other orphans who fell into the hands of smartasses relatives.

Camrad_RIP 06.04.25 в 10:18

Only his natural indifference, ability to abstract from irritants, and the character of a complete introvert, for whom the Internet, video games, and books replaced most of his communication, saved him. He had a place to live. There were prospects for entering a university chosen well in advance for free, and some opportunities for part-time work and a financial cushion were present. So what else did he need? So he did not lose heart, quickly completing the quest to study at school, successfully entered, found a part-time job, and generally felt like a great guy. He communicated with his aunt and uncle exactly once a month, with a short call of about three minutes, and all parties were quite happy about it. Only somewhere under his heart that same seething shit gnaws, the desire to be noticed, to be loved, to be one of his own, and not an unnecessary and forcibly imposed element of someone else's cozy little world.

Camrad_RIP 06.04.25 в 10:26

Usually in such moments you wanted to turn on some classic, like DOOM, and spend a long time happily destroying demons with your trusty double-barreled shotgun. Usually he followed this desire, like today, for example. And a session of destroying demons in particularly cynical ways turned into just a gaming session, several games of Call of Duty, and finishing a long-played game of Stellaris, even though it is not a shooter. If you degrade, then completely, morally, spiritually, and physically, right? So Igor degraded until late at night, only when spots started flickering before his eyes, and a new cup of coffee threatened an attack of tachycardia. Then he turned off the computer and went to take a contrast shower. Because to go to bed in such a state means waking up not only unwashed, but also broken, like a Chinese vase of the Khren dynasty.

Camrad_RIP 06.04.25 в 13:35

It was at the moment of entering the bathroom This Shit caught up with him, and in a very (un)fortunate way. He tripped and fell at the moment of stepping in. As it was found out later, the glowing turquoise glow balls, about the size of a ripe grapefruit, appeared all over the world at about five minutes after midnight GMT. He would later learn that in the very first wave of these orbs, there were not so many, about fifteen thousand, and that they were scattered in handfuls of five to ten pieces over a small area. And these small clusters of five to ten were also clustered in larger concentrations, like the size of a small city. One even conceded that such a characteristic dispersal had provoked the initiated to cooperate... or killing each other up in a brutal and uncompromising battle royal. But that was all much later, not on this dreary and melancholy lonely winter evening, which quickly ceased to be both dreary and melancholy.

Camrad_RIP 06.04.25 в 14:36

This evening, for the umpteenth time, Igor caught his slipper on the door sill at the entrance to the bathroom. Only this time he couldn't keep his balance and flew face-first into the tiles, barely managing to put his hands in front of him. And already in the fall, at exactly five minutes after midnight GMT, the very ball appeared right in the path of his fall. Shining, pearlescent, and turquoise at once, hanging in the air and literally beckoning him to touch it. He did, but not with his right hand, not with his left hand trying to grasp the clothes towel hanging on the hook, but with a very fucked-up look on his face. Here he still falls, sincerely hoping not to break or smash anything, and here he finds himself in complete darkness, where a voice, or even a VOICE, greets him as a newly initiated Exalted, informing him that he, Igor, has been successfully initiated as the ninth in the current Seed, and also the first among the Earthlings. And if for the second he was not entitled to any honors, then for his place in the overall standings and getting into the top ten, he was entitled to certain Benefits.

Camrad_RIP 06.04.25 в 14:43

A moment more, and he hovered in another darkness, brighter, diluted by the lights of unearthly colors, in which for some reason he saw not stars, but colored stone caskets, altars, or arks, each of which could give him something very serious. And these arks were becoming fewer and fewer, as if some had already been taken away. Apparently, it was not earthlings, but other lucky ones from other worlds, who knew the Seed at the same time as the third planet from the Sun, but it did not make Igor feel any better. He reached for the arks, grabbing the first, the second, and the third. Three Gifts, three Marks, three Stimuli, that would become the basis of his power, if one believed these vague and at the same time so clear visions, which could not be perceived as mere delirium of consciousness, insidiously struck by ceramic tiles.

Camrad_RIP 06.04.25 в 14:47

The Great Gift has been acquired: Great Strengthening of the Foundations!

Camrad_RIP 05.04.25 в 06:38

From initiation you gain two additional Vessels to those measured by your talent. You will also receive one additional Patch for every third Step taken, not every fifth, and two when closing a Rank. Also, each new Step will grant you one additional Vessel. The probability of gaining a more advanced Lot during the initial initiation has been increased.

Camrad_RIP 05.04.25 в 06:41

//“Everyone had to start from the Foundation, both the most insignificant and the truly Great.”

Camrad_RIP 05.04.25 в 06:41

The images sent by this strange non-nonsense were formed into quite understandable words, which at the same time remained not understandable at all, but quite motivating. Still, if you are promised some additional freebies, it is very, very motivating! The first thing to do is to stay away from such freebies, because free cheese can often be tasted only once. Especially if you're a mouse. But as soon as he realized the first of his fucking gifts, his consciousness was once again flooded with a wave of images pouring pure knowledge into his head. What head? He had no body now, only a pure mind, naked and taut as a string, hanging in the incomprehensible darkness, listening to voices outside his head.

Camrad_RIP 06.04.25 в 15:19

The concept sounded even worse than it initially seemed.

Camrad_RIP 05.04.25 в 06:42

It sounded very much like a padded ward.

Camrad_RIP 06.04.25 в 13:23

A Great Gift has been acquired: the Great Talent of Cognition!

Camrad_RIP 05.04.25 в 06:42

From the moment of initiation, you gain the highest understanding of your Tablets, which will greatly facilitate and accelerate the development and training of such, sometimes by orders of magnitude. The embodiment of the Tablets in a free Patch is greatly simplified, the probability of successful engraving of the Tablets is increased, and the probability of damaging the Patch during engraving or embodiment is significantly reduced. The effect partially extends to other Exalted Ones connected to you by Bonds.

Camrad_RIP 05.04.25 в 06:57

//“Everyone is given Talent, some get an ocean, and some don’t get even a drop, but only those who realize that any Talent can dry up if it is not supported by its older sister, whose name is Perseverance, achieve greatness.”

Camrad_RIP 05.04.25 в 06:43

Quotes in the spirit of personal growth courses, but there was no urge to laugh. These images-words wafted something inexpressibly different, not even ancient, because antiquity is at least somehow explainable and comprehensible. No, there was something simply beyond, too different and alien to his understanding, which would have surely given Igor a headache if only he had a head now. Or any other part of the body. If he had an ass now, he was sure that said ass would undoubtedly have a premonition of imminent troubles, a parade of adventures for itself. But these troubles had to be predicted not with the ass, but with pure logic. He had read too much relevant literature not to guess where everything was heading and how it would all end.

Camrad_RIP 06.04.25 в 13:37

The Absolute Gift has been acquired: the Promise of Salvation and Retribution!

Camrad_RIP 05.04.25 в 06:43

In the name of one of the Greatest, who called herself Innelas Innelai, you have gained a shadow from the shadow of her patronage. In the hour of greatest danger, when there is no hope of salvation, and your Fate is predetermined, this gift will touch the threads of Fate, giving a chance where there should be none. But the price for interference will follow. Additional effects are unknown, additional properties are hidden.

Camrad_RIP 05.04.25 в 06:58

"Once caught in a spider's web, you yourself become a web."

Camrad_RIP 05.04.25 в 06:45

On the one hand, this Gift made the new player happy. Not only because of its higher level, in contrast to the two previous ones, but also because of its content, which turned out to be quite intuitive. This is a literal plot armor, damn it! On the other hand, this same gift scared the shit out of him, because what was hidden in it was much stronger, more concentrated than both previous ones combined. And also very tense were the hidden effects and the fact that each activation of the "plot armor" would cost some kind of reverse thrust. Not to mention the fact he only had a chance to activate this armor, a chance, not a guarantee. To believe in himself and his luck in order to quickly die... a very possible sad outcome for Igor. Somehow it immediately became clear that the best use of this particular gift was not to use it at all.

Camrad_RIP 06.04.25 в 14:04

Never.

Camrad_RIP 05.04.25 в 06:45

This thought became the trigger because all three lootboxes, he will not be fined for blasphemy, right, were assimilated, absorbed into the essence of Igor, and there was no need to keep the newly-made Exalted in the middle of this strange emptiness any longer. At the last moment, when he was already being pushed out of this place-state, he perceived a new image, and this time he was sure - this image is one for everyone who touched the ill-fated ball, becoming a memetic and already cliché bearer of the development system.

Camrad_RIP 06.04.25 в 14:07

Three revolutions of the planetary body around the star are given to your world to find answers. What will the Seed bring you? Whose will does it carry? What did it really give you, and what were you gifted with? Look for answers on the Inside Out of Reality, in secret messages and whispers of mad prophets, in forgotten halls and decayed scrolls. Look, find, understand, and manage to save at least yourself, or realize that there is no salvation.

Camrad_RIP 05.04.25 в 07:12

And from beyond the Horizon appeared the all-good Tree and its Branches pierced the Void, and they tore the canvas of Fate.

Camrad_RIP 05.04.25 в 07:10

And the first Pact was broken, and you were called to answer, without even knowing the question.

Camrad_RIP 05.04.25 в 07:10

Find out the question, look for it where Reality ends where dreams and nightmares begin...

Camrad_RIP 05.04.25 в 07:11

Okay. All righty. He'd thought the last image-dar had sounded a little ominous, hadn't he? Let's forget that, because he saw the true ominousness now. There was something not just frightening in those words, but something that smelled like the stench of a cold pit of rotten water in which the corpses, the many, many corpses of all those who, like him, had touched those words before, were floating. The promise of some sort of three-year term and a bunch of very unpleasant innuendo. It would be another end-of-the-world prophecy, the kind he'd already missed hearing from any iron. It would have been, but in the conditions of such madness and the arrival of something that could only be called the System (tm), it was somehow impossible to dismiss these words as typical delirium from TV.

Camrad_RIP 06.04.25 в 15:21

In short, Igor had time not only to realize the images, but also to be quite afraid of what they promised him, but a moment later, the darkness-not-darkness was gone, the nothingness curled up into a point and disappeared, returning both the usual course of time and the equally usual space. The space in which, for a moment, he was in the middle of a free fall with his face on the tile. And no magic system, glowing orbs and ominous omens helped him to escape the embrace of the heartless bitch Physics.

Camrad_RIP 06.04.25 в 15:25

"What a beautiful ceiling here..." Igor seemed to notice for the first time that these spots and cracks above his head formed a real kaleidoscope of dancing lights, or, well, the lights were dancing in his head. Who knows. "In the names of gods, demons, and holy sausages, let all this be the result of hitting his head on the tiles, huh?"

Camrad_RIP 06.04.25 в 14:14

Gods, demons, and all kinds of sausages remained completely deaf to the pleas of a not so simple mortal, so that the very first attempt, not even a word or a gesture, but just a desire, a look into oneself, immediately led to the fact that new inscriptions appeared before the eyes. The inner eye seemed to be slightly covered with interference, not erasing past messages, but as if sending them deeper, into a kind of archive, opening in return what myriads of examples of bad quality literature called the Status of the Character. His eyes looked unseeingly and clearly ahead, the pupils did not move, and the gaze itself was motionless, like a street astronaut who had taken a dose of something that was not kitchen salt. In order to see these inscriptions, eyes were not needed at all, not even a little bit.
T.N. Соли

Camrad_RIP 06.04.25 в 14:09

Name: undeserved

Camrad_RIP 05.04.25 в 06:45

Rank: Knower of the Mystery

Camrad_RIP 05.04.25 в 06:46

Chosen Lot: Standard Bearer

Camrad_RIP 05.04.25 в 06:47

Step: 0

Camrad_RIP 05.04.25 в 06:47

Vessels: 5 (filled: 5)

Camrad_RIP 05.04.25 в 06:47

Patches (total): 3 (free: 2)

Camrad_RIP 05.04.25 в 06:48

Blessings: 3 (free: 0): Great Strengthening of the Foundation, Great Talent of Cognition, Promise of Salvation and Retribution

Camrad_RIP 05.04.25 в 06:49

Essence Modifications: none

Camrad_RIP 05.04.25 в 06:49

Tablet: Minor Protective Charm

Camrad_RIP 05.04.25 в 06:50

Understanding: 1/100

Camrad_RIP 05.04.25 в 06:50

Foundation: Spirit

Camrad_RIP 05.04.25 в 06:50

Brightness: Dim

Camrad_RIP 05.04.25 в 06:51

Effect: Creates a protective layer of stable energy that passively protects against minor physical harm, but can burn out in a single burst, reflecting a single significant physical harm, or lesser energy harm. When applied to oneself or a target, it depletes one of the Vessels for ten minutes or half time if applied to oneself. It lasts a little over two hours, and cannot be applied to a target more than once.

Camrad_RIP 05.04.25 в 06:53

Effect: [will be revealed upon mastering 75 units of understanding]

Camrad_RIP 05.04.25 в 06:53

Effect: [will be revealed upon full understanding of the Tablet]

Camrad_RIP 05.04.25 в 06:54

//"Protect me, guard me, keep me, save me..."

Camrad_RIP 05.04.25 в 06:54