Princess Maker 1.5: AlcheME!

[idolpro]

[ When you insert the key and open the door, you'll find the room inside looks like the living room of a mansion. There are several doors, but one in particular stands out to you: it is ornately decorated, the very door's wood itself carved beautifully with gold etched in to make luxurious patterns depicting what looks like the sky and the wind blowing through the grasslands. Though the door is closed, you can see through it—as if it's somewhat transparent.

The room is painted baby blue and a gold-plated cradle sits in the room. Inside, a baby cries—high pitched and noisy. That child, your charge—you're her nursemaid, so you go to her and rock her to sleep. ]

-

[ Slowly, the scene changes, fading in and out with various silent scenes—the baby sits up, trying to climb out of her cradle; a little toddler dressed prettily with expensive clothes beams pleasantly; a tantrum, thrown by the little girl who's distressed; the little girl holding a puppy, pleased as punch; then the wall becomes opaque. ]

[ In the middle of the open doorway, a young girl at the age of 11 sits on a chair, smiling at you. A long-haired, pure white cat is curled up beside her.

This is your little girl. you couldn't help spoiling her, honestly—after all, she's a noble too, and she should like to become a princess as well. She deserves it! But you also know, with how her family history has gone, she's going to have to work to get to the top. Still, you have faith in her—she's your girl, after all. Fortunately, when she goes to the Lost Continent, she won't be alone: you, as her longtime caretaker (her third parent, really, or her first, if you consider how her family's left her care entirely to you), may accompany her to her new school. You'll be her ally, her support, her greatest weapon; you'll be the one who determines her success . . . or her failure. ]

[ Of course, you're not the only one that thinks your charge deserves the world, and you're not the only one that thinks your charge could bring about great change to the world.

You've been a follower of The Great Z's doctrine for some time now; she will come to liberate this country, and she is well on her way, but she recognizes that her reach could be farther. If her words could take root in the Lost Continent—wouldn't that be grand? And your charge could be the first hook.

You may have subtly or not-so-subtly implied as such to your local revolutionary leaders, and soon enough, you heard back: The Great Z entrusts the task of guiding that child to you. Just a little after that, a mysterious benefactor sent word to your employers, declaring that your charge would be sent to the Lost Continent with them as her sponsor.

The Great Z must be smiling, somewhere. She's surely blessed you . . . and you won't let this blessing go to waste. ]

Comments

ROUND 0

[idolpro]

Snobby temperament.
+5 charm.
+0 intelligence.
-10 diligence.
Moral compass: Neutral.

CHILD'S NAME?

[idolpro]

Submit your charge's name here by the end of Round 1.

Re: CHILD'S NAME?

[inspiteful]

Her name is Venus! For the Maiden of Serenity.

ROUND 1 CLASSES

[idolpro]

CURRENT STATS

[idolpro]

Snobby temperament.
+5 charm.
+0 intelligence.
-10 diligence.
Moral compass: Neutral.

DECISION

[idolpro]

What classes do you choose to have your charge take? Will you give her free time?

You may choose from Culture class, Martial Arts class, and Math & Science class. If you choose to give her free time, please note what that free time will be dedicated to.

You have 48 classes to schedule for. If you'd like, you may simply note "evenly divided" for 16 classes in each category, or note 50% X class and 50% Y class, etc.

If you note "evenly divided between all classes and free time", that will be taken as 15 classes each/3 sessions of free time.

Re: DECISION

[fleurescence]

24 culture
7 Math & Science
14 Martial Arts
3 free time BUT SHE WILL BE GIVEN CHORES BEFORE SHE CAN PLAY

DISCUSSION

[idolpro]

Re: DISCUSSION

[fleurescence]

...Ah. We've got a lot to fix here.

[featherbeaned]

How do human babies work ...??

ROUND 1 DILEMMAS

[idolpro]

CLASS DILEMMA

[idolpro]

Perhaps as expected, a hierarchy has already established itself in your child's class. Only the best of the best are in Class 1-A, all of them most certainly sponsored by the most elite of the elite—but not all girls are made equal.

There's a collection of girls at the top of the food chain, born and bred aristocracy. Below them are the technical nobles—girls from knight families that have titles and lands but not really any prestige beyond the battlefield to speak of. Then there are the philanthropy projects: commoner girls who somehow managed to get into the school despite their lack of pedigree.

Not even halfway through the semester do you enter the classroom to see that the place is absolutely destroyed. The desks have been turned over, the chalkboards have been broken, the windows have been smashed, the doors have been split in two . . . and moreover, everything made of gold, silver, and jewels—the ornaments on the windows, the hanging plates that indicated which classroom this was—have been stolen.

You're not certain who did it, but your charge swears up and down that she saw the commoner, with her barbaric friends, are responsible. In fact, several girls would corroborate with her, and one has threatened to have the girl deported.

What should you do?

DECISION

[idolpro]

DISCUSSION

[idolpro]

!!!

[idolpro]

It seems one of the knight families is investigating: they ask to speak with your charge, one of the witnesses.

Your charge would tell you that she's certain she saw the commoner, for she saw the color of clothing from the thieves who jumped out the window just as she was entering school. Doesn't that seem evidence enough to you?

. . . Isn't it suspicious, though, that you're being investigated now? What is your answer to the knight?

PERSONAL DILEMMA

[idolpro]

Your child has been accused of a heinous crime by another child's guardian: bullying. Not just her, of course - it was an entire group of students and she was just one among them.

She claims she didn't participate in this, however. And even if she did, why should she get in trouble for it? It's not "bullying" or whatever to let people know where their place is! And if you're not on top, then you'll get your hair pulled or your toys broken or called mean names or whatever. That's just how the world works, right?

Some people are just better than others. Right?

What do you do about this?

ROUND 2 CLASSES

[idolpro]

CURRENT STATS

[idolpro]

Fair temperament.
+125 charm.
+7 intelligence.
+44 diligence.
Moral compass: Good

DECISION

[idolpro]

What classes do you choose to have your charge take? Will you give her free time?

You may choose from Culture class, Martial Arts class, and Math & Science class. If you choose to give her free time, please note what that free time will be dedicated to.

You have 48 classes to schedule for. If you'd like, you may simply note "evenly divided" for 16 classes in each category, or note 50% X class and 50% Y class, etc.

If you note "evenly divided between all classes and free time", that will be taken as 15 classes each/3 sessions of free time.

DISCUSSION

[idolpro]

ROUND 2 DILEMMAS

[idolpro]

CLASS DILEMMA

[idolpro]

Fortunately, since there's no evidence, no one was deported. Instead:

One family essentially swept the incident under the rug by paying off the damages, declaring what actually happened to be impossible to discern the truth of; both accusers start trying to get closer to the commoner, not leaving her alone.
One girl is punished by cleaning the school, although another would help clean and yet another would help pay for the damages.

The commoner seems to be discouraged from going to school, entirely avoiding the rest of the semester. Her parent seems to be trying to get a sports class going at school, but they need everyone's support in order to be able to proceed.

The semester passes without further incident, but . . . !?

On the first day of the new semester, the stolen possessions show up in the lockers of three different girls: were they the culprits after all. . . !?!?!

So now the tables are turned and you're being accused of wrongdoing and, uh -

Well, your daughter doing all this "organizing" and "neighbourhood watching" isn't really doing much to help anyone think she isn't the culprit.

What do you do about this?

PERSONAL DILEMMA

[idolpro]

Your child is slowly working at getting along with the girl she helped to bully - she's also protected her from further harm as much as she's able with her surprisingly good ability to get other kids to stop and listen to her.

In fact, she's no longer nearly as worried about losing her place or appearing strong - after all, she doesn't need to be strong alone, and a lot of the kids she once was worried would turn against her are now very supportive of her, almost like some sort of gang.

That's cute!

It's not all sunshine and roses, though - after all, her being so popular means certain other noble children aren't. And since she's defending a common girl so staunchly - well, needless to say, they've complained to their parents. And their parents have pulled some strings and now your child is on the receiving end of a lot of very blatantly unfair detentions and demerits. And detentions suck! Those are just like, advanced chores?

What do you do about this?

ROUND 3 DILEMMAS

[idolpro]

FINAL DILEMMA

[idolpro]

With the help of several, the sportspuck bake sale would be a success; the commoner's guardian is able to become a coach! Sportspuck is available as a sport at school now.

One family begins to stand out as the belle of the class—the top dog, if you will. Her family holds many many parties and fundraisers, of which many girls attend, even if they aren't rich enough to go—but surely everyone's all friends enough that status shouldn't matter. There, the girls learn of the family's many business endeavors in the Lost Continent: fashion, cosmetics, bakeries, the works!

. . . For some reason, in these parties there are incidents of pickpocketing and thievery, although no one can figure out who did them. . .

At the end of the semester is a grand ball, though there's a bit of a ruckus there: many of the nobles invited are rather unpleasant, insulting and passive aggressive that someone keeps getting invited when there's clearly a rat in their presence. After all, who else keeps stealing things? First the beginning of the school year, now the thief is brazen enough to steal directly . . .

The atmosphere is unpleasant. Then, a fight nearly breaks out—fortunately the girl from the knights families manage to stop it, with another helpfully keeping people away, but the accusations toward the commoner are still widely heard: on top of being a thief, she would have her own gang of savages come around to ruin their livelihoods, to cause disruptions in their lives, to stir mayhem and humiliate them. She doesn't seem to understand what they're referring to, and so they threaten: mark their words, those who strike them will pay with blood—

. . . And then, somehow, the knight's girl calms them down, even to the point of rescinding their words if only so that she would not hear the harshness of them. Rumors and whispers spread throughout the party: it must be true. This girl can make anyone do anything for her.

The party ends before the hour is up and everyone manages to go home . . . but there are rumors that those who had complained loudly and threatened the commoner had their carriages tampered with, resulting in terrible injuries. Several girls won't be able to make it to school for some time, and a few have started entirely homeschooling. . .

With all that in mind, the school decides to take a semester to renovate, thanks to the many donations from almost everyone but especially one family. Well, at least on the surface it's renovations: there are, however, rumors that the Lost Continent program might try to go on pause due to how unruly the savage locals are. Perhaps the Lost Continent is lost for a reason. . .

At least sportspuck is still open. Even the savages love sportspuck.

In any case, there are a few things most pertinent to you:

• Well, at least all the flack your daughter's been getting has been redirected! . . . Back to the commoner, of course! Isn't that grand . . .
  
• One family invited you to a tea party with another: it seems to the guards of the school have been causing trouble with common citizens and locals, even going so far as to hurting their charge when she was only standing up for what's right. Isn't that awful? Shouldn't the higher classes do something about guards hurting lower and middle class citizens? Is this related, or is this unrelated. . . ?
  
• Your businesses are doing well! A little too well. In fact, it seems some locals aren't too keen on your businesses being around, especially since your family is the best of the best here: you find your boutiques damaged, the windows smashed, some merchandise taken. They say it was people in gold.
  
• Your charge has taken to selling justice as a result. It seems she's taking in suspected criminals to . . . rehabilitate them. This is certainly not a concern, whatsoever. It seems they're really truly good people now when they come out and that's completely and totally fine.
  
  What, if anything, should you do?