No skills, lotsa problems

https://abload.de/img/08.05.23_19-07-341oi7h.png

“When I got promoted to detective, Rika and I went on a weekend camping date to the Glimmerforst. According to the tourist guide, there is a portal to the Three Sages’ Magic Academy in the forest and we set out to find it. The academy is basically a castle perched on a rock floating in space, pretty impressive to look at, but also rather boring. I was curious to see what Professor Ember had wanted to show me there.”

https://abload.de/img/08.05.23_19-09-40sed3o.png

“Wait, did I just say lonely castle in space? I didn’t believe my eyes, when I found a greenhouse (on its own floating rock), a dueling ground and finally a whole business district, all surrounding the academy now. The sages’ retreat had grown into a proper campus!
And despite knowing full well that all of this was new, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I had walked this street before… until it hit me: This was my home street! All the houses had gotten abducted from Newcrest…”

https://abload.de/img/08.05.23_19-10-30wuipu.png

“…and the shops were still getting tended by the ghosts of their previous owners. That little detail put quite the damper on my joy at seeing the old familiar place again.”

https://abload.de/img/08.05.23_19-11-579neq5.png

Morgyn: “Welcome, Detective! Have you looked around already? Ah, your mimic betrays that you have. Yes, it’s true. A whole street was displaced, torn from its place in space time, along with the residents. We keep the ruins here as a reminder. And you, Frederik Collins, are the hero who apprehended the spellcaster, who committed this atrocity. Never forget this! You are a hero.”

https://abload.de/img/08.05.23_19-16-34mzft9.png

“A Science Baby would have been nice, but why settle for that, when you can have a Magic Baby instead? The Sages agreed to assist human me and my android wife in our baby-making plans and so two persons entered the tent, but three came out again. Rika was now carrying our child – and I was aware again that I still had magic in me, even though I couldn’t call upon it in any meaningful way.”

I made Fred spellcaster during this visit, but since he cannot learn skills, I won’t let him memorize spells either. I’m badly cheesing the scenario with the lilies already, no need to add Copypasto to this.

Still the same week, during a rainy, stormy night:

https://abload.de/img/08.05.23_20-03-535gin6.png

Fred: “What’s going on here? One leaves the room for just a minute and already Hank and Professor Ember are locked in ball of fists and fury!”

Gavin: “Well, you know how Hank is. He attacked me, too, for no reason last year.”

Fred: “At Harvestfest, you mean? Ah, I see now. Hank wouldn’t attack first, unless provoked by the Professor…”

https://abload.de/img/08.05.23_20-06-35hkexw.png

Fred: “…and I don’t take kindly to my guests getting harassed in my house! I challenge you to a duel of honor, Professor Ember!”

Morgyn: “Me - against you? And only I have a wand? Oh, that should be good! If you win, I gift you an artifact.”

Fred: “Stuff the sarcasm and prepare to fight!”

https://abload.de/img/08.05.23_20-07-120dfij.png

Morgyn hit Fred with a ball of bright blue lightning.

Morgyn: “Your favorite color, wasn’t it? Haha!”

https://abload.de/img/08.05.23_20-08-103odzz.png

But then Fred hit back with an energy missile of his own, and it was lined with red. The Professor screamed from the pain and the emotions intertwined with the eldritch energies.

https://abload.de/img/08.05.23_20-08-350vfur.png

A flick of Fred’s wrist later, Morgyn lay with his face in the dirt. Defeated.

Fred: “How…?”

Morgyn: “Well, how do you think, Detective? I TOLD you that you were the hero who defeated the nasty dark mage, that should have been a hint that you are no run of the mill hedge wizard. And you’re a cop, what should have told you that your expertise lies in martial applications of spellcasting, not the three schools or alchemy. In other words: You are a master duelist! One of the Top 5 in this country!”

Fred: “I am?“

Morgyn: “Of course. I wasn’t sarcastic, when I said me at my full power (minus a few bruises from your co-worker) against wandless you would be good. It was a fair duel, that could have gone either way. Fifty-fifty chances are exhilarating!”

Fred being a master duelist wasn’t part of my backstory, but it fits nicely.

https://abload.de/img/08.05.23_20-17-4483i9h.png

Morgyn’s gift turned out to be a familiar orb containing a bunnerfly, the perfect companion for an animal loving spellcaster. However, the bunnerfly’s wings were crimson red, just like Fred’s spell had looked in the end.

“What if… what if I didn’t so much as DEFEAT the evil spellcaster, as AM that one? Only the sages wiped my memory to give me a second chance? Like the Jedi did to Darth Revan in Knights of the Old Republic? But, no, Morgyn meant it, when he said I was a hero. He wanted me to know that and never forget it. … But I sure seem to have dabbled in the dark arts a fair bit. Phew! What a revelation!”

https://abload.de/img/08.05.23_19-52-04odie8.png

Fred’s and Rika’s son was born in February 2041 (aka Year 3). His mother named him Michael and he has the weak bloodline trait.

Of all the places the game could have put the crib in the live-in police station, it chose one of the holding cells!

https://abload.de/img/08.05.23_19-53-36y2e0d.png

Fred: “Hello, Michael, I’m your papa, and I won’t learn from any parenting mistakes I’m going to make! Just a fair warning…”

https://abload.de/img/08.05.23_20-50-3984c4x.png

After the birth of his son, Fred started to take a closer interest in his co-workers’ families. Much to his surprise he learned that Todd had a daughter with none other than Bess Sterling, the infamous speculator, and that Gavin had a son with his alibi girlfriend (whom he had also married for inheritance money). Fred volunteered to babysit the kiddos, on the off chance that something might stick.

What really happened: I teleported the children in so that they could make messes for Fred to clean away for the Pristine Home aspiration. Yes, I could have sent Fred to the park, where kids make messes all the time, but I like my sims families being connected.