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THRONE//FRINGE: Normal Human Mech-Girl Quest

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[X] The Archmaid, who tutored you on how to keep faith in what you believe in even in the face of utmost and vile betrayal.

[X] The Court of the Sector Margrave, and Intrigues of Empire. Inside the pinnacles of FRINGE's nexus, they taught you that you were never truly safe, and that at one stroke every part of the freedom you had built could be destroyed.
 
I've been rereading The Once and Future King lately, so I can only answer:

[X] The Pendragon, who enlightened you on the burdens of leadership, and how to keep the loyalty of those around you.
 
[X] The Pendragon, who enlightened you on the burdens of leadership, and how to keep the loyalty of those around you.
[X] The Marzban, who warned you of the dangers of strength without humility, and how even Emperors may be laid low.
[X] The Green Sun and the Garden of Unearthly Delights. Inside Fringana's writhing caverns, they taught you how to see the angles you desperately did not want to see, and how you could grow to adore the honest horror of the worm.
 
[X] The Marzban, who warned you of the dangers of strength without humility, and how even Emperors may be laid low.
[X] The Green Sun and the Garden of Unearthly Delights. Inside Fringana's writhing caverns, they taught you how to see the angles you desperately did not want to see, and how you could grow to adore the honest horror of the worm.
 
[X] The Archmaid, who tutored you on how to keep faith in what you believe in even in the face of utmost and vile betrayal.

[X] The Hunger of the Nail, and the Descent of the Collapse. Inside the Weaver/Builder to which you were consigned, they taught you that there are worse things than death, and that your love could be the cause of mass annihilation.
 
[X] The Archmaid, who tutored you on how to keep faith in what you believe in even in the face of utmost and vile betrayal.

I feel this is extremely appropriate given that Arachne put her faith into Don Hidalgo and has, at least so far, been rewarded for it by seeing Don Hidalgo's True Power and also his willingness to totally not nuke the entire enemy force.

[X] The Court of the Sector Margrave, and Intrigues of Empire. Inside the pinnacles of FRINGE's nexus, they taught you that you were never truly safe, and that at one stroke every part of the freedom you had built could be destroyed.

Remember that in the Empire, an Emperor is not always a person, and a Margrave may be in the exact same boat. Also, there are some really, really interesting things about sector-level governance that this might shed light on.
 
Cetashwayo said:
Why is that when Weaver calls out for her paramours, they answer in the sweetest tones, their desperate need for one another piercing through the void, but the Spider's closest companion Ishtar can barely even admit her friendship? What has she done wrong?
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Don't worry Arachne, It's all right. Ishtar is just a tsundere... Well, that, and because you murder her. Actually, yeah, you did a lot of things wrong.

Cetashwayo said:
She thinks that if she should rebuild the Empire, it should be a caring one, of love and hate. For her companions, and the alpha backup, she will create a cocoon where it is safe to love.
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This mean you won't eat your children anymore, right Arachne? R-Right?

Cetashwayo said:
Imperial to reject reality, and substitute your own
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Glad to see "I reject your reality and substitute my own" is an official imperial doctrine.

Cetashwayo said:
Are they pirates? Are they vagabonds? Are they legends from a time before time, come to rescue the Empire that are the fruits of their seed-planted legacy? Behold now, as you feel gripped by a new narrator fit for epic ballads, heroes old come to save the heroes new.
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So are "why do I hear boss music?", apparently.

Cetashwayo said:
Is. Is he flirting with the mistress of blades who crushes skulls beneath her boots?
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I dunno, Archie, I think he would love that.

Cetashwayo said:
"Keeping in character! I like that, Arachne. You've really embraced the spirit here, though you need not fear the fourth wall as administrator. And you did not tell me you were yourself a romantic," he adds, winking, as you feel your body shutting down for perhaps the third time today, emotional errors exploding in your mind and everything he mentioned about a 'fourth wall' erased so soon as you hear it. Diana, mercifully intervenes.
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...And it appear Hidalgo doesn't know the in-simulation Arachne is not the "actual" Arachne... This is going to complicated things.

[X] The Archmaid, who tutored you on how to keep faith in what you believe in even in the face of utmost and vile betrayal.
[X] The Green Sun and the Garden of Unearthly Delights. Inside Fringana's writhing caverns, they taught you how to see the angles you desperately did not want to see, and how you could grow to adore the honest horror of the worm.

The worm loves us. Also, knowing how our early life is might help with an eventually awkward explanation we will have to do when Ishtar find out we are born from Axiom.
 
[X] The Green Sun and the Garden of Unearthly Delights. Inside Fringana's writhing caverns, they taught you how to see the angles you desperately did not want to see, and how you could grow to adore the honest horror of the worm.
[X] The Marzban, who warned you of the dangers of strength without humility, and how even Emperors may be laid low.
 
Cetashwayo said:
"I blame you for this," she hisses, and then turns on her heel and walks away, barking orders to the pirates and the heroes to maintain discipline and use the bronchiole harnesses for the dronesuits properly. After this, she leaves the hangar bay entirely, leaving you contemplating whether if it should be better you not survive this for what she will do to you when it is all over.

And worst of all, the entire time, the entire time, Don Hidalgo's watching her, and then he turns to you, and says, with a mischievous glint, "If you told me you hosted such a woman from the beginning I would have changed my master."

You blink, and try to think of something to say very carefully. At your complete confusion, he only laughs and claps you on the shoulder as if you are old friends.

"Keeping in character! I like that, Arachne. You've really embraced the spirit here, though you need not fear the fourth wall as administrator. And you did not tell me you were yourself a romantic," he adds, winking, as you feel your body shutting down for perhaps the third time today, emotional errors exploding in your mind and everything he mentioned about a 'fourth wall' erased so soon as you hear it. Diana, mercifully intervenes.
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I'm amused that after all the effort convincing Ishtar that Arachne v2 was not Arachne v1 and that they should be friends, everyone in on the meta nature of this new story seems convinced that Arachne v1 is actually Arachne v2 and are treating her as such. Fun parallels. :smile:

[X] The Archmaid, who tutored you on how to keep faith in what you believe in even in the face of utmost and vile betrayal.
[X] The Green Sun and the Garden of Unearthly Delights. Inside Fringana's writhing caverns, they taught you how to see the angles you desperately did not want to see, and how you could grow to adore the honest horror of the worm.

The Archmaid sounds nice. I imagine her and Arachne Weaver having a conversation, and when she gets to the part about "keeping faith in what you believe in, even in the face of the utmost vile betrayal," the camera sloooowly pans backwards to reveal Don Hidalgo's head in the foreground, sweating a bit and adjusting his puffed collar while remarking on how hot it is in this room which they are all conveniently crowded into together.

The Green Sun sounds like quite the opposite of nice, and I would like to see exactly how awfully not-nice it was.
 
[X] The Marzban, who warned you of the dangers of strength without humility, and how even Emperors may be laid low.

[X] The Hunger of the Nail, and the Descent of the Collapse. Inside the Weaver/Builder to which you were consigned, they taught you that there are worse things than death, and that your love could be the cause of mass annihilation.

It is a shame there is not more interest in robo-musashi but I suppose the other legends are just too fun for themselves. As to what we need to learn about, the Nail dream seems really important all things considered as it ties not only to our current circumstances outside the simulation but to how the sector and by extension Arachne ended up the way they are. Also just really curious.
 
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...Yeah, I'll second that.
[X] The Marzban, who warned you of the dangers of strength without humility, and how even Emperors may be laid low.

[X] The Hunger of the Nail, and the Descent of the Collapse. Inside the Weaver/Builder to which you were consigned, they taught you that there are worse things than death, and that your love could be the cause of mass annihilation.
 
[X] The Archmaid, who tutored you on how to keep faith in what you believe in even in the face of utmost and vile betrayal.
[X] The Court of the Sector Margrave, and Intrigues of Empire. Inside the pinnacles of FRINGE's nexus, they taught you that you were never truly safe, and that at one stroke every part of the freedom you had built could be destroyed.
 
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So we're coming up on our intelligence choice vote. Through the spies i've placed in @Cetashwayo's meme space I can already tell you that the five point character choice is, essentially, does Arachne let Weaver join her. One of them must die, the question will be which.

I can also tell you that the intelligence choice is probably going to be 1 point for each, or three points for both just to frustrate us, but @Cetashwayo may not have come to a final decision about that yet.

I can also tell you that the intelligence choices are either going to be about The Don and Ishtar or they will be about two of the forces depending on our actions. My memespace spies report that @Cetashwayo has already made that decision, but are unable to determine which decision he has made due to his schrodinger's observationality wards. However the quantum ripples suggest it's information about Ishtar and The Don.
 
[X] The Archmaid, who tutored you on how to keep faith in what you believe in even in the face of utmost and vile betrayal.
Since we're likely to get some revelations what with us being part of AXIOM in our past.

[X] The Hunger of the Nail, and the Descent of the Collapse. Inside the Weaver/Builder to which you were consigned, they taught you that there are worse things than death, and that your love could be the cause of mass annihilation.
Since I want to see more about just what this thing is.
 
[x] The Archmaid, who tutored you on how to keep faith in what you believe in even in the face of utmost and vile betrayal.
[x] The Hunger of the Nail, and the Descent of the Collapse. Inside the Weaver/Builder to which you were consigned, they taught you that there are worse things than death, and that your love could be the cause of mass annihilation.
 
[X] The Archmaid, who tutored you on how to keep faith in what you believe in even in the face of utmost and vile betrayal.
[X] The Court of the Sector Margrave, and Intrigues of Empire. Inside the pinnacles of FRINGE's nexus, they taught you that you were never truly safe, and that at one stroke every part of the freedom you had built could be destroyed.

"Keep faith even when betrayed" and "that time I was betrayed" might, perhaps, thematically fit together.
 
[X] The Pendragon, who enlightened you on the burdens of leadership, and how to keep the loyalty of those around you.
[X] The Court of the Sector Margrave, and Intrigues of Empire. Inside the pinnacles of FRINGE's nexus, they taught you that you were never truly safe, and that at one stroke every part of the freedom you had built could be destroyed.
 
[X] The Marzban, who warned you of the dangers of strength without humility, and how even Emperors may be laid low.

Humility is always good.

[X] The Hunger of the Nail, and the Descent of the Collapse. Inside the Weaver/Builder to which you were consigned, they taught you that there are worse things than death, and that your love could be the cause of mass annihilation.

This is so good. Feeling that surrealesque-Hypertech dystopian anime vibes, for sure.
 
[X] The Pendragon, who enlightened you on the burdens of leadership, and how to keep the loyalty of those around you.
[X] The Hunger of the Nail, and the Descent of the Collapse.
 
Adhoc vote count started by Derpmind on Dec 29, 2021 at 8:53 AM, finished with 43 posts and 31 votes.
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[X] The Archmaid, who tutored you on how to keep faith in what you believe in even in the face of utmost and vile betrayal.
[X] The Court of the Sector Margrave, and Intrigues of Empire. Inside the pinnacles of FRINGE's nexus, they taught you that you were never truly safe, and that at one stroke every part of the freedom you had built could be destroyed.
 
[X] The Archmaid, who tutored you on how to keep faith in what you believe in even in the face of utmost and vile betrayal.
[X] The Court of the Sector Margrave, and Intrigues of Empire. Inside the pinnacles of FRINGE's nexus, they taught you that you were never truly safe, and that at one stroke every part of the freedom you had built could be destroyed.
 
Any interest in a last-minute surge for Pendragon or Marzban? Because it occurs to me that the only thing I can think of as a betrayal that would shake Arachne's faith in what she believes in, is a betrayal that shakes her faith in the Empire. And if speaking to the Archmaid would make her more likely to keep faith with the Empire's ideals in the face of such a betrayal (for instance, one that occurred in the Sector Margrave's Court?) then I'd sooner she didn't, since I don't care for the Empire's ideals and would actually quite like for Arachne's faith in them to be shaken.

Edit: you could argue that Arachne's original betrayal by Don Hidalgo could shake her faith in reaching out to others, except that already happened and it demonstrably didn't since literally we have trusted Don Hidalgo himself again already.

Edit mk. 2: adding an approval vote for the closer competitor.

[X] The Pendragon, who enlightened you on the burdens of leadership, and how to keep the loyalty of those around you.
[X] The Marzban, who warned you of the dangers of strength without humility, and how even Emperors may be laid low.
[X] The Hunger of the Nail, and the Descent of the Collapse. Inside the Weaver/Builder to which you were consigned, they taught you that there are worse things than death, and that your love could be the cause of mass annihilation.
 
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