Dang, I really liked the Real Deal: Transcend in the first option - Prophet Of The Real World style shenanigans?
Dang, I really liked the Real Deal: Transcend in the first option - Prophet Of The Real World style shenanigans?
The root of this world is diseased. A rot that transcends culture and circumstance. DEATH, LIES, CONTROL, they are not forces from without, besieging mankind's walls. They are a symptom, for at the heart of humanity now lies ennui. The belief that life means nothing, that other's lives mean nothing.
Mankind walks forward with no purpose, moved only by base fears. In every aspect except one mankind wallows in emptiness. Yes, there is one light, one true shining hope— for mankind, despite all its suffering, still dreams. Still longs for HEAVEN.
STRENGTH is a victim of this world. In his dream there will be the same meaningless lives that he sees in this one. Like a child lashing out in its ignorance he will hurt and kill but also learn. He will learn that instead of something to hoard, he will have something to lose. That instead of something to mourn, he will have something to love.
In order for this waking corpse to truly come to life, it must first shed it's humanity. It must shed its ennui. And so the sleeping god shall leave his tomb, and bring with it change, destruction even... but also hope. A hope for a brighter tomorrow, a hope of conquest, of pain...
Of true meaning.
And should you disagree with his conduct? There is room aplenty for two Overlords in STRENGTH's domain.
The root of this world is diseased. A rot that transcends culture and circumstance. DEATH, LIES, CONTROL, they are not curses raining down, they are the answer to the question, the whip that drives us forward. For at the heart of humanity lies ennui, and given the choice mankind will seek it like fireflies to the flame.
Who would not choose a dream? Who would not decide to be a god? To tear it all down and build it anew? To become a creature who has everything and can do anything— to become ennui incarnate?
He asks for the power to be granted to him, when he should instead seize it with bloody hands. He wants friends and servants to love him, when instead he should change himself— change others! Lie! Kill! Drown not in the digital blood of a hollow dream, but in the sweat, blood and tears of the struggle!
STRENGTH does not seek death for its own sake. Yet still the corpses will pile, the rubble will fall, and all he beholds will be as ash and dust— for what reason? So that he need not be lonely. So that he can have his precious meaning. So that he may be entertained.
For those who are interested in how we're doing in Philemon choices vs Ettelia choices...
Traitor Rank 3: Philemon (this was the choice between Fusion and Reverse, and it was implied Fusion was championed by Philemon);
Sun Rank 3: Ettelia;
Mankind Rank 3: Philemon;
Plant Rank 3: Philemon;
Nature Rank 3: Fusion Accident;
Devil Rank 3: Ettelia;
Prudence Rank 3: Philemon
…fucking hell.
Given all the warnings beforehand about Overlord being an assholetory fest, I wasn't expecting the mood of this SL to be quiet depression. Fits well with the rest of the quest's theme—in an imaginary world where all your desires are sated, eventually you just become lonely at the top. You have no-one to share HEAVEN with if it's only your fantasy.
(Surely spending the last week evading responsibility in Shitty WWO will be fine and cool for us.)
[X] Ash Nazg
Even if this wasn't the best case against Phil we've seen yet, I'd still go for this—it shouldn't be too hard for SV to roleplay as a grandiose schemer addicted to complexity who keeps changing emotions.
Archetype [Real Deal: Dark Lord]: You are all-seeing, all-powerful and all too willing to play the long game. You are in control of your emotions and able to switch from a fair oration to a violent, cursed screed at the drop of a ring. You have a tendency to favor plans that are entirely too complicated for your own good.
I mean, Hiyori needed this so it's alright in my book.(Surely spending the last week evading responsibility in Shitty WWO will be fine and cool for us.)
Wilde Jagd: The Alder King's daughters shall tend to thee with sisterly care. [Pitohui calls forth a wild hunt comprised of phantoms that can wield her arsenal of weapons.]
Eigaon [Wraith Form]: Generate an UMBRAL element and increase its «Main Visualizer» render priority. Specifically manifests as a horde of wraiths invisible to your opponent through normal means. [MAG/CURSE]
"Why don't you look for him? He probably got bored, or realized he couldn't afford to keep up with the money sink. That's probably true for all of your guildmates. You could still meet up IRL or play a different game—"
Alright, planning for the next turn, I feel we would be better attempting to press Kazuma for info about BLANK. He's our best lead to get what goes in their heads so far unless we want to try and see if Argo got anything on them - but I doubt we really have the money for this type of endeavor right now, not when we also have to balance getting weapons.
Speaking of Argo...Magdalene's associated weapon interests me. We can essentially go around the limit of Persona switching by using this and it's incredibly cheap. Furthermore, Hama spells are not associated with death the same way the Mudo line is, which may be useful, even more now that we are discarding Hamaon. And Mega Man, pew pew.
Priest is a shoe-in for the more focused Fire Persona other than Ash Nazg. For the second Link - assuming we do two - I would say going for either Justice (to boost mega buster) or Swords (depending if Rinko is still around) could do wonders to boost our power - maybe even get some insight on some details of Cognitive Psience, get that BLANK training arc.
Supposing we go with Ganbatte next turn, this is two main actions. I want to use one of them to boost our combat prowess overall - no need for weapons on that front - so I argue either for Maxwell's action to boost our number of slots or one of the training actions.
This leaves one slot, which I want to use to progress the XeXeeD tree by talking with Lugh to plan the assassination plan, as it moves a bit that plot thread and maybe gets us closer to him - maybe uncover his allegations.
I say we go for .Sign as one of our works - to get us more money - another slots for Augma, one to get the Fast Reading bonus from the club and...dunno, Shill Mistcoin BADLY? To get us some better access to that shop's items.
[ ] [Torment//Hoshiyama Midoriko]: Satoru Mikami gave you a phone number. Turns out? It's a personal cell phone number. One that the government can trace. ZASKAR has a lot to answer for, and right now the only person you can actually link to ZASKAR working in Japan is one Hoshiyama Midoriko. Tack on your intern badge, press-gang Kikuoka to join you, and start knocking down doors. One way or another, you will get answers.
>Approach the ZASKAR GM in her home with the threat of government action behind you.
>Will affect the information Zelinska provides you.
Your SHADOW is interested in this action.
[ ] NEW! [Tuatha Dé]: Lugh's been hard to find ever since the Bullet of Bullets, though you've been largely keeping him out of the loop. There's a certain trust that only openly mutual suspicion can engender. Run through the Death Gun case one more time from the top, and seek out opinions from Lugh's unique perspective. Perhaps, in the meantime, you can scrutinize his own motives as well...
Provides permanent Accuracy Bonuses and teaches you special combat maneuvers!
[ ] [Consult//Uncrowned Queen]: There's a time to be hard and there's a time to be soft. Zelinska, the in-game account for Mikami's contact, is clearly dealing with some problems of her own. Approach her not in your real-world guise, but as the «Edge Punisher», now migrated to GGO for a new investigation. It may take some time to earn her trust, but at least to start you can call up the slime to vouch for you.
I'm fine with talking to Zelinska, but which option is better?As I've posted before I think choosing one of the Zelinska options is important, we ask Lugh for his advice and we challenge Pitohui to a battle crushing three birds with one stone.