So, the Main Character gets Isekai'd (by
whom is an interesting question), he should fight a war prophecied to be won only for his Nemesis to flip the bird at Destiny (which begs the question of
who was the Tyrant to pull this off), the war becomes a bloody grind which costs the MC a lot, in the end all his companions included his wife and child die and after all of that he gets betrayed by the rulers of the world he saved.
Welp, that's depressing.
To be honest, dwelling on the past is never good for one's mental health. Sometimes the past should be put in a grave - mourned and remembered, but eventually life goes on.
Freedom is that option. No need for Truths, no need for War, it's the time to Heal - leave everything that hurt the MC behind and build something better out of it. The more vindicitive minded might take some time to crush the unjust nobility of this world before travelling to another world, but that's fine - one last sacrifice upon a burning altar.
This is the path of the high minded, of those who wish to be better men.
Which is to mean -
none of the readers.
An impossible lifetime toiling for an impossible debt. Inevitable escalation before unfair odds. More Curses to be heaped on the broken MC, as if those two weren't enough. Less power at the beginning of his journey, when he is at his weakest.
All for the promise of more power in the end. All for the taste of blood upin his lips for eternity, to wash away the pain and suffering he withstood.
Perhaps when Gods are drowned in their own blood twice over he will look back and regret the choices he made along the way - first of all his choice to seek Vengeance. But until there, there's no other path.
Of the Curses, I will focus on the one that wasn't already discussed in the previous thread. Apocryphal is both too short and obvious to be truly analyzed.
Plenary Brand is unsubtle. Really unsubtle, even more than Doom of the Tyrant.
Giving up all forms of stealth or misdirection is a hefty price already, but the eventual growth over time is bad news for both a Combat-class and a Progression-class, especially the latter since the strength of the Curse is likely tied to power. It could be mitigated, but galvanizing foes and shocking allies doesn't sound encouraging.
However, if that was all it could be a decent Curse all in all - it's doubtful that our Cursebearer will turn to become a blade in the dark when the strength to crush suns lies at our fingertips.
But it also gives information to our enemies from the start. Whoever lies his eyes on the MC would be privy to what he can and cannot do, conceive better strategies to kill us before we could challenge them and thank us for handing them our death sentence on a silver platter.
In a way, a perfect complement to Lunacy, drawing aggro away from the weak link that is the Loved One. At the same time, all but deleterious for those with the Apocryphal Curse, which will escalate threats capable of snuffing us before the chance to progress.
Now, onto the
sick blurbs Remittances...
A veritable swiss knife of a power. Rewinding time to avoid a Bad End is the most obvious charm of this Remittance, although its efficiency vastly decreases against other Cursebearers. On the other hand, even in that occasion we are all but assured to have a plethora of different powers capable of giving us a chance against whatever we are against, maybe even an edge if we are lucky.
Obviously better for Combat-class, but Progression-class might find it useful for the sheer utility - which is not to be overlooked in the first moments of the Quest, when we will be at our weakest.
To loosely paraphrase Machiavelli, "to think about tomorrow one must reach tomorrow first" - which is to say that long term planning is needed, but if one doesn't have enough power in the short term, he will be dead before then.
A true risk for those who pursue the path of Vengeance, one that is mitigated by this Remittance. It would work wonders with Plenary as well, all but assuring that the Cursebearer is a cosmic Tank meant to stand strong against whatever the world throws at him.
If Regalia is a swiss knife, Three Wishes is the Platonic Ideal of a swiss knife - absolute utility. It can grant us whatever we most need in a moment of need, a Deus ex Machina that could deliver us from even the most unfair of threats.
At the very small cost of building favor to use them. Infinite power is rather finite, ironically.
How fast could it be garnered? How much would it be required to access the first two levels, let alone True Wish? How much would we hesitate to use these powers for fear of what could lurk behind the corner?
Too many ifs to be considered reliable, no matter how much of an universal Problem Solver it is.
[ ] The Sword That Ends The World
A small amount of immediate power in exchange for infinite growth. Reliable, steady and powerful magic always ready to serve at the cost of a meritocratic system - blood and sweat fuel the Praxis, after all.
How convenient that our Cursebearer is a man who lost everything once. How fortunate that he's a man all too intimate with the concept of self-sacrifice and effort to defeat his Foe. How fitting is this power for one who errs through the multiverse with the simple goal of Vengeance, burning to ashes whatever might stand on his way just to reach the bloody end.
The Accursed might not be the Devil, but this is a match made in Hell if I have ever seen one.
[X]
The Sword That (Actually) Ends The World
Arise, Cursebearer. Worlds will weep under your withering footsteps, civilizations will tremble in fear in front of your unyielding will, time will be forever your enemy and your ideals of democracy will be brought through bloodshed and death - but for the sake of Hatred, nothing is sacred and everything is permitted.
