A Simple Transaction I
- Thread starter Rihaku
- Start date
- Original
Rihaku
The Internet
Well... yes.
But it's still quite a powerful synergy!
Correct, similar to the Geas (though not as permissive) the Apocryphal Curse only has imperfect scaling, and some of its challenges aren't scaled at all or are disruptive in a way that doesn't risk your personal safety. It's possible to get ahead of the curve if you do well, or fall behind if you do poorly. Considerably less forgiving if you do fall behind, though.
Feast and Fell handed seem like a great combo, burnout to make the kill then 1-up back to full ready to do it again from the juice.
- Location
- USA
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Trustworthy Enough
[X] Sword That Was Stolen - Thick As Thieves
[X] Forebear's Blade - Echo of the Forebear
[X] Forebear's Blade - Fell-Handed Stroke
Now that discussion has made me realize there's a good chance the mech pilot is about to trip our Doom of the Tyrant and in consideration of Geas of Indenture sending us to places with no access to meat, I've decided to change my vote.
Becoming a Tyrant in truth is worrying, but honestly a little heartlessness will make our Geas missions and the Doom of the Tyrant much easier to stomach and I'm simply unwilling to pass up the intelligence and charisma increases.
Echo+Fell-Handed Stroke give us a strong boost to martial power without committing us to the constraints on our actions that the advanced options come with. I don't want to depend on meat or sleep or integrate our crippled form into our Accretion.
To discuss Fell-Handed Stroke a little, I think it will help us a great deal in assembling a powerset that can take on whatever the bigger, badder version of this dragonjackal is. I think scaling our current strategy to a stronger foe would require finding a way to make findross to make Gisena stronger and it's possible that will take us a long time. She isn't wearing Hunger and we didn't take Retinue, so securing means of fighting alone versus this threat seems worthwhile to me. It also seems to just generally be a versatile attack since it damages spirit and will in addition to the regeneration cancelling.
It's draining to use, so we still need Echo in addition to it if we want to get this escalation train rolling.
@Wolfy I have left my glass house
[X] Sword That Was Stolen - Thick As Thieves
[X] Forebear's Blade - Echo of the Forebear
[X] Forebear's Blade - Fell-Handed Stroke
Now that discussion has made me realize there's a good chance the mech pilot is about to trip our Doom of the Tyrant and in consideration of Geas of Indenture sending us to places with no access to meat, I've decided to change my vote.
Becoming a Tyrant in truth is worrying, but honestly a little heartlessness will make our Geas missions and the Doom of the Tyrant much easier to stomach and I'm simply unwilling to pass up the intelligence and charisma increases.
Echo+Fell-Handed Stroke give us a strong boost to martial power without committing us to the constraints on our actions that the advanced options come with. I don't want to depend on meat or sleep or integrate our crippled form into our Accretion.
To discuss Fell-Handed Stroke a little, I think it will help us a great deal in assembling a powerset that can take on whatever the bigger, badder version of this dragonjackal is. I think scaling our current strategy to a stronger foe would require finding a way to make findross to make Gisena stronger and it's possible that will take us a long time. She isn't wearing Hunger and we didn't take Retinue, so securing means of fighting alone versus this threat seems worthwhile to me. It also seems to just generally be a versatile attack since it damages spirit and will in addition to the regeneration cancelling.
It's draining to use, so we still need Echo in addition to it if we want to get this escalation train rolling.
@Wolfy I have left my glass house
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Rihaku
The Internet
Somewhat. It's not just physically draining on its wielder, though killing powerful enough foes could infuse you with enough power from Hunger's base effect to pay it off if you buy the right things. At least for a little while.
OctarineShrike
Avatar of Mandos
I'm in:
[X] Trustworthy Enough
[X] Sword That Was Stolen - Thick As Thieves
[X] Forebear's Blade - Echo of the Forebear
[X] Forebear's Blade - Fell-Handed Stroke
- Location
- USA
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Ah, hm. I guess it's bad for farming these guys, then, but at least if we bite off more than we can chew or Gisena gets injured we'll have a trump card to use if we take it here.
The disjunction strat sounds hilarious, could be good legend building fodder as well.
Depending on what we're burning I'm a lot less enthused then. Gotta go green.
Depending on what we're burning I'm a lot less enthused then. Gotta go green.
Fanwork#2899 Words
My own 2 cents.
Reaction: "Heart of the Matter"
While we were warned about the repercussions that come with stealing someone else's Artifacts, it is part of our Legend now and we certainly won't neglect the Stolen Sword. We might not like the methods it encourages, but the Forebear's Blade betraying us all of a sudden shouldn't be a consideration.
There are often powerful legends accompanying broken swords, be it the Sword In The Stone or Gram. Perhaps we can reforge the Blade into something stronger, something that can accompany us on our endless journey. Or if we aren't feeling particularly sentimental, we could discard it and use the Legend to empower a new sword. I don't think we have it in us, but maybe the promise of new shinies will overwhelm our attachment to old ones at some juncture.
We know that the Tyrant was very proficient at the Forbidden Arts, if not as talented as the Hero, so it stands to reason that he'd stolen a Legend or two himself previously. Was it because he respected his Forebear, thought the Blade too weak to matter, or because he couldn't? After all, sometimes even hard work can't make up for innate genius.
Well, thankfully the Ring itself wasn't Abducted, this is just the effects of the Lesser Remittance that allow us to use the Artifact without repercussions. Without repercussions we'd have to worry about, that is. For the Tyrant things might have looked a bit different. In a world with less conflict he'd have to encourage foes to rise up against him in order to advance, which might have been part of what let the Hero survive for so long.
Hunger also looks suitably evil, black and red a suitably ominous color scheme to warn everyone about how the Ring is Bad News. Just... not that it matters, since the Ring will be maintained by our shared Legend and power, but what exactly is mythril in this world, and can it continue to exist in other worlds by itself without deteriorating?
But I guess there was more to him than the evils he perpetrated, as there is to every man. And every virtue can turn to evil when it is present in excess. Still, Artifacts are defined by their Legends, so this one must have some roots in the people's perceptions of the Tyrant. Is this what he extolled during his reign? Puts an interesting spin on the confrontation between him and the Hero.
That aside, what kind of insane regeneration mechanism is that? I thought spewing minions after getting wounded only happens in video games, since one would expect something to try and conserve energy when injured instead of expending it more quickly. There are a few logical explanations for it of course, like the giant monster's body being a portal to some other place the hyenas are coming from (hence their different appearance), or the wurm having them hunt people to replenish lifeforce.
The attack must have also been quite sudden if the citizens are inside fighting the hyenas instead of escaping beforehand.
Thankfully there's no way our mom's soul is in one of those. Right?
I approve of the design in any case. They always say that two heads are better than one, so it logically follows that three heads are even better than that! I'd expected it to fire beams instead of employing something as pedestrian as bite attacks, but maybe it's another consequence of being too broken to function properly. Or it lacks energy.
Yet why are the eyes of the heads colored so differently? And I find it hard to believe that the heads are just there to perform bite attacks - seriously, what do you think you are, an EVA?
...Oh wow. I should have known. I still don't regret picking Gisena, but I don't know if I'll feel the same way next update... it needs three pilots to get access to its full features, doesn't it? And one is already in there. We'd be another pilot, and Catherine the third, so with no Gisena to nullify the wurm's regeneration and with our direct combat capability against the monster likely lessened if we picked Seven Seals, the pilot would have been forced to let us board the Cerberus to achieve victory. And from there we would have somehow gotten increased jurisdictions, maybe thanks to Catherine's pure blood or our own talent?
Still, stabbing giant monsters up close and personal is fine too, and maybe we still have a shot at that giant robot.
...Hopefully the affinity isn't proportional to trauma.
But it's impressive that she realized his nature immediately. Either she's been here a while and personal combat capability of the kind shown by the Hero isn't at all typical, or we just stand out that much to her senses.
We see evidence that at the very least the hyenas are the product of magic, though maybe not composed of magical energy. They're disoriented but not destroyed when struck with her bolts? Seems like she can disrupt the means by which they're controlled, but otherwise they're either entirely natural or it would expend too much energy to dispel them wholly.
She's also got some interesting tastes if a half-cripple qualifies as handsome in her eyes. Was the true path to Gisena's heart amputation of our limbs all along?! Too bad we didn't get a chance to explore these intriguing details, but we can always make up for those regrets this time. Or maybe not if we want to look our wife in the eyes without shame.
Once again, it's hard to tell with Gisena.
"Tone down on the EDGE, Hero."
"I can't. Because my wife and friends are dead."
"And I thought Jeanne had it bad..."
She's dangerous in all sorts of ways that have nothing to do with Nulling.
It seems they aren't very well-specced for defending against human-sized targets that can deal them massive damage. Another piece of evidence for mechs being main tools of combat here and personal magics being lacking or nonexistent?
We make such a good team! I'm almost thinking we could strap her to ourselves permanently, then we'd have the mobile anti-magic artillery platform always close at hand. Just need to do something about her squishiness.
So since its flesh is nonmagical, maybe we can eat the meat? Might not be enough to feed the whole town though, assuming it's edible for normal humans.
A planned feature for one of our companions or a pleasant surprise? Would Catherine and the Prolessarch have managed to avoid the minefield that is our Doom somehow as well? This makes things easier at least.
In any case, I think we can convince her to help train our Null Resistance if our relationship is high enough, it'll just take much longer and won't be as effective against every kind of antimagic.
Now to the real meat of the votes.
...Omg, I just realized that every significant fight is going to end in a build vote. Is this heaven or hell? I'm not sure. Though I guess build votes never really stop for Progression Types anyway.
And the creme de la creme - seeming a very rare type of Curse Mitigation, reduces Decimation percentage by a bit without making further Mitigations difficult, effectively enhancing whatever Mitigation we acquire afterwards.
Makes those hours of rest useful for something since we can't get useful training out of them anyway. Since life isn't a constant fight even for us, this isn't a bad trade-off.
Heals us mentally and pushes us Progression-years forward in development, though the price is not low. Do we have it in us to pay it and engage on a higher stage immediately? We'll see.
My own 2 cents.
Reaction: "Heart of the Matter"
Is it ruthless to exchange lives lost in the moment for greater gains in the future? It is a calculus the Hero knows all too intimately after going through a bloody decade of fighting and losing against the Tyrant, maybe well enough to be sick of it already if he wasn't so numb to it all. The formula is easier to solve in this particular case though, since the consequences are so apparent.
Don't need General Akbar to start eyeing that Sword suspiciously, considering just how eager it was to be turned against it's wielder's descendant, but I'll give it the benefit of the doubt. After all, it did accompany the Hero to the very end and was almost destroyed in the final battle against the Tyrant.
While we were warned about the repercussions that come with stealing someone else's Artifacts, it is part of our Legend now and we certainly won't neglect the Stolen Sword. We might not like the methods it encourages, but the Forebear's Blade betraying us all of a sudden shouldn't be a consideration.
There are often powerful legends accompanying broken swords, be it the Sword In The Stone or Gram. Perhaps we can reforge the Blade into something stronger, something that can accompany us on our endless journey. Or if we aren't feeling particularly sentimental, we could discard it and use the Legend to empower a new sword. I don't think we have it in us, but maybe the promise of new shinies will overwhelm our attachment to old ones at some juncture.
Man, I wonder if the Forebear was actually as strong as rumored or if the later legends added even more oomph to his Blade's actual might. Just what kind of person stood at the origin of this Tyrannical lineage? Not a very peaceful one judging by the mention of Ruin. It's also interesting that the Blade was just lying around in the Catacombs, ready for the Hero to pluck it from its resting place.
We know that the Tyrant was very proficient at the Forbidden Arts, if not as talented as the Hero, so it stands to reason that he'd stolen a Legend or two himself previously. Was it because he respected his Forebear, thought the Blade too weak to matter, or because he couldn't? After all, sometimes even hard work can't make up for innate genius.
Did we in effect get all our equipment by looting the Tyrant and his family? I mean, it's a time-honored heroic tradition and all, but I'm starting to worry about just how much of our Legend we've taken through Forbidden means previously. The small script containing dire warnings about consequences isn't there just for show, Hero!
Well, thankfully the Ring itself wasn't Abducted, this is just the effects of the Lesser Remittance that allow us to use the Artifact without repercussions. Without repercussions we'd have to worry about, that is. For the Tyrant things might have looked a bit different. In a world with less conflict he'd have to encourage foes to rise up against him in order to advance, which might have been part of what let the Hero survive for so long.
Hunger also looks suitably evil, black and red a suitably ominous color scheme to warn everyone about how the Ring is Bad News. Just... not that it matters, since the Ring will be maintained by our shared Legend and power, but what exactly is mythril in this world, and can it continue to exist in other worlds by itself without deteriorating?
A neat focus for our Progression, since hoping for having time to train peacefully in any significant amounts is a lost cause. I'm also quite impressed just how... non-evil it is when it comes to its purpose and urges for something that originates from the Tyrant. It feels larger than life, extolling the glory of humanity and I'd almost say some heroic virtues.
But I guess there was more to him than the evils he perpetrated, as there is to every man. And every virtue can turn to evil when it is present in excess. Still, Artifacts are defined by their Legends, so this one must have some roots in the people's perceptions of the Tyrant. Is this what he extolled during his reign? Puts an interesting spin on the confrontation between him and the Hero.
Why yes, quite difficult to assassinate even a diminished Hero with his Plot Armor on! What if he makes a miraculous escape and stages another rebellion?! He's proven himself to be quite skilled at those even when in a position of weakness, and they're no Tyrants.
So it might be a Post-Apocalyptic world (seeing how there's a distinct lack of high-tech but mechs are running around), yet they hadn't quite been thrown back towards medieval times, if one judges by appearances. Or is it the other way around? Magic allowed them to advance technology in specific fields by leaps yet for the common man things didn't change too much?
That aside, what kind of insane regeneration mechanism is that? I thought spewing minions after getting wounded only happens in video games, since one would expect something to try and conserve energy when injured instead of expending it more quickly. There are a few logical explanations for it of course, like the giant monster's body being a portal to some other place the hyenas are coming from (hence their different appearance), or the wurm having them hunt people to replenish lifeforce.
The attack must have also been quite sudden if the citizens are inside fighting the hyenas instead of escaping beforehand.
Oh yeah, a right and proper Superhero Landing for a Big Damn Hero moment. How long has it been since the Hero could afford one of those? Too long, way too long. And this is just his physical strength halfway through his journey, very far from his former peak. More visually impressive than the previous fight tbh, so it's easier to appreciate the power levels in Tyrant's world.
Real-time regeneration, how bothersome. If such monsters are common, we'd do well to invest either in regeneration of our own or overpowering strikes, assuming we don't have other ways to deal decisive damage. Otherwise it could turn into a battle of attrition that we would inevitably lose.
The lack of repairs speaks either of a dearth of resources, lack of time to do the repairs before the fight, or a lack of knowledge on how to do them. Combined with the hints at the difference of the technological levels between the mech and the city, it doesn't paint a pretty picture...
Look, I'm not saying it's an evil mech, but I'd vote for looking long and hard for a berserker mode if we try piloting one of those.
Thankfully there's no way our mom's soul is in one of those. Right?
I approve of the design in any case. They always say that two heads are better than one, so it logically follows that three heads are even better than that! I'd expected it to fire beams instead of employing something as pedestrian as bite attacks, but maybe it's another consequence of being too broken to function properly. Or it lacks energy.
Yet why are the eyes of the heads colored so differently? And I find it hard to believe that the heads are just there to perform bite attacks - seriously, what do you think you are, an EVA?
...Oh wow. I should have known. I still don't regret picking Gisena, but I don't know if I'll feel the same way next update... it needs three pilots to get access to its full features, doesn't it? And one is already in there. We'd be another pilot, and Catherine the third, so with no Gisena to nullify the wurm's regeneration and with our direct combat capability against the monster likely lessened if we picked Seven Seals, the pilot would have been forced to let us board the Cerberus to achieve victory. And from there we would have somehow gotten increased jurisdictions, maybe thanks to Catherine's pure blood or our own talent?
Still, stabbing giant monsters up close and personal is fine too, and maybe we still have a shot at that giant robot.
I'm sure it'll be squeeing on the inside in excitement after we strut our stuff. Wonder what the requirements for having this sort of affinity are - is it really just the talent that comes with being a Progressive Cursebearer or is there some aspect of the Hero that makes him particularly suitable for piloting giant robots?
...Hopefully the affinity isn't proportional to trauma.
Is it a warning shot? Did Gisena seriously fire a warning shot at the human murderblender that landed with the force of a meteor? Either she's supremely confident in her ability to deal with us, her social skills, or has judged that we wouldn't immediately react with aggression. Or just doesn't mind dying? Probably a mix of all of those for her.
The hilarious thing is that she's probably one of the worst enemies for the Elves back in the Manifest Realm, seeing how they're at war with the Sorceresses and how findross manipulation is what they're best at.
But it's impressive that she realized his nature immediately. Either she's been here a while and personal combat capability of the kind shown by the Hero isn't at all typical, or we just stand out that much to her senses.
On the one hand, we aren't heading straight for the monster. On the other hand I'm relieved that while the Hero can keep his priorities in order, his heart hadn't been hardened to the extent that he'd ignore a direct plea for help.
We see evidence that at the very least the hyenas are the product of magic, though maybe not composed of magical energy. They're disoriented but not destroyed when struck with her bolts? Seems like she can disrupt the means by which they're controlled, but otherwise they're either entirely natural or it would expend too much energy to dispel them wholly.
Well, we'd woken up in a prison cell, so yes, you could say it was the wrong side of the bed. On the other hand the day only got better from there! Now we're almost enjoying it.
She's also got some interesting tastes if a half-cripple qualifies as handsome in her eyes. Was the true path to Gisena's heart amputation of our limbs all along?! Too bad we didn't get a chance to explore these intriguing details, but we can always make up for those regrets this time. Or maybe not if we want to look our wife in the eyes without shame.
Is she just guessing, or has she tried to affect it already? Quite ballsy either way.
Yes, she's quite clearly removing the controls. Seems like the beasts aren't engineered to do anything without being ordered to.
That's not just ballsy anymore, she's completely entrusting her safety to the Hero. If he fails, she'd be the weakest target in vicinity of the giant monster. Yet she still offers a plan with such high risks to herself. Either she trusts him that much, has a trump card or two up her sleeve, or just plain doesn't care about the risks.
Once again, it's hard to tell with Gisena.
Oh wow, he really doesn't seem to like her. Chucking Gisena at the giant monster? That wouldn't have been pretty.
"There is only a single woman deserving of a princess carry from me, and she's dead."
"Tone down on the EDGE, Hero."
"I can't. Because my wife and friends are dead."
"And I thought Jeanne had it bad..."
She's dangerous in all sorts of ways that have nothing to do with Nulling.
I don't quite remember if that was a thing for Sorceresses. Did they have regeneration? I recall they had across the board improvements in most stats when getting their Graces. But yeah, between fighting snooty Elves and Superhero Orcs, she's got quite a bit of experience under her belt.
There is still time for that now thanks to the Accursed! Dragon-slaying is a traditional adventuring staple - mostly because of the XP and loot - so we'd better make up for its lack in our resume pronto.
Gisena is seriously worth every cent. It would have been incredibly annoying to deal massive damage to the monster, only to watch it all revert afterwards.
It seems they aren't very well-specced for defending against human-sized targets that can deal them massive damage. Another piece of evidence for mechs being main tools of combat here and personal magics being lacking or nonexistent?
That was a bit anticlimactic. What kind of monster doesn't have another Phase to fall back on? But then Sword slashes and Nullity bolts to the brain probably aren't good for one's health.
We make such a good team! I'm almost thinking we could strap her to ourselves permanently, then we'd have the mobile anti-magic artillery platform always close at hand. Just need to do something about her squishiness.
Yes, we'll bear that heavy burden with dignity. Hah, a spark of humor at last, I thought it'll be a while till he thaws off a bit.
Too early to speculate about the specifics of the local magics, but I'd guess it is of a far more concrete bent than our Accretion. Working within the laws of the universe instead of trying to impose foreign ones on it. Maybe they even have units of measurement for magical energy? Always interesting to see what kind of fun interaction the contact between different magic systems produces.
So since its flesh is nonmagical, maybe we can eat the meat? Might not be enough to feed the whole town though, assuming it's edible for normal humans.
And creator of golden toilets, though that's in a different timeline. Still, the potential is there!
That doesn't look good. Might be part of its machinery malfunctioning, though maybe it was engineered to do that.
Now the question is who could be sitting inside. Not a big deal if it's just a local hero that had stumbled upon an ancient mech and managed to activate it, but we could get in trouble if the pilot is part of the government and tries to recruit us. We'll have to handle this carefully.
The Graces never cease to impress me in how wide-ranging their effects and uses can be.
A planned feature for one of our companions or a pleasant surprise? Would Catherine and the Prolessarch have managed to avoid the minefield that is our Doom somehow as well? This makes things easier at least.
These kinds of choices are typically quite balanced, so the Null Resistance should be a bit stronger than one of the 1-priced powers. But it comes at the cost of not developing a connection with our sole companion right when we're quite uncertain about anything.
In any case, I think we can convince her to help train our Null Resistance if our relationship is high enough, it'll just take much longer and won't be as effective against every kind of antimagic.
Now to the real meat of the votes.
...Omg, I just realized that every significant fight is going to end in a build vote. Is this heaven or hell? I'm not sure. Though I guess build votes never really stop for Progression Types anyway.
It's not a slippery slope! More of a slow slide down a fun ice luge track. As they say, a bit of ruthlessness never hurt anybody, especially if we are to conquer this Sphere. Such comprehensive upgrades to our social and mental stats are nothing to scoff at, I suppose, though that mental contamination still makes me nervous.
A straightforward and comprehensive upgrade to our combat power, not much to comment on there. I fear its blandness might be this option's downfall though.
What is a Hero without a Limit Break? No Hero at all, that's what. With this we could win any battles through raw attrition if nothing else. Assuming we make the hit and aren't done in by the resulting exhaustion.
We're quite edgy already, why not simply become a vampire? We're overqualified already thanks to Decimation, now we'd just make it a bit more apparent. Mid-battle healing is useful for all kinds of things, including restoration from draining attacks and reckless tactics. Would also make things difficult for opponents that want to catch us off-guard after an exhausting battle.
And the creme de la creme - seeming a very rare type of Curse Mitigation, reduces Decimation percentage by a bit without making further Mitigations difficult, effectively enhancing whatever Mitigation we acquire afterwards.
Becoming a sleeping dragon is just going to be a thing for us, isn't it?
Makes those hours of rest useful for something since we can't get useful training out of them anyway. Since life isn't a constant fight even for us, this isn't a bad trade-off.
The costliest option, but oh how GLORIOUS. There are no breaks on this train, so why not simply accelerate more? Maybe we'll fly over that chasm ahead of us this way.
Heals us mentally and pushes us Progression-years forward in development, though the price is not low. Do we have it in us to pay it and engage on a higher stage immediately? We'll see.
Rihaku
The Internet
You're not burning anything permanent like selfhood or whatever, it's just tiring on a physical and spiritual level. Not spammable now, but in the future...
OctarineShrike
Avatar of Mandos
So it's got great Synergy with 1 or 2x Echo of the Forebear builds I imagine.
Edit: For anyone watching who's unsure what precisely I'm referring to, it's this:
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Aabcehmu
Confusion as a Natural State of Being
- Location
- Aurora, CO
- Pronouns
- Any/All
Fanwork#400 Words
Lexicon of the Fingers
Violence is a language. It can be artful, like poetry, and practical, like technical documentation, and it can be anywhere between, and beyond. Violence contains every aspect of a combatant, from their brute physical strength, the dexterity of their body and their mind, their ability to empathize, their knowledge of their self, their wisdom regarding the nature of people and the world, everything. Naturally, then, the language of Violence contains within it the ability to describe anything.
The Lexicon of the Fingers is not the entirety of the Language of Violence. The language contains every utterance of combat ever spoken with the bodies and minds in conflict ever, anywhere. That includes every mistake, every folly, every weakness, every fumble, every miscalculation, every failure, and more. The Lexicon of the Fingers is not simply the portion of the language which has happened to be expressed in ephemeral, material victory. It is a selection of violence capable of expressing every *possible* victory, and thus within it's contents is the solution to any solvent combat.
Naturally, much of the Lexicon of the Fingers is unachievable by mortal means. Its moves require power and skill beyond measure. However, your Body of Legend and asociation with the superlative Accursed put you in a unique position to explore the Lexicon.
The namesake of the Lexicon, the eponymous 'Fingers', do not refer to the physical appendages with which some fighters choose to enact violence with. It is instead a reference to the shape which violence takes when viewed through the highest attainment of the Lexicon, "All of Creation Lies Within the Palm of My Hand", which can be described as briefly achieving a total view of the combat situation, including a visualization of all possible actions and their consequences in the form of 'fingers' radiating out from a central 'palm', and the ability to freely select from these possibilities, with an impossibly fine level of precision. Ultimately, each attainment along the path provided by the Lexicon of the Fingers is akin to the Palm, in that it is a matter of clarity, consciousness, and decision-making.
What the Lexicon asks for in return is devotion and even more, endurance. The learning of the Lexicon is a grueling process, one which requires subjecting oneself to all the violence one wishes to perpetrate, to completion. In order to direct the flow of Violence, one must first be swept up in it. Fortunately, the Body of Legend is a vessel well-fit for such a purpose.
Lexicon of the Fingers
Violence is a language. It can be artful, like poetry, and practical, like technical documentation, and it can be anywhere between, and beyond. Violence contains every aspect of a combatant, from their brute physical strength, the dexterity of their body and their mind, their ability to empathize, their knowledge of their self, their wisdom regarding the nature of people and the world, everything. Naturally, then, the language of Violence contains within it the ability to describe anything.
The Lexicon of the Fingers is not the entirety of the Language of Violence. The language contains every utterance of combat ever spoken with the bodies and minds in conflict ever, anywhere. That includes every mistake, every folly, every weakness, every fumble, every miscalculation, every failure, and more. The Lexicon of the Fingers is not simply the portion of the language which has happened to be expressed in ephemeral, material victory. It is a selection of violence capable of expressing every *possible* victory, and thus within it's contents is the solution to any solvent combat.
Naturally, much of the Lexicon of the Fingers is unachievable by mortal means. Its moves require power and skill beyond measure. However, your Body of Legend and asociation with the superlative Accursed put you in a unique position to explore the Lexicon.
The namesake of the Lexicon, the eponymous 'Fingers', do not refer to the physical appendages with which some fighters choose to enact violence with. It is instead a reference to the shape which violence takes when viewed through the highest attainment of the Lexicon, "All of Creation Lies Within the Palm of My Hand", which can be described as briefly achieving a total view of the combat situation, including a visualization of all possible actions and their consequences in the form of 'fingers' radiating out from a central 'palm', and the ability to freely select from these possibilities, with an impossibly fine level of precision. Ultimately, each attainment along the path provided by the Lexicon of the Fingers is akin to the Palm, in that it is a matter of clarity, consciousness, and decision-making.
What the Lexicon asks for in return is devotion and even more, endurance. The learning of the Lexicon is a grueling process, one which requires subjecting oneself to all the violence one wishes to perpetrate, to completion. In order to direct the flow of Violence, one must first be swept up in it. Fortunately, the Body of Legend is a vessel well-fit for such a purpose.
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LordOfMurder
Bhaal
- Location
- Australia
The true ultimate build assuming we can get an extra pick to make it viable. Boost to all stats from repose plus regen and curse mitigation from feast makes us pretty good at fights as well as solving our problems with healing and dying from old age eventually. Super sad that this isn't a possible build.
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Rihaku
The Internet
High Accretion rank increases majesty, supernal and (to a degree) physical! Given his former apex, the hero's facial structure could probably rival a high king of the Dunedain!
Perhaps she's just that confident in the power of Nullity!
What's risky for Gisena is not necessarily what's risky for other people, both because of her nihilistic outlook but also because she rarely has to deal with anything above a peak human while she herself is superhuman. If the monster presumed to attack her, perhaps it would suddenly find itself dealing with the inconvenient mechanics of the square-cube law and all the other problems of behemoth physiology! Similarly, she's unafraid of most orcs (save those of Warlord class or higher) since she can reduce them to barely better than men.
Gisena is the master of dragging the fight down to the lowest level and beating you with experience!
That's just what he wants you to think!
No need to tone down the EDGE when you could embrace it fully! Live every day without regrets!!
Well, Gisena does have superhuman CON, so she may have a Radiant Health-like effect. Or it may just be difficult to develop callouses due to said CON!
There were quite a number of ways to deal with this creature (Muscle Wizard had it even easier), but this was among the more convenient. And it looks impressive! Gotta awe those townsfolk, after all.
A Hero's job is never done.
DRAGON: Foolish Devourer, you teeter on your last legs but this isn't even my final form!
DRAGON: BEHOLD, my wounds now spawn countless hyena-beasts, and the very act of their creation restores my health! I am invincible! The rake of my arms is tenfold scythes, my scales battlements, shock of my tail a hurricane wall, my blood the stuff of life itself!
THE DEVOURER: I'll admit, this looks bad. But you forgot one thing, Dragon.
DRAGON: And what is that?
THE DEVOURER: He who reveals his trump card first...
THE DEVOURER: *Calls out across the infinite cosmos for a Cursebearer that shares a perfect affinity for itself. Watches the ensuing battle.*
THE DEVOURER: ...always loses.
GISENA: How exciting! You'd like that, wouldn't you?
Perhaps not as adroitly or intentionally, but their compatibility was confirmed for a reason! Catherine perhaps too timid to gainsay the hero, Prolessarch unconcerned with temporal affairs!
Not every fight. You guys will probably work towards longer-term builds as planning capacity and system knowledge open up.
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Lealope
Not yet invincible
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Extra picks can only buy 1 point options.
Looking at the current votes seem like repose and thieves have a modest lead, they work together decently well, trustworthy enough also helps to set the stage for a Gisena filter to keep us from tanking relations meaning we might be able to utilize the increased charisma and sleep boosts to best effect. Overall though I still find it a bit too presumptive for the amount we currently know about the verse and would prefer more generalized boosts.
[X] Trustworthy Enough - But the chance is low enough that you aren't terribly concerned. There are far more pressing matters in play. [Take 1 extra Selection below, +Gisena]
[X] Forebear's Blade - Echo of the Forebear - Cloud-shadow of the Forebear's might. Legendary strength and speed, and the resilience to exert them. Can be taken multiple times. [+Might, +Agility]
[X] Hunger - Feast of Lives. The Ring Hunger brings unnatural vigor, staunching wounds and replenishing blood, but its true strength is evident only at the moment of triumph. Gain modest regeneration and improved health of the body. Briefly gain extreme regeneration upon defeating a non-trivial opponent. [2 picks]
[X] Forebear's Blade - Echo of the Forebear - Cloud-shadow of the Forebear's might. Legendary strength and speed, and the resilience to exert them. Can be taken multiple times. [+Might, +Agility]
[X] Hunger - Feast of Lives. The Ring Hunger brings unnatural vigor, staunching wounds and replenishing blood, but its true strength is evident only at the moment of triumph. Gain modest regeneration and improved health of the body. Briefly gain extreme regeneration upon defeating a non-trivial opponent. [2 picks]
OctarineShrike
Avatar of Mandos
Try this then maybe?
[X] Trustworthy Enough
[X] Sword That Was Stolen - Thick As Thieves
[X] Forebear's Blade - Echo of the Forebear
[X] Forebear's Blade - Fell-Handed Stroke
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LordOfMurder
Bhaal
- Location
- Australia
Where does it say that?
Lealope
Not yet invincible
- Pronouns
- She/Her
LordOfMurder
Bhaal
- Location
- Australia
Stingy Rihaku
- Location
- Pindorama
Might is a generalized boost though! We just need to sleep for 9 hours, something we need to do anyway. It is also better for the future thanks to dodging Hunger. Really, what else would we do with our time?
OctarineShrike
Avatar of Mandos
I'm willing to log roll to get a bit of balance in on this vote. Switch to
and tag me and I'll owe you a marker, markers are on a first come first serve basis in future votes. Maximum of 2 markers.
and tag me and I'll owe you a marker, markers are on a first come first serve basis in future votes. Maximum of 2 markers.
LordOfMurder
Bhaal
- Location
- Australia
[X] Trustworthy Enough
[X] Forebear's Blade - Fell-Handed Stroke
[X] Hunger - Might's Repose
[ ] Forebear's Blade - Echo of the Forebear
Well since best build isn't possible I'll go with this. Might's repose is pretty strong since immortality cost about a million perks in Seram's system and it gives us passive progression the older we get. Considering we're going to be working for the accursed for a time best expressed in scientific notation that seems pretty good. Fell handed stroke so we can kill tougher guys. Trustworthy so we be nice to best Gisena.
Echo of the forebear if we get the extra pick because I don't particularly want to stack heartlessness with mental corruption from a tyrant from the past.
[X] Forebear's Blade - Fell-Handed Stroke
[X] Hunger - Might's Repose
[ ] Forebear's Blade - Echo of the Forebear
Well since best build isn't possible I'll go with this. Might's repose is pretty strong since immortality cost about a million perks in Seram's system and it gives us passive progression the older we get. Considering we're going to be working for the accursed for a time best expressed in scientific notation that seems pretty good. Fell handed stroke so we can kill tougher guys. Trustworthy so we be nice to best Gisena.
Echo of the forebear if we get the extra pick because I don't particularly want to stack heartlessness with mental corruption from a tyrant from the past.