Reactions, word count once I Libreoffice, you know the drill. (Edit: 409 words)
"Hm? Asking my opinion now? Consultations aren't free, you know," Gisena teased.
He scoffed. "Riding on my back isn't free either."
I can see the spades in their eyes.
"Are you saying you didn't enjoy that?" She giggled. "Well, I think it's a wonderful creation! I'd love to study it. But my realm didn't have anything like this. The technology's mostly a shell, isn't it? An accoutrement of the creature beneath."
"There is power there. Far more than it's shown to us." Briefly he closed his eyes, reaching out with his instincts. It reminded him almost of the Tyrant, or of his own power at the very height, but much greater. Even the Tyrant was a mere tributary compared to the ocean that slept within this beast. Power of enormous scope, but of a tenor that was similar to his own. And yet like him it was diminished, wan shadow of its full potential. Not dammed, but run dry. And yet it would not take so terribly much for the deluge to come again.
I smell LCL and the possiblity of an event analogous to Third Impact.
"Think it was holding back?"
Gisena snapped him from his thoughts.
"No." He shook his head. "It's injured. Lessened."
"Probably safest just to observe and see if it does something," the Sorceress sighed. "How boring."
She turned to him. "So... Got a name?"
He scowled.
Gisena pouted. "I did tell you mine, you know. Noble title and all! That's valuable tactical intelligence."
A name. He'd sacrificed his name, and claiming another at this juncture would just see it slip from his mind. But he needed something for others to call him, that was true enough. He looked down at his hand and the blade that it held. A pseudonym would hold, if it was memorable. Something practical. And yet even a pseudonym held power. Properly chosen, it could bind his objects more strongly to him, or establish that he was separate from them.
Interesting material for how Accretion works that may be worth filing away somewhere.
Something easy to recall. Something as familiar to him as the back of his hand.
"Hunger. Technically I'm a City Lord, but they've likely had me deposed."
As he spoke, he felt the essence of the ring shift, become his in full, interlacing its nature with his own. Now, like a ring of power, he would only grow mightier and more cunning with time. Age would have no purchase upon him, and even the Tyrant's curse that had stolen his youth would be reversed and superseded. He hoped that taking this name would also bind the Decimator's Affliction, allowing him to exert some measure of control over it. That would be a priority in the near future.
Let's hope we don't regret this in the future. Tangentially, I heard Sinstar's "I hunger" when I heard the pseudonym he chose.
"Hunger?" Gisena said brightly. "Hm... Lord Hunger. I like it. It's only a little pretentious."
"More than a little. Don't be polite."
"Arrogant and a liar too! Why do I put up with you?"
"I'm a noble. It's to be expected."
"Well, at least he's self-aware."
"Keep talking to yourself. It's better that way."
More spades! If there were Alternians in the audience they'd be saying to get a room already.
"Oh? Already in love with the sound of my voice?"
"A-ahem!" A voice boomed from the direction of the giant. "If you two are done flirting, we have important matters to take care of!"
It was a girl's voice, clear and high, but somewhat stilted, as if forcing herself to sound authoritative.
"Sorry, we're not!" Gisena answered cheerfully.
HAH! This is Catherine isn't it.
"Huh?"
"We're not done flirting. Isn't that what you asked? So, mind waiting a bit longer?"
"Ah! Um..."
"Speak for yourself," he grunted, turning to address the giant. "Are you the pilot of that creature? What's your business?"
"Thank you, my lord. Yes, I am. I'd like to come out and speak to you face-to-face. Will you give your word not to attack my person?"
"I won't attack unprovoked. Do as you please."
Steam hissed from countless apertures as the giant's head and chest moved forward, revealing its internals. A dizzying array of runes and glyphs coated every inch of its bio-mechanical interior, faintly emitting the pale, cold blue of a winter sky. Within was a capsule, which hissed open to reveal a young lady in a pale military jacket with accents of gold. Lean and long of limb, she had delicate, fine-boned features and eyes a shade lighter than Gisena's blue. A long shock of hair trailed nearly to her waist, white in color but with all the luster and texture of youth. She looked to be in her late teens or early twenties. In the fingers of her right hand she held a small text, a manual of some kind.
Runes? Glyphs? *Salt intensifies* Also, if that's a manual, we may have a literal case of the falling into the cockpit trope in action here people. Also for whatever reason I don't fully get I'm drawing Crest of the Stars connections now.
Emerging from the capsule, she hopped up, landing neatly on the giant's shoulder, leaning forward on one heavy boot.
"Ah!!" Gisena clasped her hands together, eyes sparkling. She leaned over to whisper in his ear. "She's so cute! Can we keep her, hun? Please?"
"Do not call me that. And she's not your pet."
"Then, what should I call milord? 'Huney' has a certain ring to it... "
It looks like Gisena just vacillated red. On another note, it seems moe is a multiversal constant.
"Just Hunger is fine."
"What's this, a nobleman claiming to be just?"
"As you said. I'm a liar."
And now we're back to blackflirting. Wonder when or if they will stop vacillating.
"You said you had business," he called to the girl, before Gisena could interject again.
The girl nodded, stealing a glance at her manual before speaking. "You're outsiders, right? Come in through an Astral Rift? We're lucky we found each other. This place has certain properties making it difficult to navigate. Most outsiders who arrive here either die or are never seen from again, but my Armament," she gestured at the giant, "can bring us to civilization."
Ok maybe she didn't just fall into the cockpit.
"Okay. I'm listening."
"Well..." the girl frowned. "It's a lot to explain. Since we all look human and are even speaking English, I'm going to assume you're from a world with similar ontological parameters..."
Multiversal awareness? That's pretty cool.
"Hm." He had assumed the Accursed had given him a translation function.
Gisena perked up. "In my realm it's called Angletierre, but I've been speaking it because everyone else has. My native language is actually Joanian."
He raised an eyebrow. That wasn't easy. "You have no accent. Impressive."
"Of course! I am a genius, after all."
"Anyway!" The pilot said, "The place we're currently trapped is named the Voyaging Realm. We believe it's an artificial universe created by an ancient species who called themselves the Foremost. It's contained by an outer ring the size of a gas giant, with the space inside heavily spun, folded, and distorted. It's constantly shifting and some parts are dangerous. A small portion of the Realm is unaffected and humans have built a city and spaceport there. That's where I'm trying to go." She showed them a picture from her manual, depicting a highly advanced metropolis with towers of steel and glass, over which loomed a small flotilla of angular ships. If this was accurate, these people were far beyond the Earth of his time.
So we have a dungeon town. Also I've got a really drawn out God damn for what the Foremost pulled off.
"Since my Armament is so badly weakened, I'd like your help making it there. In return you'll reach civilization and my government will probably pay you a hefty sum as well. If you're interested, we could even arrange longer-term employment. Rift outsiders with unique skills are always welcome. Any questions?"
"I don't work well with others," he said, "I'm happy to kill things for money, but I won't act under your chain of command. If that's fine, I've got a few more questions."
She nodded.
Fairly tactful so I guess that went well.
But Gisena interrupted, practically vibrating with excitement. "What incredible technology! Flying ships! Cities that scrape the sky! This day has turned out far better than I thought. When I opened that Void I expected only death, not to be sent to another world out of my wildest dreams!"
"Oh?" The girl cocked her head. "How did you two get here, if you don't mind my asking?"
"I used my powers to tear a hole through reality," Gisena explained. "I didn't think it would work, and almost burned out that Grace. I was trying to assassinate the.... hero of my world for murdering my sisters. It didn't go so well, so I had to run."
"You're quite brave, Miss Gisena!" said the pilot. "And you, milord?" She turned to him.
He frowned. "I was the hero of my world and assassinated after I slew the Tyrant."
Gisena beamed, wrapping her arms around his left. "We're a perfect pair!"
I'm getting tired of the Homestuck references but don't have any new ideas for talking about their flirting.
He shrugged her off. "This is the third dimension I've stumbled into. My home was a planet called Earth. We had a technological civilization, planes and satellites, but nothing truly interstellar. Tell me about your society. What volume of space do you occupy? How many stars do you control?"
"Well, it's complicated," the pilot temporized. "The Human Sphere encompasses about ten thousand inhabited worlds, and includes another twenty thousand uninhabited systems used for resource extraction. The Realm we're standing in technically isn't a part of it, aside from our spaceport and city. The Sphere is divided into three polities, and the nation I'm from controls about twenty-seven hundred stars. But, I actually work for a jointly-funded agency supported by all three nations, so... like I said, it's complicated. It's not really relevant, none of the states has much power here!"
Holy shit. Holy fucking shit.
"Fine. You mentioned a number of other hazards. Creatures like this dragon? Are they related to these Astral Rifts? Any strategic or tactical information we should be aware of?"
"Y-yes. How to explain this..." She mused, tapping her lip with a gloved finger. "So, your home world, you said you weren't interstellar. Were you bound by the speed of light?"
"We knew about it. We didn't have ships nearly that fast."
"Neither do we, really. Long-distance travel is mostly conducted with Astral technology, either supplementing our movements or tunneling directly into the Astral Realm. Doing this destabilizes the gradient between realities, sometimes creating rifts through which Astral denizens sometimes attack us. They're especially attracted to Armaments, which can forcibly re-stabilize that gradient in a large radius. Mine is so weakened that its beacon isn't strong, so we shouldn't have to deal with anything too serious, but the Voyager Realm also has a natural rate of rift incidence. That's where you guys came from."
My giant robot conspiracy senses are tingling.
She hesitated, then continued to speak. "Any Astral denizens that appear from those in our vicinity are going to attack my Armament. The... dragon you fought was one. Additionally, there are some unusual creatures and societies in this Realm that are hostile to humans. Most of the creatures we encounter shouldn't be too terribly stronger than the dragon you killed. So, it'd really be safest if we traveled together! Especially if we could restore my Armament, even a little bit."
"So. We're trapped in a pocket universe that's immeasurably vast, within which space shifts so that locations don't correspond to each other. It's partially inhabited by monsters, and Astral Rifts occasionally deposit more monsters, which will automatically attack if you're in the vicinity."
She nodded. "That's right."
So It's a magic dungeon for giant robot pilots.
"So how can your 'Armament' navigate this place?"
She swallowed. "G-good question! Most Armaments are Foremost technology, mine included. There's an inbuilt navigational system for Foremost realms. I estimate it'll take us about t-two months to reach the city's staging grounds, give or take two weeks."
Looks like we're going to have some time to get to know each other then...
As far as he could tell, she was mostly sincere, though her time estimate was likely more certain than she felt. And if she wasn't lying, it would be difficult to escape this Realm alone.
He glanced over at Gisena.
"Oh? Do I get a say in this, milord?"
"No. I'm just looking at you for no reason."
"I do have that effect on people. And I'd love to go. So much technology to explore, it'll be exciting!"
He turned to the pilot. "Then we're in."
"Great!" She curtseyed neatly before them. "Duchess Letrizia von Artriez, pilot of the Devouring Armament, Verschlengorge. We'll be in your care."
God dammit.
Gisena elegantly returned the curtsey with one of her own. "Pleased to meet you, Zea! We're going to be best friends. Now tell me... what's a 'planet?' By what principle are they organized into 'star systems?' And what's that to do with the speed of light?"
"M-Miss Gisena, one at a time, please!"
Time for Science. Estimated time for foundation of Aperture Science analogue: 5 years.
---
As you have taken Nightmare Praetor, the hero has chosen the mechanically optimal psuedonym of Hunger, Lord Hunger to those who acknowledge his title. Slightly increases advancement rate from Hunger. Grants opportunities for mitigation of the Decimator's Affliction in the future.
Lucky us for the Decimator's Affliction mitigation. I'm simultaneously thinking of Blind Guardian Lyrics from the Curse of Feanor and the Strategist's talk about tasting the Fruit right now though.
[ ] On Second Thought... - You're fairly certain that sufficient Rank would allow you to navigate this place easily on your own, and partnering with a giant, mostly useless target that attracts monsters is just begging for the Apocryphal Curse to put all of you in peril. Not worth it for a nebulous payment from her government that's only 'probably' going to occur. Best for you and Gisena both to encounter their civilization on your own terms, when you are stronger.
*Probably safer
*There should be plenty for you to explore around here
*You're still not sure why Vershlengorge has such an affinity for you.
I have no idea about what I think about this right now.
[ ] Plan Your Trip - Choose 3 options below.
Letrizia has supplies and advanced camping materials in her Armament, though you could probably live off the land.
[ ] Speak with Gisena I - Learn more about the Nullity Sorceress. The circumstances of your mutual arrival are suspicious. Inform her of your Curses and see if she can help. +Gisena
Let's not waste Nightmare Praetor's victory I guess. Time and people's life force is burning.
[ ] Speak with Gisena II - Speak on personal matters. ++Gisena. Requires Speak With Gisena I.
We do not have time for a Route Unlock right now.
[ ] Speak with Letrizia I - The girl seems fairly intimidated by you. Perhaps you came off as harsh. Put her at ease. +Letrizia.
[ ] Speak with Letrizia II - Explain the matter of your affinity with Verschlengorge. Perhaps she has some insight? Req. Speak with Letrizia I. ++Letrizia, ?
Maybe?
[ ] Errantry - Perform various tasks for the people you encounter within the Voyaging Realm so as to more effectively forge your legend. Slowly increases Accretion Rank.
[ ] Errantry II - Perform more demanding, dangerous and time-consuming tasks. Increases Accretion Rank at a considerably faster clip. Risky. Requires Errantry I.
I have no idea about my current stance on this. I may have to mess around with combinatorics in the future if I can find the motivation to do so.
[ ] Learn to Pilot - As you are bound to the Ring Hunger, your learning speed outside battle is slightly worse than an average mortal's. The intricacies of the Armament are easy to learn, difficult to master, and many functions are incomplete or unavailable due to its state. Still, there is time enough for the fundamentals of movement.
[ ] Commune with Verschlengorge - There is something here, something of great import, though you feel little sense of urgency... Req. Learn to Pilot.
I'm tempted at the moment.
[ ] Sleep Heavily - By default you will sleep 9 hours a day. Sleeping more increases the (at this time, fairly small) benefits accumulating from Might's Repose over time.
[ ] The Name of the Curse - Attempt to exert some measure of control over the Decimator's Affliction, by the combined power of yourself and your Ring.
The question is what level of return we get if we stack Gisena and The Name of the Curse.
[ ] Seek out Artifacts - With wandering monsters and strange civilizations come objects of power, everyone knows that! And bereft of your armor, you could use a third object to complete your panoply. In theory any object can do, but a formidable artifact would grant greater bonuses. Not guaranteed to succeed.
[ ] Seek Worthy Opponents - Actively pursue rumors of powerful monsters & the like. Hunt them down to advance your Progression. +Stats. Risky.
I have no idea, I guess my thoughts may have to wait for when/if I do combinatorics.
And now for the most important part of the vote. What to call Letrizia?
Req. Speak with Letrizia I
[ ] Letrizia
[ ] Zia
[ ] Zea
[ ] Zee
This smells of route flags.
