Evening Sky reaction, 864 Words, I math our companions projected lifespans in years assuming continuous exposure to us in here without any mitigation and with our drain rate cut in half permanently.
Evening Sky
The man had attacked them without provocation. Now that the tides had shifted he wanted to parley? Absurd. His audacity was impressive, but a tactic that disingenuous didn't even deserve a response.
I've already made my theories clear here. Now the only question is whether or not we've just become the antagonist in somebody else's revenge movie. Or we end up getting a Spec Ops the Line moment in the future over this.
He struck, a terrible reaving arc of blade-force meant to split the pirate from shoulder to sternum, but the black-armored man reacted quickly and caught the blow on his shield. The sheer pressure of the attack tore a gouge in the metal, shards spraying upwards in a flying plume as the man visibly staggered under the blow. Hunger was already moving, swapping knife-edge to pommel as he closed to strike the man across the helm.
There's an Amon Amarth song that's coming to mind here. "Valhall awaits me". For better or worse it looks like that's where you're going.
This time. This time he wouldn't need to be rescued, by his wife or anyone else. This time he would end the threat before it could claim them. Whatever cost necessary would be paid from his own body.
It's already been said, but this is a very concerning line of thought and I agree with the people who said that.
His blow struck true; the pirate's helm tolled like an evening bell as it deformed, deflecting and radiating the strength of the blow as force became sound's echo. He was forced back, repelled by the dispersed strength of his own blow. Still the power of ruin was not easily denied; blood dribbled through the slits in the pirate's visor.
That song evidently had a sense for melee combat. A guy's helmet gets cracked in the song too.
Despite the prodigious ferocity of his assault, the enemy was not totally hapless. In one decisive motion the pirate discarded his shield and lunged forward just as Hunger made to withdraw. They toppled in an ungainly grapple, impossible weight of the pirate's armor bearing down on him, pinning him to the deck. He struck with his sword through a gap in the armor but felt resistance beneath, as if punching through clay. Shadows curled and boiled off that armor, pinning him to the deck, obstructing his sight.
Please don't be a Reichenbach falls scenario please don't be a Reichenbach falls scenario... also the shadow effect the guy used as a defense was cool. Almost reminds me of Nicodemus's power from the Dresden Files, he weaponized his shadow too and even found a way to use it as a hang glider.
The pirate reared back and smashed his head into Hunger's own. For a moment the world went static and white, then bright agony ripped through his side. With desperate strength he heaved forward, hurling his opponent back and retreating to the middle distance. A sharp pain in his torso brought him up short, and he looked down to see the violent-flame blade of his enemy hanging from his side. Luckily it had slid between his oblique muscles, missing his liver and intestines. The pain was terrific, horrible, but a meagre shadow of the least cut from the Tyrant's personal blade. Even the flames of this blade sheeted and sputtered away from his flesh, as if afraid to burn him.
This fight just got incredibly metal.
He raised his eyes to the enemy, who was panting heavily, gathering himself for another strike. He shook his head. This man wasn't the Tyrant. He wasn't even a poor imitation.
Blood dripped steadily from his wound. He pulled the flame-blade free and tossed it overboard. Foolish of him to get wounded. Reckless to rush in without knowing the armor's capabilities. Pommel to the head would murder most armored knights, but he'd been over-eager, closing the distance against an opponent with all four limbs and greater mass than his own.
His enemy was just a skilled thug with a formidable suit of plate, deprived of a weapon that wasn't worth one-tenth of the Forebear's Blade. Fury had ruled Hunger, made him sloppy. No more. Today, there were people counting on him still. He would dismantle this enemy properly.
Skilled thug? Whatever helps you sleep at night. Fury is still ruling your mind Lord Hunger.
The pirate juked to the side, going low, hand outstretched for the ballista bolt embedded in his comrade. Hunger sent a blade-wind into those fingers, shearing off dark scraps of plate and throwing the man off-balance. He followed with a thrust projection, pure killing force that shivered through the air and struck the pirate's chest, knocking him onto his ass. Given the weight of his armor, there was no recovery from that position.
Hunger drew deep upon the well of power within him, summoning forth a tide, a tempest of murderous cuts; sword-breath that hummed and pulsed like a buzzsaw's edge, that curved and shrieked like carrion birds.
Birds? I wonder how similiar the sound of what we're doing is to Sasuke's Chidori? Also that must be pretty heavy armor, or Lord Hunger is just too fast for him to be able to make a recovery given that armor.
With each blow the armor rang, reflecting and dispersing the main power of his strikes, but the persistence of his onslaught had the plate chiming lower and lower, its efforts grown feebler and feebler, until the battered darkness bled from the armor and fled into the crevices between worlds, abandoning its wearer to his doom. The ring flared upon his finger, a fresh well of power flooding him once more.
To Valhalla with you unfortunately.
Victory, though the price had been steep.
"Wait, mercy, please-"
Now he advanced to melee range, kicking open the man's visor to reveal eyes of deep blue, trembling and terrified.
The Forebear's Blade descended, a swift and painless ending. While he lived in interesting times, best not to keep any enemies alive lest they fester and grow strong.
This is heartlessness in action, for better or for worse.
As the man died a new sensation emerged from the ring, an onrushing infusion of blood and vigor, vitality wound so tightly within him that it seemed fit to burst. Hunger, and the Curse of Hunger, the Affliction of the Decimator that drained life from the world, would be sated for a time.
That had been closer than it looked. If his opponent's blade had been positioned more adroitly, if he'd failed to rally and properly create distance... the man was not skilled enough to overcome him in full, but he could have ended up far more grievously wounded.
We got Arete for not doing this for a reason.
No time to dwell. He turned and fired his grappling hook, attaching it to the Armament, and ran up the rope. Blood leaked continuously from his side. The pain would distract him, hamper his mobility, but the power of his legend and the Forebear's Blade would ensure his survival and eventual recovery.
Even more Devil May Cry level acrobatics!
Gisena had taken a few wounds of her own, a deep gouge in one shoulder and cuts across her midriff and face. Blood flowed freely from a thin laceration of her cheek, a pale red curtain that spilled past neck and shoulder. She smiled brightly at his approach, dancing between a pair of Rift creatures to reach his side.
Looks like Gisena wants to get in on the stylish combat action.
"Aw, were you worried about me? You shouldn't have. This gun is so much fun to play with! Propulsion of a kinetic impactor via chemical energy, what an ingenious idea..."
"Stand back and don't bleed on me."
"My, how dashing!"
"Thanks. I'm the veritable flower of chivalry, killing pirates and now monsters."
Given the amount of time you spent in Guerilla Warfare Lord Hunger, you threw away the pride you needed for that role a long time ago. You are not Arturia Pendragon.
"Such a dainty flower, I may just swoon!"
They cleaned up the Astral beasts in short order and Gisena sealed the rift. Luckily, no further surprises were waiting for them on the river bank. Letrizia, prepared as always, had medical supplies in her cockpit, but Gisena waved them off.
"As cute as I'd look with a bandaged cheek, it's better to save our resources. The Grace of the Maiden means I'll heal faultlessly and without scars!"
Good to know Gisena's got improved regeneration.
He looked grimly down at his own wound, one more scar for the tapestry. "How convenient."
She grinned, learning forward. "Isn't it? I know you'd just be heartbroken if my dazzling beauty was marred."
"You should work on your dazzling ego."
"That's just empirical self-assessment, a scientist's first technique! Speaking of which, how is your wound?" She laid a gentle finger on a spot near the injury.
Ok it's a real pity we didn't take Retinue now, seriously, we could have gotten some proper spades between Gisena and Lord Hunger.
"How do you think? It fucking hurts."
She giggled. "I'd offer to kiss it better, but you haven't quite earned that, have you?"
"I'd rather have one of Letrizia's bandages."
Letrizia perked up. "I've got medical salve as well! It'll numb the pain and promote healing."
He nodded. "Good to hear."
Opening her medical kit, she began applying the cream. "You'll be good as new in no time!"
"Or my money back?"
"Huh? ...A-As if you're paying me enough for this! Be honored that a Duchess is tending to you personally!"
You sound like a Tsundere cliche right now Letrizia.
"You're supposed to be paying me. And Gisena and I are both nobles."
Way to subvert the cliche, Lord Hunger.
"W-well, consider this a bonus!"
He glanced past the pilot to her Armament, the beast's head silent and staring vigilantly forward. The sense of affinity between them seemed to have dulled somewhat, the sharp edge of its keening blunted by some unseen factor.
Reiterating my earlier line of thought, the affinity between us seems linked to Decimator's Mitigation. Depending on how esoteric the Devourer's powers can get and given the fact we'd get arete spending opportunities from communing with it, we may get curse mitigation opportunities when/if we commune with it. If the affinity scales with the strength of our Decimator's mitigation, the importance of communing with the robot increases if Quelling or Conclusion doesn't win. If we somehow get involved in a Third Impact analogous event with the robot we could get a ludicrous amount of mitigation there.
"I'm hungry. After you're done, let's go fishing."
"F-fishing?"
"You use a rod and line to catch fish. Haven't heard of it?"
"That's rather primitive," Gisena interjected. "I've got a better idea! Find a school of fish, then drop chemical explosives near them. Water is hard to compress, so it'll be even more effective than on land! We can re-purpose the defunct munitions launcher on Verschlengorge's shoulder..."
Aperture Science! We do what we must, because we can!
The winning vote was [X] Knowledge and [X] No Quarter. You have are at roughly 82% of your health but due to your Accretion Rank are fighting at 91% of full strength.
Ouch.
The pirate's dead; what spoils did the ring of power extract from his defeat? You currently have 2.8 Arete. Choose 2 of the options below, along with any suboptions you can afford. A number of the options below are unique to this point in time.
[ ] 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]
-[ ] 2 Arete: Undying Echo - The Forebear could withstand unbelievable punishment, only to rise again. [+++Constitution]
[ ] Forebear's Blade - Fell-Handed Stroke - A devastating blow of unutterable magnificence from which no recovery is possible. A powerful, but draining strike that inflicts cursed wounds from which spirit and will leak as freely as blood. Resists healing.
-[ ] 7 Arete: A Thousand Cuts - In the Forebear's grip could even a common knife blaze with fell power. All melee attacks made with the Forebear's Blade now apply cursed wounds. Septuples the power and speed of the Fell-Handed Stroke and allows it to be used with blade projections. Such horrific offensive power allows one to challenge foes vastly stronger.
So we've got the components of Auspicious Vanguard here, something to help us go full Virgil with our sword projections, and Tankiness prospects that may accelerate our return to one hundred percent.
[ ] 2 Arete: Sword That Was Stolen - King of Thieves - It is the prerogative of the hero true to take the implements of his enemy and turn them against him. For what righteous weapon could deny the verity of his cause, or the valor with which he pursued it?
[++Agility, +Stealth, +Theft], and combat experience now yields some degree of thieving skills. Increases ease and power of the Abduction Forbidden Art.
The Guerilla's Friend, great in conjunction with Fell-Handed Stroke for an assassination build and handy when we reach civilization.
[ ] 7 Arete: Evening Sky - Star-stuff and velvet darkness in a mantle like billowing clouds. The power of this mantle withstands supernal force and deflects the merely mundane, granting comprehensive protection against many of the ills of the mortal realm and beyond. Abducted by he who hungers, cast now into his thrall. He who dons this mantle speaks with the voice of Evening and shares its haunting majesty. Progression can unlock further abilities.
[++Protection, ++Charisma, grants superior resistance to a wide array of status effects such as poison, mental interference, suffocation, bleeding out, etc. Somewhat vulnerable to dispellation, but acts as an ablative layer to protect the wearer from such.]
So we get an analogue to Princess Luna's hairstyle? Awesome. Also evidence of the guy we killed having an interesting backstory as previously mentioned.
[ ] Hunger - Sleep of the Just - While sleeping, the character is massively more difficult to harm or forcibly move, and may choose to deny interruptions to his slumber, allowing his body to be used as a potent shield.
-[ ] 2 Arete: Slumber of Aeons - Increases well-rested threshold to 10 hours per day, but hours of sleep can now be banked up to a month in advance. Dramatically increases strength gained with age.
This is worth consideration as a compensation mechanism for the 10% penalty to Hunger Growth we have right now combined with 1 month without Decimator's mitigation that'll likely be up by the time we find our way out of the Voyaging Realm.
-[ ] 25 Arete: Dead But Dreaming - That is not dead which can eternal lie. And with strange aeons... Death merely induces slumber in the wearer until the heavens align for his emergence once more. Gain access to the [Outer Sorcery] skill, by which means one's dreams may twist reality towards one's purposes. Apply the effects of To Shatter Heaven to [Outer Sorcery].
This sounds like the Dreams section of Earthscorpion's Oramus charmset, taken to the ludicrous heights one expects out of Rihaku's work. Also we get to be Cthulhu and get high level immortality. Awesome to the point of being mandatory if we actually had 25 Arete.
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A Hunger Sated - Temporary condition that causes the Decimator's Affliction to abate completely for a time. You may upgrade it with Arete. By default: Reduces progress from Hunger by 10% for a month. During that month the Decimator's Affliction slumbers.
[ ] 2 Arete: Quelling - Instead halves the drain rate of the Decimator's Affliction for six months. Additional unknown effect.
From a companion lifespan standpoint, this is awesome. Also we get a mystery box. Explaining it, here are the halving, quartering, and 10 percent times for baseline Decimator's affliction vs a scenario where we're able to keep Quelling level mitigation up indefinitely.
100*0.9^x = 50, solution is 6.57881, so 6 years 6 months with us will cost somebody half their life force
100*0.9^x = 25, solution is 13.1576, so after 13 years anybody will be a heavily wasted away husk
100*0.9^x = 10, solution is 21.8543, so it will be genuinely wondrous for anybody to spend more than 20 years in our presence and not be dead.
Comparing this to a scenario where we maintain quelling level mitigation permanently:
100*0.95^x = 50, solution is 13.5134, so 13 years 6 months with us will cost somebody half their life force
100*0.95^x = 25, solution is 27.0268, so after 27 years anybody will be a wasted away husk
100*0.95^x = 10, solution is 44.8906, so it will be very surprising for anybody to be able to spend more than 45 years in our presence and not die.
If we find other sources of mitigation to stack on top of this like Gisena or the Robot, our companions may actually be able to have reasonable mortal human lifespans.
[ ] 7 Arete: Conclusion - Reduces progress by 25% instead, but lasts 2 years. It is easier for the hero to find some measure of peace with regards to the losses suffered at the Tyrant's hands, and is less likely to be emotionally compromised by events that remind him of such. Gives you the moral high ground and the ability to travel to lands barren of life, like outer space. Additional unknown effect.
Beautiful. Quantifying this with musical pieces from the soundtrack to Umineko, I'd use either Tomorrow, Wings, or Engage of Marionette. If we get 7 Arete we seriously need this. There's also a mystery box to sweeten the pot.
