It sure would have been helpful to have insight into the Forebear's mindset when facing a guy who appears connected to him. Between the Amarlt family motto apparently being 'pierce through' and the Foremost using findross, I don't know what to believe. This is some tinfoil hat-tier conspiracy theorist shit, I'm a handful of updates from buying a cork board and going to town. When you said the Forebear's legend transcended time and realms, I didn't think it would become relevant so quickly! But for now:
[X] R-Type #1
[X] Preparation: Focus
[X] Preparation: Dialogue [2 Arete]
For someone who reminds me so much of Flame, Vanreir's quite sympathetic. So I'll take a chance on a diplomatic resolution paired with the 'best' combat preparation, the one that 'only' guarantees a moderate condition. Dialogue is impossible at Close of Day. Similarly if we're going to try and disrupt his routine and trip him up with chaos, that can only work with R-Type #1 due to the nature of his Soul Evocation, but conveniently we have allies and easily manipulable blade-projections. Disrupt his rhythm, put our charisma to work breaking his resolve, tarnish his commitment to that immaculate Thrust.
Anyone who remembers Bleach Quest has seen a father empower his son at the cost of his soul. But speaking of Uryū, we ought to see if we can combine the dialogue and battle as we did during the Byakuya fight. To Blood's Ringbearer, Vanreir's failing health is obvious. He's purchasing his sister's admittance with murder and his own life-force, losing the 'natural vigor of his youth' as Hunger did before the recent injuries. But what will be the end result, once the brief Return (the capital-R has implications regarding Once and Future) of the Unerring Blade dissipates with his death? His thoughts are linear, one step at a time. Force him to look ahead, and see the conclusion.
His sister alone among the Inners, inside that blue box of which he knows nothing? He has faith in her, as an elder brother should. But can she survive wolves on the level of full-grown Fairbrights? He'll dispatch his foes Inside 'when the time comes', but how much time and strength does he have left? They've strung him along with promises. Does he truly believe the coordinators are ignorant of his withering when they know every other aspect of his soul, and Thran speaks as though familiar with Vanreir's father?
He has given everything to these people, to this cause, cutting down one interloper after another as First Sword of the Outriders. And yet his father loathed the civilization he wants his sister to rejoin. Vanreir's soul may have merged with Justinan's, but he has forgotten the face of his father. The Bowman derided the R-Types as slaves to the Call of the Temple, but the coercion employed by the Inners is far more insidious: hope and love.
The woman Hunger loves could say it better, were she alive. The Tyrant's chosen heiress turned her back on depredation. Nothing good can come of consigning Erii to what waits beyond the Inner Perimeter, a civilization sustained not just by the suffering of the Ring but that of his own family. Whatever luxuries wait there, it's no paradise. A simple truth: as the twig is bent, so grows the tree.
And finally... I'd hoped to save this, slowly inflate its word count in preparation for some dire day in the future. The Gisena waifu vote or the Noble Praxis, perhaps. But the stakes here are nothing less than survival, so I'll answer Vanreir's total commitment with a Thrust of my own. Time to deploy the strategic reaction reserve:
Finally, actual answers! We probably should have guessed some of this just from the quality of the groundskeeper's robes, it implies infrastructure and a uniform. I did think it was strange that he could be the one we rescued the beset party from, but didn't fully parse the implications. Interesting stuff; the Magus is one of the beneficiaries of the False Moon's slavery and he wielded Soul Evocation. The options offering that to us have all been moon-themed: Winter Moon, Azure Moon, and so on. Will we regret not snagging Soul Evocation if we reach its prison? Would access to it open up diplomatic opportunities with the Inner Residents? He did seem to hold warriors in contempt, though the curve of our Progression's far steeper than any mere quadratic wizard.
1620 words.
JoJo Tennyson reference?! Nature, red in tooth and claw, all that good stuff. Hunger's purview encompasses both blood and war, the striving for vitality and victory characteristic of all vigorous things, so it fits. The Ring of Blood's definitely got less chill than its counterpart the Truth, but I'm down to explore deep ring-lore as long as we live long enough to sink our teeth into it.
Since the message at the end of the update mentions Patreon, that could be an interesting stretch goal? EFB had rings that were only touched on in passing: Lore, Severity, and so on. It'd be neat to learn more, both about them and their associated Ages and Overlords, explore hypotheticals like what the Ring of Grace might do. If you offer 'deep lore', don't be surprised if we ask about the ring thereof! Also down to pledge, though that probably goes without saying.
2074 words.
That Gisena is suggesting supplementary grinding sprinkles salt into the wound of Hunt Into Evening's defeat. I guess she's concerned about our well-being, wants us to bulk up before throwing ourselves into the latest meat-grinder? It would've been nice, but the thread elected to open an empty mystery box with her name on it.
if once we get to the Human Sphere, Gisena's not enhanced enough to take on even mundane special forces. But here and now, in this civilization that fields Evokers while still having people laboring in the fields? She's useful.
2408 words.
We haven't heard any of the other Knights utter so much as a word and he's been around since the beginning or before. Are there divisions among the Knights, indicative of factions among the Residents? Why did the Green Knight take a swing at us? In the stories, he accepts one blow and returns the next year to strike back. But the Knights we've seen are unqualified to pass judgment on others' chivalry.
Not sure what I'm getting at here, other than that if you want to 'stay human' you align the incentives accordingly early on. Maybe we should've given Garden a chance? But prioritizing that would be flinching from the path we've chosen. The only way out is through, that applies to more than just the Temple.
If Ber's employer can't enter reality, that'd explain why he's hiring mercenaries and is willing to subject himself to the Care Bear's personality. The Sovereign sounds impressive just from the name, but we haven't encountered Astral Beasts capable of higher thought. If the displacement rift gambit was intentional, that suggests sophistication... and that who or whatever's behind the attack wants the Human Sphere's foothold in the Voyaging undefended. Curious that Letrizia assumes the Republic contingent of their agency betrayed them and wasn't otherwise indisposed. What about the Association, did they send any Armaments? If I were planning this I'd want to kill the pilots outside of the mechs, it doesn't sound like the sort of thing where a plucky teenager can jump in and take over. But hey, maybe Totality works that way.
2156 words.
1620, 2074, 2408, and 2156 words respectively for a total of 8258, indexed separately. Most of these were written the day after the update, so some of the speculation's out of date.
Currently wondering whether this should be a one-off. It's all very well to play the metagame and save power for a vote I really care about, but the deepest layer of meta's optimizing for QM enjoyment and therefore quest health.
[X] R-Type #1
[X] Preparation: Focus
[X] Preparation: Dialogue [2 Arete]
For someone who reminds me so much of Flame, Vanreir's quite sympathetic. So I'll take a chance on a diplomatic resolution paired with the 'best' combat preparation, the one that 'only' guarantees a moderate condition. Dialogue is impossible at Close of Day. Similarly if we're going to try and disrupt his routine and trip him up with chaos, that can only work with R-Type #1 due to the nature of his Soul Evocation, but conveniently we have allies and easily manipulable blade-projections. Disrupt his rhythm, put our charisma to work breaking his resolve, tarnish his commitment to that immaculate Thrust.
Anyone who remembers Bleach Quest has seen a father empower his son at the cost of his soul. But speaking of Uryū, we ought to see if we can combine the dialogue and battle as we did during the Byakuya fight. To Blood's Ringbearer, Vanreir's failing health is obvious. He's purchasing his sister's admittance with murder and his own life-force, losing the 'natural vigor of his youth' as Hunger did before the recent injuries. But what will be the end result, once the brief Return (the capital-R has implications regarding Once and Future) of the Unerring Blade dissipates with his death? His thoughts are linear, one step at a time. Force him to look ahead, and see the conclusion.
His sister alone among the Inners, inside that blue box of which he knows nothing? He has faith in her, as an elder brother should. But can she survive wolves on the level of full-grown Fairbrights? He'll dispatch his foes Inside 'when the time comes', but how much time and strength does he have left? They've strung him along with promises. Does he truly believe the coordinators are ignorant of his withering when they know every other aspect of his soul, and Thran speaks as though familiar with Vanreir's father?
He has given everything to these people, to this cause, cutting down one interloper after another as First Sword of the Outriders. And yet his father loathed the civilization he wants his sister to rejoin. Vanreir's soul may have merged with Justinan's, but he has forgotten the face of his father. The Bowman derided the R-Types as slaves to the Call of the Temple, but the coercion employed by the Inners is far more insidious: hope and love.
The woman Hunger loves could say it better, were she alive. The Tyrant's chosen heiress turned her back on depredation. Nothing good can come of consigning Erii to what waits beyond the Inner Perimeter, a civilization sustained not just by the suffering of the Ring but that of his own family. Whatever luxuries wait there, it's no paradise. A simple truth: as the twig is bent, so grows the tree.
And finally... I'd hoped to save this, slowly inflate its word count in preparation for some dire day in the future. The Gisena waifu vote or the Noble Praxis, perhaps. But the stakes here are nothing less than survival, so I'll answer Vanreir's total commitment with a Thrust of my own. Time to deploy the strategic reaction reserve:
Paying with the former to gain knowledge of the latter. Seems like a simple transaction.
This is a splendid liminal moment. If the ritual grounds are this beautiful, I can only imagine what the Inner Temple looks like. The denizens have got to have a way of dealing with the Call, right, so their bargain bin utopia doesn't have a soundtrack of agonized screams? Sounds promising if they try to make us an offer, so we could walk away without the quarter-Rank debuff. But it would have to be a really good offer, the more I learn of these people the less I like them.
No paved roads, but a comfy place when one isn't being ambushed by overgrown earthworms. Gisena's not much of an impediment, but with only one arm Hunger's in an awfully vulnerable position if he has to fight again. He can't wield the Blade properly, carrying her slows him, and she can't cling like a limpet to maintain backpack formation while unconscious. Also, who made this trail? Is it just a desire path that accreted into existence over years of exploration?
Huh, this isn't much of a caravan! The description said a party so I'd anticipated a larger bunch of people, maybe with some of the conjured creatures we saw in the encampment for beasts of burden. Maybe they've at least got something worthwhile in those sacks?
Interesting, this implies an upper limit to the efficacy of any healing potions offered. Not that we were angling to regenerate our arm without Zweihander, but it tempers expectations a bit. The potions aren't even different colors, can you be proud of your inventory if it doesn't span the entire spectrum? Where are the infrared elixirs, guys?
Curious name, engraved or fixed indelibly in the mind. Could be a nickname referring to his wound? Or graven images for something more biblical, alluding to the sigils they bear and possible connections with the Inner Residents.
So I know I did quite a bit of arguing for these guys, but the train of disappointment just keeps on chugging. They're not exactly selling themselves as paragons of virtue. Don't they know you've got to build rapport with the customer? Or is that what they think they're doing?
Well, that's... a greeting? A hint as to the morals or lack thereof these people are working with?
Some shit just doesn't merit a response. Also, I feel like this line of conversation could lead to a Tyrant proc, making it best avoided.
Hopefully he's just giving Graven shit about having no luck with the ladies.
This makes me morbidly curious about the encampment's culture, it's a strange niche the brothers have crawled into. The residents can't be too thrilled about them, seeing as they sell potions to adventurers. Aiding and abetting moonbrains has to be on the books as a crime of some stripe, inside. But the merchants have lunar sigils and roam the ritual grounds with relative impunity? It seems like they have a cushy deal, but the groundskeeper didn't strike me as the sort who'd so much as cross the street to piss on these two if they were burning to death.
Yeah, they've got themselves a cozy little monopoly.
Certified by, uh, what authority? What kind of ad hoc civilization do you get by mashing together the extremely greedy and altruistic, all bound together by the siren song of the False Moon?
Sterling examples of brotherly love, these two, each denigrating the other's intellect. Apparently it's a family business? The lost arm makes me think Graven was an adventurer who tapped out of being a moonbrain, but there's likely an upper limit on empathy for anyone who does that. Hanging around and selling stuff inside the Temple not only filters for people capable of surviving, you need to be able to ignore the constant begging for rescue and/or death in the background. Unless the Inners shared whatever mitigation method they've got, but the brothers talk about the Call like they have personal experience later.
Apparently Hunger was just carting around the scale? Better that than the melon-sized pearl, these guys are unlikely to take promissory notes.
Classic negotiating tactic, implying reluctance to inflate the perceived value of his entirely-ephemeral goods. If we had ever interacted with the encampment we'd be better able to discern whether he's taking us for a ride by selling common knowledge... but they think Hunger has, which is almost as good.
There's always a moment of internal recalibration whenever someone refers to Hunger as attractive. With these jokers it's at least partially an attempt at blowing smoke up the customer's ass, but not totally unsubstantiated given how many people have this reaction? I suppose his appearance is disarming.
Yeah, it would've been better to go with the brutes. At least their amiability wouldn't be false and we'd have a chance at actual brotherly banter, rather than this fratricide in slow motion.
That's a charitable gloss on the fight, but Hunger gains nothing by advertising how close a call it was. Wonder what the insignia looks like?
Is the tapping some kind of code? If this is obfuscating idiocy on the part of the brothers, they're doing a good job of it.
Hey, he elected to be called Lord Hunger, not that they're aware of that. He has been weening Letrizia off of the title, though. It's one thing to decide that in the heat of the moment because you want to merge yourself with an artifact of unfathomable power, another to be called that in casual conversation and lament your inability to sink into the earth. Though I suppose Second Stage might enable that.
Should be of.
Finally, actual answers! We probably should have guessed some of this just from the quality of the groundskeeper's robes, it implies infrastructure and a uniform. I did think it was strange that he could be the one we rescued the beset party from, but didn't fully parse the implications. Interesting stuff; the Magus is one of the beneficiaries of the False Moon's slavery and he wielded Soul Evocation. The options offering that to us have all been moon-themed: Winter Moon, Azure Moon, and so on. Will we regret not snagging Soul Evocation if we reach its prison? Would access to it open up diplomatic opportunities with the Inner Residents? He did seem to hold warriors in contempt, though the curve of our Progression's far steeper than any mere quadratic wizard.
It's probably responsible for the maps, ours dissolved when exposed to daylight, though that implies some weird constraints. Maybe there are moon-partisans among the Inners who smuggle out hints, working to sabotage their civilization or something. And we didn't exactly slay the magus solo, Gisena just happened to hard counter him and wiped out all his preparations, never allowing him to build up to his full potential. So that's not exactly a ringing endorsement of our readiness to explore the Middle Temple.
Good answer, the only better one I can think of is 'the Call'. True and totally useless! In retrospect, that bit of Rank intuition we got on reading the map was probably the soft first touches of its influence.
They really amped up the respect once we showed them the robe, huh? They're oleaginous in general, wish we'd wound up interacting with the brutes or beset party instead. Even Gabrielle would've been interesting, if headache-inducing. The information these two offer barely redeems the unpleasantness of getting it from them. I'm sure Hunger has dealt with worse and will again, they're not evil or anything, or even noteworthy enough to provoke more than distaste. This is just the conversational equivalent of stepping on a Lego.
Simple, despite the architectural monstosity the Temple appears as from the outside. Just keep going straight and survive, we'll get there eventually? Maybe the Middle Temple's got more cerebral challenges.
He thanked them, who says Hunger's lacking in social graces? Well, other than Gisena, who admittedly has an advantage in the Grace department.
"There can be only one," eh? Classic Highlander bullshit, check. The Prize better not be something horrible like 'mortality' that places the whole game firmly in 'not worth the candle' territory.
Good to get information about what Hunger's been killing off-screen, the stone lion reminds me of Ranya's Nightmare from Terrascape. The Megalith's a great concept in general, but that dungeon delving experience and sequence of fights in particular was top-tier. Ranya's interlude is one of my favorite updates in any quest; the loyalty to her friends, the personal struggle with the Expropriator, questioning the nature of her reality? For a character who appeared in only a couple of updates, I really grew to empathize with her.
Ah, I see. If he's only a few places at a time, there's nothing to worry about, right? Intelligent enough not to be called it too, that's great. Man, just fuck the Temple in general.
Sounds comfier than a gave, but literally getting a room? No way we're giving Gisena that kind of rhetorical ammunition. I'm interested in the buffing potions they supposedly have, but it doesn't seem like Hunger shares that sentiment. Suizhen might be down to get scammed and Nameless would enjoy introducing these fine gentlemen to the concept of multi-level marketing, but Hunger's done with this.
If they've got food? Yeah, I do at least want to bring back something for Letrizia, since we said we'd try. That should be compatible with whatever option wins, if the brothers have room for that much parchment (why so much of the stuff, anyway? Doesn't seem combat-relevant) they could have snacks too. You can make a mint selling mints in the right place!
1620 words.
Is this a
Since the message at the end of the update mentions Patreon, that could be an interesting stretch goal? EFB had rings that were only touched on in passing: Lore, Severity, and so on. It'd be neat to learn more, both about them and their associated Ages and Overlords, explore hypotheticals like what the Ring of Grace might do. If you offer 'deep lore', don't be surprised if we ask about the ring thereof! Also down to pledge, though that probably goes without saying.
So, this cutoff? Very concerning! There are a couple ways to read this. At the end of Coin and Realm Hunger wonders whether he needs anything from the pair, which in retrospect makes it seem like he's considering mugging or murdering them? For their lunar sigils, the loot in general, for their affiliation with the Inners (though this was before the Ring revelation), for their general skeeviness, any number of possible reasons. Though it feels out of character, for him to do that as an alternative to Come Clean? We also weren't apprised of anything added to our inventory. Door number two's a Tyrant proc. Have to say, I prefer Odyssial's on-screen, optimized Limit Breaks to the nebulous fade to black.
Right, 'without incident'. That's all right then, nothing to worry about. Except those words were actually edited out later. Anyway, this is a neat visual, it turns out our Ring's got a final form too! Truly a match made in the heaven Hunger will one day put to the sword. The lost mythril coating's a bit of a shame, though if the Trio's armor's anything to go by it's not unique to Hunger's previous world, but giving way to silver - the metal representing purity - is sweet symbolism.
Exsanguination in reverse, leading to coalescence. A fitting transformation sequence for the Ring of Blood. The end result's shaped similarly to Nameless', seems like the solitaire ring format might be the 'proper' form?
This reminds me of moments like Aurelia flaring Majesty and Aizen's bankai: "It is the world that has become insubstantial, relative to me." This is the power of Rank, raw supernal might, the tyranny of the ideal imposing itself on the merely real. Word choice only enhances the sanguine themes, the singularity's referred to as a blister and power's coursing through the band.
We've gone full Sauron, conflating our existence with that of the Ring, but swept away by the magnitude of the moment I can't bring myself to regret it.
This verse was present in the text of the option we just chose, so seeing it here's not a surprise. But crimson gloam? As in twilight? That sure is a suspicious coincidence, if that's the true inscription of the Ring and not something engraved in this moment by Hunger's own choices. The blackest myth being abjured's clearly the Tyrant's legend, represented here by the dark mythril evaporating, ending with an oblique reference to our enemies. 'Their' infosec's good, if we're getting a Capitalized Pronoun in place of an official title like the Fates or Seasons even in this moment. Speaking of capitalized words, Age is giving me EFB flashbacks. Are Ages just something Rings of Power naturally do? Or does the causal chain run in the other direction?
With the Beyond/FB/EFB trichotomy of advancements no longer being called that and upgrades coming in the wake of victories, I'd kind of lost sight of what Arete expenditures represented. But anything that we spend 7 Arete on is... objectively pretty impressive? Calling back a departed echo of an enemy's power, weaving a mantle from the Evening Sky? Awakening the true nature of a Ring of Power? This is every bit as impressive as Nameless' BP-fueled ingenuity.
Well, this is gratifying. On reading the preview I'd assumed the Tyrant was the one to add the mythril exterior as a method of mastering the Ring, suborning it to his own legend. But that's not the case, we just surpassed the work of his centuries of life in less than half a month. Such is the power of Progression... and Arete expenditure. The epithets are interesting too, implying an extensive reservoir of legends in the Ring's past, that the rabbit hole of our previous world goes deeper than we imagined. But Ambition's Grip? An appropriately hubristic title, given the other artifact that claims that name.
Sadly this isn't sufficient to remove the debuff beyond its environs, but I'm optimistic that Ruling Ring'll take care of that. Why wield Narya when the One Ring could be ours?
I would've worried for our future exploits if the ring started suffering from bandwidth limitations this early! But this is interesting, it makes sense that the Call would latch onto our ring and that domain mitigation works both way, blunting its appeal somewhat. What's the nature of the Imprisoned Ring, though? I suppose a specific celestial body's not any stranger than war or blood, and I'm hardly going to complain about more Moon in the world, but it could be a more complex concept. Revisiting the Call, you'd expect that the satellite responsible for tides would be able to exert influence like this, drawing adventurers in with its gravitational pull. We even found the map underwater! The best kind of revelation's when you can see that you had the clues all along, and this one's elegant... but we can expect nothing less of a Moon.
Hunger retains a lot of empathy for someone who's been carpet-bombed by life at every turn. I'd attribute this more to the psychological alterations inherent in declaring that he is the ring and vice versa, though. It's a shortcut to the symbiosis of man and artifact promised by high levels of Accretion, but he's viewing the Imprisoned Ring as an entity in its own right even without a Ringbearer. Not 'the only two of their kind', but something close enough for Governance work. That's not wrong, per se, it's certainly capable of suffering in its current state. Just something to keep in mind.
Time for science? I'm always up for Manifest Realmbuilding, even at the cost of Gisena interactions. Doesn't look like we can directly interface with findross yet, but man would Metaphysical Amplitude have been broken as hell had Seram taken it. Suppressing enemy Graces, laughing off Elven Runes, even inducing artificial Coalescence at high levels of skill.
There's a lot of potential here if we can eventually attack the problem of enhancement from both angles, not just calling down ever-greater fractions of the Forebear's might but enhancing the substrate the imposition's acting on.
Will the thread have the will to use such capabilities, I wonder? There's been some speculation about attacking the Knight-Commander through his legions, so that's cause for optimism. But yeah, direct hemokinesis is a crapshoot compared to mastery of what blood represents. If Hunger ever somehow visits EFB's setting he'll have a field day. The final form of Tyranshal's Distillation's similar to the ring's themes, blurring the border between Blood and Essence.
Useful, but not as useful as Blademight would've been, everyone worth half a damn's going to be shielded against save-or-die effects by Rank. But it's hard to imagine Blademight being a more dramatic sequence, though maybe I'm underselling the gravitas of regenerating an arm and awakening some of the Forebear's martial capabilities.
That's promising, I wonder if there's a bonus for complete restoration, something like EFB's Form of Balance? Who am I kidding, there are bonuses hiding around every corner, as Letrizia's line later on proves.
Yeah, it's curious that the antechamber's outside the Imprisoned Ring's influence. What a strange confluence of circumstances, that someone whose Soul Evocation is the Imprisoner could end up as an agent of liberation...
That was fast, I was envisioning more experiments. But hey, Hunger's of the 'let's just do it and be legends' school of thought.
It's not called the Heart-Ring for show!
I suppose Hunger could technically claim that title for himself? It can't be more embarrassing than being called Lord Hunger.
Even when she just spent time resting she can't give it a rest.
We're lucky that we received anything other than a quick death from the Magus, honestly.
If the universe is taking sides, it's not going to be on ours. We have to place our faith in our sword-arm and the being who chose us.
Yeah, the magesight continues to be useful. She can see his power at work, but Hunger can only sense findross in her bloodstream, where its presence overlaps with his domain.
Man, I remember when Pieia threatened to kill Seram for so much as hearing a hint of this. Guess there's no call to maintain infosec now. This could be an interesting avenue of research; if in the course of reshaping our people into the Dúnedain we make them findross-positive, as Manifest Realm humans are, would we indirectly terraform the Human Sphere? Research into Grace-enhancements might pay dividends down the road, but I don't want to split our focus.
A temporary state of affairs, though the blood-buffs are admittedly convenient. Would be better if we had a larger party or some other teammate who explicitly draws strength from their lineage, but eh. I wonder how much of an effect nobility has on Hunger's enhancements, it seems thematically appropriate for the ring to care about that sort of thing. Would Letrizia benefit more than your average citizen? For that matter, how prestigious is the Artriez family name? If we'd spend more time talking to her, we might know!
Majesty?! Who the hell do you think we are, some Elven Mary Sue?
My thoughts exactly. Shame is not a dump stat, Gisena!
I choose to believe we got the last word in and Gisena didn't verbally suplex Hunger right after this.
Spicy scrambled eggs are tasty, good on Letrizia for keeping herself occupied and us fed. This is preferable to returning to ration bars!
A nice and totally unintentional synergy, little did we know that our parsimonious, Arete-saving ways would unlock this. At least Letrizia's getting her money's worth (not that she's paying us yet) from our excursions into the Temple. Hunger exits with new abilities every time he enters: healing for her, partial restoration of Verschlengorge, etc.
Not where I thought this was going! Hunger's powers are pretty terrifying if you stop and think about them. Gisena commented on his increase in speed but being literally carried's not necessary to notice that Hunger is growing fast. Romus gave serious consideration to murdering Seram for the good of the world after witnessing the Sun King in action. What happens if someone here perceives Hunger as a nascent threat? At least we don't have the Plenary Brand. That was a cool Curse, but in conjunction with the Apocryphal? No thanks.
There was Typhoid from TCMM, though he was more of a fungus than a disease-ridden zombie. Still, being compared to a lich is a high compliment! We did start this journey by surviving our destined death, Hunger's risen from the metaphorical grave if nothing else.
Stutter's not quite gone, but she'll get there. But what is this... strange, fuzzy feeling coming from my chest cavity?
Unless of course the Inners decide to supplement their setup with another ring, in which case our agonies will be legend! Just, you know, floating possibilities here.
Oof. What kind of parenting has Letrizia received that she accepts being left outside to wait for days with a stiff upper lip? The Asuka comparisons are honestly undeserved, she's much more mature and professional. But for once I empathize with Gisena, I just want to give Letrizia a hug and tell her everything's gonna be daijobu.
We'd better finish inside the next week-and-change if we want to do so at all, the Temple will become even more of a deathtrap once the Apocryphal Curse kicks back into gear. So hurry, Hunger, but remember to protect Letrizia's smile in the process. If you and Gisena vanish into the Temple, never to return, that'd make for one depressing epilogue.
2074 words.
Two updates with red titles in a row. I'll try not to read too much into it, though we've certainly embraced the Transcendent Shounen Murderhobo archetype. Hunger's attending the school of hard knocks and if he makes it metaphorical graduation, he'll be a force to be reckoned with. Anyway, the meaning of the title seems clear. Hunger barely fends off his attackers, who are just outriders fending off an incursion into their home. Both sides believe themselves justified, which is hardly rare but usually messy.
Sorry, the zest for life imparted by the ring doesn't extend to that level of lassitude. Hunger doesn't even sleep in! Man, Might's Repose has proven way less relevant than Feast of Lives would've been, we can't afford to waste Apocryphal-free time maintaining the buff and the growth-rate's invisible on the scale we're concerning ourselves with.
That Gisena is suggesting supplementary grinding sprinkles salt into the wound of Hunt Into Evening's defeat. I guess she's concerned about our well-being, wants us to bulk up before throwing ourselves into the latest meat-grinder? It would've been nice, but the thread elected to open an empty mystery box with her name on it.
Everything's about power to some degree, it's the ultimate arbiter of relevance in this and every world. I'm not sure Hunger enjoys killing monsters, the better phrasing would that he likes monsters being dead. Extensive experience just means he's adapted to find the intermediary exertions satisfying.
This is a poor decision, what if Hunger and Gisena both die and Letrizia's left waiting there because they said they'd take their time? Despite some cute moments, Letrizia's not actually a child, she's an adult trusted to operate solo with one her civilization's superweapons. She shouldn't be left out of the loop to spare her peace of mind. The sentiment's admirable, but the result's wrongheaded.
Gisena flirts with humility as she freely as she does Hunger, but I'm sensing some commitment issues in the relationship.
Euclidean geometry must be off cowering in a corner somewhere. The Temple exterior's a literally sky-scraping edifice, but the world within's as rife with space-warping bullshit as anything in the Voyaging Realm. We're a Fisherman, so Tower of God comparisons are obligatory, but I'd make one here regardless. Is this is a similar situation to the eponymous Tower, where each floor's vast but ultimately finite, with an illusory ceiling? Somehow I'm not getting that vibe here, but inquiring minds want to know: what happens if the Inners start a space program?
Yeah, about the dress, is that an artifact? It's stayed suspiciously clean and whole despite Gisena roughing it in the wilderness and getting shot that one time. My guess is that Manifest Realm artifice works by inducing Coalescence in a prospective artifact, making it more like what it should be. An interesting if unpredictable process.
Magus fight aside, we're already metaphorically carrying her, so why not do it literally too.
I'm disappointed with their lack of technology. If you're going to build Omelas, grow a utopian civilization from the seed of a single entity's suffering, surely you can do better? Cart-driving's a respectable profession, but where are the fantasticial beasts of burden? The supernatural amenities? This is not a land of milk and honey, it's just a better-protected version of the life Hunger saw on the way to the Temple. Perhaps the Inner Temple's more impressive. Still, this explains why the merchants said people who returned from the Middle Temple are 'canny' about its secrets, there's not much glory to be had fighting farmers. That or they're on the take, which seems like it might be depressingly common.
Yeah, let's just put that morality debate to bed now, so far I don't see anything explicitly running on the Ring's power. If their leaders permitted it, these people could live outside the Temple without too much upheaval. With the Apocryphal Curse and Verschlengorge presence, our view of the Voyaging Realm's dangers is distorted, but most of it's not a deathworld.
It's one thing to say so much for ideals and heroism, another to live by the words. Hunger having reservations speaks well of his character; that he proceeds despite them speaks well of his conviction. Still, this is a strange and premature sentiment from Gisena. The word 'always' isn't something you say lightly to an Indentured Cursebearer; she's not even immortal yet.
Pretty well, since the dichotomy's not 'Gisena or nothing' it's 'Gisena or a different Lesser Remittance'. The mitigation's nice, but hasn't helped much so far. The month of satiety after the pirate's death and weeks of Apocryphal freedom from the Temple are all Hunger's doing. In hindsight I could go for an Intensified Scepter build, we've had too many close brushes with death.
Well, if Gown wins she'll have gotten an expensive powerup out of it too. Is this intuition something triggered by the thread selecting her as a companion? The Accursed wouldn't have adjusted her loyalty and neither of them know of her Remittance status in-character.
Huh, that's clever, with enough regeneration they could employ Plumed Offering tactics to obtain a steady stream of findross-saturated materials. But using blood as dye promotes Gisena means our artists would have to change designs.
Sufficiently advanced optimism is indistinguishable from hubris.
That's as-expected, Soul Evocation unlocks being routed through the Evening Sky with moon-themed names is another hint made clear in hindsight.
Yeah, I feel your pain there, fighting Soul Evocation users doesn't really - allow for much prep, beyond maybe stocking up on magic resistance?
I miss Uryū, it was fun being the sniper. Initiative isn't an advantage to be ceded lightly, but most of our builds were melee-oriented and our stealth's merely good. At least we have better ranged capabilities than the Muscle Wizard? We balked at King of Thieves but have consistently avoided picking up conventional magic.
The Librarian, the Imprisoner... does that make this guy the Archer? Do all Soul Evokers use the definite article + noun format? Not that I have room to talk, given some of my characters. Anyway, the arrows being magical's inconvenient, thankfully Gisena can render them mundane enough for the Evening Sky to no-sell what's left. Despite the light-and-gold appearance, apparently they're not 100% conjured bullshit?
The magic sense is tactically convenient. Gisena's only hard-countered by mundane troops or raw speed/power beyond her ability to cope with, IIRC Jeanne's resurrection contingency put her at the center of a formation of crossbowmen with overlapping fields of fire. It's going to be tricky
Space-warping bullshit, possibly a specialty of the Imprisoned Ring? Accursed knows there's enough going on in the background to stuff all this into the Temple's confines, but Gisena's had practice shutting down Astral Rifts at the drop of a hat. And huh, is blood-buffing too demanding in terms of attention for Hunger to maintain constantly? He has to worry about stamina as well as health, and blade-wind spam's not cheap. Suddenly slowing her and speeding up does make for a good blitz, though.
Armor that isn't useless in the face of the Forebear's Blade, nice. Wish we could've properly looted the bodies, the outriders were well-equipped. Whoever controls the purse-strings in the Inners' civilization clearly doesn't skimp on border security.
Age and treachery claims another victim. The use of the Sky to paralyze the enemy's even similar to Seralize's death. Enraged by the death of a teammate or lover, something in that territory, he loses control of his mount, charges, and dies. I'm not feeling guilty about this, they shot first and power their civilization with a metaphorical forsaken child. Still, diplomacy was theoretically possible, I can see scenarios where Soul Evocation enabled drastically different interactions. As the Imprisoner, we might even have been able to help with their setup if we could stomach it?
There's not feeling particularly guilty, and then there's whatever the fuck this is. Charitably, we can assume she's trying to cheer Hunger up.
"I regret the necessity," eh? That they have to die is unfortunate, but the civilians have been spared collateral damage. Feels like there's a Strategist quote for this situation, something about guilt being useless once you've committed to a course of action. Act or do not; agonizing over one route or another's pointless.
Easy to forget about the lung, Hunger's supernatural endurance compensates for the loss, but our man's really fucked up when you stop and think about it. Paralyzing arrows aren't Hitori-tier homing bullet bullshit, but not a welcome surprise. Easy to lock a target into a debuff spiral and finish them off if you land the first hit. If we hadn't killed the riders first, we'd be screwed. I can see where the 30% chance of death came from.
Looks like the ability to ramp up isn't exclusive to the magus. He could blink about too, without telegraphing via portal. Who knows how important he was to their civilization, both age and asskicking ability tend to be correlated with authority? Wasn't precisely personable, though.
A literal arrow to the knee?! How degenerate. If this guy thinks we're going to stop being an adventurer because of that, he's dead wrong!
Increments of three each time, unclear if that means anything. The spatial manipulation, is that a Soul Evocation or a more general ability available to the outriders? It could've been the archer who ported the drake-riders in, but he's got enchanted arrows and the Dreadbeast has similar co-location according to the merchants. I'm going to tentatively attribute this to power drawn from the Imprisoned Ring. Could be that the archer's burning the candle at both ends, using up some amount of power was allocated to the patrol group? But yeah, this situation isn't going to end well.
The teasing I could do without, comparing Ceathlynn's counterfactual focus and professionalism to the Gisena experience is painful. But yeah, friendly fire in spirit form would be disastrous. That might be one advantage of the Gown, since it persists through all our stages.
Swift as Death would be really nice to make Second Stage less of a sidegrade, especially if Quickening wins, but it was a unique advancement and we can't spare a night to knight-farm in hopes of getting it again. Blood-sensing's a neat trick too, similar to Gisena's magic detection, but they've both got weaknesses. Hunger's against automata, hers against mundane enemies.
Man, Kakuzumaru had a way better superposition technique. Eighteen bodies with one health track? What if his surroundings got hit with an AoE? Not bad if you're just fire support, I guess, co-location a high cost or other weaknesses (looking at you, Legion Form) is broken as hell. Still wondering whether this is his Evocation, the bow might be responsible for the arrows.
Ours isn't the most wholesome and family-friendly of artifacts, but Hunger's family and friends are all dead anyway. Exsanguination could combine usefully with A Thousand Cuts, bleeding enemies both physically and spiritually.
Now he wants to talk? Well, the magus was totally unwilling to, so it's a relative improvement. Maybe the next Inners will announce themselves before opening fire, wouldn't that be something. Good on Hunger for the thorough incapacitation, the Knights might take after their... creators? How long has this setup been going? The Knight-Commander's existence is dripping with implications, but he might predate this regime.
Interesting, they don't call it the Call of the False Moon. The merchants claimed to never have ventured beyond the ritual grounds, but they had one of these sigils, which all but confirms a relationship between them and the Inner Residents. How many people who venture into the Middle Temple take this offer? In our case its veracity is questionable, we maimed this man and killed a couple of his comrades, in addition to the groundskeeper. But for less driven adventurers with less information, who're having this conversation without bodies on the ground? The Seralize-alikes, just in it for the money and glory? It's not a bad attempt at bribery.
Ah, fuck. Competent enemies are the worst. Does he really not know or is he rolling diplomacy to save his skin? We don't have the time needed to get the information out of him anyway.
Yeah, life would be intolerable as an Inner with a conscience if they didn't all carry them. Does every Middle Temple farmer and citizen have their own copy? Are there different tiers of sigil, one that makes the Knights ignore you and others that allow you to call on them?
And predictably it disagrees with Hunger. Oh well, even if we could hypothetically leave without the debuff, Hunger's not willing to walk away.
Does that... work? Are loyalty oaths at sword-point also possible for Evokers? Some interesting societal implications if they're magically binding, but it's conceivably a cultural thing.
Man, I had no clue that Hunger's body doesn't disappear when he goes ghost, that makes Chill of the Grave way more disturbing! Benefit-wise... we could feed people with our corpse(s) if we were somehow at risk of starvation and unable to hunt and were unable to utilize any of the hundred or so better options? With necromancy we could animate our own dead bodies into a zombie legion, thus fulfilling Letrizia's prophecy of our powers getting ever-creepier? Our body means it's our blood, there's probably synergy with the ring if we want to go there. That is an if, though, the psychological implications make Form of Rage grinding look balanced by comparison.
No reason at all on his end, except for the crippling injuries and three Inners we've killed, two of which were his teammates. Forgive my skepticism, nameless archer. Is this just company policy when they run into an overgrown moonbrain?
I'll eat my hat if he doesn't leak like a sieve, but at least we've got the moral high ground compared to Bearic. Can his Gamer shtick even give him XP for nonlethal victories?
Yeah, if the thread can come up with sympathetic attacks on the Knight-Commander through his remote-controlled legions, then the Inners could potentially do something with our corpse. I hope we haven't just been leaving them everywhere, that's - macabre and might actually be amusing if not for the Apocryphal Curse?
2408 words.
This is a strange title, Throne and Altar seems like a more straightforward dichotomy: church and state, all that jazz. But Hunger does sit down and discuss the political situation with Letrizia, prompting speculation about all the ways it could come crashing down with Apocryphal alterations, so it's apt in that sense.
The later comparison to Hunger's experiences against the Tyrant make me wonder if we've seen the last of him. It's nice not to have every ambush degenerate into terrible danger, though. Lack of level scaling's a merciless blade that cuts both ways.
So this is interesting. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Morgan le Fay transforms Bercilak into the Green Knight to administer a test of chivalry, and here we have the Knight of Holly fleeing a Sorceress. Is that because he fears Gisena's ability to dispel some enchantment on him? Lingering Sorceress PTSD? Someone ought to start a support group. The boring explanation's that it would dispel his armor, as we've seen her Tides do to other Knights.
It's clear that there's more going on with the Knights than we're privy to. By not in charge, does he mean acting as a provocateur, subverting another's subjects? Dancing on sorcerous strings? The obvious candidate for leader's the Knight-Commander, who fights to protect his 'charges' (likely the Middle Temple residents) and could be the intelligence coordinating Knight Legions. Risks aside, talking with him could've been more informative than our chat with the Goldenrod Bowman, who mostly confirmed things we already suspected.
We haven't heard any of the other Knights utter so much as a word and he's been around since the beginning or before. Are there divisions among the Knights, indicative of factions among the Residents? Why did the Green Knight take a swing at us? In the stories, he accepts one blow and returns the next year to strike back. But the Knights we've seen are unqualified to pass judgment on others' chivalry.
You'd think that in a world where legends walk the earth and force of spirit can overturn mundane matters, this wouldn't be so. But power calcifies and compounds as it's used to secure more, until fighting a Tyrant with a legend centuries in the making's like trying to slay the sea.
Yeah, we learned early on that these guys are willing to escalate. If Hunt Relentlessly wins, we might learn just how hard! It's a shame we can't become The Danger in full by making the ritual ground's rivers run grey with Knightly blood, but grinding weaklings is inherently a sign of fear... or being a JPRG protagonist.
It hurts me deep inside that Hunger is a literally noble steed.
Possibly, but Accretion can also make 'unique' gear (looking at you, RWBY) practical if you survive long enough to build a reputation. If we're speculating about outfits, I wonder what Jeanne would think of the Evening Gown had it won? On second thought, she'd just ask why Hunger didn't build a Nebula Battlesuit instead.
Ah, I see how it is. Just because you're however many dimensions away, you think you can critique Pieia's fashion sense? She had a Grace that scaled with the complexity of her outfits, who are you to chide her for following her incentives? The Maiden gave her that capability, you know; in a sense, she's doing her Duty! Gisena's use of the past tense is noted, though.
Good save, for a second there you guys were in danger of having a serious conversation. Much safer to keep bantering.
Well, that ought to murder the mood. This party's a bit past 'beset', Hunger arrived too late to help them.
Concerning that we can't even see what killed them without Gisena's help, we could run into all kinds of magical tripwires with our limited sensorium. We suspected the existence of something like this since the main entrance was deserted, but confirms it. Did these guys try to do an end run around the gates to access the antechamber because Hunger was spotted near here? We don't know what the Encampment knows about us. Though the merchants are apparently alive, invalidating all that paranoid speculation!
Good thought, but what about the loot?! Or is the logic that if they died, they're too weak to have anything worth taking? ...huh? 'Respect for the dead,' you say? What's that?
IIRC Arthur had similar musings when he buried Genevieve, about the transformative nature of power, even while refraining from using the Elements Form; with the right mindset, in that world the Rite could supercede all other rituals. To limit yourself to a human pace is inefficient; to dig with superhuman speed, undignified. Hunger's had an interesting relationship with human routines ever since taking Might's Repose; how many 'inextricable parts of life's rhythms' can we preserve by going beyond, for that matter? Instead of a simple grave, create the Taj Mahal with a comaparable exertion. Ulyssian had the option to raise a Heaven-defying monument to Alveua's sacrifice in the Odyssey, Nameless' Emanation aided and abbetted his laziness...
Not sure what I'm getting at here, other than that if you want to 'stay human' you align the incentives accordingly early on. Maybe we should've given Garden a chance? But prioritizing that would be flinching from the path we've chosen. The only way out is through, that applies to more than just the Temple.
Interesting question, it doesn't say what their wounds looked like. Avada Kedavra style immaculate corpses would be the most worrying possibility? But eh, the Temple's proven to have many horrifying tricks up its sleeve. Spatial manipulation makes sleight of hand easy!
It's cause for optimism that the Temple can create barriers that affect Inner Residents and intruders equally, maybe their control's imperfect. Not exactly news, if the Inners had a fully mastered Ring of Power the situation would look different and their Temple (is it theirs, though?) wouldn't be effectively besieged. Still, not sure how much credibility to assign to Hunger's musings here, this seems like it could be mental contamination. He continues to be a good protagonist, though: not indifferent to the dead or the suffering of his enemies, but not wracked with guilt at the slightest hint of culpability either. His experience shows, in a good way.
What, is Hunger going to retreat without taking horrible injuries? Give your bodyguard some credit! This is preferable to Letrizia being badly hurt when we come back, though, which has been a nightmare scenario of mine for a while.
Oof, I resemble that remark. Somebody should fireproof the fourth wall so Hunger can't burn us through it! Also, another headpat.
Ouch, is she blaming herself for that? Letrizia may have been the bait on the plothook that brought Bearic into our life, but the Apocryphal's what set those events in motion. Again, way more mature than the character she supposedly resembles. Asuka would beat somebody else up over it.
Aww, I hope the political situation back home hasn't deteriorated to the point where she can't keep this promise. With two explicit Apocryphal procs, it shouldn't have had the latitude to start pulling blocks out of the Jenga tower of human civilization. But the operative word in that sentence is 'shouldn't' and we'll have active Apocryphal time for the second leg of our journey even in the best case.
I'd like to see someone animating a hypothetical AST anime try and elevate simple soup to the level of the King Fish meal montage! Also, thank the Accursed we're no longer playing Nameless. All respect for our victorious past protagonist aside, he'd have gone full Shokugeki no Soma with the Ring of Blood, taken a swan dive into the turgid waters of hedonism unless goaded by necessity. Hunger's just musing about ringbearer perks in his downtime.
Hunger is the ring, so the question's whether it's beneath his dignity. It seems like you could attack the problem from multiple angles? Bring down a beast in a passionate hunt, suffuse the body with power after it's slain, involve yourself in every step of meal preparation. The King Fish escapade's a literal recipe for success, if you ignore all non-culinary consequences. It also occurs to me that Hunger's blood might be supernaturally appealing to vampires? Hopefully the Geas never takes him to the Rihakuverse equivalent of Castlevania. My bloodsuckers are bad enough, Accursed only knows what you'd come up with. The Blood Elves were bizarrely wholesome given their inspiration.
...wait, is he sitting down to dinner as a partially-corporeal, partially-paralyzed wraith? I'm surprised he's able to eat in this state!
That's one way to start, playing off her earlier comments about feeling helpless and using Bearic to get at the juicy exposition. But maybe Letrizia hasn't been holding back out of caginess alone? It's an interesting mental exercise, trying to think of how you would summarize Earth's civilization to someone with no cultural context. Of course, this is what memes are for.
Nicely done on Gisena's part, perking up like it's a given that Letrizia'll spill more details and making refusal awkward in the process.
The odds on it staying that way are long, to say the least. Peaceful times aren't 'interesting' ones, by the Curse's metric. It is fun to think of silver linings to the Curses, perks accessible through mitigation. Decimation can be weaponized, the Tyrant's Doom provides immunity to some forms of mental influence, the Plenary Brand's an advantage to anyone who enjoys playing cosmic chicken. We even scale better with constant conflict, having specialized accordingly.
Maybe it's the avatar, but my first instinct is suspicion of the Association. If the two great powers go to war... cui bono? The nation sitting on the sidelines. Kind of suspicious that they're listed in the same breath as the Republic and Empire when they have fewer systems and Armaments. What's allowed them to maintain their status? I'd also like to hear more about those complicated issues and tensions, but she breezes past that and into her backstory. If Letrizia were any more of a clever girl I'd start linking Jurrasic Park memes.
So Letrizia's pretty influential, if she inspired others to follow in her wake. I can see how she'd be a potent symbol, as a fiery noble girl taking up an ancestral weapon, sacrificing her youth out of filial piety. And her adulthood too, if she's had a lot of Decimation exposure without Verschlengorge suppressing it. Whatever the life expectancy among Imperial nobles is (could be high, with anagathics and rejuvenation treatments), Letrizia falls short of it. Maybe Hunger can help with his newly-awakened ring, but a Curse isn't easily overcome. Her father's problem might be more tractable if the doom has a lowercase d. Letrizia deserves respect for her sacrifices, though the way she made sure to mention that the Emperor only wanted to temporarily confiscate Versch is amusing.
For once I agree completely with Gisena, she deserves hugs as much as we need straight answers. A simple transaction is in order.
Not much of a leap from Republic scum to rebel scum. The names invite Star Wars comparisons. No nation that Letrizia's a noble of could possibly be the baddies, right? Even if they are called the Empire? Moving on, the existence of Astral Beasts too powerful to manifest in reality is concerning, there go most of my plans to go full Leman Russ and grind in the Eye of Terror. Also, if they're high-Rank creatures, how can the physical world keep them out? Is this another aspect of the Interdict of Cognition? A different Interdict set down by the Foremost? And how does an Astral Lord compare to a Sovereign-class?
If Ber's employer can't enter reality, that'd explain why he's hiring mercenaries and is willing to subject himself to the Care Bear's personality. The Sovereign sounds impressive just from the name, but we haven't encountered Astral Beasts capable of higher thought. If the displacement rift gambit was intentional, that suggests sophistication... and that who or whatever's behind the attack wants the Human Sphere's foothold in the Voyaging undefended. Curious that Letrizia assumes the Republic contingent of their agency betrayed them and wasn't otherwise indisposed. What about the Association, did they send any Armaments? If I were planning this I'd want to kill the pilots outside of the mechs, it doesn't sound like the sort of thing where a plucky teenager can jump in and take over. But hey, maybe Totality works that way.
This is sweet, but also sad because we're Geas-bound to take over 90% of everything she's ever known. With her lifespan Decimated, it's unlikely that Letrizia will live to see this through to the end. But with strange aeons even death may die, and through the power of Progression all things are possible.
A wise choice, she already has a steed. Would the Devouring Armament suffer competition? I suppose a few ponies might spice up the menu a bit.
2156 words.
Currently wondering whether this should be a one-off. It's all very well to play the metagame and save power for a vote I really care about, but the deepest layer of meta's optimizing for QM enjoyment and therefore quest health.
