Just to hedge my bets, I think another interpretation of "moves up one step in the Infinite Singularity Husk" could just be making our sword techniques grow in power as though we were significantly further in our Progression. I don't think it's this but it not impossible so keep that in mind.
Just caught up in the quest. Was an interesting ride. Mostly voting for one thing because if I voted for the other choices I like it would just decrease the chance
Technological Solutions makes it in.
Welcome to the thread! Hope you enjoy your stay. Just in case you didn't know, there's a Character Sheet, a Statement Index and a Fanwork Index in the Media tab. Glad to have you on board.
Gisena's actually only three years older than Letrizia, though the pace of maturation expected of a young noble lady is quite different in a Renaissance-level society compared to a Mid-High Interstellar one!
Isn't it sad, Gisena? An actual magic system was almost within your grasp! Given the attribute boost from Sublime Attainment and her own talents, she'd probably have been good at it too.
Isn't it sad, Gisena? An actual magic system was almost within your grasp! Given the attribute boost from Sublime Attainment and her own talents, she'd probably have been good at it too.
Somehow I suspect Gisena would only be able to make Nullity with it. Somehow.
You know, when we get Cut Through when the Accursed next checks a progress report about us he'll probably laugh about us taking "The Sword That Ends The World" a bit literally.
There is a bunch of old Rihaku Quests on SB. Three? Two? Variations of Odyssial/Ulyssian quests, Dnd Wizard in Warhammer, Grail War Quest with Hector, Bleach Quest, Naruto Jonin Quest, Stillborn Paladin Quest (dark times, forum hardware was dying and running quests was basically impossible) and a couple of others I can't recall out of hand.
Not all aged perfectly, but all still have that Rihaku Flavor from what I remember. Out of these, Jonin and Bleach Quest are most like modern Rihaku style games, IIRC. IIRC. It was awhile I might be talking out of my ass.
Yeah I know I started participating back in the original Sword that ends the world. I actually really enjoyed the oldschool Dnd wizard one. I meant more is there Rihaku stuff on other sites that you wouldn't know how to find unless you already knew it existed like this touhou quest I'd never heard of.
Man, Maiden dialogue must be strange. She can pull off a smug ojou-sama laugh without saying a single word, everything's Implied. In Gisena's shoes I'd be tempted to go Full Morgiana and write the Duty off completely! A civilization and ideology constructed around her beliefs... what a scam, even Nameless wouldn't descend to such a degenerate level, and his idea of retirement's spending eternity with a literal pure elven waifu!
I'd like to know what Ritz's default Surge is and this'll be a useful force-multiplier even if we don't sink shitloads of Arete into it. It's less fiddly in general. Sorry, magevoters, I'm in this to break the Temple over my knee since I voted for walking into the goddamned deathtrap in the first place. On that note?
[X] Bloodwraith [2 Arete]
This is prime real estate. Doubling our health pool for a fucking song? Crazy bargain if you ignore the -rep, which we can and should. Ritz needs us, only reason Versch has a Rank above 4 at all's Hunger. I know any kind of setback sticks in voters' mouths, but relative to a few updates ago he's still stronger and we'd be safer. Any damage we do, we can fix. Not going to vote for anything else since the other options don't need help.
He was gone-- adrift in a world of color and left with no sense of self. No body, no mind, no soul. And thus, he cried out a question:
Something answered.
Slowly, Hunger could feel the Imaginary Element come to him. Its essence, seeping sibilantly into each crevice of his soul and body. He willed it forth, and it heeded, pouring out of the light of his soul tremulously at first, then like a flood. This was his Surge, the unrelenting magic of emotion, of will, of force. He flexed his hand. This could be useful.
What was the nature of your Imaginary Element? Select one.
[ ] Bladetide - Your call was answered by none other than the weapon that had guided you your entire life. A sword, shining from the depths of your spirit, sharp and bright like the glint off an executioner's axe. This Imaginary Element is almost purely physical, a fine mist of metallic particles surprisingly pliable yet dense. This element shifts forms easily, from forming a wall in one moment to a tsunami of steel in the next. By exerting one's spirit, one can fill this Imaginary Element with conceptual power-- creating two highly potent effects. The first is that this element is now considered as a Sword and that attacks made with this element are considered basic melee attacks for the duration of this imbuement. The second is that this element moves with significantly more granularity, each particle now an individual agent directed towards the will of the greater whole. A sword is more than the blade, it is the swordwill behind it.
*Useful in battle, but not elsewhere. The mist can be solidified to create projectiles, platforms, or attack from unknown vectors. No conceptual effects outside of the ones mentioned in the description.
*Conceptual effects are ridiculously powerful in increasing battle effectiveness. Consider each particle firing a blade projection carrying the power of a Fell-Handed Stroke, A Thousand Cuts, or even the mysterious techniques of the Sword Praxis.
*Exerting one's spirit has a slight chance of causing Hunger to become Tired due to soreness of metaphysical muscles.
*Multitasking is difficult, the effectivenes of Bladetide will indirectly scale with processing power and intelligence.
*Your mist reacts oddly with the Forebear's Blade, seemingly attracted to it and sticking to it for no reason. Perhaps...?
[ ] Starlight- 2 Arete - The luminous, the brilliant, the everdistant. The mundane world, sheared away by the perfecting majesty of the Evening Sky. Your call went out, and the colors of the evening responded, proud and august, exalted and sublime. Gain the ability to emit the light of the stars, illuminating the world around you and suppressing the initiative of foes. The effects caused by this are mostly conceptual, with the exception of potentially blinding an enemy combatant. Currently, there are 2 conceptual effects presently manifested by the light of your Imaginary Element. The amount and scale of effects will directly be influenced by your affinity with and advancements of the Evening Sky. Stat bonuses and effects that overlap with their corresponding advancements of the Evening Sky do not stack; novel effects apply as normal.
Present Effects:
- Amaranthine - The light of vengeance and unremitting resolve. All those sheltered within the light of the Amaranth Star find that soreness and exhaustion hold no purchase, and as such the conditions of Exhausted and Tired are 25% less severe. This magnificent radiance of the body causes one to become more resilient and charismatic. [+Charisma, +Constitution].
- Pristine - The light of restoration and wholeness. Wounds, diseases, and scars will heal back to full over time without any ill effects. Complications and illnesses falter beneath the haunting totality of the Evening Sky, reducing the severity of such conditions by 15%, and allowing one reroll each week for the purposes of healing and preventing all complications.
*Not particularly useful in battle beyond minor buffs to allies at it's present state, and providing slight Rank debuffs to enemies of equal or lower rank than you.
*An option with tremendous potential, scaling directly with the Evening Sky, effectively an experience multiplier by doubling the value of advancements.
*Can decentralize the beneficial effects of Evening Sky. For example, leaving a ball of light in Letrizia's hands while leaving to go into the Temple will allow her to continue her healing.
*Something... strange happens when you compress large amounts of Starlight into a small space. What could this mean?
[ ] Bloodflame- 7 Arete - A blood-red flame with light unnatural surges forth from your hand. It is hot, vigorous, and irrepressibly hungry-- eerily reminiscent of the Ring resting on that very same hand. Your Imaginary Element is Bloodflame, a blazing hot fire that burns with an unnatural aggressiveness and fury. After some preliminary testing, you notice a few distinct effects. Your Bloodflame saps the vitality and stamina of all afflicted by it, returning it to you and restoring your own health. This vitality can also be expended to increase the intensity and volume of your fire. Additionally, your Bloodflame treats blood as flammable, effectively a death sentence for anyone that lets an open wound touch the fire. Lastly, your Bloodflame can be shaped into various configurations useful for battle, such as lances, battering rams, and seeking missiles. Potential advancements with the Ring are possible.
*Massively powerful area-of-effect attacks, capable of wiping out armies with minor exertion. Become a capable siegebreaker, a one man artillery batallion.
*Not as useful in single combat as Bladetide, but significantly more effective in conquering and holding territory.
*Drastically increase your arsenal of possible attacks, with a new scope of versatility in terms of battle application.
*Not much in the way of non-combat utility.
*Your Ring glows bright and restless in the presence of your Bloodflame. I wonder why?
[ ] Willforce - 25 Arete - A man is more than the tools they use, the implements in their Panoply. A man is the will underneath, the strength to use them, and the resolve to cast them aside when need be. The Imaginary Element that answered your call could not have been anything but your own inexorable force of will. This element is invisible, instead felt only as a crushing force unseen, the hand of fate pressing down. Project your will and watch as the world kneels in deference. This is what it means to be [REDACTED].
*Regain your name. Has unknown consequences, is psychologically helpful for you to regain your identity. Aren't you tired of running away?
*+1 Astral Rank, applied externally after all other factors.
*Suppress the Rank of others by 0.5. This applies externally after all other factors.
*Gain the ability to express pure force as a product of will, the shadow of your might upon the mundane world. This scales with Willpower.
*Lose the name Hunger permanently, slightly decreasing affinity with your Ring.
*Lock away Once and Future permanently. Regain half the spent Arete.
Given Rihaku's statements, I think Vertex is the better system if we don't want to spend much Arete; which is true. Much more flexibility and has great synergy with both our Accretion and our Evening Sky. I think not being able to craft the high-end stuff is fine for Letrizia since she'd mainly use it to support Vershlengorge anyway. I'd be fine with a non-combat Surge for two Arete as well, but for the same price Vertex is much more flexible and helps us immediately.
Cut Through doesn't take picks; which makes Bloodwraith and Technological Solutions more appealing. The former is disqualified for me thanks to Arete expenditure concerns if we take Surgecraft; but if we pick Vertex it might be fine? It actually synergizes with Blade pretty well since it takes picks as well as Arete; we might end up with an EFB and a decent start at a magic system in a single fight!
So I think my vote of Blade+Solutions+Vertex is pretty good. Gets additional picks with the magic system that can be developed using them and strengths Gisena for our incursions into the Temple. Also gets Cut Through as fast as possible, which is a plus.
I think Blade should definitely be chosen with Vertex; It's not important to Surge since that only costs Arete. Since Blade is already winning, that makes Vertex more attractive already.
I was just about to suggest that we should be looking out for a Blood element if we went with Surgecraft. Ring of Power synergy, and there's that pick that buffs our Rank for Blood-manipulation.
Cut Through doesn't take picks; which makes Bloodwraith and Technological Solutions more appealing. The former is disqualified for me thanks to Arete expenditure concerns if we take Surgecraft; but if we pick Vertex it might be fine? It actually synergizes with Blade pretty well since it takes picks as well as Arete; we might end up with an EFB and a decent start at a magic system in a single fight!
What I mean is XP spending opportunities are only when we have picks anyway, so if we don't do the Sword option we can't buy it here. And I want 18 arete sitting around as short a time as possible because Rihaku will try to tempt us.
We will likely get a pick on the way back if we don't level here, so that's less of an concern. Hell, if we get Surgecraft and the Element only gets defined before or after we enter combat, we'd want to actually delay it as soon as possible.
What I mean is XP spending opportunities are only when we have picks anyway, so if we don't do the Sword option we can't buy it here. And I want 18 arete sitting around as short a time as possible because Rihaku will try to tempt us.
Yikes, that one actually made me shiver. Just a little, 'cause I wasn't expecting it, I'm not a scaredy cat or anything!
{K} Bladetide
I'm not tired of running away, Willforce can keep it's secrets. Bladetide is fantastic value, not useful outside of battle my pinky toe. You could use metalkinesis to reach things on the really high shelves! Starlight is great, too, but we don't have enough oomph behind the mantle in the short-term. Bloodflame is brutal, but we already have an advantage over blood-having enemies and I don't want to broaden our weakness to robutts.
[X] Market Day [2 Arete]
[X] Relaxing at the Hot Springs
[X] Vertex
Cut Through is a 0 pick, and we can get it once we're in the Temple anyway. It's not really that urgent.
Market Day is because learning how to navigate Tyrant is going to be useful for human interaction in general. We've definitely generated more than 2 Arete by now.
We will likely get a pick on the way back if we don't level here, so that's less of an concern. Hell, if we get Surgecraft and the Element only gets defined before or after we enter combat, we'd want to actually delay it as soon as possible.
I'm not sure we will, not after our strength has ended up so massively increasing. I think it's best to not take too many risks and just grab Cut Through immediately; we exceeded the Inner Temple's projections by taking out Vanreir and then proceeded to fuck off for a few days. Considering their knowledge of R-type growth, they'll likely prepare an even more overwhelming, varied and thorough alpha strike on us to halt us dead in our tracks. We have to be ready for it when it comes.
