A Simple Transaction I

Rihaku said:

Eidolon of the Grand Travail

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Wow, that is a lot of big words that I don't recognize without a thesaurus. But's let's look at definitions:
Eidolon: Spirit-image of a living or dead person, a phantom.
Travail: A fancy word for a work, apparently.

So, putting them together, "A Phantom of a Grand Job". I guess it's not an inaccurate way to put our combined Errantry and Apocryphal proc as, especially considering how we went around doing them.

Rihaku said:

At last Hunger had finished augmenting those members of Temple society which Stenallon, overseen by Gisena's perceptive judgement, had deemed most suitable for the 'Ring-Lord's' plan.

When not training the Praxis, Hunger had also invested a considerable amount of power into healing Verschlengorge, restoring it via the Ring of Blood to some faint semblance of its former majesty. Now the Elder Implement glowered before him with a soul-deep thrum, menace so palpable he could feel it against his bones, the looming shadow of predation before which all things living scurried and fled.

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Last touches on our previous great accomplishment with the Temple. In retrospective, I am glad we choose to spend time on it - Apocryphal is not shy about attacking our allies and supporters, so if they are capable of dealing with the usual dangers, it leaves it a less wide avenue for attack. The same thing with Ver - if he was less powerful, it wouldn't be able to buy us time to save Mizuku like we decided to.

Rihaku said:

As they prepared to set out from the Temple of the False Moon, Aeira received a communication from the Sovereignty. The news was dire: the Rotbeast had awakened in a monstrous surge of power, emerged from its lair and was steadily picking up speed as it advanced directly upon the Elixir Springs.

In addition, Mizuku Seiran, one of the Sovereignty's strongest Elementalists had gone missing, believed to have been neurally hijacked by a Foremost Armor-Prototype he'd discovered while exploring. The resulting abomination had begun a devastating rampage in the provinces adjacent to the Sovereignty, and was projected to reach outlying population centers within hours.

This could be a coincidence, but was most likely the Apocryphal Curse. Hunger sighed.

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Personally, I am not the biggest fan of Rotbeast winning the Apo-chan update (I'd rather Lucent Thorn win instead, though I guess the greatest hidden combination was Rotbeast+Lucent Thorn, with us picking Elixir and subverting the danger of the Thorn entirely) but it does make for a pretty good story in combination with our Errantry. Just as Hunger finishes destroying and reforming one civilization, another calls on his aid in its darkest hour, with him having to quickly solve first danger and then play the role of the cavalry arriving at the last moment in the second one. It offsets the fact that Rotbeast was just a big monster without much flavour, and not even a particularly interesting one at that. Didn't even have hidden weakspots or cool attacks, just the advance of a mountain-range mass, poison and minions.

Rihaku said:

There was no way he could allow the Rotbeast to annihilate the Sovereignty, but this matter of the Foremost Armor was extremely urgent as well. These two dangers would only compound if left to feed off one another; whichever emerged victorious, the Sovereignty would most assuredly lose. Loathe as he was to divide their forces, it seemed they had little alternative.

"Okay," he grumbled, addressing Aeira. "We'll do it this way. Give me the Sovereignty's tracking data on Mizuku, I'll intercept him and try to get the Armor off. Failing that, I'll give him a clean death. In the meantime, you, Letrizia and Gisena will move to hold off the Rotbeast."

"Versch can deal with some knock-off mountain monster easily!" Letrizia said, "Especially now that's he's (kinda) back in fighting shape. You can just send me! Bring Gisena with you in case she helps disable the Armor."

"Perhaps," he replied, "but the Rotbeast is a monster the size of a mountain range. If we're wrong about its threat level then it could depopulate the entire Sovereignty within hours. If Gisena's Ultimate can hold it off for even a few minutes more, her presence there could be incredibly critical."

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Actually, all of our companions are good fighters now, aren't they? We got Gisena the best combat ability, Letrizia has somewhat repaired Ver (and I hope Sovereignty will add what weapons they can to him), Aeira is specced for Combat and, in the future, we got Aobaru the best version of Vigorflame we could. That's pretty nice and we already see the benefits - we can rely on our companions to fight even Apocryphal-boosted opponents for a bit.

Rihaku said:

Gisena pouted. "I do hope that you'll take better care of my unconscious body this time. Letrizia told me she made soup, and you saved me none! This is no time to be conserving resources, but if I am forced to use the Sea of Nullity again, I may not be able to call it forth a third time - at least not for several months."

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I hope that by not using her ultimate in this encounter we will reduce the cooldown if Gisena will have to use it during the Tower or against Ber.

Rihaku said:

He grunted. "You're a genius, you'll figure something out."

"I'm touched by your faith in me! Truly, I've trained you well."

"Is this where I bark like a dog?"

"Not in front of the kids, hun."

His eyes widened innocently. "But... that's not what you said last time."

Gisena giggled. "Oh my! It seems even a genius can't overcome your skill at playing dumb."

"I'm sure you can do anything if you try."

She tossed her hair. "Hmph. As long as you don't expect me to beat the Rotbeast by myself."

"Of course, that'd be Letrizia's job."

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I really like the banter between Hunger and Gisena. The Accursed's skill at picking companions is truly awesome to behold. Let's make sure we keep our charisma up to not lose the banter arms race, that would be terribly boring. Just completely stomping Gisena would be quite boring after a few times as well, of course, but I feel she will manage to keep up.

Rihaku said:

"Verschlengorge will help too!" Letrizia chirped.

He gave her a single nod. "All right. If everyone's clear on the plan, let's move. The semi-healed Armament should be able to make it to the Sovereignty before the Rotbeast reaches the capital. I'll deal with Mizuku as soon as possible and then move directly to link up with you three. The manuals I found in Versch's arm yielded a technique that should improve my battlefield mobility, so you shouldn't be deprived of me for long."

"But we'll miss you terribly nonetheless," Gisena sniffled, wiping away a tear.

"Miss Gisena's ability to cry on command is almost disconcerting..." Letrizia whispered.

"Would you like to learn?" Gisena said happily, turning to her. "Come, I'll show you on the way there. Aeira, you should study this too, it's perfect for an infiltrator!"

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Hey, so that was what Hunger referring to in the future updates! It really didn't take Letrizia and Aeira long to learn that skill. Is this the talent of the Imperial nobility and combat prodigy? Or perhaps it is simply the skill of their teacher, defying even the usual inability of geniuses to transfer their skills.

Rihaku said:

And so they departed. Hunger twisted his blade as he ran, carving a rune of supernal blue into the firmament before him. Upon completion the world shifted, blurred lines of the landscape thrown into sharp relief, plunging endlessly forward towards a point of uttermost light which receded also endlessly. Again he invoked the rune as the burst of speed began to fade, sprinting through a corridor of endless lights, and in less than half an hour he was there: a desert of grass and sky-choking mist, utterly empty of animal life.

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The description of the Refinement of Quickness is really cool, with more Blue - is it generally the colour of Praxis, or is it simply the colour of the step on the ISH we can access right now?

This does make me wonder exactly how speed one step higher on the ISH interacts with mundane concepts like distance or the time of travel. RoQ doesn't simply increase our speed, after all, it makes it more - so, how would it compare with a hypothetical mundane speed that would bring Hunger to his target even faster? As I understand it, things higher on the ISH completely overmatch things that are lower, so would RoQ Hunger reach Rotbeast even faster than hypothetical mundane speed Hunger? Is it different because RoQ works only temporarily, with even +1 speed losing to high normal speeds if the former is limited by normal time? Do sufficiently high normal speeds simply advance on the ISH on their own? Or is this example not illustrative at all, because the distance in the Voyaging Realm is actually not mundane, so Refined speed simply speeds you up normally? This is all very interesting and I hope we will have time to research Praxis and the ISH in the future. I would be very interested in learning deeper lore behind it all.

Rihaku said:

He fell to a knee, winded by the exertion of even that single rune cast twice. It was power drawn forth from the totality of his self, deeper than physical endurance or even the strength of his will. He would have to ration the runes of his Praxis carefully, for though they portended unfathomable might the cost of over-use was ruinous. There were techniques of the Art which were less expensive, or persisted for greater time, but they lacked the sheer power of the rune he'd pursued, the so-called Refinement of Quickness.

For a single action it could elevate his speed to deific levels, crossing over into the realm of ideals, enabling feats that no level of simple physicality could attain. This was not infinite speed, but it was the power to contest conceptual magics with quickness alone; to strike through an impenetrable guard or dodge an all-encompassing attack, to escape even the spiritual gravitation of an enemy's manifest Pressure.

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The whole "drawn from self" thing is interesting too. Is Praxis the set of techniques that allow you to transmute the figurative lead of the mundane self and effort into the gold of higher levels of ISH, or does the "self" exist on higher (every?) rung of ISH, with Praxis simply drawing out these higher levels? I am really glad we got access to Praxis, I must say. The more I think about it, the more other magical systems lose their lustre, because I probably will vote to spend as much of our time as possible on researching and advancing Praxis, with other magics falling by the wayside.

Rihaku said:

His neck prickled. The abomination was close. On instinct he swerved to the side, narrowly dodging an outthrust tentacle that would have speared him cleanly through the head. Such a wound was hardly lethal against him now; Hunger's stolen Soul Evocation, the Outer Shadow of Sten Worldkeeper, could hold together his life-force through anything short of total annihilation. Yet losing his eyes and ears would certainly have been inconvenient, and so he responded in kind, his blade flashing upwards to truncate the tentacle at its stem.

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Man, our choices in actions and powers really made Hunger 200% hardcore, didn't they? "Damn, losing my eyes and ears would be inconvenient, better make sure that they stay attached". I guess it only makes sense, only 200% hardcore (and not a little bit foolhardy) guy would choose to go to such obvious trap as the Temple just by thinking "Yeah, the cheese will totally be worth it". Our ability to withstand anything short of total annihilation will be quite useful in the days to come, though.

Rihaku said:

The abomination was quick, a hair quicker than Hunger himself, withdrawing the appendage before he could shear off more than a strip of flesh. But he offered it no room for respite, Ring of Blood flaring as he brought Crimson's power to bear; the enemy trembled and slowed, allowing Hunger his first good look at this foe. It was tall, nearly six meters in height, gaunt and pallid of limb, covered in overlapping growths of gray that resembled bare muscle but with the texture of plate. Golden eyes ringed its brow, six in total, each focusing independently like a monocular lens. In place of a mouth was smooth flesh interspersed with bars of flashing color, casting its face in eerie shadow.

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At almost six meters in height, it is hard to even call it an armour - it is reaching the realm of small mechas. But it's saying a lot that Foremost prototype armour with a Quicksilver boost was faster than Hunger who invested a lot in his AGI. Foremost really knew their stuff and it could be interesting to know more about them and about their interactions with the stuff from AST0, like the whole Orc thing with this armour.

Rihaku said:

It regarded him cautiously, feinting once, alien limbs snapping forth like a struck whip. Ignoring its ruse, he did not react. Hopefully it would yield as Verschlengorge had.

"Praehihr," he said, pointing to himself. "Stand down. Yield."

It cocked its head but did not cease, advancing upon him steadily. The mist around it congealed, increasing enormously in density, dulling his instincts and blotting out sight as it sprang forward, its lower claws to tear out his chest while its reaper-arms struck at the back of his head. In response he simply extruded the Outer Shadow, a stained-glass tide that buried everything in its wake, the monster struggling furiously against the syrupy substance but unable to extricate itself. He glanced down to find himself bleeding; such was its speed that it'd successfully eviscerated him, despite everything. But the wound was already closing courtesy of his Ring, and now the monster's mobility was sealed.

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It would be nice if we managed to end this whole thing with a few words, but, evidently, we were not so lucky. Still, it shows that this was a simple 2-pick fight - even though the armour can rival Hunger in his stats, he can just completely no-sell it with his other powers. And I think Rihaku mentioned that we rolled a nat 1 in this fight, even, which didn't even cause a lasting wound. There is something to be said for simple fights after all.

Rihaku said:

He reached forth and ripped off one of the grey growths, whose bottom half was covered in stick tendrils that wriggled and flailed in the open mist. The monstrosity twitched, convulsing in pain as a new growth quickly covered the vulnerability. He grimaced.

"Come on, kid. If you're still in there, tell me how to save you."

No response was forthcoming.

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Well, speaking with the host was always quite a long shot, even if Hunger didn't see Mizaku's perspective as we did. It cost nothing to try though, so why not?

Rihaku said:

There were three relevant possibilities. First, that it didn't care whether or not he was a Praehihr and would never acknowledge his commands regardless. In that case his only hope was to cut or tear off the armor piecemeal and hope the process failed to kill the kid or drive him insane. Second, that it would yield to a Praehihr but had no way of confirming that he was one. And thirdly, that it would yield if confirmed, but had no way of detaching from the boy even so.

Only in the second case was rescue practical, but how to communicate his nature in a way that it would believe? He could perform the Praxis rune again, but that would drain him for the upcoming Rotbeast fight, and would prove nothing if the Foremost had ever encountered an enemy also capable of utilizing the Praxis.

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For some time, I was confused about what did Hunger mean by "rescue" here, but I think I got it now - he is talking about rescuing the armour, isn't he? I must say, that is quite heroic of him. Not many would think about saving the thing that hijacked a kid and even less would put it into a term like "rescue". For all that he once mentioned leaving that part of his life behind, it seems that the instincts of a hero are not so easily denied. These reluctant heroics are an endearing characteristic, though.

Rihaku said:

Best to make clear to the Armor that it was at his mercy regardless. "I'm going to disable your body," he spoke to the boy. "My powers will keep you alive, but it's going to hurt. If this works you'll be free."

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Hunger's diplomatic efforts continue to involve a lot of cutting the other party with the sword. This was probably the only way in this case, but we will have to fix this at some point, because just stabbing our way through the Human Sphere sounds like way too much work. Hopefully, the relative milk run of reforming the Sovereignty will help Hunger advance his social techniques.

Rihaku said:

The abomination never stopped thrashing. Of course there was no way for the Elementalist to communicate to him with their entire nervous system puppeted, not even so much as a desperate nod of assent.

There was nothing for it but to proceed. He sliced twice, cutting of the creature's arms and legs, and flipped it on its stomach, making surgical incisions across its fleshly-ridged spine, slashing across the tubelike veins in its back through which Elementally-charged mist seemed to flow endlessly. The Outer Shadow pooled around and atop the creature, holding it in place, but still it struggled against him with neck and head, throes so violent he worried for the brain of its host. There had to be some way to get through to it, something he'd overlooked; if he failed to find it soon then he'd have no choice but to execute boy and Armor both.

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Hunger is a pretty good surgeon, especially since his "patient" still actively resists. I guess the combination of blood sense for learning anatomy and very good skill with a sword can substitute for a few years in a medical school. To note again, he is really committed to saving Mizaku and Armour both. The degree is almost surprising, but I approve.

Rihaku said:

His eye flickered to the slowly-stilling tendrils of the growth he'd pulled free. Aeira had said they believed Mizuku to have been neurally hijacked by the Armor. If it could pervade the host's biology so deeply as to have access to the contents of the brain, then perhaps...

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Hunger. Hunger, no. Hunger, stop, what are you doing, why are you even considering this. Please don't stick your head into the prototype armour that hijacks nervous systems.

Rihaku said:

No time for hesitation. He peeled away the central growth atop the Armor's spine, leaving its back half connected to the greater mass of the armor itself, and stuck his head directly into its tendrils.

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Oh my God, I can't believe that he actually decided to just stick his head into the Armour that hijacks nervous systems, the absolute madman. Honestly, this goes beyond risktaking straight into the realm of memes. Who even decides to do stuff like that? "- How did you defeat that neurojacking armour? - Well, I just stuck my head into it and hoped for the best". I have to wonder whether Hunger had the same attitude in his eleven years of guerrilla war. If he did, then it's a huge miracle that he managed to survive until the end at all.

Rihaku said:

It was risky to the point of absurdity, but the Outer Shadow ensured that he no longer needed his physical brain, and his spiritual essence was split between Ring and Blade anyway. In the worst case he could slay his physical body with the Ring of Blood and escape in ghost form.

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Now, as this shows, it's not quite a complete insanity and it certainly worked toward the goal of establishing contact with the Armour. But it is still so hilariously direct and potentially dangerous that it baffles the mind. I have a hard time even expressing it. What was Hunger's plan in dealing with the Rotbeast if he had to assume ghost form? God, my head hurts just from considering it.

Rihaku said:

Icy coolness spread from the points of contact as it interfaced with his skull, branching past and into the matter of his brain. Despite himself he shivered. He felt the mind of the Armor: a capable, questing intelligence, young and exuberant as it rifled through his thoughts, greedily absorbing the facts of his life.

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Yeah, the armour really does seem not bad. Foremost directives limited what it can do, but it just wanted to help its pilot and everyone else. More the shame about what happened to it.

Rihaku said:

As it finished it trembled once; then bright curiosity turned to despair, self-loathing like a stain of blackness spreading through its data-circuits. The Armor began to turn on itself, neural pulses flowing backwards as it sought to revert the changes it'd made to Mizuku, flesh necrotizing and curling away to slowly reveal the Elementalist underneath, his reverse-mutated features a hasty but functional caricature of the boy's face. Within moments it discorporated fully, muscle and plate knurling and passing into dust; its final fleshly remnants blown away in some invisible breeze, the petals of a flower long-slain.

What had it learned, that it would choose self-annihilation over its other fates? Was it mere abhorrence of the terrors it'd inflicted upon its host, self-destruction as atonement for its crimes? Or had it seen something in Hunger's mind so terrible that death was preferable to that knowledge?

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So, what did happen, in the end? Was it ever stated afterwards what was exactly that pushed the armour into suicide? I remember several theories, but they never struck me as convincing. It is a shame that whatever happened, the armour decided to kill itself - the power it provided aside, it just tried its best with what was given to it. Death was not something it deserved, though I might have a different opinion if I was Mizuku.

I can't believe Hunger's plan to just stick his head into the thing actually totally worked out, even if not entirely to his satisfaction. That is just so ashine it makes me laugh.

Rihaku said:

No time to dwell. The boy was alive, if horribly disfigured; it was far from ideal, but he couldn't reasonably ask for a better outcome given the circumstances.

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I hope that Hunger will meet and heal Mizuku should we stay in the Sovereignty - which seems pretty likely at the moment. We did cut the guy apart and he had some grievances with the government that we could take into the account for our reforms. It would be an interesting interaction in general, in my opinion.

Rihaku said:

He hoisted the boy and set out again, this time to handle the Rotbeast. It would be a pleasant change of pace, facing an opponent he was allowed to actually kill.

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Hunger, my man, you just finished fighting an entire civilization, with like a dozen fights where you were totally allowed to kill. You constantly fight off attacks by Astral Beasts that you are totally allowed to kill. Your current attempt at diplomacy ended up in you cutting through limbs in battle and field surgery and the last one ended with you bleeding a Marshal out. You are 100% not suffering from the lack of opponents you can go all out on and the fact that single very martial diplomacy makes you desire simple fights terrifies me. God, we really should work on Hunger's social and diplomatic skills.

Rihaku said:

The winner was [X] Do it All with [X] Refinement of Quickness and [X] Leave Sten. You have somewhat over 7.2 Arete.

You have received net 1 pick and +.1 Rank from Mizuku. You may earn another +.1 Rank if Mizuku survives to tell his tale, and the Sovereignty to hear it.

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The options, always something to fight about! Even though it's just one pick, Rihaku proved adept at providing very delicious 7 Arete options.

Rihaku said:

[ ] Echo of the Forebear (1 pick) - The ninth Echo of the Forebear. At this encounter point, unlocks Tenfold Echo.

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Good old Echo. Would be unremarkable, if not for:

Rihaku said:

[ ] Tenfold Echo (7 Arete, 0 picks or 3 picks, 0 Arete) - Adds ++++++++++AGI, ++++++++++Might. This is considerably more efficient than you would normally get for 7 Arete, and likely to be highly relevant against the Rotbeast, allowing Hunger to fell the monster in near-absolute safety with far fewer casualties. Only available when one performs a feat worthy of the Forebear; in this case, the selfless regard for one's vassals no matter what rains may come.

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Now that is what I call a 7 Arete option. Thirty stats is insane, and I am a bit sad we didn't pick this even though I like Rank build over Stats build. I hope we will get to take it one day regardless, more stats is always good.

Rihaku said:

[ ] Outer Sky (7 Arete, 1 pick) - Merges the Outer Shadow with the Evening Sky, resulting in a combined substance with the strength of both. Only available when one performs a feat in which victory was dependent on the Outer Shadow. Dramatically improves the anti-magic capabilities of the Evening Sky and allows the merged Outer Sky to be launched in waves as the Outer Shadow was. When manifesting properties of the Outer Shadow, the Cloak of Evening takes on its stained-glass tincture; else the Shadow resides invisibly in the darkness between stars.

*Improves the Attribute-related bonuses of the Outer Shadow by 20% (+70% Might, +70% Protection, +420% Health)
*Dramatically improves Hunger's overall magic resistance
*The Outer Sky can be launched to trap foes for brief periods with no risk of reduction in Wits, Int or Wis.
*The majesty of starry Evening haloed by the stained-glass glory of the Outer Shadow. ++Protection, ++Cha, +Progression (Outer Sky)

Outer Sky Advancements are only a small subset of Evening Sky Advancements. Do not expect Pearlescence and the like to be upgraded by this. Should you acquire a form of general Progression of ++ or greater, +Progression (Outer Sky) will be removed and you will be refunded 2 Arete.

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The other 7 Arete option, this one enjoying the attraction provided by a large blurb. Which has proved quite decisive, because that was the option that almost won, not Echo. I guess one of the reasons would be because the blurb emphasizes aesthetics, which are really quite nice, so I hope we get the option during the Tower run. Progression, however limited, and the fact that it, as we learned later, discounts Outer Darkness are also pretty nice.

Rihaku said:

[ ] Forebear's Blade - Titan-Felling (2 Arete, 1 pick) - Fivefold Power of Ruin against foes whose Might is at least 1000% greater than yours. Refunds Arete cost if Monster-Defeating or All-Defeating Stance are taken.

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I still feel we really slept on Titan-Felling. It was a very good option against our enemy that didn't spend Arete and would be useful in the future. I am quite sad it proved so unpopular.

Rihaku said:

[ ] The Ring of Power - Hungry Vim (2 Arete, 1 pick) - Some fraction of the Armor's talent for battle. +++AGI, ++Wisdom (Combat).

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The option we took! I am honestly not the biggest fan, but it worked out. ++Wisdom in combat is pretty good, better plans are always something we should strive for, and I think it's nice that we inherited part of the Armour we couldn't save.

Rihaku said:

[ ] Frontal Assault - Attack the Rotbeast from the front, where everyone can see you. Risks your life, but reduces casualties and improves Rank gain from the fight by 20%.

[ ] Ambush - Don't worry overmuch about visibility or speed. With careful, calculating blows, dismantle it from the sides, striking from ambush to evade any chance of retaliation. No personal risk.

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The options that, predictably, caused the most knife-fighting. Risk vs Reward discussion will continue throughout the whole quest, I feel, and this was but one of the battles. I feel like we made the right choice, though, and not just because it worked out in the end - Rotbeast was just too hardy and large to take it down slowly from ambushes. If we picked this, forget losing 20% Rank, most of the Sovereignty would've died, including a lot of Surgecrafters. That would probably lose us a lot of Rank then and closed our current route where we reform them and get a very powerful feat with + Rank now. And the chance of death was countered by us getting Artful Thorn in the middle of the fight anyway. A good choice, in my opinion, and I hope we will continue picking such right choices.