Tripartite Evening
The winner was [X] Tripartite Evening (Nightmare Flight, Bastion of Myth, Supreme Enclosure).

Hunger goes now to meet with the ostensible leader of the Royalist faction, their last surviving heiress Adorie Mirellyian. He intends to negotiate for possession of both Artifacts capable of contributing substantially to the contest against the Lord Protector in exchange for his entry into such. Of course, there are many other matters both diplomatic and practical to sort out as well. Princess Adorie is renowned as a skillful & charming negotiator with a comprehensive grasp on matters personal and theoretical. Care should be taken lest Hunger commit himself & his Kingdom unduly to a cause, especially if he decides to integrate the Tower of Sky rather than destroying it for Decimator mitigation.

[ ] Into the Breach - Some things are a King's responsibility alone. If he would shirk this negotiation, how well could those below him rely on his leadership when he administers not merely one Kingdom, but the entire Human Sphere? Undoubtedly the Princess is a formidable opponent in the social arena, but Hunger is no slouch himself. Note that due to the timing of this contest it will occur before Hunger has access to the Opalescent Tower or Tears of Winter EFBs, for obvious reasons. He is still guaranteed to acquire both Artifacts even if he 'loses' the negotiation. [+1 Arete for taking on the challenge]

*Unlike the other options, can generate picks and thus opens up an opportunity to purchase Once and Future, in theory.
*Adorie is a challenging opponent; though your interests are mutually aligned, Hunger would prefer maximum latitude of action and favorable trade terms for the Sovereignty while she would prefer to bind you strongly to her cause in exchange for her artifacts of legend.

[ ] Hide Behind Gisena - It's entirely the purpose of a Princess Regent to handle negotiations that are below the attention of a figurehead King! Hunger is merely the mouthpiece for Gisena's policy implementations so it's only fair that she handles this matter as well. Besides, it'll give her a chance to crush her rival Princess beneath her heel... or perhaps give her a much-needed comeuppance. Whoever wins, Hunger can't lose! [+Gisena]

*Higher chances of victory. Success here could bring great wealth and quality of life improvements to the Sovereignty, and potentially open up ways for Sten's civ to regain their extended lifespans. Though Hunger does not always act it, he is still responsible for the lives of all these people. Can improve Government quality beyond Adequate, improve the effectiveness and Elite-production rate of Throne Agents, and overall make life much better for Hunger's subordinate polities.
*Having Gisena do the negotiations means Hunger will be less stressed out and/or mentally compromised and is thus free to regale Aobaru & co with tales of his adventures
*Takes the outcome out of your hands; defeat is still possible and mid-battle power-ups are unlikely (?)
*Is it wise to yield this matter to an adjutant, no matter how trusted, when the nature of Hunger's progression requires conflict and adversity for him to grow?

[ ] Cut Through - Just give Adorie what she wants - a binding commitment to liberate her nation and oppose the Lord Protector - in exchange for her Artifacts. Table the matter of trade negotiations until after victory has been achieved. While this will significantly reduce Hunger's potential scope of action in the future (as he will give his word), in some ways it can be considered only fair to match House Mirellyian's commitment with one of equal scope. They are giving you their ancestral fortress and crown jewels essentially for work you haven't yet done... [+Adorie]

*Saves time, but Hunger will have to give his word. He considers this an absolute commitment.
*Goodwill can lead to a more amenable ally than any amount of formal strictures, but some would say it's power built upon a foundation of sand. When you base your strength on the kindliness of allies rather than strictly articulated obligations, you are ultimately placing yourself at the mercy of their interpretation of your circumstances.
*The matter of trade, even if procrastinated upon, may still rear its head in the future...

What's Hunger's attitude towards Aobaru's mission?

[ ] Impart, then Depart - The role of a mentor comes with occupational hazards because the story must remove the mentor's protective influence. But a teacher that simply transmits wisdom and is not present for the hazards of one's journey is at much less narrative risk for death. Hunger will train Aobaru intensely so that he may fight his own battles. The boy is welcome to accompany him until his first major threats are dealt with, but then their paths must split. ++Aobaru Power

*Hunger will keep Aobaru with him long enough to deal with the Chains of Fate-summoned enemy
*You'll eventually lose access to Aobaru's buff, though you may regain it after Aobaru finishes his mission
*Low, if any, risk from Fate intervening to kill Hunger
*Though you'd still have to worry about the Apocryphal Curse regardless
*At least you'd minimize Aobaru's exposure to it
*After he succeeds, Aobaru would be a powerful ally and potentially in control (?) of the Voyaging Realm or large segments thereof. Maybe he could turn off the mage extraction filter, or introduce some exceptions?

[ ] Priority Two - Aobaru should be kept close to maintain his safety, but Hunger intends to return Letrizia to the Human Sphere ASAP, and it's almost certain that events in the Human Sphere will conspire to keep Hunger & Gisena there. Thus it is of utmost importance that some means of extracting magi from the Voyaging Realm be found... +Aobaru Power

*As he intends to defend Aobaru directly, Hunger will not spend as much time training him
*You'll retain access to Aobaru's buff for the foreseeable future
*Aobaru won't be able to complete his destiny without enormous degrees of power and skill anyway, something that's likely in the far future
*Not long ago he was still a child. He'll be happy to see the Human Sphere and the Empire from which his predecessors departed.

[ ] The Long Voyage - Letrizia doesn't even want to return to the Human Sphere, so you might as well see this through ASAP. It'll be much easier to conquer the Human Sphere with the systems of the Foremost at Aobaru's beck and call. Even limited access could yield overwhelming advantages; what if there's some way to control or disable enemy Armaments? +Aobaru Power, +Aobaru Progression

*Committing to Aobaru's mentorship means Hunger will have a chance to confront and overcome the mistakes of his past, and his own feelings of resentment against Fate. +Mental Stability
*Those who were meant to protect him, failed, their promises unkept, the appellation of Chosen more curse than succor. It will not be so for this lad; for it is not capricious Fate that watches over him, but the scion of the Forebear himself, and he will see his charge defended no matter what rains may come. +What Rains May Come Advancement.
*Should you really neglect the Human Sphere this greatly?
*Fifty years is a long time for the Apocryphal Curse to wrest one province or another from Hunger's control. Maybe it would be wiser to deal with the Human Sphere as soon as possible, who knows how many technical violations the Curse could potentially force upon him, mandating a reset of the timer and future complications?

[ ] Procrastination - Just don't think about it right now. You've got more important matters to consider. [+3 Arete]

*It's free Arete, what could possibly be wrong with that?
*Even if it's a trap, you could use the power from that Arete to overcome it!
*Somewhat reckless, but eh
 
[X] Into the Breach

[X] Hide Behind Gisena

[X] Cut Through

[X] Impart, then Depart

[X] Priority Two

[X] The Long Voyage

[X] Procrastination
 
[X] Cut Through

In the Forebear we trust and this fits Hunger. Just Cut Through and grind that + relationship. By the end of this we will be powerful enough to negotiate with ease. It's not like we were not going to do all this anyway.

[X] Priority Two

He is our minion, fate should get fucked. He will complete his obligation to us and than we will help him with his job later in the future.
 
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With regards to Cut Through, saving time could either be nearly useless (for a protracted campaign of weeks / months) or incredibly critical (if you decide to go for an immediate decapitating strike, assuming you acquire enough power for that). Something to consider...
 
[X] Into the Breach
[X] Impart, then Depart


Let's not make an enemy out of fate itself. Besides now that we have nightmare flight we should try to cut down the number of our party members.
 
Well right now along with Hunger we have Gisena, Letrizia, Versch, and Aobaru. Oh and ninja girl (if you can even call her that. I mean what sort of ninja isn't highly visible?). I say we cut out Aobaru and invisible ninja.
 
For those of you who have forgotten, here's the blurb for What Rains May Come, which is bundled with The Long Voyage.

What Rains May Come
To strike at him would arouse his disdain. To strike at his loved ones, would arouse his ire. Once per month, transfer wounds caused by the hand of another from an ally to yourself. Reverse wound penalties, except from those inflicted by your own hand. [3 picks]

That's pretty good. 3 picks! I'm not sure how long Aobaru's task will take, but the scare-mongering about making it to 50 consecutive years of rule didn't really land for me. 50 years is only 2% of our total time allotment...
 
Personally I want to go to the HS soon. I would like to read about a Letrizia plot line more than an Aobaru one but that's just me.
 
Hmm. Ǝ doesn't seem like an Astral Entity, which makes it seem like the Astral and the Realm of Forms are clearly distinct. The Foremost in general seem like people very focused on this sort of tech. Findross is something that makes things as they "should be" after all, perhaps bringing anything saturated with it just that much closer to the Platonic ideals they're derived from? Could a meta-singularity of findross be then becoming an equal or gaining control over those ideals? That would explain why the powers of the Sorceresses were empowered by emulating her example, they were being brought closer to the ideal she embodied.
 
Really, guys it's time to go to the main plot and keep our promise to Letrizia. It also allows Aobaru to safely-ish learn and grow, he can save the Voyaging Realm when he is an experienced veteran, not an teenager. He shouldn't bear such an burden just yet, let him live an little.
 
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Lets not forget that Letrizia's father was also in bad health...it's best to leave relatively soon. Giving Apo-chan the time to turn HS into an massive clusterfuck optimized to oppose us is not an good idea. Who knows what might happen to Letrizia's fief in her prolonged absence too...
 
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There are some ringbears there, apparently...

Hm. Reactive Voyaging Realm defensive grid, buy Ruling Ring, bait ringbears into coming to a deathtrap.
 
If I had to choose which was easier to conquer and hold I would choose the Voyaging Realm first.

Since realisticly I don't think we're going back to the Voyaging Realm in a long time once we go to the human sphere and I believe I remember Letzritza say the republic or something had casually 37,000 planets which.... I'll be honest probably requires our full attention to hold, especially so with apocrpha curse

I just want to get this whole Voyaging Realm thing mostly done before we abandon it for the stars. He'll, maybe completing aurabo storyline can help unlock ways to not get a fucking calamity thrown at us since were leaving with mages. I don't know. But I sure as he'll don't want to have the Voyaging Realm sh3lved in the back.

Just my two cent on why we should finish the Voyaging Realm questions since other things will have our attention when we leave.
 
If I had to choose which was easier to conquer and hold I would choose the Voyaging Realm first.

Since realisticly I don't think we're going back to the Voyaging Realm in a long time once we go to the human sphere and I believe I remember Letzritza say the republic or something had casually 37,000 planets which.... I'll be honest probably requires our full attention to hold, especially so with apocrpha curse

I just want to get this whole Voyaging Realm thing mostly done before we abandon it for the stars. He'll, maybe completing aurabo storyline can help unlock ways to not get a fucking calamity thrown at us since were leaving with mages. I don't know. But I sure as he'll don't want to have the Voyaging Realm sh3lved in the back.

Just my two cent on why we should finish the Voyaging Realm questions since other things will have our attention when we leave.
Actually, Voyaging Realm is far bigger than Human Sphere I believe. Someone did some calculations. It is also not static.
 
[X] Into the Breach
[X] The Long Voyage


The deep feelings Hunger has about Fate moved me, if this must be done, if the choices we've made have lead us here, then let it be done right by god! PLUS ULTRA!

As for the negotiation, I want two things, a thematic opportunity to purchase OaF, and King of Winter, and more importantly, a relatively safe place to see how Hunger fares in high stakes negotiations, this is a good moment to test Tyrant, we cant actually loose here, just picks, and trade, not a big loss.
 
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