Some Decimation thoughts, starting with the Curse itself.
[ ] The Decimator's Affliction - You will naturally absorb the total fundamental life force of the realm you currently inhabit at a rate of 10% per year. Area affected is exceptionally large and scales with your own power; a weak Progression-type might only affect half a continent, while a Combat-type would affect an entire solar system. In the absence of sufficient life force, you will begin to bleed essence, losing components of your powers, skills, identity, memories, and ontological veracity at a proportional rate. Though there are many paths of mitigation available, none of them are pleasant or easy.
In ancient roman times, a Decimation was a form of Roman military discipline in which every tenth man in a group was executed. So naturally this takes 10% of life force per year.
"Hunger. Technically I'm a City Lord, but they've likely had me deposed."
As he spoke, he felt the essence of the ring shift, become his in full, interlacing its nature with his own. Now, like a ring of power, he would only grow mightier and more cunning with time. Age would have no purchase upon him, and even the Tyrant's curse that had stolen his youth would be reversed and superseded. He hoped that taking this name would also bind the Decimator's Affliction, allowing him to exert some measure of control over it. That would be a priority in the near future.
Here we see Hunger picking his name. Both ring and curse deal with life force so the name Hunger works well for both. It also hints at the ring being a potential source of future Decimation mitigation.
As the man died a new sensation emerged from the ring, an onrushing infusion of blood and vigor, vitality wound so tightly within him that it seemed fit to burst. Hunger, and the Curse of Hunger, the Affliction of the Decimator that drained life from the world, would be sated for a time.
The pirate sates Decimation. Notice that the source of the vitality that sates the Decimation comes via the ring.
[ ] The Tyrant Beast - Of course the Apocryphal Curse would strike once again when he was wounded and separated from his allies. Nonetheless Hunger mustered all his remaining strength to oppose the creature which reminded him so much of the man he gave everything to slay. Its towering bulk, its claws like drawn sabers, its scales like congealed lead - all paled before the glint of cold experience in its eye, evaluating him as rival or prize.
Reduced % of Apocryphal Curse for 2 weeks
Resets A Hunger, Sated (gain ~2 days)
A potential target. Like the pirate, it superficially resembles the Tyrant.
[ ] Decimator - Huntress' Moon: Impairs all conventional mitigation attempts by 40%, but dramatically increases the number and availability of targets for A Hunger, Sated. Targets will always be at least minimally challenging or in some way exceptional.
Huntress's moon seems to refer to Artimis, the female goddess of the moon and hunting (among other things). She is a fertility goddess that kills things. One time she demanded human sacrifice but then changed her mind and let a deer die instead.
It's not clear what relationship Artimis has with Decimation or why her name is invoked here. Maybe it's just a colorful way to say that Hunger is a divine hunter now?
Before we took this option both Decimation targets closely resembled the Tyrant. It was only after taking this advancement and expanding valid targets for Decimation that we started to see things like tower-destruction and fishing as valid targets.
Note that the requirements for Huntress' Moon do include notability or challenge, but by themselves do not suffice. For example, you could have to target a highly guarded nobleperson, or a prominent artist of some kind.
Please note that it's notability OR challenge, meaning that having both is not strictly required. Also, while challenge implies the possibility of failure, failure does not always mean death. Sometimes it just means that your fish gets away.
I think that we can safely assume that when Rihaku says 'target' he generally means killing.
[ ] Wolf Moon - 'Ber' becomes a valid target for A Hunger, Sated.
A wolf moon is the first full moon of the year. It's a time of cold and hunger and danger, apparently full of howling wolves. Perhaps the name simply refers to the general slump Hunger was caught in?
[ ] The Contest of Ages - The Republic-sponsored trade city of Valenheim is hosting its biannual fishing contest. A long-time trade partner of the Sovereignty, Valenheim boasts a cosmopolitan gothic appeal and several of the most dangerous fish species known to Voyaging man.
*Huntress' Moon Target: Triumph. Hunger must achieve victory in the Biannual FIshing Contest, which attracts all and sundry from a large swathe of Voyaging Realm civilizations. Note this may entail following rules, or somehow overcoming them; short of catching the unambiguously most impressive fish, the subjective judgement of arbiters could also be a hurdle, as Hunger is not the most personable of individuals when subjected to the demands of others... to say nothing of the potential for politicking and sabotage.
*Errantry potential: Modest. May yield up to .1 Base Rank upon completing, depending on actions taken.
*Distance: Near. Estimated 7-10 days to completion.
[ ] The Opalescent Tower - Deep in the fastness of a hidden valley at the furthermost reaches of the Voyaging Realm is a kingdom whose princess was imprisoned in a tower of opalescent sky by a Tyrant of unfathomable malice. The magic of this place is the stuff of foundational myth, its lidless Arcanist's walls piercing earth, cloud, firmament and vastness to sunder its borders clear of the greater Realm. Yet to a voyaging warrior of Hunger's legend, even such obstacles as these may be overcome.
*Huntress' Moon Target: The Tower of Sky. Neither princess nor Tyrant must be slain, but the tower itself destroyed, ground into earth and rendered into ash and dust.
*Errantry potential: High. May yield up to .175 Base Rank upon completion, depending on actions taken.
*Distance: Far. Estimated 14-21 days to completion; half that with the Decimation Lens.
*May encounter additional magic systems or legendary Artifacts worthy of being wielded by one's self or one's allies.
Two more targets, our first after Huntress' moon expanded our available targets.
All targets so far have had an emotional connection. The pirate looked like the Tyrant, the Tyrant beast was obvious, Ber and his party mirrored Hunger and his party in uncomfortable ways, and the personal importance of the fishing contest are obvious. Like Unelemental mentioned, the personal connection for the tower seems to be with our cloak, which wants very much to be reunited with the tower. The curse doesn't seem all that concerned with whether the personal connection is positive or negative, just that it exists in some way.
...
I was wondering how, exactly, taking the ring as both jewelry and name helped Hunger deal with the Decimation.
The first trick is obvious; Decimation steals life force, and the Ring has Life as its chief dominion, so it's only natural Hunger would be able to use his power over life to manipulate the Decimation. As evidence notice that normally the effect of Decimation is invisible and it's impossible to see where the life force stolen goes, but when Hunger force-feeds it with a Decimation target the energy being devoured is visible and can be seen being absorbed by the Ring.
Naming himself Hunger increased his compatibility with the ring, which also increased his ability to use the Ring to sate Decimation. Gisena is something like 95% compatible so she is still separate from her ring; Hunger IS the ring, he states this in the text in "Red of Sky and Fang" so his compatibility is 100%.
I also think that he's sacrificing things other than just life force to the curse. Looking again at the description of Decimation, it's mentioned that in absence of life force Decimation feeds on Hunger directly, taking "essence... powers, skills, identity, memories, and ontological veracity". So what Hunger is doing when he kills a Decimation target is that he's using the Ring of Life to force-feed Decimation bits of himself, something it would normally only do if it had no other targets. And since he controls the feeding he can insure it only feeds on things that don't matter much.
For most of the Decimation targets so far Hunger has been feeding Decimation experiences that are tied deeply into his "identity, memories", like the pirate, Tyrant beast, fishing, and Ber. The Tower is different; the connection here is that it's tied to his Cape, so he's feeding Decimation some of his "powers... skills", or at least the potential for power.
Sating Decimation with deeply emotionally impactful and personal experiences seems ideal since I'd rather not sacrifice powers or trillions of people. Catching a fish, cooking it, and eating it seems like the ideal Decimation mitigation scenario, but perhaps time will reveal other aspects of Hunger's personality that we can explore in Decimation mitigation scenarios.
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