A Simple Transaction I
- Thread starter Rihaku
- Start date
- Original
If you're worried about a Hidden One afterlife, where presumably bad stuff happens for some reason, do you think they would be irritated or enraged enough to seek
vengeance for someone resurrecting people from there?
Haeliel can distract the Hidden Ones, but how long are they distracted for? I imagine their super godbrain or whatever would notice after a while.
Now, the worrying part of them seeking revenge(other than them knowing someone is scheming against them, to the degree that they can steal a soul from under
them) is that at the level they are at, I am pretty sure they can trivially do time related stuff, and could retroactively recover any number of copies of someone, so you saved one instance of someone.
This may be too paranoid, but if we suppose they arent just normally dead, or the normal Hidden One controlled afterlife ie actively bad...
vengeance for someone resurrecting people from there?
Haeliel can distract the Hidden Ones, but how long are they distracted for? I imagine their super godbrain or whatever would notice after a while.
Now, the worrying part of them seeking revenge(other than them knowing someone is scheming against them, to the degree that they can steal a soul from under
them) is that at the level they are at, I am pretty sure they can trivially do time related stuff, and could retroactively recover any number of copies of someone, so you saved one instance of someone.
This may be too paranoid, but if we suppose they arent just normally dead, or the normal Hidden One controlled afterlife ie actively bad...
HoratioVonBecker
Imperfectly Aligned
Also, rezzing Catherine is the best shot at getting Hero lore, which is to say, Hunger's backstory. That's almost certainly not something we can get in any other quest!
Wait. I wonder if that's not just a convenient figure of speech. What if the Hidden Masters gain power from 'things sacrificed for victory'? Sacrificing things was a very common theme in the Hero's story, from what we've seen.
I'm not sure what the situation is - my default assumption is that the Hero's Companions are insensate in the Void somewhere, but the Hidden Masters are willing and able to follow a disappearance from said void. Especially if it gives them a line to Hunger, who they can't see anymore and doesn't even use the name they took from him.
Wait. I wonder if that's not just a convenient figure of speech. What if the Hidden Masters gain power from 'things sacrificed for victory'? Sacrificing things was a very common theme in the Hero's story, from what we've seen.
Both parties are paracausal, so that's almost certainly not an issue.
Hardly. We're now well past the Tyrant's level, but we only got there during the King of Winter sequence. So, like, the day before yesterday. The Tyrant would still probably be at least a 1-pick, given his ludicrous skill.
- Location
- The Middle of the Howling Wilderness
Personally I want to rez Catherine because @Microwave MKII fucked up my emotions forever with this picture.
[X] The Seraph of Heroism, Haeliel [Basic, 50 Arete]
[X] Fifth Sign: As Above [Vast Empyrean]
[X] Complete Overkill (Requires Daylian or Haeliel)
[DD] Tactical Update
[X] Fifth Sign: As Above [Vast Empyrean]
[X] Complete Overkill (Requires Daylian or Haeliel)
[DD] Tactical Update
It would actually be 25A, 1P or 18A, 4P since the prerequisites for RR cost 1 pick each (2 picks and 4 arete for both dominions and 2 picks and 14 arete for both preeminences).
We would benefit from our rank when using ordinalism.
OctarineShrike
Avatar of Mandos
Well. This changes some things. Assuming we're all trying to fit the wish for major sign bonus and resurrecting Catherine into the same 3...
1 Wish -> 1st invocation of Ordinalism/Mundane Advice: We need to Rez Catherine before we need a geas save and sacrifice our epilogue benefits to do so
1 Wish -> We need a geas save before we use any other benefits: All we can use Haeliel for is running interference while we rez Catherine
1 WIsh -> 1st invocation of Chosen one empowerment: We need to Rez Catherine before we need a geas save and sacrifice our epilogue benefits to do so
1 Wish -> Rez Catherine: We have to choose between mundane advice/Ordinalism training, the ability to empower chosen ones, or keeping our Geas task saves. The first time we need a geas save, the other options are gone. We also sacrifice our Epilogue death benefits if we use chosen one empowerment or mundane advice/ordinalism training privileges.
1 Wish -> 1st invocation of Ordinalism/Mundane Advice: We need to Rez Catherine before we need a geas save and sacrifice our epilogue benefits to do so
1 Wish -> We need a geas save before we use any other benefits: All we can use Haeliel for is running interference while we rez Catherine
1 WIsh -> 1st invocation of Chosen one empowerment: We need to Rez Catherine before we need a geas save and sacrifice our epilogue benefits to do so
1 Wish -> Rez Catherine: We have to choose between mundane advice/Ordinalism training, the ability to empower chosen ones, or keeping our Geas task saves. The first time we need a geas save, the other options are gone. We also sacrifice our Epilogue death benefits if we use chosen one empowerment or mundane advice/ordinalism training privileges.
Last edited:
Zampano
🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈
- Location
- Simping for DSB
I'm not sure I agree. We have purchased some of the components already, which would likely reduce the cost. Alternatively, there could be a rebate (we have to be able to afford 25A but receive 7A as a refund).
In either event, a guaranteed success from using our Ring of Power to manipulate the Blood of a Ruler seems like the most promising avenue towards unlocking Elixir we've had all quest. We should also consider the Mirellyian bloodline unlocked by our current ~+10 Adorie (with a possible +Adorie for immediately returning the currency loan).
OctarineShrike
Avatar of Mandos
ImperatorV
The Laughing One
- Location
- The Voyaging Realm
The real question is, how much time do we have before the deadline? We still aren't at 50 Arete yet, although we're closer then I thought was possible when this vote started.
- Location
- The Middle of the Howling Wilderness
HoratioVonBecker
Imperfectly Aligned
Yeah, but we don't have a Panoply slot for it. And I'm not sure we'd want to. The Ordinal Spiral has some really kind of evil, or at least heartless, components to it. I suppose it is powerful enough to be worth considering, though...
(Actually, I kind of want to unlock Imprisoner and then Panopoly that. That would be really cool. So would Battle Magic.)
Aabcehmu
Confusion as a Natural State of Being
- Location
- Chicago, IL
- Pronouns
- Any/All
Fanwork#500 words
Bellgone One
It wasn't hard to decide, in retrospect. Being able to show off might have been enjoyable in the moment, but the people here didn't have the context to know just what exactly it meant for Ruby to exist as they do now, and the risk of them seeing Ruby as a threat rather than as a simple traveler would beat the point of the visit.
So, Ruby reabsorbed what parts of their flight scaffold they could, reformed their body into their preferred shape for social interaction, drew up the dreamsilk sheets that remained once more into a chiton, then walked up to the settlement's main gate.
The gate, like the wall itself, was a construction of seamless stone, operated through the same sort of alchemy that seemed to permeate this cultural group's technology. It would have been totally indistinguishable from the rest of the wall if Ruby weren't privy to its massive shadow in the Dream, but they were, so its position was rather obvious.
Ruby waved to gate guards who probably thought they weren't visible, and a moment later the gate opened, the stone liquifying and bubbling as it pulled open into a smooth archway, just large enough to comfortably admit the unexpected guest, before wetly melding back into a smooth face after Ruby stepped through.
They were barraged with divinatory pseudopods of surprising variety as they waited to be greeted, presumably provoked by the curious way they presented themself at the gate, each of which they answered carefully and politely, sharing only broad strokes of the nature of their visit. While handling that, they also took a moment to glance at the architecture of the settlement. It was rather spartan, with the surface structures all just stone blisters, probably the cheapest shape to construct with alchemical resources available, and most of the living space was underground. There was a gathering of people underneath Ruby at this very moment, perhaps a welcome party.
Soon enough the pestering divinations ceased, and were replaced with a man who emerged from the wall with a similar sort of bubbling reaction. He was rather stout, with close-cropped black hair, dressed in loose-fitting camouflage gear and equipped with a clear mask over his clean-shaven face, reminiscent of a gas mask but with the surface of the mask itself serving as the filter and oxygen reservoir.
"Apologies for delay, Archmage. We weren't expecting an arrival." The man said, apologetic and anxious. "Please, follow me. I am Captain Lyster. Welcome to Bellgone."
Choose one top priority.
<> Food. Ruby is hungry, naturally, and food is often a good place to start when familiarizing oneself with a culture.
<> Organization. Cpt. Lyster seems to have something of a leadership position, not only among the guards for Bellgone but in the broader community, but he isn't the only one. Getting involved in the local leadership, particularly since it seems they've parsed Ruby as a person of great prestige and import seems like a natural first step.
<> Magic. Ruby is a mage and academic twice over, and this settlement is laden with magic, and not just magic but formal magic. They can practically taste it in the air. What better to bond with locals over than a passion for the matter of magical study?
-e
<- Prev | Next ->
Bellgone One
It wasn't hard to decide, in retrospect. Being able to show off might have been enjoyable in the moment, but the people here didn't have the context to know just what exactly it meant for Ruby to exist as they do now, and the risk of them seeing Ruby as a threat rather than as a simple traveler would beat the point of the visit.
So, Ruby reabsorbed what parts of their flight scaffold they could, reformed their body into their preferred shape for social interaction, drew up the dreamsilk sheets that remained once more into a chiton, then walked up to the settlement's main gate.
The gate, like the wall itself, was a construction of seamless stone, operated through the same sort of alchemy that seemed to permeate this cultural group's technology. It would have been totally indistinguishable from the rest of the wall if Ruby weren't privy to its massive shadow in the Dream, but they were, so its position was rather obvious.
Ruby waved to gate guards who probably thought they weren't visible, and a moment later the gate opened, the stone liquifying and bubbling as it pulled open into a smooth archway, just large enough to comfortably admit the unexpected guest, before wetly melding back into a smooth face after Ruby stepped through.
They were barraged with divinatory pseudopods of surprising variety as they waited to be greeted, presumably provoked by the curious way they presented themself at the gate, each of which they answered carefully and politely, sharing only broad strokes of the nature of their visit. While handling that, they also took a moment to glance at the architecture of the settlement. It was rather spartan, with the surface structures all just stone blisters, probably the cheapest shape to construct with alchemical resources available, and most of the living space was underground. There was a gathering of people underneath Ruby at this very moment, perhaps a welcome party.
Soon enough the pestering divinations ceased, and were replaced with a man who emerged from the wall with a similar sort of bubbling reaction. He was rather stout, with close-cropped black hair, dressed in loose-fitting camouflage gear and equipped with a clear mask over his clean-shaven face, reminiscent of a gas mask but with the surface of the mask itself serving as the filter and oxygen reservoir.
"Apologies for delay, Archmage. We weren't expecting an arrival." The man said, apologetic and anxious. "Please, follow me. I am Captain Lyster. Welcome to Bellgone."
Choose one top priority.
<> Food. Ruby is hungry, naturally, and food is often a good place to start when familiarizing oneself with a culture.
<> Organization. Cpt. Lyster seems to have something of a leadership position, not only among the guards for Bellgone but in the broader community, but he isn't the only one. Getting involved in the local leadership, particularly since it seems they've parsed Ruby as a person of great prestige and import seems like a natural first step.
<> Magic. Ruby is a mage and academic twice over, and this settlement is laden with magic, and not just magic but formal magic. They can practically taste it in the air. What better to bond with locals over than a passion for the matter of magical study?
-e
<- Prev | Next ->
Last edited:
HoratioVonBecker
Imperfectly Aligned
Man, I'm having to work hard to keep up with the index! This is a good thing.
Still though, it's probably going to be really awkward if we're presumed to be a high-level military commander or something, and then turn out to be a foreign agent. Not sure what was going on with the soldiers earlier; maybe they thought us a demon? Or at least, something that broke their security somehow. Being able to kill divination-probes is something they seem to have been incredibly wary of.
Anyway, I want food for IC reasons, magic for lore reasons, and leadership for actual plot reasons. Given that plot seems likely to blow up on us if we don't deal with it properly, I think that has to be highest priority. Magic is a close second, though.
Actually, Magic is probably the most fun for me. I'm going to approval-vote them both, if that's alright?
<X> Organization
<X> Magic
Really good job on the town aesthetic, by the way. Very cool.
They aren't worried by this. Interesting.
Oh, they presume we're part of their command structure. More or less. Also, they can tell we're powerful - maybe just from the fact that we could see them - so maybe the nonhostility was because we could clearly have forced entry, but chose not to.
Still though, it's probably going to be really awkward if we're presumed to be a high-level military commander or something, and then turn out to be a foreign agent. Not sure what was going on with the soldiers earlier; maybe they thought us a demon? Or at least, something that broke their security somehow. Being able to kill divination-probes is something they seem to have been incredibly wary of.
Anyway, I want food for IC reasons, magic for lore reasons, and leadership for actual plot reasons. Given that plot seems likely to blow up on us if we don't deal with it properly, I think that has to be highest priority. Magic is a close second, though.
Actually, Magic is probably the most fun for me. I'm going to approval-vote them both, if that's alright?
<X> Organization
<X> Magic
Really good job on the town aesthetic, by the way. Very cool.
Last edited:
Aabcehmu
Confusion as a Natural State of Being
- Location
- Chicago, IL
- Pronouns
- Any/All
Discussion, for my negaverse? I'm amazed and distinctly pleased!
For what it's worth, Ruby can pretty easily tell that Lyster and the other guardsmen don't know who Ruby is, it's just that their default assumption when they encounter someone powerful, strange, and unknown is that they are an Archmage from the far side of the Diaspora. On some level, this is even true, though Ruby is certainly from much, much further than they might expect.
For what it's worth, Ruby can pretty easily tell that Lyster and the other guardsmen don't know who Ruby is, it's just that their default assumption when they encounter someone powerful, strange, and unknown is that they are an Archmage from the far side of the Diaspora. On some level, this is even true, though Ruby is certainly from much, much further than they might expect.
- Location
- The Surface Of A Hostile Planet
[X] The Seraph of Heroism, Haeliel [Basic, 50 Arete]
[X] Fifth Sign: Armor of Midnight [EveningSky]
[X] Amplification & Distillation
[X] Fifth Sign: Armor of Midnight [EveningSky]
[X] Amplification & Distillation
Lealope
Not yet invincible
- Pronouns
- She/Her
[X] Wolber Strobe [Committed, 12 Arete]
[X] Fifth Sign: Armor of Midnight [EveningSky]
[X] Blood Sorcery
Having my man W O L B E R be tied with Daylian is very appropriate given the buddy cop shenanigans they'll get into if and when Haeliel wins.
[X] Fifth Sign: Armor of Midnight [EveningSky]
[X] Blood Sorcery
Having my man W O L B E R be tied with Daylian is very appropriate given the buddy cop shenanigans they'll get into if and when Haeliel wins.
Last edited:
- Location
- Earth
[X] Daylian Erranthus [Committed, 7 Arete]
[X] Fifth Sign: Armor of Midnight [Evening Sky]
[X] Amplification & Distillation
[X] Fifth Sign: Armor of Midnight [Evening Sky]
[X] Amplification & Distillation
- Location
- Louisiana
Armor of midnights triumphant return brings me great joy. The mystery box will be ours.
DarkSideBard
Flying, without moving on
{DD} Tactical Update
So he can modulate for different concepts of devils and doors! That's an immensely powerful upgrade in versatility, though the hard limit to this strategy is still his reserves. For some reason the first association that comes to mind is Maxwell's Demon, which isn't actually so much of a demon at all? Probably because it has a "door" contextually built in, ha.
Anyways, best not to rush ahead, even if it expends some of the precious time that can be spent in this form. It isn't a waste to use that mental capability here instead of forcing it all onto the battlefield. Information is king.
<R> Organization
Food and magic will both keep quite well, but understanding more about society and making a good impression on a person of significance is best done first. If it's not a disaster, both food and magic opportunities will follow, probably with even more efficiency that Ruby can explore them themself!
Patched a few small bugs out of the CYOA, the most major of which is that a single invisible extra space (lmao, programming) was causing the Progression Artifacts to not show up when the Persona Choices were selected. I didn't notice anything too in need of correction besides that, but as always let me know if there's anything to be fixed. The pure image version of the CYOA should come out by the end of the month, which will be sized appropriately for mobile users. After that, I'm going to store up ideas for a Part 2 to the CYOA and see if there's anything interesting that I can do there. If you have specific feedback on the concepts that got used/what you most enjoyed/what you would like to see, then I'm open for feedback!
One last build idea! I'm striving towards that final Arete barrier...onwards, to the shining tomorrow!
-Character: The Rebels
-Combat-type Cursebearer: Phobos and Deimos (-6RV)
-Curses: Doom of the Saint, Brand of the Wretched, Doom of the Martyr (+6RV -> +6LR)
-Primary Remittance: Swords: Saint Halo
-Lesser Remittances: Justice, Temperance, The Hierophant, Judgement X2, The Lovers: The Evening Sky
Build Idea: If a good person can't solve a conflict, and a terrorist can't, better jack things up a notch and become a saint! There're precious few builds that can take Doom of the Saint AND Doom of the Martyr without fucking imploding, but frankly Saint Halo makes both of these disadvantages less materially potent for sure.
Winning through luminance of spirit is directly counter to the way humans have done things throughout history, but is a very appropriate way to defeat the Souls. Justice + Judgement is extremely on brand; saint's gotta serve a higher power. The Hierophant is obvious, because Saints tend to have disciples. Temperance might as well just be temperance, though in this case it might actually be better to choose a resource like "Selfishness" to allow one to function properly on occasion. Doom of the Martyr's downside is indirectly mitigated by Saint Halo, because people who do evil unto you will actually change their minds over time, even if you let them go! And the Evening Sky is actually an extremely superior defense when it comes to The Host, where the aliens don't even really actively develop weapons technology, and allows you to survive non-purposeful attacks and accidents, which are really the greatest risk factor.
This is a build that can't ever take Indenture, because it most likely fails at assassination completely, even if it's...indirectly?...really exceptional at acquiring territory. Not conquering it, just "having" it.
In terms of growth, the available baseline is pretty much just all exploring the technological possibilities of the world. There's some chance that they could use the Saint Halo stats and Temperance to maybe try to manually advance The Evening Sky over time to get some Magic out of it? Mythwells are fairly adaptable, so it should be doable over a long timespan even without Accretion. And then of course, there's whatever boons can be gotten from cultivating and employing Accursed Favor while possessing Justice. This build is mostly really, really suited to the accomplishing the Cursebearers' goals as a True Messianic Figure.
-Combat-type Cursebearer: Phobos and Deimos (-6RV)
-Curses: Doom of the Saint, Brand of the Wretched, Doom of the Martyr (+6RV -> +6LR)
-Primary Remittance: Swords: Saint Halo
-Lesser Remittances: Justice, Temperance, The Hierophant, Judgement X2, The Lovers: The Evening Sky
Build Idea: If a good person can't solve a conflict, and a terrorist can't, better jack things up a notch and become a saint! There're precious few builds that can take Doom of the Saint AND Doom of the Martyr without fucking imploding, but frankly Saint Halo makes both of these disadvantages less materially potent for sure.
Winning through luminance of spirit is directly counter to the way humans have done things throughout history, but is a very appropriate way to defeat the Souls. Justice + Judgement is extremely on brand; saint's gotta serve a higher power. The Hierophant is obvious, because Saints tend to have disciples. Temperance might as well just be temperance, though in this case it might actually be better to choose a resource like "Selfishness" to allow one to function properly on occasion. Doom of the Martyr's downside is indirectly mitigated by Saint Halo, because people who do evil unto you will actually change their minds over time, even if you let them go! And the Evening Sky is actually an extremely superior defense when it comes to The Host, where the aliens don't even really actively develop weapons technology, and allows you to survive non-purposeful attacks and accidents, which are really the greatest risk factor.
This is a build that can't ever take Indenture, because it most likely fails at assassination completely, even if it's...indirectly?...really exceptional at acquiring territory. Not conquering it, just "having" it.
In terms of growth, the available baseline is pretty much just all exploring the technological possibilities of the world. There's some chance that they could use the Saint Halo stats and Temperance to maybe try to manually advance The Evening Sky over time to get some Magic out of it? Mythwells are fairly adaptable, so it should be doable over a long timespan even without Accretion. And then of course, there's whatever boons can be gotten from cultivating and employing Accursed Favor while possessing Justice. This build is mostly really, really suited to the accomplishing the Cursebearers' goals as a True Messianic Figure.