A Simple Transaction I
- Thread starter Rihaku
- Start date
- Original
Last time around I guessed that Cut Through might mean Praxis access but never said it, so this time I'ma put down one of my guesses that I'm musing on, for this quest:
Jotarun, the Hero of the Orcs, also survived his confrontation with Gisena. He, too, got thrown into the Voyaging Realm. Perhaps deep into the heart of it.
... And he will be the being that will be going after Aobaru.
He probably got dumped somewhere where he could get a lot of fights immediately, and will be growing strong all the while. And the reason he will be going after Aobaru, is because Aobaru was gifted, or has within him, some kind of ability to access routines or things in the Voyaging Realm. The equivalent of access codes, or ability to restore power to the Voyaging Realm. And that same access path, or power source, would allow Jotarun to obtain enough power to conquer the whole of the Voyaging Realm -- because he'd be able to tap directly into its systems or its power source, or he'd be able to take Aobaru's link to the Voyaging Realm and plug in himself.
And of course Haeliel's mystery box will reorient him to target Hunger, because Haeliel's gift or charge will grant Hunger the same affinity for the Voyaging Realm and its restoration, as does Aobaru. Except greater in power. And so, there'll be no need to go for Aobaru, when Hunger would be such a much more juicy target.
EDIT:
Oh, right, another guess that I remembered thinking about.
Jotarun, the Hero of the Orcs, also survived his confrontation with Gisena. He, too, got thrown into the Voyaging Realm. Perhaps deep into the heart of it.
... And he will be the being that will be going after Aobaru.
He probably got dumped somewhere where he could get a lot of fights immediately, and will be growing strong all the while. And the reason he will be going after Aobaru, is because Aobaru was gifted, or has within him, some kind of ability to access routines or things in the Voyaging Realm. The equivalent of access codes, or ability to restore power to the Voyaging Realm. And that same access path, or power source, would allow Jotarun to obtain enough power to conquer the whole of the Voyaging Realm -- because he'd be able to tap directly into its systems or its power source, or he'd be able to take Aobaru's link to the Voyaging Realm and plug in himself.
And of course Haeliel's mystery box will reorient him to target Hunger, because Haeliel's gift or charge will grant Hunger the same affinity for the Voyaging Realm and its restoration, as does Aobaru. Except greater in power. And so, there'll be no need to go for Aobaru, when Hunger would be such a much more juicy target.
EDIT:
Oh, right, another guess that I remembered thinking about.
"Plerion-that-was." I wonder if Plerion was like the Shard of the Arcanist? Related to the Foremost in some way. That same sort of hyphenated naming scheme. Of course, it's not "He-who-was-the-Maker" like the Maiden and Arcanist hyphenated titles, but.
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A shard of a shard could be a thing, I suppose.
Enohthree
Hypersane
[X] Myth and Legend
Let me talk for a minute about why this option is just Wonderful.
1) The minus 0.5 Rank effect. It's the only rank modifier we've seen of its kind like that, and it has this amazing synergy in that by not buffing ourselves directly it effectively if not truly stacks with OaF and our Blood Casting. Facing a Rank 12 organic being means we out rank it by virtue of our +2 Blood casting and its -0.5 rank malus. That's insane. It's also just a fantastic buff in general, the widespread nature of its effect combined with the fact that we've invested actions making her an administrator for our lands means a comprehensive and well rounded defense against all who oppose our shared interests.
The more lands we have Adorie administer so as to avoid Apocryphal splash damage, the better value this becomes as all of our conquered territories would benefit.
2) Massively increasing research speed right before we drag Adorie and Gisena both into a hyperbolic time chamber with no worries about consumables. Come on, there's an unlock called Foremost Maker! Who doesn't want to see what that does!? This is in addition to what she could be capable of helping us with getting the next Signs without costing 50 Arete and 5 picks, since that was the accelerationist cost even if that's at a discount.
3) ++++++++++All Stats.
Our current base Intelligence is 7
Our current base Wits is 7
Our current Manipulation, the thing we just used to win a 5 pick fight, is 7.
Our Luck is 5.
Marvel in the sheer comprehensive benefit that a Hunger who is more than twice as intelligent and capable at manipulation, and thrice as lucky, could benefit from. Seriously, +All Stats is great and we shouldn't gloss over them like we have in this vote.
Let me talk for a minute about why this option is just Wonderful.
1) The minus 0.5 Rank effect. It's the only rank modifier we've seen of its kind like that, and it has this amazing synergy in that by not buffing ourselves directly it effectively if not truly stacks with OaF and our Blood Casting. Facing a Rank 12 organic being means we out rank it by virtue of our +2 Blood casting and its -0.5 rank malus. That's insane. It's also just a fantastic buff in general, the widespread nature of its effect combined with the fact that we've invested actions making her an administrator for our lands means a comprehensive and well rounded defense against all who oppose our shared interests.
The more lands we have Adorie administer so as to avoid Apocryphal splash damage, the better value this becomes as all of our conquered territories would benefit.
2) Massively increasing research speed right before we drag Adorie and Gisena both into a hyperbolic time chamber with no worries about consumables. Come on, there's an unlock called Foremost Maker! Who doesn't want to see what that does!? This is in addition to what she could be capable of helping us with getting the next Signs without costing 50 Arete and 5 picks, since that was the accelerationist cost even if that's at a discount.
3) ++++++++++All Stats.
Our current base Intelligence is 7
Our current base Wits is 7
Our current Manipulation, the thing we just used to win a 5 pick fight, is 7.
Our Luck is 5.
Marvel in the sheer comprehensive benefit that a Hunger who is more than twice as intelligent and capable at manipulation, and thrice as lucky, could benefit from. Seriously, +All Stats is great and we shouldn't gloss over them like we have in this vote.
Rihaku
The Internet
Not quite, it treats your Rank as 10 if it would be lower than 10, but has no effect if your Rank is already higher than 10, as you see in the blurb for Might!
- Location
- Louisiana
[X] A Hero's Reward
[X] Least Foresleep
I really don't have much of a preference on the condition so I'll vote foresleep if it makes people more likely to vote for a hero's reward.
[X] Least Foresleep
I really don't have much of a preference on the condition so I'll vote foresleep if it makes people more likely to vote for a hero's reward.
Yeah. It's probable that it's just referring to the works of Plerion, and how he made Star Forges and other wonders of artifice, and that all that remains is... the remnant that the society of the Temple were able to keep running. And then Hunger pulled away the Ring from the Jenga tower, and it came crumbling down; and so only a little bit is left of Plerion-that-was.
Alternatively, yeah, it's possible that Plerion was an avatar of a shard. Like the way Augustine mentioned "that purple bitch" sending out avatars, in her interlude, when wondering about Gisena. So if the Arcanist could send out avatars, so could whomever-Plerion-was/is. And maybe one such fragment had adventures with the Temple crew, and tried to arrest the decay of the Voyaging Realm using the power of a Ring, and eventually got more and more desperate or was overwhelmed by the Ring or something.
- Location
- US
The issue with this is that Myth and Legend requires Adorie to come along in the party, explicitly not administering our kingdoms so they wouldn't be able to avoid Apocryphal splash damage.
Considering one of the big draws for getting Adorie in the first place would be so our kingdoms wouldn't have to suffer under the wrath of the Apocryphal Curse, this is a bit of an issue. It wouldn't be inaccurate to say that the Apocryphal Curse makes the few days of Decimator that there was so much moralizing about during the Tower vote seem like a bugbite compared to a machine gun.
In addition, two of the actions for the timeskip were centered around getting Adorie ready for taking over as Regent. Bringing her over would waste these as well.
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- Location
- 1
Does anyone in the thread have experience adding sound effects to MP4s(and an interest in helping out)? I'm working on an animation in about the same style as the generic sword training one I did (except several times longer) and I'd like to add sound to it, but I don't have any experience doing so.
I've finished the first 8ish seconds visually:
(This is the compressed, easier to upload, version; the final product would have a clearer/less compressed image.)
edit: should I assume all these reactions are people saying 'I can help'?
I've finished the first 8ish seconds visually:
(This is the compressed, easier to upload, version; the final product would have a clearer/less compressed image.)
edit:
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So. My original vote was Myth and Refined, because I expected if anything would beat out myth, it'd be Armory, and losing Praxis wouldn't matter in that case. Then I switched to approval voting both Myth and Reward, because I still didn't think Reward would win, and I was genuinely irritated at people continuing to idolize the Forebearer when I consider his connection to one of our best sources of power to be its main drawback. But now that it seems A Hero's Reward genuinely has a chance to win, I'm going to accept that the only Condition that is remotely acceptable with it is the Forebear inspired one, so I'll vote for that in order to stop us from dying if Reward+Exertion wins, and remove my vote for Reward because I'm worried we'll still have the anti-synergistic condition if it wins.
[X] Myth and Legend
[X] Least Foresleep
[X] Myth and Legend
[X] Least Foresleep
We also had also unlocked a bunch of EFB unlocks for Aeira. I am sure we'll see what they do any day now.
I have zero trust in Sign Research acceleration mattering one bit, based on what we saw of it so far; when signs 4-5 took entire platinum reserve of Nilfel to unlock and specifically made that a problem that we needed to resolve, Adorie managing to unlock 6-7 without some sort of a obnoxious cost or an unreasonable timeframe is not a reasonable-to-expect outctome.
Tbh, Myth doesn't need any irrelevant maybes and stuff to compete; +10Allstats is, as you pointed out, pretty stupid good. So are Rank modifiers, so is the utility of Rank 10 Myrellian Bloodline-unlocked Adorie. So are other misc benefits, list is long. So is not having to deal with complictions, and just... not having to roll the dice, no matter how good or bad probabilities are.
Wolfy made a good argument; Myth Just Works.
With second part of the Apocryphal one-two punch being a pretty threatening possibility, not having to scramble and roll and risk has a lot of worth. All this makes me Actually Pretty Fine with Myth winning. Just pulling it through to Pillar-time and having enough Arete to buy RR while we get there would be a pretty major victory.
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No it doesn't. I am sick and tired of seeing people repeat this over and over, when the only thing bringing her with us provides over leaving her in the Voyaging Realm is the octupled Praxis endurance. We are still her Champion, so we still have minimum Rank 10, Might still penalizes all our opponents, and the change to our combat endurance we're actually going to use is Inheritance letting us almost spam Thursted Thorn.
Aabcehmu
Confusion as a Natural State of Being
- Location
- Chicago, IL
- Pronouns
- Any/All
Well, the first step is probably to shoot them. These are Bonesaw cyborgs, so they probably aren't going to go down easy, but especially with your enhanced pistols, even body shots should hopefully interrupt any long range attacks the two of them can put out. Keep them suppressed and try to fry Coronary since it seems more likely to be the one giving you a headache. If you get an opportunity to just fly past them, take it. It's unlikely either could keep up with you and even more unlikely that the Nine know enough about you to know that you are as dangerous as you plan to be.
I don't know if it's been mentioned yet, but it's a real shame the King of All Seasons option's all but greyed out now. Refinement of Purpose goes so well with Uttermost and All-Defeating Stance; all of that Will translates into Might and then to Power of Ruin, which mitigates our Curses.
- Location
- US
And losing out on the octupled Praxis endurance that Myth and Legend just purchased is a negligible loss? That's one of the bigger stretches I've seen, to be honest. That's a very substantial part of the combat boost from Myth and Legend right there, to be frank, because it allows for far more Refinement of Quickness spam.
You'd also lose out on the Condition Nullification for future conditions if Myth and Legend was purchased and Adorie was left behind as a Regent, which isn't something to ignore either.
The way the incentives look to me, I doubt Adorie would be left as Regent if Myth and Legend was purchased, so I can pretty confidently say that not having a way to deflect the Apocryphal Curse from our territories is a genuine flaw with Myth and Legend.
IDK at which point more Ruin translates into more Mutigation. Since we got the default 5%, we powered it up... A whole lot, but it is still 5% rn.
Anyway, if Myth is going to win - and it is winning - I am prolly voting for taking Adorie out of the realm, yeah. It probably can manage without her for a bit, and I don't really care if it can't.
I am also really not feeling like leaving any of Myth's value going to waste, and I am not feeling like leaving a lynchpin of a powerful EFB alone in the same realm with the Aobaru's Terminator. Especially since Terminator is going to get a -0.5 Rank debuff from her, perceive it as an attack and a powerful debuff, and will probably try to kill her before chasing us into Human Sphere.
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Compared to the already *hundreds of Thorn endurance from making its cost Linear instead of exponential? Yes. Between our new Rank from Champion and Saber, the enemy debuff from Might, and spamming Thorn, I don't really anticipate using Refinement of Quickness at all on anything short of an Apocryphal proc. The Condition Nullification on future conditions isn't negligible in the same way, but I, at least, will be voting to leave her as Regent, because anti-Apocryphal is more valuable, although we might go pick her up temporarily in the unlikely event we ever have an Apocryphal proc that we actually have prep time for.
- Location
- 1
Only if she can't administrate her territories while in our viscinity, something gisena may be able to handle with artifice and Adorie may be able to handle with strategic Rank debuffs assuming she can control her Debuffs or the debuffing mechanism can understand cause and effect as opposed to only working on people whos thought process includes "I'm working against adorie" in it (and frankly, if it doesn't work on people who don't think that, it's pretty much useless because people don't need to know who Adorie is or care in order to attack us.).
The main thing I have against Hero's Reward is that it risk spending a reroll. No, I don't care that the chances are low. People voting for it are quite literally risking our hard to get lifeline against 4-5 pick challenges. And consindering the thread has been tempted by the rewards and spectacle of such a fight, we are going to find ourselves in another one.
Birdsie
Sharp Talons Cleave The Worthy
- Location
- Poland
Wordcount: 1560, mostly because I'm tired and it's late.
Rihaku-10 said:
Unrelenting
Resubstantiation was a difficult process, and delicate in many ways.
It was especially so due to his devouring of Paradise. The shards of the realm above steadily raining down into his soul and simultaneously depriving him of any ontological grounding, while he was unwaveringly trying to keep himself afloat before reaching the Earth. It was a precarious balance to maintain, and he needed to maintain that balance for years.
But finally, it was completed. After countless nights and days spent in something that a mortal would consider to be close to meditation, the Scion assembled his powers together with himself.
Drawing widely on that memory of gross material emanation, he formed an ectoplasmic caul then interwove it, as if co-locating within the same exact space, a body of flesh, blood, bone, and brain.
He manifested on a glade among forested terrain, in between a pair of mountains. The air was thick with the characteristic smell of pine wood. He didn't expect physical sensations to be so welcome, but he'd spent years - centuries, if not longer - in silent deliberation, in a state between death, life, reincarnation, and paradigm.
The physical sensations were alien to him in the same way that spiritual sensations were to a human who'd never seen a mage working the craft of shooting fireworks from their fingertips; but far more acute, like an anvil pressing upon a thin strand of iron string, rather than a wide floor. Its pressure and tension failed to leave him, as did the awareness of his task.
There wasn't much time left. Burning through so much essence, assimilating its finery into works, ate more time than expected. Karkatriel prognosticated Ozorbothan's arrival to be in two decades, but the fell-sleep of the Scion took most of that duration.
The Scion had... four years, perhaps five or six, in order to accumulate a power-base impressive enough to evite the inevitable.
Karkatriel was, unfortunately, gone, and beyond salvation. The last edifice of the god-machines created at the universe's beginning to guide lesser races to ascension perished.
She lived on in his memories, and for that, he would remember her. The empty platitudes she offered in soul-crushing nihilism would not be forgotten either, although with no malice; the despair of those last actions would be reforged anew in the Grace she left behind, into a bright shield of fuming, orichalcum defense and into a phosphorescent blade of avenging scarlet.
Vengeance... No, that didn't sound right. Vengeance was an emotional response. It was reserved for those who had personal enmity.
Not vengeance, then. Punishment.
The Scion of Creation resembled its virtues; the virtues of God above who strained to create it in the times before, but also the creations he cherished most: humanity. There was a place for flaws and error there, the Scion understood, so it would be important to act rationally and with self-awareness. The vista of arrogance was tempting, but temptation was anathema to progress.
And, in arrogance, there was anathema to cordiality, survival, and a million things besides. He could meditate on the issue unfailingly once the threat had passed.
For now, the Scion needed to focus. He'd chosen to integrate Humanism and Crest Magic into himself at the beginning of his ascension. It would behoove him to use them prudently, doing his most to follow the path of maximum growth. There was a non-dismissable possibility of simply outscaling the threat the Final King presented.
With that in mind, the Noble Scion set out with a goal in mind.
It was as obvious as coming daylight that he'd need to leverage himself to a greater state yet. Ozorbothan was not to be underestimated; his agents fought and fell many of the arch-angels and seraphs whose recumbent power the Scion now held onto desperately.
His greatest boon here would be the Crest. Its simplistically assimilating properties were ingenious. He glanced at its form on his chest, under the tunic he wore as an outfit: a tattoo in the form of a pair of stark golden seraph wings extending over his pectorals, then running down with a sharp-bright spine of orange. For its rather innocuous appearance, it was a weapon of mass destruction hiding in sheep's clothing.
The Crest was a super-computer made from empyrean Grace, concealed as a mere personalized tattoo inscribed on his body. It would analyze, consolidate, and then feed the Scion information and power on the powers he encountered, starting with the mundane, but ending possibly with other Grace-derived abilities he could've gotten.
It was his best bet in this contest. In order to use it efficiently, he'd need mortal thaumaturges to display their craft. He would learn other magics without surcease and learn to chain them in order to learn even more, and then he would meditate in order to solidify his gains into a brilliant, shining ingot of undefeatable progress.
That sounded like an idea. The Scion nodded to himself, and started to plan around the fulfillment of that goal.
---
The choices were Devour, Resubstantiation, Human Magic, and Crest. The Humanist principles you have unlocked are Agragian, Crafter's, Artist's, Warrior's. A potent mixture, with much potential for exponentiation and multiplicative growth patterns.
Before anything, however, what is the Noble Scion's name?
[ ] Adam - Or, at least, such was his name before his grand deliberation among the stars of the most high. Albeit the name carries no sentimental value to him anymore, it would make sense to return to it. Once something is named, it carries that name - is that not simple logic?
+Wisdom, -Heartlessness.
[ ] Charles - The Noble Scion, no longer human but reborn as something far beyond, will rename himself. As he lives currently, he is transcendent, and so it would make sense to call himself after someone like that: a friend in his previous life, who'd been an endless source of inspiration. Codename: Charlemagne.
-Heartlessness, +Humanity.
[ ] Dream - A mortal name is a caprice ill-suited to someone as almighty as the Noble Scion of Creation, the Sage of a Thousand Orisons. After deliberation and meditation, spanning longer than the total lifespan of most civilized societies, it only makes sense to carry that proud self-reflection as a badge. The Noble Scion is a dreamer who became the dreamed; in other words, he is Dream.
++Wisdom.
[ ] Nameless - The Noble Scion requires no name; he is the Noble Scion. That is all there is to it.
-Humanity, +Heartlessness, ++Willpower, ++Wisdom.
And now, select an initial strategy:
[ ] Garden of Eden - While civilization seems to be the obvious solution, the obvious solution is not always the best. One should climb a ladder one step at a time, rather than skipping four or six at a time - such actions endanger stumbling, and stumbling on a ladder is dangerous, even from a low height. The more the Scion continues, the greater he must be ready to err on the side of caution.
He will use the Agrarian Principle to its fullest strength, hunting the nearby wildlife and gathering plants. He will then proceed to, essentially, play Minecraft for a couple of days in order to accumulate a veritable garden of mystical plant life and animals. With such a considerable boon on his side, he'll be able to eat plants to enhance his training using the Warrior's Principle, and use the Warrior's Principle to start drafting much better strategies for dealing with his approach to civilization, which is going to have even better effects considering he would now have amazing produce to offer in exchange for services or objects.
*The Scion spends a couple of days on hard work, elevating himself from nothingness - a familiar action indeed!
*The best vector for triumph is to maximize your starting power. If power can be multiplied rather than increased, then making sure you have 20 power rather than 10 at the first minute is critical.
*Low-risk, medium-benefit.
[ ] Staff of Life - The Scion's foremost techniques, such as the Artist's Principle or the Crest, demand contact with civilization in some form in order to have their benefits reaped most sufficiently. The Crest is unable to learn magic without being able to witness it first-hand, and some of the Principles are less useful when not in contact with fellow humans.
The Scion will direct himself towards the nearest, populated center and register with the local government. A couple of local thaumaturges will gawk in puzzlement at his existence, but otherwise, no one will see a reason to bring out any alarm bells - he is, for now, a moderately interesting anomaly that radiates sainthood and enlightenment, but not the auspicious portent of a messianic second coming, let alone the latent armageddon brewing in the stomach of the cosmos.
This will enable greater strategical play to come into consideration, including the study of additional magic, or making the most of the Scion's gifts. However, since he does not have much to his name at the present, he will often be negotiating from a position of little leverage. An equalizer would be much appreciated.
*Go to civilization instantly, and see what you can leverage with 'mere' enlightenment.
*Starting power can go much higher if you luck into getting a 30, rather than a 20.
*High-risk, potentially super-high-benefit.
[ ] Write-in - Another plan? Subject to QM veto.
Resubstantiation was a difficult process, and delicate in many ways.
It was especially so due to his devouring of Paradise. The shards of the realm above steadily raining down into his soul and simultaneously depriving him of any ontological grounding, while he was unwaveringly trying to keep himself afloat before reaching the Earth. It was a precarious balance to maintain, and he needed to maintain that balance for years.
But finally, it was completed. After countless nights and days spent in something that a mortal would consider to be close to meditation, the Scion assembled his powers together with himself.
Drawing widely on that memory of gross material emanation, he formed an ectoplasmic caul then interwove it, as if co-locating within the same exact space, a body of flesh, blood, bone, and brain.
He manifested on a glade among forested terrain, in between a pair of mountains. The air was thick with the characteristic smell of pine wood. He didn't expect physical sensations to be so welcome, but he'd spent years - centuries, if not longer - in silent deliberation, in a state between death, life, reincarnation, and paradigm.
The physical sensations were alien to him in the same way that spiritual sensations were to a human who'd never seen a mage working the craft of shooting fireworks from their fingertips; but far more acute, like an anvil pressing upon a thin strand of iron string, rather than a wide floor. Its pressure and tension failed to leave him, as did the awareness of his task.
There wasn't much time left. Burning through so much essence, assimilating its finery into works, ate more time than expected. Karkatriel prognosticated Ozorbothan's arrival to be in two decades, but the fell-sleep of the Scion took most of that duration.
The Scion had... four years, perhaps five or six, in order to accumulate a power-base impressive enough to evite the inevitable.
Karkatriel was, unfortunately, gone, and beyond salvation. The last edifice of the god-machines created at the universe's beginning to guide lesser races to ascension perished.
She lived on in his memories, and for that, he would remember her. The empty platitudes she offered in soul-crushing nihilism would not be forgotten either, although with no malice; the despair of those last actions would be reforged anew in the Grace she left behind, into a bright shield of fuming, orichalcum defense and into a phosphorescent blade of avenging scarlet.
Vengeance... No, that didn't sound right. Vengeance was an emotional response. It was reserved for those who had personal enmity.
Not vengeance, then. Punishment.
The Scion of Creation resembled its virtues; the virtues of God above who strained to create it in the times before, but also the creations he cherished most: humanity. There was a place for flaws and error there, the Scion understood, so it would be important to act rationally and with self-awareness. The vista of arrogance was tempting, but temptation was anathema to progress.
And, in arrogance, there was anathema to cordiality, survival, and a million things besides. He could meditate on the issue unfailingly once the threat had passed.
For now, the Scion needed to focus. He'd chosen to integrate Humanism and Crest Magic into himself at the beginning of his ascension. It would behoove him to use them prudently, doing his most to follow the path of maximum growth. There was a non-dismissable possibility of simply outscaling the threat the Final King presented.
With that in mind, the Noble Scion set out with a goal in mind.
It was as obvious as coming daylight that he'd need to leverage himself to a greater state yet. Ozorbothan was not to be underestimated; his agents fought and fell many of the arch-angels and seraphs whose recumbent power the Scion now held onto desperately.
His greatest boon here would be the Crest. Its simplistically assimilating properties were ingenious. He glanced at its form on his chest, under the tunic he wore as an outfit: a tattoo in the form of a pair of stark golden seraph wings extending over his pectorals, then running down with a sharp-bright spine of orange. For its rather innocuous appearance, it was a weapon of mass destruction hiding in sheep's clothing.
The Crest was a super-computer made from empyrean Grace, concealed as a mere personalized tattoo inscribed on his body. It would analyze, consolidate, and then feed the Scion information and power on the powers he encountered, starting with the mundane, but ending possibly with other Grace-derived abilities he could've gotten.
It was his best bet in this contest. In order to use it efficiently, he'd need mortal thaumaturges to display their craft. He would learn other magics without surcease and learn to chain them in order to learn even more, and then he would meditate in order to solidify his gains into a brilliant, shining ingot of undefeatable progress.
That sounded like an idea. The Scion nodded to himself, and started to plan around the fulfillment of that goal.
---
The choices were Devour, Resubstantiation, Human Magic, and Crest. The Humanist principles you have unlocked are Agragian, Crafter's, Artist's, Warrior's. A potent mixture, with much potential for exponentiation and multiplicative growth patterns.
Before anything, however, what is the Noble Scion's name?
[ ] Adam - Or, at least, such was his name before his grand deliberation among the stars of the most high. Albeit the name carries no sentimental value to him anymore, it would make sense to return to it. Once something is named, it carries that name - is that not simple logic?
+Wisdom, -Heartlessness.
[ ] Charles - The Noble Scion, no longer human but reborn as something far beyond, will rename himself. As he lives currently, he is transcendent, and so it would make sense to call himself after someone like that: a friend in his previous life, who'd been an endless source of inspiration. Codename: Charlemagne.
-Heartlessness, +Humanity.
[ ] Dream - A mortal name is a caprice ill-suited to someone as almighty as the Noble Scion of Creation, the Sage of a Thousand Orisons. After deliberation and meditation, spanning longer than the total lifespan of most civilized societies, it only makes sense to carry that proud self-reflection as a badge. The Noble Scion is a dreamer who became the dreamed; in other words, he is Dream.
++Wisdom.
[ ] Nameless - The Noble Scion requires no name; he is the Noble Scion. That is all there is to it.
-Humanity, +Heartlessness, ++Willpower, ++Wisdom.
And now, select an initial strategy:
[ ] Garden of Eden - While civilization seems to be the obvious solution, the obvious solution is not always the best. One should climb a ladder one step at a time, rather than skipping four or six at a time - such actions endanger stumbling, and stumbling on a ladder is dangerous, even from a low height. The more the Scion continues, the greater he must be ready to err on the side of caution.
He will use the Agrarian Principle to its fullest strength, hunting the nearby wildlife and gathering plants. He will then proceed to, essentially, play Minecraft for a couple of days in order to accumulate a veritable garden of mystical plant life and animals. With such a considerable boon on his side, he'll be able to eat plants to enhance his training using the Warrior's Principle, and use the Warrior's Principle to start drafting much better strategies for dealing with his approach to civilization, which is going to have even better effects considering he would now have amazing produce to offer in exchange for services or objects.
*The Scion spends a couple of days on hard work, elevating himself from nothingness - a familiar action indeed!
*The best vector for triumph is to maximize your starting power. If power can be multiplied rather than increased, then making sure you have 20 power rather than 10 at the first minute is critical.
*Low-risk, medium-benefit.
[ ] Staff of Life - The Scion's foremost techniques, such as the Artist's Principle or the Crest, demand contact with civilization in some form in order to have their benefits reaped most sufficiently. The Crest is unable to learn magic without being able to witness it first-hand, and some of the Principles are less useful when not in contact with fellow humans.
The Scion will direct himself towards the nearest, populated center and register with the local government. A couple of local thaumaturges will gawk in puzzlement at his existence, but otherwise, no one will see a reason to bring out any alarm bells - he is, for now, a moderately interesting anomaly that radiates sainthood and enlightenment, but not the auspicious portent of a messianic second coming, let alone the latent armageddon brewing in the stomach of the cosmos.
This will enable greater strategical play to come into consideration, including the study of additional magic, or making the most of the Scion's gifts. However, since he does not have much to his name at the present, he will often be negotiating from a position of little leverage. An equalizer would be much appreciated.
*Go to civilization instantly, and see what you can leverage with 'mere' enlightenment.
*Starting power can go much higher if you luck into getting a 30, rather than a 20.
*High-risk, potentially super-high-benefit.
[ ] Write-in - Another plan? Subject to QM veto.
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