A Simple Transaction I

OctarineShrike · Nov 23, 2020

I realized something. We Paid 1 mental stability for Cursebearer's Strain. Grievous Exertion is probably what won (-2 mental stability)in spite of the heavy or total mitigation from Adories power.

For all the clusterfark of can vs should Pillars of Creation opens up, it gets us back either all the mental stability we lost or the mental stability we lost and then some.

Lealope · Nov 23, 2020

Sharkey_smt said:
I see you just want to hurt me. Well no more, I will not be jerked around by voters more powerful than myself. It is kinda fucked up that that this voter culture dedicated to some future glories.

Sharkey, your powerlevel is much higher than mine! And let's be real here, Adorie is not a viable opponent for Gisena (which is where I'm assuming most of your ardour comes from).

Zampano said:
I agree, but if we leave Nilfel without unlocking the fountain of free Empyrean Signs, will we ever come back?

As if the Apocryphal will give us a choice! I expect us to be dragged back whether we like it or not, if only because of Hunger's new and extremely unfortunate addiction to heroism.

Rah13 · Nov 23, 2020

Adhoc vote count started by Rah13 on Nov 23, 2020 at 10:43 AM, finished with 174 posts and 55 votes.

22 people have voted
[X] The Ring of Power: Crimson Flare
- Zampano
- Byzantine
- Tyrant_Rayne
- Mr. Prokosch
- zinay
- Shaper47
- OctarineShrike
- Zfglx
- Callidus
- ImperatorV
- HeWhoAdds
- Raydom
- Wolfy
- Gabbie
- Faucar
- Sickul
- Shard
- Taka
- Orm Embar
- Lealope
- Enohthree
- Citrus
20 people have voted
[X] The Tears of Winter: King of Winter
- Zampano
- Byzantine
- Prospalz
- Fumbles
- Eredhel
- Genesys
- Sara
- PurposefulZephyr
- GenericName
- Terribleangel
- dodler
- Crimson Moon
- Bellboy
- Valkhir
- x50413
- Resonant
- Hirorubie
- ir_fane
- Sharkey_smt
- Citrus
14 people have voted
[X] Feat: Saber
- Zampano
- Byzantine
- BrainInAJar
- Rah13
- RedV
- Strange9
- DkArthas
- Talace
- Unelemental
- Duquette7
- SpectatingRaven
- Kurowari
- Saugo
- George
5 people have voted
[X] The Evening Sky: Pillars of Creation
- Zampano
- Byzantine
- Kirbstomp
- TooSlow
- Sigil
1 people have voted
[X] The Forebear's Blade: Once and Future - You already have this!
- Zampano
1 people have voted
[X] The Tears of Winter: King of Winter - For she who risked everything to save him, ensure they are repaid in kind.
- Garlak

Garlak · Nov 23, 2020

[X] The Ring of Power: Crimson Flare
[X] The Tears of Winter: King of Winter

Not sure which of these to vote for, so am voting for both. The Ring of Power's "architect of the age" ability is great for timeskips. Hunger, Gisena, and Adorie working together will be able to make literal wonders. (Also, they have +10 more Intelligence, for the purpose of crafting too. As we're about to go into the Realm of Evening.) That's... basically a form of Potential thing; that "can make wonders" thing, for timeskips and civilization. And also, it just neatly and naturally grants everybody 10,000 years of lifespan.

Another neat reason to get it, would be that... it'd mean we have Heroic Upgrades for:
*A Forebear's Blade advancement
*A Ring of Power advancement
... If we got a Heroic Upgrade for the Evening Sky, would we get some kind of Heroic Trinity? xD I doubt it'd be that easy, but who knows.

The Tears of Winter: King of Winter are still cool for their Apocryphal-proofing of Nifel and Adorie's territory. But, Crimson Flare offers potential and wonders and miracles... ... Though, not like the Font of Myth that Nilfel gets probably doesn't do that too... Hmm.

... Question. Does Verschlengorge benefits from First Flaring, too? Is the Devouring Armament also going to see boosts to Might, Agility, Wits, Will (and even Appearance, heh)?

@runeblue360 about the character sheet: Appearance is part of +all stats, so it should be boosted by 10, too.

Also... the Rank calculations I'm a bit confused about. Or even where to note them down.

"Lord Hunger, King of Winter
500% Health
8.875 Rank"

This bit has remained at 8.875 rank since the previous update. I... think it should be 9.375 now, as a result?

"I. Accretion - A farmer's boy. A sword of fable. A perilous quest. Death or glory.

Base Rank: 8.175
+1 General Rank
+1 Military Rank
+1 Defensive Rank
+2 Blood Rank
Mirellyian Rank: 10
+100% Rank Gain

"
This bit increased by .5 rank, as according to Fear: Saber of course, and the Mirellyian Rank got added.

It should probably get the "-.5 to enemy rank" in there somewhere, too.

With that said... I'm not sure how the mathematics add up. First of all, I'm not sure how it goves from 8.175 to 8.875 (and how we had previously had 8.875 while having 7.676 base... so if we just gained +.5, how are we still at 8.875?). Secondly... Bastion of myth interacts a bit oddly: it gives +.4 more rank, but does not stack with OaF's +military rank fully. (So effectively we get +.4 rank from Bastion of Myth, and then +.6 war rank in a war situation. Which normally works out to the same rank in military anyway.)

Finally, I'd add the "-.5 rank to those opposing Adorie Mirellyian" somewhere. Maybe ext to "I. Accretion..." because that's where most of the Rank stuff goes. Maybe in the main, un-spoilered, part; perhaps as a Condition: "Champion of Winter/Nilfel/Adorie Mirellyian" perhaps, perhaps next to the equipped stances (as that's where Hero-Defeating is, which also reduces stats)...

What I'd probably do is add it to the top of the char sheet, under his name and title and health percentage and rank. Write in a "-.5 to enemy rank" somewhere.

Sorry about this, it's a mess. The only thing I'm sure of is the "+10 to Appearance" stat change.

And that 8.875 needs to be upgraded to +.5.

Sharkey_smt · Nov 23, 2020

Conjured Blade said:
For all the clusterfark of can vs should Pillars of Creation opens up, it gets us back either all the mental stability we lost or the mental stability we lost and then some.

The -2 Mental Stability would be back in a month so not exactly big issue. Also it should be mitigated anyway.

runeblue360 said:
Sharkey, your powerlevel is much higher than mine! And let's be real here, Adorie is not a viable opponent for Gisena (which is where I'm assuming most of your ardour comes from).

Your honeyed tongue will have no effect on me. And I admit I might be slightly biased against Gisena but I always remain objective regarding her.

Zampano · Nov 23, 2020

Rihaku asked us how we were going to spin Adorie's departure from Nilfel on the Public Relations front.

@ir_fane makes a good point about leaving behind unhappy partisans. However, there are a few ways that Hunger can simply bypass this political challenge. The most immediate way is to simply go shilling for Adorie before we leave. Hunger & Gisena are cognitohazards. They can tell the population that Adorie is popular and that will simply become true.

But maybe you have moral objections to flashy politics without providing material support for your constituents. Thats where First Gleam comes in. I believe that Hunger is capable of offering & withdrawing Ennoblement with a thought. Hunger can withdraw the effects of First Gleam from Adorie's political rivals, which will leave the Royalists with an overwhelming advantage in terms of Rank and statistical parameters. This advantage will compound on itself if Nilfel is any kind of meritocracy.

But maybe you have moral or pragmatic concerns with discriminating about who benefits from the splendor of Hunger's apotheosis. Doing even the bare minimum of legwork to return in subsequent weeks (or even as infrequently as every few years) is likely to pacify the opposition parties. Triumphal Gleam makes Hunger's positive accomplishments easier to talk about than the negative ones. Time will heal any political wounds. In the meantime, a society with universal Ennoblement will be growing more prosperous and enlightened over time. Crimson Flare guarantees that ordinary citizens will be better off than they were four years ago.

Maybe your objection is purely pragmatic. Adorie's absence might be bait for the Apocryphal proc to set up a political challenger. However, Adorie's Rank & real world experience will continue to grow as she explores the world outside of her prison cell. With mere weeks, Hunger has unlocked the full strength of her Bloodline (which is very strong indeed). Adorie will progress faster by having adventures alongside Hunger. This is good for Nilfel in the long term!

Lealope · Nov 23, 2020

Garlak said:
With that said... I'm not sure how the mathematics add up. First of all, I'm not sure how it goves from 8.175 to 8.875 (and how we had previously had 8.875 while having 7.676 base... so if we just gained +.5, how are we still at 8.875?).

Yeah, that was my fuckup not updating that part of our Rank. The stuff has gotten complex enough that I've removed that and just let the full list of modifiers exist under Accretion. As for what happened, the 8.875 was a mistaken figure on my part. It comes from what I previously thought of as our Base Rank + Once and Future's general Rank bonus. I've since realised it was wrong and corrected it to 7.675, which was then moves up to 8.175 through Saber.

Garlak said:
Secondly... Bastion of myth interacts a bit oddly: it gives +.4 more rank, but does not stack with OaF's +military rank fully.

It doesn't stack with OaF's general Rank but it does stack with the military Rank bonus.

Garlak said:
Sorry about this, it's a mess. The only thing I'm sure of is the "+10 to Appearance" stat change.

Appearance is folded into Charisma unless the Advancements involved specifically indicate otherwise.

OctarineShrike · Nov 23, 2020

Sharkey_smt said:
The -2 Mental Stability would be back in a month so not exactly big issue. Also it should be mitigated anyway.

1 Mental Stability loss may be a contributing factor behind us doing something so utterly dumb as spending all Nilfels Mythic Platinum on our cloak without a vote and a lot can happen in a month
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Moving on to musings for the thread in general...

I'm currently operating under the assumption Hunger hasn't actually solved Nilfel's Platinum Crisis yet but will do so with one of the below methods assuming it's within his power.

With her mysterious assurances complete, Gisena departed to work on her research, while Hunger turned his attention to the matter of Nilfel's platinum reserves.

Empowered by the Seraph's favor, he was confident in at least one solution - he could chip 'pieces' off of the Walls of Myth surrounding Nilfel and infuse mundane platinum with the same, though the details of distillation would be a substantial technical challenge. However, a quicker and dirtier solution now presented itself: with the kerchief expanding his abilities, and the Ring of Blood already operating at a heightened Rank in its chief domain, he could simply use his own blood as a vehicle of essence to infuse the platinum in question, with the Ring manifesting the desired result so long as he could afford to pay the cost.

He would be diminished thereafter, but it was a small loss in comparison to the power Haeliel had granted him; nothing that was unrecoverable with time, and unlikely to make the difference in any serious fight. There was something to be said for discharging his obligations to Adorie swiftly. While he was at it he could grant his companions a sympathetic blood-bond to himself, such that it would be infeasible to physically harm or slay them without overwhelming the regenerative power of his Ring.

Perhaps he might even deplete a greater portion of his essence, sprinting for the Sixth Empyreal Sign? But he was not sure Adorie even had that much mundane platinum on hand, to say nothing of the other risks.

Hunger sighed. Haeliel's favor had opened vast realms of possibility, avenues of research with the Ring of Blood alone that would take years to fully explore. But his foremost priority at the moment had to be the upcoming Apocryphal event, which meant familiarizing himself with the effects of the kerchief on his basic abilities in combat.

Distillation research by chipping the walls of myth(An utter mess given the damage Procyon dealt if King of Winter isn't taken I'd bet)
Pay a minor amount of rank or some other cost to mythologize enough mundane platinum with his blood to fix the issue.

From that standpoint, the Heroic Upgrades look like this:

Crimson Flare: We soupe up Nilfels population big time/give them what they need to make new awesome shit to make up for the damage we dealt. Maybe we get another shot at Blood Sorcery to solve the platinum problem without diminishing ourselves but otherwise we slightly diminish ourselves to mythologize enough mundane platinum to undo the damage we dealt.

Pillars of Creation: Hope we can mythologize mundane platinum with the Realm of Evening's resources to fix the damage we dealt. If we can't, we slightly diminish ourselves to mythologize enough platinum to undo the damage we dealt.

King of Winter: The Fonts of Myth make mythologizing enough mundane platinum to fix what we took into a trivial problem. (Edit: The Walls get fixed too)

Saber: We slightly diminish ourselves to mythologize enough mundane platinum to undo the damage we dealt.

Byzantine · Nov 23, 2020

The -2 mental stab was temporary, I think, since it was nestled in the middle of the other temporary effects.

Not pleasant, naturally, but we probably shouldn't go out of our way to mitigate a temporary effect with a rare heroic upgrade.

If we wanted that thing anyway it would be a bonus, if not it is probably not worth tipping it over the edge.

Garlak · Nov 23, 2020

@Rihaku how does Oath of Winter's -.5 rank interact with Hero-Defeating Stance and Bastion of Myth? Which comes first? Does the -.5 Rank get applied first, and then the rank-difference-quartering? Or does the rank-difference-quartering get applied first, and then they get hit with a whopper of a -.5 rank? I'm pretty sure it's the less bullshit op version of it, but asking just in case anyway...

And how does Once and Future 1's "+1 Astral Rank, applied externally after all other factors" (not the military +2 rank bit) interact with Oath of Winter? Are we at Rank 10, or 11? I... think you said that conditional rank boosts never stack, but...

runeblue360 said:
Yeah, that was my fuckup not updating that part of our Rank. The stuff has gotten complex enough that I've removed that and just let the full list of modifiers exist under Accretion. As for what happened, the 8.875 was a mistaken figure on my part. It comes from what I previously thought of as our Base Rank + Once and Future's general Rank bonus. I've since realised it was wrong and corrected it to 7.675, which was then moves up to 8.175 through Saber.
It doesn't stack with OaF's general Rank but it does stack with the military Rank bonus.

Ah. Er... So.

Are we at 8.175 "base" Rank, with...

+2 for military rank, +2 for bloodcasting, and... Ergh. I think the first "general +1 to Rank external boost" of OaF stacks with Crimson Flare so...

Okay, so. Are we looking at the following:

11.175 bloodcasting rank
10.175 military rank
10 Empyrean Sings spellcasting rank
10 rank for general stuff in general
(And also -.5 enemy rank too)

Is that right?

I feel like I need clarification for how OaF's "Channel a fraction of the Forebear's true might, and glimpse a small fraction of his true history. +1 Astral Rank, applied externally after all other factors. Does not raise the difficulty of improving Rank. +2 Astral Rank in matters military." interacts with Oath of Winter. The update said that it doesn't effect bloodcasting or military rank, but... Only the second half of OaF's rank boost is military. It also says "+1 Astral Rank applied externally after all other factors."

Are we at Rank 10 or Rank 11 for most stuff?

runeblue360 said:
Appearance is folded into Charisma unless the Advancements involved specifically indicate otherwise.

Wait, but if we got +10 to all stats, that means we got +10 Charisma and +10 Appearance. If Appearance is folded into Charisma, does that mean it got buffed twice?

Or is it simpler than that: "Appearance is not buffed unless it is specifically called out as being buffed, with +App." In which case, okay.

Ah. Speaking of it...

Had an idea for something to add to the character sheet. Under the main accordion (i.e. where Conditions, Attributes, and Stances are listed) add a Infinite Singularity Husk tracker, too.

IIRC are bonuses to it are... something like +1 for Sword stuff from Cut Through. +.1 to physical from True Vigorflame boosts. And +.2 all from OaF 2.

Alternatively, it can go into the "Cursebearer Interface" or "Magic (right next to the Accretion Rank calculator at the top of the spoiler)" instead.

Byzantine · Nov 23, 2020

Garlak said:
Are we at Rank 10 or Rank 11 for most stuff?

Rank 10. The Adorie buff and OaF do not stack.

Avoozl · Nov 23, 2020

[X] The Tears of Winter: King of Winter

Lealope · Nov 23, 2020

Garlak said:
Are we at Rank 10 or Rank 11 for most stuff?

The former. Perhaps the best way to think about it would probably be that Winter Rank is a conditional bonus that raises our Rank to 10 in any area where it would otherwise be lower than 10. Hence, it doesn't stack with OaF 1 or Crimson Flare.

Garlak said:
"Appearance is not buffed unless it is specifically called out as being buffed, with +App."

This is correct.

Garlak said:
Had an idea for something to add to the character sheet. Under the main accordion (i.e. where Conditions, Attributes, and Stances are listed) add a Infinite Singularity Husk tracker, too.

I'll think on placement and add it tomorrow.

OctarineShrike · Nov 23, 2020

Byzantine said:
The -2 mental stab was temporary, I think, since it was nestled in the middle of the other temporary effects.

Not pleasant, naturally, but we probably shouldn't go out of our way to mitigate a temporary effect with a rare heroic upgrade.

If we wanted that thing anyway it would be a bonus, if not it is probably not worth tipping it over the edge.

I don't think I care that much. Odds are we just have 1 mental stability loss from Cursebearers strain and Pillars would get that back and then some. I was just speculating on the worst case scenario.

Edit: What I don't care about is pillars, to be clear.

Enohthree · Nov 23, 2020

Zampano said:
But maybe you have moral or pragmatic concerns with discriminating about who benefits from the splendor of Hunger's apotheosis. Doing even the bare minimum of legwork to return in subsequent weeks (or even as infrequently as every few years) is likely to pacify the opposition parties. Triumphal Gleam makes Hunger's positive accomplishments easier to talk about than the negative ones. Time will heal any political wounds. In the meantime, a society with universal Ennoblement will be growing more prosperous and enlightened over time. Crimson Flare guarantees that ordinary citizens will be better off than they were four years ago.

Honestly, given the rate of our advancement, we don't need to set up a promise to show back up in a few years. It would be as if we set up a time sharing system based on week long travel rates once we became Elixir King to work out between Temple and Elixir. A lot of planning and compromise obviated entirely by next week where we semi-conquered a third polity larger than both combined and also developed teleportation once a day making travel times a non-factor.

Tell the people of Nilfiel that Adorie is accompanying us for, I dunno, a month to escort us out of the Voyaging Realm and also set up administration for the next territory we conquer, which could be added to the shared Realm of Myth/Temple/Elixir political sphere within that time frame. Ennoble enough people to rule for a month, boost the population as a whole, and then leave. We'll be back soon enough, maybe!

Zampano · Nov 23, 2020

runeblue360 said:
The former. Perhaps the best way to think about it would probably be that Winter Rank is a conditional bonus that raises our Rank to 10 in any situation where it would otherwise be lower than 10. Hence, it doesn't stack with OaF 1 or Crimson Flare.

There are many such situations, but not many that have gotten screentime. The only two I can think of are when we tried to use Rank to make contact with the Royalists and when Letrizia used our Rank as a page-finder for research.

Enohthree said:
Honestly, given the rate of our advancement, we don't need to set up a promise to show back up in a few years. It would be as if we set up a time sharing system based on week long travel rates once we became Elixir King to work out between Temple and Elixir. A lot of planning and compromise obviated entirely by next week where we semi-conquered a third polity larger than both combined and also developed teleportation once a day making travel times a non-factor.

Tell the people of Nilfiel that Adorie is accompanying us for, I dunno, a month to escort us out of the Voyaging Realm and also set up administration for the next territory we conquer, which could be added to the shared Realm of Myth/Temple/Elixir political sphere within that time frame. Ennoble enough people to rule for a month, boost the population as a whole, and then leave. We'll be back soon enough, maybe!

right! I was thinking about the work required to forestall a political challenge in case the Oath of Winter was a liability for Adorie. Hunger himself can pretty much drop in intermittently to release a new batch of ++++++Nilfel Power and the country should stay loyal.

I wonder how First Flaring Nilfel stacks up to, say, Voyaging City. If Hunger can use Outer Shadow to pin down Fervenwinter, could the Ennobled Legions defeat cutting edge Republic Armor Prototypes?

(I hope the answer someday becomes yes.)

OctarineShrike · Nov 23, 2020

On the other hand... since I like arguing from a lot of angles. Realm of Evening manipulation is a skill. Taking Aobaru in to train would let him start to benefit from Undying Vanguard. Having our mental stability gain up front means we can focus on training too which may be important if we have to choose between training and vacation

RedV · Nov 23, 2020

Tbh, I'm very skeptical on building type abilities like the one given by the Ring. As we've seen with Graces, sometimes the circumstances are such that we really can't take any advantage of abilities that need us to spend actual time researching because the rewards from fights with more picks are just too valuable and Apocryphal really hardcaps our downtime.

The timescale mentioned is in the order of years, when Hunger has been in this realm for a bit more than two months tops. When are we finding this time to have Gisena specifically focus on Artifice research without needing her for Apoc procs? If we do find that downtime, why can't she instead make relevant buffing Graces like Lord Regnant or something like Jeanne's Graces that she can share with us or something?

Graces and Runes are something she has a lifetime of experience working with, have highly versatile effects and also benefit from her stats.

I don't mean to denigrate the excitement over what she can do now - but I feel like there are many other things she can also do with her research time that are perhaps more suited to her and also compete for precious research time that has been in short supply throughout the quest's lifetime with Apoc.

Talace · Nov 23, 2020

We just got Inheritance: Pierce Through which is insanely good, and allows us to deal damage to an opponent no matter how inapplicable or tough it would be. The natural next step is to drastically improve the way by which we apply that tool. This is an insane multiplier to our battle-effectiveness, as our main tool for murder is the sword.

Additionally, I imagine this unlocks more effects like Slice Fate or Null Slice, which were ludicrous. Consider something like piercing through the Voyaging Realm defenses or cutting through Rank and Pressure. This is a paradigm shift with lots of hidden utility and it would be cool if we got it plus an additional 0.5 Rank which is bonkers

Wolfy · Nov 23, 2020

RedV said:
When are we finding this time to have Gisena specifically focus on Artifice research without needing her for Apoc procs? If we do find that downtime, why can't she instead make relevant buffing Graces like Lord Regnant or something like Jeanne's Graces?

Her Grace research will still benefit from increased Rank and Wits/Int. Additionally, consider cross-magic interactions. She can now create Graces that take from caster(such as that resurrection Grace) because of Adorie nulling such costs, she can make use of our blood ability by making Grace that manifest as living summon(s) etc.

Zampano · Nov 23, 2020

RedV said:
Tbh, I'm very skeptical on building type abilities like the one given by the Ring. As we've seen with Graces, sometimes the circumstances are such that we really can't take any advantage of abilities that need us to spend actual time researching because the rewards from fights with more picks are just too valuable and Apocryphal really hardcaps our downtime.

The timescale mentioned is in the order of years, when Hunger has been in this realm for a bit more than two months tops. When are we finding this time to have Gisena specifically focus on Artifice research without needing her for Apoc procs? If we do find that downtime, why can't she instead make relevant buffing Graces like Lord Regnant or something like Jeanne's Graces that she can share with us or something?

Graces and Runes are something she has a lifetime of experience working with, have highly versatile effects and also benefit from her stats.

I don't mean to denigrate the excitement over what she can do now - but I feel like there are many other things she can also do with her research time that are perhaps more suited to her and also compete for precious research time that has been in short supply throughout the quest's lifetime with Apoc.

It sounds like you're treating the First Flaring as a substitute to Grace research. As Wolfy's just argued, the Crimson Flare seems more like an augmentation for Gisena's research. A bonus to rank and int will be useful for everything she does.

The value of boosting our companions & citizens with Crimson Flare seems like it should outweigh the value of repairing Nilfel's infrastructure & giving Nilfel citizens a smaller boost to physical durability.

Like, the Gisena where Hunger unlocks Crimson would beat the tar out of the Gisena where Hunger takes King of Winter

TooSlow · Nov 23, 2020

Sickul said:
Think this offers the most power long term.

Not really, the pillars of creation upgrade gives us an additional 210 days in the realm of evening. If we dedicate all that time to training Praxis that's 30d3 Praxis picks, with TSH that would be 120d3 Praxis picks. If we instead decide to spend that time training other things we get an extra 210 days a year where we can obtain rare and potent advancements that would increase our growth rate and survival chances considerably such as Rune King, Ruling Ring and Slice Fate.

Orm Embar said:
but between the risks of addiction and the likelihood of the Apocryphal Curse banking credibility?

As the blurb said, Hunger is not at risk of addiction and we do not need to frontload the extra time in the Realm of Evening, an additional 21 days would be sufficient to benefit greatly now.

Zampano said:
I wonder how First Flaring Nilfel stacks up to, say, Voyaging City.

Quality of life in Nilfel is already far better than anywhere in the human sphere.

Zampano · Nov 23, 2020

TooSlow said:
Quality of life in Nilfel is already far better than anywhere in the human sphere.

i was thinking more along military lines. If we sideline the Armaments, how do Legions of Nilfel stack up against Armor Prototypes?

ReaderOfFate · Nov 23, 2020

Zampano said:
i was thinking more along military lines. If we sideline the Armaments, how do Legions of Nilfel stack up against Armor Prototypes?

Weren't those like Rank 6.5? Strong, but I'm fairly sure the Nilfellian Captains would dumpster them.

Sharkey_smt · Nov 23, 2020

AST Noir - Vote DEATH or Die Trying - 2200 words

I hate this season. The weather sucks up all the slime and filth in the streets and pours it back down on ya. But then, that's what this city's all about. Name's Humphrey , private eye. I've spent my life in this concrete merry-go-round watching the same votes play out year after year, like a jukebox with only one, sad song. It's a city with no one to trust, and no one to love, where cigarette butts are the only ass you get.

Sometimes the rain comes down so hard you forget you've ever been dry. I try to see it. Out there in the past. Rainbows waiting. Going into my mom's that day, I try my best to remember. I really do. Things weren't always this way. They won't always be this way. I try my best; and the water seeps in, moulding my coat into my shotgun. And I stop trying.

I was in a good mood – a rarity for me, but the fates would not let that slip. I always wondered what I did to piss off the three royal bitches that control fate, must be my cheerful personality. The good times are like the lights in your eyes when you are dizzy, to remind you that you are alive but never to brighten your day.

A black car stopped near me and a familiar face walked out of the car. "No time to explain Mr. Humphrey, get in the car. We have a city to save" Cain, the boss of MiB, which was the secret service of AST City wanted my help. Well, here we go again.

I reluctantly entered the car, no need to piss off more people today, especially one who carried guns.

"What do you know about the Death Gang, Humphrey?" Cain asked without preamble. The intonation in his voice was like rocks being crushed and spit out grinded.

Ah, the infamous Death Gang. Voters who would kill Lord Hunger and end the city of AST, we had a recent spike in those and I just exposed one hot babe in the SORD Gang as one.

"Some crazy ass cultist that want to end the city – I consider them on par with the Village Idiots Gang and the Gisena EFB gang in terms of sanity and effectiveness"

"You would be surprised how effective they can be Humphrey, we managed to get one of their members and we want you to interrogate him"

A guy next to me passed me some files that I started to read. I managed to notice a little tag with a name on his jacket that said "Abel".

I looked through the file – a photo of a normal looking guy but if you looked carefully in his eyes you could see the lack of any meaningful thought, like a puppet.

"I guess you are looking at the eyes, huh. I noticed that too, I think there is something controlling them from behind the scenes. That is why I wanted your help, you managed to snuff out the bitch in the SORD gang, and perhaps you could try something else here."

"Show me the guy, I will see what I can do"

--------------------------------------------------

I was led to some abandoned warehouse and when I entered I encountered other people from the MiB club just staring at me. Sheesh, and they think Death gang is creepy.

The cell where they kept the prisoner was small and dirty. The guy was chained up and looked at me when I entered. The vacant stare was there. Still I had to be the good cop in the beginning. I offered my hand for a handshake and was surprised when I received one. A rough hand, dirty and calloused, his shoes were totally practical and not following any fashion. Hmmm.

I opened the case file and started talking:

"John Doe, we don't know anything about you except that you have voted recently for some stupid shit like Shattering Blow and also eating the Earth Tower"

No response, time to see if my theory is correct

"Have you seen the latest vote options from [Most High]" I showed him the list with the different Conditions that we had to select one from the fight with the plenary Armament. "I think lessened is the easy option – 10 Arete is easy to mine"

There – the slight twitch of his right arm. This man was a miner – only an Arete miner knew the value of Arete, not like those Gisena EFB brats who never mined in their lives and wanted 28 Arete.

"ks numbering three, ought the reward be, fishing" the prisoner managed to mumble

"What did you say!?" but it was no use – the light in his eyes were gone and back to the creepy stare with nothing behind it.

I exited the room, partly to get some fresh air and partly to escape the wretched sight. A noble miner, reduced to this husk.

"Impressive Humphrey" Cain congratulated me and passed me a glass of whiskey "any more leads?"

"We go to New AST Times building and make Sharkey do a missing person poster in his newspaper, I hope you can convince that capitalist pig to be of service to this glorious city"

-----------------------------------------

It was two in the morning when we managed to get to the building of the newspaper. We hoped to change the morning newspaper and add the missing person poster and a phone number for contact. The building was sleek, modern and completely soulless – perfect example of corporate newspaper. Many people were working tirelessly and probably underpaid interns slaving away for a chance to feed the gossip hungry city.

We looked for Sharkey but he was nowhere to be found – that was weird, the chief editor of the newspaper controlled the news with iron fist and biased approach to everything not to his liking. We asked around and finally got a direction. The penthouse of the building, where he lived.

We entered his home, expecting shitty paintings that were worth a fortune but what I saw was massive web of photos of different members of AST and red threads connecting everything. What the fuck!

The words "DEATH GANG IS A SYMPTOM" were painted in big red letters on one of the walls. Other walls were similarly painted with "CITY IS SICK" and "NATURAL ORDER IS DISTURBED". Okay – I hope that was just some weird pseudo cult new fashion, otherwise we had to explain why the editor of the city biggest newspaper went crazy.

We moved slowly and heard some noises coming the kitchen. We saw Sharkey making chocolate pudding.

"Sharkey, it's two in the morning. Why are you making chocolate pudding?" Humphrey asked in bewilderment

"Humphrey's question cut through my soul like a silver dagger enchanted with the darkest of magicks. In an instant, my mind was flooded with torturous visions of all that had led me to this abysmal state of torment, twisting that infernal knife with the unbearable knowledge that now, as ever, I was powerless to escape my terrible destiny. The stirs of my spoon mimicked the eternal and unchanging revolutions of the Wheel of Fate, binding me, and every other being in existence, to a single, immutable path."

"Why is he talking like that?" Cain asked but like me he was hesitant to get closer to the clearly deranged person

"And while most of the wretched souls tied to that abominable wheel were blissfully unaware of their existential imprisonment, I was not so fortunate. No, I had been shackled with the burden of knowledge. It was all I could do to keep what remained of my spirit from falling into total despair as I turned to reply. Suddenly, I stopped, unable to utter the remaining words. Because I had *lost* control of my life? But how could I lose something that I had never truly possessed? I could not bear it. Despair overwhelmed me. The spoon fell to the floor and I with it. I hoped this would be the final torment that the horror of my existence would finally prove too strong to withstand, and my mind would shatter and disappear into final oblivion for all time"

Humphrey went and hit the lunatic in the face, at least to make him shut up.

Sharkey fell to the floor and blinked several times, but he managed to recover relatively fast.

"Shit, I was rambling again, thank you Mister Humphrey. Ah an Mister Cain – the loyal dog of [Most High], I was going to say it is a pleasure but I prefer to lie only when I am paid to do it"

Yep, that was Sharkey – hypocritical asshole who misrepresented anyone with a different opinion from himself. How he managed to stay in his current position was beyond me.

"I guess you are here to do something about that Death Gang, hug? Oh don't look at me like that. Mr Humphrey managed to solve a murder case involving them and Mister Cain is always on the lookout to appear competent for his Master. Come with me, as usual I almost managed to expose them but unfortunately I was afflicted with the Death Curse myself. I am feeling in despair more than usual"

"What did you managed to find?" if Cain was insulted he did not show it

"The Death Gang is a symptom of a total breaking of reality. Wolfy making sense, Zampano arguing with wrong people and not trying to get out of a pick debt, runeblue360 shunning the Praxis, BrainInaJar voting for SORD, Orm tolerating Gisena. Something happened that is making the city sick and it is affecting everyone. I even managed to get one of the death rhymes of the cult for a considerable amount of money"

He passed me note saying "king and [incomprehensible], remove one and make a city sick"

"This is some weird rhyme that that is used in their Death Gang rituals. Still what do you need to fix this issue – my business has just taken off and I prefer to bleed the city dry myself than let it die to some insane cult"

There was something in the back of my mind trying to tell me something but I could not manage to connect the dots.

"We need a poster of this guy in tomorrow newspaper. If you comply we will pay you" Cain gave the photo of the poor guy to Sharkey. The threat of "or else" was implied but it was received.

"No problem boss man! You will have it. Now get out of my apartment, I have chocolate pudding to eat"

------------------

I was back in the warehouse, I managed to collect some shut eye on a chair but my back was killing me. I was standing by the phone waiting for someone to call about this person. It was eight in the morning and the only thing I wanted was some whiskey and a soft bed.

Still the phone ring and I quickly picked it up.

"Hello, I am calling for the missing person. I know him from university – we are studying math together. His name is Mcguffin" a female voice quickly said.

"Thank you miss, can you verify you claims somehow?"

"Well he is normal looking, a bit creepy eyes but he is an honest Arete miner. He has trouble pronouncing π and also mangles words that start with "k" – usually just smashes them with the previous word"

"Wait, you mean "pi"?" I did not wait for the girl to answer as the familiar bolt of inspiration struck me.

I quickly wrote the completed rhyme on a list of paper and ran towards the cell.

The prisoner was dozing off but he opened his eyes startled when I entered. I just showed him the piece of paper that had the rhyme:

"Picks numbering three,

Ought the reward be,

fish king and pick,

remove one and make a city sick"

Tears flowed down his eyes and a genuine smile blossomed on his face.

I went back to Cain and gave him the rhyme.

"When your boss stole the Pick, he disturbed the natural order. A GM should not fuck up his player, especially one who is bloodthirsty as your boss. Tell him to return the pick, perhaps things will get back to normal"

"No promises Mr Humphrey, but I will try – you have my word"

"If you have no further requests I am going home – need my beauty sleep"

----------------------------

It was ten in the morning when I finally went to my bed. What a day – the thing with the SORD gang, solving the Death Gang issue and finally peace and quiet.

As soon as I thought that an explosion rocked the building.

I quickly opened the window to see what was happening and saw a battlefield. Bearded looking soy boys on both sides of the street were fighting. One held a sign saying "Adorie>>>>>>>Gisena" and the other side held a sign "Gisena uber alles". Fucking hell – the simps are on the loose.

To be continue in AST Noir – Simp another day.

A Simple Transaction I

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Not yet invincible

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Not yet invincible

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The Dark One

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Refuelling

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