Uh oh.
Um. Please don't? There are so few body parts left already. Hopefully we won't have to hop towards the Devourer on one leg.
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A Simple Transaction I
- Thread starter Rihaku
- Start date
- Original
Just popping in to say hello @Rihaku, I read your quest Even further beyond start to finish a month or so ago and am super happy to see you at it again!
I hope you don't mind me asking, but if you had to pick one other quest of yours (besides this one of course!) for a fan to read which would you choose?
I hope you don't mind me asking, but if you had to pick one other quest of yours (besides this one of course!) for a fan to read which would you choose?
Rihaku
The Internet
I'm glad my words could reach you.
If you're a fan of Exalted, Most High. Otherwise, probably either A Simple Transaction (the original one) as it provides some context for this quest, or the As-Yet Unnamed Quest on Spacebattles. Most of the others (except for Terrascape) assume knowledge of an existing fandom.
- Location
- Pindorama
Read Terrascape so you can share our pain and be similarly scarred.
- Location
- Earth
@Hirorubie oh man but if you don't mind/do have preexisting setting knowledge though, my favorite non-OG Rihaku quest to re-read is his Fate/Zero quest on SB, I've read it at least four times and still enjoy it!
OctarineShrike
Avatar of Mandos
God... Terrascape... that was the internet argument analogue to Trench Warfare.
LordOfMurder
Bhaal
- Location
- Australia
I forgot that control quest never had a proper name. I think my favourite quest was bleach quest. We truly embraced the red option that time. Zhuzheng best sidekick though.
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Mm, reading Bleach Quest afterwards was my introduction to Rihaku Quests, I think. An unforgettable experience.
OctarineShrike
Avatar of Mandos
Aye. Bleachquest Aizen leaves an impression.
- Location
- Pindorama
The best part of reading Bleach Quest is knowing that, later, history repeated itself in We Stand in Awe, but it wasn't even 10% as great as the OG.
Lealope
Not yet invincible
- Pronouns
- She/Her
They Called Me Mad has both Dr. Apocalypse and Krista which rockets it up the tier list, even if it died before its time.
-
Also, my contribution to the war chest.
[insert Even Further Beyond reference here]
I can already see that it's going to be challenging to avoid the waifu wars. Old Seram was a fortunate get in that regard; his apathy and complete lack of social graces were both delightful to read and precluded the possibility. Shame about his lack of willpower or I'd say he would be ideal.
Also, kinda low key horrifying that most of the power of this thing isn't actually mechanical. 4 to 1 the Foremost just hunted down extremely powerful Astral beings, hollowed them out and then bound them up in a mobile metal coffin for their warriors to pilot. I wonder just how powerful these things were considered to the Foremost. Were they the superweapons that the Human Sphere seems to consider them or just high-end but ultimately replaceable warmachines?
Strange, this. Does the hero have some equivalent to Seram's Quantified World? Less precise, naturally but considering it can pick up on Vershlengorge's potential it must have a much wider level range. Seems to be something of a theme with the differences in their Progression. Or maybe that's just an artifact of his affinity.
As for Vershlengorge, I'm slowly resigning myself to the fact that we're probably gonna have to get in the giant robot at some point. While I'd much rather just spend 2000 years grinding and getting gainz from the Apocryphal, I don't think we've got the patience or the margin of safety necessary to fight kaiju on foot, especially when Armaments are so absurdly, hilariously strong at full power. I suppose conquest will be easier if we can focus our Progression on developing superhuman intelligence and charisma but it's just not the same.
On the bright side, I it would be really cool if our enemies tried to assassinate us when we're outside the giant mecha only to find we can still kick the shit out of armies when on foot.
Hmm. Gisena's got a pretty good read on our boy with that facetious last comment. We know her Charisma and Manipulation are both close to peak human but I'm curious what her Perception + Socialize dicepool would be.
I wonder what the distinction between names and pseudonyms is? And damn, we didn't just burn out our name but the capacity to have a name. What the fuck was the hero even calling himself between the years of killing the Tyrant getting assassinated? Did people call him by his name, it registered for a while and then just disappeared? Or did people just call him the Hero?
Yeah, its gonna be a difficult conversation to have with people: "I know we had a great time these past two months and we've really become closer as friends but FYI, I shaved off a few years of your lifespan. My bad."
We're really fucked because the polities of the Human Sphere seem like they're advanced enough track the life drain and isolate the cause to us. Gonna have to keep moving if we want to stay off their radar. Very nice to see the Repose had won, it was probably my favourite option of the lot.
(Was it a reference to the White Hairs? Apophenia again probably but they seem fairly similar. I'd be chuffed to bits if it was. Same with Thick and Thieves and Heartless Might, but that seems much less likely.)
Phew. I was scared for a second that our hero was actually a complete fucking tool.
Don't feel bad Lestrizia. Make no mistake, you got absolutely dunked on in social combat but that was inevitable when you tried to engage Gisena. Her brand of flirty teasing and irrepressible, nihilistic cheer is hard to deal with unless you're either on the level like Hunger or just don't give a shit like Seram.
I'm quite curious how Gisena vs. Aurelia would go. I'm 99% sure Gisena would be destroyed no problem but I'm curious as to the specific form that would take. Gisena vs. an Unshattered Hiro with his Liefang(?)-tier banter would've been cool to see too.
And yet he didn't deny the accusation. Perhaps he thought it went without saying or perhaps we're in more trouble than I thought. Between the years since his wife died, the ring restoring his will to live and Gisena being irritatingly charming, we might be in actual trouble here. Stay strong, Hunger.
Runes and glyphs, huh? I suppose there's not much distinction between science and magic for civilizations like those in the Human Sphere, let alone for the Foremost. Anime hair seems to be a clear indication that this place has a level of genetic engineering. That its waist length while not being a rat's nest makes it seem like the cockpit of the robot incorporates hygiene, presumably so that fighters could remain within for extended periods of time without dying of sickness.
I do wonder why and how Lestrizia ended up here, despite being a young noble piloting a superweapon. Surely something must've gone terribly wrong. Definitely very sheltered between the noble title, consulting a book for social interaction and taking us at our word when we said we wouldn't murder her and jack the mech. Would probably not end super well if we went with the truce breaking murder tactic next update.
Now that's one hell of a family sitcom. Still though, the fact that he's actually engaging in repartee is a sign that he actually enjoys her company. Lestrizia does seem cute though, in that "adolescent in over her head but still determined to do her best" kind of way.
Seriously, a fucking book.
I suppose its easy for a mecha anime protagonist to identify two JRPG characters. It seems as though that her understanding of the multiverse is limited to specific types of travel though, which might tell us something about her civilisation. Good pitch but really not concerned enough for her own safety to tell two randos about the value of her giant robot while in stabbing distance.
He's even lost English. He's better off without it. Fortunately, the Cursebearer translation function is some bullshit. I wonder if it works on all languages? Because being able to read Foremost ruins could be quite a valuable skill to barter with. Chances are though that it just downloads the most important language for our Geas task and leaves the rest to Progression. Perhaps we should ask Gisena to speak Joanian at us at some point to see if we understand it?
The worst part is that she's really not wrong, despite her attitude. Her affinity for technology is especially impressive. I wonder how long it'll take Gisena to get up to speed with the technology of this realm? Her superhuman mental stats, affinity for technology and genuine desire to learn might make her an expert on Armaments in a few years, assuming most don't share those advantages.
And I don't think they do. While personal enhancement can't be that unusual to this polity given Letizia's relatively calm reaction, she herself doesn't seem like a superhuman. If anyone were to have personal enhancements, it would be the Duchess serving in a transnational military organization so her lack probably indicates that its limited to rift enhanced weirdos.
Ganbarre Gisena, I look forward to you being obnoxious about your Doctor title after you write your thesis.
Holy shit. Considering Rihaku's comment about Gisena only testing her Graces in 1.01 universes, that means this bullshit place might be considered 1% of a universe, which is fucking crazy for something the Foremost seem to have done for kicks. What the fuck even happened to them?
The book at least makes sense for a power aware of the multiverse, paper works in a lot more universes that the specific electronics they might rely upon. Why would anyone even come to this place anyway? If its a dungeon world, I assume we'll probably end up staying here for a while just to grind up beyond our current scrub tier abilities.
Now that's a fun understatement. Can't wait for the bloodbath when this weirdo brings a fucking sword into a sci-fi metropolis and the police try to quite reasonably detain him. Letrizia better throw around some of her political weight or she's gonna get a a horrible look at how bad Hunger is at being a team player. Here's hoping we can just hide in the giant robot and let Gisena scout things out.
Really loving the odd couple dynamic though. Wonder if Letrizia noticed that Hunger didn't answer the question at all? I'd asssume so but he's pretty charismatic and she's both in a dire situation and seemingly quite sheltered. I'm actually quite happy for Gisena, she just ended up with our equivalent to being isekai'd to another world where our hobbies and skills are actually valuable and not useless garbage.
Oof. I imagine talking planes and satellites to Letrizia is like talking about those new fangled autolocomotives to us. That conquest task is going to be insanely hard to do via murder; we'll want to work our way into the powerstructure of whatever organization Letrizia works for and go from there. Perhaps we could pose as a member of her retinue? Good thing to hear that no individual nation has power in the Voyaging Realm, gives us more flexibility in our approach after we've grinding some.
Huh. Less advanced than I initially thought. Quite interesting to here that something even this civilisation would consider serious might come our way if Versh was at full strength. Could definitely be a good source of grinding, so long as we can prove our chops to Letrizia. That retinue idea is sounding better and better. Its a real damn shame we don't hav Retinue though or we could probably bribe her into joining us. I don't care who you are, Progression would be almost irresistable under any reasonable terms.
Societies, huh? Now that's interesting; there must be ways to manage life here even without an Armament. Or perhaps things are relatively easy by default and it's the Armament that makes things difficult? Versh's weakness is probably due to being swarmed by some ancient Astral leviathan or perhaps a trap laid by aforementioned societies. Curious why they're hostile to humans though; I'm guessing the city is there to extract resources from this place while the natives take exception to that. Or I guess it could be research but that doesn't seem worthy of innate hostility.
As usual, need more information.
So ideal for us, except for the space shifting part. Or maybe even with the space shifts, they'd certainly make it easier for us if we ended up as a fugitive due to the Doom or the Affliction. This place is huge and we can navigate on foot to an extent with Accretion, we're at an enormous advantage. We'll probably want to stick around here for as long as possible.
Aww, just the cutest in the world. I can see why Gisena wanted to adopt her. Glad we took Charisma, this would probably be harder without the ability to completely run roughshod overLetrizia (god fucking damn I can't anymore) Zee. Hunger is an obvious masochist if he doesn't just give her a nickname or else plans on acting like her emotionally distant and vaguely intimidating father. Neat to hear that there's more Foremost realms though.
Run, Zee, she can sense weakness! More seriously, even if we're somewhat intimidating to Letrizia, I hope Gisena can make friends with her. We'll probably find it too much of a pain in the ass to talk to her without a nickname. All in all, a good start to our wacky multiversal mecha misadventure.
P.S. 1952 words.
-
Also, my contribution to the war chest.
[insert Even Further Beyond reference here]
I can already see that it's going to be challenging to avoid the waifu wars. Old Seram was a fortunate get in that regard; his apathy and complete lack of social graces were both delightful to read and precluded the possibility. Shame about his lack of willpower or I'd say he would be ideal.
Also, kinda low key horrifying that most of the power of this thing isn't actually mechanical. 4 to 1 the Foremost just hunted down extremely powerful Astral beings, hollowed them out and then bound them up in a mobile metal coffin for their warriors to pilot. I wonder just how powerful these things were considered to the Foremost. Were they the superweapons that the Human Sphere seems to consider them or just high-end but ultimately replaceable warmachines?
Strange, this. Does the hero have some equivalent to Seram's Quantified World? Less precise, naturally but considering it can pick up on Vershlengorge's potential it must have a much wider level range. Seems to be something of a theme with the differences in their Progression. Or maybe that's just an artifact of his affinity.
As for Vershlengorge, I'm slowly resigning myself to the fact that we're probably gonna have to get in the giant robot at some point. While I'd much rather just spend 2000 years grinding and getting gainz from the Apocryphal, I don't think we've got the patience or the margin of safety necessary to fight kaiju on foot, especially when Armaments are so absurdly, hilariously strong at full power. I suppose conquest will be easier if we can focus our Progression on developing superhuman intelligence and charisma but it's just not the same.
On the bright side, I it would be really cool if our enemies tried to assassinate us when we're outside the giant mecha only to find we can still kick the shit out of armies when on foot.
Hmm. Gisena's got a pretty good read on our boy with that facetious last comment. We know her Charisma and Manipulation are both close to peak human but I'm curious what her Perception + Socialize dicepool would be.
I wonder what the distinction between names and pseudonyms is? And damn, we didn't just burn out our name but the capacity to have a name. What the fuck was the hero even calling himself between the years of killing the Tyrant getting assassinated? Did people call him by his name, it registered for a while and then just disappeared? Or did people just call him the Hero?
Yeah, its gonna be a difficult conversation to have with people: "I know we had a great time these past two months and we've really become closer as friends but FYI, I shaved off a few years of your lifespan. My bad."
We're really fucked because the polities of the Human Sphere seem like they're advanced enough track the life drain and isolate the cause to us. Gonna have to keep moving if we want to stay off their radar. Very nice to see the Repose had won, it was probably my favourite option of the lot.
(Was it a reference to the White Hairs? Apophenia again probably but they seem fairly similar. I'd be chuffed to bits if it was. Same with Thick and Thieves and Heartless Might, but that seems much less likely.)
Phew. I was scared for a second that our hero was actually a complete fucking tool.
Don't feel bad Lestrizia. Make no mistake, you got absolutely dunked on in social combat but that was inevitable when you tried to engage Gisena. Her brand of flirty teasing and irrepressible, nihilistic cheer is hard to deal with unless you're either on the level like Hunger or just don't give a shit like Seram.
I'm quite curious how Gisena vs. Aurelia would go. I'm 99% sure Gisena would be destroyed no problem but I'm curious as to the specific form that would take. Gisena vs. an Unshattered Hiro with his Liefang(?)-tier banter would've been cool to see too.
And yet he didn't deny the accusation. Perhaps he thought it went without saying or perhaps we're in more trouble than I thought. Between the years since his wife died, the ring restoring his will to live and Gisena being irritatingly charming, we might be in actual trouble here. Stay strong, Hunger.
Runes and glyphs, huh? I suppose there's not much distinction between science and magic for civilizations like those in the Human Sphere, let alone for the Foremost. Anime hair seems to be a clear indication that this place has a level of genetic engineering. That its waist length while not being a rat's nest makes it seem like the cockpit of the robot incorporates hygiene, presumably so that fighters could remain within for extended periods of time without dying of sickness.
I do wonder why and how Lestrizia ended up here, despite being a young noble piloting a superweapon. Surely something must've gone terribly wrong. Definitely very sheltered between the noble title, consulting a book for social interaction and taking us at our word when we said we wouldn't murder her and jack the mech. Would probably not end super well if we went with the truce breaking murder tactic next update.
Now that's one hell of a family sitcom. Still though, the fact that he's actually engaging in repartee is a sign that he actually enjoys her company. Lestrizia does seem cute though, in that "adolescent in over her head but still determined to do her best" kind of way.
Seriously, a fucking book.
I suppose its easy for a mecha anime protagonist to identify two JRPG characters. It seems as though that her understanding of the multiverse is limited to specific types of travel though, which might tell us something about her civilisation. Good pitch but really not concerned enough for her own safety to tell two randos about the value of her giant robot while in stabbing distance.
He's even lost English. He's better off without it. Fortunately, the Cursebearer translation function is some bullshit. I wonder if it works on all languages? Because being able to read Foremost ruins could be quite a valuable skill to barter with. Chances are though that it just downloads the most important language for our Geas task and leaves the rest to Progression. Perhaps we should ask Gisena to speak Joanian at us at some point to see if we understand it?
The worst part is that she's really not wrong, despite her attitude. Her affinity for technology is especially impressive. I wonder how long it'll take Gisena to get up to speed with the technology of this realm? Her superhuman mental stats, affinity for technology and genuine desire to learn might make her an expert on Armaments in a few years, assuming most don't share those advantages.
And I don't think they do. While personal enhancement can't be that unusual to this polity given Letizia's relatively calm reaction, she herself doesn't seem like a superhuman. If anyone were to have personal enhancements, it would be the Duchess serving in a transnational military organization so her lack probably indicates that its limited to rift enhanced weirdos.
Ganbarre Gisena, I look forward to you being obnoxious about your Doctor title after you write your thesis.
Holy shit. Considering Rihaku's comment about Gisena only testing her Graces in 1.01 universes, that means this bullshit place might be considered 1% of a universe, which is fucking crazy for something the Foremost seem to have done for kicks. What the fuck even happened to them?
The book at least makes sense for a power aware of the multiverse, paper works in a lot more universes that the specific electronics they might rely upon. Why would anyone even come to this place anyway? If its a dungeon world, I assume we'll probably end up staying here for a while just to grind up beyond our current scrub tier abilities.
Now that's a fun understatement. Can't wait for the bloodbath when this weirdo brings a fucking sword into a sci-fi metropolis and the police try to quite reasonably detain him. Letrizia better throw around some of her political weight or she's gonna get a a horrible look at how bad Hunger is at being a team player. Here's hoping we can just hide in the giant robot and let Gisena scout things out.
Really loving the odd couple dynamic though. Wonder if Letrizia noticed that Hunger didn't answer the question at all? I'd asssume so but he's pretty charismatic and she's both in a dire situation and seemingly quite sheltered. I'm actually quite happy for Gisena, she just ended up with our equivalent to being isekai'd to another world where our hobbies and skills are actually valuable and not useless garbage.
Oof. I imagine talking planes and satellites to Letrizia is like talking about those new fangled autolocomotives to us. That conquest task is going to be insanely hard to do via murder; we'll want to work our way into the powerstructure of whatever organization Letrizia works for and go from there. Perhaps we could pose as a member of her retinue? Good thing to hear that no individual nation has power in the Voyaging Realm, gives us more flexibility in our approach after we've grinding some.
Huh. Less advanced than I initially thought. Quite interesting to here that something even this civilisation would consider serious might come our way if Versh was at full strength. Could definitely be a good source of grinding, so long as we can prove our chops to Letrizia. That retinue idea is sounding better and better. Its a real damn shame we don't hav Retinue though or we could probably bribe her into joining us. I don't care who you are, Progression would be almost irresistable under any reasonable terms.
Societies, huh? Now that's interesting; there must be ways to manage life here even without an Armament. Or perhaps things are relatively easy by default and it's the Armament that makes things difficult? Versh's weakness is probably due to being swarmed by some ancient Astral leviathan or perhaps a trap laid by aforementioned societies. Curious why they're hostile to humans though; I'm guessing the city is there to extract resources from this place while the natives take exception to that. Or I guess it could be research but that doesn't seem worthy of innate hostility.
As usual, need more information.
So ideal for us, except for the space shifting part. Or maybe even with the space shifts, they'd certainly make it easier for us if we ended up as a fugitive due to the Doom or the Affliction. This place is huge and we can navigate on foot to an extent with Accretion, we're at an enormous advantage. We'll probably want to stick around here for as long as possible.
Aww, just the cutest in the world. I can see why Gisena wanted to adopt her. Glad we took Charisma, this would probably be harder without the ability to completely run roughshod over
Run, Zee, she can sense weakness! More seriously, even if we're somewhat intimidating to Letrizia, I hope Gisena can make friends with her. We'll probably find it too much of a pain in the ass to talk to her without a nickname. All in all, a good start to our wacky multiversal mecha misadventure.
P.S. 1952 words.
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Evening Sky
Rihaku
The Internet
Evening Sky
The man had attacked them without provocation. Now that the tides had shifted he wanted to parley? Absurd. His audacity was impressive, but a tactic that disingenuous didn't even deserve a response.
He struck, a terrible reaving arc of blade-force meant to split the pirate from shoulder to sternum, but the black-armored man reacted quickly and caught the blow on his shield. The sheer pressure of the attack tore a gouge in the metal, shards spraying upwards in a flying plume as the man visibly staggered under the blow. Hunger was already moving, swapping knife-edge to pommel as he closed to strike the man across the helm.
This time. This time he wouldn't need to be rescued, by his wife or anyone else. This time he would end the threat before it could claim them. Whatever cost necessary would be paid from his own body.
His blow struck true; the pirate's helm tolled like an evening bell as it deformed, deflecting and radiating the strength of the blow as force became sound's echo. He was forced back, repelled by the dispersed vigor of his own blow. Still the power of ruin was not easily denied; blood dribbled through the slits in the pirate's visor.
Despite the prodigious ferocity of his assault, the enemy was not totally hapless. In one decisive motion the pirate discarded his shield and lunged forward just as Hunger made to withdraw. They toppled in an ungainly grapple, impossible weight of the pirate's armor bearing down on him, pinning him to the deck. He struck with his sword through a gap in the armor but felt resistance beneath, as if punching through clay. Shadows curled and boiled off that armor, pinning him to the deck, obstructing his sight.
The pirate reared back and smashed his head into Hunger's own. For a moment the world went static and white, then bright agony ripped through his side. With desperate strength he heaved forward, hurling his opponent back and retreating to the middle distance. A sharp pain in his torso brought him up short, and he looked down to see the violent-flame blade of his enemy hanging from his side. Luckily it had slid between his oblique muscles, missing his liver and intestines. The pain was terrific, horrible, but a meagre shadow of the least cut from the Tyrant's personal blade. Even the flames of this blade sheeted and sputtered away from his flesh, as if afraid to burn him.
He raised his eyes to the enemy, who was panting heavily, gathering himself for another strike. He shook his head. This man wasn't the Tyrant. He wasn't even a poor imitation.
Blood dripped steadily from his wound. He pulled the flame-blade free and tossed it overboard. Foolish of him to get wounded. Reckless to rush in without knowing the armor's capabilities. Pommel to the head would murder most armored knights, but he'd been over-eager, closing the distance against an opponent with all four limbs and greater mass than his own.
His enemy was just a skilled thug with a formidable suit of plate, deprived of a weapon that wasn't worth one-tenth of the Forebear's Blade. Fury had ruled Hunger, made him sloppy. No more. Today, there were people counting on him still. He would dismantle this enemy properly.
The pirate juked to the side, going low, hand outstretched for the ballista bolt embedded in his comrade. Hunger sent a blade-wind into those fingers, shearing off dark scraps of plate and throwing the man off-balance. He followed with a thrust projection, pure killing force that shivered through the air and struck the pirate's chest, knocking him onto his ass. Given the weight of his armor, there was no recovery from that position.
Hunger drew deep upon the well of power within him, summoning forth a tide, a tempest of murderous cuts; sword-breath that hummed and pulsed like a buzzsaw's edge, that curved and shrieked like carrion birds.
With each blow the armor rang, reflecting and dispersing the main power of his strikes, but the persistence of his onslaught had the plate chiming lower and lower, its efforts grown feebler and feebler, until the battered darkness bled from the armor and fled into the crevices between worlds, abandoning its wearer to his doom. The ring flared upon his finger, a fresh well of power flooding him once more.
Victory, though the price had been steep.
"Wait, mercy, please-"
Now he advanced to melee range, kicking open the man's visor to reveal eyes of deep blue, trembling and terrified.
The Forebear's Blade descended, a swift and painless ending. While he lived in interesting times, best not to keep any enemies alive lest they fester and grow strong.
As the man died a new sensation emerged from the ring, an onrushing infusion of blood and vigor, vitality wound so tightly within him that it seemed fit to burst. Hunger, and the Curse of Hunger, the Affliction of the Decimator that drained life from the world, would be sated for a time.
That had been closer than it looked. If his opponent's blade had been positioned more adroitly, if he'd failed to rally and properly create distance... the man was not skilled enough to overcome him in full, but he could have ended up far more grievously wounded.
No time to dwell. He turned and fired his grappling hook, attaching it to the Armament, and ran up the rope. Blood leaked continuously from his side. The pain would distract him, hamper his mobility, but the power of his legend and the Forebear's Blade would ensure his survival and eventual recovery.
Gisena had taken a few wounds of her own, a deep gouge in one shoulder and cuts across her midriff and face. Blood flowed freely from a thin laceration of her cheek, a pale red curtain that spilled past neck and shoulder. She smiled brightly at his approach, dancing between a pair of Rift creatures to reach his side.
"Aw, were you worried about me? You shouldn't have. This gun is so much fun to play with! Propulsion of a kinetic impactor via chemical energy, what an ingenious idea..."
"Stand back and don't bleed on me."
"My, how dashing!"
"Thanks. I'm the veritable flower of chivalry, killing pirates and now monsters."
"Such a dainty flower, I may just swoon!"
They cleaned up the Astral beasts in short order and Gisena sealed the rift. Luckily, no further surprises were waiting for them on the river bank. Letrizia, prepared as always, had medical supplies in her cockpit, but Gisena waved them off.
"As cute as I'd look with a bandaged cheek, it's better to save our resources. The Grace of the Maiden means I'll heal faultlessly and without scars!"
He looked grimly down at his own wound, one more scar for the tapestry. "How convenient."
She grinned, learning forward. "Isn't it? I know you'd just be heartbroken if my dazzling beauty was marred."
"You should work on your dazzling ego."
"That's just empirical self-assessment, a scientist's first technique! Speaking of which, how is your wound?" She laid a gentle finger on a spot near the injury.
"How do you think? It fucking hurts."
She giggled. "I'd offer to kiss it better, but you haven't quite earned that, have you?"
"I'd rather have one of Letrizia's bandages."
Letrizia perked up. "I've got medical salve as well! It'll numb the pain and promote healing."
He nodded. "Good to hear."
Opening her medical kit, she began applying the cream. "You'll be good as new in no time!"
"Or my money back?"
"Huh? ...A-As if you're paying me enough for this! Be honored that a Duchess is tending to you personally!"
"You're supposed to be paying me. And Gisena and I are both nobles."
"W-well, consider this a bonus!"
He glanced past the pilot to her Armament, the beast's head silent and staring vigilantly forward. The sense of affinity between them seemed to have dulled somewhat, the sharp edge of its keening blunted by some unseen factor.
"I'm hungry. After you're done, let's go fishing."
"F-fishing?"
"You use a rod and line to catch fish. Haven't heard of it?"
"That's rather primitive," Gisena interjected. "I've got a better idea! Find a school of fish, then drop chemical explosives near them. Water is hard to compress, so it'll be even more effective than on land! We can re-purpose the defunct munitions launcher on Verschlengorge's shoulder..."
---
The winning vote was [X] Knowledge and [X] No Quarter. You have are at roughly 82% of your health but due to your Accretion Rank are fighting at 91% of full strength.
The pirate's dead; what spoils did the ring of power extract from his defeat? You currently have 2.8 Arete. Choose 2 of the options below, along with any suboptions you can afford. A number of the options below are unique to this point in time.
[ ] Forebear's Blade - Echo of the Forebear - Cloud-shadow of the Forebear's might. Legendary strength and speed, and the resilience to exert them. Can be taken multiple times. [+Might, +Agility]
-[ ] 2 Arete: Undying Echo - The Forebear could withstand unbelievable punishment, only to rise again. [+++Constitution]
[ ] Forebear's Blade - Fell-Handed Stroke - A devastating blow of unutterable magnificence from which no recovery is possible. A powerful, but draining strike that inflicts cursed wounds from which spirit and will leak as freely as blood. Resists healing.
-[ ] 7 Arete: A Thousand Cuts - In the Forebear's grip could even a common knife blaze with fell power. All melee attacks made with the Forebear's Blade now apply cursed wounds. Septuples the power and speed of the Fell-Handed Stroke and allows it to be used with blade projections. Such horrific offensive power allows one to challenge foes vastly stronger.
[ ] 2 Arete: Sword That Was Stolen - King of Thieves - It is the prerogative of the hero true to take the implements of his enemy and turn them against him. For what righteous weapon could deny the verity of his cause, or the valor with which he pursued it?
[++Agility, +Stealth, +Theft], and combat experience now yields some degree of thieving skills. Increases ease and power of the Abduction Forbidden Art.
[ ] 7 Arete: Evening Sky - Star-stuff and velvet darkness in a mantle like billowing clouds. The power of this mantle withstands supernal force and deflects the merely mundane, granting comprehensive protection against many of the ills of the mortal realm and beyond. Abducted by he who hungers, cast now into his thrall. He who dons this mantle speaks with the voice of Evening and shares its haunting majesty. Progression can unlock further abilities.
[++Protection, ++Charisma, grants superior resistance to a wide array of status effects such as poison, mental interference, suffocation, bleeding out, etc. Somewhat vulnerable to dispellation, but acts as an ablative layer to protect the wearer from such.]
[ ] Hunger - Sleep of the Just - While sleeping, the character is massively more difficult to harm or forcibly move, and may choose to deny interruptions to his slumber, allowing his body to be used as a potent shield.
-[ ] 2 Arete: Slumber of Aeons - Increases well-rested threshold to 10 hours per day, but hours of sleep can now be banked up to a month in advance. Dramatically increases strength gained with age.
-[ ] 25 Arete: Dead But Dreaming - That is not dead which can eternal lie. And with strange aeons... Death merely induces slumber in the wearer until the heavens align for his emergence once more. Gain access to the [Outer Sorcery] skill, by which means one's dreams may twist reality towards one's purposes. Apply the effects of To Shatter Heaven to [Outer Sorcery].
---
A Hunger Sated - Temporary condition that causes the Decimator's Affliction to abate completely for a time. You may upgrade it with Arete. By default: Reduces progress from Hunger by 10% for a month. During that month the Decimator's Affliction slumbers.
[ ] 2 Arete: Quelling - Instead halves the drain rate of the Decimator's Affliction for six months. Additional unknown effect.
[ ] 7 Arete: Conclusion - Reduces progress by 25% instead, but lasts 2 years. It is easier for the hero to find some measure of peace with regards to the losses suffered at the Tyrant's hands, and is less likely to be emotionally compromised by events that remind him of such. Gives you the moral high ground and the ability to travel to lands barren of life, like outer space. Additional unknown effect.
The primary means to gain Arete, as opposed to Experience are:
*Thread participation in the form of (non-spam, non-GM) posts and discussion. Calculated every story/major update.
*Fanworks of all kinds, including reactions, etc
*A sizable additional bonus is applied for non-voting discussion. Almost all discussion unrelated to the current vote qualifies - story & setting or character discussion, making long-term plans, commenting/reacting to sections of the update not related to the vote, commenting/reacting to others' fanworks and speculations, etc.
The man had attacked them without provocation. Now that the tides had shifted he wanted to parley? Absurd. His audacity was impressive, but a tactic that disingenuous didn't even deserve a response.
He struck, a terrible reaving arc of blade-force meant to split the pirate from shoulder to sternum, but the black-armored man reacted quickly and caught the blow on his shield. The sheer pressure of the attack tore a gouge in the metal, shards spraying upwards in a flying plume as the man visibly staggered under the blow. Hunger was already moving, swapping knife-edge to pommel as he closed to strike the man across the helm.
This time. This time he wouldn't need to be rescued, by his wife or anyone else. This time he would end the threat before it could claim them. Whatever cost necessary would be paid from his own body.
His blow struck true; the pirate's helm tolled like an evening bell as it deformed, deflecting and radiating the strength of the blow as force became sound's echo. He was forced back, repelled by the dispersed vigor of his own blow. Still the power of ruin was not easily denied; blood dribbled through the slits in the pirate's visor.
Despite the prodigious ferocity of his assault, the enemy was not totally hapless. In one decisive motion the pirate discarded his shield and lunged forward just as Hunger made to withdraw. They toppled in an ungainly grapple, impossible weight of the pirate's armor bearing down on him, pinning him to the deck. He struck with his sword through a gap in the armor but felt resistance beneath, as if punching through clay. Shadows curled and boiled off that armor, pinning him to the deck, obstructing his sight.
The pirate reared back and smashed his head into Hunger's own. For a moment the world went static and white, then bright agony ripped through his side. With desperate strength he heaved forward, hurling his opponent back and retreating to the middle distance. A sharp pain in his torso brought him up short, and he looked down to see the violent-flame blade of his enemy hanging from his side. Luckily it had slid between his oblique muscles, missing his liver and intestines. The pain was terrific, horrible, but a meagre shadow of the least cut from the Tyrant's personal blade. Even the flames of this blade sheeted and sputtered away from his flesh, as if afraid to burn him.
He raised his eyes to the enemy, who was panting heavily, gathering himself for another strike. He shook his head. This man wasn't the Tyrant. He wasn't even a poor imitation.
Blood dripped steadily from his wound. He pulled the flame-blade free and tossed it overboard. Foolish of him to get wounded. Reckless to rush in without knowing the armor's capabilities. Pommel to the head would murder most armored knights, but he'd been over-eager, closing the distance against an opponent with all four limbs and greater mass than his own.
His enemy was just a skilled thug with a formidable suit of plate, deprived of a weapon that wasn't worth one-tenth of the Forebear's Blade. Fury had ruled Hunger, made him sloppy. No more. Today, there were people counting on him still. He would dismantle this enemy properly.
The pirate juked to the side, going low, hand outstretched for the ballista bolt embedded in his comrade. Hunger sent a blade-wind into those fingers, shearing off dark scraps of plate and throwing the man off-balance. He followed with a thrust projection, pure killing force that shivered through the air and struck the pirate's chest, knocking him onto his ass. Given the weight of his armor, there was no recovery from that position.
Hunger drew deep upon the well of power within him, summoning forth a tide, a tempest of murderous cuts; sword-breath that hummed and pulsed like a buzzsaw's edge, that curved and shrieked like carrion birds.
With each blow the armor rang, reflecting and dispersing the main power of his strikes, but the persistence of his onslaught had the plate chiming lower and lower, its efforts grown feebler and feebler, until the battered darkness bled from the armor and fled into the crevices between worlds, abandoning its wearer to his doom. The ring flared upon his finger, a fresh well of power flooding him once more.
Victory, though the price had been steep.
"Wait, mercy, please-"
Now he advanced to melee range, kicking open the man's visor to reveal eyes of deep blue, trembling and terrified.
The Forebear's Blade descended, a swift and painless ending. While he lived in interesting times, best not to keep any enemies alive lest they fester and grow strong.
As the man died a new sensation emerged from the ring, an onrushing infusion of blood and vigor, vitality wound so tightly within him that it seemed fit to burst. Hunger, and the Curse of Hunger, the Affliction of the Decimator that drained life from the world, would be sated for a time.
That had been closer than it looked. If his opponent's blade had been positioned more adroitly, if he'd failed to rally and properly create distance... the man was not skilled enough to overcome him in full, but he could have ended up far more grievously wounded.
No time to dwell. He turned and fired his grappling hook, attaching it to the Armament, and ran up the rope. Blood leaked continuously from his side. The pain would distract him, hamper his mobility, but the power of his legend and the Forebear's Blade would ensure his survival and eventual recovery.
Gisena had taken a few wounds of her own, a deep gouge in one shoulder and cuts across her midriff and face. Blood flowed freely from a thin laceration of her cheek, a pale red curtain that spilled past neck and shoulder. She smiled brightly at his approach, dancing between a pair of Rift creatures to reach his side.
"Aw, were you worried about me? You shouldn't have. This gun is so much fun to play with! Propulsion of a kinetic impactor via chemical energy, what an ingenious idea..."
"Stand back and don't bleed on me."
"My, how dashing!"
"Thanks. I'm the veritable flower of chivalry, killing pirates and now monsters."
"Such a dainty flower, I may just swoon!"
They cleaned up the Astral beasts in short order and Gisena sealed the rift. Luckily, no further surprises were waiting for them on the river bank. Letrizia, prepared as always, had medical supplies in her cockpit, but Gisena waved them off.
"As cute as I'd look with a bandaged cheek, it's better to save our resources. The Grace of the Maiden means I'll heal faultlessly and without scars!"
He looked grimly down at his own wound, one more scar for the tapestry. "How convenient."
She grinned, learning forward. "Isn't it? I know you'd just be heartbroken if my dazzling beauty was marred."
"You should work on your dazzling ego."
"That's just empirical self-assessment, a scientist's first technique! Speaking of which, how is your wound?" She laid a gentle finger on a spot near the injury.
"How do you think? It fucking hurts."
She giggled. "I'd offer to kiss it better, but you haven't quite earned that, have you?"
"I'd rather have one of Letrizia's bandages."
Letrizia perked up. "I've got medical salve as well! It'll numb the pain and promote healing."
He nodded. "Good to hear."
Opening her medical kit, she began applying the cream. "You'll be good as new in no time!"
"Or my money back?"
"Huh? ...A-As if you're paying me enough for this! Be honored that a Duchess is tending to you personally!"
"You're supposed to be paying me. And Gisena and I are both nobles."
"W-well, consider this a bonus!"
He glanced past the pilot to her Armament, the beast's head silent and staring vigilantly forward. The sense of affinity between them seemed to have dulled somewhat, the sharp edge of its keening blunted by some unseen factor.
"I'm hungry. After you're done, let's go fishing."
"F-fishing?"
"You use a rod and line to catch fish. Haven't heard of it?"
"That's rather primitive," Gisena interjected. "I've got a better idea! Find a school of fish, then drop chemical explosives near them. Water is hard to compress, so it'll be even more effective than on land! We can re-purpose the defunct munitions launcher on Verschlengorge's shoulder..."
---
The winning vote was [X] Knowledge and [X] No Quarter. You have are at roughly 82% of your health but due to your Accretion Rank are fighting at 91% of full strength.
The pirate's dead; what spoils did the ring of power extract from his defeat? You currently have 2.8 Arete. Choose 2 of the options below, along with any suboptions you can afford. A number of the options below are unique to this point in time.
[ ] Forebear's Blade - Echo of the Forebear - Cloud-shadow of the Forebear's might. Legendary strength and speed, and the resilience to exert them. Can be taken multiple times. [+Might, +Agility]
-[ ] 2 Arete: Undying Echo - The Forebear could withstand unbelievable punishment, only to rise again. [+++Constitution]
[ ] Forebear's Blade - Fell-Handed Stroke - A devastating blow of unutterable magnificence from which no recovery is possible. A powerful, but draining strike that inflicts cursed wounds from which spirit and will leak as freely as blood. Resists healing.
-[ ] 7 Arete: A Thousand Cuts - In the Forebear's grip could even a common knife blaze with fell power. All melee attacks made with the Forebear's Blade now apply cursed wounds. Septuples the power and speed of the Fell-Handed Stroke and allows it to be used with blade projections. Such horrific offensive power allows one to challenge foes vastly stronger.
[ ] 2 Arete: Sword That Was Stolen - King of Thieves - It is the prerogative of the hero true to take the implements of his enemy and turn them against him. For what righteous weapon could deny the verity of his cause, or the valor with which he pursued it?
[++Agility, +Stealth, +Theft], and combat experience now yields some degree of thieving skills. Increases ease and power of the Abduction Forbidden Art.
[ ] 7 Arete: Evening Sky - Star-stuff and velvet darkness in a mantle like billowing clouds. The power of this mantle withstands supernal force and deflects the merely mundane, granting comprehensive protection against many of the ills of the mortal realm and beyond. Abducted by he who hungers, cast now into his thrall. He who dons this mantle speaks with the voice of Evening and shares its haunting majesty. Progression can unlock further abilities.
[++Protection, ++Charisma, grants superior resistance to a wide array of status effects such as poison, mental interference, suffocation, bleeding out, etc. Somewhat vulnerable to dispellation, but acts as an ablative layer to protect the wearer from such.]
[ ] Hunger - Sleep of the Just - While sleeping, the character is massively more difficult to harm or forcibly move, and may choose to deny interruptions to his slumber, allowing his body to be used as a potent shield.
-[ ] 2 Arete: Slumber of Aeons - Increases well-rested threshold to 10 hours per day, but hours of sleep can now be banked up to a month in advance. Dramatically increases strength gained with age.
-[ ] 25 Arete: Dead But Dreaming - That is not dead which can eternal lie. And with strange aeons... Death merely induces slumber in the wearer until the heavens align for his emergence once more. Gain access to the [Outer Sorcery] skill, by which means one's dreams may twist reality towards one's purposes. Apply the effects of To Shatter Heaven to [Outer Sorcery].
---
A Hunger Sated - Temporary condition that causes the Decimator's Affliction to abate completely for a time. You may upgrade it with Arete. By default: Reduces progress from Hunger by 10% for a month. During that month the Decimator's Affliction slumbers.
[ ] 2 Arete: Quelling - Instead halves the drain rate of the Decimator's Affliction for six months. Additional unknown effect.
[ ] 7 Arete: Conclusion - Reduces progress by 25% instead, but lasts 2 years. It is easier for the hero to find some measure of peace with regards to the losses suffered at the Tyrant's hands, and is less likely to be emotionally compromised by events that remind him of such. Gives you the moral high ground and the ability to travel to lands barren of life, like outer space. Additional unknown effect.
The primary means to gain Arete, as opposed to Experience are:
*Thread participation in the form of (non-spam, non-GM) posts and discussion. Calculated every story/major update.
*Fanworks of all kinds, including reactions, etc
*A sizable additional bonus is applied for non-voting discussion. Almost all discussion unrelated to the current vote qualifies - story & setting or character discussion, making long-term plans, commenting/reacting to sections of the update not related to the vote, commenting/reacting to others' fanworks and speculations, etc.
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Rihaku
The Internet
Seeds of the Poppy was a fun character, too bad he died... twice...
Abyssals.
Cool, this brings your Arete total to 3, more or less. Not that you can buy anything with that extra 1!
That was completely worth staying up late.
But 25 Arete...
Also, we're getting a Null-Resistance option a second time now, this time by stealing that guy's Artifact if I read this right. Should I be worried?
Now I'm conking out.
IwantitIwantitIwantit
But 25 Arete...
Also, we're getting a Null-Resistance option a second time now, this time by stealing that guy's Artifact if I read this right. Should I be worried?
Now I'm conking out.
Rihaku
The Internet
Oh, note also that the Arete bonus for discussion increases as the number of posts within the span of a given major update goes up (vote consolidations and non-major vote updates don't truncate your progress, but major votes like Jotunheim / Elysium would). So you get considerably more for your last marginal post than your first, etc.
yeah i've read that lancelot speech like 20 times
me trying to write a sentence: 'why can't i make things like THIS anymore?'
What's We Stand in Awe?
Yeah, I think Dr. Apoc's power set was just too vague to play in detail. It's like playing Luthor or Rick, too many options and most aren't specifically defined.
Yup.
Christ dude, that's some spite level dumpstering. That'd be like sending Nilul against The Fairest. Aurelia is massively holding back almost all the time because she's nice and I don't have Super intelligence.
It's French.
Your Remittance dollars at work!
yeah i've read that lancelot speech like 20 times
me trying to write a sentence: 'why can't i make things like THIS anymore?'
What's We Stand in Awe?
Yeah, I think Dr. Apoc's power set was just too vague to play in detail. It's like playing Luthor or Rick, too many options and most aren't specifically defined.
Yup.
Christ dude, that's some spite level dumpstering. That'd be like sending Nilul against The Fairest. Aurelia is massively holding back almost all the time because she's nice and I don't have Super intelligence.
It's French.
Your Remittance dollars at work!
Rihaku
The Internet
No. Suboptions don't take a pick.
Yes.
A Bleach quest by Maugan Ra on SV. Also, a salt mine with a higher output than the most contested Terrascape decision points.
What's the War of Kings, chopped liver? Hector had good speeches too!
...though yeah, Lancelot vs. the Army of the King is up there with Pendragon and Those Aren't Stars in terms of high-quality fight scenes.
OctarineShrike
Avatar of Mandos
[x]Fell-Handed Stroke
[x]Quelling
[x]Quelling
Lealope
Not yet invincible
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Popular Bleach quest a while back written by Maugan Ra. Famous for powerlevels and generating hilarious amounts of salt. The protagonist also joined Aizen.
EDIT: 22 staff posts fucking hell.
Aabcehmu
Confusion as a Natural State of Being
- Location
- Chicago, IL
- Pronouns
- Any/All
Honestly, I'm relatively new to Rihaku quests, I first got on board most of the way through the As-Yet Unnamed Quest and I think I ended up missing out on the Mad Science quest, which will haunt me forever.
It may just be because I got the most invested in it, but my personal favorite Rihaku quest so far was the previous one, Even Further Beyond. The way we kept the thread alive through winter and managed to actually finish the quest just really stuck with me.
It may just be because I got the most invested in it, but my personal favorite Rihaku quest so far was the previous one, Even Further Beyond. The way we kept the thread alive through winter and managed to actually finish the quest just really stuck with me.
Rihaku
The Internet
You can take one more option, the Curse Mitigation ones below the divider aren't part of that section and don't take picks.