Fanwork#2717 Words of reaction, and remember turris delenda est.
The winner was [X] Chains of Fate. You have 51.4 Arete.
Holy guacamole, that's a lot of Arete. And since Chains of Fate won, we'll need every last drop of it. I'm happy with the complication we have, it sure is nice to not face any immediate consequences! As a former compulsive procrastinator who has only mostly recovered, I'm well aware of how that impulse can fuck us over. So we'd better take anti-assassination prep seriously. Most importantly, though, I was voting for Runes at the end despite my distaste for it, so none of the (delayed) consequences are my fault! Ahh, sweet relief.
Given the leading options in the previous vote, Hunger's attitude towards his royal position has been solidified.
Hunger's philosophy of Rule: Who Dares, Wins
Unlike the complication, my first reaction to this is AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH. It's not that bad after looking on (still aaaahhh worthy, but not the caps), but I was filled with dread because sometimes he who dares, dies. And we've been playing Hunger like that, but it's a bit more discomforting to risk nations like this. But onto the details, which make it less terrifying.
Hunger does not see kingship or official station as imparting any especial duties towards the ruled; rather, he continues to be propelled by his existing values, without any additional loyalty to his subjects beyond those dignities he would extend to any populace. This is not to say he is a demanding taskmaster, or that he sees people themselves as only means to an end; merely that he sees the position of King as no different to his powers derived from Blade or Mantle - tools of purpose that exist to enact his designs.
This paragraph, to the contrary, I absolutely adore. It's a dogshit attitude for a king, and that's the point. Borders are bullshit anyway, am I right? It's particularly meaningful as a counterpoint to the Protector's predations; it's not simple to argue that rampant imperialism isn't materially benefiting his subjects. And if the citizens of Nilfel are where his loyalty truly lies, are his actions not admirable? Nope, this says, because other people matter, too.
It's interesting, because although I've said "borders are bullshit" which I mostly believe (oversimplified, admittedly) in real life, I don't personally agree that a leader has no special responsibility to the ruled. Kinda meaningless otherwise. But Hunger is in the fairly unique position of being an actual fucking superhero! The Elixir Kingdom would be getting shafted if their King wasn't willing to put in extra effort to save them, but since Hunger is such a tryhard they aren't losing out.
This perspective gets points for being a cool outgrowth of the Tyrant, as well. Customarily, the king should give a fuck about being the king, the social pressure of entire nations backs that up! But nope, the Tyrant does what he wants with his position of rule- only in Hunger's case, what he wants is almost the opposite of actual tyranny. God, I love this so much.
It's much better than I expected to come out of choosing Towers, but it makes sense. He extends his regard to everyone who lives under the same sky, regardless of the political fictions of those who consider themselves powerful. Why would the man wreathed in Myth privilege those stories above others? But there are downsides as well.
He is opportunistic and may frequently do what is best for the world or for those he cares about (including himself) rather than what is best for the nation. He has a (perhaps justifiably) high opinion of his ability to navigate dangers, even in the face of changing circumstances. His greatest strengths as a ruler are his adaptability and cool under fire; his greatest weaknesses are his recklessness and greed. The bold and capricious temperament of a King who, with two days left on the clock, risks the well-being of billions to seize an opportunity - confident in his ability to neutralize the threat in the time he has remaining.
First, the downside of Tyrannically throwing aside the special duties of Kingship is that Hunger can have a little tyranny, as a treat. Favoring the world over your nation is admirable, putting yourself and your posse over billions of others (to this degree) is blameworthy. It's not that bad, honestly, especially if he manages to get good enough for ¿Por qué no los dos? to be the answer to any conflicts. "Just grind 50 Arete to get 2 EFBs lol."
But then there's the big oof, as if we didn't have enough recklessness and greed already! Then again, at least it's only strengthening and solidifying his already-existing weaknesses than making us confront new ones? Same with the strengths, Hunger could already face what rains may come stoically, ready to pull off some sweet improv even without a solid plan. Appropriately for the "Kingship is eh" philosophy, though, these seem to be the qualities of a heroic adventurer more than a wise king. Or, at least, a personality more suited for wartime leadership than peaceful and steady growth. I don't hate it, after some thought. With Apocryhpal procs a never ending threat, "Adaptability" is far more important for Hunger than it'd be for any average leader. So these strengths are actually amazing for the situation.
But reckless greed... at this point, it would be hard to imagine a Hunger that wasn't, and it isn't like it isn't fun to watch. But the real weakness is the degree to which he extends his recklessness beyond himself. Gambling with billions of lives isn't cool, at all. Even if you are badass enough to pull it off, which for me is still in doubt. Dammit, just destroy the tower and take the win already. I am 100% committed to this.
The silver lining to the cloud of Tower is that Hunger shines brightest when he's desperate, and that applies to any future corners his recklessness gets him into. The incentive may be perverse, but it is still an incentive!
Select your Advancements. The first option will de-emphasize this characterization, the middle option will keep it as-is, and the last option will emphasize it.
Since on the whole, I'm mostly on board with Who Dares, Wins, the long-term implications of these choices aren't a huge deal for me. I'm anti-Tower regardless. Less recklessness would be a nice bonus... and actually, feeling a
little obligation to his subjects might be cool? Yeah, that's a nice thing to have understated. Shame to downgrade "adaptability," though.
And I'm not entirely opposed to emphasizing all these things, either, if we're stuck with them in the first place. Isn't it appropriate for the daring king to go all in? Rather than a mere flaw in his rulership, his recklessness would be defining- and making it that blatant might facilitate designing countermeasures for the fallout. Hunger is going to be reckless, that's not in question, so he needs robustness in his designs to weather the consequences. Capable subordinates, as well, who are ideally quite adaptable but without any recklessness. This applies to Hunger's build votes as well as governance, come to think of it. If recklessness if inescapable, we should get fallbacks like Bloodwraith/Final Form/Dead but Dreaming/Companions. "Lose less" should be the thread's focus to contrast Hunger's "win more" drive. Since he inherited that flaw from us, it'll be hard work, but maybe the Not Dying gang can make a stand?
[ ] King and Court
Once and Future I + Companions of the King [53 Arete].
If Aobaru is the chosen of myth, then let it be as he said. Who can challenge the King in the strength of his court? The Forebear's mantle looms in the eyes of his foes as a portent of doom inescapable, but to his allies it is the aegis under which all their peoples shelter. Manifold are his glories, and their slightest refraction sufficient to raise up champions among men.
Raises your Rank and immediately grants elevated Rank scaling with your own to your trusted allies... a powerful combination that allows for far greater scope of action across the cosmic chessboard of the Voyaging Realm. As this option fully intends to mitigate the Decimator's Affliction by destroying the Tower, both the strengths and weaknesses of the chosen characterization will be diminished. Good synergy with Once and Future; an additional +40% All Stats works well with +++++All Stats.
*Greatly improves the durability and effectiveness of all your party members
*Once and Future offers immense power, but your Rank will overshoot your stats, meaning that enemies your peer in Rank will tend to have higher stats - an Armament all full power has not only tremendous Rank but also incredible stats backed by the greatest bio-engineering that the Foremost could achieve at scale. They are also armed to the teeth with strategic-level weaponry appropriate to a star-faring civilization of ten thousand systems.
*Having +40% All Stats would help greatly with that.
*An additional +80% Rank gain would augment your future Progression. Rank will continue to be an uphill climb and Hunger needs all the multipliers he can get to maintain some semblance of rapid advance into the High Ranks.
At the risk of sounding one-note, no Decimation, therefore vote. But I'll set that aside (after just one more point) and look at everything else about the option.
0. This destroys the Tower, satisfying Huntress's Moon. Not only does this immediately deal with the moral hazard of harming billions of people, it also leaves Hunger free to deal with the Protector. With such a threatening enemy, I'd like the freedom to focus our full attention on him. And the same with Chains, to a lesser degree because that's a long-term threat. Going back to LP, it would also be convenient not to hand him the moral high ground of "this guy is doing damage to your life force right now," which as casus belli goes is ironclad, frankly. Could poison the well for us even after we beat him.
Okay, shutting up about that now, I promise.
As I say in the half-written reaction to the last update that I haven't posted, I'm coming to the conclusion that Aobaru is, in fact, a shit. Talking up the blatantly evil Lord Protector, unnecessarily throwing Hunger's status in the fish vendor's face- it's not just one thing anymore, he seems to have a thing about might equals right. Not strange, but I hope we can raise him better as a hero before he goes full Anakin. Where was I going with that? Ah, yes, in light of the above it's a bit grating to follow his advice. It was just jokes, though, so I'm not tweaked by it.
In the blurb, the Forebear drum is pounding the same beats as always. It might be trying to tell us something! "Doom inescapable" is what ADS's Holy Shit accomplishes, I'm sure of that. But Companions doesn't spread his mantle enough to shelter more than five people, so that bit probably refers to something else. Sword in the Stone, maybe? "Refraction" is along the lines of "Cloud," "Echo," and "Shadow." It might be a bit closer to the real thing with that word choice! Geeze, this guy was ridiculous. I do think all these meme powers feel like a heavily sideways-mitigated Plenary Brand, still. Holy Shit is just making it work for you rather than revealing all your weaknesses uselessly, and he had to make his allies strong enough to bear his glory so they didn't go catatonic. It would be an elegant solution, I think. Curse-derived strength would mesh with the Foremost Lore, as well, thought the Accursed might facepalm at Hunger grabbing Plenary-mitigation superpowers without the curse itself.
If we drop 53 Arete here, everyone in the party will be as Rankily impressive as Hunger is now! Well, less .2, but it's close. The fish-vendor, no slouch himself, was ogling Hunger's Rank, and we could have a whole squad with that power. And commensurate defenses from the prerequisite Undying Vanguard, we basically don't have to worry about them getting picked off trivially anymore. We saw a problem with the reveal of Dearly Departed, then we solved it, how's that for adaptability? None of our current friends/elite minions will ever be irrelevant again (up to blah blah infinity whatever, at least, but with the Rank scaling maybe not even then), which is immensely valuable in turbo escalating Rihakuverse. Especially narratively, so people with wordcount can keep getting wordcount and I don't end up feeling like caring about characters is a waste. Friendship is magic motherfuckers.
And Hunger isn't getting nothing out of this, either. OaF is entirely self-focused, at least before Companions hitches all the wagons to his star, and the Rank boost and +%Stats are useful, too. But those are so straightforward there's not much to analyze tbh. Rank gud, rank gain gud, stat gud. I could say thatt while we do have lots of room for growth with Edeldross, scaling in the future will get harder. So it's a bit redundant now when we could just get that +40% from Lunar Coronet, I'll think of it like tacking more potential on at the end. And All Stat multipliers are ridiculously good, so you can never have too much.
On the flip side, the stat and rank gain bonuses only apply when everyone's together. We'll probably keep huddled in the near future, so it won't be a loss in that sense, but that does mean that it's competing with the "spread out to accomplish multiple objectives" benefit. But it's still good. I'd mention that it also requires us to have our friends in harm's way for serious fights, but they're buffed so much it's not an issue. And the way we're already going, they'd be much safer overall.
Amusingly, the imbalance between Rank and Stats that Hunger faces (dunno if I'm projecting, but I love how Rihaku's desperately begging "please do not charge directly at an Armament, you will die in a nanosecond.") is far greater for the minions. Except for durability, due to UV, which actually makes them far tankier than their Rank suggests. Aobaru especially, now that Aeira has Mastery, through no fault of his own. It's just that lots of his physical buffs apply to everyone else. So that's one lesson for the syllabus! It's not nearly as big a deal as it could be, since we have so many buffs to go around. Ennoblement, Edeldross, Vigorflame, Companions' own +%All- man, it's beautiful. One of the great things about Companions is that it ties our spending habits together- Arete given to Aobaru and Aeira wasn't dumped on mercenaries who might die or leave, they're tied to us for good and they'll pull their weight.
Well, speaking of being tied to us, we're chained to Aobaru no matter what we pick here, so his survival has shot up in our list of priorities. Companions does more for his growth and survival than any other option- he might actually have the power to confront his destiny with this purchase. And, it'd be a grand gesture on Hunger's part, it'd be nice to have the Hero remember what was entrusted to him as a squire for when he realizes his potential, hm?
The heavy Arete cost does bring us farther from ADS, but it's not like buying UV is a waste. And unlike the other options, with this one we need ADS less immediately. (Not that any of them really
need it for survival unless we yolo, we're spending so much here).
Finally, this doesn't decimate anyone. I lied about not bringing that up again.
[ ] All Under Heaven
Once and Future I + The Opalescent Tower [48 Arete]
With the Forebear's might comes the Forebear's dominion, and this callow universe shall kneel like any other. The Opalescent Tower shall be seized, its numinous fire grasped and embedded into the Cloak of Sky until all the Empyrean sits the King's shoulders, and why should it be otherwise? With power such as this, Hunger shall stride forth and put his Curse to the sword, for the King at hunt is swifter than all the winds, and inescapable as the sky shining down.
*Great immediate power and potential. Spends the least Arete of the options, potentially leaving room for All-Defeating Stance in the near or medium future.
*A powerful hybrid build that combines Rank with social and defensive stats.
*Grants access to Empyreal Signs which offer potent magical effects.
*Though he only has two days to find a solution, Hunger has immense power with which to pursue the task. Still, he will need to find a solution quickly, Rank alone is unlikely to suffice. The Empyreal Signs can overcome the tyranny of distance in the Voyaging Realm, but are unlikely to offer a direct solution to the requirements of the Huntress' Moon.
*Overwhelming power and majesty will allow Hunger a realistic chance to deal with the Lord Protector directly, if he so chooses.
*You should really get Iridescence to take advantage of those Evening Sky Protection +s.
Should first say that our Arete generation hasn't fallen half as much as I expected (here's to you
@Prospalz), so "near future" nothing, ADS might be available to us next update. But this option is behind, and I don't think it'll make a comeback.
The blurb is dripping with arrogance (and awesomeness), but I'm not sure Hunger can back it up. At least it implies that Hunger takes the Curse seriously and is keen on chasing it, even if it's overconfident. It also hypes up the myth of the Tower, which I'd be thrilled by if not for the Decimation problem.
This combination does swipe aside the other issue I had with Tower, the lack of immediate combat power in the face of the Protector. With OaF, we shouldn't have to be limited to social maneuvering which would take serious time at this juncture. Slamming the LP directly would be fantabulous, but since I'd like more than a realistic shot grabbing ADS first would make me far more comfortable. Which, coincidentally, this option also facilitates, so that's nice. If we can slam him quickly, we'd might actually not Decimate people.
Depending on the Signs we pick, that is. We'd need... fast travel, above all else. With the Decimation Lens Gisena kindly build for us, we might not actually need a divination Sign to pull it off. But since that was just pointed out as a glaring hole in our build, a general purpose information gathering spell could both deal with that and possibly give hints for Decimation so we'll know where it'd be best to activate the Lens for more precise scrying. Leaving the last spell for
@ImperatorV to play with.
And most of the gushing about OaF applies here as well, of course. And while Decimation consumed most of the Signs, they'll be useful forever and we can presumably get more with Tower. And the boost to Sky EFBs, which is awesome. But I maintain that Protection is eh and the most boring stat, no matter how many +'s you give me! But, on the other hand, Iridescence could actually fix that. Hm.
[ ] Eye of the Storm
The Tears of Winter: Adorie + The Opalescent Tower [50 Arete]
Why settle for the Princess' abode alone? Claim the crown jewels as well; for while she lacks the power to enliven them, Hunger has no such limitation. Being a gracious ally he will encourage her to use them directly, as mere ownership suffices to confer considerable benefits. With the treasures of this land forthrightly plundered, sky and storm both will yield to the Winter King, who darkens their door like a looming thunderhead, the force of his strike like a star fallen to earth, and the fury of his ire like a blizzard fit to drown the sun at noon! Now is the time to lay claim to all this land can offer in preparation for opposing the Tyrant that stands at its helm. Leave no stone unscoured in the ceaseless quest for advantage, so that in time you may visit devastation upon your enemies and see them laid broken before you.
*The weakest of the options in immediate strength, being .2 Rank weaker in general matters and 1.2 Ranks weaker in matters military.
*Still a very respectable power increase, and manifold opportunities for future advance.
*Grants increased INT, Apocryphal mitigation, and reduced Praxis exertion alongside the benefits to general capability.
*Wielding both the Jewels and the Fortress of House Mirellyian, the snows of winter clasped to the endless sky, Hunger will gain the Title [King of Winter] upon completing Once and Future I.
*Naturally he must be accompanied by its final scion as well. It would be rather unkind to take possession of her Artifacts without looking out for her well-being.
*Recruits Adorie Mirellyian as a companion. She is an exceptionally capable administrator, orator, lore-master and vocalist, and would be happy to run your territories for you or help you research further Empyreal Signs.
*She's somewhat of a liability in combat, so will need bodyguards or some other means of defense.
*Exceptionally greedy, the only option that has worse than even odds of against a Nilfelian Legion in a straight fight. However, the Lord Protector himself is considerably weaker than a full Nilfelian Legion as well. There are plenty of more circuitous routes to the victory you seek.
*Very potent in the long term, but you'll need to both deal with the Lord Protector and figure out some means of Decimator mitigation quickly. Enhances both Hunger's recklessness as well as his nerve under pressure.
If Tower was locked in after the last vote, it'd be Tears that I jumped on immediately afterward. But seeing it called out as "exceptionally greedy" scares me a bit. On the other hand, we are getting 2 EFBs here, and neither of them seemed to doom us alone, so perhaps we have room for greed. And the depiction of
Hunger's greed in the blurb is more badass than it is off-putting, he wants the tower and the jewels! Fuck, if not for Decimation, I'd worry about the blurb convincing me.
And with immediate danger comes potential.
King of Winter might cool my ire after taking Tower, but for the fact that Eye of the Storm has the lowest chance of mitigation. I'd push for ADS before OaF in the hopes of dealing with that quickly if this wins, I think. But maybe the insane pressure this combination causes would inspire the Ring to cough up some other means of dealing with the mess we've made?
Adorie is a huge part of the benefits of this choice, and I think I wouldn't mind seeing her eat some word count. Not that we know much about her, but her benefits are amazing. Especially for the King who decided that being a king was lame, we could use that administrative talent.
All the gushing I did about Tears from the last vote still applies. I'd love the ++++INT, and getting APP on the board, and grabbing even more Rank potential. Tears is good. The potential of this option is enormous,
King of Winter is tempting and we'd be most of the way there! Unfortunately, it has the critical flaw of taking Tower, which I cannot abide. Furthermore, I consider that the tower must be destroyed
Satisfy the Affliction already, you greedy geezer.
