A Simple Transaction I
- Thread starter Rihaku
- Start date
- Original
OctarineShrike
Avatar of Mandos
Tally incoming
The big benefit to direct mitigation is it's broadness, and the fact it allows us to appear merely incredibly arrogant (Or imperial if our PR is on point.) rather than insane. Even if our actions are mainly the same the perception of them will be very different. Being able to have a discussion even if it ends up fruitless creates a different aftermath compared to just complete disconnect.
Rihaku
The Internet
Not going to vote for Apocryphal Mitigation at all? How bold!
Shard
One and Many
- Location
- Malaysia
I was wondering why Combat Cursebearers are just so weak compared to even a moderately developed Progression Class. Is it because they are intended to operate at that low level? Progression are potential allies, and Combat types are.. more intended to be like minor nanobots.
Whoops. Vote copy-editing mishap.
LordOfMurder
Bhaal
- Location
- Australia
Well we'll look completely insane still if we meet someone with a spine who doesn't explain the rules in a subservient manner and we'll still refuse all requests. The difference between the two is if there's one specific rule preventing us from interacting with society like say "don't swing weapons around in public" direct mitigation allows us to recognize the rule but we still can't enter society because we'll refuse to comply whereas with Trusted council we can be persuaded to obey that one rule.
I think complete mitigation in one area trumps broad partial mitigation basically. Broad mitigation looks nice because we seem to be making a lot of progress but because of how hard it is to increase our mitigation after the first time I think specific complete mitigation is superior.
Rihaku
The Internet
Turns out it wasn't a strategy to push up your preferred non-Apocryphal mitigations against their rival choices. I'm somewhat disappointed!
OctarineShrike
Avatar of Mandos
Realized a potential narrative benefit angle to having more Gisena points.
The more points Hunger has with Gisena, the more likely we are to get some, albeit costly, route to save her if all attempts at mitigating Decimator's Affliction's affect on her fail.
The more points Hunger has with Gisena, the more likely we are to get some, albeit costly, route to save her if all attempts at mitigating Decimator's Affliction's affect on her fail.
Shard
One and Many
- Location
- Malaysia
The votes are basically arranged in descending order from my most preferred option to my least preferred option (Trusted vs Moon is quite close). I therefore don't benefit from tactical voting in the current vote structure.
What I am curious about is, how do you intend to have personable characters once the players hit transfinite levels of power? Suppose we are level 10 million, and everyone we meet are basically gods. Cursebearer universe: Xianxia brought to its logical extention?
- Location
- Pindorama
The Accursed seems pretty personable to me; of course, we've just seen him when interacting with those who are infinitely lesser through infinite cardinalities and all. Hell, rank already let's you act as a mythic character disregarding physical law; I imagine bullshit that preserves your character image is just going to increase in later stages of progression.
Rihaku
The Internet
Vote closing in ~30 minutes! Speak now or forever hold your peace!
Depends whether they have +INT and +CHA buffs to superhuman levels or not. If not, then it's just like the end of EFB.
Depends whether they have +INT and +CHA buffs to superhuman levels or not. If not, then it's just like the end of EFB.
The Geas must start to get a bit weird once you hit trans-universal levels of power. Do you start conquering multiple universes per task at that point? Does it have to find you multiverses of sufficiently high cardinality to be a challenge? Does it just link a bunch of random realms together and send you at them?
- Location
- Omniverse #1345
I suspect after sufficient power is reached Geas and Apocryphal just kinda... lose steam as the only people they can throw you at that are worthy are other progression cursebearers. And I suspect that the Accursed One has failsafes to limit that.
I suspect combat types are an attempt to get more people innoculated with the accursed's power and curses. It's part of some long-term plan to, once there are sufficient cursebearers that can withstand it, shrug off all the curses at once onto them. Each Combat type can hold far less weight, but they have a much greater survival chance than progression types. So the Accursed is trying every strategy at once.
Last edited:
Lealope
Not yet invincible
- Pronouns
- She/Her
If I recall correctly, I think we're close to another tier of Arete bonus. If you guys have any thoughts, ideas, speculations, omakes, conspiracy theories, whatever, now is the time to post.
-
Was not written in chronological order at all. Or entirely sober.
Can't wait to eat some caviar when it turns out our rival was a queen, not a king.
What's the net worth of this fish? What's its deal? Was it an isekai too from some sparkling sea of gemstones and treasure? The aesthetic of this environment reminds me of nothing so much as the Manifest Realm or Yong. It's even got a Cultivation resource in it's belly. Perhaps in some distant, relatively low level xianxia world, this guy was the equivalent of a Priceless Treasure and just got dumped here by an Astral Rift. I'd be interested in exploring more of this kind of thing; the culture of an area where space is constantly shifting and extradimensional travelers are constantly showing up must be incredibly interesting. Hopefully we can interact with some civilizations here.
Blue-green indeed.
Is it just me or is Hunger getting a bit better at dealing with Gisena? Or at least he discovered the optimal strategy for dealing with her: become her friend and then take your own health hostage through overwork a la Jeanne. Ganbare Hunger, you're one step closer to understanding her and thus making her heart go doki doki.
Nice to know that Special Eyes are still a thing in this quest too. I wonder what we look like to Gisena under that kind of second sight. It would hardly be some kind of Gamer-esque dry, factual description the way Seram saw his. Perhaps she sees a metaphorical representation of our various magical conditions? The Curses would be a hell of a thing under that kind of sight, as would the burned out husk of our memories.
That's even worse than her existing Graces, honestly. Imagine being able to perceive all the wonderful sorcerous powers all your spiritual sisters have and then looking in a mirror and seeing a completely mundane person. All of them are really good in practical terms but that doesn't change the fact that her wizard powers granted by her society's messiah are telling her that she was born to be a wet blanket.
I'm curious as to the purpose of this Grace. What would she even use it for? The magical perception would apply to all sorts of things but where would subtle Nullity help? Graces hardly have the kind of finicky downsides that would come with a "harder" magic system. Maybe it could eventually be moved towards a metaphysical surgery or sorts to alter a Grace in subtle ways? Or to make it a more finicky and less intuitive sort of power and thus open up more avenues for exploitation.
Too bad it was largely useless for her home world. Don't worry Gisena, we'll fix up the Manifest Realm when we're a High Cursebearer, assuming Seram doesn't do so first.
Can't tell if this is Hunger's true preference that he's expressing through bullshit and banter or if he just went with whatever comeback came to mind. See, this is why you need more Wits and Manipulation Hunger. If you can't have 4D chess level conversations on a daily basis, what's even the point of being a socially competent character? Though I guess Accretion takes care of most of that through probability bullshit and reality warping.
Neat that Gisena actually cares about our boy's health, even if she expresses it in a roundabout, teasing fashion. Those +s hard at work. If the two are roughly equivalent, I'm more optimistic about Letrizia standing up for us in civilization after a few more Supports.
Yeah, that time you spend socializing is time you could spend brooding. After all, everyone knows obsessing over the terrible, terrible events of your past is one of life's most visceral pleasures. I do wish we knew how high the Gisena-Letrizia social link is currently. Does Hunger have any guesses or does he spend his time brooding outside the robot during girl talk? After all, that's the only time he won't get pwned by a shoe.
I don't know how I feel about the tilde after comprehensive. Is that her teasing our tactical mindset? Trying to point our the appearance improvement by conspicuously not mentioning? Am I just looking for wheels within wheels where absolutely none exist. See, this is the problem trying to play mindgames with superhuman social characters. You never know how far underneath the underneath you should look, or if you should look at all.
Those are some deeply suspicious ellipses, my man. Took you a hot second to think of an answer that didn't involve you admitting you enjoy your teasing repartee and actually respect Gisena's opinion on things. Too bad we didn't take any +Wits, gotta up our reaction time if we want to remain on the level.
Merciful that she didn't follow up on that pause and instead went to self-aggrandizement. A genius is gracious in victory too, apparently.
Maybe if I close my eyes and wish hard enough, these fish fingers will taste like these words sound.
Oh wow, I assume this must have been the first time our boy has eaten anything other than sci-fi MREs on this journey. For her to be surprised at his skills like this (assuming it's not just empty flattery), it's clear he hasn't cooked and Letrizia doesn't strike me as someone who would have ever had occasion to learn to cook beyond the confines of her basic training. Meanwhile, Gisena's cooking is a bioweapon so I doubt he'd leave her alone with the Fish if he knew.
As a sidenote, the word palace makes me wonder if when Rihaku said Imperial power flowed from the pilot of a giant robot, he wasn't just joking. After all, it's clear that their title conveys very tangible privileges, which would be weird for somewhere that seemed to have a history significantly influenced by an ersatz version our world. That would be a solid explanation of a neo-aristocracy and not a dynastic oligarchy or something. Hard to contend with someone who's compatible with a giant, reality warping robot if you yourself did not have that ability.
Or I guess her particular nation might just come from a world where they never left aristocracy and the reason why they know about Evangelion is because of cultural cross-pollination but that seems much less fun.
He's deeply fortunate Gisena doesn't know what a chuuni is or is otherwise merciful enough not to poke at his obvious and undeniable embarrassment at being called something as pretentious as "Lord Hunger". Sorry bud but at least a third of the Human Sphere is obviously one of those shockingly atavistic space opera aristocracies; you're almost certainly stuck with it.
Don't worry about it, Hunger. You just gotta become powerful enough that people take your title seriously, even you absolutely can't.
"I'm delicious so you'd better put up with my shitty attitude." Novel argument, though I suspect the fish might take offense at putting it in those terms. What are the odds those vegetables were actually spirit herbs that went entirely wasted on us.
As a sidenote, is Accretion the Prowess to Cultivation's Might?
This might've been the scene that switched me to the Gisena train. Hunger has a moment of PTSD and Gisena doesn't call attention to it or anything that might embarrass him but makes sure he can enjoy the joy of the moment despite Letrizia's innocent ignorance.
She's really grown on me. How kind of her. While I still don't want to take her with us on the Geas, becoming closer to her while we're here and then enjoying an amicable parting might do a lot of good for Hunger. And maybe she can find some comfort in him as well, despite the possible death of and definite separation from everything and everyone she knew. In their own ways, both had lost everything before they met.
And also Master Shifu vs. Po style chopstick fighting is also a significant bonus. She's really the morale of the team; this journey would be a lot worse if Hunger had no-one to draw him out of his misery and loss. God knows Letrizia just isn't up to the task, not that it's any knock on her.
Powerful mom energy from Gisena here. There's certainly worse places Zea could find that kind of approval and affection from. I wonder how Hunger feels about this kind of family atmosphere? With the ring, I assume it lets him find a measure of peace rather than the despair and hate to the Hidden Ones that might have consumed him without it. First Age Odyssial was a lot of things but well adjusted was not one of them. Without Lea, Pearl and the Fairest, I imagine we'd have ended up at Heartlessness 12 or something.
The cutest in the universe. For her to be like this, I can only assume our chosen pseudonym has allowed us to apply our Rank to the results of our cooking, making it moderately superhuman.
Good thing she went to sleep or she might've seen mom and dad getting gross. God help us if she learned about Indenture. That's gonna be pretty awkward with a shitload of pluses and/or a crisis to make us the obviously best option. Though given how well Odyssial's territories were run, perhaps we already are. The Hero at least can be trusted to care about the people as a whole and from a relatively unbiased perspective.
God, I hope we get to chase up at least the message. Also, yet more evidence this fish is from a xianxia world; it had a Golden Core. Will we derive an additional benefit from that or is that just a part of this? Also curious to know what we can use the scale for; I wouldn't mind upgrading our cloak with it to get a Mantle of the Empyrean Sea or something.
Go with your first instinct, hero. The Apocryphal is going to kick you in the dick; better acquire power as much as possible given your distressing lack of prudence.
Daww. Nice to know that these guys actually respect and like us. Sure it was implicit but it's always good to hear it. I think Hunger could do with a lot more of that in his life and maybe some reassurance that he's not a perpetual fuckup who kills everyone who gets close to him. Harsh but in the place he's in, those could very well be some of the thoughts in his head. I'm not sure if he's better or worse off than if he'd taken Balance.
While I don't think it's possible to "deserve" something as absurd as Progression; he certainly earned better than he got. I hope we can shift his mindset to not just work towards vengeance but also live with happiness for their sake. I doubt they'd feel to good to see you turned yourself into an inhuman calculating monster for their sake. You owe it to them to live as well, hero.
The ellipses again. Now I'm sure it's a sign of him being socially ambushed. And yeah, we did get confronted with trauma, stabbed in the chest, have an anime filler episode fishing and then spent 7 Arete. He might be exhausted but you can tell he's an epic hero forged in endless strife because he didn't drop dead.
Hunger's discrimination against nobles is going to be hilarious when we hit the Human Sphere. We really should take some Tyrant Mitigation or we're gonna be massively constrained in our actions. Or just dump a million +s in Charisma and turn our existence into a memetic hazard.
Really, really regretting not getting Unshattered. The existence of Arete provides obvious alternatives to Shatter Heaven's advancement of Accretion. That Progression++ is especially promising; we'd be up 7 Arete if we hadn't had to buy something for immediate survival.
Great side benefit of Dressing is how it doubled as Gisena II. Saving actions we could spend on grinding right now is absolutely gold.
I see that now Hunger has discovered the optimal social strat, he's going to abuse the fuck out of it. I wholeheartedly approve. Of course, this just means she'll have get closer when she feels like bothering him. Congrats Hunger, you played yourself.
Or did you?
Well, he wouldn't do it if it didn't work so well. Have you tried being a worse person?
Yeah, our man is a real grizzled bad boy. Mad, bad and dangerous to know, even, if the scars didn't tip you off.
I was going to make a joke about dad jokes here but then I remembered that Hunger would have actually been a father if his pregnant wife hadn't died to the Tyrant. That made me go from haha shitposting funtimes mood to mildly depressed. Did that nameless hero also make dad jokes? Was he looking forward to a life of peace and raising his child in a better world, now that he was finally stronger than his enemy? How much crueler it would have been at that last hurdle to find that yet again he just wasn't good enough. Only once he'd lost everything he had to live for could he bring himself to do what was necessary, far too late to save what mattered.
I feel significantly more sympathetic to the hero now. Seriously, fuck everyone involved in making his life the parade of misery it has been. When he gets revenge, I hope the shoves every last one of those laughing gods into an eternity of unbearable torment. Perhaps he could take notes from his patron; when it comes to fates worse than death, the Accursed strikes me as a connoisseur.
Gisena in a nutshell. I reread A Simple Transaction and I grew significantly warmer on her. Even if she's obnoxious at times, she's still truly, genuinely kind. Not her fault she got mind controlled by a destiny blessed hero.
Okay, I'm feeling a lot less "flirty but platonic banter because we're two attractive people who are friends and this is how they do" and a lot more "let's hold each other on this romantic moonlit night and stare meaningfully into each other's eyes." Is this the terrible power of +4 Charisma and a kick ass cape? Or did she just really appreciate our amazing cooking skills and defiance of traditional gender roles? Maybe she's just super into the wounded hero aesthetic and wants to cure our boy's sadness with tender love? Or maybe she just feels like she needs some human contact with someone he can trust.
Whatever the reason, this part feels like a significant escalation. Orm might have been very prescient when he said Gisena II would have led to the first Great War of this quest. Does that make me Gavrilo Princip?
What a shockingly effective threat! Even for the pro-Gisena faction, doing so would likely end with us murderering her again and it's not like we could resurrect her this time. And Hunger needs that power for vengeance; both Hunger and the voters know the terror of diminishment.
A little considered side benefit of our cloak is the potential for ultimate comfiness. Though I suppose the Pillars threw that into stark relief.
And I reiterate, I've started thinking these two might be good for each other.
-
GISENA GANG RISE UP
P.S: 2549 words, just in time.
-
Was not written in chronological order at all. Or entirely sober.
Can't wait to eat some caviar when it turns out our rival was a queen, not a king.
What's the net worth of this fish? What's its deal? Was it an isekai too from some sparkling sea of gemstones and treasure? The aesthetic of this environment reminds me of nothing so much as the Manifest Realm or Yong. It's even got a Cultivation resource in it's belly. Perhaps in some distant, relatively low level xianxia world, this guy was the equivalent of a Priceless Treasure and just got dumped here by an Astral Rift. I'd be interested in exploring more of this kind of thing; the culture of an area where space is constantly shifting and extradimensional travelers are constantly showing up must be incredibly interesting. Hopefully we can interact with some civilizations here.
Blue-green indeed.
Is it just me or is Hunger getting a bit better at dealing with Gisena? Or at least he discovered the optimal strategy for dealing with her: become her friend and then take your own health hostage through overwork a la Jeanne. Ganbare Hunger, you're one step closer to understanding her and thus making her heart go doki doki.
Nice to know that Special Eyes are still a thing in this quest too. I wonder what we look like to Gisena under that kind of second sight. It would hardly be some kind of Gamer-esque dry, factual description the way Seram saw his. Perhaps she sees a metaphorical representation of our various magical conditions? The Curses would be a hell of a thing under that kind of sight, as would the burned out husk of our memories.
That's even worse than her existing Graces, honestly. Imagine being able to perceive all the wonderful sorcerous powers all your spiritual sisters have and then looking in a mirror and seeing a completely mundane person. All of them are really good in practical terms but that doesn't change the fact that her wizard powers granted by her society's messiah are telling her that she was born to be a wet blanket.
I'm curious as to the purpose of this Grace. What would she even use it for? The magical perception would apply to all sorts of things but where would subtle Nullity help? Graces hardly have the kind of finicky downsides that would come with a "harder" magic system. Maybe it could eventually be moved towards a metaphysical surgery or sorts to alter a Grace in subtle ways? Or to make it a more finicky and less intuitive sort of power and thus open up more avenues for exploitation.
Too bad it was largely useless for her home world. Don't worry Gisena, we'll fix up the Manifest Realm when we're a High Cursebearer, assuming Seram doesn't do so first.
Can't tell if this is Hunger's true preference that he's expressing through bullshit and banter or if he just went with whatever comeback came to mind. See, this is why you need more Wits and Manipulation Hunger. If you can't have 4D chess level conversations on a daily basis, what's even the point of being a socially competent character? Though I guess Accretion takes care of most of that through probability bullshit and reality warping.
Neat that Gisena actually cares about our boy's health, even if she expresses it in a roundabout, teasing fashion. Those +s hard at work. If the two are roughly equivalent, I'm more optimistic about Letrizia standing up for us in civilization after a few more Supports.
Yeah, that time you spend socializing is time you could spend brooding. After all, everyone knows obsessing over the terrible, terrible events of your past is one of life's most visceral pleasures. I do wish we knew how high the Gisena-Letrizia social link is currently. Does Hunger have any guesses or does he spend his time brooding outside the robot during girl talk? After all, that's the only time he won't get pwned by a shoe.
I don't know how I feel about the tilde after comprehensive. Is that her teasing our tactical mindset? Trying to point our the appearance improvement by conspicuously not mentioning? Am I just looking for wheels within wheels where absolutely none exist. See, this is the problem trying to play mindgames with superhuman social characters. You never know how far underneath the underneath you should look, or if you should look at all.
Those are some deeply suspicious ellipses, my man. Took you a hot second to think of an answer that didn't involve you admitting you enjoy your teasing repartee and actually respect Gisena's opinion on things. Too bad we didn't take any +Wits, gotta up our reaction time if we want to remain on the level.
Merciful that she didn't follow up on that pause and instead went to self-aggrandizement. A genius is gracious in victory too, apparently.
Maybe if I close my eyes and wish hard enough, these fish fingers will taste like these words sound.
Oh wow, I assume this must have been the first time our boy has eaten anything other than sci-fi MREs on this journey. For her to be surprised at his skills like this (assuming it's not just empty flattery), it's clear he hasn't cooked and Letrizia doesn't strike me as someone who would have ever had occasion to learn to cook beyond the confines of her basic training. Meanwhile, Gisena's cooking is a bioweapon so I doubt he'd leave her alone with the Fish if he knew.
As a sidenote, the word palace makes me wonder if when Rihaku said Imperial power flowed from the pilot of a giant robot, he wasn't just joking. After all, it's clear that their title conveys very tangible privileges, which would be weird for somewhere that seemed to have a history significantly influenced by an ersatz version our world. That would be a solid explanation of a neo-aristocracy and not a dynastic oligarchy or something. Hard to contend with someone who's compatible with a giant, reality warping robot if you yourself did not have that ability.
Or I guess her particular nation might just come from a world where they never left aristocracy and the reason why they know about Evangelion is because of cultural cross-pollination but that seems much less fun.
He's deeply fortunate Gisena doesn't know what a chuuni is or is otherwise merciful enough not to poke at his obvious and undeniable embarrassment at being called something as pretentious as "Lord Hunger". Sorry bud but at least a third of the Human Sphere is obviously one of those shockingly atavistic space opera aristocracies; you're almost certainly stuck with it.
Don't worry about it, Hunger. You just gotta become powerful enough that people take your title seriously, even you absolutely can't.
"I'm delicious so you'd better put up with my shitty attitude." Novel argument, though I suspect the fish might take offense at putting it in those terms. What are the odds those vegetables were actually spirit herbs that went entirely wasted on us.
As a sidenote, is Accretion the Prowess to Cultivation's Might?
This might've been the scene that switched me to the Gisena train. Hunger has a moment of PTSD and Gisena doesn't call attention to it or anything that might embarrass him but makes sure he can enjoy the joy of the moment despite Letrizia's innocent ignorance.
She's really grown on me. How kind of her. While I still don't want to take her with us on the Geas, becoming closer to her while we're here and then enjoying an amicable parting might do a lot of good for Hunger. And maybe she can find some comfort in him as well, despite the possible death of and definite separation from everything and everyone she knew. In their own ways, both had lost everything before they met.
And also Master Shifu vs. Po style chopstick fighting is also a significant bonus. She's really the morale of the team; this journey would be a lot worse if Hunger had no-one to draw him out of his misery and loss. God knows Letrizia just isn't up to the task, not that it's any knock on her.
Powerful mom energy from Gisena here. There's certainly worse places Zea could find that kind of approval and affection from. I wonder how Hunger feels about this kind of family atmosphere? With the ring, I assume it lets him find a measure of peace rather than the despair and hate to the Hidden Ones that might have consumed him without it. First Age Odyssial was a lot of things but well adjusted was not one of them. Without Lea, Pearl and the Fairest, I imagine we'd have ended up at Heartlessness 12 or something.
The cutest in the universe. For her to be like this, I can only assume our chosen pseudonym has allowed us to apply our Rank to the results of our cooking, making it moderately superhuman.
Good thing she went to sleep or she might've seen mom and dad getting gross. God help us if she learned about Indenture. That's gonna be pretty awkward with a shitload of pluses and/or a crisis to make us the obviously best option. Though given how well Odyssial's territories were run, perhaps we already are. The Hero at least can be trusted to care about the people as a whole and from a relatively unbiased perspective.
God, I hope we get to chase up at least the message. Also, yet more evidence this fish is from a xianxia world; it had a Golden Core. Will we derive an additional benefit from that or is that just a part of this? Also curious to know what we can use the scale for; I wouldn't mind upgrading our cloak with it to get a Mantle of the Empyrean Sea or something.
Go with your first instinct, hero. The Apocryphal is going to kick you in the dick; better acquire power as much as possible given your distressing lack of prudence.
Daww. Nice to know that these guys actually respect and like us. Sure it was implicit but it's always good to hear it. I think Hunger could do with a lot more of that in his life and maybe some reassurance that he's not a perpetual fuckup who kills everyone who gets close to him. Harsh but in the place he's in, those could very well be some of the thoughts in his head. I'm not sure if he's better or worse off than if he'd taken Balance.
While I don't think it's possible to "deserve" something as absurd as Progression; he certainly earned better than he got. I hope we can shift his mindset to not just work towards vengeance but also live with happiness for their sake. I doubt they'd feel to good to see you turned yourself into an inhuman calculating monster for their sake. You owe it to them to live as well, hero.
The ellipses again. Now I'm sure it's a sign of him being socially ambushed. And yeah, we did get confronted with trauma, stabbed in the chest, have an anime filler episode fishing and then spent 7 Arete. He might be exhausted but you can tell he's an epic hero forged in endless strife because he didn't drop dead.
Hunger's discrimination against nobles is going to be hilarious when we hit the Human Sphere. We really should take some Tyrant Mitigation or we're gonna be massively constrained in our actions. Or just dump a million +s in Charisma and turn our existence into a memetic hazard.
Really, really regretting not getting Unshattered. The existence of Arete provides obvious alternatives to Shatter Heaven's advancement of Accretion. That Progression++ is especially promising; we'd be up 7 Arete if we hadn't had to buy something for immediate survival.
Great side benefit of Dressing is how it doubled as Gisena II. Saving actions we could spend on grinding right now is absolutely gold.
I see that now Hunger has discovered the optimal social strat, he's going to abuse the fuck out of it. I wholeheartedly approve. Of course, this just means she'll have get closer when she feels like bothering him. Congrats Hunger, you played yourself.
Or did you?
Well, he wouldn't do it if it didn't work so well. Have you tried being a worse person?
Yeah, our man is a real grizzled bad boy. Mad, bad and dangerous to know, even, if the scars didn't tip you off.
I was going to make a joke about dad jokes here but then I remembered that Hunger would have actually been a father if his pregnant wife hadn't died to the Tyrant. That made me go from haha shitposting funtimes mood to mildly depressed. Did that nameless hero also make dad jokes? Was he looking forward to a life of peace and raising his child in a better world, now that he was finally stronger than his enemy? How much crueler it would have been at that last hurdle to find that yet again he just wasn't good enough. Only once he'd lost everything he had to live for could he bring himself to do what was necessary, far too late to save what mattered.
I feel significantly more sympathetic to the hero now. Seriously, fuck everyone involved in making his life the parade of misery it has been. When he gets revenge, I hope the shoves every last one of those laughing gods into an eternity of unbearable torment. Perhaps he could take notes from his patron; when it comes to fates worse than death, the Accursed strikes me as a connoisseur.
Gisena in a nutshell. I reread A Simple Transaction and I grew significantly warmer on her. Even if she's obnoxious at times, she's still truly, genuinely kind. Not her fault she got mind controlled by a destiny blessed hero.
Okay, I'm feeling a lot less "flirty but platonic banter because we're two attractive people who are friends and this is how they do" and a lot more "let's hold each other on this romantic moonlit night and stare meaningfully into each other's eyes." Is this the terrible power of +4 Charisma and a kick ass cape? Or did she just really appreciate our amazing cooking skills and defiance of traditional gender roles? Maybe she's just super into the wounded hero aesthetic and wants to cure our boy's sadness with tender love? Or maybe she just feels like she needs some human contact with someone he can trust.
Whatever the reason, this part feels like a significant escalation. Orm might have been very prescient when he said Gisena II would have led to the first Great War of this quest. Does that make me Gavrilo Princip?
What a shockingly effective threat! Even for the pro-Gisena faction, doing so would likely end with us murderering her again and it's not like we could resurrect her this time. And Hunger needs that power for vengeance; both Hunger and the voters know the terror of diminishment.
A little considered side benefit of our cloak is the potential for ultimate comfiness. Though I suppose the Pillars threw that into stark relief.
And I reiterate, I've started thinking these two might be good for each other.
-
GISENA GANG RISE UP
P.S: 2549 words, just in time.
Last edited:
Shard
One and Many
- Location
- Malaysia
I suspect Curses are really more representations of all the entities attacking the Accursed. They're outside time, after all. Strange that the curses are all human-understandable though.
I don't think they'll lose much steam. If they're more or less ignore-able to even High Cursebearers then they'd do nothing to the Accursed, so why would he bother sending them out as offers rather than curses that do affect him.
As for what the challenges look like, hard to know. I do guess that the psychological attrition of just the sheer amount of time doing this accounts for a good amount of casualties, but that should mainly be in the earlyish stages. Time scales are so vast it's hard to guess at what the mindsets would be like, once you're able to cultivate the state of mind/habits to work on it for more than a million years as an example, even though that's a minuscule fraction of the time are you really going to break down absent some hostile effect?
Maybe it gets to the point where it's just an immediate death match with whatever peer level existence/s you're required to kill in each Geass task as you instantly recognize each other's existence?
Last edited:
LordOfMurder
Bhaal
- Location
- Australia
You are a credit to the Gisena gang. I salute you.
- Location
- Omniverse #1345
I suspect he is only capable of offloading curses the bearer will understand onto them. Meaning he has plenty that aren't human understandable, but he offloads those onto things that can understand them.
If it was just the entities attacking him... He could kill them all. Easily. He's that strong. I suspect they are the death-curses of the last of his greatest enemies that he killed. One final trap to try to drag him down to a level he could be stopped. They failed.
When I say lose steam I mean they just kinda... run out of things they are capable of that can be a true issue for the bearer.
Depending on how Geas works the task itself might be controlled by the Accursed - in which case he would simply not set his cursebearers against one another as long as they are on task with whatever his grand plan really is.
Although reading it it doesn't seem like the Geas of Indenture ever actually says the task will be a challenge. The only restriction is that they will be within your ability to accomplish. So it probably just caps off at a certain level. Apocryphal probably runs into the issue of once you get strong enough the opponents are all going to be sapient... and recognize a cursebearer on sight. Most would probably just nope away from getting involved in that, refusing to be fodder for someone else's curse.
Enduring and Fleeting
Rihaku
The Internet
What did Hunger do when he first awoke? Prioritize carefully.
[ ] Finally Get in the Robot - Matters of the Decimator's Affliction have been put off for too long. They must be addressed immediately. If Verschlengorge has the same Curse as you, does that mean Gisena and Letrizia are being drained of life force at double the rate? This and other questions should be answered quickly if at all possible. [+Verschlengorge Information, +???]
[ ] Research the Spoils - The pearl, the message, and the scale. Gisena's work is good, but you have your own perspective to add, the insight made possible through long experience and formidable Astral Rank. Though the latter has been somewhat depleted, hampering your efforts on every front, nonetheless it is critical to absorb or acquire whatever strength you can from the fish you spent so dearly to conquer. [+???]
[ ] Sleep In - Rest is critical. Though it will not relieve your Exhausted condition, you will receive small some leeway in using your Astral Rank for the day. [Exhausted -> Mostly Exhausted]
[ ] Brunch - Get the girls together and finish off the rest of that fish. Sure, one could save it smoked in cold storage to be parceled out across the length of this journey, but that would simply leave you spoiled and wanting for more. Best to finish it off with a second exquisite feast and create happy memories with your traveling companions! [+Letrizia, +Gisena]
---
The winning votes were:
[X] Fierce Vigor
[X] Do Not Spend Arete
[X] Apocryphal - Direct Mitigation
[X] Decimator's - Huntress' Moon
[X] +Gisena
Long-Term Planning! A form of advanced coordination so that you can actually buy the EFB-equivalents you want! Spend Arete now, guarantee an option's availability in future build votes!
Selecting an option ensures it will be a valid choice in future build votes, even if not directly shown, and won't disappear or increase in cost due to time constraints or the purchase of accompanying baseline options. 1 Arete per option.
Arete spent is not lost, but is put down as a deposit towards the total cost of the option in question.
[ ] Save 1 Option
[ ] Save 3 Options
[ ] Save 5 Options
Take care that you do not deposit recklessly into too many high-Arete effects.
The Forebear's Blade
[ ] [A Thousand Cuts] - 7 Arete. 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.
[ ] [Iron Curtain] - 7 Arete. The Forebear could not be dissuaded, nor could he be stopped. To dissent was folly, to resist was death. The laws of the Forebear were as natural law, and just as inevitable. When active, ++Willpower, +++Protection, ++Constitution, Ignore Wounds, Deflect Exotic Attacks. Become Tired afterwards.
[ ] [Once And Future] I - 25 Arete. 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.
The Ring of Power
[ ] [Pitiless Maw] - 7 Arete. A Conjunctional Advancement that requires the Forebear's Blade. How can hunger perish from this world? So long as there is one hungering thing, it will emerge again and again to feast upon this realm of mere phenomena. Passively restore health equal to 100% of the damage you deal in melee combat, and triples the Power of Ruin associated with melee strikes.
[ ] [Dead But Dreaming] - 25 Arete. 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].
[ ] [Ruling Ring] - 25 Arete. There can only be one Ruling Ring. Enormously increases the strength, range, and control of the [Ring of Power] effect. ++All Stats, ++Progression.
The Evening Sky
[ ] [Azure Moon] - 7 Arete. That which reigns resplendent once in a blue aeon. The wearer gains access to his true [Soul Evocation], [Imprisoner], and high-grade talent in its use. Powerful as this may be, recall that the use of Soul Evocations requires extensive technical study which will be difficult to perform under the constraints of Hunger. However the potential benefits are enormous enough that it may be worth pursuing even at a mortal's pace.
[ ] Total Eclipse - 25 Arete. The numinous time of sacred transfixion. Night sweeps field and horizon in a thundering advance, halo of the blinkered sun the only residue of day. Twilight's orphaned half-brother, cast aside on the eve of creation and trotted out only for spectacle and occasion. No longer, for the flare of your cloak is this twilight pretender, the liminal glow that precludes day and evening both. Unlocks the [True Quintessence], by which She Who Was The Maiden attained supremacy over the Manifest Realm, and for which the Maiden's successors might one day be anointed.
[ ] [Pillars of Creation] - 25 Arete. At the end of each lunar month, wearer and companions may steal away to the realm of Evening, during which no time passes in the mortal world. Divine opulence and every conceivable luxury await the fortunate interlopers, restoring wholeness of mind, body, and spirit.
The realm of Evening responds to the desires of the wearer and can be shaped to induce a variety of effects at nigh-deific scale - worthy enemies, fields of unique reagents, anagathic peaches, arms and armor of myth - only one rule is absolute: that each stay lasts seven days, no more or less. Items typically cannot be carried out, though the effects of items consumed within the realm remain after departing it.
All Curses save the Geas of Indenture are only at one-third severity within the realm, though this does not stack with other forms of mitigation, nor impede their function externally.
[ ] Finally Get in the Robot - Matters of the Decimator's Affliction have been put off for too long. They must be addressed immediately. If Verschlengorge has the same Curse as you, does that mean Gisena and Letrizia are being drained of life force at double the rate? This and other questions should be answered quickly if at all possible. [+Verschlengorge Information, +???]
[ ] Research the Spoils - The pearl, the message, and the scale. Gisena's work is good, but you have your own perspective to add, the insight made possible through long experience and formidable Astral Rank. Though the latter has been somewhat depleted, hampering your efforts on every front, nonetheless it is critical to absorb or acquire whatever strength you can from the fish you spent so dearly to conquer. [+???]
[ ] Sleep In - Rest is critical. Though it will not relieve your Exhausted condition, you will receive small some leeway in using your Astral Rank for the day. [Exhausted -> Mostly Exhausted]
[ ] Brunch - Get the girls together and finish off the rest of that fish. Sure, one could save it smoked in cold storage to be parceled out across the length of this journey, but that would simply leave you spoiled and wanting for more. Best to finish it off with a second exquisite feast and create happy memories with your traveling companions! [+Letrizia, +Gisena]
---
The winning votes were:
[X] Fierce Vigor
[X] Do Not Spend Arete
[X] Apocryphal - Direct Mitigation
[X] Decimator's - Huntress' Moon
[X] +Gisena
Long-Term Planning! A form of advanced coordination so that you can actually buy the EFB-equivalents you want! Spend Arete now, guarantee an option's availability in future build votes!
Selecting an option ensures it will be a valid choice in future build votes, even if not directly shown, and won't disappear or increase in cost due to time constraints or the purchase of accompanying baseline options. 1 Arete per option.
Arete spent is not lost, but is put down as a deposit towards the total cost of the option in question.
[ ] Save 1 Option
[ ] Save 3 Options
[ ] Save 5 Options
Take care that you do not deposit recklessly into too many high-Arete effects.
The Forebear's Blade
[ ] [A Thousand Cuts] - 7 Arete. 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.
[ ] [Iron Curtain] - 7 Arete. The Forebear could not be dissuaded, nor could he be stopped. To dissent was folly, to resist was death. The laws of the Forebear were as natural law, and just as inevitable. When active, ++Willpower, +++Protection, ++Constitution, Ignore Wounds, Deflect Exotic Attacks. Become Tired afterwards.
[ ] [Once And Future] I - 25 Arete. 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.
The Ring of Power
[ ] [Pitiless Maw] - 7 Arete. A Conjunctional Advancement that requires the Forebear's Blade. How can hunger perish from this world? So long as there is one hungering thing, it will emerge again and again to feast upon this realm of mere phenomena. Passively restore health equal to 100% of the damage you deal in melee combat, and triples the Power of Ruin associated with melee strikes.
[ ] [Dead But Dreaming] - 25 Arete. 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].
[ ] [Ruling Ring] - 25 Arete. There can only be one Ruling Ring. Enormously increases the strength, range, and control of the [Ring of Power] effect. ++All Stats, ++Progression.
The Evening Sky
[ ] [Azure Moon] - 7 Arete. That which reigns resplendent once in a blue aeon. The wearer gains access to his true [Soul Evocation], [Imprisoner], and high-grade talent in its use. Powerful as this may be, recall that the use of Soul Evocations requires extensive technical study which will be difficult to perform under the constraints of Hunger. However the potential benefits are enormous enough that it may be worth pursuing even at a mortal's pace.
[ ] Total Eclipse - 25 Arete. The numinous time of sacred transfixion. Night sweeps field and horizon in a thundering advance, halo of the blinkered sun the only residue of day. Twilight's orphaned half-brother, cast aside on the eve of creation and trotted out only for spectacle and occasion. No longer, for the flare of your cloak is this twilight pretender, the liminal glow that precludes day and evening both. Unlocks the [True Quintessence], by which She Who Was The Maiden attained supremacy over the Manifest Realm, and for which the Maiden's successors might one day be anointed.
[ ] [Pillars of Creation] - 25 Arete. At the end of each lunar month, wearer and companions may steal away to the realm of Evening, during which no time passes in the mortal world. Divine opulence and every conceivable luxury await the fortunate interlopers, restoring wholeness of mind, body, and spirit.
The realm of Evening responds to the desires of the wearer and can be shaped to induce a variety of effects at nigh-deific scale - worthy enemies, fields of unique reagents, anagathic peaches, arms and armor of myth - only one rule is absolute: that each stay lasts seven days, no more or less. Items typically cannot be carried out, though the effects of items consumed within the realm remain after departing it.
All Curses save the Geas of Indenture are only at one-third severity within the realm, though this does not stack with other forms of mitigation, nor impede their function externally.
Last edited:
- Location
- USA
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Maybe just universes with extreme conceptual weight as well?
LordOfMurder
Bhaal
- Location
- Australia
Rihaku mentioned that the Accursed was stronger than any one of his enemies, but that implies that if they work together they're stronger than him. So maybe the curses are a result of all of his enemies teaming up together to try and bring him down to their level?
