- Location
- Louisiana
Oh my god I am hype beyond imagining
A Simple Transaction I
- Thread starter Rihaku
- Start date
- Original
Lealope
Not yet invincible
- Pronouns
- She/Her
My god, I'm really looking forward to seeing our Arete count. Some of us (a big thank you to Birdsie and DarkSideBard) put in a truly heroic effort and the thread in general created a significant amount, be in the form of fanworks, arguments, discussion or general shitposting. Now that it seems like the good times have come to an end, we should be careful to invest this massive lump sum of Arete we've generated into methods of transitioning into more steady scaling. Highlights include:
- Pathway to Idyll
- the Once and Future series (especially with our +Heroic Progression)
- the individual segments of the Ruling Ring
- Refinement of Battle and other independently improving multipliers
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To War
Rihaku
The Internet
To War
Lord Hunger spoke his wishes, and the Seraph nodded once. Then her power poured forth, a limitless ocean as to shatter all bounds, surging might that climbed ever-higher as if to engulf the universe entire - for what was this dismal place but a speck of a sliver, infinitesimal before that angel's eye, the regard of Heroism Itself which was potential attained and in all ways exceeded ad infinitum? Even this ocean, which to him appeared to encompass all realities that he could or might ever conceive, paled before the infinitely vaster strength that Haeliel bridled still, contained for fear of annihilating him by mere exposure, fury and grandeur such that the scarcest reflection seared his mind even to contemplate-
The fever dream broke, and time resumed, power beyond reason rewoven into a handkerchief the color of the Seraph's hair, which appeared wrapped around Hunger's right arm.
Haeliel smiled softly. "Go forth, my Hero. You, who have wished only for even greater burdens, should bear them with pride."
Hunger, still bowed, returned her smile. "Stop by and visit at any time. I'd like the others to meet you, once they can withstand it."
"Then you must ensure they keep up," She teased, "For I am only ever growing stronger! Now that I've imparted you my favor, I expect you to join our ranks someday."
She laid a hand lightly upon Hunger's head, who shivered at the touch, and made to depart. Swiftly her form dissolved into motes and clumps of pure radiance, soft warmth transposed with the sharp brilliance of Glory unconstrained.
Hunger stood, touching the kerchief once, before returning to work.
Haeliel's favor appeared to the eye, and all mystical senses, merely to be a handkerchief of exceptional materials and design - yet held an ineffable presence that all but declared it was something greater.
Defying every conceivable method of supernatural accounting, and yet somehow supernatural nonetheless. That was one way of impressing the object's importance onto even formidable observers, while to the common folk it might seem a relic like any other, perhaps even debatably so.
To its wearer, no such ambiguity existed. It emitted a bone-deep, soul-deep radiance, something like light and heat but invisible to the mundane perception, an echo of an impression of the Seraph's notice which declared, you can be more. The weight of that impression settled on him like a mantle, and he felt the power of Progression itself stir in response, augmented by its presence, shifting into a higher calibre to reinforce his every word and deed.
Gisena walked by the room, turning to greet him. "Afternoon, hun! Aww, you healed yourself without telling me?"
She pouted, gliding closer to examine his features. "How strange. Your wounds are all gone, but that grimly sullen expression hasn't changed at all!"
If she was at-all bothered by the kerchief's invisibility to her mage-sight, Gisena gave no indication whatsoever.
"Of course it hasn't. I know you're a fan," Hunger deadpanned. "And it wasn't my effort that healed these. The Accursed sent me a... sponsor because he was concerned that the Apocryphal Curse would soon end me. Interventions such as these are extremely costly, so we've got to take full advantage of this forewarning and prepare."
"Naturally I wouldn't let you die," Gisena said breezily. "Though you do seem... mightier in some indescribable way. How dashing! I assume your sponsor has already departed? And they left you with this cute kerchief? Hmm, should I be jealous?"
"Do as you please," Hunger grunted. "So long as you work diligently on the former, you can indulge the latter as much as you like."
"So imperious," Gisena said, laying dramatically against his desk. "It sounds like you've got much to do, and too little time in which to do it! How fortunate, I just happen to have the perfect solution for that."
"I'm listening."
Gisena smirked. "Oh, were you expecting it for free? Even Kings don't receive such exquisite answers gift-wrapped. Shouldn't you reward your poor overworked Princess Regent first?"
"It's customary to issue rewards after the task is completed. And you call me imperious. I've got a Curse, what's your excuse?"
"Well, I'm spoiled?" Gisena cocked her head. "And it really is a wonderful solution. You're getting off cheaply by any reasonable expectation. After all, even an emperor must pay respects to the Sage!"
Hunger closed his eyes. "If your solution is as wondrous as advertised, I would not be opposed to any reasonable favor. Explain and you may be able to name your price."
"You absorbed Augustine's power, which has been percolating ever since..." Gisena began, tapping a finger on her chin. "She was able to compress days, maybe even weeks, of preparation into a single hour. Had any results digesting it?"
"Nothing so far," Hunger frowned. It had been a while, unnaturally long for his Ring to process a defeated foe's mythos.
"I performed some calculations with the Truth aspect of the Azure," she said, flashing her own Ring. "You should be able to fully manifest the power you received on the night of the new moon. Which just so happens to be tomorrow night!"
"That's it?" Hunger asked. "How do you know this power will be relevant to our situation?"
"I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise," Gisena smiled. "Trust me, you'll find it wonderfully appealing. The real difficulty will be deciding, what to do with the time you're given? When that decision is upon you, don't forget your favorite Princess!"
With her mysterious assurances complete, Gisena departed to work on her research, while Hunger turned his attention to the matter of Nilfel's platinum reserves.
Empowered by the Seraph's favor, he was confident in at least one solution - he could chip 'pieces' off of the Walls of Myth surrounding Nilfel and infuse mundane platinum with the same, though the details of distillation would be a substantial technical challenge. However, a quicker and dirtier solution now presented itself: with the kerchief expanding his abilities, and the Ring of Blood already operating at a heightened Rank in its chief domain, he could simply use his own blood as a vehicle of essence to infuse the platinum in question, with the Ring manifesting the desired result so long as he could afford to pay the cost.
He would be diminished thereafter, but it was a small loss in comparison to the power Haeliel had granted him; nothing that was unrecoverable with time, and unlikely to make the difference in any serious fight. There was something to be said for discharging his obligations to Adorie swiftly. While he was at it he could grant his companions a sympathetic blood-bond to himself, such that it would be infeasible to physically harm or slay them without overwhelming the regenerative power of his Ring.
Perhaps he might even deplete a greater portion of his essence, sprinting for the Sixth Empyreal Sign? But he was not sure Adorie even had that much mundane platinum on hand, to say nothing of the other risks.
Hunger sighed. Haeliel's favor had opened vast realms of possibility, avenues of research with the Ring of Blood alone that would take years to fully explore. But his foremost priority at the moment had to be the upcoming Apocryphal event, which meant familiarizing himself with the effects of the kerchief on his basic abilities in combat.
As it turned out, it augmented every aspect of his person in battle, from strength to Rank to his techniques of the Praxis; but every aspect included finesse and ease of control, so he hadn't needed training at all to utilize these enhancements in the heat of battle. He almost felt bad for continuing to trounce the teenagers after coming to that realization.
Before him, Aobaru groaned, and Verschlengorge fell over limp, its mythic armor-plating now badly graven and scarred. Repairs would be a matter of hours, but luckily Adorie's magic engineers were highly attentive and diligent. Letrizia clambered out, picking her way gingerly across Verschlengorge's battle-scarred expanse, while Aobaru turned on his other side and emitted a second groan.
It was a beautiful day in Nilfel.
"How am I supposed to compete," Aobaru said. "You weren't even using your Rank that time. What sort of Chosen One am I supposed to be?"
"To be fair," Hunger mused, "Theme park managers don't often engage in combat."
Letrizia hopped down, poking Aobaru with a foot. "Hey, it's not so bad. Versch thinks you've been getting stronger. Just because you can't compete with Lord Hunger's rate of growth, doesn't mean it's unimpressive!"
"Thanks," Aobaru said flatly. "I really feel better about myself now."
"I get it, it's a lot of pressure," Letrizia frowned. "But there's no use moping in defeat! You've just got to rise to the occasion even if you don't feel ready! If you had to fight someone on Lord Hunger's level you would be dead already. Just worry about your mission and the entity hunting you."
"Not everyone can be the Duchess Artriez," Hunger remarked. "A prodigy from childhood in the piloting of bio-mechanical war machines."
Suddenly he perked up, drawing his Blade again as a party of humanoid figures de-cloaked several kilometers from them, gunnery arms pointed at that very Duchess. Exerting his Pressure to defend the teenagers, he rushed over to the incursion site, where the very first figure - a construct of azure metal and ceramic, man-sized but bristling with stub turrets and missile racks - had begun to aim in Letrizia's direction. Against the influence of his Pressure it moved as if through molasses, and he easily severed the offending arm before disabling its counterparts.
Only now were they beginning to register his presence. A single punch and the Power of Ruin shattered the exoskeleton of one suit. The men inside he extracted swiftly, and quelled his blood into unconsciousness. The magus accompanying them, a young woman with hair in braids of neon pink and green, was only halfway through her warning shout before they were laid all at his feet.
He dispatched the magus with a pommel-strike, holding his strength to leave her alive for interrogation; and, keeping them recumbent with his Pressure, took an example of both man and suit as he returned to Letrizia.
"These men just tried to kill you," He said, placing the captive on the ground. "Look familiar at all?"
Letrizia paled. "That armor... a Republic Armor Prototype. Looks like one of their newer models, bleeding-edge tech! They sent a Voyaging Realm kill-team against me... why? How would they even get this far in?"
"There was a magus accompanying them. I've disabled them for now. Aobaru. Go get Gisena."
"On it!" The boy sprinted away, twin jets of Vigorflame propelling him at an impressive velocity.
"Unless they're hardened against social influence to an absurd degree, Gisena will break them trivially," Hunger said cautiously, "But if one kill-team can find you, what's to say there won't be another? Re-locating might fail to shake them, in which case our best option would be to meet them head-on."
"Even their strongest kill-teams should be no threat to you, Lord Hunger." Letrizia said firmly. "But if they bring Procyon, or any other Armament..."
"It's possible," Hunger said. "Armaments have an advantage in navigating the Voyaging Realm. For all we know this was the reconnaissance arm of a larger attack, set to break shortly after. In that case, they've likely stalled against the Walls of Myth, but who knows whether those can hold against a full-strength Armament."
"Tsch." Letrizia sighed. "The timing couldn't be worse. Versch is nowhere near fully recovered, and even his auxiliary armor now needs repairs. Not that he would stand much of a chance while injured against a properly-maintained Procyon."
"Nilfel is the most defensible land we've come across," Hunger stood, eyes scanning the horizon. "If we have to fight, we'll fight. I'm confident I can withstand an Armament, at least defensively, with proper forewarning."
"It's not just their Rank," Letrizia said worriedly. "The effects of that Rank are magnified enormously by their Shroud, and then you have their Curse-specific abilities as well... How could things break down like this? I've been gone less than two months!"
"Their raw strength and speed will be an issue as well," Hunger continued, "If they can move quickly enough to be relevant at interstellar scales, and destroy flotillas by hand. But I have more than a few tricks of my own. You needn't be worried. I've directed my growth in ways to counter Armaments for some time. I should be able to hold my own. In some ways it's exciting."
"If they're coming for someone like me, then that almost certainly means war," Letrizia said. "And not just a border skirmish, or they'd have just left me lost in the Voyaging Realm. Assassinating a Duchess and an Armament Pilot... diplomacy must have broken down completely. And there's no way they'd go against an Armament without deploying one of their own, because who knows how badly Versch was hurt, if at all? Hunger, you don't have to do this."
"Of course I do," he scoffed. "Have you forgotten? I'm your bodyguard, hired at tremendous expense. Once this is over, I intend to collect."
Letrizia smiled sadly. "Who ever heard of a King playing guard to a Duchess? Well, don't take all the glory. You still have a theme-park manager to raise, so no heroic sacrifices, okay? Besides, even if I fall Miss Gisena will surely find some way to bring me back."
"Your surfeit of faith in Gisena is disturbing. But all right. If it comes down to that exact decision, I'll sacrifice you to save my own hide. A mercenary bodyguard is still a mercenary."
"Hmph. I'll hold you to that!"
---
Live, and grow strong. Time for that resolution to be tested. Gisena confirms what you'd already suspected - War in the Human Sphere, and an Armament well on its way to finish Letrizia.
Vote update tomorrow.
Lord Hunger spoke his wishes, and the Seraph nodded once. Then her power poured forth, a limitless ocean as to shatter all bounds, surging might that climbed ever-higher as if to engulf the universe entire - for what was this dismal place but a speck of a sliver, infinitesimal before that angel's eye, the regard of Heroism Itself which was potential attained and in all ways exceeded ad infinitum? Even this ocean, which to him appeared to encompass all realities that he could or might ever conceive, paled before the infinitely vaster strength that Haeliel bridled still, contained for fear of annihilating him by mere exposure, fury and grandeur such that the scarcest reflection seared his mind even to contemplate-
The fever dream broke, and time resumed, power beyond reason rewoven into a handkerchief the color of the Seraph's hair, which appeared wrapped around Hunger's right arm.
Haeliel smiled softly. "Go forth, my Hero. You, who have wished only for even greater burdens, should bear them with pride."
Hunger, still bowed, returned her smile. "Stop by and visit at any time. I'd like the others to meet you, once they can withstand it."
"Then you must ensure they keep up," She teased, "For I am only ever growing stronger! Now that I've imparted you my favor, I expect you to join our ranks someday."
She laid a hand lightly upon Hunger's head, who shivered at the touch, and made to depart. Swiftly her form dissolved into motes and clumps of pure radiance, soft warmth transposed with the sharp brilliance of Glory unconstrained.
Hunger stood, touching the kerchief once, before returning to work.
Haeliel's favor appeared to the eye, and all mystical senses, merely to be a handkerchief of exceptional materials and design - yet held an ineffable presence that all but declared it was something greater.
Defying every conceivable method of supernatural accounting, and yet somehow supernatural nonetheless. That was one way of impressing the object's importance onto even formidable observers, while to the common folk it might seem a relic like any other, perhaps even debatably so.
To its wearer, no such ambiguity existed. It emitted a bone-deep, soul-deep radiance, something like light and heat but invisible to the mundane perception, an echo of an impression of the Seraph's notice which declared, you can be more. The weight of that impression settled on him like a mantle, and he felt the power of Progression itself stir in response, augmented by its presence, shifting into a higher calibre to reinforce his every word and deed.
Gisena walked by the room, turning to greet him. "Afternoon, hun! Aww, you healed yourself without telling me?"
She pouted, gliding closer to examine his features. "How strange. Your wounds are all gone, but that grimly sullen expression hasn't changed at all!"
If she was at-all bothered by the kerchief's invisibility to her mage-sight, Gisena gave no indication whatsoever.
"Of course it hasn't. I know you're a fan," Hunger deadpanned. "And it wasn't my effort that healed these. The Accursed sent me a... sponsor because he was concerned that the Apocryphal Curse would soon end me. Interventions such as these are extremely costly, so we've got to take full advantage of this forewarning and prepare."
"Naturally I wouldn't let you die," Gisena said breezily. "Though you do seem... mightier in some indescribable way. How dashing! I assume your sponsor has already departed? And they left you with this cute kerchief? Hmm, should I be jealous?"
"Do as you please," Hunger grunted. "So long as you work diligently on the former, you can indulge the latter as much as you like."
"So imperious," Gisena said, laying dramatically against his desk. "It sounds like you've got much to do, and too little time in which to do it! How fortunate, I just happen to have the perfect solution for that."
"I'm listening."
Gisena smirked. "Oh, were you expecting it for free? Even Kings don't receive such exquisite answers gift-wrapped. Shouldn't you reward your poor overworked Princess Regent first?"
"It's customary to issue rewards after the task is completed. And you call me imperious. I've got a Curse, what's your excuse?"
"Well, I'm spoiled?" Gisena cocked her head. "And it really is a wonderful solution. You're getting off cheaply by any reasonable expectation. After all, even an emperor must pay respects to the Sage!"
Hunger closed his eyes. "If your solution is as wondrous as advertised, I would not be opposed to any reasonable favor. Explain and you may be able to name your price."
"You absorbed Augustine's power, which has been percolating ever since..." Gisena began, tapping a finger on her chin. "She was able to compress days, maybe even weeks, of preparation into a single hour. Had any results digesting it?"
"Nothing so far," Hunger frowned. It had been a while, unnaturally long for his Ring to process a defeated foe's mythos.
"I performed some calculations with the Truth aspect of the Azure," she said, flashing her own Ring. "You should be able to fully manifest the power you received on the night of the new moon. Which just so happens to be tomorrow night!"
"That's it?" Hunger asked. "How do you know this power will be relevant to our situation?"
"I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise," Gisena smiled. "Trust me, you'll find it wonderfully appealing. The real difficulty will be deciding, what to do with the time you're given? When that decision is upon you, don't forget your favorite Princess!"
With her mysterious assurances complete, Gisena departed to work on her research, while Hunger turned his attention to the matter of Nilfel's platinum reserves.
Empowered by the Seraph's favor, he was confident in at least one solution - he could chip 'pieces' off of the Walls of Myth surrounding Nilfel and infuse mundane platinum with the same, though the details of distillation would be a substantial technical challenge. However, a quicker and dirtier solution now presented itself: with the kerchief expanding his abilities, and the Ring of Blood already operating at a heightened Rank in its chief domain, he could simply use his own blood as a vehicle of essence to infuse the platinum in question, with the Ring manifesting the desired result so long as he could afford to pay the cost.
He would be diminished thereafter, but it was a small loss in comparison to the power Haeliel had granted him; nothing that was unrecoverable with time, and unlikely to make the difference in any serious fight. There was something to be said for discharging his obligations to Adorie swiftly. While he was at it he could grant his companions a sympathetic blood-bond to himself, such that it would be infeasible to physically harm or slay them without overwhelming the regenerative power of his Ring.
Perhaps he might even deplete a greater portion of his essence, sprinting for the Sixth Empyreal Sign? But he was not sure Adorie even had that much mundane platinum on hand, to say nothing of the other risks.
Hunger sighed. Haeliel's favor had opened vast realms of possibility, avenues of research with the Ring of Blood alone that would take years to fully explore. But his foremost priority at the moment had to be the upcoming Apocryphal event, which meant familiarizing himself with the effects of the kerchief on his basic abilities in combat.
As it turned out, it augmented every aspect of his person in battle, from strength to Rank to his techniques of the Praxis; but every aspect included finesse and ease of control, so he hadn't needed training at all to utilize these enhancements in the heat of battle. He almost felt bad for continuing to trounce the teenagers after coming to that realization.
Before him, Aobaru groaned, and Verschlengorge fell over limp, its mythic armor-plating now badly graven and scarred. Repairs would be a matter of hours, but luckily Adorie's magic engineers were highly attentive and diligent. Letrizia clambered out, picking her way gingerly across Verschlengorge's battle-scarred expanse, while Aobaru turned on his other side and emitted a second groan.
It was a beautiful day in Nilfel.
"How am I supposed to compete," Aobaru said. "You weren't even using your Rank that time. What sort of Chosen One am I supposed to be?"
"To be fair," Hunger mused, "Theme park managers don't often engage in combat."
Letrizia hopped down, poking Aobaru with a foot. "Hey, it's not so bad. Versch thinks you've been getting stronger. Just because you can't compete with Lord Hunger's rate of growth, doesn't mean it's unimpressive!"
"Thanks," Aobaru said flatly. "I really feel better about myself now."
"I get it, it's a lot of pressure," Letrizia frowned. "But there's no use moping in defeat! You've just got to rise to the occasion even if you don't feel ready! If you had to fight someone on Lord Hunger's level you would be dead already. Just worry about your mission and the entity hunting you."
"Not everyone can be the Duchess Artriez," Hunger remarked. "A prodigy from childhood in the piloting of bio-mechanical war machines."
Suddenly he perked up, drawing his Blade again as a party of humanoid figures de-cloaked several kilometers from them, gunnery arms pointed at that very Duchess. Exerting his Pressure to defend the teenagers, he rushed over to the incursion site, where the very first figure - a construct of azure metal and ceramic, man-sized but bristling with stub turrets and missile racks - had begun to aim in Letrizia's direction. Against the influence of his Pressure it moved as if through molasses, and he easily severed the offending arm before disabling its counterparts.
Only now were they beginning to register his presence. A single punch and the Power of Ruin shattered the exoskeleton of one suit. The men inside he extracted swiftly, and quelled his blood into unconsciousness. The magus accompanying them, a young woman with hair in braids of neon pink and green, was only halfway through her warning shout before they were laid all at his feet.
He dispatched the magus with a pommel-strike, holding his strength to leave her alive for interrogation; and, keeping them recumbent with his Pressure, took an example of both man and suit as he returned to Letrizia.
"These men just tried to kill you," He said, placing the captive on the ground. "Look familiar at all?"
Letrizia paled. "That armor... a Republic Armor Prototype. Looks like one of their newer models, bleeding-edge tech! They sent a Voyaging Realm kill-team against me... why? How would they even get this far in?"
"There was a magus accompanying them. I've disabled them for now. Aobaru. Go get Gisena."
"On it!" The boy sprinted away, twin jets of Vigorflame propelling him at an impressive velocity.
"Unless they're hardened against social influence to an absurd degree, Gisena will break them trivially," Hunger said cautiously, "But if one kill-team can find you, what's to say there won't be another? Re-locating might fail to shake them, in which case our best option would be to meet them head-on."
"Even their strongest kill-teams should be no threat to you, Lord Hunger." Letrizia said firmly. "But if they bring Procyon, or any other Armament..."
"It's possible," Hunger said. "Armaments have an advantage in navigating the Voyaging Realm. For all we know this was the reconnaissance arm of a larger attack, set to break shortly after. In that case, they've likely stalled against the Walls of Myth, but who knows whether those can hold against a full-strength Armament."
"Tsch." Letrizia sighed. "The timing couldn't be worse. Versch is nowhere near fully recovered, and even his auxiliary armor now needs repairs. Not that he would stand much of a chance while injured against a properly-maintained Procyon."
"Nilfel is the most defensible land we've come across," Hunger stood, eyes scanning the horizon. "If we have to fight, we'll fight. I'm confident I can withstand an Armament, at least defensively, with proper forewarning."
"It's not just their Rank," Letrizia said worriedly. "The effects of that Rank are magnified enormously by their Shroud, and then you have their Curse-specific abilities as well... How could things break down like this? I've been gone less than two months!"
"Their raw strength and speed will be an issue as well," Hunger continued, "If they can move quickly enough to be relevant at interstellar scales, and destroy flotillas by hand. But I have more than a few tricks of my own. You needn't be worried. I've directed my growth in ways to counter Armaments for some time. I should be able to hold my own. In some ways it's exciting."
"If they're coming for someone like me, then that almost certainly means war," Letrizia said. "And not just a border skirmish, or they'd have just left me lost in the Voyaging Realm. Assassinating a Duchess and an Armament Pilot... diplomacy must have broken down completely. And there's no way they'd go against an Armament without deploying one of their own, because who knows how badly Versch was hurt, if at all? Hunger, you don't have to do this."
"Of course I do," he scoffed. "Have you forgotten? I'm your bodyguard, hired at tremendous expense. Once this is over, I intend to collect."
Letrizia smiled sadly. "Who ever heard of a King playing guard to a Duchess? Well, don't take all the glory. You still have a theme-park manager to raise, so no heroic sacrifices, okay? Besides, even if I fall Miss Gisena will surely find some way to bring me back."
"Your surfeit of faith in Gisena is disturbing. But all right. If it comes down to that exact decision, I'll sacrifice you to save my own hide. A mercenary bodyguard is still a mercenary."
"Hmph. I'll hold you to that!"
---
Live, and grow strong. Time for that resolution to be tested. Gisena confirms what you'd already suspected - War in the Human Sphere, and an Armament well on its way to finish Letrizia.
Vote update tomorrow.
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...Would an Armament be capable of stopping itself if it recognized the Favor but its pilot didn't? Because it's at least possible that, having been made by the Foremost (who knew Praxis and what Cursebearers are), could fall within that 5% of triggers that would recognize what Haliel's favor is.
Tyrant_Rayne
Probably Not Evil… Maybe
- Location
- Canada
Rejoice for the suffering and pain of the vote is over!
Rejoice for the suffering and pain of a new vote is soon to be upon us!
Rejoice for the suffering and pain of a new vote is soon to be upon us!
Good thing we have 21 days to prepare huh?
Aabcehmu
Confusion as a Natural State of Being
- Location
- Chicago, IL
- Pronouns
- Any/All
22 technically, since Hunger still has the rest of today, tonight, and then tomorrow, and then 21 days in the Realm.
Lealope
Not yet invincible
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Maybe the most gratifying part of the update: we finally used Zweihander's unarmed power of ruin!
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Maybe even longer if we include the ISH bonus from OaFII
Birdsie
Sharp Talons Cleave The Worthy
- Location
- Poland
Vote update tomorrow, huh? Let's see if we can make more Arete before that, minna!
I don't know what this is. It came to me because of Haeliel (???) and now it's here. Fuck all kinds of duck.
Wordcount: 4530 words
FEED ME ARETE, RIHAKU-SAMA!
I love that way of thinking. This isn't a giant robot coming to kill us. This is a bunch of fools delivering a giant robot that we can use.
Good luck, you fucks! You're gonna be fighting against Lord motherfucking Hunger. He conquered all the shit! And he has Aobaru!
I don't know what this is. It came to me because of Haeliel (???) and now it's here. Fuck all kinds of duck.
Wordcount: 4530 words
FEED ME ARETE, RIHAKU-SAMA!
Rihaku-10 said:
Never-Ending
Once upon a time, a certain professor of mine in a lecture claimed that existence is defined by its balanced nature. Now, I see what he meant: the truth of balance always prevails.
This is an axiomatic, self-evident fact. I feel that I ought to explain.
Balance shows in reality's tendency to raise a trio of countervailing forces and match them equally against each other; a scale that always returns to the middle. This axiomatic truth appears in every level imaginable: lowest, and highest; mundane, and supernal; physical, and conceptual.
The universe is created through spontaneous dynamic energy interplays, is maintained through its lifespan through a persistent interaction between those energies, and eventually enters a state of starless quiet as it succumbs to the final nadir of its entropic descent.
Unexpected dynamism, then persistent stasis, and finally entropy.
A proton has a positive charge, an electron has a negative charge. The neutron is the neutral party standing between them.
A story has a beginning, middle, and end.
Concept, nothingness, anti-concept.
It has been like this for a billion years and counting. We'll see if tomorrow brings any stranger things, but it should be remembered this balance is never-ending. It may be upset, and it may even be temporarily removed, but the nature of balance is such that it'll eventually return to a neutral state.
Curious is, whether the tripartite nature of reality is due to some quirk of its own, or because of our human tendency to place complex events into rough categories; breaking down the incomprehensible into a simple, but roughly complete framework that can be used as a reference point for our minds. Thinking becomes so much easier when a reference point already exists to use in order to relate to something; we learn language much faster when ten words are known to us, rather than one.
A mystery for another day.
- Altrive's Compendium of Arcane Insights, 1st Edition, by Altrive Vertez, 953
---
Hear me and fear not, Scion of the Beyond and Under, of the children of the majestic All-Being! In admiration and in royalty, I do so on behalf of my peers exalt you, and I welcome you.
Your path has been long, winding, treacherous, and more hostile than a quadrillion knives poised to strike at the throat. You have faced a billion adversities, a million sufferings, a hundred thousand torments, and a countless number of stranger things still. At last, beloved scion, you have reached the Realm of Paradise, as the first envoy of your unenlightened kindred below.
For this deed which shatters logic, form, realm, meaning, beginning, and end, I must congratulate you; commend you tenfold; exalt you a hundred times; love you a thousand. An indescribable, humble pride fills me, as I look upon the works of your soul, and breathe once again as if I had been alive.
Alas, to countervail it, there is a spirit of deep sorrow in my heart; to think that I have the shameless audacity to tell you that you had to travel such a long way for nothing...
I am afraid that our Eternal Paradise can no longer offer the peace you came for. That peace is gone forever.
Riding on from the reaches of the void-end came Ozorbothan, the progenitor of the last hour. He fashions himself as the Final King, who will strike down the powers from their stellar thrones, and rule over a quieted cosmos - treating the universe as an insect encased in amber - a gift to his 'mother,' whose name is End.
He sees this as mercy: a path of stasis that leads to entropy, rather than entropy entire. But the path of mercy does not matter when it leads to a forever ending! Does it not?
Apologies, powerful and awesome scion, I- I may have gotten ahead of myself...
My name is Karkatriel, the last remnant of the Host of Heaven. I am the only one left: my sisters and brethren are either annihilated forever or transformed into vile perversions of themselves, and active representations of what they swore to prevent. We are done. N-nothing can save us. I- I'm-
Forgive me.
Forgive me, for that impermissible iota of weakness. To believe that one such as me, the Seraph of the Burning Bush, would tremble such... I am truly a disgusting wretch, am I not? The grace of past days is wasted on me, and there is no more glory. I am diminished and disgusting; the sloppy leftovers the Final King had no interest to finish off.
I am a revolting empty wreck, hopeless and vain; soon to join my siblings as a vessel of the Silence.
If- If only I could have known it would come to this... There is no more possibility, is there? No light in this universe, but only cold... I'm...
...You would do what? No, Scion dearest!
I beg thee from the bottom of my heart of hearts, do not expose yourself for us! You have done so much already, to come this long a way through thorn and tempest! If you proceed so, grief may be the end of me, and such cruel, bitter oblivion is worse still than being an insect in amber! Please! For my pride as an angel, I beg! I beg a thousand times!
And yet... yet, you would continue? Despite my warnings, my pleading, you would risk to walk a second path, for us? Your magnanimity knows no ends! I-
I'm... I'm so sorry! I have been a terrible Seraph! I promise to amend this! Forgive me! I promise and I swear the oath to never doubt and surrender anymore! If you can truly save us, if you will do so, Scion, then not all is lost! I will do anything for you!
Please, allow me now to invest the remnants of my Grace, to give you a fighting chance! With this, perhaps you may surpass and unmake the Final King! Take as much as you need, Lord!
[ ] Refuse - Karkatriel survives. Gain zero Grace. Not recommended.
"I'm sorry."
[ ] Accept - Karkatriel perishes. Gain three Grace.
"Forgive this terrible Seraph..."
[ ] Devour - Karkatriel and the Realm of Paradise perish beyond all possibility of recovery. Gain five Grace. Maximizes chances of victory.
"I am terrible! There is nothing I can do to atone! I beg forgiveness!"
Select the Path of Manifestation in the Realm Under Heaven (Earth):
[ ] The Path of Reincarnation - Become reincarnated in the Realm Under, as a human baby. You are assured to live with a body that is pure and flawless, aesthetically pleasing to all but the most stringent tastes; suffer from no malady or illness, and grow simple intelligence and strength as easily as one gathers sand.
*Gender is randomized.
*Have to put up with school, parents, peers, and other things. You're probable to amaze them and outgrow them with time, however - magic is vanishingly rare.
*Arrive in the Realm Under around 12-18 years before the Final King's arrival. That has to be plenty of time to surmount the mountain of advancement to become the Noble Scion of Creation, right?
*A second chance at life, even if that life is a short one.
*The only protagonist that's "normal"-ish, in any way, shape, or form.
*Personality: Hopeful, Heroic.
*Generate 0.1 Grace per year.
[ ] The Path of Resubstantiation - The past matters not, and the future is hopeless - it is the utter pinnacle of the present moment that must be attained and held in stasis, as it is now that you are at your strongest. Become manifest as a spirit of ectoplasm - and yet, paradoxically, flesh and bone - in the Realm Under.
*Gender is male.
*The inner radiance of someone who managed to transcend suffering, inadequacy, and blindness leaks easily; to most people, especially the spiritually attuned, it's obvious you are a saintly being.
*Arrive in the Realm Under 4-6 years before the Final King's arrival. You begin as the Noble Scion of Creation, granting you a single mote of Grace no matter the option you picked.
*As the Scion Ascendant, you are liberated from your own suffering and limits. Your Wisdom is such that its status is equivalent to being almost a full step along the Infinite Singularity Husk.
*The only protagonist that is unfailingly benevolent and cannot be strayed from the righteous path
*Personality: Messianic, Enlightened.
*Generate 0.4 Grace per year.
[ ] The Path of Resurrection - The dead shall rise, the skies shall bleed. Become resurrected in the Realm Under and rise from your grave as human ash... which swiftly restores itself to a twenty-five-year-old human form. Retain most (50-65%) of your memories, and regain up a vast remnant of the rest (30-35%) over a period of two years.
*Gender is male.
*If anyone discovers you rose from the grave days, that'll be disturbing to them, rather than miraculous. On the other hand, it's potential resources and allies to draw on.
*Arrive in the Realm Under around 7-10 years before the Final King's arrival.
*Depending on who you used to be, this may be the strongest option. If you were already a mage, for example, the pre-existing knowledge of thaumaturgy would be an incredible boon.
*The only protagonist that swears and bemoans what a bitch his life is.
*Personality: Bitter, Ruthless.
*Generate 0.2 Grace per year.
Note: Once the Final King arrives, the War In Heaven & On Earth begins. His arrival does not mean an automatic failure, merely the conclusion of your preparation of time. The War may well last over a hundred years.
Now, Scion, the bells toll, and the stranger times are nigh.
Spend your Grace. If you have picked no options that grant you Grace, Karkatriel is going to give you one mote from herself - this is going to exhaust her beyond measure, causing her to fall into a deep, restless sleep for a whole decade.
Do note, this is not your only time to harness Grace. There will be options, later on, to acquire more and spend it.
Do remember: "It is by Grace you have been saved. By faith, not by works."
1-Grace Options
[ ] Fundamental Magic - Among the weakest magics that remain available is the Magic of the Fundament, also known as Fundamentalism.
This magic concerns itself with gross physical manifestations and alterations, but it cannot do the impossible or significantly alter reality in a meaningful way, thus limiting the complete valence of what it offers. On a scale of the conflict that awaits you, this is a swiss knife: a gimmick and occasionally handy tool, but hardly a proper weapon. It is, however, immensely versatile: even the most novice and simplistic user can manipulate gravity, adhesion, inertia, momentum, pressure, cohesion, electromagnetic forces or similar on a personal scale and slightly beyond. Effects such as energy or force conversion are on the higher end, as are manipulations on a wide (city block+) or broad (convert x-rays into a readable pattern of visual light to gain x-ray vision,) level.
This art is similar to Alchemy in that it lacks the ability to create matter and energy out of nothing. It can, however, convert them with stunningly high efficiency. An expert-level user could crush a beer can in one hand and draw its atoms into themselves, then convert them into a destructive beam the power of which compares to the high-end artillery; he could also make a brick of stone into a nugget of gold, or similar.
*Incredible versatility, but also strict limits on what can and cannot be done.
*Explicitly, you cannot do the impossible with this power, nor create something out of nothing.
*Subtle and precise effects are difficult at any level, but country-destroying power is relatively easy to achieve at higher stages: at those stages, it starts being relevant in the War.
[ ] Animal Magic - When the All-Being created the realms, it created a strict hierarchy of being: animals were obedient to humanity, and humanity was observant to God. With this magic, also known as Animalism, you gain access to the domain of the animal, the lowest power of the All-Being.
At a base level, this magic grants the user a capacity to understand and speak with animals, and later, summon and to command them and have their commands heeded. A user who is truly exalted would be able to glimpse that beginning spark when the first humans walked in the Garden, letting them control every non-human creature on Earth simultaneously. It is forbidden to use this power on humans, as they are meant to possess their own free will; if you're willing to forsake your immortal soul for a chance at victory, then do so anyway.
Eventually, the Animal Magic's user breaks through the simplistic logic of its starting vistas and gains a completely new understanding. To summon animals from simple Earth is foolishness, for they offer nothing; the All-Being's creation is vaster than anything, extending trillions of light-years in every direction. Summon instead, and command, those animals who exist out there to come to Earth and defend the home of its masters.
*Near-useless at low-levels, although it may be useful for gathering funds, information, and staking out potential future allies.
*At higher levels, summon alien creatures from the beyond that the Creator forgot and abandoned in favor of focusing on his newest project: the human. These monstrous beings are the equivalent of a fledgling artist's first attempts at painting; they are finished, but of subpar quality, and supreme imbalance. Most of them will be eldritch, none of them will be sentient in a way you understand, and half of them will not conform to physics as you understand them. The last trait in particular makes them incredibly useful for the War effort.
2-Grace Options
[ ] Human Magic - If Animal Magic represents the past, in the sense that it represents mankind's unchallenged dominion over the primal and base, then Human Magic (also known as Humanism,) represents the future. Humanism is a magic that gathers up what made humanity great: ingenuity, understanding, and compassion, then heightens those things to utterly supernatural levels.
At base, this magic gives little power to its user: it uplifts them to a body that holds significantly superhuman attributes, grants a high regeneration factor (5% of total body mass/second), and renders them immortal, as well as immune to poison and disease. It also lets them learn new facts, skills, and sciences at an accelerated (5x) rate.
However, for each 0.5 Grace, the user of Human Magic can unlock a new principle - a path or way of expression for Humanism. Each Principle offers its own, special effects, techniques, and options.
*It's not that versatile and powerful, and requires a substantial investment of Grace for the actual goodies.
*The actual goodies are really damn good.
*If you invest enough in this, it'll let you do nearly anything.
-[ ] Agrarian Principle - The principle of the farmer.
Become the greatest master of husbandry alive: with nothing but a hoe and a shovel, plant a thousand apple trees in an afternoon, and then with nothing but simple water, grow them in less than a week, and make them sprout fruit in less than a week. Better soil, fertilizer, water, care, and love improve growth speed, quality, and quantity. Supernatural levels are easily achievable even with a modest seed, so long as some effort is put into the task, creating an apple breed that would feed a man like an entire full-course dinner and tastes sweeter than anything he'd ever consumed. Eugenics and high efforts and materials can be used to make truly paranormal plants: a flower that produces a deadly poison, a fruit that offers immortality and super-strength upon being eaten, etc.
Do the same when it comes to caring for animals. Simple feed, simple breed, and simple accommodations to create a variety of chicken much happier, and tastier than any other, and utterly obedient and willing to protect the farmer, yet requiring surprisingly little to create ceiling-high stacks of eggs of more of themselves. As with plants, eugenics here are possible and, in fact, encouraged, although unlike with plants, creating chimera animals is morally and ethically dubious even if this Principle ensures they live happily and with no underlying genetic flaws.
Eventually, create a tree from which daily sprouts a venerable bounty of plasma rifles and enchanted armor, as well as fruit that enhances the wearer to the level of a virtual demigod, or a breed of bloodhounds that can track their prey across the solar system, fly into space, and rip asunder an entire city with a motion of the claws.
Undoubtedly one of the best principles.
-[ ] Crafter's Principle - The principle of the craftsman.
Become the greatest master of artifice alive: with nothing but a box of scraps in a cave, make a suit of armor that modestly surpasses modern exoskeletons and which is enchanted to resist all of the modern, common non-Grace magics. With better materials, additional preparation, and enough information, that suit of armor can gain a miniaturized star as its core and become an artifice that travels at the speed of light, shoots blasts of torrential nuclear fire that raze entire valleys or mountains, and so on.
This knowledge is both that of enlightened mechanics and the application of impossible magical principles to objects, and everything in between.
-[ ] Artist's Principle - The principle of the artist.
Become the greatest master of art alive: like a virtuoso, create a masterpiece of musical talent that enlightens the foolish, heartens the expectant, and brings solace to the bereaved, or weave prose that inspires massive intellect in those who view it. The essence of art is to form a culture that encourages growth and inspiration for human beings, and that is what you shall become. With a simple brush, a simple canvas, and simple paint, a masterpiece that far outshines the genius of the likes of Da Vinci can be formed; an endless font of inspiration for those who view it, making them succeed in their goals.
Eventually, the paint surpasses logic and matter, and lets the user live forever and immortal through the creation of a portrait. Their music can make the environment dance and bring it to life in defense of its composer. Their poetry, when read, can change the basic essence of reality to conform to its content.
-[ ] Warrior's Principle - The principle of the warrior.
Become the greatest fighter alive: by doing push-ups for a single week train as if you'd been training for a year. Shatter the limits of the human body and leave the cracked pieces behind, as you ascend to new, terrifying vistas. In a single year of non-stop bodily conditioning, it is possible to achieve a level of personal strength that lets the user kick down and create a fissure that splits the British Isles in half, no matter how little sense this makes. In addition, you gain an amazing instinct for warfare: tactics, strategies, logistics, and similar aspects become foundational knowledge, not too far from instinct; maneuvers on the level of those described by Sun Tzu are utterly below childish; they're like breathing.
Eventually, gain the ability to outmaneuver, out-think, and outfight anything, up to and including God himself... if only he weren't such a coward and came down here to face you.
-[ ] King's Principle - The principle of the king.
Become the greatest ruler alive: with a mere glance at a technical dossier, assemble an intuitive solution to the problem that satisfies a majority of the parties involved while requiring minimal to no sacrifice from them, and with a long deliberation and gathering of additional information, solve the problem so thoroughly that the grandchildren of the people you were solving it for won't experience it until they, themselves, have grandchildren - and that's only assuming you did not instate some preventative measure for it, which you'd absolutely do.
In addition, gain an imperial, raw charisma. It's hard to dislike you, even if you act like an arrogant, condescending dick most of the time. This effect is not mind control, but for people who are sufficiently weak-willed, it may as well be.
Other principles exist, such as the Gatherer's Principle, but they are not relevant to you.
[ ] Crest Magic - Gain a Crest. The Crest is a personalized tattoo inscribed upon the body: a super-computer made from empyrean Grace, which analyzes, consolidates, and then feeds you information on the mundane powers you encounter.
Rather than offer immediate magic, a Grace-derived Crest allows you to, over time, master a thousand lesser magics: Shamanism, Alchemy, Kabbalism, Golemancy, Numerology, Demonology, Onmyodo, and Druidism are only the tip of the iceberg. When enough years have passed - perhaps centuries, perhaps millennia - you will attain a level of spiritual depth and knowledge that is such that it lets you replicate, and then fully access the abilities of the Grace-derived magics on this list with no decrease in efficiency. If you can figure out some way of prolonging the Final King's arrival until then, you could become stupidly powerful.
*Absolutely no starting power, but highest potential power out of anything on this entire list.
*Can become the most versatile and most powerful option.
3-Grace Options
[ ] Angelic Magic - If Animalism is the past, and Humanism is the future, then Celestialism is the middle ground: a vanguard of static balance that ensures the universe runs as a well-oiled machine, rather than a broken cluster of sprockets and cogs.
Angelic Magic lets the user do the impossible, recreating the miracles of old. At a base level, the impossible but novel becomes possible and mundane: cure blindness or missing limbs, resurrect the dead, come back from the dead yourself repeatedly, fly at Mach speeds on wings of Angelgrace, fire blasts of coruscant solar plasma comparable to a tank gun's power, call down lightning, split the sea, et cetera.
These effects are more conceptual and miraculous than the science and physics-based manipulations of the Firmament Magic (although it lets you copy its results,) and they are much loftier than the base manipulations of Animalism and Humanism (although it lets you surpass their puissance and replicate some of them; Animalism in particular.)
At higher ends, it lets you do so much that God himself will call bullshit: create new realms from nothingness, rebuild the angelic race from Grace siphoned via human prayers directed at you, open portals to other planets, or resurrect an entire country of dead people.
*Starting power is very high, and it goes much higher.
*No less versatile than Fundamentalism, but with better control and more esoteric applications. It also lets you create matter out of nothing and do the impossible, such as creating a square ball (although this isn't advised.)
*Obtain Waifu: Lets you resurrect Karkatriel. However, since angels need Grace to live and you'd need to surrender all the Grace this option offers, you can only resurrect her as a human to start with.
[ ] Unexpected Dynamism - The power to create, and to do so chaotically.
With this power, you can give rise to anything, even when it doesn't make sense: new magics, new ideas, new forms of matter. Change and restructure the way reality works, by adding more bricks to its foundation and then building upon it. In doing so, forever broaden the scope and beauty of the universe!
There's frankly a lot you can do with this. The versatility of Unexpected Dynamism is second only to Magic Crest, and that's on the pure technicality that Magic Crest will be able to eventually develop Unexpected Dynamism - this art can do pretty much anything you can think of, and more besides. It can even destroy, but only through the creation of tools or means of destruction such as weapons or energy beams, rather than by destroying itself. You achieve immortality and near-invulnerability since you can simply create more of "yourself" when some part of "yourself" disappears.
*Powerful and supernally versatile.
*Works rather well against the Final King, since you're his opposite.
*Counters and is countered by the powers of Final Entropy.
[ ] Persistent Stasis - The power to maintain and normalize.
With this power, a number of effects can be achieved.
Chief among them is stasis: freeze space, time, matter, or effect, or alternatively, remove offending elements from reality by means of pulling them outside of its bounds. This works exceptionally well on supernatural effects and magic. Stasis bubbles cannot be breached using any magic other than a simultaneous, concentrated, and intense application of Dynamism and Entropy simultaneously, both working together in concert.
Since the user can apply this selectively to themselves, they achieve immortality and near-invulnerability.
*Excels at protection and maintenance, can serve as good offense by perma-freezing opponents.
*Very hard to counter by pretty much anything.
[ ] Final Entropy - The, "fight fire with fire," approach. If that dick wants to remove you from existence, remove him first.
Despite the seeming paradox, you become immortal as well as near-invulnerable to any effect aside from those that are Dynamism or Entropy-aligned. Anything other than those domains, you'll be able to recover from: make no mistake, this process is not healing, as you no longer truly "live" if you pick this magic. It'd be more accurate to say that you regularly reassert your selfhood over the base reality and, therefore, return to being no matter what happened to you. This also renders you immune to mental control and similar effects. A similar entropic power can be applied to corpses of the dead to assert them over reality and let them rise as zombie servants.
Alternatively, you can release intense blasts of vantablack ruin. Although not yet developed enough to instantly slay mightier mortals and beasts of the base earth, it extinguishes weaker life instantly and without protest. Against mightier opposition, it is not without its use either: when performed against an enemy it cannot outright kill, it will instead slow them down like a leaden weight and cloud their minds with hopelessness and despair. Eventually, it's possible to pull things from more than life or existence, but let them avoid time as well and put them into perfect stasis.
Other, more exotic effects are possible.
*You can harm the Final King with this.
*But only by becoming more Final than him. Is it worth it?
*High power, control; medium versatility.
Once upon a time, a certain professor of mine in a lecture claimed that existence is defined by its balanced nature. Now, I see what he meant: the truth of balance always prevails.
This is an axiomatic, self-evident fact. I feel that I ought to explain.
Balance shows in reality's tendency to raise a trio of countervailing forces and match them equally against each other; a scale that always returns to the middle. This axiomatic truth appears in every level imaginable: lowest, and highest; mundane, and supernal; physical, and conceptual.
The universe is created through spontaneous dynamic energy interplays, is maintained through its lifespan through a persistent interaction between those energies, and eventually enters a state of starless quiet as it succumbs to the final nadir of its entropic descent.
Unexpected dynamism, then persistent stasis, and finally entropy.
A proton has a positive charge, an electron has a negative charge. The neutron is the neutral party standing between them.
A story has a beginning, middle, and end.
Concept, nothingness, anti-concept.
It has been like this for a billion years and counting. We'll see if tomorrow brings any stranger things, but it should be remembered this balance is never-ending. It may be upset, and it may even be temporarily removed, but the nature of balance is such that it'll eventually return to a neutral state.
Curious is, whether the tripartite nature of reality is due to some quirk of its own, or because of our human tendency to place complex events into rough categories; breaking down the incomprehensible into a simple, but roughly complete framework that can be used as a reference point for our minds. Thinking becomes so much easier when a reference point already exists to use in order to relate to something; we learn language much faster when ten words are known to us, rather than one.
A mystery for another day.
- Altrive's Compendium of Arcane Insights, 1st Edition, by Altrive Vertez, 953
---
Hear me and fear not, Scion of the Beyond and Under, of the children of the majestic All-Being! In admiration and in royalty, I do so on behalf of my peers exalt you, and I welcome you.
Your path has been long, winding, treacherous, and more hostile than a quadrillion knives poised to strike at the throat. You have faced a billion adversities, a million sufferings, a hundred thousand torments, and a countless number of stranger things still. At last, beloved scion, you have reached the Realm of Paradise, as the first envoy of your unenlightened kindred below.
For this deed which shatters logic, form, realm, meaning, beginning, and end, I must congratulate you; commend you tenfold; exalt you a hundred times; love you a thousand. An indescribable, humble pride fills me, as I look upon the works of your soul, and breathe once again as if I had been alive.
Alas, to countervail it, there is a spirit of deep sorrow in my heart; to think that I have the shameless audacity to tell you that you had to travel such a long way for nothing...
I am afraid that our Eternal Paradise can no longer offer the peace you came for. That peace is gone forever.
Riding on from the reaches of the void-end came Ozorbothan, the progenitor of the last hour. He fashions himself as the Final King, who will strike down the powers from their stellar thrones, and rule over a quieted cosmos - treating the universe as an insect encased in amber - a gift to his 'mother,' whose name is End.
He sees this as mercy: a path of stasis that leads to entropy, rather than entropy entire. But the path of mercy does not matter when it leads to a forever ending! Does it not?
Apologies, powerful and awesome scion, I- I may have gotten ahead of myself...
My name is Karkatriel, the last remnant of the Host of Heaven. I am the only one left: my sisters and brethren are either annihilated forever or transformed into vile perversions of themselves, and active representations of what they swore to prevent. We are done. N-nothing can save us. I- I'm-
Forgive me.
Forgive me, for that impermissible iota of weakness. To believe that one such as me, the Seraph of the Burning Bush, would tremble such... I am truly a disgusting wretch, am I not? The grace of past days is wasted on me, and there is no more glory. I am diminished and disgusting; the sloppy leftovers the Final King had no interest to finish off.
I am a revolting empty wreck, hopeless and vain; soon to join my siblings as a vessel of the Silence.
If- If only I could have known it would come to this... There is no more possibility, is there? No light in this universe, but only cold... I'm...
...You would do what? No, Scion dearest!
I beg thee from the bottom of my heart of hearts, do not expose yourself for us! You have done so much already, to come this long a way through thorn and tempest! If you proceed so, grief may be the end of me, and such cruel, bitter oblivion is worse still than being an insect in amber! Please! For my pride as an angel, I beg! I beg a thousand times!
And yet... yet, you would continue? Despite my warnings, my pleading, you would risk to walk a second path, for us? Your magnanimity knows no ends! I-
I'm... I'm so sorry! I have been a terrible Seraph! I promise to amend this! Forgive me! I promise and I swear the oath to never doubt and surrender anymore! If you can truly save us, if you will do so, Scion, then not all is lost! I will do anything for you!
Please, allow me now to invest the remnants of my Grace, to give you a fighting chance! With this, perhaps you may surpass and unmake the Final King! Take as much as you need, Lord!
[ ] Refuse - Karkatriel survives. Gain zero Grace. Not recommended.
"I'm sorry."
[ ] Accept - Karkatriel perishes. Gain three Grace.
"Forgive this terrible Seraph..."
[ ] Devour - Karkatriel and the Realm of Paradise perish beyond all possibility of recovery. Gain five Grace. Maximizes chances of victory.
"I am terrible! There is nothing I can do to atone! I beg forgiveness!"
Select the Path of Manifestation in the Realm Under Heaven (Earth):
[ ] The Path of Reincarnation - Become reincarnated in the Realm Under, as a human baby. You are assured to live with a body that is pure and flawless, aesthetically pleasing to all but the most stringent tastes; suffer from no malady or illness, and grow simple intelligence and strength as easily as one gathers sand.
*Gender is randomized.
*Have to put up with school, parents, peers, and other things. You're probable to amaze them and outgrow them with time, however - magic is vanishingly rare.
*Arrive in the Realm Under around 12-18 years before the Final King's arrival. That has to be plenty of time to surmount the mountain of advancement to become the Noble Scion of Creation, right?
*A second chance at life, even if that life is a short one.
*The only protagonist that's "normal"-ish, in any way, shape, or form.
*Personality: Hopeful, Heroic.
*Generate 0.1 Grace per year.
[ ] The Path of Resubstantiation - The past matters not, and the future is hopeless - it is the utter pinnacle of the present moment that must be attained and held in stasis, as it is now that you are at your strongest. Become manifest as a spirit of ectoplasm - and yet, paradoxically, flesh and bone - in the Realm Under.
*Gender is male.
*The inner radiance of someone who managed to transcend suffering, inadequacy, and blindness leaks easily; to most people, especially the spiritually attuned, it's obvious you are a saintly being.
*Arrive in the Realm Under 4-6 years before the Final King's arrival. You begin as the Noble Scion of Creation, granting you a single mote of Grace no matter the option you picked.
*As the Scion Ascendant, you are liberated from your own suffering and limits. Your Wisdom is such that its status is equivalent to being almost a full step along the Infinite Singularity Husk.
*The only protagonist that is unfailingly benevolent and cannot be strayed from the righteous path
*Personality: Messianic, Enlightened.
*Generate 0.4 Grace per year.
[ ] The Path of Resurrection - The dead shall rise, the skies shall bleed. Become resurrected in the Realm Under and rise from your grave as human ash... which swiftly restores itself to a twenty-five-year-old human form. Retain most (50-65%) of your memories, and regain up a vast remnant of the rest (30-35%) over a period of two years.
*Gender is male.
*If anyone discovers you rose from the grave days, that'll be disturbing to them, rather than miraculous. On the other hand, it's potential resources and allies to draw on.
*Arrive in the Realm Under around 7-10 years before the Final King's arrival.
*Depending on who you used to be, this may be the strongest option. If you were already a mage, for example, the pre-existing knowledge of thaumaturgy would be an incredible boon.
*The only protagonist that swears and bemoans what a bitch his life is.
*Personality: Bitter, Ruthless.
*Generate 0.2 Grace per year.
Note: Once the Final King arrives, the War In Heaven & On Earth begins. His arrival does not mean an automatic failure, merely the conclusion of your preparation of time. The War may well last over a hundred years.
Now, Scion, the bells toll, and the stranger times are nigh.
Spend your Grace. If you have picked no options that grant you Grace, Karkatriel is going to give you one mote from herself - this is going to exhaust her beyond measure, causing her to fall into a deep, restless sleep for a whole decade.
Do note, this is not your only time to harness Grace. There will be options, later on, to acquire more and spend it.
Do remember: "It is by Grace you have been saved. By faith, not by works."
1-Grace Options
[ ] Fundamental Magic - Among the weakest magics that remain available is the Magic of the Fundament, also known as Fundamentalism.
This magic concerns itself with gross physical manifestations and alterations, but it cannot do the impossible or significantly alter reality in a meaningful way, thus limiting the complete valence of what it offers. On a scale of the conflict that awaits you, this is a swiss knife: a gimmick and occasionally handy tool, but hardly a proper weapon. It is, however, immensely versatile: even the most novice and simplistic user can manipulate gravity, adhesion, inertia, momentum, pressure, cohesion, electromagnetic forces or similar on a personal scale and slightly beyond. Effects such as energy or force conversion are on the higher end, as are manipulations on a wide (city block+) or broad (convert x-rays into a readable pattern of visual light to gain x-ray vision,) level.
This art is similar to Alchemy in that it lacks the ability to create matter and energy out of nothing. It can, however, convert them with stunningly high efficiency. An expert-level user could crush a beer can in one hand and draw its atoms into themselves, then convert them into a destructive beam the power of which compares to the high-end artillery; he could also make a brick of stone into a nugget of gold, or similar.
*Incredible versatility, but also strict limits on what can and cannot be done.
*Explicitly, you cannot do the impossible with this power, nor create something out of nothing.
*Subtle and precise effects are difficult at any level, but country-destroying power is relatively easy to achieve at higher stages: at those stages, it starts being relevant in the War.
[ ] Animal Magic - When the All-Being created the realms, it created a strict hierarchy of being: animals were obedient to humanity, and humanity was observant to God. With this magic, also known as Animalism, you gain access to the domain of the animal, the lowest power of the All-Being.
At a base level, this magic grants the user a capacity to understand and speak with animals, and later, summon and to command them and have their commands heeded. A user who is truly exalted would be able to glimpse that beginning spark when the first humans walked in the Garden, letting them control every non-human creature on Earth simultaneously. It is forbidden to use this power on humans, as they are meant to possess their own free will; if you're willing to forsake your immortal soul for a chance at victory, then do so anyway.
Eventually, the Animal Magic's user breaks through the simplistic logic of its starting vistas and gains a completely new understanding. To summon animals from simple Earth is foolishness, for they offer nothing; the All-Being's creation is vaster than anything, extending trillions of light-years in every direction. Summon instead, and command, those animals who exist out there to come to Earth and defend the home of its masters.
*Near-useless at low-levels, although it may be useful for gathering funds, information, and staking out potential future allies.
*At higher levels, summon alien creatures from the beyond that the Creator forgot and abandoned in favor of focusing on his newest project: the human. These monstrous beings are the equivalent of a fledgling artist's first attempts at painting; they are finished, but of subpar quality, and supreme imbalance. Most of them will be eldritch, none of them will be sentient in a way you understand, and half of them will not conform to physics as you understand them. The last trait in particular makes them incredibly useful for the War effort.
2-Grace Options
[ ] Human Magic - If Animal Magic represents the past, in the sense that it represents mankind's unchallenged dominion over the primal and base, then Human Magic (also known as Humanism,) represents the future. Humanism is a magic that gathers up what made humanity great: ingenuity, understanding, and compassion, then heightens those things to utterly supernatural levels.
At base, this magic gives little power to its user: it uplifts them to a body that holds significantly superhuman attributes, grants a high regeneration factor (5% of total body mass/second), and renders them immortal, as well as immune to poison and disease. It also lets them learn new facts, skills, and sciences at an accelerated (5x) rate.
However, for each 0.5 Grace, the user of Human Magic can unlock a new principle - a path or way of expression for Humanism. Each Principle offers its own, special effects, techniques, and options.
*It's not that versatile and powerful, and requires a substantial investment of Grace for the actual goodies.
*The actual goodies are really damn good.
*If you invest enough in this, it'll let you do nearly anything.
-[ ] Agrarian Principle - The principle of the farmer.
Become the greatest master of husbandry alive: with nothing but a hoe and a shovel, plant a thousand apple trees in an afternoon, and then with nothing but simple water, grow them in less than a week, and make them sprout fruit in less than a week. Better soil, fertilizer, water, care, and love improve growth speed, quality, and quantity. Supernatural levels are easily achievable even with a modest seed, so long as some effort is put into the task, creating an apple breed that would feed a man like an entire full-course dinner and tastes sweeter than anything he'd ever consumed. Eugenics and high efforts and materials can be used to make truly paranormal plants: a flower that produces a deadly poison, a fruit that offers immortality and super-strength upon being eaten, etc.
Do the same when it comes to caring for animals. Simple feed, simple breed, and simple accommodations to create a variety of chicken much happier, and tastier than any other, and utterly obedient and willing to protect the farmer, yet requiring surprisingly little to create ceiling-high stacks of eggs of more of themselves. As with plants, eugenics here are possible and, in fact, encouraged, although unlike with plants, creating chimera animals is morally and ethically dubious even if this Principle ensures they live happily and with no underlying genetic flaws.
Eventually, create a tree from which daily sprouts a venerable bounty of plasma rifles and enchanted armor, as well as fruit that enhances the wearer to the level of a virtual demigod, or a breed of bloodhounds that can track their prey across the solar system, fly into space, and rip asunder an entire city with a motion of the claws.
Undoubtedly one of the best principles.
-[ ] Crafter's Principle - The principle of the craftsman.
Become the greatest master of artifice alive: with nothing but a box of scraps in a cave, make a suit of armor that modestly surpasses modern exoskeletons and which is enchanted to resist all of the modern, common non-Grace magics. With better materials, additional preparation, and enough information, that suit of armor can gain a miniaturized star as its core and become an artifice that travels at the speed of light, shoots blasts of torrential nuclear fire that raze entire valleys or mountains, and so on.
This knowledge is both that of enlightened mechanics and the application of impossible magical principles to objects, and everything in between.
-[ ] Artist's Principle - The principle of the artist.
Become the greatest master of art alive: like a virtuoso, create a masterpiece of musical talent that enlightens the foolish, heartens the expectant, and brings solace to the bereaved, or weave prose that inspires massive intellect in those who view it. The essence of art is to form a culture that encourages growth and inspiration for human beings, and that is what you shall become. With a simple brush, a simple canvas, and simple paint, a masterpiece that far outshines the genius of the likes of Da Vinci can be formed; an endless font of inspiration for those who view it, making them succeed in their goals.
Eventually, the paint surpasses logic and matter, and lets the user live forever and immortal through the creation of a portrait. Their music can make the environment dance and bring it to life in defense of its composer. Their poetry, when read, can change the basic essence of reality to conform to its content.
-[ ] Warrior's Principle - The principle of the warrior.
Become the greatest fighter alive: by doing push-ups for a single week train as if you'd been training for a year. Shatter the limits of the human body and leave the cracked pieces behind, as you ascend to new, terrifying vistas. In a single year of non-stop bodily conditioning, it is possible to achieve a level of personal strength that lets the user kick down and create a fissure that splits the British Isles in half, no matter how little sense this makes. In addition, you gain an amazing instinct for warfare: tactics, strategies, logistics, and similar aspects become foundational knowledge, not too far from instinct; maneuvers on the level of those described by Sun Tzu are utterly below childish; they're like breathing.
Eventually, gain the ability to outmaneuver, out-think, and outfight anything, up to and including God himself... if only he weren't such a coward and came down here to face you.
-[ ] King's Principle - The principle of the king.
Become the greatest ruler alive: with a mere glance at a technical dossier, assemble an intuitive solution to the problem that satisfies a majority of the parties involved while requiring minimal to no sacrifice from them, and with a long deliberation and gathering of additional information, solve the problem so thoroughly that the grandchildren of the people you were solving it for won't experience it until they, themselves, have grandchildren - and that's only assuming you did not instate some preventative measure for it, which you'd absolutely do.
In addition, gain an imperial, raw charisma. It's hard to dislike you, even if you act like an arrogant, condescending dick most of the time. This effect is not mind control, but for people who are sufficiently weak-willed, it may as well be.
Other principles exist, such as the Gatherer's Principle, but they are not relevant to you.
[ ] Crest Magic - Gain a Crest. The Crest is a personalized tattoo inscribed upon the body: a super-computer made from empyrean Grace, which analyzes, consolidates, and then feeds you information on the mundane powers you encounter.
Rather than offer immediate magic, a Grace-derived Crest allows you to, over time, master a thousand lesser magics: Shamanism, Alchemy, Kabbalism, Golemancy, Numerology, Demonology, Onmyodo, and Druidism are only the tip of the iceberg. When enough years have passed - perhaps centuries, perhaps millennia - you will attain a level of spiritual depth and knowledge that is such that it lets you replicate, and then fully access the abilities of the Grace-derived magics on this list with no decrease in efficiency. If you can figure out some way of prolonging the Final King's arrival until then, you could become stupidly powerful.
*Absolutely no starting power, but highest potential power out of anything on this entire list.
*Can become the most versatile and most powerful option.
3-Grace Options
[ ] Angelic Magic - If Animalism is the past, and Humanism is the future, then Celestialism is the middle ground: a vanguard of static balance that ensures the universe runs as a well-oiled machine, rather than a broken cluster of sprockets and cogs.
Angelic Magic lets the user do the impossible, recreating the miracles of old. At a base level, the impossible but novel becomes possible and mundane: cure blindness or missing limbs, resurrect the dead, come back from the dead yourself repeatedly, fly at Mach speeds on wings of Angelgrace, fire blasts of coruscant solar plasma comparable to a tank gun's power, call down lightning, split the sea, et cetera.
These effects are more conceptual and miraculous than the science and physics-based manipulations of the Firmament Magic (although it lets you copy its results,) and they are much loftier than the base manipulations of Animalism and Humanism (although it lets you surpass their puissance and replicate some of them; Animalism in particular.)
At higher ends, it lets you do so much that God himself will call bullshit: create new realms from nothingness, rebuild the angelic race from Grace siphoned via human prayers directed at you, open portals to other planets, or resurrect an entire country of dead people.
*Starting power is very high, and it goes much higher.
*No less versatile than Fundamentalism, but with better control and more esoteric applications. It also lets you create matter out of nothing and do the impossible, such as creating a square ball (although this isn't advised.)
*Obtain Waifu: Lets you resurrect Karkatriel. However, since angels need Grace to live and you'd need to surrender all the Grace this option offers, you can only resurrect her as a human to start with.
[ ] Unexpected Dynamism - The power to create, and to do so chaotically.
With this power, you can give rise to anything, even when it doesn't make sense: new magics, new ideas, new forms of matter. Change and restructure the way reality works, by adding more bricks to its foundation and then building upon it. In doing so, forever broaden the scope and beauty of the universe!
There's frankly a lot you can do with this. The versatility of Unexpected Dynamism is second only to Magic Crest, and that's on the pure technicality that Magic Crest will be able to eventually develop Unexpected Dynamism - this art can do pretty much anything you can think of, and more besides. It can even destroy, but only through the creation of tools or means of destruction such as weapons or energy beams, rather than by destroying itself. You achieve immortality and near-invulnerability since you can simply create more of "yourself" when some part of "yourself" disappears.
*Powerful and supernally versatile.
*Works rather well against the Final King, since you're his opposite.
*Counters and is countered by the powers of Final Entropy.
[ ] Persistent Stasis - The power to maintain and normalize.
With this power, a number of effects can be achieved.
Chief among them is stasis: freeze space, time, matter, or effect, or alternatively, remove offending elements from reality by means of pulling them outside of its bounds. This works exceptionally well on supernatural effects and magic. Stasis bubbles cannot be breached using any magic other than a simultaneous, concentrated, and intense application of Dynamism and Entropy simultaneously, both working together in concert.
Since the user can apply this selectively to themselves, they achieve immortality and near-invulnerability.
*Excels at protection and maintenance, can serve as good offense by perma-freezing opponents.
*Very hard to counter by pretty much anything.
[ ] Final Entropy - The, "fight fire with fire," approach. If that dick wants to remove you from existence, remove him first.
Despite the seeming paradox, you become immortal as well as near-invulnerable to any effect aside from those that are Dynamism or Entropy-aligned. Anything other than those domains, you'll be able to recover from: make no mistake, this process is not healing, as you no longer truly "live" if you pick this magic. It'd be more accurate to say that you regularly reassert your selfhood over the base reality and, therefore, return to being no matter what happened to you. This also renders you immune to mental control and similar effects. A similar entropic power can be applied to corpses of the dead to assert them over reality and let them rise as zombie servants.
Alternatively, you can release intense blasts of vantablack ruin. Although not yet developed enough to instantly slay mightier mortals and beasts of the base earth, it extinguishes weaker life instantly and without protest. Against mightier opposition, it is not without its use either: when performed against an enemy it cannot outright kill, it will instead slow them down like a leaden weight and cloud their minds with hopelessness and despair. Eventually, it's possible to pull things from more than life or existence, but let them avoid time as well and put them into perfect stasis.
Other, more exotic effects are possible.
*You can harm the Final King with this.
*But only by becoming more Final than him. Is it worth it?
*High power, control; medium versatility.
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ImperatorV
The Laughing One
- Location
- The Voyaging Realm
Unsurprisingly, Favor is powerful. And man that increased mental stats unlocking new blood magic research paths is cool. It'll probably help with Grace development as well if we ever get around to that.
Now, the enhanced Apocryphal proc is here, and it's an Armament. It's finally time to face one of those in combat.
Now, the enhanced Apocryphal proc is here, and it's an Armament. It's finally time to face one of those in combat.
Birdsie
Sharp Talons Cleave The Worthy
- Location
- Poland
Sounds rather piddly. It's basically just a shitty Cursebearer from shitty metal with a shitty mortal guy inside of the cockpit. Best solution is to Praxis it until it dies. These idiotic pilots were training how to steer giant robots, but Hunger studied the blade and Aobaru studied under Hunger.
Birdsie
Sharp Talons Cleave The Worthy
- Location
- Poland
Of course, you can!
(Spoiler: I had zero intention of making this into a subquest, because I thought Konomena might be enough, but now that you've mentioned the possibility of more omake, I am convinced to make it into one. Prepare for the Infinite Omake Storm.)
Rihaku
The Internet
This seems like an interesting personality base, one that's rarely seen in actual played quests... though perhaps for good reason!
Devour, Resubstantiation (6 Grace) - Fate of the universe is at stake, but if we win we can use Dynamism from Crest Magic to create Elysium, which is distinct from, but almost as good as, Paradise!
Human Magic (Principles: Farmer, Crafter, Artist, Warrior) - 4 Grace
Crest - 2 Grace
Use the combined synergies of Farmer, Crafter and Artist to generate some form of time-dilation or Crest-accelerating effect, thereby acquiring all the magics via Crest before the enemy can arrive. Even if it doesn't work, Farmer + Crafter + Artist to create gear, plus Warrior to wield that gear with Crest magic enhancements should be a potent build.
Guidance was in the lead and Hunger invited Haeliel to drop by and speak with the other members of the party, which is pretty much what it'd entail. It's been a bit, but I believe Amplification & Distillation won the platinum vote. The update touches on possible strategies: mining the Walls, infusion via blood sacrifice, etc. Presumably it'll get put to a vote tomorrow!
Zampano
🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈
- Location
- Simping for DSB
Guidance won, because Hunger mentions Haeliel coming back to visit. (Guidance also won because it had more than 50 votes.) For the platinum vote, Distillation won because Blood Sorcery was Too Expensive.
Tyrant_Rayne
Probably Not Evil… Maybe
- Location
- Canada
Accept
The Path of Reincarnation
Angelic Magic
I'm a simple guy. I see normal life and waifu, I'm going for normal life and waifu.
The Path of Reincarnation
Angelic Magic
I'm a simple guy. I see normal life and waifu, I'm going for normal life and waifu.
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