X-type was outside context problem. Hunger has massive Rank and insane auto-defense. Nothing that particularly outside of the Temple's knowledge. Perhaps if his power was only Praxis based, that could qualify for it.
A Simple Transaction I
- Thread starter Rihaku
- Start date
- Original
- Location
- Peterborough, NH, USA
Hm, so, non-Richer Reality Omake idea, technically, as the Colors are canon to this Quest in general. The Undertale universe also has Color Magic. Blue/Indigo, corresponding to Integrity, lets you control gravity, and is generally agreed to be the 'construct' magic in the fandom. Think Lantern Rings. Yellow/Justice gives you access to ranged magic attacks when you wouldn't have one, which you can spam more or less indefinitely. Green/Kindness used offensively provides the target a shield, but freezes them in place, or can be used for healing. Etc. Would they be called by their Trait names instead of their Color names to differentiate them?
I'm sort of imagining one of the Bad End Sanses getting a deal, or perhaps Ink, whose lack of a soul of his own prevents him from feeling emotion, leaving him to rely on vials of special paint, which are generated automatically as a byproduct of AUs existing and being created. Ink's personality is outwardly jovial, but hides a somewhat sociopathic, some would go as far as psychopathic, interior, that's more interested in creation for creation's sake. This means that he might well be willing to take on a deal simply because he wants the power to create new things. Indeed, in one version of the multiverse, he didn't care if the current multiverse was destroyed, as his ally possessed the power to make whatever he wanted. As long as he got a chance to handle his universe-destroying enemies, he might not even mind Indenture, since he'd be able to get so many new ideas.
I'm imagining Enhancements focused heavily on Creation and Imagination, instead of raw power, beyond ensuring a given multiverse won't collapse from too many universes(which has happened before). His goal would be based on crafting new realities, new stories. He can already create new universes, though most of the time he just helps other people along. People who destroy universes are his main enemy, in fact. His personal power level outside of outright creating universes isn't all that impressive, because he currently relies on a quirk of local metaphysics to do it, and a paint generated by existing universes, which probably gives him a boost. I'd give Hunger as of the first ten updates good odds in a straight fight. Any point in the first ten after becoming a Cursebearer really. So, he's a lot more 'Reality Warper' than he is 'God of Creation' though the Accursed could easily make him the latter in a few years.
I'm sort of imagining one of the Bad End Sanses getting a deal, or perhaps Ink, whose lack of a soul of his own prevents him from feeling emotion, leaving him to rely on vials of special paint, which are generated automatically as a byproduct of AUs existing and being created. Ink's personality is outwardly jovial, but hides a somewhat sociopathic, some would go as far as psychopathic, interior, that's more interested in creation for creation's sake. This means that he might well be willing to take on a deal simply because he wants the power to create new things. Indeed, in one version of the multiverse, he didn't care if the current multiverse was destroyed, as his ally possessed the power to make whatever he wanted. As long as he got a chance to handle his universe-destroying enemies, he might not even mind Indenture, since he'd be able to get so many new ideas.
I'm imagining Enhancements focused heavily on Creation and Imagination, instead of raw power, beyond ensuring a given multiverse won't collapse from too many universes(which has happened before). His goal would be based on crafting new realities, new stories. He can already create new universes, though most of the time he just helps other people along. People who destroy universes are his main enemy, in fact. His personal power level outside of outright creating universes isn't all that impressive, because he currently relies on a quirk of local metaphysics to do it, and a paint generated by existing universes, which probably gives him a boost. I'd give Hunger as of the first ten updates good odds in a straight fight. Any point in the first ten after becoming a Cursebearer really. So, he's a lot more 'Reality Warper' than he is 'God of Creation' though the Accursed could easily make him the latter in a few years.
Last edited:
- Location
- Omniverse #1345
Teh, just pay for the second backpack slot Hunger.
Just make Gisena occupy Adorie's backpack slot.
[] Wide Back (4 picks, 25 Arete, Defining Advancements). Conjunctional (Evening Sky + Seraph's Favor).
For within the endless sky, more than one Princess is. On the back of Atlas they all dream.
Hunger gains the following:
Can equip additional Princess on his back. Up to Active Rank/10(rounded down) Princess can be equipped this way
+5 Accursed Favor
Mitigates Apocryphal Curse by additional half a step as long as you are with at least two Princesses who don't get along with each other
Once per lunar month, you can take a weight of given context, which includes sky, specific issues, concepts and so on. You will perfectly succeed at carrying that weight, although all other penalties still apply.
Unlocks Feat: Atlas and Praxis technique Titan's Shrug.
For within the endless sky, more than one Princess is. On the back of Atlas they all dream.
Hunger gains the following:
Can equip additional Princess on his back. Up to Active Rank/10(rounded down) Princess can be equipped this way
+5 Accursed Favor
Mitigates Apocryphal Curse by additional half a step as long as you are with at least two Princesses who don't get along with each other
Once per lunar month, you can take a weight of given context, which includes sky, specific issues, concepts and so on. You will perfectly succeed at carrying that weight, although all other penalties still apply.
Unlocks Feat: Atlas and Praxis technique Titan's Shrug.
Hunger's companions in online games.
Hunger (Hunger) - sweat personified and the main carry. Does not understand the concept of defeat, his field of vision is a danger zone all the time. Will give his uttermost and will never stop trying to carry his useless team to victory. Will never say "just a game" but will never acknowledge the enemy as an equal.
Letrizia (NarutoGirl96) - Massive weeaboo, plays with japanese voices on. Owns a large katana collections. Has a myanimelist profile that she regularly updates. Feels superior to the plebs due to family house status
Gisena (GamurPrincess) - Mains support and tries to give helpful but useless advice throught the game. Holds ult for the whole game so she can get play of the game due to narcissistic personality. Excessive use of emoticons. Will get the most gift from the enemy team due to simps.
Adorie (QueenAdorie19) - also plays support and for some reason has concreted herself to Hunger's ass after he saved her from a gank. Does not understand the concept of meta champions and just pick the cutest champion. Most likely to get be adored by both teams due to inherent naivety and cuteness.
Aeira (xxxShadowQueen69xx) - extremely professional and follows Hunger's directions. Ganks every lone member of the opposite team. Nowhere is safe, even the spawn. The only other member of the team who actually knows how to play the game. Spends a lot of time behind Letrizia and Hunger while crouching.
Aobaru(420BlazeIt) - Only plays while high. When someone has to carry the flag, he always insist he should do it because he is "The Chosen One". Always explodes your teammates and ice walls them in spawn while typing xD. Only voice communication is the sound of a bong rip.
- Location
- 1
this is an oxymoron.
Forgot to mention he spends thousands on microtranactions.
HoratioVonBecker
Imperfectly Aligned
"Of course. Could anything less be worthy of Pride?"
Last edited:
- Location
- Earth
The second and third seals of the pact
As requested, an Aeiraverse redraw of an adamtots webcomic. I couldnt bring myself to copy the facial style 1:1, but in the true spirit of the style, every single face here is copy-pasted. Aeira is so unique.
Not directly quest-related, but thought I'd share anyway
fourth Seal of the Shark to come soon
4SEALS 4BEAR
As requested, an Aeiraverse redraw of an adamtots webcomic. I couldnt bring myself to copy the facial style 1:1, but in the true spirit of the style, every single face here is copy-pasted. Aeira is so unique.
Not directly quest-related, but thought I'd share anyway
fourth Seal of the Shark to come soon
4SEALS 4BEAR
Remember the guy who gives some life advice during a match. His advice is genuinely helpful, but at the same time completely useless in the current context of the multiplayer game
Holiday Special: Certainly Nothing Less
Rihaku
The Internet
I hope everybody is having a wonderful holiday season! This Holiday Special features a (potential?) future Ulyssian from one of my Exalted quests, Most High, and will be cross-posted there.
Certainly Nothing Less
More than a year now they'd resided in this dreary World of Darkness, realm of the far-flung future. It was a feeble shadow of Creation That Was, and epitomized nothing more than the ultimate self-defeating triumph of the Dragon's Shadow. There were few dangers here to one such as Ulyssian, and fewer wonders of note, for in their journeys to retrieve the Shards of the Lathe he had seen reflections of Creation unbound and limitless; a thousand Times of Glory, a billion Ages of Dream, and all the infinite permutations of Sorrow that might refract from their mirrored shattering.
It had been quite an odyssey to terminate now in this drab gray expanse, a world bled dry of essence, starving now under the yoke of mere physicality. There were faint stirrings of Power beneath the surface: the so-called Kindred who concentrated tarnished essence, or the Consensus of the Technocracy which shaped the shallower expressions of reality - but at its core it was a world simply hollow, even the darkness at its center a mere absence of light.
But not so within eight meters of his person, for his Chaos-Repelling Pattern asserted the laws of Creation over and beneath the eggshell facade hereabouts; buttressing it and overwriting it both so that here, if nowhere else, glory might shine again. Bereft of this, he might be forced to cruder measures in order to retain the full sum of his power here, in a cosmos hostile to the very idea of ascendancy.
Ulyssian walked out of the vampire den, their bodies become ash in the wake of his passing. Most of the neonates were wise enough simply to accede, and then flee him; it was the Methuselahs and older whose arrogance led them to defiance and oblivion.
Another false positive. Its powers depleted, the corpse of this 'Antediluvian' Brujah was simply a body once more. Would he have to face Cain himself to procure what he sought? That would be an interesting contest, but one for another day.
Odyssial's splintered ascendancy had buried itself across the tapestry of All Creations, its far-flung scattering locked betwixt seals of fate and time. Yet even the Vampiric Master of Time had yielded no clues to its location. If the Shard was here, it was not in this moment; and for all the might of Ulyssian's divination, it did not suffice to challenge the highest wiles of his prior self.
He put work out of his mind. Moon and Saery were waiting for him, and Nilul ought be finished on her end as well. With Pentex finally subdued, her control over the Consensus ought be nearing completion.
Moon had taken an unusual fondness to the seasonal holidays of this world, and today was the eve of this world's Calibration Feast, an event they called Christmas. She had promised them all a wondrous surprise, a grand spectacle worthy of Mela's Final Aspect.
He was far from their home manse, adrift in time and halfway across the world. Ulyssian would need unnatural celerity to carry him back in time. Exerting himself modestly, he overlaid Ambition with the Sword At World's End, and cut once.
A step, and the world blurred around him.
Ulyssian strode with a sunbeam's swiftness to the base of their encampment, the badly-degraded echo of the Pole of Earth which the mortals called, Everest. It had been reforged by Workings into a sorcerous redoubt of adequate strength.
In observance of the holiday, Moon had used their vegetation Workings to coat half the mountainside in a vast blanket of holly and pine, their boughs fetchingly laden with gently-falling snow. There was a smell of myrrh and incense in the air: warm contrast to the chill clarion of the mountainside, which it complemented but did not overwhelm. As he walked he heard the faint jingling of sleigh bells, and the trace of softer harmonies in the air. Moon must have been quite enthused; even their masquerade ball at All Hallows' Eve had not warranted this degree of decoration.
A song grew upon the wind as he drew nearer; an angelic choir raised in circling, caroling melody. He crested the ridge of the peak to see the Dragon-Blooded singing in unison, ear-muffed and mittened and wrapped in great furs, superfluously reading off the booklets laid open in their hands.
"Uly!" Moon broke off mid-verse to rush forward, clutching his arm with both her own. "Thank goodness. I was worried you wouldn't make it back in time."
"And miss the greatest seasonal holiday of the year? I couldn't." He scoffed. "I didn't get you a present, though. It was another false positive; the ghost of Christmas Future was merely a corpse, after all."
Moon beamed. "As if I'd care for that! Your return is already the greatest present I could ever ask for."
Nilul stopped singing and closed her booklet. "Moon. You're so saccharine it's giving me literal mental damage! I really should have let you two flounder in ignorance forever... Bah, humbug!"
"No Limit Breaks during the holidays," Ulyssian scolded her. "You'll just have to better control your Great Curse."
"Easy for you to say," Nilul huffed, tossing her hair. "Not all of us regard that thing as an asset to be weaponized."
"Yes... Saery always was a bit slower on the uptake. You know what they say about Nellens."
Nellens Saery, who was the Final Aspect of Daana'd, did not stop caroling, but paused briefly to deliver him a pout and glare. He disregarded her and walked into his manse.
"My venture was a disappointment. How goes your work?" He asked Moon.
She snuggled into his shoulder. "Boring. Gaia is semi-conscious and doesn't want to wake up. Since our drastic measures haven't worked, I've tried reading to her, but she simply has no appreciation for the classics! Primordial or no, I can't tolerate such poor taste. Are we absolutely sure she hasn't fallen to become a Malfean after all?"
"Maybe you should tell her you've found the Shining Answer," he joked. "It worked for your namesake, or so I'm told."
"Well," she said coyly, "I've my Shining Answer, but presenting you to her would only scare her."
"Stop, you're too adorable. Nilul's heart might grow three sizes."
The winds delivered to Moon two mugs of spiced cinnamon drink, one of which she handed to him. She shed her coat and earmuffs, producing a red-velvet hat of triangular shape with a white bob at its tip. This she placed atop her head, humming merrily. Ulyssian nudged it to a jaunty angle.
"Sorry to interrupt you lovebirds."
Ulyssian turned, and did not raise Ambition, for his senses would have detected this enemy in advance, had they desired to attack.
"...Hero."
Mountain Hero, the Final Aspect of Pasiap, Successor to Resolute Flame, the Rock of the Faith, the Dragonfist; Master of the Wyld Hunt, the Unbroken Earth, the Immaculate One. Runes of blistering gold and amaranth violet sprawled across ever inch of his face, the barely-bridled fury of the Perfected Lotus threatening imminently - as it had for decades - to spill over its container. Only the combination of adamantine will, legendary sturdiness, and peerless martial talent had kept the Unbroken Earth from rupturing, all these long years.
An enemy who had once numbered among his closest friends. The Earth Aspect's scar-riddled face held a carefully-schooled expression, sharp contrast to the hate and powerless rage with which he usually regarded Odyssial. In one hand he held his grand goremaul-daiklave, and in the other an immense rugged sack.
"Odyssial- No. Ulyssian. I'm not here to fight you."
"Saery called you," Ulyssian surmised.
Hero scoffed. "Of course you would already know. Or did you just find out? Not that it matters. It is as I said last time, Ulyssian. Just because you can see its course, does not mean you'll be able to stop it."
That was the way of Mountain Hero. Brute simplicity and onrushing momentum, a mountain falling straight at you. Fertile earth for even the Blossom of the Lotus, and stubbornness enough to withstand its questing roots.
Ulyssian eyed the sack with some curiosity. "Speak your piece. Unless you've become a disciple of Cecelyne, I don't intend to stop you today."
Hero's arrival had caused no small amount of commotion. Nilul and Saery trailed swiftly in, followed by Pearl and Rosary. Ayala and even Vaela would not be far behind, so the Champion of the Immaculate Faith had no chance in a direct contest.
But that was not what he had come here to do.
"The mortals of this realm have a holiday," Hero said, looking about the assemblage. "One whose spirit you've absorbed fully, if those decorations are in earnest. Take these gifts in that same spirit. Today I come not for War, but to reach out a hand in reconciliation, in the hopes of mutual tolerance. For while your victory may be inescapable, know that we would resist you to the last, even unto our dying breath. Let us learn to co-exist, separate and without dreams of conquest, instead."
So saying, he opened his sack to produce a series of hand-knit sweaters, which he began to hand out in stilted, businesslike fashion. It was apparent they were wholly the product of Hero himself: the design was crude, almost atrociously terrible, but the craftsmanship was exquisite, diligent care shining from every braided cord, every jewel-like stitch.
Hero handed him his sweater with a complicated expression on his face.
Ulyssian's gift was lumpy and ill-fitting, and depicted a meeting of the Incompetents Society on its face. "Ulyssian. You became more the Anathema than any other before you. But you used to be my best friend. I wish you'd stayed mortal. You never needed to take that power. I would have protected you from all of it."
"I know," said Ulyssian, accepting the gift. He put on the sweater. It itched. "I'll consider your proposal after the Lathe is finished."
Hero smiled grimly. "So that our resistance would be wholly purposeless either way. Typical of you."
"I may be Anathema, but have I really changed? Perhaps it's simply the spirit of the season awakening my mortal sentiments."
"...I told Saery this was a bad idea."
Ulyssian shrugged. "Should have known better than to listen to a Nellens."
Despite himself, Hero laughed.
Some of their number had chosen to indulge in the tradition of gift-giving; Moon had gotten him the original texts of a Grecian poet named Homer, among which was a work that seemed the mythic echo of his own legend. There was even a reference to the Odyssian Horse!
Nilul swaddled his neck in a scarf which she claimed was dashing, and Saery gave him a bottle of genuine Skin-Like-the-Mountains oil, dreamed into being by a high order of Consensus shapers. He felt slightly guilty at not having gotten anyone anything at all, even if they had simply procured their gifts through Nilul's control of the Syndicate and New World Order.
So it was that he took to the festivities with uncharacteristic cheer; caroling about the tree, partaking heavily of food and drink, helping to lay out milk and cookies for the mighty Saint Nicklaus, and even agreeing to the drunken Moon's half-baked plan to deliver presents to all the world's children. It was a task that demanded much of him, the full measure of his ingenuity and might, but not one wholly beyond his abilities; and even if it were, he would persist and ponder and strategize until he found a way, for if Ulyssian had learned anything of Christmas, it was this -
In the end, it was the thought that counted. Nothing more; certainly nothing less.
Certainly Nothing Less
More than a year now they'd resided in this dreary World of Darkness, realm of the far-flung future. It was a feeble shadow of Creation That Was, and epitomized nothing more than the ultimate self-defeating triumph of the Dragon's Shadow. There were few dangers here to one such as Ulyssian, and fewer wonders of note, for in their journeys to retrieve the Shards of the Lathe he had seen reflections of Creation unbound and limitless; a thousand Times of Glory, a billion Ages of Dream, and all the infinite permutations of Sorrow that might refract from their mirrored shattering.
It had been quite an odyssey to terminate now in this drab gray expanse, a world bled dry of essence, starving now under the yoke of mere physicality. There were faint stirrings of Power beneath the surface: the so-called Kindred who concentrated tarnished essence, or the Consensus of the Technocracy which shaped the shallower expressions of reality - but at its core it was a world simply hollow, even the darkness at its center a mere absence of light.
But not so within eight meters of his person, for his Chaos-Repelling Pattern asserted the laws of Creation over and beneath the eggshell facade hereabouts; buttressing it and overwriting it both so that here, if nowhere else, glory might shine again. Bereft of this, he might be forced to cruder measures in order to retain the full sum of his power here, in a cosmos hostile to the very idea of ascendancy.
Ulyssian walked out of the vampire den, their bodies become ash in the wake of his passing. Most of the neonates were wise enough simply to accede, and then flee him; it was the Methuselahs and older whose arrogance led them to defiance and oblivion.
Another false positive. Its powers depleted, the corpse of this 'Antediluvian' Brujah was simply a body once more. Would he have to face Cain himself to procure what he sought? That would be an interesting contest, but one for another day.
Odyssial's splintered ascendancy had buried itself across the tapestry of All Creations, its far-flung scattering locked betwixt seals of fate and time. Yet even the Vampiric Master of Time had yielded no clues to its location. If the Shard was here, it was not in this moment; and for all the might of Ulyssian's divination, it did not suffice to challenge the highest wiles of his prior self.
He put work out of his mind. Moon and Saery were waiting for him, and Nilul ought be finished on her end as well. With Pentex finally subdued, her control over the Consensus ought be nearing completion.
Moon had taken an unusual fondness to the seasonal holidays of this world, and today was the eve of this world's Calibration Feast, an event they called Christmas. She had promised them all a wondrous surprise, a grand spectacle worthy of Mela's Final Aspect.
He was far from their home manse, adrift in time and halfway across the world. Ulyssian would need unnatural celerity to carry him back in time. Exerting himself modestly, he overlaid Ambition with the Sword At World's End, and cut once.
A step, and the world blurred around him.
Ulyssian strode with a sunbeam's swiftness to the base of their encampment, the badly-degraded echo of the Pole of Earth which the mortals called, Everest. It had been reforged by Workings into a sorcerous redoubt of adequate strength.
In observance of the holiday, Moon had used their vegetation Workings to coat half the mountainside in a vast blanket of holly and pine, their boughs fetchingly laden with gently-falling snow. There was a smell of myrrh and incense in the air: warm contrast to the chill clarion of the mountainside, which it complemented but did not overwhelm. As he walked he heard the faint jingling of sleigh bells, and the trace of softer harmonies in the air. Moon must have been quite enthused; even their masquerade ball at All Hallows' Eve had not warranted this degree of decoration.
A song grew upon the wind as he drew nearer; an angelic choir raised in circling, caroling melody. He crested the ridge of the peak to see the Dragon-Blooded singing in unison, ear-muffed and mittened and wrapped in great furs, superfluously reading off the booklets laid open in their hands.
"Uly!" Moon broke off mid-verse to rush forward, clutching his arm with both her own. "Thank goodness. I was worried you wouldn't make it back in time."
"And miss the greatest seasonal holiday of the year? I couldn't." He scoffed. "I didn't get you a present, though. It was another false positive; the ghost of Christmas Future was merely a corpse, after all."
Moon beamed. "As if I'd care for that! Your return is already the greatest present I could ever ask for."
Nilul stopped singing and closed her booklet. "Moon. You're so saccharine it's giving me literal mental damage! I really should have let you two flounder in ignorance forever... Bah, humbug!"
"No Limit Breaks during the holidays," Ulyssian scolded her. "You'll just have to better control your Great Curse."
"Easy for you to say," Nilul huffed, tossing her hair. "Not all of us regard that thing as an asset to be weaponized."
"Yes... Saery always was a bit slower on the uptake. You know what they say about Nellens."
Nellens Saery, who was the Final Aspect of Daana'd, did not stop caroling, but paused briefly to deliver him a pout and glare. He disregarded her and walked into his manse.
"My venture was a disappointment. How goes your work?" He asked Moon.
She snuggled into his shoulder. "Boring. Gaia is semi-conscious and doesn't want to wake up. Since our drastic measures haven't worked, I've tried reading to her, but she simply has no appreciation for the classics! Primordial or no, I can't tolerate such poor taste. Are we absolutely sure she hasn't fallen to become a Malfean after all?"
"Maybe you should tell her you've found the Shining Answer," he joked. "It worked for your namesake, or so I'm told."
"Well," she said coyly, "I've my Shining Answer, but presenting you to her would only scare her."
"Stop, you're too adorable. Nilul's heart might grow three sizes."
The winds delivered to Moon two mugs of spiced cinnamon drink, one of which she handed to him. She shed her coat and earmuffs, producing a red-velvet hat of triangular shape with a white bob at its tip. This she placed atop her head, humming merrily. Ulyssian nudged it to a jaunty angle.
"Sorry to interrupt you lovebirds."
Ulyssian turned, and did not raise Ambition, for his senses would have detected this enemy in advance, had they desired to attack.
"...Hero."
Mountain Hero, the Final Aspect of Pasiap, Successor to Resolute Flame, the Rock of the Faith, the Dragonfist; Master of the Wyld Hunt, the Unbroken Earth, the Immaculate One. Runes of blistering gold and amaranth violet sprawled across ever inch of his face, the barely-bridled fury of the Perfected Lotus threatening imminently - as it had for decades - to spill over its container. Only the combination of adamantine will, legendary sturdiness, and peerless martial talent had kept the Unbroken Earth from rupturing, all these long years.
An enemy who had once numbered among his closest friends. The Earth Aspect's scar-riddled face held a carefully-schooled expression, sharp contrast to the hate and powerless rage with which he usually regarded Odyssial. In one hand he held his grand goremaul-daiklave, and in the other an immense rugged sack.
"Odyssial- No. Ulyssian. I'm not here to fight you."
"Saery called you," Ulyssian surmised.
Hero scoffed. "Of course you would already know. Or did you just find out? Not that it matters. It is as I said last time, Ulyssian. Just because you can see its course, does not mean you'll be able to stop it."
That was the way of Mountain Hero. Brute simplicity and onrushing momentum, a mountain falling straight at you. Fertile earth for even the Blossom of the Lotus, and stubbornness enough to withstand its questing roots.
Ulyssian eyed the sack with some curiosity. "Speak your piece. Unless you've become a disciple of Cecelyne, I don't intend to stop you today."
Hero's arrival had caused no small amount of commotion. Nilul and Saery trailed swiftly in, followed by Pearl and Rosary. Ayala and even Vaela would not be far behind, so the Champion of the Immaculate Faith had no chance in a direct contest.
But that was not what he had come here to do.
"The mortals of this realm have a holiday," Hero said, looking about the assemblage. "One whose spirit you've absorbed fully, if those decorations are in earnest. Take these gifts in that same spirit. Today I come not for War, but to reach out a hand in reconciliation, in the hopes of mutual tolerance. For while your victory may be inescapable, know that we would resist you to the last, even unto our dying breath. Let us learn to co-exist, separate and without dreams of conquest, instead."
So saying, he opened his sack to produce a series of hand-knit sweaters, which he began to hand out in stilted, businesslike fashion. It was apparent they were wholly the product of Hero himself: the design was crude, almost atrociously terrible, but the craftsmanship was exquisite, diligent care shining from every braided cord, every jewel-like stitch.
Hero handed him his sweater with a complicated expression on his face.
Ulyssian's gift was lumpy and ill-fitting, and depicted a meeting of the Incompetents Society on its face. "Ulyssian. You became more the Anathema than any other before you. But you used to be my best friend. I wish you'd stayed mortal. You never needed to take that power. I would have protected you from all of it."
"I know," said Ulyssian, accepting the gift. He put on the sweater. It itched. "I'll consider your proposal after the Lathe is finished."
Hero smiled grimly. "So that our resistance would be wholly purposeless either way. Typical of you."
"I may be Anathema, but have I really changed? Perhaps it's simply the spirit of the season awakening my mortal sentiments."
"...I told Saery this was a bad idea."
Ulyssian shrugged. "Should have known better than to listen to a Nellens."
Despite himself, Hero laughed.
Some of their number had chosen to indulge in the tradition of gift-giving; Moon had gotten him the original texts of a Grecian poet named Homer, among which was a work that seemed the mythic echo of his own legend. There was even a reference to the Odyssian Horse!
Nilul swaddled his neck in a scarf which she claimed was dashing, and Saery gave him a bottle of genuine Skin-Like-the-Mountains oil, dreamed into being by a high order of Consensus shapers. He felt slightly guilty at not having gotten anyone anything at all, even if they had simply procured their gifts through Nilul's control of the Syndicate and New World Order.
So it was that he took to the festivities with uncharacteristic cheer; caroling about the tree, partaking heavily of food and drink, helping to lay out milk and cookies for the mighty Saint Nicklaus, and even agreeing to the drunken Moon's half-baked plan to deliver presents to all the world's children. It was a task that demanded much of him, the full measure of his ingenuity and might, but not one wholly beyond his abilities; and even if it were, he would persist and ponder and strategize until he found a way, for if Ulyssian had learned anything of Christmas, it was this -
In the end, it was the thought that counted. Nothing more; certainly nothing less.
Rihaku
The Internet
But Ascendant Rosary is right there with Sepulchral Pearl!
- Location
- Italy
I accidentally saw a spoiler that Aeira apparently is still around in the quest.
I'm surprised. Also a bit sad because that likely means we didn't/won't take Shadowlord.
Well, I have time to get attached to her. While she's definitely useful (see intel gathered last turn), I haven't seen enough of her to get attached like I am to Letrizia and Gisena.
Ah, also I saw how type x means "outside context problem", and type R was, I think, basically the rapidly growing kind.
Anyone know what O-type and S-type are supposed to be? Grade O-5 was used for Marshall-class Outriders, and O-7 for "native-born residents with soul evocations of military grade", so it might refer to soul evocation users.
There was also a C-3 grade for councilors and above.
Of course "grades" and "types" might be different things...
Also, I wonder what the reaction will be in the encampment.
I think the ring made the right choice though, obviously we're his best chance, it's easy to see by how much progress we made compared to everyone else. On the other end, the Inner Ring people will notice this. Maybe they'll lower their guard, or maybe they'll start thinking they don't NEED to hire any more outsiders...
What, you didn't enjoy all the power-ups from the temple?
Given enough time, even our curses will yeald to our power..
random musing: just how many cursebearers DON'T take Indenture? And how many of those regret taking it? Also, for the nth time, I'm wondering just what are the Accursed's quests...
Still, it must hurt a bit, never being able of completely relaxing around us..
Or he simply considers it unimportant
What if we're lying, after all?
We're a terrifying enemy.
the "Blitz" option. if we're quick enough they won't have the time to raise their defenses, and once we get the ring our power will surge even higher, and they'll probably not be able to stand against us.
And that's without considering how they might very well quickly lose access to their powers.
mh... I don't know. Any ally we could gather is likely to pale in comparison to the Immortals. I'm not sure it's worth the cost in initiative.
Probably better to strike hard and quick while they're still taken by surprise. Once we get the ring it's all over, and about any defense in our way... well, I'll steal a line From Zoro (One Piece)
all the old faithfulls.
The evening sky options are suboptimal, we don't need protection right now, we need more offensive powers.
Echo is a bit.. well, a bit not enough.
a dominion might help. it's a rank bonus we can probably use immediately, as what we're doing definitely count as passion and/or war.
Dominion blood could help and synergize with our current crimson flare, and ennobling would help a lot IF we went the rebellion route. It would also show our opponents that we're not lying about being able to empower them in an alternative way, which might have a few being willing to surrender and change side.
They'd both also be refunded after we take the ring, which is nice. and makes ennobling basically a "save arete" option.
Of the ones above, Ennobling or blood dominion is probably the best if we get allies, as it strenghten the buffs we can offer, while for direct attack it's probably a mix of vigor incarnate, fierce quickening and dominion blood.
Of course there's also the godstat. Always a good pick, if maybe a bit generic right now. Still, we're talking about a .325, which is NOT little. It's actually more than the dominions would give I think.
This is basically the equivalent of another form. We get sudden healing, and benefits from wounds we get (even if healed).
Probably the best pick for a direct attack IF we can spare the arete, though the cheaper options might be enough.
This gives us the highest + to stats, AND makes our ghost form relevant again. I'd say this is better most of the time, but that "What Rains May come" is better during that once a month really hard boss battle.
By the way another valid option would be to take Magic-defeating stance instead, + the arete-free options (or maybe even a 2 arete option if we get enough arete).
I'm mostly in favour of immediate attack, but if rebellion is taken then we should consider Ennobling if we think we'll get enough time to empower our allies, and augment dominion blood to make the blood buffs stronger as well.
1020 words.
I'm surprised. Also a bit sad because that likely means we didn't/won't take Shadowlord.
Well, I have time to get attached to her. While she's definitely useful (see intel gathered last turn), I haven't seen enough of her to get attached like I am to Letrizia and Gisena.
Ah, also I saw how type x means "outside context problem", and type R was, I think, basically the rapidly growing kind.
Anyone know what O-type and S-type are supposed to be? Grade O-5 was used for Marshall-class Outriders, and O-7 for "native-born residents with soul evocations of military grade", so it might refer to soul evocation users.
There was also a C-3 grade for councilors and above.
Of course "grades" and "types" might be different things...
I'm still wondering just how conscious rings actually are..
uh. So that's the IC explanation for the EFB.
Also, I wonder what the reaction will be in the encampment.
I think the ring made the right choice though, obviously we're his best chance, it's easy to see by how much progress we made compared to everyone else. On the other end, the Inner Ring people will notice this. Maybe they'll lower their guard, or maybe they'll start thinking they don't NEED to hire any more outsiders...
eh, if you didn't want this you should not have taken Vengeance, all these updates ago.
What, you didn't enjoy all the power-ups from the temple?
Given enough time, even our curses will yeald to our power..
random musing: just how many cursebearers DON'T take Indenture? And how many of those regret taking it? Also, for the nth time, I'm wondering just what are the Accursed's quests...
that bad? They don't KNOW the ring gave that power to US after all.
Again I notice how Gisena was very careful about her wording. Is it tiring for her, always having to be careful about what she says to us? Or is it barely a bother for her supernatural intellect?
Still, it must hurt a bit, never being able of completely relaxing around us..
ehi, do you remember when a single knight near the entrance actually killed us? It feels like so long ago...
eh, worth a shot. No surprise we know though, or he hides it well.
Or he simply considers it unimportant
from his point of view he's actually right. As long as you don't consider a Ring to be a person, what they're doing is actually not bad. Their society might not be perfect, but there's much worse here on Earth.
I can't blame him, We're asking him to trust us with millions of lives, INCLUDING his family.
What if we're lying, after all?
Blade that can't be parried, blocked or deflected, Body that doesn't bleed no matter how hard you wound us, while even a scratch is enough to have our opponents bleed to death, combined with supernatural speed... and that's without considering the Edeldross, the cloak, and our rank.
We're a terrifying enemy.
Guile wasn't enough to talk him down, but we DID make him lower his guard. A fatal mistake to make against us.
the "Blitz" option. if we're quick enough they won't have the time to raise their defenses, and once we get the ring our power will surge even higher, and they'll probably not be able to stand against us.
And that's without considering how they might very well quickly lose access to their powers.
mh... I don't know. Any ally we could gather is likely to pale in comparison to the Immortals. I'm not sure it's worth the cost in initiative.
Probably better to strike hard and quick while they're still taken by surprise. Once we get the ring it's all over, and about any defense in our way... well, I'll steal a line From Zoro (One Piece)
all the old faithfulls.
The evening sky options are suboptimal, we don't need protection right now, we need more offensive powers.
Echo is a bit.. well, a bit not enough.
a dominion might help. it's a rank bonus we can probably use immediately, as what we're doing definitely count as passion and/or war.
Dominion blood could help and synergize with our current crimson flare, and ennobling would help a lot IF we went the rebellion route. It would also show our opponents that we're not lying about being able to empower them in an alternative way, which might have a few being willing to surrender and change side.
They'd both also be refunded after we take the ring, which is nice. and makes ennobling basically a "save arete" option.
Of the ones above, Ennobling or blood dominion is probably the best if we get allies, as it strenghten the buffs we can offer, while for direct attack it's probably a mix of vigor incarnate, fierce quickening and dominion blood.
Of course there's also the godstat. Always a good pick, if maybe a bit generic right now. Still, we're talking about a .325, which is NOT little. It's actually more than the dominions would give I think.
This is basically the equivalent of another form. We get sudden healing, and benefits from wounds we get (even if healed).
Probably the best pick for a direct attack IF we can spare the arete, though the cheaper options might be enough.
This gives us the highest + to stats, AND makes our ghost form relevant again. I'd say this is better most of the time, but that "What Rains May come" is better during that once a month really hard boss battle.
By the way another valid option would be to take Magic-defeating stance instead, + the arete-free options (or maybe even a 2 arete option if we get enough arete).
I'm mostly in favour of immediate attack, but if rebellion is taken then we should consider Ennobling if we think we'll get enough time to empower our allies, and augment dominion blood to make the blood buffs stronger as well.
1020 words.
Lealope
Not yet invincible
- Pronouns
- She/Her
There's something adorable about Ulyssian turning the full measure of his tryhard powers to becoming Santa, mastering the lessons of Christmas with all the effort and attention he puts into everything else in his life.
ImperatorV
The Laughing One
- Location
- The Voyaging Realm
You know...
This version of Uly is trying to assemble the Lathe of Heaven, which is also a name for the power of progression. So this may, in fact, be the proto-Accursed here.
Which would make the Accursed literally Santa by certain definitions.
This version of Uly is trying to assemble the Lathe of Heaven, which is also a name for the power of progression. So this may, in fact, be the proto-Accursed here.
Which would make the Accursed literally Santa by certain definitions.
Rihaku
The Internet
Let's hope the actual gifts he gives aren't too inappropriate...
- Location
- a place
Listen, lil Anna is going to take that Wave Motion Essence Cannon and like it!
Lealope
Not yet invincible
- Pronouns
- She/Her
No wonder he keeps getting confused for Satan...
If the children of Earth do not receive Artifact weaponry and instruction manuals on compatible Terrestrial Martial Arts, I'm going to be very sad. Christmas is supposed to be fun!
