Rihaku
The Internet
His true Rank's still above yours, so it wouldn't have worked! That said, there are ways to repair him without access to Letrizia's civilization, among the 25 Arete options. Ruling Ring can do just about anything, for one.
A Simple Transaction I
- Thread starter Rihaku
- Start date
- Original
His true Rank's still above yours, so it wouldn't have worked! That said, there are ways to repair him without access to Letrizia's civilization, among the 25 Arete options. Ruling Ring can do just about anything, for one.
I guess without incentives to invest one's Essence so heavily in an obvious weak point, nobody would do it! And then where would the Isildurs of the world be? Still, good to know.
The other contestants... or the fish?
OctarineShrike
Avatar of Mandos
Tally incoming:
[X] Temple of the False Moon
[X] +0.5 Arete
The time cost for Civ just seems likely to be too high at the moment. Seeing as we're not high enough to just roll over any we're likely to come across that have something useful.
[X] +0.5 Arete
The time cost for Civ just seems likely to be too high at the moment. Seeing as we're not high enough to just roll over any we're likely to come across that have something useful.
[X] Make For Civilization
[X] +0.5 Arete
It's not that I'm uninterested in the dungeon, I just don't want Hunger to die. Vote yellow, cowardice is a survival trait!
[X] +0.5 Arete
It's not that I'm uninterested in the dungeon, I just don't want Hunger to die. Vote yellow, cowardice is a survival trait!
Projectile
Thinking of Rabbits
- Location
- USA
[X] Make For Civilization
[X] +1 pick during next Experience spend
Well, if we can't hang out in the woods and be grumpy, I guess we should at least not die.
We gotta be as dramatically srsbsns about everything we do as possible. Raise the stakes on every minor task. Haggle the shit out of our purchases. Make treasure maps before you go anywhere, just don't go to the Temple. Do three backflips while rescuing a cat from a tree. Heck, channel Seto Kaiba. Threaten to kill yourself over a children's card game! Maybe not that one.
[X] +1 pick during next Experience spend
Well, if we can't hang out in the woods and be grumpy, I guess we should at least not die.
We gotta be as dramatically srsbsns about everything we do as possible. Raise the stakes on every minor task. Haggle the shit out of our purchases. Make treasure maps before you go anywhere, just don't go to the Temple. Do three backflips while rescuing a cat from a tree. Heck, channel Seto Kaiba. Threaten to kill yourself over a children's card game! Maybe not that one.
Lealope
Not yet invincible
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Especially that one!
And then we come back as a ghost to haunt them until they live a life of gibbering terror, ruing the day they ever thought they could challenge us at a children's card game.
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[X] Temple of the False Moon
[X] +1 pick during next Experience spend
Hunger is finally in top physical condition, I'd rather not lose the opportunity for some great gains next to us by starting a search for civilization. Hunt would have been fine too, but since it's gone...
[X] +1 pick during next Experience spend
Hunger is finally in top physical condition, I'd rather not lose the opportunity for some great gains next to us by starting a search for civilization. Hunt would have been fine too, but since it's gone...
OctarineShrike
Avatar of Mandos
While I'm unlikely to finish all my attempts at writing my own Mercenary Blurbs for a Civilization route in time, I've gotten one down so far for whatever that's worth fanworkwise.
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[] The Eternal Marshal - Preserved by alchemical techiques and the energies of the Astral Plane, General Zeratus would like to begin work on restoring their former empire posthaste after being cast into the future, and has resorted to mercenary work as a means of acquiring the necessary capital. The sharpness of his blade almost rivals your own.
Unique Feature - Solar Alchemy - A utility based magic system with strong matter transmutation and conceptual manipulation abilities
*High Fees/share requirements necessitate risky ventures to pay his bill
*Upgrades all mundane equipment acquired
*Formidable Sword Skills, even by your standards
*Capable of Augmenting you and your companions physical capabilities
*Reminds you uncomfortably of the Tyrant
*High Risk of Doom of the Tyrant induced personality clash, long term association is ill advised
-------------------------------------------------------
[] The Eternal Marshal - Preserved by alchemical techiques and the energies of the Astral Plane, General Zeratus would like to begin work on restoring their former empire posthaste after being cast into the future, and has resorted to mercenary work as a means of acquiring the necessary capital. The sharpness of his blade almost rivals your own.
Unique Feature - Solar Alchemy - A utility based magic system with strong matter transmutation and conceptual manipulation abilities
*High Fees/share requirements necessitate risky ventures to pay his bill
*Upgrades all mundane equipment acquired
*Formidable Sword Skills, even by your standards
*Capable of Augmenting you and your companions physical capabilities
*Reminds you uncomfortably of the Tyrant
*High Risk of Doom of the Tyrant induced personality clash, long term association is ill advised
I can't imagine a hero, someone inundated in the convergence of fate to give him an edge, passing up such an opportunity. A treasure stored within a fish of legends. Something he dredged up from the depths through his reality-bending existence. The prize that he sacrificed so much for... do I think for a minute he's going to let it dissipate before his eyes? That he would scurry away with his tail between his legs as his gift from fate falls apart?
Even if our boy is in over his head, that's just how it's always been.
[X] Temple of the False Moon
[X] +1 pick during next Experience spend
Even if our boy is in over his head, that's just how it's always been.
[X] Temple of the False Moon
[X] +1 pick during next Experience spend
Another reason I prefer Temple is because I think we're going to be forced to spend a lot of Arete in Civilization due to needing to compensate for its slower spin-up or else risk falling dangerously behind. But in the scenario we're spending anyway I'd rather just do so to bring the Temple's odds down to reasonable and get the better intrinsic rewards.
Hm, we've had a reasonable number of fanworks, but while Hunt and Civilization are influenced by those it looks like the Temple's not so forgiving. That's one reason I'm against it, an obstacle that can't be blown away by an omakestorm is the thread's worst enemy. It'd also be good to try to secure materials to repair Verschlengorge and get a sense for how the Doom of the Tyrant influences us, so we don't go all 'nemo me impune lacessit' on reaching the spaceport. Plus, we get to interact with people who aren't Gisena!
To the Templars among us, what's Letrizia supposed to do while we're delving? Neither she nor Versch can enter and we can't afford to leave Gisena outside to watch over them. It's an awkward situation with a window of vulnerability for her.
To the Templars among us, what's Letrizia supposed to do while we're delving? Neither she nor Versch can enter and we can't afford to leave Gisena outside to watch over them. It's an awkward situation with a window of vulnerability for her.
- Location
- Rivendell
I'm not sure diluting our time for Gisena's snark with other characters is a plus! 
In other news, vote Moon Temple! Don't you want to see Gisena sneakily comment on the gauche design of the death traps in the temple we're raiding? I know I do!
In other news, vote Moon Temple! Don't you want to see Gisena sneakily comment on the gauche design of the death traps in the temple we're raiding? I know I do!
Fanwork#1426 Words
Reaction: "Wolf Moon"
Interestingly, we've seen the moon and stars in the sky during the episode when we mantled the Evening Sky. In a Realm whose space is twisted together like a pretzel. Not impossible, the Foremost were funky guys that liked to go crazy with their toys...
Things are getting spooky, aren't they?
The Apocryphal Curse is pretty impressive if it managed to string together all of that. Though more likely it took advantage of the opportunities it was presented with.
But of course this is just another obstacle on his road. Hell, compared to what he's used to, this should be peanuts. At least now when he wins the fights, he immediately and obviously improves in strength, rather than having to scrape together pieces of power while desperately hiding from an unmatched enemy. As long as he survives, he's certain to exceed any particular enemy (barring other Progressives as always).
If only we didn't have to performsuicidal Heroic feats for that to happen...
I feel like they've gotten closer after this debacle. Gisena should be able to appreciate the camaraderie Hunger has shown.
Then again, Unshattered had quite an impressive blurb, yet it still lost the fight quite miserably. This will require further research!
[X] +1 pick during next Experience spend
Is it truly a sudden betrayal if this is where I started in the first place? Alas, it looks like I couldn't resist following the breadcrumb trail. At least I can safely change the vote in knowledge that balance has been restored once more!
Reaction: "Wolf Moon"
You know, we got a Wolf Moon option last time, the one to make Ber Decimator's target. It could simply refer to how we chose to hunt a wolf for healing, however... the initial build we chose was called Luna Conqueror, for reasons that I can't quite grasp. Maybe it was just a cool name, but... the Evening Sky offers quite a few moon-related options too, often in conjunction with magics. Might be just its sky and night themes, yet... we got Evening Sky from that one pirate, and the fight with him is why we fished and found a map... that leads us straight to the Temple of the False Moon. Which couldn't have been a more obvious trap if it had the good Admiral screaming in our ears.
Interestingly, we've seen the moon and stars in the sky during the episode when we mantled the Evening Sky. In a Realm whose space is twisted together like a pretzel. Not impossible, the Foremost were funky guys that liked to go crazy with their toys...
Things are getting spooky, aren't they?
The Apocryphal Curse is pretty impressive if it managed to string together all of that. Though more likely it took advantage of the opportunities it was presented with.
Always looking for silver lining in everything, eh? Kind of amazed he can maintain a grip at all, but that's a Hero for you. Our companions are wounded, our enemy has fled with promises to return stronger than ever, the Hero himself should be teetering on the edge of collapse.
But of course this is just another obstacle on his road. Hell, compared to what he's used to, this should be peanuts. At least now when he wins the fights, he immediately and obviously improves in strength, rather than having to scrape together pieces of power while desperately hiding from an unmatched enemy. As long as he survives, he's certain to exceed any particular enemy (barring other Progressives as always).
Didn't really consciously think about it from the perspective of what enemies we draw the power from, tbh, too distracted by the cool blurbs to consider that aspect in detail. An interesting form our Progression has taken, much more tightly wound with our magic than what we saw with Seram. Things might change once we get access to more magic systems though.
Or thievery! Seriously, it's too bad we haven't had much of a chance to explore that particular aspect of our character - except for stealing Sky, but that's looting. The Artifacts are undoubtedly cool and shiny, but sometimes it's nice to have something of our own, you know?
This is part of why Hunger is one of the most likable protagonists so far for me. It's not that Hunger isn't selfish, and it also isn't the case that other MCs haven't acted altruistically, especially in the heat of the moment, but he's so very genuine. His companion is wounded, so of course he's going to go out and get some healing powers to help her, never mind that his own horrific injuries are making this venture quite dangerous.
Good thing we didn't promise not to lose any more body parts, that would have been quite awkward. Hoping he won't push himself to the limit is quite pointless, isn't it? Our boy is too extreme sometimes.
As long as she doesn't try anything funny while we're asleep, it's all good!
I don't think taking Treachery instead of Scent was such a bad trade-off. While Rank can't completely substitute for the ability and is probably more exhausting, it also isn't as limited - we aren't forced to hunt the target to the very end. Plus we'll only get better at nudging probabilities as our Rank increases!
If only we didn't have to perform
So we found an alligator-ghost-wolf thing. Not sure I want to know what its ancestors thought when they met each other or how it happened, let's chalk it up to magic.
We take your physical immunity and raise the power of Ruin. It never fails to impress, much like all the other powers of the Forebear. His powers might not be all too fancy, but at the end of the day, they can be relied upon to fuck up your opponent's day.
I'd expected worse from the fight given that roll, but I suppose our advantages were too great for any other outcome. That last line interests me though. 'As whole in body as they were in spirit'? What if the target is mad or has a different image of their body than what it is? Can we use this power to twist them into another form? Wouldn't think so given the Pristine name, but with its ghostly origins, you never know.
That's right, the first step on the road to immortality is not dying when one is killed! We might even get a bonus as a Hero of Justice, just need to prod our Ring into confirming our Just status.
Not only does it offer healing for the low, low cost of stabbing ourselves each time, - which certainly isn't going to exacerbate our psychological issues, - it also lets us enter another Phase just when the heroes thought they had us beat and offers opportunities for further Stages? What's not to like? Some unenlightened people might criticize the shadowy aesthetic, but to those people we'll just tell we're Batman.
We should have expected that after all those jokes about killing ourselves for power. Let's hope it doesn't become a habit?
We'll have to learn some new tricks to take advantage of this. While I don't know how well we can phase through magical materials, at least phasing through mundane ground and attacking through walls should be possible. With this we can attack our enemies both from above and from below! Our reach would be much harder to judge with this, which can be quite a deadly mistake thanks to the Blade.
Walking on water - check. Just need to learn how to share some of our Curses and power, and a role as Cursed!Jesus is in the bag.
I just knew she was going to tease us about this mercilessly. What next? Will she ask to join us on our Wild Hunt? Or want us to act as an air-conditioner during summer? Please leave us some semblance of dignity, Gisena.
I didn't even notice her pushing the guilt button, but then I miss these things sometimes. And we chose the option with the fastest route!
D'aww. He can be such a softy. He does know he'll come back to humanity though, which takes a bit away from the heroic sacrifice.
Which our enemies will certainly exploit, because Apocrypha is a bitch. How many times am I going to regret not going for Null Resistance in the course of this quest?
No need to bury us before our time.
I feel like they've gotten closer after this debacle. Gisena should be able to appreciate the camaraderie Hunger has shown.
We'll turn the flowers into a superpower just to spite you, Gisena.
I think this simply codifies our inclinations. The general hit to effectiveness hurts though.
Hmm, that's too bad. Some of us had been hoping there would be some traces left, but I guess that would be too easy. No matter, he'll come back yet, we can discuss things like a proper Hero then.
The option that actually does something useful with all that charisma and intelligence. Why make yourself a social and mental juggernaut if all you do with your competence is hit things? Will probably have some plot hooks, but not much in the way of deadly danger.
Also known as the Option That Lost. Given it had the shortest blurb, is that too surprising?
Then again, Unshattered had quite an impressive blurb, yet it still lost the fight quite miserably. This will require further research!
False moon, false magic... combined with that one opportunity to take a Null-resistant option, I'd say Gisena was going to be the main character during this venture, but if her Graces get shut down completely, she's not that much different from a normal woman. Letty, it's your time to shine!
[X] Temple of the False Moon
[X] +1 pick during next Experience spend
Is it truly a sudden betrayal if this is where I started in the first place? Alas, it looks like I couldn't resist following the breadcrumb trail. At least I can safely change the vote in knowledge that balance has been restored once more!
- Location
- The Surface Of A Hostile Planet
Gisena leaned forward, her eyes glowing emerald, examining the placid lake, which remained obstinately free of any potential mountain entrances despite her best attempts at Nullifying any effects that could be hiding a dungeon complex. "I still don't see anything. Are you certain you read that map correctly?"
"If I didn't, it was surely due to being driven to distraction by your inanities." Hunger frowned, considering his next move. Either whatever was hidden here was beyond Gisena's skills to locate, or... no. He had sensed the charge in the air as they drew closer to this place, had felt the Apocryphal Curse tightening it's coils on him. It was here. They just had to find it.
As if cued by that very thought (as if the role of the Apocryphal Curse wasn't already clear enough), Letrizia's voice immediately crackled through the radio. "I-I've found, uh, something. I t-think."
The frown grew deeper. Letrizia had been acting awkward for the past few days, after she finally recovered and awoke to find herself snuggling with Hunger like he was some sort of plush animal. That sort of hesitation was a step further, though. What had happened? "Tell us the coordinates, we'll be right there."
Hunger's glare was palpable, as Gisena tittered. "We're leaving."
"Oh, but such a strong man is undoubtedly interested in the... techniques... he could learn from a place like this!"
In the background, Letrizia cupped her head in her hands, her face red with embarrassment.
His grip on his sword grew stronger, as he averted his eyes from the lewd carvings. "I'm not heading into the temple of a fertility goddess!"
"Oh, a 'temple', is that what they called it in your world?"
In the end, the need for power was too great, and Hunger did in fact venture into the temple, despite the great price he had to pay.
AN: Omake power towards temple, thanks!
"If I didn't, it was surely due to being driven to distraction by your inanities." Hunger frowned, considering his next move. Either whatever was hidden here was beyond Gisena's skills to locate, or... no. He had sensed the charge in the air as they drew closer to this place, had felt the Apocryphal Curse tightening it's coils on him. It was here. They just had to find it.
As if cued by that very thought (as if the role of the Apocryphal Curse wasn't already clear enough), Letrizia's voice immediately crackled through the radio. "I-I've found, uh, something. I t-think."
The frown grew deeper. Letrizia had been acting awkward for the past few days, after she finally recovered and awoke to find herself snuggling with Hunger like he was some sort of plush animal. That sort of hesitation was a step further, though. What had happened? "Tell us the coordinates, we'll be right there."
Hunger's glare was palpable, as Gisena tittered. "We're leaving."
"Oh, but such a strong man is undoubtedly interested in the... techniques... he could learn from a place like this!"
In the background, Letrizia cupped her head in her hands, her face red with embarrassment.
His grip on his sword grew stronger, as he averted his eyes from the lewd carvings. "I'm not heading into the temple of a fertility goddess!"
"Oh, a 'temple', is that what they called it in your world?"
In the end, the need for power was too great, and Hunger did in fact venture into the temple, despite the great price he had to pay.
AN: Omake power towards temple, thanks!
I think we have to trust she can stand on her own for a few hours? a day? while we plumb the depths.
I have to imagine two things. There is a world where she went home alone without our help & I believe us going to the temple negates our apoc curse, which should keep her safe from any broken enemies.
She may get unlucky and have to fight, but I have to imagine it can't be worse than what she would have experienced if we had gone our seperate ways and she ventured off alone.
Verschle on his own also somewhat only draws level appropriate enemies I think? Basically the weaker he gets the less disruption to the Astral he causes, so less powerful beasts come after him.
OctarineShrike
Avatar of Mandos
Tally incoming:
Genesys
(Discrete Mokona)
- Location
- California
Hunting eliminated? Well, I don't really want to hit the temple, so—
About face, to the temple we go. Fishing cost is no good compared to reward. (well either that or we'll eat Arete loss)
[X] Temple of the False Moon
[X] +1 pick during next Experience spend
oh no
About face, to the temple we go. Fishing cost is no good compared to reward. (well either that or we'll eat Arete loss)
[X] Temple of the False Moon
[X] +1 pick during next Experience spend
Projectile
Thinking of Rabbits
- Location
- USA
Hm. If we go to civ, we should put our sword away before somebody tells us to, because then we won't do it because you're not my real dad. Maybe Gisena can not-tell us to not-do similar things, give Hunger a bunch of good ideas that he can think of himself, before Hunger meets whatever norms these guys have?
Let's see... don't touch the money, avoid anyone that smells official, all this is obvious. Most of these are handled with the "let Gisena do the talking," really.
Press the Accretion button to be gently guided away from people that fail to recognize the obvious supremacy of Hunger?
Rule, custom, law, or authority. I do note that these are not recognized as "above your own," so that explains the fishmeat trade. It's equal. So then- Ah fuck, taxes. Definitely still don't touch the money. Paperwork? Ew.
Wait, so the Doom>Accursed Instruction>Brand? Eh, easy enough to just make an exception for the Doom, would be silly to just "no u" it out of existence.
Anyway, don't, uh, drive if you think that traffic laws are a scam. Bad idea. Hope toilets are not a scam? As long as he doesn't have to pay for them, I think it should be fine?
I'd say we need a pamphlet to explain our disability, but it's not wise to advertise your anti-governmentness too loudly. Especially if you do need to conquer it. Thank you, Gisena. I've seen lots of uncooperative blowhards IRL get talked around by their friends, so it shouldn't come off as odd for guard A to see it.
If they're aggressive about ID, I don't think we can outthink the curse. Just gotta avoid that one. Unless we can scribble "official X of Hungertopia" on everything and let them roll their eyes, but that's too easy.
Don't get in an argument with someone likely to go "you can't do shit to me and mah authorty," Hunger totally will.
Humor is good, keep up with the "I never said I was going to be reasonable," and let them think we're not being serious. Not that he wasn't going to anyway.
Be nice to find a way to delete inconvenient memories, so as to better coincidentally independently be doing the same thing as other people. Acausal trendsetting, just shows how powerful and majestic Hunger is!
There are so many potential problems, but I can't think of many better solutions than avoidance and relying on Gisena. Maybe I should write an omake about Hunger being an absolute prick? Yeah, that sounds like a better use of my time than googling random goverment textbooks.
Let's see... don't touch the money, avoid anyone that smells official, all this is obvious. Most of these are handled with the "let Gisena do the talking," really.
Press the Accretion button to be gently guided away from people that fail to recognize the obvious supremacy of Hunger?
Rule, custom, law, or authority. I do note that these are not recognized as "above your own," so that explains the fishmeat trade. It's equal. So then- Ah fuck, taxes. Definitely still don't touch the money. Paperwork? Ew.
Wait, so the Doom>Accursed Instruction>Brand? Eh, easy enough to just make an exception for the Doom, would be silly to just "no u" it out of existence.
Anyway, don't, uh, drive if you think that traffic laws are a scam. Bad idea. Hope toilets are not a scam? As long as he doesn't have to pay for them, I think it should be fine?
I'd say we need a pamphlet to explain our disability, but it's not wise to advertise your anti-governmentness too loudly. Especially if you do need to conquer it. Thank you, Gisena. I've seen lots of uncooperative blowhards IRL get talked around by their friends, so it shouldn't come off as odd for guard A to see it.
If they're aggressive about ID, I don't think we can outthink the curse. Just gotta avoid that one. Unless we can scribble "official X of Hungertopia" on everything and let them roll their eyes, but that's too easy.
Don't get in an argument with someone likely to go "you can't do shit to me and mah authorty," Hunger totally will.
Humor is good, keep up with the "I never said I was going to be reasonable," and let them think we're not being serious. Not that he wasn't going to anyway.
Be nice to find a way to delete inconvenient memories, so as to better coincidentally independently be doing the same thing as other people. Acausal trendsetting, just shows how powerful and majestic Hunger is!
There are so many potential problems, but I can't think of many better solutions than avoidance and relying on Gisena. Maybe I should write an omake about Hunger being an absolute prick? Yeah, that sounds like a better use of my time than googling random goverment textbooks.
OctarineShrike
Avatar of Mandos
You're too late, vote's closed. If it's any consolation for you if Civilization wins, the Omakes people turned out should kick the rewards up a couple notches.
Actually, our Charisma would have completely won that 'fight', so we were a superior in that situation. Hence 'Offering'.
We're probably too weak for this stop, and the three main Civs are too powerful, but for future Voyaging Realm civ's we might want to set up a play to prep the ground/set expectations. Things like luring in some Huge Monster to view of the city in a flashy running battle then kill it in an over the top manner. Make sure everyone is in the right mindset when we deal with them.
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