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A Simple Transaction I

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Zampano said:
Is there an option where we can give Aobaru the first swing at Dien? If he wants to be relevant, then wouldn't victory over Dien be a good way to do that?

Just make Aobaru our special little guy in charge of Apocryphal procs :V
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Not a bad idea, but first we have to deter him from wanting to kick our ass as well. Maybe justify it as a form of training? "Hey, you know how I become exponentially stronger after I fight and defeat someone? You have that, too. So do it. Do it, kid. Beat this thing."
 
but... Aobaru Doesn't have that too. he has progression-as-in-the-ability-to-get-stronger-at-a-relevant-rate, not Progression-as-in-getting-EXP-from-dead-enemies.
 
Hmm. We've focused a lot of our tactics and negotiation on Aobaru but that's only half the picture; we should consider what we can offer the Shogun as well. They want dominion over reality, sure, but the Human Sphere is not the full measure of reality. While Hunger himself is restricted purely to this specific version of the Human Sphere due to the Indenture, the Shogun is relatively free to roam.

We already know the Foremost were probably a multiversal power so promising our aid in conquering other universes would likely be a useful card for us to play, especially considering how such places are beyond Hunger's true power. With time, they would actually rule a polity much larger than our own! We could work as two allied powers until Hunger departs, at which point they have control over all of our combined territories.

Other than that, offering to help find and reintegrate any other Shards of the Shogun in said alternate realities might be helpful too. Between Union and Essence, I'm sure there's something we could do to initiate or aid them in the process of reclaiming some measure of their former glories.

And speaking of their former glories, surely they must want to discover just what the hell happened to them. Not all the Foremost can have such singular focus and drive as Dien. If nothing else, it would be helpful for the Shogun to know so they could anticipate such a threat in the future. For something to annihilate the full Foremost Host at their pinnacle, it must've been a truly overwhelming opponent. Having the aid of a Cursebearer in understanding and preparing contingencies for their return would be pretty valuable.
 
Would mentioning being the Forebear and how we've been diminished before and it doesn't seem to be sticking be relevant?
 
Aobaru's diminishment doesn't have to stick on its own; even if (when) we start growing in power again, he can diminish us again.
 
JOEbob said:
Aobaru's diminishment doesn't have to stick on its own; even if (when) we start growing in power again, he can diminish us again.
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Progression seems at least somewhat adaptive, given in works in all ontologies. How long would it take use to become specifically resistant to his form of diminishment? This isn't like Shattering Blow where we use our Essence as an extra MP bar, this is an outside imposition like a Curse. Gisena could probably figure out a counter relatively swiftly with her advantages in mental Attributes, unless he plans to diminish her too.
 
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I mean, it's worth asking him what his plan is if we grow past him again. I don't think Aobaru's so far gone that he has the conscious intent of killing us, not yet. The Shogun would need more time and better circumstances to talk him around to that. Asking might drive a wedge between them for a bit.

Of course, let's say he is on board with killing Hunger. Is he also on board with killing Gisena? Because she has both the potential and the inclination to resurrect us with time and would probably try to avenge us besides. How would Adorie or Letrizia react to either of those things? How about Aeira? All of them had their polities saved by Hunger's actions and have personally benefited from his presence in their lives, witnessed his genuine heroism.

Or what of the Human Sphere? Will they welcome Aobaru as a liberator, saving them from the dread Tyrant Hunger who... saved them all from unceasing torture by Dien and conducted himself with honour and mercy in battle even before that? Who was slain through betrayal when he was in the middle of putting an end to the greatest monster humanity had ever seen? When the story gets out, and it will get out, what's the plan there, exactly?

Yeah, Aobaru could work around all of these. Use the conceptual Vigorflame to simply burn out any trace of resistance to his plans across the whole of the cosmos. But at that point, what spirit would be left to reality? At least the Rule of Evening is comfortable and finite.
 
Force Sign
[ ] Elvegekere's Forceful Binds (Sigil) - A spell whose nature is as simple as its function: to bind. Although traditionally used by the secret police of the Magus Conclave and some of the old realm marshalls to ensure their prisoners didn't attempt escape prior to arrest or transit, it saw frequent use in duels and non-lethal target apprehension during the Diagram's many conquests.

Classically, the Forceful Binds spell will bind a target's arms to his body, his ankles together, or his wrists to each other, as if glued with a strong magnetic force. The process of casting is almost childishly simple, requiring no incantation; merely a swift, tapping motion of a finger or sweep of the wrist, although some magi of particularly high talent can learn even how to cast it wordlessly, with a mere thought relinquishing the binding forces of the universe to their spirit.

A more creative magus, however, might find other uses for it. So long as it binds one or two objects to another object, this spell works unerringly: bind the target's feet to the soil beneath or bind his lips together to prevent him from speaking clearly. Make a combatant stumble into another and swiftly combine them into a pseudo-conjoined twin, forced to cooperate or suffer iniquity or failure. The applications are as endless as the ever-unfolding creative kaleidoscope of the magus' thoughts.

[ ] Doomsphere (Sigil) - When mere force is considered insufficient, reach for the higher shelf of destructive powers: ones that manipulate forces much deeper and more intrinsic to the material universe. The Doomsphere is one such technique, and notably potent and terrifying at what it does.

Upon casting, the caster charges up and then looses a green round shell from their fingertip. Its size varies depending on how long it was charged, but a base shell is roughly the size of a pinched paper ball, while one at its maximum is as large as a bowling ball. The Doomsphere crosses the distance at a velocity only slightly faster than sound and then promptly detonates, tripling in its size in a flash and consuming everything within the radius of its power. There is no matter left behind afterward, everything that had been caught cleanly severed from reality: the result of firing upon the ground would be a perfectly round and smooth crater in the shape of a ball's cut-off half.

Effective even against Cultivators of the medium Reality Forming Stage, albeit at that level, most of them can simply dodge this spell with their incomprehensible swiftness, rather than being forced to tank it.

[ ] Nameless' Floating Lightsabers (Battle) - A spell made by the Nameless Yong in celebration of his old world's pop culture, the aptly-named Battle Diagram of Floating Lightsabers creates thin sticks of blindingly bright and hot, ionized plasma which move in accordance with the caster's will. By default, these sticks are only plasma, but a true archmastery of this particular spell allows the user to manifest a hilt alongside with them, for seemingly no other purpose than cosmetic appeal.

The lightsabers move at the speed of thought in order to automatically defend the caster, but their containment begins to gradually weaken and release its contents when moved outside a zone of general awareness, usually being a thirty-five-meter radius from the caster on average. When that happens, the plasma within explodes and pours out everywhere, causing fires and disasters.

A skilled caster ought to be capable of making even five lightsabers per casting. A true archmaster would be able to handle up to a dozen at once.

-[ ] Go Even Further Beyond [10 Beyond Points] - At the insistence of the Nameless One, this spell was taken past its measured, strictly defined, and elegant bounds... sigh. (He can't keep getting away with this.)

In addition to becoming proficient in wielding lightsabers, and summoning them with a hilt, the magus can now also control - at will, not as a Diagram: this capacity is unlocked upon a singular casting of the EFB version of this Diagram - an abstract force called, er, the Force, which is capable of accomplishing many effects, including rough energy-matter manipulation, mind-reading, fate sensing, and other associated effects. Notably, there exists a 'Dark Side' of the Force, which offers powers that are 'unnatural.' Unfortunately, the creator of this Diagram did not care to go into further detail (being the lazy bastard that he is.)

It's clear some bastard's starting to get bored with his godhood. I'm about to get Suizhen and remind him about a thing or two - I'm done being a nanny to his brats.

[ ] Avolen's Unconquerable Shield (Grand) - This Grand Diagram creates a ritual circle that procedurally refines universal and magical forces into a massive dome shield (city sized+) which is sufficient to protect against strikes from Cultivators on the peak of the Reality Forming Stage, and ward off a sustained assault from a single Grand Solipsist. The bubble shield resists esoterica of all kinds and abjures against teleportation or non-standard interdiction, which includes attempts at bypassing it via interplanar travel. The inside and outside world are well and truly separated from each other, making the interior nigh-unassailable.

Alas, such power comes at a steep price. The Unconquerable Shield, in order to fuel its mighty effects, requires an equally mighty generator of power. The magus' spirit will prove insufficient to power such a Diagram for longer than a couple of minutes at the most. Alternative fuel sources might include spells from the Sign of Blood, human sacrifices, or magical artifacts - either Artifice of Elven origin, or naturally-occurring thaumaturgical minerals and noble jewels charged with spiritual energies. If the caster is confident in their ability to do so, a captured, bound and sedated Cultivator of the Dao Cleaving Stage will more than suffice to power the Unconquerable Shield indefinitely.

Any 'battery' that exceeds the Shield's in power will also boost its defensive output by a commensurate amount; a Reality Former to defend against a group of Grand Solipsists, and a Grand Solipsist to defend even against the sustained wrath of a focused and serious Titan.

Sadly, it's much easier to speak of such things than realistically accomplish them.

This spell is incredibly difficult and time-consuming to learn, and doubly so for the actual process of casting and hooking up appropriate batteries. Even a caster who considers himself a virtual arch-magus of Force, who studied the secret depths of the Diagram and brushed his fingertips against the ever-ineffable Logos might find this spell demanding for his intellect.
Knowledge Sign
[ ] Traveler's Aide (Sigil) - A simple cantrip for a countryside peasant. After setting out his possessions and available containers, this spell will correctly assess the most efficient stacking and organization schema in order to ensure the caster is able to lug his possessions for the best efficiency of space and comfort. Despite its simplicity, this is in fact one of the oldest spells of the Diagram, with no accredited inventor.

[ ] Trimurv's Internalization (Sigil) - A failed attempt at creating a spell that could expedite the process of learning new Diagrams, nonetheless, this spell found its uses in other sectors of the world.

Upon being cast, every single aspect of the caster's sensorium and present qualia is almost painfully seared into his memory. He gains near-eidetic recollection of the event, which starts to wilt and fade away after several days. Until it does, however, the caster is able to fully re-tell and reproduce whatever he sensed at the time of the casting with a shocking level of realism and depth, like a computer programmed to do so.

With nothing but crayons and parchments, he might be able to draw an accurate and colorful true-to-life replica of a mountain valley, accounting for every tree and stone. Provided further with birds he might control mentally, he can reproduce their song on a three-second loop, and so on, and so on.

[ ] Probe the Mind (Battle) - A common interrogation and questioning technique used by the secret police of the magi during the height of the Diagram's ascent, used to dig out secrets from the dirty minds of traitors and infidels. The caster plunges into the mind of a victim his eyes are locked with, revealing their surface emotions and allowing the caster to engage in a battle of wills in order to dig even deeper. The battle is fatiguing and torturous for the subject, but no more than a mental prickling for the caster, whom this spell instinctively protects with a mental defense shell.

Every minor step towards winning the battle of wills tires and makes the subject more pliant and obedient to the caster's orders - never the other way around. The caster also discovers progressively more facts about his victim, learning their emotions, parts of their backgrounds, fragmented bits of memories that can be assembled into a coherent whole and understanding of the subject given repeated fights. If the process is performed ideally over the length of days or weeks, the subject's willpower is going to wane and eventually, he will become nothing more than a simple and obedient doll in the caster's hands.

It takes some amount of social and psychological deprogramming to return them from this state, but it can be accomplished, especially if the victim's friends, loved ones, or even simple associates are willing to interact with them for the duration and help actively remind them who they are.

[ ] The Seeker's Protocol (Battle) - The spell targets a general but wide area, larger than a city but smaller than a countryside or region, and searches for the location of a target within.

The caster must provide details in order for the spell to work - a large amount of details is necessary, otherwise the spell either refuses to work or provides dozens of peripheral options. For example, "a criminal," will almost never produce anything, since depending on one's outlook, a lot of people can or can't be criminals. It must be further specified if the caster wants to locate his target accurately, such as, for example, "A criminal named Jace Fang, brown hair and average height, age twenty-eight, an ex-merchant disgruntled with the rising prices of grain who vandalized a richer trader's stall. Has a family consisting of a blonde wife of similar age and two children."

[ ] Locator's Mark (Battle) - This spell consists of two parts: the first allows the caster to bookmark any location they are at, and the latter creates a holographic arrow that consistently leads them towards any selected bookmark. With this spell, being lost anywhere is almost impossible. It can be used for travel across only partially familiar countrysides or to never lose one's way in a cave or dungeon, or even for something as simple as traversing through a thick, occluded jungle on the path to one's homee

The particular usefulness of this spell comes from the fact that, with the proper geographical data, bookmarks saved by other casters of this spell can be internalized by a caster who's never been personally to the location in question.
Space Sign
[ ] Nameless' Resolution of Boredom (Battle) - A spell which the average practitioner of the Diagram might only fairly call, "misnamed."

What appears to be a fairly innocuous Battle Diagram of Space is, in fact, a ritual that opens an unstable Hellgate leading to another reality's dimension of eternal torment where the wicked souls go, and where demons reside. A vista of eternal lava and punishment, hills of sulfur and nether-rock, and floating demons who swoop down to fight the caster and force him to join the legions of the damned. The aforementioned 'resolution of boredom' comes from, according to the creator of this spell, "fighting" the entities who reside in there.

Footnote: Even the weakest of the entities who reside in there possess raw combat power to match a Cultivator of the Reality Forming Stage. Opening a Hellgate also draws them in and invites them to this side. This spell doesn't contain a function that closes Hellgates.

Aurelia: "What's going on? Why are there flying red people everywhere?"
Baenlixnaire: "I-I can't believe this. Th-The Diagram reduced to this?"
Nameless: [maddened laughter]
Suizhen: "KICK THEIR ASSES, SIR!"
Baenlixnaire: "WHY ARE YOU SUPPORTING THIS? YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE RESPONSIBLE, EVEN BY A CULTIVATOR'S STANDARDS-"
Tyranshal: "TWIST HIS DIIICK!"
Baenlixnaire: "Oh my Fates."
Tyranshal: "THE OLD DICK TWIST!"
Seeming Sign
[ ] Prolessarch's Prodigious Pretense (Sigil) - A ring of blueberry color swoops over the caster's body and by the time it drops to his feet, he is clad in a disguise that can easily fool anyone below Soul Chrysalis or equivalent perception and is resilient against detection or warding spells of other systems. It can be used to switch disguises on the fly, but this causes a visible blueberry mist to emanate from the caster's eyes for the duration of several seconds afterward, requiring separate concealment.

[ ] Haltuphrect's Hypnotic Orb (Sigil) - The caster builds up and then tosses a glowing silver-white ball of light into the air. Its particular distracting flaring and the rippling patterns on its surface, as well as its sweet ephemeral light draws in the attention of sapients in the area - expecting the caster, who is immune - and pacifies them safely, curbing any thoughts of violence and reducing any thoughts other than staring at the hypnotic orb.

[ ] Jester's Nonexistent Daggers (Sigil) - The caster fires a trio of blue energy daggers at the speed of sound, each one piercing flesh and inducing deep and debilitating injuries due to their seemingly toxic and irradiated nature... Alas, the daggers are illusory - so long as the subject fails to realize their true nature, the energy daggers seem real and deal real pain as well as realistically simulating the wounds caused by such a thing to all minds perceiving it.

If a target realizes none of the daggers exist, the spell's effectiveness drops to roughly ten percent.

[ ] Inflated Army Advance (Battle) - For every soldier in the caster's army or battle-group, this spell promptly creates two illusory soldiers who copy the appearance of one soldier in the group. The main purpose of this spell is to intimidate the enemy with a seemingly insurmountable army, or if he should choose to fight anyway, confuse him with nonexistent soldiers. The real soldiers within the caster's army are capable of perceiving the illusory soldiers, but also discern which fighters are real, and which ones are fake.

Illusory soldiers pop into a puff of dust on impact from an enemy's weapon or spell, but instinctively obey mental orders from soldiers next to them, allowing for extreme utilization of ambush tactics and trickery, especially if the troops had trained with the use of this spell before an actual battle.

[ ] Alvan's Mist of Confusion (Battle) - The caster summons a swathe of mist that rolls over the given location or battlefield and covers it swiftly, to the point where no person standing within can see further than five meters away at any given time. The caster's sense freely pierce the illusion, as if it didn't exist. The mist has the further ability to reduce the positioning of those within, confusing their spatial awareness and practically making them run in circles searching someone who might be able to help them... and for naught.

[ ] Dasserath's Deceitful Dissembling (Grand) - At will, the caster may overlay his own body with up to twenty illusory copies of himself. Whenever he takes an action, every illusory copy does its best to commit to a contradictory or different course of action; attacking in a different manner, defending instead of attacking, attacking instead of defending, crouching, jumping, laughing, speaking, etc. The utter confusion dealt to opponents forces them to act as if every potential version of the caster might be the real one, but it can be hard to tell which of ten fireballs is the real one, or if any of them is real and the caster is in fact preparing a far mightier spell.
Stone Sign
[ ] Arramor's Adaptive Armor (Battle) - The caster makes and refines a suit of articulated plate armor on their body, adapted to fighting one chosen opponent, with particular arcane defenses and material contents made specifically for countering the opponent's known powers, skills, and equipment.

For example, against a frequent user of lightning magic, the armor might focus and specialize in diverting electric currents, or absorbing them. Against someone with cutting implements, it might focus on raw unremitting bulk that won't be cut through as easily. Against a target whose touch always kills, the armor will be light and permit easy locomotion, with compartments that hide smoke bombs for giving the caster better maneuvering space.

[ ] Nimbus Drift (Battle) - The caster plucks and compresses a single cloud from the sky above, forming a carpet-shell below his feet. He may then sit upon the nimbus and ride it like a flying vehicle. The usual nimbus moves at a constant speed of 240km/h with appropriate atmospheric protections and friction resistance to ensure the caster does not simply fall off, but it can accelerate up to 660km/h for short bursts if necessary. Over-taxing the nimbus will cause it to dissipate and slow down over time, until it finally wears down and disappears. Hopefully, the caster is on the ground by that time.
Time Sign
[ ] Chronobolt (Sigil) - On casting, the magus forms anywhere from three to eight chronobolts - condensed balls of chronodynamic energy which, upon hitting a solid object, will age it up to a hundred years. A single chronobolt moves slowly and doesn't have any homing properties, but as the caster keeps producing chronobolts in successive casting, their quantity per casting, as well as their velocity increases, first at a linear, and then exponential rate. So does the taxation on the spirit this spell induces, however.

[ ] Stop the Clock (Sigil) - The caster touches an object or person, and the target pauses in time for a single minute. For that duration, the target is virtually indestructible to any attack that isn't atemporal or acausal in nature. As the effect terminates, time resumes for the object or person in question. Gravity and other forces, even magical ones, do not move or affect the target in any way for the duration.

[ ] Raihan's Quicksave (Grand) - A Grand Diagram of the Time Sign, and one kept secret by its original creator who desired its power all for himself and arrogantly believed he might create the perfect world with successive restarts.

The caster forms a 'save point' within the space-time continuum and can return to it at will. After casting this Diagram, the caster may reflexively recast his save point to the present moment, pushing it forward on the timeline. The save point erodes and stops working entirely if it's older than a full year, requiring the caster to once again perform this Grand Diagram. The caster retains any knowledge of the Diagram on his return, as well as any spells he internalized and other spiritual experiences, but his body doesn't, which might have strange side-effects with spells of the Flesh Sign, particularly the Grand Diagrams that mutate the caster's body.

-[ ] Go Even Further Beyond [10 Beyond Points] - Instead, the save point may be at no earlier point in the space-time continuum than the beginning of the current Age of the World.
Some more Diagrams.
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On further reflection, I don't want our tone to be one of condemnation - regardless of how deserved. Aobaru needs a reality check that doesn't reinforce 'Lord Hunger is mean to me'.
As such:
[X] @Lealope
 
Telling Aobaru that he is wrong doesn't do anything because he realizes that. What he needs is something that would knock him back into behaving normally, and by something i mean some kind of emotional impact. Dunno, like we fight and at some point Adorie and Gisena enter the fray and risk their life to save people and stuff.
 
Wolfy said:
Telling Aobaru that he is wrong doesn't do anything because he realizes that. What he needs is something that would knock him back into behaving normally, and by something i mean some kind of emotional impact. Dunno, like we fight and at some point Adorie and Gisena enter the fray and risk their life to save people and stuff.
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sadly they're too slow to even NOTICE this conflict.
 
Pittauro said:
sadly they're too slow to even NOTICE this conflict.
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It must look comical to the layman. Just Hunger and Aobaru talking to each other like squeaky chipmunks in a barely-intelligible facsimile of language. Or maybe they're taking pauses in utilizing super-speed while talking to each other.

I'll go with the former, because it's hilarious.
 
Birdsie said:
It must look comical to the layman. Just Hunger and Aobaru talking to each other like squeaky chipmunks in a barely-intelligible facsimile of language. Or maybe they're taking pauses in utilizing super-speed while talking to each other.

I'll go with the former, because it's hilarious.
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There's no air, remember? they're only even able to communicate because Wow High Rank Benefits. if there Were a layman, Rank would probably smooth it over for them, too.
 
Random thought:

Considering High rank allows flight and breathing in space(Rank 10+), and can dominate a solar system, and someone of at least 20th Ordinal can contest someone with rank 10, 20th Ordinal probably makes one relevant in a Solar System level conflict. 26th Ordinal of course, lets you fight a being in Azathoth's weight class as has already been mentioned.
 
OctarineShrike said:
Random thought:

Considering High rank allows flight and breathing in space(Rank 10+), and can dominate a solar system, and someone of at least 20th Ordinal can contest someone with rank 10, 20th Ordinal probably makes one relevant in a Solar System level conflict. 26th Ordinal of course, lets you fight a being in Azathoth's weight class as has already been mentioned.
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You can get interplanetary relevance way earlier than the twentieth ordinal, if you pick the right build. Range is one of Rank's weakest aspects, so I'd expect an ordinalist at step 20 could be relevant on a much larger scale than a single solar system.
 
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Blurb Library: Fault-Defeating Stance, Gilded Cage
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    • Have a Blurb Library update! The full version is on the Patreon, as usual!

    [ ] Fault-Defeating Stance / Meditation Of the Singular Pinnacle [0 picks, 28 Arete] - Aspect of he who surrendered, and was bound. Who more appropriate to contrive access to such power than the Imprisoner himself?

    An Advancement of the Imprisoner Soul Evocation, and Stance of the Forebear's Blade. Requires Archmage. By committing to advance only one of Archmage's numerous domains for one sidereal year, the character experiences a rapid and transcendental improvement in the purview of their chosen focus. Even without taking any actions at all, a character within the Fault-Defeating Stance advances within their focus at a rate one hundred times that of the same character training diligently for every waking moment. Additionally, the character eliminates both external penalties and self-inflicted errors relevant to their utilization of the focus domain. However, they may not advance in the Archmage's other domains for that year, and other skills or abilities beyond its remit are unaffected.

    For example, if Hunger were to activate the Fault-Defeating Stance selecting the domain of Space, he would advance his spatial manipulation at one hundred times its prior rate, including the effects of Progression, Ascendancy Halo, etc - even if he did not so much as lift a finger to perform actual training for the full duration of that year. He would still suffer the training malus imposed by the Ring Hunger, and additional training performed by him would only yield its ordinary results: if he employed the Fault-Defeating Stance and further trained Space all day without respite, he would advance at 101x rather than 100x his prior speed. Advancement from non-training sources is unaffected. He cannot make errors in employing the effects of the Space domain (re-roll natural 1s), and is impervious to penalties (poisons, magical or situational debuffs, etc) that would affect his use thereof.

    He would be barred from advancing in the other domains of Archmage, and the advancement rate of his remaining capabilities would be unaffected.

    Stance Mastery (Req. 25 Wisdom) - If employed in conjunction with the All-Defeating Stance: double the Attribute bonus from that Advancement, and the character may select two foci to experience the full benefits of this stance, instead. He may advance both those domains at the accelerated rate, but is still barred from advancing the remaining domains.

    *Decent synergy in conjunction with Hunger's Gisena buff, which already established a baseline level of skill in every domain.
    *Stance Mastery vastly expands the versatility of this Advancement.
    *Very powerful during timeskips, but relatively weak during dense action.

    [ ] Gilded Cage [2 picks, 25 Arete] - Sequestration so exquisite that one never desires to leave. This, too, is imprisonment of a kind.

    An Advancement of the Imprisoner Soul Evocation. The character may manifest sub-substructures within the Realm of Evening, wherein the already paradisaical opulence of his domain is magnified ten-thousandfold. This is a holistic augmentation that enhances all attributes of the Realm - from the invigorating essence of the air, to the quality of the victuals, to the direct multiplication of pleasure experienced by the inhabitants - that sums to a ten thousand-times amplification of the fortunate recipient's hedonic and qualitative experiences. Even the meaning attributed to said experiences is amplified.

    Those imprisoned within the Gilded Cages will often go to any lengths to extend their stay, actively cooperating with their jailer in order to preserve the objectively happiest experience of their lives. With the already-deific splendor of the Realm elevated by several orders of magnitude... well, who would blame them?

    Nor is the Cage an empty tool of mere bribery and indoctrination. The anagathic, restorative and augmentative effects of Realm-crafted cuisine are also multiplied, and their ultimate limits expanded, such that any lucky prisoner can experience a steady improvement in their Physical and Spiritual Attributes during their sentence, if their warden so desires.

    The Imprisoner and up to five designees are free to enjoy Gilt amenities without the risk of addiction or alteration of their value structure. ++Mental Stability to such characters. +Might, +Agility, +Willpower, +Luck, +Wisdom for every week spent in a Cage, to maximum of ++++++++++++++++++++ to those Attributes. Those below Rank 10 receive +0.1 Rank as well, up to a maximum of +3.0 Rank. Those beyond the prime of their biological youth cease to age while within, and revert towards that prime at a rate of 25 years per week.

    *From buffing subordinates to converting enemies to simply heightening one's well-deserved respite, the applications are truly limitless!
    *The Gilded Cage cares not whether it is turned to means sinister or divine. Harmless doping tool or Machiavellian crucible of carrot-and-stick conditioning, it's merely the warden's prerogative!

    [ ] Signature Compression Schema [3 picks, 28 Arete] - Vastness of might is preferable, but interesting times often demand simple concentration of power.

    Requires Seal of Ruin, Exalted Battle Array, Apocryphal Armament. Signature Move; Novakhron may only possess five signature moves...
     
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