Remove ads

A Simple Transaction I

Reader mode
I think you bought my vote more than once, when I was selling it out of ambivalence. Pretty sure, even. That said, I did just make an embarrassing mistake in a related area, so I'm not that sure.
 
I think I had a marker on you at least once, yeah, but I'm pretty sure that you've never had a marker on me.
 
Nehemoth
[The Ouroboros]
[ ] Secrets Worth Keeping [-2 Coin]
[ ] Ring of Power [-25 Coin]
-Trespass
[ ] Sublime Fusion [-14 Coin]
-[ ] King of the World [-1 Remittance]
-[ ] The Ishvara: Arrant Shadow [-1 Remittance]
[ ] Drawback: Name of the Wind [+1 Remittance]
[ ] Lifeblood [-3 Coin]
-[ ] Fruit of the Grove [-20 Coin]
-Knowledge of All Things

Ah, hubris. And catching occultism references. If I'm already doomed for my knowledge, why not go even further beyond? My possession is not Malkuth, but my kingdom is as great - Nehemoth, base of the hollow tree of Qlippoth; the material realm of shadows.
And I suspect the fruit I seek resonates with the core of Alara's power: a poison to grant discernment of good and evil, becoming as God, for a day.
 
Truthkeeper
[The Heroine]
[ ] Sever the Limit [-1 Remittance]
-[ ] Secrets Worth Keeping [-3 Coin]
[ ] Sublime Fusion [-7 Coin]
-[ ] Clarity, Lesser [-5 Coin]
-[ ] Drawback: Martyr's Doom [+30 Coin]
--Breath
[ ] Sublime Fusion [-7 Coin]
-[ ] Essential [-24 Coin]
-[ ] Lifeblood XIX [-57 Coin]
[ ] King of Arranor: Flame of Apprenticeship [-10 Coin]
[ ] Bestowal, Least [-1 Coin]
-[ ] In Flame Reborn
[ ] Drawback: Geassa IX [+27 Coin]
[ ] Sublime Fusion [-7 Coin]
-[ ] Nuclear Missileman

That most mysterious of powers, knowledge. Worth ten Remittances, if used correctly.
A gift of self-contained resilience. Will not as burning sun but as neutron star, solid as matter can get. No art of lesser strength than my own will may touch me unbidden; should this eventually be Severed, I think it might even preserve me from the Priestess's touch, her own genius turned against her at last.
Ninety-five drops of blood, enough to empower the Essential Entawak tenfold - if that were worth trading 35 drops and a wasted Coin for, instead of fusing it all directly with Penelope's Gift. The boost to Fortification, gift-strength, and growth rate should be adequately comparable; if not, the Heroine will surely warn me before I finalize.
Finally, Nitro, as an occasional Daredevil villain, is probably street-level enough, so fusing that with the fastest most maneuverable highest-yield nuclear missile the Alliance can spare should be a solid power, really. If I have to give up fifteen drops of Lifeblood and buy the Traveler's overpriced tricks to get that, at least I get a solidly-buffed raven to fuse with too.
Edit: Oops, I missed one of the Fusion discounts. So instead of being somehow three points short, I was four points over. I think I was tired when I wrote this.
 
Last edited:
Birdsie said:
:: Grand Ordination CYOA ::​
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...


I woke up one day (meaning I stayed awake for way too long and gone into a delirious state while listening to the same song on repeat for at least the last 5 hours) and came to an epiphany; It's actually so obvious that the Heroine is the best option.

So I took all of her options.


I give you,

Giga Magic

[The Heroine]

[ ] Bestowal, Least [-1 Coin] - Multi-Tasker
[ ] A Choice [-7 Coin] - Day
[ ] Clarity, Lesser [-5 Coin]
[ ] Sever the Limit [-1 Remittance]
-[ ] Sublime Fusion [-7 Coin] - Ever-tempering Flame
--[ ] Essential [-24 Coin]
--[ ] Questionable: Lady Replaceable (-38 Coin)
[ ] Secrets Worth Keeping [-3 Coin] - Quite the Essential insight
[ ] Ten Fetters [-12 Coin]
[ ] Lifeblood [-3 Coin]
[ ] Fruit of the Grove [-20 Coin] - Essential Entawak - Life Flavour
[ ] King of Arranor: Flame of Apprenticeship [-10 Coin]

[ ] Drawback: Martyr's Doom [+30 Coin] - Breath
[ ] Drawback: Beast of Principality (+38 Coin)
[ ] Drawback: Arborification [+15 Coin]
[ ] Drawback: Charitable Works [+20 Coin]
[ ] Drawback: Geassax9 [+27 Coin]


Once more taking advantage of my DLC, I will sacrifice the overarching supernal all-encompassing recursion onto the altar of sheer Essential excellence. Not simply outshining every other prodigy before me but outright making them a side note in a supernova of talent and ability. Just like every other Gifted I will improve, but my Gift won't just as a mere muscle but as an internal spiritual forge empowered by recursive phoenix fire.

Every single benefit is chosen as a steroid to Essentialism. I am doping so hard. A special alteration of the Essential Entawak infused with three droplets of life blood to solely focus on Alara's specialty, adding Life to my arsenal. Fuck you Lemrasil, you edgy over-controlling bitch. The three fetters on offer will be giving me extra tools to improve my casting, a supernatural sense, temporal recursion (to try again when I inevitably fuck up) and florakinesis to better imbibe the aforementioned fruit. (That's right I'm becoming a more jealous person to become an even better Essentialist) followed by the Denlah training arc. Finally added to this crockpot of all the eggs in one basket, the voice of God will just tell me how to be better. Lol.

Not to just briefly mention, after the first month, I am ascending the Tower of Day to be smarter so I can cast better spells. That and the practice from bestowal. (that for 1 coin is a killer deal)

In terms of drawbacks, all of them are pretty much ignorable or even just a better way to practice Essentialism by problem solving. Lesser Clarity is carrying against all the mental contaminations.

Except the mechanical squid in the room. Well, if I am of average luck with 3ish months before it shows up I should be good enough at Essentialism to run away like any good mage who can't use The Scouring to deal with a problem. I am pretty sure since my patroness isn't dumb, she won't send me to a backwater world with no Orden dimensional tunnels.

Now I should be the greatest Essentialist. The only person that could ever beat me would be someone with something crazy, like the Authority of Untrammelled Power or some shit like an Unprincipled Expression.

But like, surely nobody has those.
 
Hey @Birdsie, are you a Sect fan? If not, you should be, it's brilliant and you've already read Worm.
If you are, though, can I get a power comparison list for the Ordination cast in terms of Sect's Immortal stages? I'm guessing Infinite Morning Denlah is at least Earth-Traveling and at most Flying, since Sectverse Zion is peak Roaming and Pleroma still exists. How does IM Denlah stack up to Greater Bestowal, Crown of Thorns, or the nonportal Arrant Shadow? Arrant Shadow seems no-prefix Immortal at best, Ishvarra seems Roaming, Greater Bestowal and Crown of Thorns probably weak Earth-Traveling?
I think the Dominion is specifically targeting Unbound Expressives with their Roaming-tier superweapon, but if the Beast is overwhelmingly stronger or weaker than Wormverse Zion I'd like clarification.
By induction, and assuming my benchmarks are at all accurate, none of the Alliance are stronger than high Flying or low Roaming Immortals, though having a pair of protagonist-grade talents means that'll change pretty soon.
I'm also guessing the General scales from Flying to Void based on proximity to Hell, though I think that proximity mechanic wasn't mentioned in any of the CYOAs?
And Hell itself can be modeled as a decently strong Void Immortal like the Warrior, countless imprisoned heroes and all.
 
HoratioVonBecker said:
Hey @Birdsie, are you a Sect fan? If not, you should be, it's brilliant and you've already read Worm.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Can't say I've heard of it, no. And while I've glanced at the info posts it's hard to find any benchmarks. Assuming that mid-Roaming would essentially allow you to solo contest a world on the scale of Pleroma:

Orden - low-Void
Heroine - mid-Roaming
Ouroboros - low-Roaming
Originator - low-Roaming
Traveler - low-Void
Ishvara - mid-Void
General - mid-Void, peak Void or higher if Liberation is achieved / inside the Pit

Infinite Morning Denlah would stand with semi-poor odds vs. a combat-oriented Greater Bestowed, but have better odds with prep time.

The Beast hunting the Traveler has nothing to do with the Dominion. That's the Gatekeeper you are thinking of; a thing the Lords and Ladies made to protect the Seats. The Dominion is only very vaguely and distantly aware of Expression and don't really know where it comes from or what it is. There's only one truly canonical Unprincipled Expressive in the Ormulum, although the Ordination timeline also has Orden.
 
Birdsie said:
Orden - low-Void
Heroine - mid-Roaming
Ouroboros - low-Roaming
Originator - low-Roaming
Traveler - low-Void
Ishvara - mid-Void
General - mid-Void, peak Void or higher if Liberation is achieved / inside the Pit
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Hmm. So Ishvara could theoretically kill the Beast, then? And the right sort of Hallowed power can turn that victory into power? I have a build idea.
Birdsie said:
The Beast hunting the Traveler has nothing to do with the Dominion. That's the Gatekeeper you are thinking of; a thing the Lords and Ladies made to protect the Seats. The Dominion is only very vaguely and distantly aware of Expression and don't really know where it comes from or what it is. There's only one truly canonical Unprincipled Expressive in the Ormulum, although the Ordination timeline also has Orden.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Huh. I figured the fact that the canonical one was in their back yard and had goals nearly identical to my Paladin of Socialism build, so they'd presumably learned and decided they didn't like it.
Birdsie said:
Can't say I've heard of it, no. And while I've glanced at the info posts it's hard to find any benchmarks. Assuming that mid-Roaming would essentially allow you to solo contest a world on the scale of Pleroma:
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
One of the least-bad benchmarks is the speed thing, with new Immortals running at roughly Mach 1, and Roaming being the latest you can get FTL. So Roaming at all is probably enough to solo modern Pleroma if not necessarily the bonus dungeons?
 
HoratioVonBecker said:
Huh. I figured the fact that the canonical one was in their back yard and had goals nearly identical to my Paladin of Socialism build, so they'd presumably learned and decided they didn't like it.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Although the canonical Unprincipled Expressive is inside the Dominion, he doesn't merit the deployment of the Gatekeeper, as he is not yet a sufficient threat.
 
Remove ads
CYOA Index
  • Media
    • - A Simple CYOA Compendium -​

    Aabcehmu

    Addio

    Archon

    Birdsie

    Crimson Moon

    DarkSideBard

    Enohthree

    Fayhem

    Gabbie

    HoratioVonBecker

    ilbgar123

    ImperatorV

    Lealope

    Orm Embar

    qwolfs

    Rihaku

    They Who Watch

    vali

    Wolfy

    Zampano

    zinay



    Birdsie said:
    We've truly become a CYOA thread
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    "Quack"
     
    Last edited:
  • Media
    • Magical_Duck said:
    "Quack"
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    You're right. I should make another Into the Ormulum build.

    Or two, even.

    The Infinite Abyss

    To answer cruelty with cruelty. For each wrongdoing, a response. Do what the enemy does, and do it better.

    Insertion Point: Streetwalker (+3)
    Magic: Final Scion of Water (-2), Practitioner: Tormentor (-1), Labyrinthian (-1)
    Benefits: Envy (-2)
    Drawbacks: Somber (+1), Dreams of Distant Fire (+2)

    Tormentor - Your presence instills an instinctive eerie sense of dread in those around you. Your whispers can reach across rooms and into minds, planting seeds of doubt and despair. Your ability to suss out weaknesses, physical and psychological, is nearly unparalleled. Your mastery of psychological torment allows you to break the will of even the strongest and most ironclad of minds, leaving them shattered and vulnerable. Once per encounter, reflecting the moment when 'your' victim believed they escaped your grasp, only to find themselves ensnared once more in a twisted nightmare, you can regain control over an otherwise intractable situation. Furthermore, reflecting one time 'you' managed to convince an enemy to become a turncoat, once a year, you can torture and gaslight even a heroic target into becoming a willing, enthusiastic ally.

    ---

    The Abyssalist looks yonder, upon the Messiah's works, on the Transcendent Pit: and he immediately shits himself with profane rage, tears of seasalt and watery snot streaming down a tomato-red face as he seizes violently with nearly animalistic anger.

    This cannot be allowed.

    Because I can do it better.

    At the Abyssalist's command, the essence of Water shifts into a malicious, consumptive form. Twisted by Envy, the ethos is affirmed and the oceans shake with newfound spite. Here, Water is meant to dissolve; as the cradle of all life, it can forcibly take back its gifts. Through diffusion of matter, it can attain greater strength than only conquest of territory. Through permanent consumption of foes, it can even integrate their abilities with itself, acting as the container of wonders; feeding them eternally to the Abyss.

    And so begins a grim tale of ceaseless torment. With the Abyssalist's capabilities, the appearance of Thaumiel isn't an issue, and is indeed something of an asset; the moment the Gilded Mask shows itself, it'll be utterly drained of its inhuman charisma and power through Envy, then tossed into a spatial vat of spiteful Water, constantly dissolving and regenerating its corpus, its mind, and its spirit. If desirable, the tendril can be made to forcibly procreate, and new instances may be tormented into compliance. These subservient beings are eventually conjoined back into a single great proselytizer, an Ecclesiast; no longer Thaumiel, but a being in service of the Infinite Abyss.

    The natural course of action following the initial attainments is fairly obvious, if no less horrible. Each world visited shall undergo a preparatory rite of conversion; a Labyrinth laced into the cloud layer of the world, far overhead where none shall notice, and filled up completely with Water. Fed the occasional adventurer or great soul to stoke its spite and wrath, to make the coming apocalypse all the more salient. In the meantime, the Ecclesiast shall endeavor to convert the faithful to the Abyssalist's cause; speaking of rapture and salvation.

    Once the Ocean-within-the-Labyrinth attains critical mass, it is released. What follows is the end of the world, nothing less than a dismal reflection of a Flood. Those fools who cannot flee are consumed, devoured by the Waters and dissolved into ethereal souls, to forevermore experience unceasing torment within the Abyss. For those who subscribe to the Abyss, it is instead a bountiful harvest, as souls and new magics are absorbed en masse to serve a greater purpose. All evidence that shall remain of the Abyssalist's passage on bygone worlds is flooded ruins and underwater remnants. And yet, who could brave such Waters to find out their root cause?

    Without morality's constraints, or those of the cage holding the Pit, domination over the Hierarchy is sure to follow.

    ---

    Two Originators Are Better Than One
    Insertion Point: A Ruined Garden (+3)
    Magic: Originator Resurgent (-3), Authority of Celestial Voyages (-2)
    Benefits: Exemplar (-1)
    Drawbacks: Nemesis (+1), Dreams of Distant Fire (+2)

    As simple as soil.

    First, find Alara Tar-Inshir. Not a difficult task, with the Authority's sheer speed and ability to gather information. After that, the Walls must be opened, and Alara awoken. She'll no doubt feel confused about the existence of a second Originator. Nonetheless, once the initial diplomatic forays are finished, she'll consume the Fruit of Origination.

    Then, the great work can begin at last.

    With the Authority of Celestial Voyages and a combined array of spatial fruit, acquiring exotic resources for new seeds - as well as causing a mass exodus to a safe world, away from the Hand's influence and the General - are relatively simple and straightforward tasks. With Exemplar, creativity and intellect are enhanced; combined with Alara's extensive education, experimentation with seedlines has never been easier. With the Practice, eventual research into genetics can make superbly powerful fruit, entire steps beyond what was previously considered the cutting edge. Eventually, instead of a mere Garden arising from the ashes, we'll grow a veritable Eden.

    Nemesis likely procs on the Hand. He can go fuck himself. Ideally, we'll try to make it proc on someone else who's a bit easier to kill further down the line.
     
    Last edited:
    Man. What would happen if two unrelated lineages of originator were married?
     
    Hello, I'm back again to find the most Essential build. This time the cyoa where Orm introduced us to the magic system!

    It's markedly a lot harder than in Ordination since the patron of this one is much less optimal or kind than The Heroine or Orden.

    Alas, here is my attempt.

    GIGA MAGIC 2

    Insertion Point
    [ ] Talvurin Archipelago Union - (+3 Embers)

    Magic
    [ ] Goetic Magic (1 ember)
    [ ] Viscerality (2 embers)
    [ ] Demarcation (2 embers)

    Benefits
    [ ] Chosen One (2 embers) - Demarcation

    Artifacts
    [ ] Essential Salts (1 ember)

    Drawbacks
    [ ] Three Wishes*3 (+3 embers)
    [ ] Hamartia (+1 ember) - Lust
    [ ] Xenophobia (+1 ember)


    So, an explanation. You mightve noticed the lack of an Essential Gift in my Essential Magic build. That's because, frankly with the options on offer, Essential Gift is shit if you want to be good at the Magic system.

    There are several ways on this cyoa can just, make an Essential Gift. Here's my attempt at it.

    I choose the Archipelago because its patron Goddess is someone you can bribe if you need to and this place has low government interference. Chosen One Demarcation is multi purpose, initially it is there to just immediately hide me with Demarcation barriers.

    Secondly, I need to use it to separate my emotions and reasoning. Once my rational mind is in charge, I'll let my ego run rampant in the background with viscerality to empower itself. (I stole this from Lealope)

    By consuming the salts I'll make my visceral self comprehend it and integrate it efficiently. Finally, Goetic Summoning and Demarcation creates a cordon stream into my core where the myriad spirits I summon turn into salts.

    With Viscerality I can increase my intelligence and cerebral capacity while Chosen One Demarcation perfectly sequestrates them into different cores to allow for perfect multi-threading.

    Also, just eat essentialists or buy books on it with salts that you have aplenty to gain academic knowledge.


    In terms of Drawbacks, Demarcation could probably get me out of all of them. Though, even if it couldn't Lust is a buff, I can hide my visage extremely well, in a decade I'm gonna obliterate Sulevast.

    Also, I quite agree with the motivations of my Patron. So I don't mind actually just working to her ends.

    "But Questionable" I hear you say, "this build is pretty strong overall, do you even need Essentialism to make it powerful?".

    To that I say, fuck you. I'm not a Demarcator-Visceralist I'm the best fucking Essentialist that Pleroma has ever seen.

    Come back later when I make the best Essentialist in Into the Ormulum.
     
    Just by existing, you make Him weaker. So let all the other people who know about Hell handle it, you've done your part.
     
    @Birdsie, is taking multiple Hallows legal by the rules? Same for nonrecursive Fusions.
    It doesn't seem to be expected, but I'm not sure why.
    Edit to avoid triple posting: Were you aware that Beast of Principality's coin payout uses round brackets rather than square ones?
     
    Last edited:
    Remember how I mentioned those powerlevel comparisons gave me a build idea? Here it is.

    Big Game Hunting
    [The Ordinator]
    [ ] Bestowal, Least [-1 Coin]
    -Mass Master
    [ ] Hallowed Prophecy [-20 Coin]
    "Will slay the Beast of Principality and claim its power."
    [ ] Clarity, Lesser [-9 Coin]
    [ ] Sublime Fusion [-14 Coin]
    -[ ] The Traveler's Intercession [-16 Coin]
    -[ ] The Ishvara: Arrant Shadow [-1 Remittance]
    [ ] Lifeblood [-3 Coin]
    -[ ] Fruit of the Grove: Providence [-20 Coin]
    [ ] Chivalry's Zeal [-33 Coin]
    [ ] Minor Nonsense Magic Catalogue: Corpse Splicing
    [ ] The Undying King: Deathless [-20 Coin]
    [ ] Secrets Worth Keeping [-3 Coin]
    [ ] Drawback: Geassa IX [+27 Coin]
    [ ] Drawback: Beast of Principality (+38 Coin)
    [ ] Drawback: Charitable Works [+20 Coin]

    The concept of the build is simple: use scrolls finite-use abilities to kill something way above my ECL, and briefly outlevel Orden and the Traveler. Then get my Arrant Incarnation.
    The Traveller's Coin fused with the Ishvarra's Shadow should be able to channel the Ishvarra's Light into a homing laser, following the Beast even if it retreats. The Beast is coming to me, so I just need to be prepared to fire when I see it.
    Clarity and Zeal help with the vigilance, Deathlessness gives me much-needed warning, timestop hopefully slows it down, and my Prophecy should make the win nearly guaranteed - provided the Ishvarra cooperates with leaving me the corpse, at least. That's probably the biggest risk in this affair, which possesses as many as several.
    My Bestowal relies on Jotaro Kujo counting as 'street level', which I think he obviously should, but if he doesn't, I might go for the Cat's powerset. Captain America But Mildly Psychic has a certain appeal, you know?
    Edit: With the benefit of available-in-universe advice, I've taken another three Geasa and accepted the waste of a Coin to buy a proper corpse-harvesting method. I've also traded the apparently ineffective timestop for a utility power that should let me shrink down, hopefully to a useful level - while improving my durability - after absorbing the squid.
    Further Edit: I finally got around to rolling... and it showed up on the last week. Not sure why Rihaku rated this Funny before that. Also, rereading the drawback description, it's a half-year minimum, not maximum.
    Even Further Edit: Expanded previous comment, and decided that Charitable Works wouldn't force me to make Alliance worlds a target while the Beast was still an issue, and it was clarified that sufficient Day isn't actually enough for Arrant Incarnation, so I might as well trade that for Lifeblood and grab the Fruit that'll buff my Prophecy. Maybe the Beast's energy will let me copy a proper Cultivator bloodline down the line.
    HoratioVonBecker threw 48 100-faced dice. Reason: Beast's Arrival Total: 2796
    78 78 16 16 52 52 84 84 18 18 99 99 72 72 24 24 25 25 45 45 26 26 46 46 91 91 96 96 16 16 28 28 65 65 32 32 78 78 95 95 94 94 42 42 42 42 41 41 43 43 73 73 67 67 93 93 48 48 72 72 56 56 33 33 93 93 96 96 96 96 36 36 92 92 5 5 14 14 99 99 27 27 76 76 39 39 53 53 95 95 85 85 76 76 24 24
    HoratioVonBecker threw 48 100-faced dice. Reason: Beast's Arrival Total: 2635
    31 31 33 33 52 52 57 57 85 85 5 5 12 12 98 98 67 67 84 84 86 86 11 11 63 63 84 84 20 20 57 57 61 61 40 40 59 59 21 21 86 86 87 87 88 88 60 60 92 92 63 63 13 13 79 79 64 64 76 76 27 27 80 80 73 73 76 76 35 35 49 49 31 31 6 6 21 21 64 64 13 13 95 95 81 81 30 30 22 22 26 26 99 99 73 73
    HoratioVonBecker threw 48 100-faced dice. Reason: Beast's Arrival Total: 2350
    15 15 3 3 20 20 34 34 41 41 63 63 39 39 53 53 24 24 36 36 12 12 95 95 35 35 58 58 12 12 5 5 46 46 80 80 45 45 17 17 67 67 58 58 67 67 8 8 91 91 15 15 21 21 33 33 75 75 91 91 75 75 78 78 61 61 81 81 94 94 67 67 85 85 97 97 51 51 80 80 4 4 91 91 43 43 4 4 25 25 87 87 5 5 63 63
    HoratioVonBecker threw 39 100-faced dice. Reason: Beast's Arrival Total: 1991
    20 20 32 32 74 74 86 86 61 61 48 48 32 32 55 55 83 83 68 68 62 62 47 47 86 86 33 33 28 28 59 59 33 33 16 16 7 7 55 55 38 38 22 22 79 79 50 50 99 99 16 16 69 69 41 41 70 70 65 65 3 3 1 1 79 79 44 44 62 62 52 52 90 90 57 57 69 69
     
    Last edited:
    HoratioVonBecker said:
    The concept of the build is simple: use scrolls finite-use abilities to kill something way above my ECL, and briefly outlevel Orden and the Traveler. Then get my Arrant Incarnation.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Hm, a prophecy would struggle to alone do something of this nature. There's no proper mechanism of stable absorption, so you'd most likely end up with dross and an extremely high-value Acknowledgment, maybe almost comparable to an Authority. A street-level time stop also probably won't affect the Beast whatsoever, nor would the prophecy act as a complete guarantee of safety.

    Getting Arrant Incarnation is unlikely outside of some serious bullshit.
     
    Reader mode
    You must login or register to reply here.
    Remove ads
    Back
    Top