A Simple Transaction I

[Unelemental]

RIP the Praxis, forever a dream.

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Well, given the starting scene, it would have been RIP the Hero otherwise.

 

[Rihaku]

[X] Muscle Wizard

Yong Shen taught me that puny mortal will temble when face with fist.

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Few can match the power of One Arm Fury.

You just couldn't resist, could you?

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What? It's a viable build!

 

[ReaderOfFate]

[x] Humanitarian Efforts
[X] Muscle Wizard

Adventurer: What ho, Muscle Wizard, might ye cast us a spell?

Muscle Wizard: Ho ho ho ho! Of course, young adventurer!

I CAST FIST!!!

 

[Rihaku]

Well, given the starting scene, it would have been RIP the Hero otherwise.

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Mm, he would have been strong enough to beat these guys with good tactics and decent rolls, movement kiting etc. They're individually pretty weak. But Scepter was strong enough to steamroll them without involving tactics.

 

[Maragas]

[X] Humanitarian Efforts
First vote is hard to choose, will look over tomorrow. But there is only one true vote I can vote for.

[X] Muscle Wizard
Not even Heavens can change my mind on this.

 

[LordOfMurder]

[X] Cut Off The Head
[X] King of Sorcerers

Sad the path of ultimate Praxis recklessness didn't win but still very cool. King of sorcerors is everything I want now that intensify isn't an option due to no Praxis. Cut off the head because maybe they're a cursebearer?

 

[Sickul]

[X] Humanitarian Efforts
[X] Twice-Great

Looking like some kind of Pacific Rim/ NGE situation. This seems like a good build, allows us to eventually unlock her Soul Invocation.

We pick our primary Remittance in the next vote?

 

[Talace]

[X] Muscle Wizard

the legend of the supreme locker

 

[Maragas]

Huh, funny. I was right about us being already Odin like figure thanks to our wounds.

Now I can't get this out of my head.
Joking aside, I think we are crippled enough to do an Odin impression with Accretion

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[ImperatorV]

[X] Humanitarian Efforts
[X] Twice-Great

That comment about bio-mecha pilots has me intrigued. Although honestly I'll be happy with any build other then Muscle Wizard, which seems kinda boring to me. You're not even using cool Accretion weapons, just fist. There's nothing wrong with fist, but I'd rather have some interesting magic in my builds.

 

[DkArthas]

On the other hand, it's better to focus on the monster right now. If it wins, the entire city might be fucked either way even if we choose to save the civilians. I suppose it's also an characterization moment?

Directly fighting him will probably be easier with Accretion.

 

[Talace]

RIP the Praxis, forever a dream.

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this just means we'll just have to pursue it with even more tenacity in the next quest

 

[Unelemental]

[X] Cut Off The Head
[X] Muscle Wizard

A purity of body to match our purity of purpose. And that is to bash faces in! Then immediately go on and do that.

Wonder if we can get our Accretion to behave a bit like Chrysopoeia?

 

[Orm Embar]

[X] Luna Conquerer

It's nostalgic to be shooting for the moon again! Relinquishing Relinquishment hurts, there's no doubt about it, but Gisena gives us Curse mitigation and can pay her own way with the Geas of Indenture. With two avenues of thwarting dreaded the Apocryphal Curse, maybe we won't drown in our ideals and die? I say we're living in interesting times, and then this Curse crops up? Feels bad, man.

Anyway, this is the shonen murderhobo build from earlier, just with Gisena to mitigate Curses and provide social utility... and also presumably us kicking ourselves however many decades-to-centuries down the line that we have no vacation time. Its synergies are simple but potent: the blade which laid low the Tyrant, growing alongside us, and strategic displays of Hunger to try and coax Accretion into upgrading it.

 

[BrainInAJar]

[X] Cut Off The Head
[X] Twice-Great

Rihaku said we'd regret not picking Catherine, so let's pick her. Seals lets us boost her strength immediately and give her a Soul Evocation. Hunger boost our progression significantly.
Let's break Rihaku quest tradition by actually becoming a mentor ourselves! We already have the Apocryphal Curse.

Choosing cut off the head because that might be our companion fighting after doing a classic Gundam Hijack. It should let us introduce ourselves with our best foot forwards even if they are not.

 

[Rihaku]

I'm liking Twice Great and Luna Conqueror. I'm also liking that we didn't my worst-case scenario, VSword, and given our landing site I feel vindicated in opposing such.

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Fun fact: You would have gotten different 'landing sites' depending on the Curses you chose!

Let's be a fooking Hero. Save those people. We can deal with that "affinity" later. I don't think our dude who trust any such feeling right now. He has already suffered through someone puppeting his life.

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And that juicy Charisma boost! Note you can save more people as a Muscle Wizard. And get more Charisma.

[X] Cut Off The Head
[X] King of Sorcerers

Sad the path of ultimate Praxis recklessness didn't win but still very cool. King of sorcerors is everything I want now that intensify isn't an option due to no Praxis. Cut off the head because maybe they're a cursebearer?

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Hm... can a mech be a Cursebearer? Perhaps.

[X] Humanitarian Efforts
[X] Twice-Great

Looking like some kind of Pacific Rim/ NGE situation. This seems like a good build, allows us to eventually unlock her Soul Invocation.

We pick our primary Remittance in the next vote?

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I was planning on just having the Remittance restore a good fraction of the Hero's previous power. That's why he's so strong in this update - Accreted Rank or Seal-buffed physical stats.

[X] Muscle Wizard

the legend of the supreme locker

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One has to get the Heavy Locker before they can contemplate the Supreme!

[X] Humanitarian Efforts
[X] Twice-Great

That comment about bio-mecha pilots has me intrigued. Although honestly I'll be happy with any build other then Muscle Wizard, which seems kinda boring to me. You're not even using cool Accretion weapons, just fist. There's nothing wrong with fist, but I'd rather have some interesting magic in my builds.

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Twice-Great is pretty great, yeah. High synergy for your mecha pilot without sacrificing much, if any personal power!

 

[Shard]

Okay, Muscle Wizard is just a bit too degenerate.

Nah, I just want the Hero to wear Hunger. Heroic Passions FTW.

[X] Luna Conquerer

 

[Unelemental]

Let's break Rihaku quest tradition by actually becoming a mentor ourselves! We already have the Apocryphal Curse.

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A second vote in a row meant to kill off our Hero? How devious.

 

[Talace]

Interestingly enough, the user interface isn't showing up for the hero in the same way it was for Seram. Is it because he wouldn't understand it, having offered up memories of Earth for power, or because he simply isn't compatible?

 

[DkArthas]

Yeah, that charisma and probable opinion boost is going to be essential in dealing with Tyrant's Doom.

The best way to go about conquering things eventually is to first act as an Hero for a while, win there trust and when we eventually take over for there own "Good", They might actually cheer us.

 

[BrainInAJar]

If you all gave up the glorious path of the Praxis just to fall into degenerate Muscle Wizardry I will kill you all in Minecraft. Don't you doubt me!

 

[OctarineShrike]

I started this analysis/impressions/reactions post as I was reading this the first time around for maximum untaintedness of my reaction. Wordcount once I dump it into Libreoffice.(Edit: 471 Words)

Compelled to Battle


The decision was made, the bargain complete. He felt the weight of each Curse settle upon him like leaden shrouds. But with them came a spark of power, swift and irrepressible, coursing through nerve and vein, awakening some part of the Hero that had been. Sublime electricity like a held breath, like the stillness before a storm, skin of the world so paper thin that with a fingertip's exertion he could brush through, touch the capillary-walls of the weft between realms.

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POWER OVERWHELMING.

He was not fully restored. Nowhere near the fullness of his power, still but a shadow of the man that he was, soul and memory tattered with holes. That was the cost in selfhood that he'd burned to strike down the overlord.


But it was strength enough to start again, and with strength came even a dull flicker of hope.

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Glad things are looking up for him.

When entire world had abandoned him, this being - cosmic monster, impossible horror, whatever it was - had reached out its hand. Whatever its reasons or timing, it alone had given him a chance. Had offered respite, or vengeance, to a tool so thoroughly expended that even the dim shadow of a future had seemed a faraway dream. He would not forget, that every tomorrow onward was possible only because of this being today.


"Thank you," he said, as it turned to leave. "I'll pay you back one day."


The Accursed raised an eyebrow, slight amusement in its eye. "See that you do."


Somehow he felt, despite the vast gulf between them - transcendent overbeing and depleted wretch - that those parting words were no cosmic transaction, but merely an agreement between men.

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A moment of humanity on the part of a cosmic monstrosity that for whatever reason I don't fully understand is making me draw connections to Baenlixnaire and nameless.

And then the Accursed was gone, the world resuming its mundane pace, footsteps thudding outside his door. Soldiers come to collect his presumptive corpse.


He inhaled deeply, the tug of the Geas like a hook through his chest, and let it carry him forward, to another world than this.


Plenty of time for sentimentality if he survived. In the meantime there were other debts to pay. And these would not be so pleasant. To fulfill the mission of his vengeance, the first step was simple.


Live, and grow strong.


There was no jarring transition. Barely had the impression of passage touched him before he arrived. He was standing on a hill of green grass under blue skies. The sun was stark and brilliant, a mailed fist of light bearing down. A breeze was blowing, cool and soothing but with the faintest scent of charcoal. He raised a hand to cover his eyes and took his bearings.

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*Cue Terminator Time Travel Sound Effects*

The mission of his Geas unfurled in his mind, the task upon which he'd wagered his life.


Conquer at least nine-tenths of the Human Sphere and rule for a period of no less than fifty contiguous years. Time limit: twenty-five hundred years.

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Holy shit. Holy freaking shit. This place sounds huge. Wondering how much, if any, Moloch is ravaging the place or if that would just make things too easy.

He was unused to rulership, and his first attempts at politics would have killed him were it not for the Accursed's intercession. It would be a change of pace, to say the least.


But how much at all remained of the man he'd been? His name, his titles, half the memories that comprised his identity had been burned from his soul in the final conflagration of his battle with the Tyrant. He recalled that he had come from Earth, a planet of sophisticated technology, born in a land of the far East... or was it the far West? He had been a schoolboy, on the precipice of manhood. He had stumbled into a glade. The contours of his mundane life remained, but its details slipped like raindrops through his fingers.


All those memories he'd sacrificed in order to hold more tightly onto what truly mattered. The names and faces of those who'd fought besides him. Who'd given themselves so that he could live, shell of a man that he was. Those he'd befriended. Those he'd admired. And those he had loved.

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The costs of Forbidden Techniques made manifest in a palpable fashion.

He would seek vengeance for them, and for himself. Whatsoever architects had engineered the misery inherent to their lives, he would cast them down. No matter how high their thrones, how unassailable their power, he would not rest until they lay broken before him. And he would bring back all who had died to the Tyrant, when he was strong enough to keep them safe. There would be power enough even for that, someday. Power enough and more, if he was to someday keep his promise to his benefactor.

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Given the time frame of the Geass and Apocrypha curses, he may be engaging in wishful thinking but whatever lets him cope with the circumstances.

Someday. If he survived. If he completed this mission, and all the missions before him. So he was to be a tyrant? So be it. But the time for deliberation had passed.


There were more pressing concerns. A short sharp bark behind him, unnaturally loud, and he whirled to see a pack of armored creatures loping towards him, hyena-like mouths tasting the air. The front-most pair charged, erupting forward with uncanny coordination, fangs bared and slavering.


Casually he adjusted his stance. The creature on his left sailed harmlessly by as he drove his bare fist into the one on his right. Its chest all but disintegrated, the shock of his strike describing a perfect circle of sky where its torso once was.

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Not sure if this is generous progression, the hero beyond beyond human baseline to fight hyenas with their bare hand, some vestige of his magic system but I guess we'll find out.

He twisted, reaching back with his hand to grab the first creature by the scruff, hurled it with catapult force into the ranks of its fellows, and leapt, falling like cannon fire into their midst. The force of those twin impacts sent the beasts into brief disarray, and he killed swiftly as they gathered, slaying three more before the pack regained its cohesion. Retreating slightly, they coalesced around him with an easy, dauntless fluidity, the dozen disjoint appendages of a single mind.

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The soundtrack to Devil May Cry or one of the fight scene songs from Dies Irae is playing in my head right now.

He'd never found any enjoyment in killing the Tyrant's men, offering surrender when practical. But he'd no such compunctions about the Tyrant's monsters. Despite himself, the once-hero smiled. It'd been too long since he'd killed something properly.


They sprang at him again, a whirlwind of fang and claw, but he swung his palm outward, neatly bisecting the creatures at his front, and shoulder-checked his way to the other side of their perimeter. Encirclement broken, the rest turned to flee. They didn't get far.

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Bless me with your gift of light
Righteous cause on judgment night
Feel the sorrow the light has swallowed
Feel the freedom like no tomorrow

Supplies would be a factor, he mused. He wondered if these monsters were edible. But their bodies dissolved quickly, melting away in the few brief minutes of his scrutiny. Likely not edible, though it was unclear how exactly his status as a Cursebearer had altered his physiology.


A second pack approached, larger in numbers, though little more bothersome than the first. Still it seemed wise to track down and eliminate the source of these creatures before he began to tire. As he crested another hill, he could faintly make out a city on the horizon, smoke in countless tendrils twisting upwards from its walls. Grand spires of white stone jutted upwards from the fortifications.

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Stepping forth a cure for soul's demise
Reap the tears of the victim's cries
Yearning more to hear the suffer (of a)
Of a demon as I put it under *record scratch*

Looming above were two grander figures still. The first was an wurm-like monster covered in armor plates, towering and vast, its top a grotesque cross of dragon and jackal, lower half a single muscular tail. It was locked in the throes of battle with a vaguely humanoid abomination, bipedal and armored as well.


A pang struck him at the sight of that second giant, as if the marrow in his bones had gained magnetic charge, to orient now in its direction. There was an affinity between them, not that of friends, not quite allies, but... a sense of camaraderie, as if in all of the vast, lonely universe they were the only two of their kind.

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Now Dance of Curse is playing

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[ ] Humanitarian Efforts - The city is being pillaged or simply butchered by that creature's spawn. It appears to be struggling against its opponent, so there should be no need for you to intervene. Save as many lives as possible, rescue and evacuate civilians from the city and cull the ranks of the creature's horde. Best keep your distance from both abominations until you learn more. You don't quite trust this unnatural affinity. [+Charisma]

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If we've got immediate power this sounds good at first glance. If Sword won this still seems good.

[ ] Cut Off The Head - The wurm-beast shares too many similarities with the hyena-creatures that attacked you for this chain of events to be a coincidence. Likely it sent those hunting packs because it could sense whatever link exists between you and its opponent. If it so badly desires to be your enemy, you will oblige. Though you wouldn't be confident against a monster of that scale at your current strength, you should at least be able to avoid becoming collateral damage. And it has little attention to spare for the likes of you. Helping your... comrade kill it should address the root of the problem.


This was a highly contested vote, but after reviewing everything the King's Scepter faction had an substantial lead in fanworks. Please decide the nature of your final build. You will meet any companions shortly (they would have been present for the first battles with Sword, but Scepter crushes them easily).

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Well that explains us Curbstomping the Hyenas. Not sure what my thoughts are on Cutting off the Head as a vote option at the moment

In the hero's estimation he is still far from his peak, but his current strength is very respectable. Roughly equal to his power halfway through his journey against the Tyrant, more than enough to subdue a force of hundreds with his bare hand. Your decision below may modify this.

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So is this what, 5th Seal if a 7 Seals build wins? 6th Seal? Having random shower thoughts wondering if there are only 7 per person or if the name is a misnomer because the system can be jailbroken for more power.

[ ] King of Sorcerers - Expansive versatility at the cost of some direct power.


Seven Seals, Gisena Allria, Retinue, Forebear's Blade


*The most popular elements in one build

*Numerous sources of Curse mitigation

*Ability to bring in Retinue members and capitalize on character-unique synergies across Seals, Null Sorcery, and any magics or special technologies present here

*Powerful active defense and counterattack potential. Great utility from Seals.

*Direct offense slightly lacking.

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I like this almost as much as the Catherine votes I developed a partiality towards

[ ] Twice-Great - Magus-knight and apprentice.


Seven Seals, Caethlynn of Amarlt, Hunger, Forebear's Blade


*Pay forward the Accursed's gift.

*Advance rapidly with Hunger, use the fruits of that growth to improve your seals of enhancement. Use said seals on yourself and Catherine to produce two formidable combatants. She scales as you do, and Hunger scales quickly.

*Catherine with your buffs is a superior physical force, while you retain the utility of sealing for support and counter-utility.

*Decent mitigation with the Forebear's Blade.

*Would be awfully convenient if one needed a spare pilot for some form of biomechanical abomination.

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Explosive Early game progression with an Ally that has relevance independent of their power level, what's not to like? Going back to some of my earlier musings, Immediate curse mitigation from Archmage level sealing capabilities, explosive combat growth, a disciple with the benefits that entails to our own development in sealing(Possible end run around Hunger training suppression via teaching, countering the Einstellung Effect) who we can buff into a combat monster in the meantime, magic anti-depressants, whatever synergies her seal affinity has with ours, and her relevance is at least somewhat independent of her power level via giant robots in the late game, possibly saving us some growth of Decimator's Affliction.

[ ] Luna Conquerer


Accretion, Gisena Allria, Hunger, Forebear's Blade


*The highest synergy of the popular Accretion elements

*Very high power, but somewhat lacks proactive utility. Accretion + Hunger + Forebear's Blade allows for a rapid rate of advance which means easier access to findross for Gisena if you can figure out the method.

*Strong through every stage of early, mid, and late game, so long as you have straightforward challenges.

*Accretion gives some natural resistance to the Apocryphal Curse which Gisena can also mitigate

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Not necessarily opposed to this depending on the circumstances. I guess a lot depends on what kind of playstyle we need to be generating Findross.

[ ] Muscle Wizard


Accretion, Intensify, Retinue, Relinquishment


*The ultimate option, the destined path

*Just look at the thread tags

*Use Intensify to magnify the power of Accretion while narrowing its scope...

*Allows the power of Accretion to be applied to one's body itself, at the cost of locking it otherwise. Grants a broad and powerful defense against esoteric and mundane attacks.

*The hero's missing bodyparts make his body more unique and recognizable, and thus most suited to this unique path. *Lategame, uses Retinue synergies to magnify his training in the pursuit of supreme perfection of body.

*Retains the fighting style he displays in this update, though with higher parameters when he gets serious (otherwise, this update is just the hero fooling around)

*Very powerful early and late, but weak midgame. Will more effectively complete the objective in this update.

*Extremely degenerate


There were gonna be a few other votes, like the hero's pseudonym and logistical issues, but we'll sort those out when they come up.

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Really? I'm simultaneously laughing and facepalming with friendly exasperation here.

 

[Aabcehmu]

[X] Humanitarian Efforts
[X] Muscle Wizard

M u s c l e
W i z a r d

e-

Added a vote for the other thing also. Time to superman it up.

 

[Paloneia]

[X] Cut Off The Head
[X] King of Sorcerers

 

[Rihaku]

[X] Luna Conquerer

It's nostalgic to be shooting for the moon again! Relinquishing Relinquishment hurts, there's no doubt about it, but Gisena gives us Curse mitigation and can pay her own way with the Geas of Indenture. With two avenues of thwarting dreaded the Apocryphal Curse, maybe we won't drown in our ideals and die? I say we're living in interesting times, and then this Curse crops up? Feels bad, man.

Anyway, this is the shonen murderhobo build from earlier, just with Gisena to mitigate Curses and provide social utility... and also presumably us kicking ourselves however many decades-to-centuries down the line that we have no vacation time. Its synergies are simple but potent: the blade which laid low the Tyrant, growing alongside us, and strategic displays of Hunger to try and coax Accretion into upgrading it.

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Don't forget the synergy between high levels of Accretion and Gisena's advancement! Just as with Twice-Great, you get "free" advancement for your companion out of your inherent power combinations! Though it doesn't scale quite as quickly or seamlessly, Sorcerous boosts are very comprehensive!

[X] Cut Off The Head
[X] Twice-Great

Rihaku said we'd regret not picking Catherine, so let's pick her. Seals lets us boost her strength immediately and give her a Soul Evocation. Hunger boost our progression significantly.
Let's break Rihaku quest tradition by actually becoming a mentor ourselves! We already have the Apocryphal Curse.

Choosing cut off the head because that might be our companion fighting after doing a classic Gundam Hijack. It should let us introduce ourselves with our best foot forwards even if they are not.

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Just imagine how powerful Catherine will be with Seal-boosted stats, a Soul Evocation, and her own advanced weapons platform!!

Okay, Muscle Wizard is just a bit too degenerate.

Nah, I just want the Hero to wear Hunger. Heroic Passions FTW.

[X] Luna Conquerer

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But he has so few fingers to wear it on!

Yeah, that charisma and probable opinion boost is going to be essential in dealing with Tyrant's Doom.

The best way to go about conquering things eventually is to first act as an Hero for a while, win there trust and when we eventually take over for there own "Good", They might actually cheer us.

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Well, even with increased Charisma the Tyrant's Doom is a pretty major impediment to social interaction. As soon as someone hits one of your red lines it'll be difficult not to be seen as rude. Of course, if you have the power to back that up it may not matter. Kind of like being Malfeas!