There's our boy, the third item of our panoply, and the first we didn't purchase from the Accursed! Let them pretend it's not as good as the Forebear's Blade or the Ring of Blood; perhaps its legend is lesser than the grand deeds and regime of either, but tell me this instead. Who is there when a hero rides off into the sunset? What presides over the tiger's hunt, or the mosquito's emergence? The human heart may not recognize such countenance, caught up as it so easily becomes with the pragmatic image of might and morality, but there is yet greatness to be found in the passive wisdom and understanding of the waning hours of day.
The man had attacked them without provocation. Now that the tides had shifted he wanted to parley? Absurd. His audacity was impressive, but a tactic that disingenuous didn't even deserve a response.
He struck, a terrible reaving arc of blade-force meant to split the pirate from shoulder to sternum, but the black-armored man reacted quickly and caught the blow on his shield. The sheer pressure of the attack tore a gouge in the metal, shards spraying upwards in a flying plume as the man visibly staggered under the blow. Hunger was already moving, swapping knife-edge to pommel as he closed to strike the man across the helm.
This time. This time he wouldn't need to be rescued, by his wife or anyone else. This time he would end the threat before it could claim them. Whatever cost necessary would be paid from his own body.
Go get 'em, Hunger! It's hard to remember from so many updates ago, but it's been less than a month since he's faced death by assassination, been rescued and recruited by the Accursed, and then dumped into another world with only his sword, ring, and a girl he's never met to guide him forward. This kind of displacement can draw up a sense of powerlessness in the strongest of souls, and frankly he's not in the best of condition as he is. Not getting this kind of closure and confirmation of his newfound power might have actually made it harder to get pluses as we went forward. The possibility of risking Doom triggering against Letrizia is less present, but still there too.
Speaking of the Tyrant's Doom, I like how you can feel
just slightly the shift in narrative tone and mental monologue when it activates. It's not creating a conflict that wasn't there, just exaggerating his reaction such that he's slightly more judgmental, aggressive, and maybe even a bit more outright impersonal when it happens. He's always a smart guy, but when the Tyrant's Doom triggers all benefit of doubt just disappears from his mind and he shows us how analytical and ruthless he can actually be.
I'm kind of sad that shield seems so weak. I was hoping it was a third panoply item, but it seems this guy only has his sword and armor. I guess that makes this a more fair fight though, with his two versus ours. I'm still going to hold it's a waste to have a major-league magic weapon and then pair it with a mundane shield rather than go all-in on its striking power.
His blow struck true; the pirate's helm tolled like an evening bell as it deformed, deflecting and radiating the strength of the blow as force became sound's echo. He was forced back, repelled by the dispersed vigor of his own blow. Still the power of ruin was not easily denied; blood dribbled through the slits in the pirate's visor.
I love the Power of Ruin. It's efficient, beautiful in its own right, and makes me wonder how the Forebear harnessed such an incredible force. How many underworld gods had he conquered before he found his blows no longer obeyed the limits of mortal warfare? How many heavenly empires had he cast down before his favored sword became ingrained with such a terrible nature? Was he even possessed of a favored weapon when he first wielded ruin's kiss, or was that power the original immaterial extrapolation of his universal killing-stroke philosophy?
Despite the prodigious ferocity of his assault, the enemy was not totally hapless. In one decisive motion the pirate discarded his shield and lunged forward just as Hunger made to withdraw. They toppled in an ungainly grapple, impossible weight of the pirate's armor bearing down on him, pinning him to the deck. He struck with his sword through a gap in the armor but felt resistance beneath, as if punching through clay. Shadows curled and boiled off that armor, pinning him to the deck, obstructing his sight.
Yup, shield's a prop. Also I do appreciate that, faced with a foe who knows how to harm or kill an armored assailant, his strategy is correctly to tackle Hunger to the deck and pin him. Overwhelming striking power isn't worth as much if you've only got one arm and can't get any leverage going. Also the use of Evening Sky as a method of restraining foes is something I'd not considered. It's magic-immune, prehensile, and easily repaired if damaged. For restraining foes to later interrogate or ransom, it's actually pretty great.
Thanks, random pirate captain!
The pirate reared back and smashed his head into Hunger's own. For a moment the world went static and white, then bright agony ripped through his side. With desperate strength he heaved forward, hurling his opponent back and retreating to the middle distance. A sharp pain in his torso brought him up short, and he looked down to see the violent-flame blade of his enemy hanging from his side. Luckily it had slid between his oblique muscles, missing his liver and intestines. The pain was terrific, horrible, but a meagre shadow of the least cut from the Tyrant's personal blade. Even the flames of this blade sheeted and sputtered away from his flesh, as if afraid to burn him.
PIRATE used HEADBUTT. It's super effective!
His combo stab straight into the side is a good move, though Hunger's being able to hurl him armor and all out to long-range somehow ends up at amusing to me. I knew he was strong, but I hadn't registered
how strong at the time. The sword's the word, but the lord's for sure!
Also his knowledge of his own anatomy is really good. I doubt I could tell where my liver or intestines were in the middle of a fight to the death against the spitting image of my worst nightmare. Maybe he's been stabbed in those places before, and remembers the pain? What's the point of discarding your memories for power if you can't prioritize the shitty ones?
He raised his eyes to the enemy, who was panting heavily, gathering himself for another strike. He shook his head. This man wasn't the Tyrant. He wasn't even a poor imitation.
Blood dripped steadily from his wound. He pulled the flame-blade free and tossed it overboard. Foolish of him to get wounded. Reckless to rush in without knowing the armor's capabilities. Pommel to the head would murder most armored knights, but he'd been over-eager, closing the distance against an opponent with all four limbs and greater mass than his own.
His enemy was just a skilled thug with a formidable suit of plate, deprived of a weapon that wasn't worth one-tenth of the Forebear's Blade. Fury had ruled Hunger, made him sloppy. No more. Today, there were people counting on him still. He would dismantle this enemy properly.
There we are, the real therapy of the update. By pushing through his obsessive fixation on the tyrant, he accepts his previous reckless behavior as foolish and re-aligns himself with a new purpose. Clarity awakens a nascent protective instinct, refusing to allow his traveling companions to come to harm by any hand.
The nigh-audible tone of shit-talk present throughout the entire thing is pretty killer too. Whether it's self-critical or outwardly directed, this is Hunger at his most aggressively optimistic. Literally!
The pirate juked to the side, going low, hand outstretched for the ballista bolt embedded in his comrade. Hunger sent a blade-wind into those fingers, shearing off dark scraps of plate and throwing the man off-balance. He followed with a thrust projection, pure killing force that shivered through the air and struck the pirate's chest, knocking him onto his ass. Given the weight of his armor, there was no recovery from that position.
And so the heavy has become the heavied. The swipe for the hand is clean and simple, reminding me of Taker of Hands from A Simple Transaction 0. The distinct lack of penetration from the thrust makes me think either the Sky's been holding out on us, or we've been missing out by not having Protection bonuses. I wonder if anything's gated behind pure number of +s to that stat, or any other?
Hunger drew deep upon the well of power within him, summoning forth a tide, a tempest of murderous cuts; sword-breath that hummed and pulsed like a buzzsaw's edge, that curved and shrieked like carrion birds.
With each blow the armor rang, reflecting and dispersing the main power of his strikes, but the persistence of his onslaught had the plate chiming lower and lower, its efforts grown feebler and feebler, until the battered darkness bled from the armor and fled into the crevices between worlds, abandoning its wearer to his doom. The ring flared upon his finger, a fresh well of power flooding him once more.
Ah, so that's the moment we Abducted it. It seems the Ring may have taken a hand in its capture and preservation as well; perhaps it's also a magical focus and we've just yet to have any system with which to learn of this facet. We know it can store souls, but to store conceptual enchantments like the Evening Sky? Truly there's more to our handheld red option than just Rank and Stats...
This is also where we got so exhausted. Without Fell-Handed Stroke we had to depend entirely on Pressure and the power of ruin to cut through the pirate's armor. It's just pure luck that our foe's defense was of a kind that could be worn away. We've been on the receiving end of such more than once ourselves, which I can only assume means this is a part of the Evening Sky's own nature. Perhaps the dusk was not meant to last, inherently transitory despite its eternal sovereignty? Or perhaps the fire of the gods burns away the murk of twilight, an ignoble desecration of the otherwise immortal phenomenon?
Victory, though the price had been steep.
"Wait, mercy, please-"
Now he advanced to melee range, kicking open the man's visor to reveal eyes of deep blue, trembling and terrified.
The Forebear's Blade descended, a swift and painless ending. While he lived in interesting times, best not to keep any enemies alive lest they fester and grow strong.
So long, apocryphal river captain. You were literally just here to bring us extra clothing. This is the other side of the Apocryphal Curse, I feel. While it forces conflict at every turn, I don't think it fits the premise of
interesting times to have those conflicts reflect nothing, or to have them add up to nothing. This served to give us a glimpse of the Doom of the Tyrant, to lend Hunger a chance for swashbuckling heroism, to open major inroads to escaping the Tyrant's shadow, and ultimately to complete our Panoply. While not all of those were guaranteed, it still has to be said that the Curse was efficient if nothing else.
It was incredibly interesting.
As the man died a new sensation emerged from the ring, an onrushing infusion of blood and vigor, vitality wound so tightly within him that it seemed fit to burst. Hunger, and the Curse of Hunger, the Affliction of the Decimator that drained life from the world, would be sated for a time.
These are the highest stakes I've ever seen put behind a full stomach in my life.
Wow that's some Curse/Artifact synergy going on right there. The voters who threw in for Luna Conqueror deserve a clap on the back for that one, even if they're the reason we'll likely never see Catherine except at swordpoint.
Wait. I just realized. If Letrizia is Asuka and Catherine is Rei, then we're not Shinji.
We're Gendo.
That had been closer than it looked. If his opponent's blade had been positioned more adroitly, if he'd failed to rally and properly create distance... the man was not skilled enough to overcome him in full, but he could have ended up far more grievously wounded.
No time to dwell. He turned and fired his grappling hook, attaching it to the Armament, and ran up the rope. Blood leaked continuously from his side. The pain would distract him, hamper his mobility, but the power of his legend and the Forebear's Blade would ensure his survival and eventual recovery.
These pre-healing days are gritty as hell. Talk of blades jabbing just a little bit off, describing the dodging of death by a fingernail's breadth. Make no mistake, were it not for weight of legend his denial would have begun with that sentence about not being able to be defeated there. Even one unlucky cut is enough to kill an unarmored man on his back.
The image of this one-armed, one-eyed man running up a grappling rope while bleeding profusely is absurd enough to be humorous, in my opinion. Just imagine: the lowly pigeon, dropping offal upon the unsuspecting insects and flowers below, only to be struck from above in turn by the sanguine of a wandering Cursebearer!
Gisena had taken a few wounds of her own, a deep gouge in one shoulder and cuts across her midriff and face. Blood flowed freely from a thin laceration of her cheek, a pale red curtain that spilled past neck and shoulder. She smiled brightly at his approach, dancing between a pair of Rift creatures to reach his side.
"Aw, were you worried about me? You shouldn't have. This gun is so much fun to play with! Propulsion of a kinetic impactor via chemical energy, what an ingenious idea..."
That's actually a lot of blood spilling, seems we're not the only ones whose high Con stats translate to being Mortal Kombat characters. Her being described as dancing between the monsters just to greet him is amusing, and a reminder of just how warlike the Maiden's grace actually is at heart.
"Stand back and don't bleed on me."
"My, how dashing!"
"Thanks. I'm the veritable flower of chivalry, killing pirates and now monsters."
"Such a dainty flower, I may just swoon!"
Is she... trying to make us feel better? She probably doesn't know much about recent events, but maybe she can feel the Tyrant's Doom weening off. I'm probably reading more into it here than necessary, but Gisena's started to have that effect on me. Sorceresses are subtle creatures, and more emotional than they ever let on...
They cleaned up the Astral beasts in short order and Gisena sealed the rift. Luckily, no further surprises were waiting for them on the river bank. Letrizia, prepared as always, had medical supplies in her cockpit, but Gisena waved them off.
"As cute as I'd look with a bandaged cheek, it's better to save our resources. The Grace of the Maiden means I'll heal faultlessly and without scars!"
He looked grimly down at his own wound, one more scar for the tapestry. "How convenient."
She grinned, learning forward. "Isn't it? I know you'd just be heartbroken if my dazzling beauty was marred."
"You should work on your dazzling ego."
"That's just empirical self-assessment, a scientist's first technique! Speaking of which, how is your wound?" She laid a gentle finger on a spot near the injury.
I'm kind of wondering if she's not apologizing here. I imagine a life-long sorceress is used to the social implications of being a nigh-angelic superhuman. But in this new place, standing next to someone with a very different kind of overwhelming power, maybe she can cross that barrier? Or she's just being silly to try and take his attention away from self-pity, that's possible too.
"How do you think? It fucking hurts."
She giggled. "I'd offer to kiss it better, but you haven't quite earned that, have you?"
"I'd rather have one of Letrizia's bandages."
Letrizia perked up. "I've got medical salve as well! It'll numb the pain and promote healing."
He nodded. "Good to hear."
Ooh, medicine! What was medicine like in Hunger's second world? Was it pure medieval, pseudo-medieval, fantasy medieval, horror medieval... there's a surprisingly amount of variation involved. Not Dying Gang should be taking notes here.
Opening her medical kit, she began applying the cream. "You'll be good as new in no time!"
"Or my money back?"
"Huh? ...A-As if you're paying me enough for this! Be honored that a Duchess is tending to you personally!"
"You're supposed to be paying me. And Gisena and I are both nobles."
"W-well, consider this a bonus!"
You should be more appreciative, Letrizia. Getting a man to admit to such a terrible thing so casually, Gisena would be proud! And... is being a City Lord really comparable to an interstellar duchess? You might as well compare the modern landowner to a Roman emperor. Not to scale of course, that would be more akin to comparing a dust mite to Unicron.
He glanced past the pilot to her Armament, the beast's head silent and staring vigilantly forward. The sense of affinity between them seemed to have dulled somewhat, the sharp edge of its keening blunted by some unseen factor.
We're pretty certain this relates to A Hunger Sated, but at the time my theory was that killing the guy had somehow caused an issue. Like, it wanted the kill instead and was pissed at us. Silly in retrospect, no?
"I'm hungry. After you're done, let's go fishing."
"F-fishing?"
"You use a rod and line to catch fish. Haven't heard of it?"
"That's rather primitive," Gisena interjected. "I've got a better idea! Find a school of fish, then drop chemical explosives near them. Water is hard to compress, so it'll be even more effective than on land! We can re-purpose the defunct munitions launcher on Verschlengorge's shoulder..."
---
Wow G you gonna do a guy's whole ethos and way of life like that, what a Null. And that cheesy name drop from Hungry, when did this turn into a sitcom? I do respect her willingness to disguise chopping up machines for utility use, that's something I love to see no matter the medium. But come on girl, that's a giant robot's shoulder-cannon you're about to dissect like some chunky frozen frog in a suburban high school.
The winning vote was [X] Knowledge and [X] No Quarter. You have are at roughly 82% of your health but due to your Accretion Rank are fighting at 91% of full strength.
Accretion reduced the effects of injury by exactly half, good to know. Not so useful now, but eh - there are still things that could screw our Christmas Tree powers up and leave us merely a man with badass war-skill. The choice of info first is surprisingly given our voting habits and known preference for hard power over soft. But then, none of our options gave significant power without risk, and this one gives us the most time with our adorable lady-friends.
Opinions re: killing the pirate have been exhausted, but that we did so was ultimately a matter of personal convenience. Perhaps the reverse-psychology of putting half an Arete against it might have played some part, as even the appearance of a bribe is highly suspicious. Would we have chosen to walk away if killing him had been stated to carry the Arete %s and walking away the psychological benefits?
The pirate's dead; what spoils did the ring of power extract from his defeat? You currently have 2.8 Arete. Choose 2 of the options below, along with any suboptions you can afford. A number of the options below are unique to this point in time.
[ ] Forebear's Blade - Echo of the Forebear - Cloud-shadow of the Forebear's might. Legendary strength and speed, and the resilience to exert them. Can be taken multiple times. [+Might, +Agility]
-[ ] 2 Arete: Undying Echo - The Forebear could withstand unbelievable punishment, only to rise again. [+++Constitution]
I remember these, it's only by way of administrative trickery we ever managed to bag either of them. One from the fish and one as part of Bright Vanquisher, I think? Also this might be our first time seeing the Constitution/Strength split, before now only Might was on display. The Undying expansion's kind of short, but then it's literally an expansion to Echo. I wonder if there's a Strength-based expansion that matches it somewhere in the Blade's tech-tree?
[ ] Forebear's Blade - Fell-Handed Stroke - A devastating blow of unutterable magnificence from which no recovery is possible. A powerful, but draining strike that inflicts cursed wounds from which spirit and will leak as freely as blood. Resists healing.
-[ ] 7 Arete: A Thousand Cuts - In the Forebear's grip could even a common knife blaze with fell power. All melee attacks made with the Forebear's Blade now apply cursed wounds. Septuples the power and speed of the Fell-Handed Stroke and allows it to be used with blade projections. Such horrific offensive power allows one to challenge foes vastly stronger.
The first we took so early, the latter much, much later. This is the beginning of a line of picks that leads into ghetto-Sword Praxis, from whose shores I know not the destination ahead. Yet at its most basic, the Fell-Handed Stroke is just a really, really nice attack. It kills a thing, like the proverbial eldritch Man With A Gun. Stabbing fools is the meme option, but decapitation has its own appeal, and for that the Forebear has our back. That it's described as magnificent is notable in light of recent meditations on the nature of Cutting and its relation to Progression, because the Forebear apparently couldn't have given a crap less about any traditional definition of magnificence. Perhaps he did see beauty in the exchange of swordplay, and Hunger has yet to reach that plateau of form and spirit from which such fancies can be afforded? Or perhaps he simply knew it to be true, and was not afraid to accept that trifling quality of his killing art.
That it's unutterable is certainly accurate, though. Language can only reduce things so much, I suppose.
[ ] 2 Arete: Sword That Was Stolen - King of Thieves - It is the prerogative of the hero true to take the implements of his enemy and turn them against him. For what righteous weapon could deny the verity of his cause, or the valor with which he pursued it?
[++Agility, +Stealth, +Theft], and combat experience now yields some degree of thieving skills. Increases ease and power of the Abduction Forbidden Art.
We missed out here. Sword That Was Stolen is
our myth, our legend more than the Forebear's own. We could've been a thief-prince, vagabond warlord, knife-point emperor, burglar of legends and shadow of gods. Instead we sup at the court of blood and ruin, mere steward of ideals forever higher than our own arm or eye. Without going down the rabbit hole, I do imagine we could've had a much stronger buffing build by going this path, owing to the 'common man' implications of larceny and petty criminality. A child can be taught to pick pockets, but it takes a lifetime to master the sword.
[ ] 7 Arete: Evening Sky - Star-stuff and velvet darkness in a mantle like billowing clouds. The power of this mantle withstands supernal force and deflects the merely mundane, granting comprehensive protection against many of the ills of the mortal realm and beyond. Abducted by he who hungers, cast now into his thrall. He who dons this mantle speaks with the voice of Evening and shares its haunting majesty. Progression can unlock further abilities.
[++Protection, ++Charisma, grants superior resistance to a wide array of status effects such as poison, mental interference, suffocation, bleeding out, etc. Somewhat vulnerable to dispellation, but acts as an ablative layer to protect the wearer from such.]
How the hell did we ever afford this thing? Those aren't stars, they're salt mines. The description of Abduction, his name not his own but rather a mere referential title, and its ultimate implications not of suzerainty but of tyranny... I love it. So much, it's a thing of terrible beauty just as the last violet rays of sunset, and its treatment is no less cruel than the heartless night whose fall it heralds and delivers. The Evening Sky is servant to darkness, but not evil itself. Father to evil perhaps, heavy with regret but retaining the fluid cleverness of its own brighter youth. Perhaps it's a better fit for the Edeldross than I'd given it credit for...
[ ] Hunger - Sleep of the Just - While sleeping, the character is massively more difficult to harm or forcibly move, and may choose to deny interruptions to his slumber, allowing his body to be used as a potent shield.
-[ ] 2 Arete: Slumber of Aeons - Increases well-rested threshold to 10 hours per day, but hours of sleep can now be banked up to a month in advance. Dramatically increases strength gained with age.
-[ ] 25 Arete: Dead But Dreaming - That is not dead which can eternal lie. And with strange aeons... Death merely induces slumber in the wearer until the heavens align for his emergence once more. Gain access to the [Outer Sorcery] skill, by which means one's dreams may twist reality towards one's purposes. Apply the effects of To Shatter Heaven to [Outer Sorcery].
---
The joke option. Also the practical option. Also the horror option. It's a versatile thing,
Justice! Would have paired well with Thief build, I feel. Got the short-term Sword That Was Stolen advancements to tide us over and the Prophet of the Elder Gods power source in the long-run, we'd miss out on Ruling Ring unless we chose to disregard 3-for-3 Defining Advancement. But then ignoring the sheer focus we've had on it between the recent Temple and its competing Ring, that might not have been so bad. The Innsmouth look would've been great for a stealth build, and forming alliances with goat-men or space lobsters is just insane enough to be possible. Embrace change, join the Reclamation!
A Hunger Sated - Temporary condition that causes the Decimator's Affliction to abate completely for a time. You may upgrade it with Arete. By default: Reduces progress from Hunger by 10% for a month. During that month the Decimator's Affliction slumbers.
[ ] 2 Arete: Quelling - Instead halves the drain rate of the Decimator's Affliction for six months. Additional unknown effect.
[ ] 7 Arete: Conclusion - Reduces progress by 25% instead, but lasts 2 years. It is easier for the hero to find some measure of peace with regards to the losses suffered at the Tyrant's hands, and is less likely to be emotionally compromised by events that remind him of such. Gives you the moral high ground and the ability to travel to lands barren of life, like outer space. Additional unknown effect.
The Quelling is a utility pick, objectively excellent over long periods of time and potentially excellent for not getting in the way while doing other things. It's probably just a stop-gap, but I'd be impressed if it's not the best of its kind available. Conclusion's more heavy on both ends, offering a means of washing off the filth from all those years of war and tragedy. That's not just Decimator's mitigation at that point, it's a real character-changing adaptation. Or is it the other way around, and Curse mitigation is always bone-deep?
With the sheer pace we've set for ourselves, The Affliction hasn't had time to reappear. But its connection to Verschlengorge brings to mind questions of how these options might have changed its relation to us. Would Quelling have made us alien to it, or strengthened the connection in sympathy with its own weakened state? Would Conclusion have given us a window into its mind, a fellow machine of war with no guilt or discomfort for its deeds, or silenced its call entirely until such a time as the need was great enough once more?
The primary means to gain Arete, as opposed to Experience are:
*Thread participation in the form of (non-spam, non-GM) posts and discussion. Calculated every story/major update.
*Fanworks of all kinds, including reactions, etc
*A sizable additional bonus is applied for non-voting discussion. Almost all discussion unrelated to the current vote qualifies - story & setting or character discussion, making long-term plans, commenting/reacting to sections of the update not related to the vote, commenting/reacting to others' fanworks and speculations, etc.
Wait, was this when the rules on Arete generation were established? I thought that was sooner. I like it, it's hype as hell. Kind of exhausting admittedly, but if it weren't it wouldn't be worth points, would it? Mixing forum game and collaborative storytelling like this, it's always experimental and rewards both personal investment and general experience. And the sheer amount of
investment generated is awe-inspiring, and the discussion... well, alright, that's normally just arguing past each other for hours on end. But still, it's the thought that counts.
I wonder... just how madhouse "all kinds" of fanworks could really get.
