[X] Gondar Hrsillimas
[X] The Ring of Power: Crimson Flare - 25 Arete. (0 picks, but requires Chief Dominion)
And now to explain this vote.
We should pick Gondar. Yes, we voted for infiltration, but that's actually partly to our benefit since it won't work well on him.
Gondar will come to us. Outside the Temple. This is a
good thing, because it means that Letrizia piloting Versh as well as Gisena will be able to assist us in fighting him. We'll have more options.
Additionally, we are vastly stronger than we were when we fought Vanreir, and Gondar's Rank is barely higher than ours so he's substantially more manageable in a fight that "potentially not completely suicidal" like fighting Avecarn is.
And lastly, killing him doesn't destroy our capacity for infiltration. It might even be able to serve as an opportunity to further ingratiate ourselves with the Inner Temple's bureaucracy. We can come into the temple after killing him and if they mention "Hey Gondar went after you and here you are not being dead." Hunger can say "He was with you? I thought he was a Voyaging Realm brigand. That's kind of upsetting, I was clearing my head away from the Temple, but since it's not a deal-breaker... May I have his job?".
As for the Ring, here's the thing.
Half of you are fucking terrified of picking up the Ruling Ring. It's an objective fact. The words Ruling Ring cannot be mentioned without 3 people or more mentioning the words Contest of Primacy shortly after. This presents a path to still getting that EFB and assuaging your fears in its pursuit.
- The Azure Ring will bend the knee to the Crimson Ring, so that means we can safely keep it and wield its power, instead of destroying it (and destroying it was always an option, so don't say it wasn't; its Call asks for salvation or death)
- Picking up Crimson Flare does not remove the ability to piecemeal Ruling Ring stuff
- We can still buy the Dominions and Preeminances for War and Passion, and we don't lose Chief Dominion, so minus removing our Arete stockpile this doesn't put us that far back from earning Ruling Ring
- This simplifies purchase decisions in the future - Augment Dominion: Blood I, II, & III, Sublime Transfusion, and Ennobling are all folded into its purview so we won't have to spend Picks and Arete on them; and their effects are far more magnified this way than they would have been otherwise
- People were really enthusiastic about Ennobling & the Augment/Sublime combinations because they allowed for huge opportunities for offering healing and empowerment as diplomatic options for Hunger. That is still true now, but the value they would offer is vastly increased.
- This massively opens up the options available to us for post-temple nation-building (which we'll need to do at some point) and also will let us massively enhance Letrizia and Gisena's personal capabilities; never again will we have to worry for their safety, for they will kick ass and chew bubblegum like few could contest.
- The benefits will not disappear when we do pick up Ruling Ring, and it offers capabilities the Ruling Ring didn't (unless they fall under the blanket of reality warping, in which case we have been HIDEOUSLY underestimating the strength of the Ruling Ring's reality warping). If we get this, the Ruling Ring will to all expectations be even stronger for its addition. So we would, in fact, be adding substantial value to that EFB once we do get it.
This Ring is, in all ways I can see, a phenomenal option to be able to pick up, and will objectively enhance our capabilities in the interim period while we are bootstrapping ourselves into enough power to be comfortable setting off the contest of primacy when we pick up its sibling EFB.
