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Abrogation (Steampunk)

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Alivaril said:
A yelp is forcefully suppressed as Promtheus rapidly scales your legs and settles where you'd normally put your backpack, hugging your waist for stability. You awkwardly pat his legs, take the few steps necessary to reach the place you left Neighilist, and...

"Why are you wearing eyeliner?"

Neighilist releases an annoyed snort and continues trying to scrape away the smudged black smiley face drawn on his forehead. After a few moments of thought, you sigh and idly reach back to rub Prometheus's core.

"I don't know who you are, but this is starting to get really annoying. Nobody likes stalkers."

A rumbling purr from Prometheus and distant birdsong are your only answers.
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I like this particular stalker. Or at least their sense of humor. Can't imagine why that might be...
Nixeu said:
*returns to horse after battle*

"...Seriously? Who puts eye-liner on someone's horse?"
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Nope. No idea why.
globalwarmth said:
lets get out of dodge!

North! Away from family, also we need to catch our stalker. They are funny but are probably one of the killer trained empowered.
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Doubt it. I'm thinking Inspired. That was probably their spyclock. I suspect we have a fan. Or a bodyguard. One of the two.

Also, the apparent accuracy predictions of the Blackburns makes me think they're in-tune with the Light, more than most. I can believe that it finds them interesting, given their courtship rituals.

...I wonder if there's a connection there. Anyway, yeah we should vacate the area. I suspect we're allergic to aetheric fire. I'll admit that I don't find just about any direction particularly appealing, if most every direction leads to either danger or our parent's allies. Tempted to just roll a die, at this point.
 
[X] Change course and leave the League. You did poke them with a rather sharp stick AND you were probably close enough for them to get a good look at you this time. You'd rather not risk Empowered coming after you.
-[X] Head south. You should be past the lands ofyour parents by now.
 
Do we have any long term plans besides building our sky fort?

[X] Change course and leave the League. You did poke them with a rather sharp stick AND you were probably close enough for them to get a good look at you this time. You'd rather not risk Empowered coming after you.
-[X] Head south. You should be past the lands of your parents by now.
 
With the understanding it's time to skedaddle...

[x] Change course and leave the League. You did poke them with a rather sharp stick AND you were probably close enough for them to get a good look at you this time. You'd rather not risk Empowered coming after you.
-[x] Head north, back toward civilization you're vaguely familiar with.

Our parents are apparently southeast, so north is going further away from them. Bonus that it goes into more familiar lands so we'll know what we can get away with, instead of repeating that whole song and dance of "see something we don't understand, be forced to ask about basic local knowledge".

Also, north is apparently going closer to that failed Blackburn candidate. We may or may not wander in that direction, but it might be interesting to check out at least. From what I recall, it was our second most popular option after "go west".
 
[x] Change course and leave the League. You did poke them with a rather sharp stick AND you were probably close enough for them to get a good look at you this time. You'd rather not risk Empowered coming after you.
-[x] Head north, back toward civilization you're vaguely familiar with.
 
@Alivaril What sort of time taken/range does our adorable spider-pet have on subverting warclocks? Would it be feasible to pop back in and order all of them to march through a portal and follow us instead? They may not be good quality, but at worst they are parts that can follow us without too much trouble.
 
Sigil said:
What sort of time taken/range does our adorable spider-pet have on subverting warclocks? Would it be feasible to pop back in and order all of them to march through a portal and follow us instead? They may not be good quality, but at worst they are parts that can follow us without too much trouble.
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I think those angry soldiers might have something to say about that. If we leave a portal open long enough for warclocks to follow us, that's also long enough for humans to come through. And we're not invulnerable right now.
 
Thinking we should skeddadle, ideally someplace w are at least a little familiar with.

[x] Change course and leave the League. You did poke them with a rather sharp stick AND you were probably close enough for them to get a good look at you this time. You'd rather not risk Empowered coming after you.
-[x] Head north, back toward civilization you're vaguely familiar with.
 
[X] Change course and leavethe League. You did poke them with a rather sharp stick AND you were probably close enough for them to get a good look at you this time. You'd rather not risk Empowered coming after you.
-[X] Head south. You should be past the lands ofyour parents by now.
 
@Alivaril: How well do we know the styles of our parents and their allies? We didn't immediately recognize the spyclock, but how good do we feel our chances are of identifying it if it's one of theirs? Also, until we get a chance to take it apart, we should assume that it belonged to Smiley and Smiley is going to try to steal it so we can't inspect it. Do we have any way to keep that from happening? Maybe stick it into a deep inside pocket? Should be able to sew one onto the inside of our clothing or something. If nothing else, it'd give us a reason to yell at Smiley and maybe get a better response.
 
[x] Change course and leave the League. You did poke them with a rather sharp stick AND you were probably close enough for them to get a good look at you this time. You'd rather not risk Empowered coming after you.
-[x] Head north, back toward civilization you're vaguely familiar with.
 
Sigil said:
@Alivaril What sort of time taken/range does our adorable spider-pet have on subverting warclocks? Would it be feasible to pop back in and order all of them to march through a portal and follow us instead? They may not be good quality, but at worst they are parts that can follow us without too much trouble.
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Prometheus's specialty lay in changing the "owner" of personalized equipment to you. He usually requires touch range and about ten to thirty seconds to manage it. Attempting to subvert low-quality enemy Warclocks seems like it'd be more trouble than it's worth.

Vebyast said:
@Alivaril: How well do we know the styles of our parents and their allies? We didn't immediately recognize the spyclock, but how good do we feel our chances are of identifying it if it's one of theirs? Also, until we get a chance to take it apart, we should assume that it belonged to Smiley and Smiley is going to try to steal it so we can't inspect it. Do we have any way to keep that from happening? Maybe stick it into a deep inside pocket? Should be able to sew one onto the inside of our clothing or something. If nothing else, it'd give us a reason to yell at Smiley and maybe get a better response.
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In order:

1: Fairly well, you think. Apart from the King and yourself, nobody in your homeland should be strong enough to make such advanced and delicate machinery. One or the other, maybe.

2: You do have inner pockets inside the main pockets of your backpack, yes. You think those will be adequate, especially if Prometheus is curled up inside said backpack.
 
Alivaril said:
Prometheus's specialty lay in changing the "owner" of personalized equipment to you. He usually requires touch range and about ten to thirty seconds to manage it. Attempting to subvert low-quality enemy Warclocks seems like it'd be more trouble than it's worth.
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For whatever reason, I was thinking it was some sort of wireless electronic warfare deal, but this fits better. I withdraw my suggestion to grab some Warclocks then, it would take too long.
 
Vebyast said:
I suspect that we're going to be responsible for the aetheric fire, probably after they demonstrate a failure to shape up by attacking us. But yes, I think we GTFO for now and give them time to either heed the warning or cut themselves the remaining rope.
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Maybe, but I think it's equally likely that the Light will simply choose a champion, either from the population of the League, or outside it, and burn the place to the ground. It depends heavily on if we're in a position to do that safely, since the Light seems to like us enough to worry about our safety.
Vebyast said:
@Alivaril: How well do we know the styles of our parents and their allies? We didn't immediately recognize the spyclock, but how good do we feel our chances are of identifying it if it's one of theirs? Also, until we get a chance to take it apart, we should assume that it belonged to Smiley and Smiley is going to try to steal it so we can't inspect it. Do we have any way to keep that from happening? Maybe stick it into a deep inside pocket? Should be able to sew one onto the inside of our clothing or something. If nothing else, it'd give us a reason to yell at Smiley and maybe get a better response.
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One thing to note about our new friend is that they must have had that spyclock in-place before we did our first ambush. It's possibly they've been following us since the battle, or even from before it, but I think it's more likely that we raised enough eyebrows in town to get their attention.

Might have been our supposedly going for help that did it, actually. Assuming this person was already planning on hitting the armies, they may have been planning on doing the same simultaneous attack stuff with whoever we got to help. It just so happened that we did it ourselves.

I suppose it's also possible they had the area blanketed in scouting spyclocks, but that seems unlikely, given the sophisticated design. They can't be that easy or cheap to make.
Alivaril said:
1: Fairly well, you think. Apart from the King and yourself, nobody in your homeland should be strong enough to make such advanced and delicate machinery. One or the other, maybe.
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Hm. That seriously reduces the odds of it being someone our parents sent to guard us. So I'm leaning towards either a travelling Inspired, an official League Inspired sent to handle this situation, or a local, rogue Inspired. The possible focus on concealment might point to the last one. Nothing conclusive, but a young Inspired trying to hide their talents might end up with a focus on stealth tech.

Speaking of which... @Alivaril: was the spyclock carrying eyeshadow, and do we think it could have carved that Smiley on the tree?
 
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When did we name the horse, and how is he trying to scrape the paint off?

Great name though.
 
Nixeu said:
Speaking of which... @Alivaril: was the spyclock carrying eyeshadow, and do we think it could have carved that Smiley on the tree?
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You think it could've carved into the tree, but it isn't carrying any eyeshadow. Its needlelike bill appears hollow and it does have a small liquid reservoir connected to said bill, although the reservoir is empty. There are no visible traces of what used to be inside.

banjo2E said:
When did we name the horse, and how is he trying to scrape the paint off?

Great name though.
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There was a vote for it a while back, and he's basically rubbing his head against a natural rock wall.
 
@Alivaril How hard would it be to add suction to a two sided portal? I'm thinking in terms of suctioning up raw materials.
Or ... since the Wraith Field design shows that it's possible to return from the Void, do a delayed pairing of portals such that one sucks things into the void and then the second is made and everything in the void gets spat out.

Also, would building a space station in the Void be feasible, or would there be distressingly high danger of being permanently locked out of reality?

Alivaril said:
They don't believe it, you know. Fortunately, their agreement was never a requirement. You just need enough of them thinking about the possibility of them changing. When fighting against a stubborn Inspired armed with the thoughts of hundreds of humans and supported by a cooperative gift, reality needs to bring more than casual indifference. You couldn't do this in a city, for instance; artificial structures and expectations would work against you. Reality would have a predefined set of rules and you'd have an exceptionally difficult time fighting them.

In a wild valley, one where the only intelligent minds for a large distance are watching you with barely-suppressed terror? That's another story entirely. Your words are echoed by an abrupt increase in the weight held aloft by each arm. When you actually bother to look at the components provided, you can see your own expectations were fulfilled.
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Does the moral witness/belief effect propagate through portals? If we were alone on a mountain top and then opened portals to make ourselves visible to various distant groups, would it function for a Surge?
And what does Lorelei think the ... reality resistance factor would be inside the Void?
 
mastigos said:
@Alivaril How hard would it be to add suction to a two sided portal? I'm thinking in terms of suctioning up raw materials.
Or ... since the Wraith Field design shows that it's possible to return from the Void, do a delayed pairing of portals such that one sucks things into the void and then the second is made and everything in the void gets spat out.

Also, would building a space station in the Void be feasible, or would there be distressingly high danger of being permanently locked out of reality?


Does the moral witness/belief effect propagate through portals? If we were alone on a mountain top and then opened portals to make ourselves visible to various distant groups, would it function for a Surge?
And what does Lorelei think the ... reality resistance factor would be inside the Void?
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You don't know the answers to most of these; you'd need to upgrade Skybreaker, which you're not sure you'll be able to do for a while. For trains of thought? Yes, it should work with linked rifts.

One thing you do remember is that the Void is actively opposed to the act of construction. Trying to build something inside it will end with your death. You can build completed structures and then send them in, but even having modular areas connect to form a greater whole is risky.
 
Alivaril said:
One thing you do remember is that the Void is actively opposed to the act of construction. Trying to build something inside it will end with your death. You can build completed structures and then send them in, but even having modular areas connect to form a greater whole is risky.
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I want to unleash the Void on the trend of including crafting in video games where it doesn't belong.
 
Alivaril said:
You think it could've carved into the tree, but it isn't carrying any eyeshadow. Its needlelike bill appears hollow and it does have a small liquid reservoir connected to said bill, although the reservoir is empty. There are no visible traces of what used to be inside.
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Well. That's ominous. Really glad our new pet can detect these things.
Vebyast said:
Okay, has a secondary mode for assassinations. We should probably start gathering materials for a suit of armor.
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Or a small point-defense turret for Prometheus. Nothing majorly powerful, since these things are probably not heavily armored.
Carrnage said:
With our luck the current Blackburn heir was lazily scrolling through spyclocks when he saw a cute girl singing.
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I have already suggested something of the like. That said, they'd need to be close by to start with. I kinda doubt that liquid reservoir was full of eyeliner.
 
Could we rig up whatever link this spyclock has to send information back, and the info war suite on Gift, to probe the network on the other side to deliberately send information, and maybe even get some information on whats on the other side back if it happens to be connected to some larger network?

Is the void a single 3-brane parallel with our world, or is it any or some combination of not-flat, several branes, or higher in dimensional? Does it ever move in relation to our world, or are things dumber into it still floating around near where we left them?

Does "Nature of Inspiration" count as a field of knowledge that information can grant access to? If so, is it not doing so because it's afraid we'd use the knowledge against it?

[x] Attempt to hug inspiration.

I don't like any of the travel options listed. What are our options if we were to continue traveling past each of those destinations for about twice as long?

If we made a mind that was inspired, but was had no capability for emotions, goals, or memory, and just mindlessly did what inspiration tole it to, would that effectively give inspiration a body of it's own? Actually, just capturing an existing weak inspired and lobotomizing them might do this.

Does warklanks and vehicles and other things powered by Gift's portals also let gift remote control them?

How hard would it be to build a slightly larger (maybe 20cm) portal frame like the one used for powering things of Gift, and have it open to the Void?

One thing should be very possible and downright easy to make even without a surge right away, and could help us out a lot: A gun-shaped casing for one of Gift's detachable batteries, with two modes, one that functions like a melee range weapon and one that functions like a wielding torch.
 
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