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Accursed Citrine - Yet another Dark Soul/Madoka Magica Crossover

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Rayv said:
It's probably too much of a leap from "internalizing flame" to "forcefully shoving our flame into someone for ludicrous gibs". Doesn't stop me from dreaming, though. Today, learning Flash Sweat. Tomorrow, inventing Sacred Flame!
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She can just hack at things with her claws for gibs. Or if you do want to do it with fire, there's always shoving her hand into someone and casting Combustion.

Speaking of, I do find the act of pulling souls from Kirika's Soul Gem to feed and empower the flame in her heart interesting. I feel like that's metaphysically important.

On a more practical level, we should practice with our flame. MG spells and weapons all seem to have baked in combat techniques and basically work how you want. Pyromancy isn't as convenient, but even our current selection of spells are very varied. We need to test things. Maybe not Combustion, a plum of fire coming out of your hand isn't exactly hard to figure out, but Fireball definitely needs a few practice throws to get feel for range and travel time. I'd be willing to bet Magical Girl powers mean we can get some sweet distance. Similarly, we know Iron skin makes a normal person very, very slow, but we don't know how much that would slow down our little speed demon here. If it's not meaningfully slower well, we'd have another trick if we encounter something else stupidly fast. And while Flash Sweat is gross, it is very useful for Blighttown, Fire Spider Lady, and all those demons down below. Plus we can magic out of our soaked magic girl outfit then magic it back all nice and clean.

And speaking of fire spider lady, we finally have a use for Humanity if find some! Give it too her sister and get us some more Pyromancy!
 
Nottheunmaker said:
Training
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That's a very good point, we should definitely test out Fireball and Iron Flesh as soon as we get a minute. Don't think there's any need to train with Flash Sweat, but I bet our first few Fireballs will miss entirely.

I'm honestly just joking about Sacred Flame. There's likely no meaningful distinction between that and Great Combusting someone's face at touch range.

I hope we'll be friends with the Fair Lady, but that's pretty far off, given there are two areas and bosses plus yet unknown number of social "bosses" to defeat beforehand. For all we know, Oscar'll throw a fit about it. Or maybe we'll manage to talk Quelaag out of aggro with our impeccable persuasive, uh, thingie.
 
I don't know about magic, but in the game the Chosen Undead figures it out somehow. They don't have any detect illusion spell or the like. It is, after all, necessary to get by it to progress the game. Granted, Kirika could just hop down from the second Bell of Awakening, but Oscar probably won't be game for that, so we still need to find a way for him to do it.

Besides, it's not like the GM doesn't know we, or at least I and the other Pyromancy fans, want to meet her. There'll be a way.
 
Talon TigerDino said:
Can Kirika even detect illusionary walls?
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Nottheunmaker said:
Besides, it's not like the GM doesn't know we, or at least I and the other
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I will say there is at least one thing that would let you find and dispell illusions (of all kinds) without Kirika randomly swinging like the maniac she is.

Edit: You actually already have access to the thing, but it's about time Kirika makes her decent down towards Blighttown. Don't worry, I have something in mind for the Fairy Lady.
 
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Part 72: Firelink Shrine XII
  • Threadmarks
    • [X] Go talk to Oscar
    -[X] About "Cara"



    You stretch and put your arms behind your hand. "Well, I'll leave you to, uh… do your thing. I got some more stuff to take care of before we head off again."

    Laurentius responds with a nod and after exchanging goodbyes, you head down the stairs towards the bonfire. Oscar is still sitting there in all his moody gloom. Well, you assume he's moody. It's hard to tell when he's covered in armour.

    With an exaggerated grunt, you plop down beside Oscar, stretching out and letting the warmth wash over you.

    "All finished here, then?" Oscar asks, watching the fire flicker.

    "Just about…" You reply.

    You both sit there silently for a while. You tap your foot idly, trying to figure out how to bring up this whole 'Cara' thing. Eventually, you decide to go with…

    "So, who's Cara?"

    Oscar sits up stiff and you immediately curse your own social incompetence. You're not the best at the whole conversation thing, but even you realise going straight to the point on a topic that clearly puts him in a sulky mood isn't the best way to go about it. Damn it, why are you so-

    With a long, heavy sigh, he slowly reaches up and removes his helmet. His jaw is tense as he stares down at his helmet faceplate, running his finger against the gaps and grooves.

    "I had hoped you'd forgotten about that." He mutters quietly, his brow furrowed.

    You pull her knees up and lean forward. "Well, it was kinda hard to with all your moping about."

    Oscar smiles wryly at the joke before letting out another long sigh. He goes quiet, just staring down at his helmet for a while. For a moment, you fear you've put him off and you're not going to get an answer after all, but he speaks just as you open your mouth to suggest moving on.

    "Cara was my little sister."

    You stare at him blankly, not expecting to have gotten this far. "Uh, what… what happened to her?" You ask, not really sure how to handle what's clearly a sensitive topic.

    His face tenses at the question and he takes another moment to respond. "She… she died. Some time ago. A victim of a purge of the Undead."

    "Huh? I thought you said Aster… Astra… your home was pretty chill about the Undead?" You ask, tilting your head quizzically.

    "Astora treats the Undead better than most places, but there are still tensions." He balls his fists tightly and lets out yet another sigh. "I suppose someone thought Cara was soon to go Hollow. The lord of my town sent some men to 'deal with her' while I was away. When I returned home, I found her in such a state that it was a miracle that she survived, even being Undead."

    You make a face. So, some pompous ass sent thugs to kill a weak kid while Oscar was out so he couldn't do anything. You think about what you'd do if someone went after Oriko while you were away.

    "I would've gutted the guy like a fish if it was me." You growl.

    "I should have just been glad she was still alive and quietly left the town…" Oscar replies, so quietly that you can barely hear him. "I… wasn't thinking straight."

    You lean forward, your interest piqued. "Oh? What did you do?" You ask, doing your best (and failing) to suppress a curious smile.

    He pinches the bridge of his nose as if to hide some embarrassment. "I demanded to see my lord. He wouldn't let me in, so…" He sighs again. "I cut down anyone who got in my way and strangled the man with my own hands."

    As he says this, he puts his helmet down and holds his hands out in front of him. He stares and them for a while, his face a mix of pain and shame.

    "Afterwards, I took Cara and fled. She was badly maimed by the assault, however, and became Hollow soon after…" He grinds his teeth and covers his eyes with his hand. "She didn't want to hurt anyone, so she begged me. She begged for me to…!"

    Even you realise you're forcing him to open old wounds, so you clear your throat and lean back. "And, uh… what about after that?" You ask, trying to move away from it. "What did you do after that?"

    Oscar lowers his hand and stares into the fire. "I decided to become Undead myself and travel to the Undead Asylum. I decided I'd try my luck on my family's old adage and free the Undead there, if only as a tiny act of spite."

    And that's where he met you. He lost a sister and gain a… er, friend? Companion? Whatever you are, it's kind of like something out of a manga. A tragic backstory fit for any antihero.

    Oscar lets out another long, tired sigh and reaches into a pouch on his belt. From it, he retrieves a small metal container. He holds it up gently and stares at it as if reminiscing. "I would've done anything for Cara, Kirika. Anything. It was the two of us against the world, and I failed her."

    Once again your mind goes to Oriko. Even in the end, when her whole world was turned upside down and she turned to desperate tactics, even when you sacrificed yourself to finally achieve her goal… you couldn't protect her. You weren't strong enough and she died. You don't know what happened next, but if that encounter with the pink-haired girl wasn't a dream, it might have been for nothing…

    Maybe you shouldn't give Oscar as much crap in the future…


    [] Keep talking to Oscar
    -[] Write in

    [] Wander around the shrine

    [] Move off
    -[] Back to the Depths
    -[] Head into the Burg
    --[] Go see someone…
    -[] Write in
     
  • Threadmarks
    • I'd advise against more talking. Oscar was taking the talk hard enough that even Kirika could pick up on it.

    [X] Move off
    -[X] Back to the Depths

    There's sewer monsters to set on fire.
     
    It's amusing to me that if Oscar's an antihero, we're definitely an antivillain. Our lives have the same story beats, except the shame part.

    I think we should respond. It'll be a dick move to hear his tragic backstory out, go "Cool." and leave, but I agree we shouldn't linger on it. Plus, Kirika is rather outspoken about her beliefs and Love before Reason is a defining trait of hers, I don't think she would stay silent here.

    [X] Keep talking to Oscar
    -[X] Comfort him you dummy
    -[X] Tell him you get doing anything for your loved ones.

    Though I want to mention, the way the Curse of the Undead is being interpreted here sounds strange to me. Oscar "chose" it? Hollows can die? To me, the entire reason it's so horrifying was always that Hollows cannot die, period. There's no escape.

    But I'm not too stuck on it, since going Hollow is ego death in the first place.
     
    [X] Keep talking to Oscar
    -[X] Comfort him you dummy
    -[X] Tell him you get doing anything for your loved ones.
     
    Rayv said:
    Though I want to mention, the way the Curse of the Undead is being interpreted here sounds strange to me. Oscar "chose" it? Hollows can die? To me, the entire reason it's so horrifying was always that Hollows cannot die, period. There's no escape.
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    There's plenty of lore to suggest becoming Undead can be a willing thing. The Dark Sign must be branded upon people by someone, whether it's a priest of sufficient authority or the lingering power of Gwyn himself somehow or something else entirely. All it would really take is to find whoever does it and get them to do it.

    As for "killing" Hollows, it's somewhat vague. The whole point of being Undead/Hollow is that you can't die, but then what do people who hunt them do? There are several possible methods to deal with them, whether they can be "killed" or not.

    If they can, then that kinda doesn't need much more thought. Maybe it's burning them to the point of being unable to recover? Maybe separating their body significantly means they can't put themselves back together? Hell, the powers behind the Dark Sign aren't exactly lacking in schemes, so it's possible there's an obscure way to remove the brand.

    If they can't be killed, it's simply a matter of making sure they can't do anything once they've been cut down. Destroy the body while keeping them alive, throw them into a place they can never escape, etc.
     
    AClassyBunny said:
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    Starting with a P.S. through the magic of editing, I apologize for underestimating how wordy I'd get. I'm working solely with my understanding of DS lore here; I bow to your right as an author to change any and all aspects of it for any reason you like. I'll knock it off if you give a word.

    As far as I understand, the Darksign appears spontaneously, and humans think of it as a disease, e.g. Astora was destroyed by an "outbreak" of the curse. Why would someone choose to catch a terrible disease that would simply land them in an Undead Asylum?

    The real curse is that of the gods branding all of humanity with the Seal of Fire, and that is why they are mortal. When the Flame fades, more and more people start to revert to their true form, with the Darksign becoming visible as it's burning away the escaping Humanity to feed the Flame, which in turn maintains the illusion of mortality over the rest. In other words, someone hadn't been branded with the Darksign would be a Hollow to begin with, because having it is a consequence of being (to us) recognizably human.

    Deliberately inducing it would require understanding the true nature of the curse, and Gwyn made sure to bury it well, see the Ringed City. I also theorize that to be the reason New Londo was sealed, as the art of Lifedrain could conceivably lead humans to discovering the truth.

    Hollows dying simply makes me question the point of having Undead Asylums and/or Lockaways. They wouldn't need to be imprisoned had it been so easy. But for the purposes of the story, I have no issues reconciling it as "it doesn't work on every Undead reliably enough and takes too much time and effort".
     
    Mmm I thought when Oscar say it that he was alive and have the dark sign but because he haven't died he wasn't a undead
    So he decided to kill himself in order to "become" one
     
    Rayv said:
    Hollows can die? To me, the entire reason it's so horrifying was always that Hollows cannot die, period. There's no escape.

    But I'm not too stuck on it, since going Hollow is ego death in the first place.
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    Well, we can see from the fight with Slave Knight Gael in DS3 that eventually, everything will be nought but dust and 2 very violent psychos slamming into each other, so perhaps you can just grind down Undead into nothing? Also Bonfires are made out of undead, don't forget, so sometimes they can be permanently incapacitated via the Flame. Alternatively, Gael is just able to schlorp up whatever keeps Hollows going.
     
    Gael was schlorping up Pygmies though, not undead. Pygmies are ancestors of humanity and the undead, but they are something different, even if they share the Dark Soul.

    The point about the bonfires stands though. Though that seems an uncommon way of dealing with them. The main ways appear to be locking them up, or leaving them somewhere out of the way. After all, many undead are content to just sit or stand around, doing nothing.
     
    [X] Keep talking to Oscar
    -[X] Comfort him you dummy
    -[X] Tell him you get doing anything for your loved ones.
     
    Rayv said:
    Hollows dying simply makes me question the point of having Undead Asylums and/or Lockaways. They wouldn't need to be imprisoned had it been so easy. But for the purposes of the story, I have no issues reconciling it as "it doesn't work on every Undead reliably enough and takes too much time and effort".
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    From my understanding of it, every time an undead dies, they lose a bit of themselves in the process. Eventually, when they have nothing more to lose, they no longer get back up after being killed.
     
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