Remove ads

Consumption

Reader mode
Vote Tally : Original - Consumption | Page 11 | Sufficient Velocity [Posts: 269-351]
##### NetTally 1.9.7

Options:
A camp.
A ruined stone tower.
A snow-covered wasteland.

Winner: A ruined stone tower.
[1] AramilOniasha
[1] BunnyLord
[1] ConfusedPotato
[1] CosmosQueen
[1] drake_azathoth
[1] fictionfan
[1] Gamefreak1ed
[1] Genesys
[1] gjones600
[1] Grigori
[1] ImperatorV
[1] Kshail
[1] mythfan12
[1] Prefixmancer
[1] SwiftRosenthal
[1] SystemicHatter
[1] What A Day
[1] yttam50
[2] banjo2E
[2] Brainwasher
[2] curiosity
[2] DeepWaters
[2] GreatGreyShrike
[2] Nixeu
[2] pressea
[2] sainen
[2] Simon_Jester
[2] Sivizt
[2] veekie
[2] Yog
[3] Archeo Lumiere
[3] Demojay
[3] DiceOfStupidity
[3] Spectral Waltz
[3] SynchronizedWritersBlock
[3] Umi-san
[3] Unhacker
[3] Vebyast
[-] Internetholic Li
[-] Nevill
[-] Zlaff

First Runner Up: A camp.
[1] Archeo Lumiere
[1] DeepWaters
[1] GreatGreyShrike
[1] Internetholic Li
[1] Simon_Jester
[1] Spectral Waltz
[1] SynchronizedWritersBlock
[1] Unhacker
[1] veekie
[1] Zlaff
[2] AramilOniasha
[2] BunnyLord
[2] Demojay
[2] DiceOfStupidity
[2] fictionfan
[2] Gamefreak1ed
[2] Genesys
[2] Grigori
[2] ImperatorV
[2] Kshail
[2] mythfan12
[2] SwiftRosenthal
[2] SystemicHatter
[2] Umi-san
[2] Vebyast
[3] banjo2E
[3] ConfusedPotato
[3] CosmosQueen
[3] curiosity
[3] gjones600
[3] Nixeu
[3] Prefixmancer
[3] pressea
[3] sainen
[3] Sivizt
[3] What A Day
[3] Yog
[3] yttam50
[-] Brainwasher
[-] drake_azathoth
[-] Nevill

Second Runner Up: A snow-covered wasteland.
[1] banjo2E
[1] Brainwasher
[1] curiosity
[1] Demojay
[1] DiceOfStupidity
[1] Nevill
[1] Nixeu
[1] pressea
[1] sainen
[1] Sivizt
[1] Umi-san
[1] Vebyast
[1] Yog
[2] Archeo Lumiere
[2] ConfusedPotato
[2] CosmosQueen
[2] gjones600
[2] Prefixmancer
[2] Spectral Waltz
[2] SynchronizedWritersBlock
[2] Unhacker
[2] What A Day
[2] Zlaff
[3] AramilOniasha
[3] BunnyLord
[3] DeepWaters
[3] Gamefreak1ed
[3] Genesys
[3] GreatGreyShrike
[3] Grigori
[3] ImperatorV
[3] Kshail
[3] mythfan12
[3] Simon_Jester
[3] SwiftRosenthal
[3] SystemicHatter
[3] veekie
[3] yttam50
[-] drake_azathoth
[-] fictionfan
[-] Internetholic Li


Total No. of Voters: 41
 
BTW, if anyone has image suggestions for Melia, now would be the time for them. I'm (continuing to) look as well right now.

@pressea While your initial suggestion does look nice, I try to avoid using images which have <12-ish "Find other sizes of this image" when looked at using Google's "Search by image" function. I find it tends to be a good indicator of what artwork is or isn't zealously guarded by the artist / whether or not they're OK with other people using them if they don't have a stated policy anywhere. Having a broken character portrait is just awkward.

EDIT: *cough* Only just remembered I have a bookmarked folder with some art I already have permission to use on a limited basis, provided they're changed from their original size. Oops.
 
Last edited:
SynchronizedWritersBlock said:
Best to look at the NetTally wiki. The default is Rated Instant Runoff. e: Ranked Voting page is a little out of date, but the default is RIR now. Explained at the bottom under Algorithm.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
So the Wilson algorithm makes the decision. That is... kind of opaque. Oh well.

Alivaril said:
BTW, if anyone has image suggestions for Melia, now would be the time for them. I'm (continuing to) look as well right now.

@pressea While your initial suggestion does look nice, I try to avoid using images which have <12-ish "Find other sizes of this image" when looked at using Google's "Search by image" function. I find it tends to be a good indicator of what artwork is or isn't zealously guarded by the artist / whether or not they're OK with other people using them if they don't have a stated policy anywhere. Having a broken character portrait is just awkward.

EDIT: *cough* Only just remembered I have a bookmarked folder with some art I already have permission to use on a limited basis, provided they're changed from their original size. Oops.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Out of curiosity, why does resizing matter?
 
Simon_Jester said:
So the Wilson algorithm makes the decision. That is... kind of opaque. Oh well.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
As I understand it, Wilson scoring boils down to: Assuming that there's some underlying 'true distribution' of how good each option is, and using the collected votes as probabilistic measurements drawn from that underlying distribution, taking into account things like 'more votes is more data' and 'if the votes are scattered all over the place it's not very useful', what option has the highest 'we're pretty sure the score is better than this' value?.
 
Simon_Jester said:
So the Wilson algorithm makes the decision. That is... kind of opaque. Oh well.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
It's not simply explained, but this gives the logic behind why the Wilson score is used, and this has a graphical representation that shows why visually. Basically, it's a more accurate method of determining the preference of a population where each option has a varied sample size than taking the average rating.

e: If I were to try to put it simply, for the NetTally implementation:
The top two Wilson score picks are chosen because they are popular, have the most preferences, and have the least non-preferences.
To choose between them it checks each of those two options paired against every other option.
 
Last edited:
Well, that took longer than expected. Resuming my work on the update itsef; I feel like this might be enough to go with.




Artist: Sakimichan



Little unsure about this last one.

EDIT: No, you don't vote yet.
 
Last edited:
I'm not too fond of Headband's hairstyle, but otherwise she fits well enough so I'm okay with her. Magic and Crown both look too young, though I would've gone for the latter if we'd voted 14. Studying looks a bit too young, as well, but there's an implied tallness to her that makes it easier to buy that she's 16. Though, she definitely looks more... affluent? Than our protagonist seems to be. Match's face looks kind of Uncanny Valley-ish to me for some reason I can't quite place, so I'm against that one.
 
I like Studying, Magic, and Crown. Although I wish Crown looked a bit older then it'd be perfect.
 
Match is certainly my favorite. She does look a bit young, but for 16 it's okay: teenagers at that age have a strange distribution in terms of development. I like the 'wild magic' feel to it, the way the tiny flames are not just on the match but flickering about really feels like a summoner. The lost look in her face also really seems to work with this narrative. The style also seems the least anime-esque.

Magic is probably my second choice, but the magic book kind of dominates the picture and while she does have personality she seems kind of bizarrely happy. Otherwise it's pretty good- I like the clothing and the fact she does have emotion in her face.

Crown, unfortunately, DOES look too young to me because it's not bad- I like the simple clothing and the humor in her face.
​
Studying feels generic to me, there's just nothing terribly distinctive about it and she looks bored. The skirt-highsock combo fashion is also kind of not my thing.

Headband I'm kind of conflicted on. I love the clothing, and the feeling in her face, but the maiden in distress vibe is almost too strong and I'm not really sure the clothes fit her background.
 
Last edited:
Remove ads
Chapter 1 & Appearance
  • Threadmarks
    • Winner: A ruined stone tower.

    You carefully extract yourself from the collection of soft moss, grass, branches, and miscellaneous other soft junk you'd landed on. You can't see any feathers, bones, tufts of fur, or other hints to tell you what sort of creature lives in it. Since the entire rough circle looks like it's about half a meter across, you sincerely doubt it's just some tiny little bird.

    A preliminary scan of the 'room' provides no information on where you are or how you could've gotten here. Patting your clothes down turns up a similar lack of anything informative. Meanwhile, your friends don't seem to share your confusion or concern and are happily poking their faces into every crevice and hole they can find.

    Gingerly sitting back down on the nest, you turn your thoughts back toward the moments-long chain of events which led to you coming here. Although you'd been under the impression sea monsters weren't dumb enough to head so close to shore, it would seem you were unlucky enough to find an exception.

    You aren't too worried about the Scout. Their job is to find potential mages in even the most remote areas; even if he can't outright kill whatever the monster was, you'd be shocked if he couldn't flee from it.

    So, back to you. Although it was over too quickly for you to actually feel fear, you know you really, really hadn't wanted to land in the water. You lost a bunch of mana, reality decided to tear itself apart, and here you are.

    Which means... what, exactly?

    You aren't stupid. Although you'd thought portals traveling between places only existed in fairy tales, you're fairly certain you just provided the mana for one. Having it be a jagged tear as opposed to a proper circle is a little frightening, but since you can't see any seams in midair, you aren't too worried about damaging the universe. You could be the victim of a mental illusion inflicted upon you by the monster, but...

    ...1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512...

    ...Your mind doesn't feel muddled enough for that. Your butt and lower back both ache too much for you to be a ghost, so you're clearly not dead. With all those eliminated, you think it's safe to say you just tore a hole in reality despite the apparent impossibility of doing such. Whether it was directly or with the assistance of an artifact is a little irrelevant until you actually have enough mana to repeat the feat.

    Even if you can manage to find a way to consciously repeat the feat, you don't think it's a good idea to even try until you're full up on mana. Turns out, tearing holes in reality consumes a lot of power. What a shocker.

    You feel like you should be a bit more worried than you actually are, but after the week you've had, this just feels like another new adventure. Maybe your obligatory freakout is just delayed a little? You do feel a little shaky.

    ...Whatever. No point dwelling on it.

    Even with the massive drain from the portal, you still have more than enough mana to summon your friends. They may be weak, but they can still make a difference over a large period of time. Just off the top of your head? Stone elementals could slowly fashion stable hand-and-footholds out of the tower's walls and water elementals could provide you with a reliable source of fresh water. If you can manage to communicate what you want to them, water and dirt elementals might even be able to help you recognize what plants are and aren't safe to eat. Of course, all that assumes you aren't rescued soon.

    Rough course plotted, you crouch down and grab the closest fallen rock. Imagining one of the stone elementals from your village, you impose its image over the provided element and mentally push.

    For the first time in your life, you encounter resistance and a rather significant drain on your mana reserves. You can even feel your arm getting weaker and weaker as time goes on. You think your subsequent freakout is rather reasonable; you try to halt the stream, let go of the rock, something. Although you do manage to get to your feet, your hand simply refuses to open.

    Eventually, you catch the tiniest flash of light and the drain stops. Inside your palm, you can feel the rock flowing into the tiny humanoid shape of its new occupant. You carefully turn your palm toward the ceiling and open your hand.

    The stone elemental you summoned stares up at you with smooth, pupiless eyes. Personally, you think he still looks cute, but you can definitely see how some people would find elementals creepy.

    You mentally gauge your remaining mana and decide to experiment a little; even if it does drain you as much as last time, you should still have enough for another elemental and then some. Since air is everywhere, you don't need to do anything special to summon one of the elementals who came through the portal with you. Its translucent, uncertain shape forms in the palm of your right hand without any problems.

    Resummoning the stone elemental gives the same results. No unusual flashes, no extra drain, just a tiny dip in your mana reserves.

    Your speculation is cut short by the distant sounds of conversation from outside. You hastily scramble to your feet and travel to the gaping hole in the wall natural window.

    A few dozen meters away, you can see two people hacking their way through the undergrowth of a thick forest. Or rather, one of them is cutting a path while the other is following the path her partner made. Both of them have black hair and relatively dark skin, the one in the front is male, and the other is female. Both are wearing brown armor made out of what you think is leather. The female is carrying a quiver and large bow on her back while the male is (ab)using his sword to get through the forest.

    You don't recognize the language they're speaking in, nor why the woman in the back seems so frustrated compared to her patient partner. You think both of them might have different accents, but you're not sure. To make matters worse, your vision and brain both start to feel increasingly fuzzy and uncertain; you quickly sit down before you outright fall out of the tower.

    After about twenty seconds, the dizziness fades and is replaced by blessed comprehension. Although it's subtle, you also think their accents vanished.

    "-And I'm saying you're an inbred moron," the archer argues. "Contrary to what you seem to think, an abandoned outpost does not equal ancient treasure. No part of it is in a cave, I don't think they knew how to build sturdy cellars back then, and everyone back there knew about it. It'll have been searched a thousand times over by now."

    Her partner sighs and shakes his head.

    "It's an unguarded, low-effort target which can itself act as shelter if we don't find anything. Will it have been searched before? Definitely. Will the treasure-seekers have had magic detectors? Doubt it. Best case scenario, we might find a buried smuggler's cache or something. Worst case scenario, we walked about two hours out of our way and are in a good place to stop for the night. Truly a hardship."

    "And then what? You and I both hate digging and we don't even have a claim to the land. Unguarded does not mean legal."

    The swordsman stops and blinks, forcing the woman behind him to stop moving as well.

    "...You know, I honestly hadn't thought of that."

    The archer buries her face in both hands and screams into them.

    "Yes! That's my point!"

    Her partner winces and spins around. "Wake up the whole woods, why don't you?"

    The archer slowly looks up and takes several deep breaths. You can't interpret her expression from this distance.

    "Eugene, you know I love you, but I really want to strangle you sometimes. This is one of those times."

    Eugene mutters something under his breath. Whatever it was, it earns a single snort of laughter from his partner.


    [] Call out to them and say hello.
    -[] You're more than a little bit lost. Would they happen to know the way to Alistore's state academy?
    --[] For the record, you blame the gaping hole in reality which brought you here. Yes, you're sure you're not dead.
    -[] Ask how far away the closest settlement is.
    -[] They mentioned a magic detector. Can you look at it? You haven't heard of portable versions before, assuming one of them isn't a Scout.
    -[] You have some dirt elemental friends who might be able to help. They're not very smart, but you might be able to train them to retrieve underground objects? Or something like that.

    [] Remain hidden and let them pass by.
    -[] Once you're sure they're gone, climb down and head in the direction they came from. Following the literal path of destruction shouldn't be too hard.
    -[] Carefully scout the area around your temporary home. If you're going to use it as a base camp for a little while, you'll need to make sure such a plan is actually reasonable.

    [] Write-in


    OOC Vote: Appearance​

    Vote by preference/number.

    [] Headband

    [] Crown

    [] Match

    Artist: Sakimichan

    [] Magic

    [] Studying
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Well. That was fast. I was hoping we'd have some time to collect ourselves before meeting people.

    [1] Match

    I have no strong opinions on the rest, so they're all equal to me.
     
    Hmm. They seem ok. Revealing ourself doesn't seem like a bad decision. Leaning towards that. Sneaking past is an option although I'm doubtful of the usefulness of doing so. Getting directions seems smarter.
     
    Reader mode
    You must login or register to reply here.
    Remove ads
    Back
    Top