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Dragon Summoning

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A Small Bird said:
[X] Detox.
Surely caffeine- and magical elixir- withdrawal cannot be that lethal.
Skip the "it's not cocaine I swear" and the "it's not mushrooms I swear" mixtures and drink some green tea.
And also make peace with your god, just in case.

Also, how are you not late for work?
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I suspect he's a remotely working dragon- nothing about his job demands he be there in person, if he's effectively dealing with magical software.
 
[x] Pure Uncut Deadline - Potion seller, I'm going into battle and I need your strongest potion. Zalan is confident this is his best chance to get the job done tonight. He thinks it also might result in being able to taste numbers, but sometimes you just gotta know what numbers taste like...
 
[X] Detox - On second thought, let's not take any powerful drugs today. How about some nice purification tea Zalan's mother got him?
 
[x] Detox - On second thought, let's not take any powerful drugs today. How about some nice purification tea Zalan's mother got him?

we're psyched, we are ready, and we better not accidentally hyperfocus on THE BEST DRUGS WE CAN COMBINE.
not to mention tasting numbers so close to the area free of planetary defenses and thinner reality? mmmm, don't like that.
 
[X] Pure Uncut Deadline - Potion seller, I'm going into battle and I need your strongest potion. Zalan is confident this is his best chance to get the job done tonight. He thinks it also might result in being able to taste numbers, but sometimes you just gotta know what numbers taste like...
 
[x] Detox - On second thought, let's not take any powerful drugs today. How about some nice purification tea Zalan's mother got him?
 
Why would you people deny us Cocaine Dragon. Don't you know the more cocaine a dragon consumes, the fluffier they become?
 
Adhoc vote count started by Ralson on Dec 30, 2021 at 9:55 PM, finished with 26 posts and 22 votes.
  • [X] Detox - On second thought, let's not take any powerful drugs today. How about some nice purification tea Zalan's mother got him?
    [X] Pure Uncut Deadline - Potion seller, I'm going into battle and I need your strongest potion. Zalan is confident this is his best chance to get the job done tonight. He thinks it also might result in being able to taste numbers, but sometimes you just gotta know what numbers taste like...
    [X] Flow - Draconic civilization offers easy access to elixirs once considered treasures. A sensible dosage can help him maintain his new sense of inspiration and push away distractions.
    [X] Consider taking the drugs, and then imagine your mothers expression and disappointment if you did, and have the tea instead.
    [X] Get to work! You got this!
    [X] Detox.
    [X] Consider if you have any examples on this kind of system you can review. Maybe you can find something quick that will help work out if your rats nest needs fixing or if you need to make it even worse looking. Not too long, you have a deadline after all.
    [X] Destroy that idiot on the forum.
    [X] Although it may be a good idea to grab something to eat before heading over to work
    [X] Look for reference books/manuals that can help overcome your lack of expertise.
    [X] Consider what you think colors taste like
    [x] PUC, babey - taste those numbers, zalan, i have complete faith in you
    [X] Flow! It seems wise to capture and sustain our current mood.
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Update 3
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    • A Small Bird said:
    Also, how are you not late for work?
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    Zalan IS working...!

    True, under other circumstances he could be at the department chantry, seeking guidance from people who know the system better, but right now he'd need to pull them away from other vital tasks, maybe for hours, maybe for days to get them up to speed well enough to cover for his mistakes. No, better to face them when he has something to show them.
    IofTheBunny said:
    we're psyched, we are ready, and we better not accidentally hyperfocus on THE BEST DRUGS WE CAN COMBINE.
    not to mention tasting numbers so close to the area free of planetary defenses and thinner reality? mmmm, don't like that.
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    Well, half the reason this facility is dragons-only is what might happen if someone with hostile intent uses it to breach the walls between worlds. Planar invasions, monstrous incursions, dragons kidnapped by summoning spells, dogfolk and catfolk living together... But that's not going to happen just by accident. He's pretty skeptical he's in any danger at all just sitting in his room. Still, that's a good reason to keep himself sane and presentable in case he needs to head over there in person. Their tolerance for Antics is fairly low.
    PLURALITY VOTE said:
    [X] Detox - On second thought, let's not take any powerful drugs today. How about some nice purification tea Zalan's mother got him?
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    Estro said:
    [X] Consider taking the drugs, and then imagine your mothers expression and disappointment if you did, and have the tea instead.
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    ​

    After consideration, Zalan resolves not to take any potions or elixirs. He can't rely on that for simple jobs. It shouldn't take the maximum effort he can wring out of his brain just achieve basic functionality. He's already feeling inspired. Perhaps today's the day that prognostigative scripting becomes easy...
    WallFlower said:
    [X] Look for reference books/manuals that can help overcome your lack of expertise.
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    Of course. He may not have direct access to expertise, but he has plenty of lore. If he doesn't know how to solve the problem, he'll find somebody who has and make their techniques his own.

    With determination, he marches into his workshop.


    [LATER]


    ​
    It should be not be a shock to learn that aggregating and collating huge numbers of automated fragmentary visions of low-probability future events is an extremely complex and counterintuitive task. But somehow, this fact just keeps managing to sneak up on Zalan and repeatedly hit him like a bag of magic swords.

    Additionally, it turns out that purification tea hasn't filled him with zen-like serenity, and mostly just makes him have to pee a lot. And the stoic fervor of filial piety does not render him completely invincible against distractions or a lack of mental acuity as the hours grind away his attention and replace it with a looming fear of failure.

    Indeed, the approval his mother might show for succeeding the right way only makes sense if he actually succeeds.




    [LATER...]

    ​

    Maybe he shoulda taken those elixirs.

    He has made progress. He really has! He's sure he's close now. But he's stuck, and whatever home-grown inspiration he started with ran out awhile ago.

    Messages are piling up from his supervisor, so it must be morning again. He gave some boilerplate responses to the backlog when he sat down to work, but he hasn't had the guts to even look at the latest ones.

    More of his attention shifts from the practicalities of thaumaturgical problems, towards the question of what the hell he is going to do if it turns out he really is in the wrong line of study. He's put in so many hours and used up so much time and resources to get to this point. You can't really walk away from that without it leaving some kind of black mark on your reputation. Not at his age, when he needs to be proving his worth.

    He tries to cheer himself up: One failed project doesn't make him a failed professional. And that is technically true, but his failure is feeling pretty... systemic.

    He thinks about his future: The population of dragons isn't very large compared to the economy. (Fewer than 10 million for a civilization with its wings spread across a world, and controls most of the mana) This means someone with any drive at all can surely achieve some position in life, but by the same token, anything he attempts will put real weight on his shoulders. Lacking the numbers of some species, dragons maintain their position through individual excellence. What if mediocrity is all he has to offer?
     
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    • No drugs? Y'all are lame.

    [X] Desperate times, desperate measures. Take those drugs now please.
     
    [X]Okay this here is a black hole. BUT, is there say, some sort of more...Ah, menial labor task you could be contributing to? Something that might otherwise be beneath you? Might not be a bad idea to get a sense of the baseline needs before trying systemic overhauls. And if nothing else, having the good sense to swallow your pride and do something you CAN make meaningful progress on instead of just fruitlessly throwing yourself into a black hole might reflect well on you.
     
    ... as someone with a Bachelors in Software Engineering who currently does nothing with software engineering I am too sympathetic with this dragon, and also too lacking in answers to these same questions, to actually help here.

    Also it looks like messages might need to be checked. I guess that not doing work-focus drugs does not mean not getting overly distracted by work.
     
    No use repeatedly banging your head against this problem. Go take a walk outside. Or at least a shower.
     
    [X] take a shower, check crystalOverspill and make sure that you don't reply to your boss while high. DO NOT REPLY TO YOUR BOSS WHILE HIGH
     
    [X] Desperate times, desperate measures. Take those drugs now please.


    Though for sure the drugs woulda won, welp better late than never.
     
    [X] Look at the problem again, and if you still don't get it try explaining it to a rubber duck or something equivalent.
     
    [X] Cover your Personal Attendant with a blanket so you don't feel tempted to check any more messages
     
    [X] Desperate times, desperate measures. Take those drugs now please.

    Welp, that failed. Bottoms up!
     
    [X] take a brief break, do a little walk or listen to some music. Maybe do a little bit of arson and breaching the other dimension to let arcane horrors through.
    Oooh do you have a snack? Maybe you could grab one.
     
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