Unanimity mechanic? I saw the term float around a few times but I cant say I'm familiar with it.
Enlightenment
- Thread starter Academia Nut
- Start date
- Mature
Aabcehmu
Confusion as a Natural State of Being
- Location
- Chicago, IL
- Pronouns
- Any/All
AN is looking at what percentage of the total vote (probably) that the winning vote makes, and using this number as modifier to various rolls, when Yon is in a situation in which his confidence (or monomania, if our winning vote percentage is too high) may be relevant.
Cornuthaum
Be kind to each other.
- Location
- Austria
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Don't stand out one way or the other, just do a good job
I forgot to actually vote oopsie doopsie
I forgot to actually vote oopsie doopsie
[X] Hang back to help those struggling
The instructors might not care for it but if they're going to be hazing us anyway isn't the advantage here in building a rapport with our fellow trainees, some of whom we will be leading in the future? Yon was the leader of a small faction of underlings before this and he's now lost his support structure. This is an asset we lack and one we know how to use. Why not pursue regaining it?
The instructors might not care for it but if they're going to be hazing us anyway isn't the advantage here in building a rapport with our fellow trainees, some of whom we will be leading in the future? Yon was the leader of a small faction of underlings before this and he's now lost his support structure. This is an asset we lack and one we know how to use. Why not pursue regaining it?
I'm intersted in learning about the faction that Yon has been pressed ganged into. But that's likely going to come after basic training and Yon will probably get fed the propaganda, but more information would still be very useful. But regardless the goal remains the same, survive, gain new skills and make sure that he's useful enough that they won't kill him at the drop of a hat.
Vote closed
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Sirrocco
Pedantic
- Pronouns
- He/Him
So... a bit more than two thirds of the voters said to just do a good job, a bit under a fifth wanted to really push it and try to excel, and we got just enough of the hang back and help to let ourselves feel a moment of sympathy for the poor bastards without ever letting it show on our face.
Basic 2
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Don't stand out one way or the other, just do a good job
Yon knew well enough that standing out was a bad idea, so he was just going to do what he was told; no more, no less. This proved an interesting decision, since while it became apparent that there were rewards for excelling, there were also punishments meted out for going beyond. So while completing an obstacle course first was praised, doing more pushups than asked got you a whack from a stunning club. The armsmen clearly wanted the disciples to do exactly what was asked, with a side order of beating the pride out of anyone acting out.
Obstacle courses, calisthenics, basic physical training, and then back around to start everything all over again. Complaints and failure were met with beatings, and success was met with the difficulty being increased. It went on and on, and while Yon wondered if the slowest might be killed to encourage the rest, it seemed that they had passed some point where the Celestials considered that a waste and instead invested in pushing the disciples to the breaking point.
This took hours.
Yon staying in the middle of the pack did mean that he got a good look at all of his fellow disciples, and he noted a few things. First of all, there were only a few dozen women in the group, which probably had to do with the fact that there were very few women in the combat divisions who were both bold and stayed outer disciples for long. What few of them there were had probably been at the front of the line and received the best rewards. It was probably similar to why there were only a few Artisans or Medics and no one from the Scriptorium.
This also made Yon notice that he was one of the oldest disciples present, with the vast majority being fifteen or sixteen. Again, it was a matter of who tended to be in the outer sect at his age, with the majority being in the more sedate divisions due to just not having the sort of bold personality that would have them in a combat heavy division. There was a lot of pride among the Hunters, and Internal Security exclusively recruited from affiliated families for its outer sect disciples, only accepting 'nobodies' if they had already proven themselves as inner disciples in another division.
As the gruelling endurance test went on, Yon realized that his decision to stay at the middle of the pack was taking an odd turn. More and more disciples were collapsing from exhaustion, or straight up seizures from the effects of the language implantation catching up during a moment of weakness. Yon wasn't though, his training having emphasized toughening his body and improving his stamina, so when it turned into a grind to wear out the disciples who wouldn't break normally, he rapidly went from being in the middle of the pack to standing out just by being one of the few left.
And unfortunately, he soon found that he couldn't stop. He hadn't wanted to stand out either way, but he refused to sandbag, and by the time he realized he was noticeable to everyone the armsmen were making sure that continuing was now an order. Disobedience was severely punished, and more than that those who were still standing had to be seen to break.
Eventually Yon found that he was standing alone, weights strapped to every limb and a sack full of metal bars on his back. He was absolutely drenched in sweat and his stomach was a hollow pit that hadn't been filled in at least half a day, with every muscle in his body on fire from being pushed to the absolute limit. Sergeant Major Gosrick was in his face screaming obscenities, and every other disciple was watching him, some even jeering for him to collapse so that they could get something to eat.
Yon answered everything with a "Sir, yes sir!" or "Sir, no sir!" as appropriate. His lungs were bellows that fed the fire in his belly, which heated the blood in his heart, which kept everything going. Every breath he took brought in a little bit of spiritual essence that he could digest to keep going just a little bit longer. He had to pay attention to Gosrick and the other instructors, but each foot in front of the next was a meditative act, each step both physical and spiritual.
Finally he put a foot forward and discovered that his muscles would no longer obey. They locked up, and no matter the desperate straining he could not get anything to move. The best he could do was suck in a thin supply of air through his lips and wildly dart his eyes about. Gosrick took a moment to actually examine him, before he asked, "Well Gods damn a corpse-worshipper, did you fuckin' die on us?"
Yon tried to get out "Sir, no sir!" but it came out as an indecipherable whistle from between frozen lips.
"Guess not! Guess that's your limit then!" Gosrick announced, and Yon was fairly certain he could see script being exchanged between armsmen in his peripheral vision. Someone grabbed the weighted pack off his back, and that was enough to send him sprawling to the ground with his limbs comically frozen in rigor. That got a laugh, but Gosrick cut that off with, "Well, the stubborn shit finally failed, but at least he never disobeyed! Those of you still conscious, keep this in mind, because he'll be getting liberty while most of the rest of you are in the barracks or on latrine duty!"
There were a few groans, followed by the pained yelps of flesh being hit by stun clubs, before Gosrick said, "Now, we'll be sending you off to chow shortly, but for all you're a bunch of primitive shits for brains, you've also got more to you than I usually work with. I'll be recommending to the Lords upstairs that the Lotus Eye 1st be a heavy infantry regiment, rather than light infantry like we usually do for you lot. That means heavier armour, heavier weapons, and heavier fighting. It also means more and better pay and loot, so don't fuck this opportunity up."
There was a moment of consideration before Gosrick decided, "And one last thing before you pigs go stuff your holes: because you were smarter than most, those of you who get through basic will start out as squad commanders. That's better pay and prestige, plus you'll have an arming serf to do your day to day shit work, and a personal slave assigned as your signing bonus. So whether you want to fuck 'em, sacrifice 'em to the Gods, or just have someone braid your hair, that's something to look forward too, but only if you get through this and don't make me toss your corpse into the void for being a disobedient shit. Got that?"
Yon had managed to get enough motion back into his limbs while other armsmen took the weights off him to mumble out his best "Sir, yes sir!" while nodding, which got the Sergeant Major's attention. Surprisingly, he smiled even while shaking his head.
"Gods damn kid, I'm going to have to find the Grandfather's fattest whore to give you a once over, because any other bitch would tap out before you could finish! Tentin, haul his ass down to the showers and hose him off before taking him to the mess," Gosrick stated, which Yon took as being a compliment of some sort.
By the time Yon was seated at a long table in the mess, which was somewhere else within the twisted, sunless confines of wherever they were, he had motion back in his body. He mostly had to focus on the act of digesting all the accumulated physical and spiritual impurities in his body just to stay conscious, but he had enough attention to also break down the slop that was provided with an alchemist's tongue and mind.
The not-porridge they were given was dense with physical nutrition, but it was absolutely flat spiritually. It was one more point in a conclusion that Yon had been drawing, and that he was sure others had as well or were in the process of.
The armsmen that were instructing them were mortal.
Yon was absolutely going to keep his mouth shut. Even if these Celestials were mortal - or near enough- they served the Envoy and his servants, and those beings were in no way mortal. As a former servant and as a perennial outer disciple, Yon had years of understanding that just because someone was lower down than you in cultivation didn't mean you couldn't be killed in an instant if they had the right social contacts. The Envoy had placed mortals over them, it was their job to deal with that.
So many young masters were going to die.
Over the next few days they went over further trials to break them down and weed out those who could not meet the demands imposed upon them, with another dozen deaths, mostly resulting from hotheads deciding that they wanted to become an example of what not to do. Yon continued to just keep his head down as best he could, although it seemed that the Celestials favoured endurance as their trait of choice so just by not failing he often pulled ahead.
He also discovered that being from the Medical Pavilion gave him a weird advantage in training. Part of the training they went through had them looking for aptitudes to receive further instruction after the basic indoctrination process was out of the way. Medicine was not especially favoured, although it sounded like the best two or three medics might go on to receive training under someone called "Saw and Suture Jaspin". No, the advantage was that the Celestials had all sorts of artefacts, and many of them were rather delicate. As an alchemist and apothecary Yon had extensive experience with handling delicate mechanisms, so again, just not failing had him stand out even if he wasn't putting all his effort into succeeding beyond expectations.
What specialties are noted for Yon? (Pick 2)
[ ] Special Weapons
[ ] Heavy Weapons
[ ] Sabotage
[ ] Communications
[ ] Marksmanship
[ ] Leadership
[ ] Assault
[ ] Special: Diamond Body
[ ] Special: Iron Kettle Belly
Note: Only one special option can be selected, and it represents time spent furthering training in those techniques due to a lack of any other notable specialties
Yon knew well enough that standing out was a bad idea, so he was just going to do what he was told; no more, no less. This proved an interesting decision, since while it became apparent that there were rewards for excelling, there were also punishments meted out for going beyond. So while completing an obstacle course first was praised, doing more pushups than asked got you a whack from a stunning club. The armsmen clearly wanted the disciples to do exactly what was asked, with a side order of beating the pride out of anyone acting out.
Obstacle courses, calisthenics, basic physical training, and then back around to start everything all over again. Complaints and failure were met with beatings, and success was met with the difficulty being increased. It went on and on, and while Yon wondered if the slowest might be killed to encourage the rest, it seemed that they had passed some point where the Celestials considered that a waste and instead invested in pushing the disciples to the breaking point.
This took hours.
Yon staying in the middle of the pack did mean that he got a good look at all of his fellow disciples, and he noted a few things. First of all, there were only a few dozen women in the group, which probably had to do with the fact that there were very few women in the combat divisions who were both bold and stayed outer disciples for long. What few of them there were had probably been at the front of the line and received the best rewards. It was probably similar to why there were only a few Artisans or Medics and no one from the Scriptorium.
This also made Yon notice that he was one of the oldest disciples present, with the vast majority being fifteen or sixteen. Again, it was a matter of who tended to be in the outer sect at his age, with the majority being in the more sedate divisions due to just not having the sort of bold personality that would have them in a combat heavy division. There was a lot of pride among the Hunters, and Internal Security exclusively recruited from affiliated families for its outer sect disciples, only accepting 'nobodies' if they had already proven themselves as inner disciples in another division.
As the gruelling endurance test went on, Yon realized that his decision to stay at the middle of the pack was taking an odd turn. More and more disciples were collapsing from exhaustion, or straight up seizures from the effects of the language implantation catching up during a moment of weakness. Yon wasn't though, his training having emphasized toughening his body and improving his stamina, so when it turned into a grind to wear out the disciples who wouldn't break normally, he rapidly went from being in the middle of the pack to standing out just by being one of the few left.
And unfortunately, he soon found that he couldn't stop. He hadn't wanted to stand out either way, but he refused to sandbag, and by the time he realized he was noticeable to everyone the armsmen were making sure that continuing was now an order. Disobedience was severely punished, and more than that those who were still standing had to be seen to break.
Eventually Yon found that he was standing alone, weights strapped to every limb and a sack full of metal bars on his back. He was absolutely drenched in sweat and his stomach was a hollow pit that hadn't been filled in at least half a day, with every muscle in his body on fire from being pushed to the absolute limit. Sergeant Major Gosrick was in his face screaming obscenities, and every other disciple was watching him, some even jeering for him to collapse so that they could get something to eat.
Yon answered everything with a "Sir, yes sir!" or "Sir, no sir!" as appropriate. His lungs were bellows that fed the fire in his belly, which heated the blood in his heart, which kept everything going. Every breath he took brought in a little bit of spiritual essence that he could digest to keep going just a little bit longer. He had to pay attention to Gosrick and the other instructors, but each foot in front of the next was a meditative act, each step both physical and spiritual.
Finally he put a foot forward and discovered that his muscles would no longer obey. They locked up, and no matter the desperate straining he could not get anything to move. The best he could do was suck in a thin supply of air through his lips and wildly dart his eyes about. Gosrick took a moment to actually examine him, before he asked, "Well Gods damn a corpse-worshipper, did you fuckin' die on us?"
Yon tried to get out "Sir, no sir!" but it came out as an indecipherable whistle from between frozen lips.
"Guess not! Guess that's your limit then!" Gosrick announced, and Yon was fairly certain he could see script being exchanged between armsmen in his peripheral vision. Someone grabbed the weighted pack off his back, and that was enough to send him sprawling to the ground with his limbs comically frozen in rigor. That got a laugh, but Gosrick cut that off with, "Well, the stubborn shit finally failed, but at least he never disobeyed! Those of you still conscious, keep this in mind, because he'll be getting liberty while most of the rest of you are in the barracks or on latrine duty!"
There were a few groans, followed by the pained yelps of flesh being hit by stun clubs, before Gosrick said, "Now, we'll be sending you off to chow shortly, but for all you're a bunch of primitive shits for brains, you've also got more to you than I usually work with. I'll be recommending to the Lords upstairs that the Lotus Eye 1st be a heavy infantry regiment, rather than light infantry like we usually do for you lot. That means heavier armour, heavier weapons, and heavier fighting. It also means more and better pay and loot, so don't fuck this opportunity up."
There was a moment of consideration before Gosrick decided, "And one last thing before you pigs go stuff your holes: because you were smarter than most, those of you who get through basic will start out as squad commanders. That's better pay and prestige, plus you'll have an arming serf to do your day to day shit work, and a personal slave assigned as your signing bonus. So whether you want to fuck 'em, sacrifice 'em to the Gods, or just have someone braid your hair, that's something to look forward too, but only if you get through this and don't make me toss your corpse into the void for being a disobedient shit. Got that?"
Yon had managed to get enough motion back into his limbs while other armsmen took the weights off him to mumble out his best "Sir, yes sir!" while nodding, which got the Sergeant Major's attention. Surprisingly, he smiled even while shaking his head.
"Gods damn kid, I'm going to have to find the Grandfather's fattest whore to give you a once over, because any other bitch would tap out before you could finish! Tentin, haul his ass down to the showers and hose him off before taking him to the mess," Gosrick stated, which Yon took as being a compliment of some sort.
By the time Yon was seated at a long table in the mess, which was somewhere else within the twisted, sunless confines of wherever they were, he had motion back in his body. He mostly had to focus on the act of digesting all the accumulated physical and spiritual impurities in his body just to stay conscious, but he had enough attention to also break down the slop that was provided with an alchemist's tongue and mind.
The not-porridge they were given was dense with physical nutrition, but it was absolutely flat spiritually. It was one more point in a conclusion that Yon had been drawing, and that he was sure others had as well or were in the process of.
The armsmen that were instructing them were mortal.
Yon was absolutely going to keep his mouth shut. Even if these Celestials were mortal - or near enough- they served the Envoy and his servants, and those beings were in no way mortal. As a former servant and as a perennial outer disciple, Yon had years of understanding that just because someone was lower down than you in cultivation didn't mean you couldn't be killed in an instant if they had the right social contacts. The Envoy had placed mortals over them, it was their job to deal with that.
So many young masters were going to die.
Over the next few days they went over further trials to break them down and weed out those who could not meet the demands imposed upon them, with another dozen deaths, mostly resulting from hotheads deciding that they wanted to become an example of what not to do. Yon continued to just keep his head down as best he could, although it seemed that the Celestials favoured endurance as their trait of choice so just by not failing he often pulled ahead.
He also discovered that being from the Medical Pavilion gave him a weird advantage in training. Part of the training they went through had them looking for aptitudes to receive further instruction after the basic indoctrination process was out of the way. Medicine was not especially favoured, although it sounded like the best two or three medics might go on to receive training under someone called "Saw and Suture Jaspin". No, the advantage was that the Celestials had all sorts of artefacts, and many of them were rather delicate. As an alchemist and apothecary Yon had extensive experience with handling delicate mechanisms, so again, just not failing had him stand out even if he wasn't putting all his effort into succeeding beyond expectations.
What specialties are noted for Yon? (Pick 2)
[ ] Special Weapons
[ ] Heavy Weapons
[ ] Sabotage
[ ] Communications
[ ] Marksmanship
[ ] Leadership
[ ] Assault
[ ] Special: Diamond Body
[ ] Special: Iron Kettle Belly
Note: Only one special option can be selected, and it represents time spent furthering training in those techniques due to a lack of any other notable specialties
CedeTheBees
Probably high right now
- Location
- Somewhere
- Pronouns
- They/Them
[X] Special Weapons
[X] Marksmanship
He has steady hands and a good eye. These feel most fitting.
Edit: Communications is also good. Keeps us away from the fighting.
[X] Communications
[X] Marksmanship
He has steady hands and a good eye. These feel most fitting.
Edit: Communications is also good. Keeps us away from the fighting.
[X] Communications
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- Location
- Reno
- Pronouns
- They/Them
[x] Special: Diamond Body
[x] Sabotage
[x] Sabotage
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Special: Diamond Body
Don't think this is going to be the last time he gets beat up, so we should further increase our durability.
[X] Sabotage
I could see this going the poison route, which would fit with his medicine background.
Don't think this is going to be the last time he gets beat up, so we should further increase our durability.
[X] Sabotage
I could see this going the poison route, which would fit with his medicine background.
[] Special: Diamond Body
[] Heavy Weapons
[] Leadership
We're expected to be part of a Heavy Infantry division, it seems to me that we want to invest the time and effort into being good enough at it that we don't die before we can get good at anything else. Alternatively, we're getting a 20 man squad, be good at getting the men to do the dying for us.
Edit: swapped Diamond Body for Marksmanship lower down, we can spend time on Diamond Body later, but our talents aren't something we can change.
[] Heavy Weapons
[] Leadership
We're expected to be part of a Heavy Infantry division, it seems to me that we want to invest the time and effort into being good enough at it that we don't die before we can get good at anything else. Alternatively, we're getting a 20 man squad, be good at getting the men to do the dying for us.
Edit: swapped Diamond Body for Marksmanship lower down, we can spend time on Diamond Body later, but our talents aren't something we can change.
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- Location
- New York
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Leadership
[X] Special: Diamond Body
Go leadership to find Yon suddenly thrust into some responsibility and minor authority, heh.
[X] Special: Diamond Body
Go leadership to find Yon suddenly thrust into some responsibility and minor authority, heh.
- Location
- his hidden lair
[X] Special: Diamond Body
[X] Heavy Weapons
Everybody wants to focus down the heavy weapon specialist. Whether it's the machine gunner suppressing them, the anti-tank holding up the armor, or the flamethrower that's about to torch their position. Being able to survive the enemy after bringing to bear the weapons that most displease them is a very useful quality.
[X] Heavy Weapons
Everybody wants to focus down the heavy weapon specialist. Whether it's the machine gunner suppressing them, the anti-tank holding up the armor, or the flamethrower that's about to torch their position. Being able to survive the enemy after bringing to bear the weapons that most displease them is a very useful quality.
dash931
Conil
[X] Heavy Weapons
[X] Communications
Sitting in a machinegun nest, a mortar pit, behind an AT carriage's gun shield, or SAM site is all of fitting Yon's endurance and finesse with mechanisms, a combat posting with the ability to get glory from scoring damage, and safer than being a forelorn hope assaulter or sabotage sapper.
Communications also means the ability to get social connections via actually talking to people. Leaders get the blame for failures. The radio guy is the middleman, which Yon is good at.
[X] Communications
Sitting in a machinegun nest, a mortar pit, behind an AT carriage's gun shield, or SAM site is all of fitting Yon's endurance and finesse with mechanisms, a combat posting with the ability to get glory from scoring damage, and safer than being a forelorn hope assaulter or sabotage sapper.
Communications also means the ability to get social connections via actually talking to people. Leaders get the blame for failures. The radio guy is the middleman, which Yon is good at.
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fictionfan
Please sir, may I have some Meows?
- Location
- Tempe, AZ
[X] Communications
[X] Marksmanship
Both are good for keeping us as far away from the melee as possible. Survival is the name of the game.
[X] Marksmanship
Both are good for keeping us as far away from the melee as possible. Survival is the name of the game.
Abby Normal
High Clerk of the Ymaryn
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Mildly interesting that our unit is the Lotus Eye 1st, when from my admittedly not extensive knowledge of 40k, Lotus Eye is tzeentch coded, while the actual drill instructors seem nurgle coded:
(Edit: note that AN replied, Lotus Eye is/was the name of the sect, so this doesn't necessarily speak to the alignment of our future superiors...except i guess for any inner/core disciples that are in between us and the celestials in the command structure?)
I mean, we already discussed how they are probably chaos undivided, but within the overall organization it feels like we've got nurgle-aligned drill instructors preparing a group for a tzeentch-aligned unit, which is interesting
Also, in case we didn't need enough 40k (or theoretically 40k-inspired/names filed off setting), we get:
As for the vote, my first instinct is heavy or special weapons, but again from my limited 40k knowledge i'm under the impression that a number of heavy or special weapons are rather prone to damaging the user on a semi-regular basis. Maybe thats just over-charged plasma weapons tho? Hm. Going for the special training is also something i'm torn about. either one is part of our major advantages, but it means in-universe coming up lacking for specialist skills...which if i'm right about the split in God alignment, probably is fine or even good in the eyes of the nurgle drill instructors, but bad in the eyes of the possibly tzeentch coded superior officers in the Lotus Eye proper... Of course, these are both metagaming concerns, but...
Edit: i'm inclined to the "being in communications means more information, and gives us the chance to use some of the skills from being a go-between in the sect" argument, not sure on the second part yet:
[X] Communications
Edit to add in approval vote for either special option:
[X] Special: Diamond Body
[X] Special: Iron Kettle Belly
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- Location
- New York
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Ehh, changing it up.
[X] Communications
[] Marksmanship
[X] Leadership
[X] Communications
[] Marksmanship
[X] Leadership
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dash931
Conil
These people are absolutely not going to have any respect for the cultivation options, which are "they decided you weren't worth more skill training so you have free time to do this". If we want respect from these soldiers, we focus on the soldier skill options, not cultivation picks.
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Counter-point: Diamond Body is what gives us our very hand incredible Stamina, which is what got us so much favour this time around. Our consistent ability to endure is intrinsically tied to this specific skill, and is very much a respected trait among our trainers.
Fair point about the talent thing, though. Heavy Weapons and Marksmanship should be a valuable combo, since being good with the Heavy Weapons is only bolstered by an ability to consistently hit with them. Honestly don't care for Communications, that seems more like something we'd have a specialist in our team to handle than a broadly useful skill.
[X] Heavy Weapons
[X] Marksmanship
[X] Leadership
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- Pronouns
- He/Him
The Sect they come from is the Lotus Eye Sect, so the regiments is being named after the sect.
dash931
Conil
Oh, absolutely. Everything is important, just in the immediate, taking initiative and doing fancy stuff will not be rewarded. Diamond body training is something Yon would only be doing on his own initiative in private, because he had free time from the soldiers deciding he's not worth monopolizing all his time to train in things they care about.