The winning vote is [X] Regalia of the Knight-Errant and Liminal Branch. Now it's time to decide on Nameless' next adventure!
[ ] Journey to the West - The Elves have means of drawing entities and objects in from other worlds. From whence does this capability emerge? As the Overlord it is your duty to buttress the empires of this world, great and small, cruel or noble. That the Elves are ostensibly at war with the Labyrinth Empire is no excuse to let them fall. See if you can broker a peace while learning more of Elvish Artifice and Naturalist lore. If the Ming do not accede to the pen, perhaps they will accede to the sword.
*Maybe you can find the Hero the Elves are supposed to have summoned and recruit them before the Heroine goes active
*If the Elves do have some way of contacting your previous world, you could benefit tremendously from gathering the Daoist literature of your civilization. The Empire has something like the Daodejing but its Daoist scholasticism has diverged from Earth's. Maybe the brightest minds of your former world could assist in forming your Dao... ?
*Suizhen and Xiaoling are both happy to go visit the Elves, though for different reasons. Suizhen's Loyalty is too high to be easily increased. Xiaoling Loyalty+
*Somewhat uncertain benefits and rewards. You don't know much of the region.
[ ] Journey to the Center - Best to take advantage of the Overlord's Luck in the part of the world with the most moving parts. Train up for two more months, then carve a bloody swath through the Sects of Imperial Center, seizing their Forbidden Techniques and Priceless Treasures in a wholehearted attempt to capture every Cultivation-relevant resource in this world before investigating alternative measures. You are not so powerful that the Treasures of the Empire would be of insignificant benefit. What are the Sects going to do, petition the Emperor?
*Nameless will train with Suizhen some more, improving his combat skills, and develop a combat-relevant Diagram spell.
*You'll get the second timeskip Mastermind Point, bringing you up to 2 + 1 Mastermind Points.
*You'll almost certainly be able to collect some more Cultivation multipliers, though the degree of benefit may not be as large as your Diagram spells provide.
*You are not so powerful that you can completely defy the other Titans; you will need to maintain at least a veneer of legitimacy lest you bring dishonor upon your Clan.
*Takes more time than the other options.
[ ] Tomb of the Netherine - Part museum, part mausoleum, this relic of a bygone Age was crafted by a species that was ancient when the Diagram was still young. Within are specimens and vestiges from far antiquity, carefully catalogued according to a byzantine logic that resisted even the greatest minds of the Age of Truth. Hidden within its vaults and reliquaries are the secrets of a world endlessly eroded by the Fates, their plaything and theater stage; the secrets of those who have come before.
This most fearsome of Southern Vane's dungeons boasts a horrifying attrition rate even for those masters of the Reality Forming stage that dare venture inside. Whether due to Cultivation-negating arts or elder horrors beyond even their pale, few Cultivators who step foot inside manage to return. After the first Grand Solipsist to venture within failed to return, further Solipsists have avoided the premises, as their lives are too valuable to risk. A single Solipsist can elevate a Clan or Sect to hegemony over hundreds of millions; to squander that power in the pursuit of uncertain rewards is folly. But surely your power would suffice to brush aside even those threats that a Grand Solipsist cannot countenance?
*The tomb moves and is resistant to most methods of tracking. You'll have to spend a Cerebration to locate it.
*Cultivation itself was created from interactions between the magic systems of prior Ages. If you wish to revolutionize your methods of Cultivation, there is no better place to look than the source. However, it could also be a giant waste of time.
*Past survivors have emerged with underwhelming rewards at best. There may not be any Priceless Treasures here at all.
*You are sheltered by Fate and Phylactery, but only the Diagram provides a reliable means of defense against broad forms of esoteric assault. You probably shouldn't bring your Lackeys along.
*Elder Wall, who informed you of the Tomb, says that Banguo visited the dungeon in past centuries. It inspired him to create the Bleak Procession, their rapidly-advancing but fundamentally unstable Dao.
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Liminal Branch has won; the path of Nameless' Alchemy is the transformation of gross data into the shining quintessence of insight. And what product of insight shall be his signature and alchemist's mark, the first culmination of his philosopher's path?
Due to [True Alchemist], your spell of choice will have the Go Beyond effect applied for free. Benefits already included in the descriptions following.
[ ] Vault of the Ur-Pharaoh [Grand Diagram of Space] - What more appropriate Diagram to chart the Alchemist's path than the Vault of the Ur-Pharaoh? Just as the Cultivation stages lead inexorably to the creation of an internal world, so too does the Vault unfold space into a demesne of the caster's liking.
-[ ] Go Further Beyond [2 BPs] - Upgrades the "Sign Augmentation" attribute into the Realm Attribute, allowing for a far broader range of effects. Effects no longer require knowledge of the appropriate Diagram. The Realm's internal time flow can be dilated up to ten times in either direction, but this does not stack with the effects of the Time Sign. All Attributes can now be improved up to Rank 7, but each Attribute above 5 caps another Attribute at 3. Grants four extra Design points.
-[ ] Go Even Further Beyond [9 BPs] - Unknown effect, but Unlocked by choosing this as your [True Alchemist] spell.
[ ] Palimpsest of the Nameless One [Grand Diagram of Flesh] - While Llewyn's Prodigious Might cannot be exceeded in terms of raw biological amplification, the augmentation of existing parts is not the only domain of Flesh. Though it treads brazenly into the grounds of Heterodoxy, there are countless variations of form and quality that the Sign of Flesh can impose on a willing substrate - if one is willing to swallow the heinous risks. As a lich whose mind is no longer housed in his brain, however, Nameless has far more latitude than most.
This Grand Diagram, when inscribed on the flesh, slowly (~weeks) rewrites the caster's genetic code according to a template input at the time of casting. Some examples:
*Form of Balance - Suizhen is not the only one that can get a makeover! While Nameless is already gifted with attractive features, sharp reflexes and strong limbs, he is by no means an exemplar of biological perfection. That can be rectified. While the benefits this form offers are modest, they come with no complications or downsides. Nameless will remain himself, but every physical attribute will be enhanced to the pinnacle of human potential: limbs proportional as the Vitruvian Man's, physically flawless skin tone and bone structure, each organ system interlocking in perfect harmony. Grants a moderate boost to all actions involving the body and a 40% increase in total Cultivation speed.
*Form of the Elder Beast - Humans created the art of Cultivation, but the human form by no means approaches the optimum for its practice. Using Suizhen's knowledge of Kong Family Techniques and the expertise of the best Heterodox advisors money can buy, Nameless can re-shape the size, number, and allotment of his internal organs to maximize the benefits his physical form can impart to his Cultivation speed. Unsavory effects on outward appearance can be minimized. Grants a major bonus to Eyes of Kong research speed, a minor penalty to complex actions involving the body, and a 120% increase in total Cultivation speed. Inflames [Stain of Heterodoxy].
*Form of the Warmain - Physical might translates imperfectly to power as one reaches progressively higher stages, but that does not mean it fails to translate at all. By integrating draconic flesh precursors and vastly increasing body mass, Nameless can become a juggernaut of transhuman muscle and hyperdense chitinous plating, nerves like monstrous spiderwebs granting inhuman reflex speed and redundancy, torso and skull hollowed-out of unnecessary organs to fit ever-larger arrays of Cultivation-enhanced bone, tendon, and sinew. Razor-sharp bone claws, acidic blood, a body plan optimized for redundancy and easy regeneration: a living avatar of war. Grants a bonus to bodily power equal to the character's [Cultivation Stage * .1], upgrades speed of True Regeneration for purposes of recovering from combat damage, and grants a major bonus to combat actions. Cultivating organs are retained so as not to reduce Cultivation speed. You will look like an inhuman monster, but illusions can conceal this.
Of course, any Form but the Form of Balance would be suicidal were Nameless not a Pseudolich.
-[ ] Go Further Beyond [2 BPs] - Deep germline integration of Elven genetic material grants properties superior to that of Half-Elven physiology, adding a half-stage combat boost to all forms. Due to a lack of spiritual presence, the full benefit of this procedure cannot yet be harnessed.
-[ ] Go Even Further Beyond [9 BPs] - The character's soul is transferred and embedded into the Runes comprising this Diagram, fused irrevocably into the body as a whole. The character risks annihilation if his body is ever fully destroyed, but True Regeneration now prevents death until every cell is obliterated. Spiritual integration allows for full exploitation of the soul-dependent Elven physiology; rather than merely altering genes, the character's perfusion of the soul allows them to transfigure the very essence of their Flesh. Not only is the character always considered to be rapidly transforming into their selected Template, improving the speed of their True Regeneration, but they are completely impervious to esoteric attacks affecting or channeled through the body. Even the Eyes of Kong could be edited out of their form, if they so desired. Example Templates:
*Form of Virtuosity - As the Form of Balance, but instead triples Cultivation speed and the character is treated as one full stage higher for all purposes. As an exemplar of perfect balance, the character attenuates the influence of all external powers near his person, including the manipulations of the Fates. Should he decide to re-seat his mind into his brain, he receives a major bonus to all actions, as if he had spent a Mastermind Point to augment each of his plans individually.
*Form of Vehemence - The character embodies the fury of the Divine; his flesh is alabaster carved in a war-god's likeness, the incarnate vengeance of a Divinity laid low by the scheming Fates. He is the Destroyer; by his hand is Armageddon held aloft, and the stroke of his blade is the end of worlds. His blood is the ichor of the divine; dectuple its effective volume for purposes of the Blood Sign and increase all benefits by two full steps. The character is treated as possessing the Sign of the Sword for purely physical actions and his combat strength is increased by three full stages.
[ ] Elvegekere's Protector [Grand Diagram of Stone] - The character animates a golem of immeasurable might. The golem is unfalteringly loyal to its master and has a variety of useful properties. Bound by his blood and essence, the golem's bodily power will never lag more than a half-stage behind its master's. The character may animate a golem from one of these superior materials:
*Jade - The golem gains the aspect of the [Tireless Mandarin], and is possessed of an animating intelligence capable of subtlety, statesmanship, and excellence in the traditional arts. The golem is an able administrator, steward, or even courtesan atop its duties as a warrior.
*Mythril - The golem gains the aspect of [Prowess]; it fights with inspired skill in all realms of combat and is an able tactician, guerilla, or even field general atop its duties as a skirmisher. The golem's combat speed will never lag below its master's.
*Orichalcum - The golem gains the aspect of [Armor]; it forms a suit of magnificent articulated plate that can shelter its caster from harm or operate as an independent agent. The armor's durability is at least a half-stage greater than its master's flesh. While worn it ameliorates the effects of esoteric attacks upon the caster's person by the equivalent of one full stage.
-[ ] Go Further Beyond [2 BPs] - The caster may hybridize this Grand Diagram with a custom Grand Diagram of Blood, Flesh, or Essence to create a golem of truly stupendous power. For example, a Flesh Golem serves as a body double whose physical power is always a full stage greater than that of the caster's, while an Essence Golem might develop its own personal Reality Effects independent of its master's Dao.
-[ ] Go Even Further Beyond [9 BPs] - Unknown effect, but Unlocked by choosing this as your [True Alchemist] spell.
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I am also offering a +.25 BP bounty for a complete, nice, clean-looking character sheet for Nameless as of this vote.
