Psssh, that's hardly good enough reason to hold on to Ambition, we ought vote to give it away at every possible opportunity!
[Exalted, ?] Most High
- Thread starter Rihaku
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- Tags
- exalted (white wolf)
It's essentially cheating by using your incredibly potent mind, your academic understanding of Artifacts and very fine tuned Essence manipulations to immediately accomplish the same effect as forging a deep spiritual bond with your Artifact over a long stretch of time by going through intense challenges together.
Rihaku
The Internet
You're going to arrive in Luseng in two days; it's unlikely the Navy would be deployed there when it has much more important naval battles to fight. Coastal support doesn't even protect one percent of the satrapy's landmass.
- Location
- Fabulously Rainbow Ireland
Yes we should, one of the points of the sword is buffing our allies so what was the point of getting it if we're just going to use it as a beat stick? We could have gone with Away for that.
Rihaku
The Internet
You guys really should have gone for Sorcery if you'd wanted to give it away. POSC leads too easily into Wake the Sleeper, and once you've got that there's no way the players will vote to give away literally 75% of their combat power. It's more integral to you now than Excalibur was to Arthur.
We should have gone with Away for that.
But we didn't.
And now we have an incredibly powerful Artifact that is not as useful as it could be because we can not make use of one of its major functions without losing a ridiculous percentage of our combat power.
Odyssial could afford to give it away to allies.
Odyssial also only needed the extra boost when throwing down with things as disgustingly overpowered as himself.
We on the other hand are a not combat optimised Essence 4 Solar, who has to win a war against an Elder Lunar, a Circle of Deathknights and a Fairfolk invasion at once.
And after that we likely have to throw down with Anys Syn.
Using Ambition like Odyssial did, when we don't even have a fraction of the power he had when he completed it is ridiculous.
Giving it away in the forseeable future is an incredibly dangerous move that has to be calculated very carefully and needs to pay off ridiculously well to be worth it.
But so far a large percentage of the readership disagreed with it and they had legitimate reasons to.
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Rihaku
The Internet
Until you get Essence 5 and can Wake the Sleeper on other people!
Guile
Having a really great time right now
I would hope he doesn't, considering all the Solaroids running around.
[X] The Scarlet Flag Prophecy
We just don't have the time to make the Heretical Prophecy work; it requires constant maintenance to be effective and is kind of a long shot to begin with. It also doesn't guarantee the protection of our allies back in the Realm; nothing does, really, but this at least makes an attempt.
We just don't have the time to make the Heretical Prophecy work; it requires constant maintenance to be effective and is kind of a long shot to begin with. It also doesn't guarantee the protection of our allies back in the Realm; nothing does, really, but this at least makes an attempt.
On that note, is there a chance we could deal with whatever exactly Flame's sister's health issues are when we're Essence 5?
As interesting as Moon with Ambition would be, getting someone who can skip training times entirely, giving them access to Evocations as broken as these and imbuing them with an Odyssian drive to self-improve would be all kinds of ridiculous and, given that Flame could in fact end up being a notable opponent, some psychological warfare could be rather useful, while Ambition's influence should stop him from having as detrimental an affect on her.
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- Location
- Fabulously Rainbow Ireland
It would also be freaking hilarious if she wound up falling for us, Flame would likely have an aneurysm
Eh, we're going to be the evil Anathema twisting his poor innocent sister's mind to our own purposes regardless, which makes whether or not we're sleeping with her is kind of immaterial in the fact of that.It would also be freaking hilarious if she wound up falling for us, Flame would likely have an aneurysm
The hilarious thing about it is that, if we gave her Ambition, he'd even be right about the twisting her to our own purposes thing!
Emerald Oracle
Chaos, yet harmony. Death, yet the Force
- Location
- The Else
Y'know that'd be a fun and thematic confrontation actually? On one hand you have Resolute Flame, pawn of the Bronze Faction, deluded champion of Dragon Blooded superiority who believes unquestioningly in the supremacy of the Princes of the Earth. On the other hand, you have his sister, trained and honed by a mighty Solar, aware of the truth of the world, and horrified by the plans for her brother and his children, and desperate to save him, even if it means beating the ever living shit out of him.
Rihaku
The Internet
You don't know about Flame's sister, though! And Uly is unlikely to care.
That's easy, just be powerful enough to destroy any attempts at harming them!
Indeed, Odyssial didn't even get the first part of Ambition until he was well into E6-E7, and didn't complete it until he was E10. Your situation is vastly different.
meianmaru
The Devourer of Fiction
Fanwork## 937 words
More power! MOAR SHINIES!
***
Heaven-Turning Calculations
The creaking of the ship was the only sound heard in Sesus Ulyssian's cabin, even his breathing slowed to near stop as he meditated, trying to wring up all reachable potential he had left before arriving at Luseng. The awakened part of the war-mind of Lord Strategos had been a good start, letting him restore one facet of his crippled mind closer to its previous heights. But at the same time, he felt that striving to regain the other parts that governed the more tactical areas of his thinking might not be the most optimal path.
True, he would need to lead his armies. But against the foes he faced, he wouldn't have time to truly forge them to a force that would be able to face the enemies preying upon the satrapy and its riches, at least not before the armies reached the seat of his power. For the time, he would need to rely on his own prowess to carry them to the victory. And to do that, he needed to awaken Ambition's lumbering power. Not an easy task even for him, more so with the requirement of doing it now, before his ship arrived to its destination.
Luckily, he had a way available to reach that goal. He could accelerate the slow flow of the process of connecting to an artifact to a racing lightning by forcing other parts of his mind to re-emerge. Peerless understanding about the workings of artifacts and how to pull out their hidden potential, supported by unmatched skill in mathematics, which spread out to be relevant in anything, starting from bureauacratic and economic theories and ending to the more relevant field of motonic sciences. All of this combined with his still returning memories from the First Age and academic excellence, the ability to momentarily bring out competence surpassing his current state, and he stood a good chance of bringing out large a portion of his old friend's true power.
His course settled, Ulyssian calmed his mind until it was a still pool, and started the excruciatingly difficult process of drawing out the sleeping power and memories directly from the brilliantly shining third piece of his soul.
Figuring out how to shut down a device of the Primordials, that would otherwise doom him and his fellow Exalts who had fallen to a trap of their enemy. Mastering and inventing divinely-inspired mathematical formulas to optimize the logistics of his army. The first time of drawing out the power of his blade, its materials, deeds in the past and closeness to him crystallizing as power and primal sentience reaching towards Heavens, then past them.
In an instant, a limited enlightment. Patterns previously unseen, unfolding before his eyes He could feel numbers lining up in his head, calculations of approximated statistics of Luseng's production and logistics flowing from one to another. The execution of mathematical parts of his other plans, that he previously had to even after his Exaltation to push himself to understand, now clicking together without nearly any effort from his part.
Even now, he could see more ways of how he could further optimize the Navy, sharpening the edge of its operations to something that Zao could wield against their enemies more effectively. With his mind refined one more step, and the use of Solar predictionism for one last time for other issues than his duties, which would soon swallow all of his attention, he could give his teacher a weapon that would make even Anys Syn hesitate.
But that was for the later. For now, while he still could, he would wrestle some of the pieces of his might in battle he had lost to death back from it. And he would need that power, for while he had escaped death one time, if not as complete, then with the potential to be again, he had currently no backup plan that would save him from the death of memories and self in Lethe.
He held his sword up before his eyes, looking deep into the pure gleaming wishmetal of the blade, and spoke to it. "The mirror of myself. Awaken, and we will bring the final victory against this too cruel world this time around."
And so, Ulyssian closed his eyes in concentration, and focused all of his being to Ambition. His Essence coursed through the Most High of Swords, his mind snapping together the connections between raising memories, cold calculations running together with instictive feelings, not competing but instead reinforcing each other.
A hazy memory of how holding his blade quickened the return of his Essence in battle, too incomplete by itself, was extrapolated from the few known facts gathered from glimpses into his past, with countless hypotheses blossoming out. Then came theories which were tested, discarded, until finally one of them simply worked, linking his blade and the again-young Solar in a self-strengthening loop, the Essence fed to his blade where it resonated with the pure orichalcum, returning as more than it had been before.
But it was still not enough. Effortless grace was drawn from deep within him, rallying to succeed in impossible and then race past it. Memories led to insights, and those insights led to awakening of power, which in turn led to different memories coming forth, the process repeating itself faster and faster. And finally, his flight towards the blazing zenith of his past life came to a halt, his spirit straining to go past its limits, but finding itself still too weak to go any further.
It would have to be enough, for now.
And so, Odyssial opened his eyes.
More power! MOAR SHINIES!
***
Heaven-Turning Calculations
The creaking of the ship was the only sound heard in Sesus Ulyssian's cabin, even his breathing slowed to near stop as he meditated, trying to wring up all reachable potential he had left before arriving at Luseng. The awakened part of the war-mind of Lord Strategos had been a good start, letting him restore one facet of his crippled mind closer to its previous heights. But at the same time, he felt that striving to regain the other parts that governed the more tactical areas of his thinking might not be the most optimal path.
True, he would need to lead his armies. But against the foes he faced, he wouldn't have time to truly forge them to a force that would be able to face the enemies preying upon the satrapy and its riches, at least not before the armies reached the seat of his power. For the time, he would need to rely on his own prowess to carry them to the victory. And to do that, he needed to awaken Ambition's lumbering power. Not an easy task even for him, more so with the requirement of doing it now, before his ship arrived to its destination.
Luckily, he had a way available to reach that goal. He could accelerate the slow flow of the process of connecting to an artifact to a racing lightning by forcing other parts of his mind to re-emerge. Peerless understanding about the workings of artifacts and how to pull out their hidden potential, supported by unmatched skill in mathematics, which spread out to be relevant in anything, starting from bureauacratic and economic theories and ending to the more relevant field of motonic sciences. All of this combined with his still returning memories from the First Age and academic excellence, the ability to momentarily bring out competence surpassing his current state, and he stood a good chance of bringing out large a portion of his old friend's true power.
His course settled, Ulyssian calmed his mind until it was a still pool, and started the excruciatingly difficult process of drawing out the sleeping power and memories directly from the brilliantly shining third piece of his soul.
Figuring out how to shut down a device of the Primordials, that would otherwise doom him and his fellow Exalts who had fallen to a trap of their enemy. Mastering and inventing divinely-inspired mathematical formulas to optimize the logistics of his army. The first time of drawing out the power of his blade, its materials, deeds in the past and closeness to him crystallizing as power and primal sentience reaching towards Heavens, then past them.
In an instant, a limited enlightment. Patterns previously unseen, unfolding before his eyes He could feel numbers lining up in his head, calculations of approximated statistics of Luseng's production and logistics flowing from one to another. The execution of mathematical parts of his other plans, that he previously had to even after his Exaltation to push himself to understand, now clicking together without nearly any effort from his part.
Even now, he could see more ways of how he could further optimize the Navy, sharpening the edge of its operations to something that Zao could wield against their enemies more effectively. With his mind refined one more step, and the use of Solar predictionism for one last time for other issues than his duties, which would soon swallow all of his attention, he could give his teacher a weapon that would make even Anys Syn hesitate.
But that was for the later. For now, while he still could, he would wrestle some of the pieces of his might in battle he had lost to death back from it. And he would need that power, for while he had escaped death one time, if not as complete, then with the potential to be again, he had currently no backup plan that would save him from the death of memories and self in Lethe.
He held his sword up before his eyes, looking deep into the pure gleaming wishmetal of the blade, and spoke to it. "The mirror of myself. Awaken, and we will bring the final victory against this too cruel world this time around."
And so, Ulyssian closed his eyes in concentration, and focused all of his being to Ambition. His Essence coursed through the Most High of Swords, his mind snapping together the connections between raising memories, cold calculations running together with instictive feelings, not competing but instead reinforcing each other.
A hazy memory of how holding his blade quickened the return of his Essence in battle, too incomplete by itself, was extrapolated from the few known facts gathered from glimpses into his past, with countless hypotheses blossoming out. Then came theories which were tested, discarded, until finally one of them simply worked, linking his blade and the again-young Solar in a self-strengthening loop, the Essence fed to his blade where it resonated with the pure orichalcum, returning as more than it had been before.
But it was still not enough. Effortless grace was drawn from deep within him, rallying to succeed in impossible and then race past it. Memories led to insights, and those insights led to awakening of power, which in turn led to different memories coming forth, the process repeating itself faster and faster. And finally, his flight towards the blazing zenith of his past life came to a halt, his spirit straining to go past its limits, but finding itself still too weak to go any further.
It would have to be enough, for now.
And so, Odyssial opened his eyes.
- Location
- Southern Virginia
Some sort of Excaliblast style army-destroying beam competitive with Sorcery options there?
SirLagginton
Shadow Cabal Caerbannog Bun-Bun
- Location
- Arrrghhh
It should be noted that convincing Flame's sister probably requires bullying Lytek again.
I am completely for that.
I am completely for that.
Rihaku
The Internet
You do have All Under Heaven, I suppose a Long Range upgrade wouldn't be out of place. The only issue is that the main precedent for such effects (Field of Blossoming Death, All Creation Turns to Ash) are E5, so you'd have to blow a BPS charge, and you're already spending one on Ordering the Constellations.
On the contrary, Flame did mention her the first time he challenged Ulyssian for his spot in the school, mentioning he had to write some apologies or something to her for daring to be a mortal that passes the exam. Now with knowledge of how Flame is one of the crucial part of Anys' plan, the existence of his sister provides another vector of attack, especially if she wasn't already spirited away alongside Flame
[X] The Grand Heretical Prophecy
Basically, strengthening the Navy is a stop-gap measure. We ensure it does not deteriorate, but since at the moment Zao is Syn's only relevant political opponent, she will focus her attention on it and strongly attempt to prevent any rise of the institue and, thus, Zao's faction. In the end, it will not notably enhance our position.
The Heresy on the onther hand, as has been noted, targets Anys herself. We take initiative, attack instead of defending, make her spend more energy on protecting her main source of legitimacy. And as such, leave her with less to interfere with the Navy, lessening the opportunity costs of not choosing the other option.
Heresy lets us strike at Anys from multiple directions indirectly. It won't be a clear-cut Anys vs. the Navy, something concrete she can put herself against. We will be introducing an idea, a widespread revelation targeting the foundations of the Realm's religion, the kind of thing not quickly or simply resolved. It would also provide a tool, a means of attack at her for other interested parties within the Realm.
Finally, the Scarlet Flag Prophecy kinda doesn't benefit us directly, in context of the posting? We strengthen Zao - good for him. But he is not immediately threatened, and neither is his position - unlike us. The very real possibility that Anys Syn will just send us to another death spot after Luseng has been brought up several times, and it is a valid issue. It is a good opportunity to undermine her, to limit her options for dealing with Ulyssian after the end the conflict.
Basically, strengthening the Navy is a stop-gap measure. We ensure it does not deteriorate, but since at the moment Zao is Syn's only relevant political opponent, she will focus her attention on it and strongly attempt to prevent any rise of the institue and, thus, Zao's faction. In the end, it will not notably enhance our position.
The Heresy on the onther hand, as has been noted, targets Anys herself. We take initiative, attack instead of defending, make her spend more energy on protecting her main source of legitimacy. And as such, leave her with less to interfere with the Navy, lessening the opportunity costs of not choosing the other option.
Heresy lets us strike at Anys from multiple directions indirectly. It won't be a clear-cut Anys vs. the Navy, something concrete she can put herself against. We will be introducing an idea, a widespread revelation targeting the foundations of the Realm's religion, the kind of thing not quickly or simply resolved. It would also provide a tool, a means of attack at her for other interested parties within the Realm.
Finally, the Scarlet Flag Prophecy kinda doesn't benefit us directly, in context of the posting? We strengthen Zao - good for him. But he is not immediately threatened, and neither is his position - unlike us. The very real possibility that Anys Syn will just send us to another death spot after Luseng has been brought up several times, and it is a valid issue. It is a good opportunity to undermine her, to limit her options for dealing with Ulyssian after the end the conflict.
Alectai
Speaks Words of Wisdom... On occasion
Anything to help bring down Behemoths? Oversized targets? Or is generic combat prowess sufficient?
Something that lets us retaliate with overwhelming force when subjected to UMI? Like Sacrosanct Soul Retribution, but more... sword-y.
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Rihaku
The Internet
The main obstacles to killing Legendary Size targets are 1) achieving 10 dice of post-soak damage to Crash them and 2) having Charms or other effects add damage to get past their damage-capping ability. You can do the former pretty easily most of the time, and the latter is pretty easy with Annihilating Stroke, you just have to proc its reset condition so that you can re-use it. Or you can just get around the damage cap by using Iron Whirlwind to make 5 attacks instead of one.
That's true, he did mention her at that time. I think Uly has probably forgotten though.
Like Blind Impulse Strike? I'm not sure how permissible such effects are going to be in 3E, with the increased emphasis on social combat mattering and not being trivially deflected. I'll consider it.