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Subsumption (PMMM Faux-Quest) (Witch MC)

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[X] Subsumption
noun
[mass noun]
  • The action of including or absorbing one thing in another.
    'globalism extends its subsumption of the local under the universal'
    'subsumption of different principles within a more encompassing one'
source
 
[x] I wonder what a windmill made out of pure despair tastes like?
 
Is this gonna turn out to be the origin of Walpurgisnacht? Isn't Walpurgisnacht a witch that subsumed other witches?
 
bobbananaville said:
Is this gonna turn out to be the origin of Walpurgisnacht? Isn't Walpurgisnacht a witch that subsumed other witches?
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Walpurgisnacht became as powerful as she did from absorbing other witches, but the themes are different. Walpurgisnacht treats the world as a tragedy and makes other witches into parts of her play. Ashtaroth has something different.
 
Well, I thought Ashtaroth would pull a Chestburster, but dropping on her Enemy works too.
Could even work inside her empty Barrier, hide close to the Ceiling behind Illusions and then drop on any Intruder.

I'm curious if the Storm happens regularly or if someone else entered the Barrier.
Maybe Ashtaroth could share her Food?:V
 
Flairina said:
> Fall back on one of your go to witch fighting plans.

There are a couple of strategies you used to use fairly commonly when fighting witches. Neither of them were particularly magic expedient, and honestly always struck you as slightly ridiculous, yet they tended to have an almost humorously high rate of success all the same. One of them is definitely no longer possible, but the other... given how Tome's cover has seemed almost completely resistant to attack thus far, you think you might still be able to do something similar. You're not certain, what with the rather large number of differences between now and then, but since your only other method of dealing damage has basically been rendered null at this point, you think it's your best shot at ending this.

In order to pull this off however, you'll need to get back the altitude you just lost and then some, and with the other witch growing like she is and how slow you are moving upwards, you're not sure you'll be able to position yourself before she becomes too big for this to really work. Given your rather limited options, how can you get really high, really fast…?

A memory from earlier in the fight flashes to mind.

Ohhhhh, this is such a bad idea…

This time, when the windmill witch rounds on you, you don't bother moving out of her line of sight. As expected, geysers begin blasting up at you from the ground again, each of them now doing a passable Yellowstone impression- and you don't even try to dodge. Rather, you do your best to position yourself directly on top of one that's going almost straight up, and let it hit the bottom of Tome at full force.

The water all but throws you upwards, pushing you quickly towards the brewing storm above as you waver around, struggling to keep your purchase atop the pressurized fountain. You're really glad you're attached to the inside of Tome right now, and further fastened to it by your trapped arms, because there is no way you wouldn't have fallen off by now otherwise. You're also glad you can't seem to feel Tome's cover the way you can its pages, because sturdy or not, you imagine the sensation would be akin to being struck in the rear by a fire hose trying to funnel the ocean through itself.

You don't quite manage to ride the geyser to its zenith, sliding off into a not-quite tumble before it completely peters out, but you still end up FAR higher above the other witch than you were before. She looks almost small down below, despite the fact that she's over twice as tall as even the largest of houses at this point. You can see her trying to look up at you again, but she doesn't seem to be attacking- either you've escaped her range again, or she's just waiting to grow some more. Regardless-

Your opponent's attention suddenly seems to drift away from you. Her head turns back to the ground as if looking towards something in the distance, while her arm blades appear to straighten back out and lock in place, trembling violently as if struggling not to move. That looks familiar…

In confirmation of your thoughts, you hear the wind begin howling behind you. Another gale is coming. You can't wait any longer.

You quickly position yourself, praying you're lined up correctly… and let yourself stop floating, shoving yourself downwards for all you're worth.

Moments later, you strike the top of the other witch like a meteor from Heaven.

-CRAC-C-C-C-CK!!!-​

With a sound like a mountain being split in two, the witch's upper body finally gives in to the stress you've put upon it and separates from the rest of her. It crashes to the ground, just shy of the colorful flowers at her base, as her prismatic aura winks out of existence.

You've won.



[-] It is time.
[-] She is finished.
[-] NOW TAKE HER
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For some reason, this felt a lot more engaging than the last few updates of the fight. I'm not wholly sure why, but I think it has to do with being told in the first paragraph that the upcoming 'plan' fell into the "ridiculous" and shortly thereafter the "this is such a bad idea..." category, without spelling it out immediately.

Those descriptions, and the mild suspense that we know will be resolved if we just keep reading, takes advantage of the natural curiosity about what specific brand of ridiculous bad idea we're talking about, and also gets us into Ashtaroth's head a little more, makes it easier to keep track of a train of thought that moves along with the action, rather than a list of events that don't really feel like they change the overall state of things.

Also, the curiosity generated about what what Ashtaroth's old strategies were, and why they were both "slightly ridiculous" and humorously effective. If she was a shapeshifter, did she ever turn into an elephant and drop herself onto a Witch? Because that was my first thought.
 
bobbananaville said:
Is this gonna turn out to be the origin of Walpurgisnacht? Isn't Walpurgisnacht a witch that subsumed other witches?
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Walpurgisnacht was confirmed to be a conglomeration of witches in one body, but how exactly that happened is up for debate, since we don't exactly have her origin story.

mCooperative said:
For some reason, this felt a lot more engaging than the last few updates of the fight. I'm not wholly sure why, but I think it has to do with being told in the first paragraph that the upcoming 'plan' fell into the "ridiculous" and shortly thereafter the "this is such a bad idea..." category, without spelling it out immediately.

Those descriptions, and the mild suspense that we know will be resolved if we just keep reading, takes advantage of the natural curiosity about what specific brand of ridiculous bad idea we're talking about, and also gets us into Ashtaroth's head a little more, makes it easier to keep track of a train of thought that moves along with the action, rather than a list of events that don't really feel like they change the overall state of things.

Also, the curiosity generated about what what Ashtaroth's old strategies were, and why they were both "slightly ridiculous" and humorously effective. If she was a shapeshifter, did she ever turn into an elephant and drop herself onto a Witch? Because that was my first thought.
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Hmm. If I get the time, perhaps I'll go back and edit the previous parts a bit. They are bit too much "tell, then show", now that I look at them again.

As for the strategies... well, there's only so many reasons one would want to turn into an elephant. ^^;
 
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Emergence 27: New Material
  • Threadmarks
    • > MAKE HER YOURS.

    Yes…

    You float back to the ground and mentally pull Novella up into an upright position, having it face outward as you conjure a spiraling black vortex into existence across its open surface. It fails to exit the pages the way your writings do, but spins and gyres frenetically across the paper, as though alive.

    You shall be the first.

    You rotate around to face the separated halves of the windmill witch's body. They are trying to fade away; to slip the confines of existence altogether... but your barrier's presence stabilizes her own, preventing it from unwinding with her end. Still tied to it, her soul has nowhere to go.

    Don't worry…

    You turn the spiral you've created on the two enormous chunks of broken masonry, which immediately begin to dissolve. The pieces of the former witch melt into slurries of formless color that twist upwards, snaking through the air like serpents, before turning and corkscrewing directly towards Novella. The monochrome book takes them in hungrily, inexorably drawing the amorphous matter down into its fragile pages.

    I'll make a better place for you.

    You feel her rushing into you. Her magic, her soul, her very being… she is a part of you, now and forever. You exult in the intense feeling of fulfillment, of being more, that courses through you with this knowledge.

    Welcome to my world...

    Your body thrums like a plucked string. You instinctively arch backwards as you slowly rise upward, emerging from the center of Tome's pages like a rapidly growing sapling. Your arms pull free of their literary prison, the translucent limbs extending outward as if of their own accord, while the damaged pages of the book they were formerly trapped within seal together again. A light pressure takes hold around your missing head as the miniature galaxy revolving around it grows ever so slightly thicker.

    Saar, Witch of the Netherlands.

    Your growth comes to a halt, and the world around you seems to sigh, the formerly burgeoning winds vanishing with their creator's departure.

    A calm, peaceful silence descends upon the area.



    …



    [-] What.
    [-] The hell.
    [-] WAS THAT.
     
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    Witch Profile: Saar
  • Informational
    • Witch: Saar



    ​
    Type: Netherlands Witch

    Nature: Bleak

    Description: She lies at the center of an ever-looming tempest, desperately restraining her blades from producing the furious gusts that would drive it, lest her many beloved tulips end up blown away forever. Having little control of her power, she regularly loses her grip on it, causing hurricane-level winds to rage throughout the area until she can restrain herself once more. For the sake of her fields, she would do anything.

    Familiars:
    -Faas, whose duty is to cultivate. Constantly busy, they pluck the flowers whipped into the witch's gales from the air and attempt to plant them anew. The flowers are inevitably unearthed again later, making their task utterly futile.
    -Brandy, whose duty is to irrigate. They lurk within the canals near the edge of the labyrinth, producing the rose-tinted water that fills them. Disdainful of the witch's woes, they force any excess liquid they create into the ground beneath her fields, which has flooded them to the point of uselessness.

    Labyrinth:
    -Outer Layer: A series of branching canals beneath a dark green night, lined by a forest of oddly placed streetlights and towering leafless trees. As they approach the witch's fields, the canals begin to split and shorten, eventually dividing themselves out of existence.
    -Inner Layer: What may have once been pristine and colorful farmland is now nothing more than an enormous patch of mud and muck. A profusion of vibrant petals and multicolored tulips drift down from above, only to be torn from the ground and tossed about the moment the witch loses focus. In some spots, clear pink water pools, within which large submerged buildings can be seen far below the surface. The witch awaits on the last clear hill of land, surrounded by the few and precious flowers she has managed to save from herself.

    Magic:
    -Tilting the Scales: Slowly increases in size and power as she fights. There is no obvious upper limit to this, allowing her to become truly gigantic given time.
    -Razor Blades: Temporarily enchants her largest fan blades, granting them a great deal of extra strength, flexibility, and sharpness.
    -Weep for the Flowers: Forces water up from beneath her fields and unleashes it as a torrent. Anything hit by this water will become sluggish and lethargic, and be struck by an impulse to drown itself.
    -Tearful Storm: Ever so slightly loosens her self-imposed chains to produce a powerful, directed cyclone that takes on the colors of her cloak. She is loath to use this attack, lest she go too far, and unleash the tempest she wishes to never see come to fruition.
     
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    • I didn't like the update.

    Oh, Windmilll Girl Saar was absrobed as expected but it gave the impression Ashtaroth was doing all of that that on her own will. The voting options came too late in the update to make any difference.

    Edit: ninja'd by Saar's profile
     
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    Filraen said:
    I didn't like the update.

    Oh, Windmilll Girl Saar was absrobed as expected but it gave the impression Ashtaroth was doing all of that that on her own will. The voting options came too late in the update to make any difference.
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    Huh?

    I liked it. I also really like the flavor text for the Witch. It really gives you the sense of who this girl used to be, and the despair her wish was twisted into.
     
    Flairina said:
    Character Sheet

    ​
    Name/Title: Ashtaroth, Subsumption Witch
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    It wasn't quite clear to me in the update, so I checked the charatcer sheet. The bad news is that Ash didn't manage to get her arms unstuck from the book. The good news is, now that we know consuming witches changes her physical appearance, we just need to find a witch that's all about limbs to get some! Progress people!
     
    SaltyWaffles said:
    Huh?

    I liked it. I also really like the flavor text for the Witch. It really gives you the sense of who this girl used to be, and the despair her wish was twisted into.
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    The witch profile basically ninja'd my comment. I'm taling about the story post.


    The Name of Love said:
    What do you mean?
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    One of the most interesting themes of the previous quest was Ashtaroth fighting against her own witch instincts of eating everybody (it was funny too, as that thread created the it should not be this hard to not eat people tag, Ashtaroth failed several times at not eating people). With that expectatives, I saw the previous update's options being It is time, She is finished and NOW TAKE HER, showing Ashtaroth was getting too influenced by her witchstincts. But this update, it never hints in its text Ashtaroth isn't in control (and then we got to the "option votes" after the update text, it's too little, too late). That was what I didn't like.

    Note that the solution would have been as simple as making dark-colored the textin italics: Yes…, You shall be the first., Don't worry…, I'll make a better place for you. and Welcome to my world...
     
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    Filraen said:
    One of the most interesting themes of the previous quest was Ashtaroth fighting against her own witch instincts of eating everybody (it was funny too, as that thread created the it should not be this hard to not eat people tag, Ashtaroth failed several times at not eating people). With that expectatives, I saw the previous update's options being It is time, She is finished and NOW TAKE HER, showing Ashtaroth was getting too influenced by her witchstincts. But this update, it never hints in its text Ashtaroth isn't in control (and then we got to the "option votes" after the update text, it's too little, too late). That was what I didn't like.

    Note that the solution would have been as simple as making dark-colored the textin italics: Yes…, You shall be the first., Don't worry…, I'll make a better place for you. and Welcome to my world...
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    ...methinks you may want to read the update through again. This is definitely not Ashtaroth's usual mindset.

    Nottheunmaker said:
    It wasn't quite clear to me in the update, so I checked the charatcer sheet. The bad news is that Ash didn't manage to get her arms unstuck from the book. The good news is, now that we know consuming witches changes her physical appearance, we just need to find a witch that's all about limbs to get some! Progress people!
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    Actually, she did!
    Flairina said:
    Your arms pull free of their literary prison, the translucent limbs extending outward as if of their own accord, while the damaged pages of the book they were formerly trapped within seal together again.
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    I just didn't draw another picture showing so, since it would basically be the same, but with the arms free. That said, later down the road, that image may receive an update or two...
     
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    Filraen said:
    Of course it isn't Ashtaroth's usual mindset, it was expected on this update.
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    Then I think I'm confused as to what you're saying. Why would putting the words in italics in black help at all? It's coming from the same source either way. Are you talking about there being no drawn out resistance? If so, please keep in mind the differences between this fight and the Hirako fight- particularly the injuries inflicted- as that plays into why this happened the way it did.

    EDIT: Font type and initial command edited, as I'd forgotten both of those. Does that help?
     
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