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The College of Jewels (Magical Academy Quest)

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I like the Listen addition to the plot, but in the sense of 'Listening to this crazy goddess is wrecking my relationships and destroying my ability to learn magic' is fun from a narrative standpoint. It has an excellent potential for all kinds of fun, but I don't want to see Saphira going full conquest.
 
@Wander I would suggest using vote tags as before...

[X][OPPONENT] Some blonde girl with a stupid expression on her face. You think she's from a year or two above you.
[X][FIGHT] Fight her to inflict utter, but relatively painless, humiliation. Portal water on top of her, then buffet her with freezing winds from another portal.
[X][FIAT] Purity of intent: A true warrior needs no gestures or mumbled words to work her will. Let the world be changed in fierce moments. (Ignore the casting time on one spell and cast instantaneously.)
[X][MAGIC] XP Plan Generic Combo
-[X] Rechargeable Enchantments (5)
-[X] Minor Disruption (1)
-[X] Disruption (5)
-[X] Planar Creation 2 (3)
-[X] Planar Teleport 2 (15)
-[X] Planar Control 2 (15)
-[X] Careful Casting (10 from Spiritual)
-[X] Maximization 1 (15 from Enchanting)
-[X] Superior Speed Casting (20 from Countermagic)


One of the guys is technically kind of a friend, so beating them up when they're already kinda sad is like kicking a puppy. Picking a fight with a TA doesn't strike me as very smart. So, out of sympathy, pick the unknown.
...but just mess around with her, because going for a death duel out of the blue is idiotic.
Purity of intent is incredibly potent. It doesn't quite matter what your opponent is doing when you instantly blow their stupid face off, after all.

XP Plan is much the same as I proposed before (don't get sucked in by the shiny), with the additional 20 from countermagic completing the skill combo I wanted to set us up towards. To expand:
Recharge Enchantments is kind of important for working on an Enchanting project.
The two basic countermagics are dirt cheap and offer some utility.
The Dimensional Science enhancements are relatively cheap and basic improvements. Teleport 2 is incredibly powerful, Control 2 is good quality of life.
And the generic skill combo is the real important one here.
We already have Stabilization, which we were using typically with Elemental Portals and Speed Cast to counter that effect. Maximization lets us make this portal huge or more potent in some fashion while tacking some instability back on, Careful Casting makes sure it doesn't blow up on us or our allies (important moreso now that we're starting to fight alongside others more!), and then Superior Speed Casting means we take no extra spellcast time from stacking on all these other traits.
 
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Spectrum said:
[X][MAGIC] XP Plan Generic Combo
-[X] Rechargeable Enchantments (5)
-[X] Minor Disruption (1)
-[X] Disruption (5)
-[X] Planar Creation 2 (3)
-[X] Planar Teleport 2 (15)
-[X] Planar Control 2 (15)
-[X] Careful Casting (10 from Spiritual)
-[X] Maximization 1 (15 from Enchanting)
-[X] Superior Speed Casting (20 from Countermagic)
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Very tempting, feels like a solid level-up...

But on the other hand, we could get Etherealness...

Spectrum said:
[X][FIGHT] Fight her to inflict utter, but relatively painless, humiliation. Portal water on top of her, then buffet her with freezing winds from another portal.
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And I'm not sure if we should go this half-cocked.
 
Prent said:
We were only asked to listen once. The thread said yes and there hasn't been a chance to stop since then.
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Prent said:
We also literally haven't been given the option to stop listening.
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To be fair, the thread also didn't choose to talk with Sammy, which would have given you a way to deal with it. You chose to talk to Sammy this week, but you also chose to get into a fight, which aggravated things. On the other hand, lots of shinies.
 
No7sHere said:
We need to stop listening it's fucking with us really badly to the point where we cannot control our selves and are starting fights with random people we run into, this is absolutely terrible and will completely screw us over and fuck up our character.
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It's the voters who wanted to pick up the fight and devote it to her when Saphira has been avoiding conflict as far as I remember her actions.
Vote for getting messed with - get messed with - what a surprise.
SpeckofStardust said:
... why do people keep glistening to a god that what the city we live into to be burned to the ground?
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I do not remember the burning to the ground part. She is the Goddess of Conquest, not of Razing and Slaughtering.

I think it might help to just talk to Sammy and ask what exactly is happening to us.
 
I find it a non sequitur. She killed rival gods. That means she wanted (still wants?) to burn Diadem down. I just don't see the logic connecting one statement to the other.

Razing is what you do after the city is subjugated. What's the point?
 
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Nevill said:
I find it a non sequitur. She killed rival gods. That means she wanted (still wants?) to burn Diadem down. I just don't see the logic connecting one statement to the other.

Razing is what you do after the city is subjugated. What's the point?
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she has the aspects of every war god that once was, because she doesn't like to share something that has resisted her for so long is not going to treated nicely unless if we some how convince the city to openly surrender without a fight.
 
SpeckofStardust said:
she doesn't like to share something that has resisted her for so long is not going to treated nicely unless if we some how convince the city to openly surrender without a fight.
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So you acknowledge at least that if something surrenders without a fight, it is enough for her? Then why do you attribute her the want to raze and slaughter?

For the record, my logic is thus: the very first thing we used her blessing for is to defeat opponents without killing them, and she gladly helped us with it as it fulfilled the terms of what constitutes her worship. That tells me that victory is all she cares about, and humiliation/murder/pillaging or whatever else that usually accompanies conquest in not a part of her portfolio and is something that comes from the vessel.
 
Nevill said:
So you acknowledge at least that if something surrenders without a fight, it is enough for her? Then why do you attribute her the want to raze and slaughter?

For the record, my logic is thus: the very first thing we used her blessing for is to defeat opponents without killing them, and she gladly helped us with it as it fulfilled the terms of what constitutes her worship. That tells me that victory is all she cares about, and humiliation/murder/pillaging or whatever else that usually accompanies conquest in not a part of her portfolio and is something that comes from the vessel.
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That depends on how she intends to define her 'victory'.
 
[X][OPPONENT] Some blonde girl with a stupid expression on her face. You think she's from a year or two above you.
[X][FIGHT] Fight her to inflict utter, but relatively painless, humiliation. Portal water on top of her, then buffet her with freezing winds from another portal.
[X][FIAT] Purity of intent: A true warrior needs no gestures or mumbled words to work her will. Let the world be changed in fierce moments. (Ignore the casting time on one spell and cast instantaneously.)
[X][MAGIC] XP Plan Generic Combo

Eh...losing enthusiasm over the current course
 
Fiat's gone from once a week last time to once a day this time. So if Saphira picks up a few more tiers, I wonder if Declaration of Naught could be once a minute or so.

[X][OPPONENT] Some blonde girl with a stupid expression on her face. You think she's from a year or two above you.
[X][FIGHT] Fight her to inflict utter, but relatively painless, humiliation. Portal water on top of her, then buffet her with freezing winds from another portal.
[X][FIAT] Purity of intent: A true warrior needs no gestures or mumbled words to work her will. Let the world be changed in fierce moments. (Ignore the casting time on one spell and cast instantaneously.)
 
veekie said:
Eh...losing enthusiasm over the current course
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Yeah, I suspected as much. I wouldn't worry about it as long as any particular effort is made to not go down this path.
tricholysis said:
Fiat's gone from once a week last time to once a day this time. So if Saphira picks up a few more tiers, I wonder if Declaration of Naught could be once a minute or so.
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That's Sammy/World Anew tier Divine fiats. You would have to go super far down Conquest's path to get there.
 
[X][OPPONENT] Some blonde girl with a stupid expression on her face. You think she's from a year or two above you.
[X][FIGHT] Challenge them to a duel, and deliberately draw the fight out. Throw stuff through portals at her, but don't threaten her until she's shown you some new magic. When she has, come down on her like a hammer. Still, this isn't a fight to kill or maim, and you should make that clear.
[X][FIAT] Declaration of Naught
[X][MAGIC] Generic Enchanting
-[X] Rechargeable Enchantments (5)
-[X] Persistent Enchantment (10)
-[X] Minor Disruption (1)
-[X] Disruption (5)
-[X] Planar Creation 2 (3)
-[X] Planar Teleport 2 (15)
-[X] Planar Control 2 (15)
-[X] Maximization 1 (10 from Spiritual, 5 from Enchanting)
-[X] Superior Speed Casting (20 from Countermagic)

Regarding the fight - if we're going to have it, I see it as more Saphira-like for her to try and learn some more magic out of it - particularly if it's in a context where she's no longer going to get expelled if she loses. I'm also inclined to think that Saphira randomly attacking someone out of the blue with no warning is going to make her a lot of enemies very quickly.

Magic: I liked @Spectrum's vote, mostly. A couple of changes I've made are related to the fact that if we have Superior Speed Casting, Careful Casting isn't as important, because we have Stabilization. Additionally, I think we're probably going to take either Flawless Haste or Quickening 1 down the line, so I'd prefer Declaration of Naught for just shutting some things down flat.

Finally, I want to do well on that Enchantment project, so I put in Persistent Enchantment [removing Careful Casting and fiddling with the point allocations allows this].

Points spent: 33 Dimensional Magic, 36 Countermagic, 20 Enchanting, 10 Spiritual; this leaves 5 Dimensional Magic and 4 Countermagic.
 
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SystemicHatter said:
[X][FIGHT] Challenge them to a duel, and make it clear that you won't take no for an answer. You haven't really had a challenge in fights since you got here - you couldn't really afford to - but maybe you'll get to see some new magic out of this. If not, at least it'll let you vent your frustration.
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I think it's less of a vote on how we get into a fight, and more on how we do fight them. What are we trying to achieve and how far are we willing to go.

Which the previous two votes answer, but I do not think yours does.
 
Nevill said:
I think it's less of a vote on how we get into a fight, and more on how we do fight them. What are we trying to achieve and how far are we willing to go.

Which the previous two votes answer, but I do not think yours does.
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Noted and edited. I'm trying to convey that Saphira would draw the fight out, in order to actually have a challenge, and possibly see some new magic in the process.
 
SystemicHatter said:
Saphira would draw the fight out, in order to actually have a challenge
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War, you are doing it wrong. Or did you want to establish reputation for theatrics? So incompetent people don't expect us to do the reasonable thing in mortal combat: making the first, the last and the only attack in a fight? Sadly, should we win, the competent will know that we won despite giving our opponent time and opportunity to beat us.

Besides, she is the senior here, we may not even have to sandbag.

[X][OPPONENT] Some blonde girl with a stupid expression on her face. You think she's from a year or two above you.
[X][FIGHT] Fight her to inflict utter, but relatively painless, humiliation. Portal water on top of her, then buffet her with freezing winds from another portal.
[X][FIAT] Purity of intent: A true warrior needs no gestures or mumbled words to work her will. Let the world be changed in fierce moments. (Ignore the casting time on one spell and cast instantaneously.)
[X][MAGIC] XP Plan Generic Combo
 
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I admit that I don't understand the intent behind SystemicHatter's suggestion, and I don't see it very plausible in Saphira's state who is snappy and irritated and just wants to vent her frustration on someone.

I also think that his XP plan would benefit from a plan name to make it easier to choose between the two we have, as I too prefer Persistent Enchantment.

[X][OPPONENT] Some blonde girl with a stupid expression on her face. You think she's from a year or two above you.
[X][FIGHT] Fight her to inflict utter, but relatively painless, humiliation. Portal water on top of her, then buffet her with freezing winds from another portal.

[X][FIAT] Battlemaster's Clarity: A true warrior does not need to see the future to know what is coming. They can feel it. (Similar to Warrior's Eye, the thread can vote to activate this fiat. If they do, I'll give the thread a rough outline of their opponent's plan in an upcoming fight.)

[X][MAGIC] Generic Enchanting
-[X] Rechargeable Enchantments (5)
-[X] Persistent Enchantment (10)
-[X] Minor Disruption (1)
-[X] Disruption (5)
-[X] Planar Creation 2 (3)
-[X] Planar Teleport 2 (15)
-[X] Planar Control 2 (15)
-[X] Maximization 1 (10 from Spiritual, 5 from Enchanting)
-[X] Superior Speed Casting (20 from Countermagic)
 
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I've put in Nevill's name for the XP spending plan on my vote. I'm having trouble actually writing out what I want to do in the fight part of the vote, so I'll just sketch out my thoughts on the situation.

In my view, while Saphira looking for a fight to vent frustration isn't exactly beyond her characterisation, it's beyond her usual mode of behaviour - she gets into a fight with Ruby and Lusca over something fairly trivial (and which, at this stage, Ruby probably has a better idea about than her). Moreover, her previous fights haven't exactly been satisfying for her, either being totally one-sided or a set-up (as was the case with the bard), so it seems odd that she would attempt to vent her frustration that way without being influenced by Conquest.

I wanted to draw a sharp contrast between Saphira's usual fighting strategy, which is all about extreme pragmatism and hitting your opponent with everything, and her Conquest-influenced behaviour, which would be something drastically different, perhaps drawing out the fight.
 
SystemicHatter said:
Magic: I liked Spectrum's vote, mostly. A couple of changes I've made are related to the fact that if we have Superior Speed Casting, Careful Casting isn't as important, because we have Stabilization. Additionally, I think we're probably going to take either Flawless Haste or Quickening 1 down the line, so I'd prefer Declaration of Naught for just shutting some things down flat.
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It depends on what the focus is, but Careful Casting was important because Speed Cast Elemental Portals were already unstable. That's what Stabilization was already used on. Careful Casting is purchased to ameliorate the effects of then using Maximization on the spell, which makes it unstable again.
 
[X][OPPONENT] Some blonde girl with a stupid expression on her face. You think she's from a year or two above you.
[X][FIGHT] Fight her to inflict utter, but relatively painless, humiliation. Portal water on top of her, then buffet her with freezing winds from another portal.

[X][FIAT] Battlemaster's Clarity: A true warrior does not need to see the future to know what is coming. They can feel it. (Similar to Warrior's Eye, the thread can vote to activate this fiat. If they do, I'll give the thread a rough outline of their opponent's plan in an upcoming fight.)

[X][MAGIC] Generic Enchanting
-[X] Rechargeable Enchantments (5)
-[X] Persistent Enchantment (10)
-[X] Minor Disruption (1)
-[X] Disruption (5)
-[X] Planar Creation 2 (3)
-[X] Planar Teleport 2 (15)
-[X] Planar Control 2 (15)
-[X] Maximization 1 (10 from Spiritual, 5 from Enchanting)
-[X] Superior Speed Casting (20 from Countermagic)

I would like to move on and upgrade spells, also well Persistent Enchantments we can recharge should not only help our project but massively help making useful items.
 
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