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[LP CYOA] Epic

Kipeci

Arcane
Joined
May 22, 2012
Messages
3,027
Location
Vicksburg
B1.
 

Baltika9

Arcane
Joined
Jun 27, 2012
Messages
9,611
Why do I get the sinking feeling that if we stay in Egypt, Sekhenun isn't coming to us? I mean, Gieloth apparently can sense one another. And she is heading into Marduk's palace.
 

treave

Arcane
Patron
Joined
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Messages
11,370
Codex 2012
A - 8
B1 - 4

***

Chapter 5.1: A Tiny Little Hunger

You were in a shanty town just on the outskirts of Babylon. It had taken you three long weeks to get here, though you had found out that Mehrune was still in the city - a stroke of good luck there. It had nearly been a century since you were last in Sumer, and things are different. Everywhere you looked, throughout your journey, there were many homeless and the poor. Farmers subsist on scraps while they work the fields for their masters, the priestly order called the Sons of Marduk. Land ownership was concentrated in the hands of the clergy, with Marduk being elevated as the one god above all. The soldiers and priests were the only ones enjoying the riches of Sumeria, and they were the foundation of Marduk's reign. Human sacrifice had become a large part of the new state religion, as it was with Sekhenun's cult. Though you defeated his top two lieutenants so many years ago, Marduk appears to have found replacements - now he has twelve.

Of course, he probably needs twelve just to make up for those two, you think to yourself.

You hear a small yelp, and a scream. Turning your head, you see a few rough men carrying away a struggling little girl into an alley. Some unbidden memories of your life as a street rat float briefly to the surface before a dark, ugly emotion - a terrible mix of anger and hunger - washes it away. Choking back that feeling, you lose a bit of control and give a desperate, emotional laugh as you hold your head tightly, trying to clear your mind.

"Ah, what's so funny, you busybody?"

The men holding the girl were looking at you. Their leader, a great hulk of a man confronts you, a wood-axe in one hand.

"Were you laughing at me? If people laugh at me they gotta pay up, y'hear?"

His scarred and bearded face glowers, making a practiced attempt at intimidation. You notice a few other people surrounding you with hostile intentions. Adding mugging to their crimes of kidnapping, it seems.

"You do now, do you?" You toss him a coin. It wasn't like you couldn't afford it, after you snuck into your own tomb in Egypt and took some treasures to fund your journey. It's not stealing if they gave it to you as a burial gift. The large man eyes the coin suspiciously, and sneers.

"Hand it all over, worm. This won't even pay for your funeral." Indeed it wouldn't. You smile at him. "That's what your joke of a face is worth, my friend."

His face turns a curious shade of purple as he chokes in rage. "That's it, you're dead!" The man roars as he raises his axe. As he takes a step forward, preparing to chop your head in two, you give his outstretched foot a telekinetic flick. Thrown off balance, he trips and falls right into the path of your incoming fist. There is a loud cracking noise, and his jaw is smashed by your right hook. At that instant, two of the other robbers fall upon you from behind, yelling dire threats. You move backwards with one quick, fast step, not looking at them - as their momentum sends them past you, you whip your knives out, one in each hand, and sink it between their ribs. That was when the rest of the robbers decided to run, leaving their would be abductee behind.

The fight was over in seconds.

You look down at the groaning robbers. Their leader was out cold, and the two you knived would bleed out if they weren't helped. And you were feeling quite peckish after your exertions...

***

A. You eat. Eating will make you stronger, and you need all the strength you can for what awaits you in Babylon. These were scum who would kidnap a little girl. They would serve far more good to this world as your nourishment than they would ever have done in a hundred years.

B. You resist the temptation to eat. You do not desire to feed unless absolutely necessary, even if these low-lives were kidnappers and robbers. You will find another way to deal with your hunger.
 

Esquilax

Arcane
Joined
Dec 7, 2010
Messages
4,833
I think that this bears mentioning:

It's unfortunate, but you have no real way of obtaining the nourishment your new hunger requires via more tasteful means for the time being. You will have to eat, just like all men eat. It's just that your diet requires a bit more... variety to it, once in a while.

Perhaps starving ourselves in the short-term might yield other ways of obtaining nourishment that might not stir our addiction further. It always starts with "A Little Hunger", doesn't it? Still, it would make reaching Sekhenun a lot easier, and she is sure to have some clues about our condition, so it might be better in the long run.

Not sure yet.
 
Joined
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Messages
2,951
B

They are scum and two of them are already dying anyway, so if we really, really need to eat this would be a good opportunity. But before we start snacking on people I would like at least some info from Sekhenun about our condition - what if every time we eat we make the matter worse, needing more and more human flesh? Sekhenun might have some idea how to combat this - she has been doing so for over 80 years now for a similar condition. Resist, it's too risky to give into hunger. Plus there is also the girl - do we really want witnesses to us eating somebody?
 
Joined
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I'd rather we avoid the DEVOUR SOUL option for as long as we can. Somehow it didn't end well for us the last time.
 

newcomer

Learned
Joined
May 23, 2012
Messages
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Which LP was it? Can you give me the link?

Actually I also think that might not be a good idea, but what the hell... A
 

Smashing Axe

Arcane
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Divinity: Original Sin
A - I want us to recover, and this is the only way we know that might work at present. These seem like fine candidates for our nourishment. True we might need to mediate how often we eat, but it seems like it'd be a good idea right now. We're still a long way from devouring galaxies, and those worthy of our hunger are not in short supply, nor likely to be in short supply for some time. Remember we have no more second chances at life now, and we're in hostile territory. Every edge we can get is vital, as an abomination to the masters and the gieloth we cannot be weak or else we are done. Our enemies are countless, and we are but one.
 
Joined
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Messages
2,951
Which LP was it? Can you give me the link?

Actually I also think that might not be a good idea, but what the hell... A
It was the Act 2 of the root's epic LP of Warhammer 42K.

In it we "have chosen to take the role of Lord Sector Calixis while you struggle to keep the last working sector in the Imperium from falling into chaos while you battle intrigue at every turn. May your choices prove wise."

Spoiler: they didn't.
 

treave

Arcane
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11,370
Codex 2012
If there is any lesson to be learned from the tragic tale of Marius Hax, it is this: power that is granted to you cannot be trusted. Power that you take for yourself... that is power that will serve.
 

newcomer

Learned
Joined
May 23, 2012
Messages
919
If there is any lesson to be learned from the tragic tale of Marius Hax, it is this: power that is granted to you cannot be trusted. Power that you take for yourself... that is power that will serve.

Doesn't that means we have got rid of the "power that is granted" (voice) and get our own?
Well, let's ask Sekehnum first about that
 
Joined
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Messages
2,951
If there is any lesson to be learned from the tragic tale of Marius Hax, it is this: power that is granted to you cannot be trusted. Power that you take for yourself... that is power that will serve.
Huh. I thought it was "When even a soul devouring artifact thinks you are feeding too much, you just might be overdoing it."
 

Tigranes

Arcane
Joined
Jan 8, 2009
Messages
10,350
Surely with Ean's abilities, if he really needed to eat some lowlifes for nourishment or survival, it would be a trivial matter to dispose of them in similar ways.

So there is no 'need' here at all. The only question is whether we WANT to have a more accelerated diet or a suppressed one.

I say B, to learn more about whether (a) we will regenerate powers at any rate without eating, (b) any side-effects from not eating, and of course Sekhenun probably can tell us more.
 

Baltika9

Arcane
Joined
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Messages
9,611
It had taken you three long weeks to get here, though you had found out that Mehrune was still in the city - a stroke of good luck there. It had nearly been a century since you were last in Sumer, and things are different.

B. She's right here, bros. I think we can wait for the verdict.
A.
 

Esquilax

Arcane
Joined
Dec 7, 2010
Messages
4,833
I believe there's also another more, important lesson in there as well, treave: don't become best buddies with Tzeentch when you have already made a pact with The Deceiver simply because you like Chaos better and you think Tzeentch is cool.

The highlight of Act 2 was after the horrible ending, when everyone breathed a sigh of relief because the votes had been tallied improperly... and then it turned out that the real ending was even worse than the original one. :lol:

The servants at her residence confirm, somewhat surprisingly to you, that a girl named Sekhe was still the chief handmaiden when Mehrune left. Sekhenun probably had another reason for getting close to Mehrune besides helping you out, if she didn’t ditch the cold bitch the moment you vanished in the Labyrinth.

You were in a shanty town just on the outskirts of Babylon. It had taken you three long weeks to get here, though you had found out that Mehrune was still in the city - a stroke of good luck there.

We do need all the strength we can get, but do we need it right at this moment? Mehrune is in very close proximity to us, and Sekhenun is likely with her as well. Marduk may have twelve lieutenants, but I doubt that any one of them are going to be meeting Mehrune in what's described as a "shanty town". While there are a ton of challenges ahead of us, I'm not sure now is the right time to feed with Sekhenun likely a short distance away from us.

VOTING B

A
 

Baltika9

Arcane
Joined
Jun 27, 2012
Messages
9,611
Also, anyone else think that Zeus might be Shulgi? Old, powerful immortal. can plant suggestions in the minds of others. Amoral. Plus, elemental manipulation?
 

Smashing Axe

Arcane
Patron
Joined
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Messages
2,835
Divinity: Original Sin
If anything I'd say he's more likely to be Naram since Zeus seems like he's serving the masters' cause rather than his own with this war. I wouldn't rule Shulgi out though.

It's really bizarre, but I have a strong urge to ally with Shulgi and be bro with him.
 

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