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Inactive [LP CYOA] Overlord

Baltika9

Arcane
Joined
Jun 27, 2012
Messages
9,611
Eh I still want to see that bit of speculation even if it ends up being horribly off I would probably get at least a little bit of entertainment reading and dissecting it in my head.
This isn't entertaining for you?
It's nothing complicated. Basically, she has her own agenda and will bail as soon as her end of the deal is upheld. To be honest, I think she considers Erdrick to be kind of a pussy and a total bum. And she's right, he doesn't have any discipline, backbone or concrete principles (which is fine, that's what we voted for at character creation) and for a woman who has been around motivated, disciplined and driven men her whole life (the demon king, her fighting instructor), our character doesn't measure up.
That's why I think she'll bail as soon as her end of the bargain has been fulfilled and why we shouldn't be relying on her as a solid partner in the long term, unless we make her loyal to us or pressure her into being loyal to us. The other option is to change Erdrick into a man she would be more attracted to, but, in my experience, women don't respect guys who jump through hoops just to earn their approval.
TL;DR, Rin doesn't respect us because we don't measure up to the other men in her life and that's why we shouldn't be counting on her as a long-term partner unless we take steps to bind her to us in one form or another.
 

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
You've mentioned that you're for Women>Efficiency>Other; I'm for Callous Efficiency>Women>Other. That's it.
Well, if we were going mostly for the same thing with just a bit of different priorities, we would not have a lot to argue about, would we? :M

I am fine with Callous Efficiency>Women>Other or whatever, but not with Callous Efficiency>Women>Other, because if we aren't getting the things I listed as important, then what are we being efficient for? For callousness' sake? :lol:

I don't see why Nevill citing a character that we had for a single chapter in an LP we did three fucking years ago
It makes for a good example. It sucked for people to play as him (going by your own quote at the time, though I remember others mirroring the sentiment), and it sucked for me to read about it.

Anthony Sommers was cool, though.

ignoring the fact that we make stupid decisions with every character we make.
Ah, but we sticked with those characters to the end while Dio was abandoned at the first bus stop. :lol:

so we should never play as a villainous character again!
I am not saying that. But my belief in the 'Dex ability to play as an evil character consistently and successfully has somewhat diminished.

Especially after Spiral, where brief and whimsical trips into dickery were... less than fruitful.

However, I think that you are battling an imaginative foe. I have laid out my character concept and my plans. You can do so with yours, and we can leave it at that. We can work out our disagreements when there would be actual points concerning the LP to argue about.

You don't want to make your own moves and level up first?
On our women? No. :M

A powergaming fantasy where every background could be simplified into pursuit of power does not appeal to me. I have turned down half the world in favor of other pursuits.
 
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Esquilax

Arcane
Joined
Dec 7, 2010
Messages
4,833
This isn't entertaining for you?
It's nothing complicated. Basically, she has her own agenda and will bail as soon as her end of the deal is upheld. To be honest, I think she considers Erdrick to be kind of a pussy and a total bum. And she's right, he doesn't have any discipline, backbone or concrete principles (which is fine, that's what we voted for at character creation) and for a woman who has been around motivated, disciplined and driven men her whole life (the demon king, her fighting instructor), our character doesn't measure up.
That's why I think she'll bail as soon as her end of the bargain has been fulfilled and why we shouldn't be relying on her as a solid partner in the long term, unless we make her loyal to us or pressure her into being loyal to us. The other option is to change Erdrick into a man she would be more attracted to, but, in my experience, women don't respect guys who jump through hoops just to earn their approval.
TL;DR, Rin doesn't respect us because we don't measure up to the other men in her life and that's why we shouldn't be counting on her as a long-term partner unless we take steps to bind her to us in one form or another.

Eh, I don't buy that. Erdrick may be a slacker, but he's still an impressive hero who had enough sense of independence to turn on the goddesses, even if that move did happen to backfire horribly. As for Rin respecting us, I doubt that she would ally with us if she didn't think that we were somewhat competent as an ally. If she thought he was a loser, she wouldn't have suggested it in the first place. She probably thinks that Erdrick as a lecher and doesn't like him much thanks to our past as a hero, but this PUA kind of interpretation that she doesn't think much of Erdrick because he isn't enough of an ALPHA BRO is just over-the-top.

She isn't 100% trustworthy (and neither are we), and her goal, first and foremost is to fulfill her father's legacy, but I think this is way off.
 

treave

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Jul 6, 2008
Messages
11,370
Codex 2012
I don't see why Nevill citing a character that we had for a single chapter in an LP we did three fucking years ago is being used as some sort of cautionary tale of why we shouldn't go with evil characters."Well, we made a lot of stupid decisions with this guy (ignoring the fact that we make stupid decisions with every character we make. It's like me citing previous classics like Sphere Diplomacy and Youxia City Showdown as reasons to never play as a morally upright character.), so we should never play as a villainous character again!"

I don't think that Dio actually got screwed over in his own chapter. Sure, the voters decided to try and sabotage, or at least temper his ambitions halfway through for what seems to be fear of the character, but ultimately he still came out ahead by the end of that chapter. :lol:

A villain is at their best if they're hurting things you care about, or else it's just smashing stuff and getting ahead by any means necessary with no real personal dynamics. A lot of the apprehension over Dio was because he threatened to corrupt everything the voters had built up over the past few months.

It is a new character in a new world here, with no real investments as of yet, so I can see why an argument for villainy would also include destroying the only person that came along with us from the old world, or basically the only thing that (some of) the voters might be attached to. It would not be 'true' villainy otherwise.
 
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Esquilax

Arcane
Joined
Dec 7, 2010
Messages
4,833
I don't think that Dio actually got screwed over in his own chapter. Sure, the voters decided to try and sabotage, or at least temper his ambitions halfway through for what seems to be fear of the character, but ultimately he still came out ahead by the end of that chapter. :lol:

I was referring more to the dumb decisions we made in the interim. For example, completely underestimating the spy, Aodh, thinking he was some meek idiot. You really did some fine :troll: of the voters there, bro.

It is a new character in a new world here, with no real investments as of yet, so I can see why an argument for villainy would also include destroying the only person that came along with us from the old world, or basically the only thing that (some of) the voters might be attached to.

Yes, I suspect that had we started as Dio (or Shulgi) in the beginning, our perspective on the matter would have been significantly different. We had Ean, most of us were invested in him and viewed it primarily as Ean's story. Then, when Dio came around, it was obvious that given that they were about as opposite as you can get, a confrontation was inevitable. Given that we were predisposed towards Ean, of course we were going to want the plucky, sphere diplomat underdog taking on a much more powerful Naram to win out over Dio.
 

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
ultimately he still came out ahead by the end of that chapter.
Not through his own efforts, though.

He had lost his allies due to his own actions, sabotaged his own powerbase, sentenced the whole island to die for a deal with the Concordate he ultimately fucked up and failed to exploit, and went off to die an hero in some stupid war on a god-forsaken frontier. Where - of course - he got into an obvious ambush and would have died a pitiful nonentity if not for a magical McGuffin sword that was handed to him on a silver plate. Then he returned to the capital as a war hero and lived happily ever after as far as the chapter is concerned.

It was... not the most satisfactory story of a powermonger's ascent. :M
 

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
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Messages
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Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Everything you listed there were the efforts of the voters.
Except getting the sword that carried him through, which they just stumbled upon by sheer luck.

Their conscious efforts, though... *shudders*
 

Baltika9

Arcane
Joined
Jun 27, 2012
Messages
9,611
I am fine with Callous Efficiency>Women>Other or whatever, but not with Callous Efficiency>Women>Other, because if we aren't getting the things I listed as important, then what are we being efficient for? For callousness' sake? :lol:
Efficiency isn't just a mechanism to get to the goal, it's a trait I want to prioritize above all else. Hypothetical scenario: the adjutant is more trouble than she's worth to seduce and keep around; instead of chasing after her, just forget about it, we've other shit to do and there's plenty of fish in the sea. It's the 'coitus et al' mentality and the inconveniences it spawns that I don't want. Yes, Erdrick's a poonhound, but there are other avenues of character growth worth exploring.
I am not saying that. But my belief in the 'Dex ability to play as an evil character consistently and successfully has somewhat diminished.

Especially after Spiral, where brief and whimsical trips into dickery were... less than fruitful.
You mean our brief and whimsical trips into derpery were less than fruitful. Adachi was our biggest catastrophe (yes, ours), let's just learn from the mistakes we made there and improve on them, instead of running away with our tails between our legs.
I don't think that Dio actually got screwed over in his own chapter. Sure, the voters decided to try and sabotage, or at least temper his ambitions halfway through for what seems to be fear of the character, but ultimately he still came out ahead by the end of that chapter. :lol:
That's his true triumph. We tried to destroy him and yet he not only persevered, he came out on top.
Not through his own efforts.

He had lost his allies due to his own actions, sabotaged his own powerbase, sentenced the whole island to die for a deal with the Concordate he ultimately fucked up and failed to exploit, and went off to die an hero in some stupid war on a god-forsaken frontier. Where - of course - he got into an obvious ambush and would have died a pitiful nonentity if a magical McGuffin sword wasn't handed to him on a silver plate. Then he returned to the capital as a war hero and lived happily ever after as far as the chapter is concerned.
It was... not the most satisfactory story of a powermonger's ascent. :M
No? I'll give Dio one thing, the man knows how to turn a desperate situation around. A nobody rises to the top of the house, sacrifices everything to advance himself and, when his own incompetence and unforeseen circumstances threaten to end him, pulls out a magnificent gambit that allows him to return to the Emperor in triumph. But that's not all. Instead of seizing the throne for himself with the sword's help, he instead comfortably sets into the role of a benevolent chancellor and secret ruler. Then, he ascends to the heavens and almost, almost succeeds in becoming God.
 

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
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Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Efficiency isn't just a mechanism to get to the goal, it's a trait I want to prioritize above all else. Hypothetical scenario: the adjutant is more trouble than she's worth to seduce and keep around; instead of chasing after her, just forget about it, we've other shit to do and there's plenty of fish in the sea. It's the 'coitus et al' mentality and the inconveniences it spawns that I don't want.
Yeah, that's fair. I am not planning to make him into a one-dimensional charater, either.

I guess we will have to see where this will lead us. I've checked your votes and to my surprise I found that we aren't really disagreeing on the course of action all that much most of the time, safe for a fluke or two.

You mean our brief and whimsical trips into derpery were less than fruitful.
Into dickery. Which only proved derpery later. Which made me think that the 'Dex can't into any other dickery. :M

I am talking about minor stuff like withholding an amulet from Uehara which was found out right away and may have become one of the things that finalized her attitude towards us in the next chapter.

I'll give Dio one thing, the man knows how to turn a desperate situation around.
I'd turn that around and say that the dude knew how to make a bad situation into a desperate one. :lol:

Then, he ascends to the heavens and almost, almost succeeds in becoming God.
Sadly, that part was off-screen and without voter input. :(

The almost succeeds part is not very inspiring, either, but that's understandable for an antagonist.
 

Baltika9

Arcane
Joined
Jun 27, 2012
Messages
9,611
The almost succeeds part is not very inspiring, either, but that's understandable for an antagonist.
Had we lost the ship, or depowered the bomb even more, that would have been it, he would have won. And treave nailed it, I loved him as an antagonist. I didn't really like being him because we were wrecking our own empire (and I remember that my first priority playing him was to find Ean).
 

Kz3r0

Arcane
Joined
May 28, 2008
Messages
27,012
Especially after Spiral, where brief and whimsical trips into dickery were... less than fruitful.
The problem is that people here are more concerned with their pet peevees that roleplay, in Spiral the drawbacks were obvious but people did it for teh LULZ, stubborness or they din't like the character, or were chasing their personal red herrings.
Here is the same, people want to be EVUL because.
The only solution is to make a CYOA were people play as Savile.
 

lightbane

Arcane
Joined
Dec 27, 2008
Messages
10,156
:avatard::avatard:
I love the smell of butthurt in the morning. Codexers, chill out plz. We got around 15/20 chapters to do what we want with Erd: from heroic white-knight to baby eater, untasteful rapist. There's still time to do anything, if we do it right.

That writing about demons' methodology was interesting. I will try to do the same with Angels. For what little we know so far, they're the ones who are bloodthirsty maniacs who will kill you for fun (which most people would think that would be an attribute of demons), they have impressive magical powers and care little about who they're fighting as long as the fight "is worth doing". So, it's like they were Orks with wings.

Granted, this type of hyper-aggressive behavior would ensure that as a species they would die out quite quickly (by virtue of everyone else banding together to kill them), but there are a few survivors around (assuming the thing about Methuss enslaving one is true). Said survivors must have a minimum of restraint and self-control in order to live a hidden life and not to be killed on the spot, which means they could probably have enough intelligence to have their own culture and civilization if they wanted to do so. I would guess one of the methods they developed to control their blood-lust is to refocus their violence into rampant homosex upon others and not their own species (be it through mercenary work, banditry or similar actions). Otherwise, they wouldn't have lived long enough to fight in that battle of the gods or whatever it was called.

Either way, should/if we encounter that other Angel, I'm sure it will be an interesting situation.

PS: Hell, there's the chance that the Angel is a "slave" of his own volition. He was promised a "good fight" if he helped Methuss and he didn't hesitate to join them, not caring about anything else.



TL;DR: Angels are Orks with wings in this game.
 
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treave

Arcane
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Jul 6, 2008
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11,370
Codex 2012
Altered Lightning

The desire to battle, to engage in savage combat, to trample your enemies before you… all that melts away swiftly the moment you reject it, as it has before. It looks like the strength of the instinct does not match its resilience: it is not some all-encompassing lust that cannot be restrained. At the very least you can be certain of your sanity as long as you do not take the first step.

The ground trembles, reminding you that you still have a battle to fight. Rin’s axe splits the ground, forcing you into the air. She comes after you without hesitation, smashing easily through the Forceshields extended in front of you. With each shield she breaks through, she slows down just slightly, losing just a bit of momentum, just enough for you to evade her attack. It also buys you enough time to think.

Whatever influence she is under, you do not think it too likely that it is entirely magical in origin. Her innate magical defenses aside, the radius of the magic cancelling circle was enormous: it would have dispelled a mind control spell were it cast beforehand. Thus the answer must lie in something else – your guess would be that the wound she received is some sort of catalyst. Then, the answer is clear. You must strip her to find out. There is no other way.

You narrowly dodge more of the powerful swings from that damnable axe, which is doing a lot more destruction to the surroundings than it is to you. So much for subtlety: the short fight is rearranging more of the landscape than Mother Nature has in the past hundred years. Even with Battle Premonition active, her attacks are a blur in the flow of time that you struggle to read correctly. At the moment, Rin is stronger than she was when you first fought her in the castle, but fortunately less dangerous than she was in the ruins. You would still need your strongest spell to bring down her defenses before you can strip her armour.

Your vision blurs. Rin makes a complex feint that confuses your foresight and you pay for your carelessness. The back of her axe slams into your chest, sending you spinning away. You cough up blood: your ribs have cracked from the sheer force of her one attack, and the wild thumping of your heart is becoming irregular. You can ill afford to take many more of those strikes. As you get to your feet, you catch Rin charging towards you. Gritting your teeth, you hurl a Lightning Spear at point-blank range. It reaches Rin before she can defend herself: the tip of the powerful bolt strikes the front of her breastplate. There is a flash of light, and then your spear explodes. The earth breaks from the force of the spear’s detonation, creating a radiating web of dark cracks in the ground. Rin is blown far away by the impact. She flips upright like a cat, landing on her feet and looking no worse for the wear other than for a small, smoking hole in her armour. Crouching down like a beast, she prepares to pounce on you. But you have pushed her to where you want her: your incantation is ready. “Gigadyne!” Calling out the name of your spell to complete the casting, you convert earth to lightning. Columns of electricity burst from the ground all around Rin, caging her in.

It is too bad for Rin that she is tough enough you must go at least this far to subdue her. Completing the spell, you converge the columns together and change the very air within the cage into lightning. There is a powerful flash scorching the ground: you can feel the heat even from this distance. She screams in pain, loud enough to be heard over the screeching of the lightning. As it dissipates, you see that it has worked: her axe is broken and her armour is in tatters, exposing her body and her wound. And there it is, a strange, translucent pink shard embedded in her side, just above her hip. You do not feel anything magical from the shard, but somehow it nauseates you.

That must be it.

Retrieving the shard will have to be the first step. You dart forward. Rin’s wings spread, splitting and dividing into innumerable black tendrils which shoot towards you. Their trajectory is clear to you; with a few quick hops, you dodge her attack while continuing to move forward. The few fireballs that you toss her way are batted away harmlessly with her bare hands. Then, your foresight warns you of her next move: she will anchor those tendrils in the ground and use them to launch herself towards you, like a slingshot.

She does so, amplifying her speed. Even though you are mentally prepared for it, your body is sluggish enough that you find yourself only able to evade instead of capitalizing on her direct charge. This is not good: getting too close at the moment will not give you an opportunity to extract that shard before getting your head beaten in by a crazy demon princess with insane brute strength. You roll across the torn-up earth, bouncing back up into a ready position only to see that Rin has changed direction and is continuing to charge towards you.

Keeping up this game of cat and mouse is only going to tire you out while her stamina reserves seem to be considerable. You cast an Icestorm right in front of you, peppering the field with large icicles that freeze the ground wherever they stab. Rin zig-zags through the hail of ice, crushing the frozen spikes in her way like a rampaging bull. Roaring, she tears through the last icicle and puts her fist through your chest.

“Mana Destruction!” You ignite the doppleganger that she just pierced and cause it to detonate, sending Rin flying. It will not be enough to put her down, but it will serve as a sufficient distraction.

“The material earth will transcend and soar the skies; my will is the light of judgment that illuminates the world.” It is a move that requires you to fully chant and focus, and to buy time until you are ready. Lobelia had tried to name it Gigadyne Verandert the first time she saw you using it against the powerful Bull Baron, strangely insisting in an excited tone that a move like that needs a properly cool name to shout out. You had refused.

Closing your eyes, you focus the spell on yourself.

Your body transforms into light, emitting a transient ring of energy in the process. Every bit of you tingles: it is a strange, floaty feeling that you have never gotten used to. Long arcs of electricity shoot out from your golden wings, grounding themselves before they vanish. Above your head, the halo takes the form of a crown of lightning. You can feel the flow of potential all around you, and how you can manipulate it. Taking a deep breath – more out of force of habit rather than the need for oxygen, you attempt to manage the intense drain on your mana: without constantly infusing your magic into the spell, you run the risk of losing control over your form and disintegrating. There would be no coming back from that. And if you were to be hit by that magic cancelling circle while in this mode…

Still, despite the risk, the ability to pass through walls is still too good to pass up.

Before Rin has even reached the ground from the doppleganger explosion, you surge from your original position and land in front of her with a crash of thunder. A glowing stream of flickering afterimages mark your passage. When you had first used it, you had realized it was impossible to move at such high speeds without running yourself into a tree – even though your speed has increased tremendously, your reflexes have not caught up. In the end, you had forced yourself to study Battle Premonition and incorporate it into the spell, allowing you to use it in battle at the expense of increasing the drain further. Rin falls, her body turning to deliver a kick to your face. You reach out, your fingers sinking into her flesh around the shard before she manages to extend her leg. Rin screams as your electricity spreads throughout her entire body. Her wound chars and burns from contact with your hand. You touch the shard. Even in your current state, you can feel a deep, empty cold emanating from it. Before you can pull the shard out, however, a wave of darkness obscures your sight and cuts off your arm.

Startled, you withdraw, streaking backwards and out of range as a barrier forms in front of Rin. Dark Wall: the Demon Lord’s spell. You didn’t know that she could use it. Your lightning is unable to pass through that defence… well, as long as you don’t put some more effort into it. You reform your missing arm. Then, you summon a Lightning Spear. When you grasp it, the spear transforms, flattening until it forms a large blade wreathed in crackling electricity. Your mana is not going to last much longer. This has to end soon – once you revert, your chances of success are going to drop significantly. If it means having to take off her arm to create an opening for you to gouge the shard out, so be it. There would be no point in holding back if it meant you lost the opportunity to resolve this without her death.

Rin raises her fist. It is enveloped in burning shadow. What is this, her special move or something? Are the two of you going to clash with your ultimate techniques now? You almost laugh at the ludicrous idea.

An arrow bounces off of her knee.

Both Rin and you turn to look at the shooter. You see Petze, half-hidden in the scorched grass, her bow in hand.

Rin’s glowing eyes flicker, and she half-turns towards the goblin. Suddenly, she lets out a loud cry, and punches herself in the face. Next, she attempts to rip the shard out of her body, but her claws freeze up before she can do so. It clenches into a fist, and slowly rises again, away from the shard.

“Good girl,” you grin. You close into range before she has time to react. Bringing your sword up, you sweep past Rin and vaporize her hand and the flesh where the shard is with a single thrust. Thunder booms as the air rushes back in where you had passed. As you skid to a halt, you stretch out your hand and grab the falling shard that had been knocked into the air by your strike. It had survived an attack that could harm a demon’s flesh… Behind you, Rin sinks to her knees before collapsing to the ground, unconscious.

Well, that was anti-climactic. You restore your body to its normal state. The lightning streaks up into the sky as it leaves you. Immediately, the fatigue rushes in and you visibly slump. The pain, too, returns. Your cloak falls back around your shoulder, hiding your wing again. The shard in your hand lets out a disquieting keen, trembling gently before you wrap it up in a piece of cloth torn from your cloak. You will take a look at it later.

Just in time. Aria and Arlin come running from the distance, leading Lucy behind them. The villagers are nowhere to be seen. You cannot blame them: such a fight would have frightened the lot of peasants. You would have to pay them a visit after some time to explain how it would be in their best interests to keep their mouths sealed. But not today. Today, you are tired, and they would be more busy burying their dead and rebuilding their village to do anything unnecessary for now.

As for going back… that should be simple.

When the children reach you, you call a reluctant Petze out.

“A… goblin?” Aria leaps in front of you, sword drawn. “Get back, Master!”

You put one hand on her head and push her back. “That is my goblin. Her name is Petze.”

Petze nods shyly and bows.

“Y-You have a pet goblin?” Aria’s eyes are shining for some reason, as if it was worthy of respect.

“In a sense, yes, and more than one,” you yawn.

“Sis, are you really certain about going with this man? We don’t even know his name,” asks Arlin nervously.

“If you would rather stay here and be powerless, Arlin, feel free to do so.”

While the siblings talk, you give Petze her instructions. “Tie Rin to the back of the cow, then go back to the village with these two children.”

“What about you, Shining One?”

“I’ll go ahead by myself and send Robust out to escort you once I get there.”

Join the distant paths together; my destination lies before my eyes.

“Wait, you are not traveling with us?” asks Aria. “And who is Robust?”

“It is a day’s journey by foot. I could go back and sleep for half a day before coming back to meet you. Don’t worry, the path is quite safe.”

“Wait, Master, what do you mean-“

Finally, the magical energies come into place. "Teleport."

And so you return to the goblin village for some well-deserved rest.

The kingdom of Methuss and its prince. The invaders from Barzam, disguised as Galbaldians who were disguised as bandits. The shard that controlled Rin. The gauntlet that you found in the camp. Your arrival here. Your transformation. Your betrayal.

There are plenty of things that require your attention in the days to come, and you will need to take your leisure where you can find it...




---CHAPTER END---
 
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Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
That was cool. :cool:

A shame about Rin's arm. We'll have to look into restoring it, as well as our wing.

So the wound was the catalyst, huh. I wonder what weapon could have caused that. "A deep, empty cold". Something else must be going on here.

It looks like Rin managed to briefly snap out of it once she saw Petze. Looks like she is quite attached to our gobbos. Good to know, I guess.

Also, the villagers now know too much. Clearly, they all need to be purged.:M
 
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Rex Feral

Prophet
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Jan 29, 2013
Messages
1,300
I kinda always hope the chapter end comes together with the first update of the new chapter, so as to make a choice.

Alas, hopefully not long from now.
 

treave

Arcane
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Joined
Jul 6, 2008
Messages
11,370
Codex 2012
Intermission: Return to the Seven Kingdoms

“What are you up to?” Rin walks into the room where you had drawn a circle for focusing magic.

“A teleportation circle to increase my range.”

“I can see that, yes, but where are you going?”

“Back to the Seven Kingdoms for a brief while. If I don’t, and the memory of the place is pushed aside by new locales while I explore this world, I might not be able to return at all.” As you did not know exactly how far away you were from your homeland at this point in time, you figured that it would be better safe than sorry rather than ending up in the middle of some swamp because you fell short. “Did you need me for anything?” you ask.

“No, not really. Are you sure this will work?”

“I don’t see why not.”

“Hm.” A mischievous glint comes into her eyes.

When she does not say anything, you continue with your work, making sure to keep an eye on her so that she does not tamper with the circle. You do not want to be sent anywhere strange, like the insides of a volcano.

Rin rubs the bandaged stump of her missing hand – she had not seemed too concerned about it, saying that it would probably regenerate on its own after a few months had passed. Instead, she was surprisingly upset about the incident in the aftermath, displaying a chastened look for days. Her first words were to apologize to you over dishonouring the oath that she made. You did not think that she would take it so seriously.

According to Rin, she had encountered a person cloaked in black while waiting for a good opportunity to join in the main fight. At the time, she had been finishing off some soldiers she caught outside the village. This had happened shortly after the prince had reached your side, but before the magic cancelling circle was created. When you asked why she didn’t join in sooner, she embarrassedly mumbled something about letting you impress the prince. Her opponent was faster than she had expected, with some form of illusionary magic. Even so, Rin thought that she was superior. This led her to make that crucial mistake. She had been confident in the invulnerability of her armour and pressing her advantage, but somehow they had produced a dagger with a translucent, crystalline blade which had slipped past her defenses as if they did not even exist. The blade had snapped off inside her and her enemy retreated while she was struggling to maintain control.

She remembered little after that, except for the voice that kept her in slumber. It called itself the Demon Lord Athos.

You had wondered if that Demon Lord still existed in the shard, which you had kept frozen safely away in a corner. But it had not really responded or demonstrated any hostility so far, no matter how you prodded it. Even when you tried sticking it into a willing goblin, with Aria there ready to behead it if it attacked, there was no response. It is a mystery indeed.

“There, I am done. I’ll be back soon.”

“Okaaay,” says Rin cheerfully. “See you soon!” She had not done anything at all, contrary to your expectations.

You cast the teleport spell, willing to go back to your home.

***

A vast expanse of black. Tiny pinpricks of light, shining in the distance. Stars? Is it night? The biting cold is severe. You cannot breathe. There is no air. You tumble weightlessly, looking at the white moon in the distance, and then at the larger blue sphere below you. Did you not teleport? The noticeable drain on your mana says yes: that you teleported to the furthest extent that your mana would allow. Did Rin tamper with the spell? No, you would have noticed if she did. But now is not the time for that.

You need to get somewhere you can breathe, but you have no idea where you are. Should you proceed? Attempt to jump again, to your home? No, there is no guarantee you can succeed. You are now certain that the spell was interrupted because this was as far as you can go. You do not know how much further your home is, and you do not have enough mana for a second jump.

There is only one choice, and that is to return.

***

You slam into the stone floor of the hall in the goblin village, gasping for breath. Rin circles around you mischievously, giggling like a little girl. “How was it?”

“Y-You knew it wasn’t going to work,” you say accusingly, crawling to your knees. “Why didn’t you tell me beforehand?”

“Would you have trusted me?”

“Well…” Probably not. “But what if I didn’t make it back?”

“I would have gone and gotten you back,” she says simply. “But I knew you would be back soon.”

“So, where exactly are we right now, princess?”

She grins. It is not that often that she gets to show off her knowledge in front of you, and you let her have this moment. “Very, very far away from home, separated by a vast void that cannot be crossed by human or demon. It was written in the ruins, on a tablet that spoke of the Demon God’s departure.”

You probably blew it all up. Oh well. This is a problem, but not one that you can solve immediately. Something in your heart finally gives way, a piece lodged within your emotions that you were not aware of until now.

Relief. It is something you had tried not to dwell upon – there had been this small, niggling guilt that you would return too late to help your family from being stained by the weight of the accusations sure to be thrown against you, but now you realize that there was no way you could have returned in time from the start, even if you had made them your priority.

There is nothing you can do. That is right. There is nothing to be guilty about. It is okay if you did not think they were important enough to return immediately, because the results would have been the same. Their faces float into your mind, your father, mother, and sister, and you wipe them out, turning them into blank slates of emptiness.

There is no longer any need to think about them. If you cannot return, you should only focus on the here and now, on what is in front of you.

"Ah, what a hassle all this is," you mutter softly as Rin watches you, the demon princess falling uncharacteristically quiet upon seeing the look on your face.
 
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Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
So we get to play Might&Magic. :M

It's okay. It just means that we will not be returning home with an army of men, monsters and goblins, but with a space fleet.

Edit:
Demon Lord Athos
d91b2eab1d9d136a872dce88cc5505a1.jpg
He is so dead.
 

treave

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Jul 6, 2008
Messages
11,370
Codex 2012
After the Battle

A few days after the battle, you return to Erise, thinking to silence them about your battle with Rin. Instead, there is a proposal from the villagers, which they had offered with hopeful faces. “We didn’t see a thing, we swear, sir!” Enzel said, his hand to his chest. “All of us were hiding out in our houses, too afraid to even peek out.” Behind him, the villagers nod as one.

“Yes, sir mage, we didn’t see a thing about how mighty you are, like a god of lightning!” one of them shouts, before he is swiftly hushed down by the others.

“Really?” Sitting in the middle of the square, you sip from the cup of tea that the village chief had offered. They seem equally fearful and respectful of your abilities; the eyes focused upon you all carry a sense of awe. The reconstruction is going slowly, though the dead have been buried. Aria and Arlin had returned with you to take care of their father’s funeral, and the headstrong sister had of course rejected the villagers’ offer of help at the time. “So, if I am getting this right…” you say slowly, “You want to engage my services?”

“Yes, milord. We have had enough with the kingdom’s failure to protect us. Yes, we are a village out in the middle of nowhere, but while their taxmen manage to find their way here unerringly, their patrols are constantly getting lost! We have suffered six bandit raids over the previous year, and the last has been the worst of it all.” The chief looks at you imploringly and continues, “I do not know where you are staying, but we can offer you a place in the village. In return for shelter and food, all we ask is that you help us drive off the petty criminals that come by from time to time.”

“I already have a place of my own, Chief Enzel.” The goblins have been giving you a lot more comfortable accommodations and service than whatever hut the villagers of Erise could offer. Besides, you would constantly have to hide your non-human features if staying here. That part of the deal is out of the question.

“I… I see…” Crestfallen, the chief sighs. “I suppose someone as mighty as you would aim for bigger things, such as being appointed court wizard. I understand…”

***

You wonder how you should handle this proposal from the villagers.

A. “If you desire my protection, I can offer you something better.” You have the villagers swear allegiance to you instead of the kingdom. If you are doing the king’s work of protecting them, you might as well collect the taxes for yourself instead of him, and have the goblins come in to assist you in management. Since this place is remote, you do not think they will take notice until at least the next tax season comes along, and by then you should have more contingency plans in place.

B. “Very well, but I will have my due in money instead of food and shelter.” You accept the proposal to be their guard – they will just have to be aware that you are not available all the time and accept that risk. Money is easier to carry and you can reuse it more easily. Given their agrarian focus, it would be a greater burden on them than supplying you with food, but that is not your concern.

C. “I will consider your proposal.” You will put it off until later, not accepting or rejecting the proposal until you have thought about it. It is just too much responsibility to take on at once.

1. You reveal your wing and halo. They need to understand and accept what they are dealing with. If they react negatively… well, too bad for them, you suppose.

2. You continue to keep it hidden. There is no point in revealing it to these superstitious villagers just yet.

***

In the aftermath of the battle at Erise, you find yourself becoming stronger. You do not know whether it is because of the combat, or because of your natural growth thanks to the strange powers of the Demon Lord’s heart.

A. Your vitality and physical prowess have increased. Minor increase to Vitality, Physical Attack and Physical Defense.

B. Your mana capacity and magical abilities have increased. Minor increase to Mana, Magical Attack and Magical Defense.

C. You become stronger at going on the attack. Minor increase to Physical Attack, Magical Attack and Agility.

D. You become more capable defensively. Minor increase to Physical Defense, Magical Defense and Agility.

***

You have also managed to collect some grimoires from the loot. They are not very advanced, but offer some schools of magic that are different from what you know. Unfortunately, there are no books dealing with necromancy in the lot. Although you are unable to translate them fully at the moment, and they appear to be elementary-level spells, they may be of use to you in the future.

A. You learn from the book of illusion. You gain the spell Another Face, allowing you to put on a limited form of magical disguise so that you look like another person.

B. You learn from the book of healing. You gain the spell Minor Healing, allowing you to restore minor wounds.

C. You learn from the book of enchantment. You gain the spell Magic Enchant, allowing you to turn mundane weapons into magical ones.

D. You decide to ignore those piddling books and create as your next original magic a spell that will allow anyone to learn anything at a higher pace. You are not entirely sure where to start, as there is no prior work that you know of that hints at such a thing being possible, but you are not giving up until it is completed.

***

In the meantime, you are also researching the shard that controlled Rin. She had said something about a Demon Lord calling out to her, but your investigations have borne no fruit thus far. There is a breakthrough one day, however, when you are inspecting the gauntlet that had been brought back from the camp: it appeared to be useless junk so far, no matter who wore it.

However, when you bring it close to the shard, there is a reaction. The gauntlet vibrates, seeming to become more excited, while the shard trembles, as if afraid. You wonder if it means anything.

A. You touch the gauntlet to the shard. What is the worst that can happen?

B. It is too suspicious. You seal both of the items away so that no one else can tamper with them.
 
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lightbane

Arcane
Joined
Dec 27, 2008
Messages
10,156
:incline: The update was worth the wait, if a bit anime to the point of self-awareness.

Thus the answer must lie in something else – your guess would be that the wound she received is some sort of catalyst. Then, the answer is clear. You must strip her to find out. There is no other way.

:bounce:
Clearly I was on the right track when I made that suggestion.


but somehow it nauseates you. […]Even in your current state, you can feel a deep, empty cold emanating from it.


Hm. Sounds like necromancy magic. Or a cursed blade. Probably both.


“The material earth will transcend and soar the skies; my will is the light of judgment that illuminates the world.” It is a move that requires you to fully chant and focus, and to buy time until you are ready. Lobelia had tried to name it Gigadyne Verandert the first time she saw you using it against the powerful Bull Baron, strangely insisting in an excited tone that a move like that needs a properly cool name to shout out. You had refused.

:desu:

Lobelia confirmed to be a geeky girl. She surely criticized Erd for being lecherous, but she probably has enough yaoi to fill up a library. Twice.


Your body transforms into light, emitting a transient ring of energy in the process. Every bit of you tingles: it is a strange, floaty feeling that you have never gotten used to. Long arcs of electricity shoot out from your golden wings, grounding themselves before they vanish.

Was this Gygadine variation so flashy from the start, or has it become even more exaggerated thanks to our new form?


When you had first used it, you had realized it was impossible to move at such high speeds without running yourself into a tree – even though your speed has increased tremendously, your reflexes have not caught up. In the end, you had forced yourself to study Battle Premonition and incorporate it into the spell, allowing you to use it in battle at the expense of increasing the drain further.


That's what I was thinking upon reading it :incline: . The thing about "realistic" super-human speed needing increased reflexes to fully work, otherwise risking oneself to be run into a wall and splatter everywhere.


An arrow bounces off of her knee.

I see what you did here.
Anyway, Rin lost a hand, so now we're somewhat even. I found it a bit strange she's not very concerned about losing her hand, but she probably recovered from worse. Hopefully it will apply for our missing wing as well.
That reminds me: how related is magic and physical stamina related in this setting? Considering that the Halo recharges our inner mana, would that mean Erd is capable of theoretically casting spells all day as long as he lets the halo recharge? Is there a risk of drawing so much mana from the surroundings that the environment withers, Dark Sun style?


She had been confident in the invulnerability of her armour and pressing her advantage, but somehow they had produced a dagger with a translucent, crystalline blade which had slipped past her defenses as if they did not even exist. The blade had snapped off inside her and her enemy retreated while she was struggling to maintain control. […]She remembered little after that, except for the voice that kept her in slumber. It called itself the Demon Lord Athos.

Yep, cursed blade alright. And apparently powered by a rival Overlord. Is he also involved with the prince's attempt on his life? If so, there's a deep conspiracy running here.

Anyway, looks like we're not in a different plane, but far, far away. I wonder how will we deal with this. Perhaps through a Stargate? How would Rin be able to get us back from space? Is the teleport spell a portal of some sorts?

Barzam Ecclesiocracy: -50 (Disliked)
Dijeh Kingdom: 0 (Neutral)
Erise Village: +30 (Accepted)
Galbaldy Kingdom: 0 (Neutral)
Methuss Kingdom: +15 (Neutral)


Well, Barzam took it poorly, but not as bad as I thought. However, Methuss doesn't seem to be too thankful for us for saving their prince. Bloody ingrates :decline:


EDIT: Now I realize you posted an update. Kudos to you, treave, for your speed. I'll post my choices later, whenever I have the time.
 

Jester

Arbiter
Joined
Mar 24, 2013
Messages
1,493
Hmm choices.

1) B2
I guess. They don't seem like people good at keeping their mouth shut. A sounds fun, but problematic.

2) B > D
Invest in our best stats.

3) C

4)A
 

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