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Inactive [LP CYOA] Overlord

Tigranes

Arcane
Joined
Jan 8, 2009
Messages
10,350
Oh.

Yeah, it's E1 Nostril > A2. FFS. I presume that's the case for everyone else too.
 

lightbane

Arcane
Joined
Dec 27, 2008
Messages
10,199
It seems the outcome has been decided: Arlin "pretty boy" Heavenshell vs Nostrus "Nostrils" Algorquin (and his representative). A bit of a shame, I was curious to see how a magic duel would be done in this game. Still, I like that outcome so it's not all bad. Now we'll just have to wait for a while/a few weeks until treave is able to post.
 

treave

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Jul 6, 2008
Messages
11,370
Codex 2012
In the Spotlight

“Well, if you’re that keen to get whipped, Nostrils…” Your voice trails off and you take a slow sip from the glass of wine that you had been holding. The hall falls deathly silent. There is a stifled giggle or two buried underneath a flood of disapproving glares. Farland has his face in his palm.

Count Nostrus Algonquin’s nostrils flare widely, an effect made all the more pronounced by his habit of holding his nose high up in the air. “What did you just call me?” he says coldly.

“Why, are we not on enough terms to call each other by familiar nicknames, my dear Count? After all, you did ask me, friend-to-friend, to provide you and everyone else here with some friendly entertainment. I’ve just started.” With a dashing grin, you drain the last of the wine and set the glass down. “Regarding the show, however… I have a better idea. Why don’t you take part, Nostrils?”

“Me?” Nostrus sneers nasally. “With the likes of you? Well, I am halfway competent in magic, but it is not my forte. It would not be a fair show, Trider.”

“You can tickle me with a sword if you want to. I don’t think I’m too shabby at using one.”

“You’re saying you want to fight without spells?”

“A very astute observation, Count, I must say. I’m glad you got that.”

Your dry sarcasm appears to be lost on Nostrus's wide, floppy ears. He eyes you, as if trying to peer past your big hat and flowing coat to see your physique underneath, attempting to gauge his chances of victory. Then, he shakes his head. “Dueling the likes of you would be uncouth and beneath me. Getting all sweaty with you? A total waste of my time. But if you are keen to have a little fight yet cowardly enough to avoid Lord Elmont, you may engage a person of my choosing.” He gives a little smirk, as if he quite expected this result. “Let’s see… Wisteria, my dear, would you be so kind as to help me out here?”

The guests murmur in surprise. A few seconds later, a pretty young woman, her long flowing auburn hair the colour of autumn leaves, steps out of the crowd. Her sharp features are twisted in a slight frown as she strides over to Nostrus. She is tall, taller than him despite his use of high-heeled boots, and her physique is that of a trained fighter. Only sparing you the briefest nod, she says quietly, “Do not drag me into this business, Nostrus.”

“Your uncle would agree with me, my darling fiancée,” he smiles unpleasantly, causing her to glance at Duke Hargreave and sigh. “Come now, it’s just a little swordplay. You like doing that, don’t you? It’s just a little fun for everyone involved!”

Resigned, the woman turns to you and introduces herself stiffly. “I am Wisteria Brescia, Knight-Captain of the Azurelion. If you do not mind, we may have a short duel, a test of our skill in weapons.” She bears a very reluctant air, although she shows no signs of backing down.

“That would be nice, but I prefer not to fight pretty women if I can help it,” you say.

Her blue eyes flash angrily. “That is a worthy insult as cause for a real duel, Sir Trider.”

“No, don’t get me wrong. I don’t think you’re incompetent or anything.” You try for a winning grin. “I just think beautiful flowers are meant to be treasured, not trampled.”

"O-Oh." To your surprise, where this line had usually earned you laughs and jeers before, this time the woman blushes, as if caught entirely off guard.

“Stop your flippant words, Trider,” growls Nostrus suddenly.

“You tasked me with entertainment, Count Nostrils. Don’t chide me for providing it,” you reply smoothly. “Now, since you are sending out a representative, it is only fair if I send out my own, no?”

“Too cowardly to step forth yourself?”

“No, no. A match between myself and the beautiful captain here would be too exciting for this hall to handle. Clothes would be ripped, passions – for battle – inflamed! We should save that for a much grander occasion. For now, I am afraid the guests here will have to make do with him.” You clap Arlin’s back and push him forward – he had been keeping quiet, trying not to attract attention, and now he stumbles to the front, finding that the eyes of everyone in the room are firmly pinned on him, and his face freezes up.

“W-What?”

“You’ll fight her, Arlin,” you say, smiling at the dumbstruck boy.

“I might not agree with this whole ‘entertainment’ business, but being underestimated does not sit well with me either,” says Wisteria, frowning sternly.

“Oh, being underestimated doesn’t sit well with Arlin either!” You say cheerfully, while Arlin shakes his head vigorously as if to say that being underestimated suits him perfectly fine. “He’ll be a good match for you, I promise.”

The crowd begins to murmur restlessly. “Sending a kid out to fight in his stead?” “What sort of a man is he?” “Well, I’m not sure this mockery is going to win him any fans…”

“Let’s up the entertainment value a bit more, shall we?” Nostrus calls out confidently, raising his voice. He appears to be emboldened by the crowd's response. “Why don’t we have a bet on this match? A friendly one. If your boy wins the match… let us see… well then, I shall strip down to my underpants and run a jig around the palace!”

The crowd laughs and claps their hands.

“And if I win,” he continues matter-of-factly, “you can do the same.”

You had been about to propose a bet, but it looks like the sniveling count has beat you to it. The consequences, however, seem just a bit risky…

***

A. You accept his bet.
1. You accept his terms, too. Changing the terms means that he would likely respond in turn.
2. You ask for a date with his fiancée instead.
3. You ask for Nostrus to adopt Nostrils as his nickname.
4. You ask for other terms. (open to suggestion)

B. You reject any bets.

***

Arlin looks up at you, bewildered at the sudden task ahead of him. “Why am I doing this, Master?”

You clap his shoulders firmly and say: “This is part of growing up. To be more precise, this is the part where you find out that sometimes fate conspires to drive you into the spotlight whether you like it or not, and it is then that you find out what sort of person you are and how you deal with it.”

“You know… that’s actually pretty insightful coming from you, Master,” he blurts out in surprise. “Oh. Sorry. Anyway, I can’t do this. I can’t beat a Knight-Captain of the kingdom!” Arlin looks over at Wisteria, who is making some practice swings with a wooden sword. Her form is good.

“Believe in yourself, kid,” you say encouragingly.

“You’re really something, Trider,” chuckles Alexander. “Making a kid fight one of the best swordswomen in the country. He’s not going to win, you know that?”

“I believe in him,” you nod. Of course, you say that, but…

***

A. You quietly cast a spell on Arlin in advance and hope that no one notices or cares.
1. Physwall: an easy enough spell that will increase his physical defense slightly. Also hard to notice if they aren’t looking out for it.
2. Mage’s Armor: Rather noticeable, but perhaps you can pass it off as Arlin’s own skill.
3. Greater Forceshield: The effect might be a bit blatant if Arlin gets hit, but unless Wisteria has a sword technique that hits more than five times in a single instant, this should ensure his victory.
4. Battle Premonition: Should be undetectable and highly effective, but not only is Arlin unused to it, you would have to do some last minute modifications with possibly unpredictable results to have it work on a target that is not yourself too.

B. You decide to actually believe in Arlin and not cast any spells in advance.
 
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lightbane

Arcane
Joined
Dec 27, 2008
Messages
10,199
treave delivers once again! And unexpectedly soon!! :incline:

Arlin looks up at you, bewildered at the sudden task ahead of him. “Why am I doing this, Master?”

You clap his shoulders firmly and say: “This is part of growing up. To be more precise, this is the part where you find out that sometimes fate conspires to drive you into the spotlight whether you like it or not, and it is then that you find out what sort of person you are and how you deal with it.”

You know… that’s actually pretty insightful coming from you, Master,” he blurts out in surprise. “Oh. Sorry. Anyway, I can’t do this. I can’t beat a Knight-Captain of the kingdom!” Arlin looks over at Wisteria, who is making some practice swings with a wooden sword. Her form is good.

:lol: Poor kid, I almost feel pity at his situation. Count Nostrils' fiancee had to be a beautiful woman but of course a great warrior as well. Oh well, let's hope for the best.

I vote for:


1.A3>A4(Arlin goes out)>A2

I like both choices. Of course, Erd won't be able to touch that woman no matter what happens. That is his fate for not accepting his gayngelic nature.
:negative:

And:


2.A2>A4
Hopefully this will end well.

EDIT: Would Arlin be able to survive being under the effect of Battle Premonition though? It is an high level spell that not only does he lack the magic attack stat to make it effective, but it comsumes the user's mana to work. Perhaps Erd can make himself the mana battery to support Arlin, at the expense of being more energy-hungry. As long as our hat doesn't start spining, it should be ok. The mages will invariably notice this though.
 
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Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Arlin's problem is his lack of decisiveness and uncertainty in his own abilities. The kid has to step over his fears. When push will come to shove - and you just know it will, with a father figure like us - no one will ask him if he can do the only thing that can save him or something he cares about. Better that he learns his lesson now.

A loss here would be highly unfortunate, for everyone involved.

All right, before I ponder on how to best do thins, I'd like to muse a bit about whether or not we should accept the bet and what should it be.

The Codex has a history of ruining marriages of people we didn't like. Off the top of my head, I remember:
- Breaking Ahura's 'engagement' with our women - twice, even - which ended with him becoming a cripple for two years and then perishing moments before achieving ultimate power. Burning the Fire Lord to a crisp was hilariously ironic and satisfying.
- zhang manxing's bid for the Tufan throne through winning the competition. Sadly, that went somewhat differently from what he expected.
- The prince of Tufan proposing to Yunzi... which resulted in an axe planted accidentally but firmly in his chest moments later. We dindu nuffin! :hug:
- The Tufan conundrum of choosing their ruler afterwards, with zhang manxing being a spouse candidate for Princess Jinpa. Ended with us kidnapping Jinpa and putting Wuni on the Tufan throne after his heroic feat to 'save' her.
- Mao Sanjiao's marriage ceremony, where we sadly blew the option of posing as a bride after she ran away. But manxing still had his dick fall off after we poisoned him, so it's not like it was a total waste of time. :M

Every time our rivals ended up beaten, humiliated, or straight up dead. So I think it's a given that Nostrils won't be marrying a woman we sympathize with if we had any say in that. Would be too good for him, and a waste of a pretty girl, too... and there is hardly anything more dickish than watch a man lose everything he had, bit by bit - women, influence, relevance, respect, dignity and finally his life.

Not that he deserved to have any of this anyway.

The question is, how to best go about it. Turning him into a laughingstock and making him commit a political suicide would be one way. Making him a cuck and having the woman turn him down is another.

“Your uncle would agree with me, my darling fiancée,” he smiles unpleasantly, causing her to glance at Duke Hargreave and sigh. “Come now, it’s just a little swordplay. You like doing that, don’t you? It’s just a little fun for everyone involved!”
It is interesting to note that she is the niece of Duke Hargreave. She does not seem to hold Nostrils in high esteem, and is probably pressured into the marriage by her uncle, who seems to hold the nobles in an iron grip - and possibly the Crown Prince with them.

Whatever we do here, it is probably not going to earn us an ally in the Crown Prince. So the question becomes, do we want to acknowledge it, and are we prepared to actively work against him when the time comes? It does not look to me like we would be able to throw ourselves in with him - you know I have a theory of him being all hugs and kisses with our adversaries, - so do we want to work on removing the 'Crown' from his title? That is something to think about.

Nostrils sounds to me like manxing did when he got first introduced: a useful tool to further political machinations of the elite. Making an enemy of him - which we seem to already have done - would likely earn us the enmity of his patrons. Do we have the balls and arrogance to double down on our attitude? :M

If so - sure, we can arrange for a date with Hargreave's niece and probably have her elope with us, too, Zayan-style.

It would be funny, though, if Hargrieve thought he could control us through her and secretly approve of this. But he doesn't like tall hats, so he is probably a boring person who can't think big. :roll:
 
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lightbane

Arcane
Joined
Dec 27, 2008
Messages
10,199
You're forgetting that Erd's ultimate goal is to take over the planet, then return to his in order to check how is his family doing, ending with him exacting his revenge upon the Godesses and assuming absolute control. After that, the universe will be the next step: with an army of Gygadine-powered space ships along with squads of Carnage Pigeons, we should be able to invade and conquer every planet we come across with little trouble.

So it's not a problem if we make a few enemies here, sooner or later we'll have to take out all of the Kingdoms anyway.
 

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
treave, what are the rules of the duel? Is it not over until Arlin surrenders and submits, or are there more nuances?

Even if he is unaccustomed to the Battle Premonition spell, he might take a beating and still come out a winner out of sheer tenacity, by refusing to acknowledge his defeat until he understands how it - or its modification - works and gets an upper hand... if the girl does not knock him out first, that is.

You're forgetting that Erd's ultimate goal is to take over the planet, then return to his in order to check how is his family doing, ending with him exacting his revenge upon the Godesses and assuming absolute control.
[...]
So it's not a problem if we make a few enemies here, sooner or later we'll have to take out all of the Kingdoms anyway.
I am not forgetting anything and I might be voting for the date. It's not like Nostrils gets to save face with any other options. I don't think we and the Crown Prince are going to be chums, regardless of what we do (or rather, I doubt the 'Dex is willing to do things that would involve us becoming best friends). But I would like to point some things out and ask the others if they agree with any of that.

And if they do, would they be willing to do something about it?

A date is one thing - but do we want to get anything else out of this, except for a good time?
 
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TOME

Cuckmaster General
Joined
May 25, 2012
Messages
1,820
Oh boy this thing got out of control. A2 for giving Wisteria something else to think about and A4 for a small chance for victory.

A2A4
 

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
A2 for giving Wisteria something else to think about
That's actually... a really interesting angle.

I mean, she is a complete maiden - probably worse than Rin, even - in this regard, to have fallen for our corny line. Maybe if we get to her head it will throw her off... That would be very much in line with Erdrick's cheating tendencies.

If only we weren't just as hopeless. :lol:
 

GreyViper

Prophet
Joined
Jan 10, 2011
Messages
1,523
Location
Estonia
A4 - You ask for a date with his fiancée instead. And send Arlin instead, because if he won then he earned it. Besides we have our sights on higher prizes.
A4 He has the skill, he just needs an edge.
 

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
A4 - You ask for a date with his fiancée instead. And send Arlin instead, because if he won then he earned it. Besides we have our sights on higher prizes.
There is something to it, I guess. Except that Arlin might not be interested and the girl might consider it's a mockery. But if it works out between them, it might bring some interesting results.

The thing is, he is a much better fit for her than we are, if only because he is of the same species and doesn't need to hide it.

A4>A2 A4

Well... let's hope Arlin is as smart as he makes it seem, and that he adapts to whatever abomination of a spell we will come up with. Shouldn't be any more hard for him to do than beating a knight-captain unassisted. :M
 
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a cut of domestic sheep prime

Guest
A2A3>a2a4 The second one is probably going to get him killed, but march on, brave soldier! :salute:
A date is one thing - but do we want to get anything else out of this, except for a good time?
They joy of being an asshole is reward in itself. :M
 

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Probably going to get him killed
Eh, with our expertise we will probably mess up and create a 'Date Premonition' spell instead that would predict the reaction of a girl based on what you are about to say. Then he would sweet-talk her until she is all dizzy and fuzzy. Then he will backstab her, because Theseus.

Of course, the primary drawback of the spell would be that it could only be cast on another. Can't let Erdrick cheat his way to a lady's heart, now can we?
 
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a cut of domestic sheep prime

Guest
the codex's desire to cuck itself never ceases to amaze me
 

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Help a 'lil bro out, will you?

How the hell would you use him to bait out all the young and dashing warrior princesses for you if you don't let him get pimping exp, eh?
 
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Jester

Arbiter
Joined
Mar 24, 2013
Messages
1,493
Making Nostrils take a vow of celibacy would be to much probably. Shame it would be hilarious.
 

a cut of domestic sheep prime

Guest
Nevill tough breaks. those who can harem, those who can't theseus.

as a side note: anyone else find it hilarious that Nostril's big plan to reveal us as an angel is this retarded bet? Go back to the geriatric ward, you loony old pervert.
 

Jester

Arbiter
Joined
Mar 24, 2013
Messages
1,493
Nevill tough breaks. those who can harem, those who can't theseus.

as a side note: anyone else find it hilarious that Nostril's big plan to reveal us as an angel is this retarded bet? Go back to the geriatric ward you loony old pervert.
I not so sure he knows. I think he just wants us to be publicly humiliated.
 

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Making Nostrils take a vow of celibacy would be to much probably.
You aren't going to control it and lol at relying on his word.

It's why I think that making Nostrils his nickname is not that great of an idea - we can call him that anyway, as can anyone who does not respect or fear him. However, many do, probably because of his ties with the big guys, so I am not too sure how well it would stick.

It would be humiliating for him, sure, but it might be underused.

I'd rather the punishment be something that would mark him as a non-entity for the rest of his life, but I can't quite think of anything.
 

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