Putting the 'role' back in role-playing games since 2002.
Donate to Codex
Good Old Games
  • Welcome to rpgcodex.net, a site dedicated to discussing computer based role-playing games in a free and open fashion. We're less strict than other forums, but please refer to the rules.

    "This message is awaiting moderator approval": All new users must pass through our moderation queue before they will be able to post normally. Until your account has "passed" your posts will only be visible to yourself (and moderators) until they are approved. Give us a week to get around to approving / deleting / ignoring your mundane opinion on crap before hassling us about it. Once you have passed the moderation period (think of it as a test), you will be able to post normally, just like all the other retards.

Inactive [LP CYOA] Overlord

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
If you could, and if it did, what would it tell you?
 

Kz3r0

Arcane
Joined
May 28, 2008
Messages
27,017
If you could, and if it did, what would it tell you?
First will get us rid of his influence on the place, a good thing, secondly it will tell us that the 'places' are indeed related to the intelligences present at the moment, then we have to figure out if we are a sphere or a cilinder.
 

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Ignoring for the moment the possibility of doing that and assuming the theory is indeed true... why do you think that removing the prince's influence on the place is a good thing? He might be providing us with options, rather than interfere with our decisions. And he is the only sane man out of the three.
 

Baltika9

Arcane
Joined
Jun 27, 2012
Messages
9,611
Esquilax, in 2012:

Zapping Marduk with a thunderbolt has made people way too gunshy, so they make stupid decisions that appear safe, but are actually insanely dumb and risky. Sort of like negotiating with an extradimensional being of incredible power on its home plane. Run the fuck away.

I'm the head Sphere Diplomat of this delegation. For all those who want in on the bandwagon, here's your chance.

CB
Oh man, the irony. Since Esquilax will take the blame for anything that goes wrong and will share the credit for everything that goes right, I'll throw in.
CB
 

a cut of domestic sheep prime

Guest
I would keep him and chuck him into the sphere. How can you make a thing your pet unless you feed it?

edit: BTW< in case you guys don't understand something:
I think that the divine "magic" is basically masters level powers. It's changes to the basecode of the universe. I think the curse upon angel kind is such a basecode change. If we are here, then we may be in a position to make some changes ourself, or at least learn how to make said changes. Let's not blow it on sphere diplomacy the sequel.

It reminds me of the end of MotB. "Return when you have learned how to challenge a god in his own realm.". Basically, we have no idea what a sphere even is, let alone how to control/negotiate with it. Save it for later. Head to the tower.

Or don't. Personally, I don't want another timeskip though.

treave, if C wins and fails hard, we're gonna need a rollback. I don't want another LP derailed by a moment of idiocy. Suggestion: The Codex really needs some fate/rollback points. Two per LP would work wonders, but only give out one at the beginning of each half of the LP. I know you've treated us with kid gloves so far, but you really need to treat us with retard gloves. Delicate retard gloves.

edit: and if we do get that rollback point, then consider me flopped to CB.

You have to spend your rollbacks on immediate consequence stuff or else people will make stupid long-term decisions and say "eh, we can always roll back" only to have their decision bite us so far down the line that we can't rollback.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

treave

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Jul 6, 2008
Messages
11,370
Codex 2012
Being capricious and entirely unconcerned with internal consistency, rollbacks will only be issued:

1) If I feel like it :M
2) If a good argument is made for one :M:M
3) If it will be amusing, :M:M:M or
4) If it will lead to something amusing. :M:M:M:M

Otherwise we have almost always tried to dig our way out of the hole we jumped into.
 

Kipeci

Arcane
Joined
May 22, 2012
Messages
3,027
Location
Vicksburg
Don't worry about any rollbacks, I am 100% certain that the most important issue may be resolved here. Is it not most sensible to seek a return to the prior potency of the lesser spheres with the powers and alliance of the greater? Where magic genetic engineering may fail, the reality-shifting properties of the celestial globes may yet prevail! It is our only and best hope to restore the virility to which Erd is accustomed.
 

lightbane

Arcane
Joined
Dec 27, 2008
Messages
10,193
You men and women trannies of little faith, do you really believe things can go that badly? It's not like...
Actually, nevermind. They can. :dealwithit:

Still, my hope is that it's still too soon to suffer that kind of "bad end". Perhaps Erd finds another fellow Angel inside that tower and everything is fine... Until he tries to kill us to pass the time or something like that. We'll see. Whatever it is, I'm sure we'll be able to overcome it.
 

a cut of domestic sheep prime

Guest
Don't worry about any rollbacks, I am 100% certain that the most important issue may be resolved here. Is it not most sensible to seek a return to the prior potency of the lesser spheres with the powers and alliance of the greater? Where magic genetic engineering may fail, the reality-shifting properties of the celestial globes may yet prevail! It is our only and best hope to restore the virility to which Erd is accustomed.
Yeah, but a 3000+ year time skip is not the way to handle that. Right now we know nothing about the spheres, or this space. We have no nano machines like Naram did when he combined himself with one, no real way of communicating with one or dealing with one - other than throwing in the prince and hoping it gets the idea - spheres are not the smartest creatures, if you recall. Again, I agree that the "magic" of this place is probably the key to our cure, but simply walking up to what is probably one of the most dangerous objects in existence is probably not the way to go about things.
 

treave

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Jul 6, 2008
Messages
11,370
Codex 2012
Well, assuming this sphere is a sentient sphere and not merely a sphere. Sometimes a shovel is just a spade. :M

Anyway, votes close Thursday, and the first update of the next chapter will also come Thursday. Shouldn't need more than a few hours to start up after the final tally is counted.
 

lightbane

Arcane
Joined
Dec 27, 2008
Messages
10,193
Well, I would say the vote tally's results are pretty obvious and it's unlikely to change anytime soon. (unless someone goes full retard and attempts to start +1 SWORDS! over again)
In any case, hopefully we won't have Erdrick knocked out for an undetermined period of time and then replaced by someone else way less interesting.
 

Kipeci

Arcane
Joined
May 22, 2012
Messages
3,027
Location
Vicksburg
Yeah, but a 3000+ year time skip is not the way to handle that. Right now we know nothing about the spheres, or this space. We have no nano machines like Naram did when he combined himself with one, no real way of communicating with one or dealing with one - other than throwing in the prince and hoping it gets the idea - spheres are not the smartest creatures, if you recall. Again, I agree that the "magic" of this place is probably the key to our cure, but simply walking up to what is probably one of the most dangerous objects in existence is probably not the way to go about things.
We have something better than nanomachines, we have a universal translator! It'll be simple enough to explain the situation, and the understanding sphere will in its sympathy quickly set about to helping us. It's not blue, after all.
 

a cut of domestic sheep prime

Guest
Yeah, but a 3000+ year time skip is not the way to handle that. Right now we know nothing about the spheres, or this space. We have no nano machines like Naram did when he combined himself with one, no real way of communicating with one or dealing with one - other than throwing in the prince and hoping it gets the idea - spheres are not the smartest creatures, if you recall. Again, I agree that the "magic" of this place is probably the key to our cure, but simply walking up to what is probably one of the most dangerous objects in existence is probably not the way to go about things.
We have something better than nanomachines, we have a universal translator! It'll be simple enough to explain the situation, and the understanding sphere will in its sympathy quickly set about to helping us. It's not blue, after all.
Uh, as I recall, the issue was never speaking to the sphere. It understood how to speak just fine. Although it spoke like a child. The issue was getting it to see us as anything other than its murder gimp.
 

treave

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Jul 6, 2008
Messages
11,370
Codex 2012
The Gray Tower

You begin to feel yourself fall towards the tower, drawn to it as an apple would be drawn to the ground. Your will acts as a wind that pushes you onwards in the direction of your destination, carrying along both you and the princeling clinging to your leg. As you draw closer, you begin to hear the sound of waves crashing upon rocks, and smell the briny scent of the sea, yet you see nothing but red emptiness and the dark tower, now the size of a mountain. And then, a brilliant glare strikes your eyes, and as you raise your hand to shield your sight, your feet touch ground – bare, rocky earth – and you feel the cooling sensation of wind upon your bare skin.

You lower your hand. In front of you, the tower is no longer a mountain but the size of a normal tower, though you are not certain what constitutes as normal anymore. It is perhaps seven floors high, solidly hewn from smooth gray rock and imposing in its construction. Mirror-like panels line the tower at regular intervals. At the very top, the tower is capped with a large dome of unknown metal, glinting with a dull, rainbow-like shine. A long, thin spire rises from the dome, pointing towards the sun that hangs high overhead.

The sun. When you had teleported it had still been night. Yet here it was day. Either some time had passed in the real world, or you had been flung all the way to the other end of the world. You cannot confirm either possibility, not until you return. That, however, might take a while.

It did not register in your mind immediately the moment you arrived, but you have now begun to realize a tingling sensation and a wave of pressure that bore down upon you like an entire ocean, suppressing your strength and your magic. Its nature appears to be similar to the wards that you had encountered in the Grand Temple at Yuiria, though there are multiple strands in its protective magic that makes its signature feel very different. For one, you seem to have lost access to your higher ranking spells. Teleportation is out of the question for now, not until you leave the area of effect.

That, too, might not be easy. High walls surround the grounds around the tower, tall enough that you would have to fly over them. Beyond those walls you again hear the crashing of waves from all directions; it seems that you are on an island. The walls are lined with fortified, octagonal towers, and in each you can see an assortment of sharp weaponry meant to be used at range; ballistae, bows, and other weapons you do not quite recognize. Of course, as befitting your luck, there are guards standing by in those towers, shocked at your sudden appearance in the middle of the yard, amidst a throng of people.

It takes only one glance at the other people around you to know them for what they are – inmates. Their hardened, wiry looks and sunken eyes tell you all you need to know. It is a look that you have gotten rather acquainted with during your days as a hero; after all, people desperate for freedom are the ones most willing to do whatever it takes. The Seven Kingdoms had often sent you prisoners as fodder for menial tasks such as magical mine clearing or rushing headlong into a wall of pikes, though unbeknownst to them you had actually utilized those spare bodies for the more insidious mission of establishing a lucrative network of beggars throughout the land.

Unlike those prisoners, however, these are not human. Even though they are dressed in the same brown rags, they are as different from each other as you are from them. There are those with the animal ears and tails that distinguish them as beastmen, and others with bat-like wings and horns similar to Rin’s. There are those of a rather scaly bent, and then there are those who are practically skeletal, in the literal sense of the word. It is a strange, motley crowd, and one that you are unused to seeing.

The prisoners are muttering in an unfamiliar language, and you realize that your translation spell is inactive. You also realize that they are casting worried glances at your wings, and that you are also naked. Since you have nothing to be ashamed of, you do not mind the latter part, and you let them stare at your admittedly wilted glory. As you glance downwards, you notice that the little prince clinging to your leg is naked too. Wondering how a prince said to be well-versed in martial practices could feel so soft, you try to shake him loose gently but to no avail.

Then, from the towers on the wall you hear shouts, and see the guards letting down long rope-ladders. A discordant, loud clanging of bells begins to sound all around the complex. It looks like things will be getting interesting very soon.

***

A. You cast Universal Translation and attempt to talk your way out of this. This may be one of those days where a cautious approach will yield better results than an outright show of force.

B. If you know one thing about how prisons work, it is that you have to establish your strength. You attempt to beat up anyone in your way to show them who is the top dog here now. You will start with the guards who are now descending the tower and warily approaching you.

C. There is no time to waste, and you have your wings. You flap them and soar into the sky, attempting to fly over the walls. Once you are out of range of the wards you can then cast Teleport and return to Grahferde.
 

TOME

Cuckmaster General
Joined
May 25, 2012
Messages
1,820
Show of force while their response is still hasty and unorganized. B.
 
Last edited:

lightbane

Arcane
Joined
Dec 27, 2008
Messages
10,193
Of course the winner choice had to bring us to the local equivalent of Guantanamo. :negative:
The Seven Kingdoms had often sent you prisoners as fodder for menial tasks such as magical mine clearing or rushing headlong into a wall of pikes, though unbeknownst to them you had actually utilized those spare bodies for the more insidious mission of establishing a lucrative network of beggars throughout the land.

This might be one of the few times Erdrick did something nicer and way more "charitable" than what he was supposed to do. Anyway, we are in a dire situation: we arrived to a prison isle naked, underpowered, missing most of our most powerful spells, having lost our inventory and even accompanied by a naked kid for the prisoners' enjoyment to boot. Diplomacy might be our best option now, followed with going wild with Barbatos. Escaping is tempting, but that'll result in Erd being shot down by the guards and/or the magical wards surrounding this place. Therefore, for now I vote for:

A>B.
 

treave

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Jul 6, 2008
Messages
11,370
Codex 2012
Given that the inexplicable increase in the hobo population also resulted in a corresponding increase in mugging, rape and other crimes unsavory to the general populace, it does not seem to have been the 'nicer' thing to do in the long run. For the prisoners, maybe, but most of them were in prison for a reason in the first place. :M
 

Azira

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Nov 3, 2004
Messages
8,519
Location
Copenhagen, Denmark
Codex 2012
A>B
Let's at least try to get our a handle on things here before we engage carnage pigeon mode, OK?

Also, trying to escape by flight from a place armed to the teeth with bows, ballista etc? Not likely to be easy.
 

Azira

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Nov 3, 2004
Messages
8,519
Location
Copenhagen, Denmark
Codex 2012
Also, bear in mind that the only stat of Erdrick's that isn't decreased is his charisma. Talking first definitely seems the most promising option to me.
 

As an Amazon Associate, rpgcodex.net earns from qualifying purchases.
Back
Top Bottom