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[LP CYOA] Epic

Baltika9

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I don't think we should do that, it'd just increase the time it takes for us to heal. Just have the bone held in place by a splint and wait for the flesh to regrow, that is, assuming there's any bone left at all.
I honestly didn't think of that.
 

treave

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Codex 2012
A - 1
B - 6
C - 3


***

Chapter 5.12: Anbar-Shi

You let yourself be pulled in towards the maw. Timing was everything, and when the timing was just right, you use all your remaining strength to free your left arm and stretch it towards the core.

Before your eyes, the core sinks, disappearing into the endless black goo. In the next moment, your arm, too, disappears as the maw closes over it. In a moment of panic, you attempt to pull your arm back. The Gieloth's formless body appears to twist for a second, and there is a ripping, tearing noise as your body jerks back, an empty socket where your arm used to be. Your own blood spatters your face, but you do not even notice it. The pain only lasts a single, excruciating second, and all you feel next is a frigid cold spreading from what used to be your left shoulder.

There is a strange feeling of duality. You are there, missing an arm, wrapped in tendrils... but you are also there, resting in the belly of the beast. Sekhenun was relatively certain that your hunger was most likely the result of being resurrected by your Gieloth blade, but when faced with the anger issues, she was at a loss - she had never heard of anything like that before. She provided a theory which sounded plausible, but in the end you had the feeling that she didn't know much more than you did when it came to what you are.

Still... if she was right, you and the Honourblade are now one and the same. You took back life which you had given to the sword; the nature of which had been irrevocably changed the moment you bestowed it in the forging.

Could I be a sword? The sword is what I am... the sword is I am the sword we are you have a NAME.

It was weirdly simple. If you have subsumed the sword's life into the identity of Ean... all you had to do to draw out the sword and recreate is to give it a separate identity once more. If your natures were one, you just had to split it, to compartmentalize your nature.

The first step was to name it.

And in that brief instant, between life and death, a name floated to your lips.

Anbar-Shi.

***

When you awoke, you were outside of the ruins of Marduk's temple. Someone had took the trouble of bandaging up your shoulder and giving you a comfortable, flat stone to rest your head on. That didn't stop your entire body from hurting like hell.

"Good morning." Sekhenun sounded cheerful, sitting besides you. Her wounds were still there, though you doubt they would leave any scars. By her side was a long bundle wrapped up in cloth.

"It's still night."

"The sun will be rising soon. The city will be ours by the time dawn breaks. There has been minimal damage and loss of life since Ahati and Ramman were defeated."

"Soon doesn't mean now. What happened back there?"

"Ah... the fault is entirely mine. According to the works of Kar'sanasi the Fifth, No.16 could theoretically induce a Gieloth to enter a primal state. However, even after thousands of years of use in the Great Courts not a single case has happened... until now."

"I have no idea what you are talking about."

"...I messed up."

"Good to hear." you grin. Sekhenun replies by putting some pressure on your wound. After you were done hurting, you ask her again, "What happened to Ahati?"

"I didn't really see anything clearly between the waves of tentacles she was throwing around the place, but at the end of it, her core was destroyed somehow. And I found this in her corpse. Don't lose it again." Sekhenun reaches for the bundle, but you already knew what it was from the moment you woke up. Unrolling it, she places it in your hand. It looks just like how it did the last time you saw it - which was when it was sticking out of your throat. Now, however, it feels even closer and tightly bound to you. You don't know how you managed to do it, but you forged a metal sword from flesh and blood and bone. What's worse is that you know you could do it again if you needed to. The hunger, and now this. Your powers were getting inexplicable.

"Oh, I don't think that's a problem anymore." You manage a smile, and promptly faint again.

***

Despite the victory, there was much to do. The city, lacking its Marduk-appointed governors, had to have someone running it. The Sons of Marduk had held the reins of bureaucracy in the city for many years, and supplanting them entirely was a tall order. However, recruiting outside the cult's ranks could mean bringing in traitors.

A. You only allow the Cult of Shulgi to be involved in the running of the city, having them entirely usurp the role of the Sons of Marduk. The going would be tough as there were few in their ranks capable of efficiently administering Babylon, but this way you can reduce possible spies in positions of power.

B. You ordain a more secular bureaucracy and open up positions for qualified personnel. You attempt to have checks so that former Sons of Marduk will not be recruited, but regardless, the cultists will not be too happy about having reduced power.

C. You open up recruitment for all qualified personnel regardless of their history. What you need are skilled administrators to allow Babylon to thrive, and you cannot afford to be picky about the men you choose as long as they can do the job.

***

In the chaos of the attack on the temple, the Grand Priest of the Sons of Marduk had been trampled to death but the chief lawmaker Dapimsin was still missing, along with him other prominent members of the Sons of Marduk. In this power vacuum, the Shulgi cultists are eager to reintroduce their cult as the only lawful religion of the empire.

A. Uniting the empire under one worship, as Marduk did, is the best way to maintain power. You allow the cultists to become the de facto religion of the empire, taking over where the Sons of Marduk left off.

B. You bring back the old religion and the old pantheon, and put Shulgi up there as a new addition equal to, not greater or lesser than, the old gods.

C. You bring back the old religion and the old pantheon, and attempt to convince the cult to remain underground.

D. You introduce yourself as a new god to the pantheon and put Shulgi up there as a new addition equal to, not greater or lesser than, the old gods.

E. You introduce yourself as a new god to the pantheon , and attempt to convince the cult to remain underground.

1. You stamp out all worship of Marduk ruthlessly.
2. You only allow worship of Marduk as an equal or lesser god to the pantheon, not as supreme god.
3. You do not do anything about Marduk worship.

***

Most of the military are loyal to Marduk, though they surrendered swiftly once they found out that their Gieloth leaders were dead. There were 3000 soldiers still left in the city.

A. Run a psychic check together with Sekhenun and keep only the ones that would loyally follow your cause. This should reduce the number to about 1000. The rest will be discharged and allowed to return home.

B. Run a psychic check together with Sekhenun and keep only the ones that would loyally follow your cause. Kill 1 in 10 of the rest to set an example for the others. This will leave you with about 1800 soldiers.

C. Keep all the soldiers you have. You will deal with any disloyalty when it occurs, not before.

1. Get the Gutians to come as 'mercenaries' to bolster your troops.
2. Leave the Gutians where they are.

***

Finally, there was the issue on who would be the ruler of the city...

A. You take the crown.

B. You ask Sekhenun to select a suitably easy puppet from any surviving nobles to put on the crown.

C. You call Gudersu here and give him the crown.

D. You have the cultists select a suitable representative amongst their leaders to be king.

E. You let the common people elect a leader. It's an idea that you've heard from the voices a long, long time ago, and you're eager to try it.

***

"That's quite a lot of things to organize, isn't it?" you sigh. A few weeks in, there had been no real effect yet. Any changes you made were still sinking into the consciousness of the public. The repercussions of your decisions would be felt soon, but it would not be for a few more months at least.

"Tell me about it. Lest you forget, there's still that matter with Greece." Sekhenun fiddles with some scrolls she had been working all night on.

"How could I forget? What's the status there?"

"The Egyptians have been pushed back from their coastline, losing Pikuat. The Greek armies, led by Ares, are slowly gaining on Memphis. Two of Marduk's human lieutenants are helping to defend Egypt with a force of 5000. In Greece itself, however, the tide is turning. Marduk is a fearsome opponent on the battlefield, and there are reports that he has been using mobile amplifiers to bolster his troops' strength. I'm not sure how he managed to build that many, but the Greeks apparently have no counter to those at the moment. It looks like his forces will reach Athens soon, and the Egyptians are just holding out in hopes that he will do so quickly and force Ares to return to defend Greece."

"One question... has he heard of the fall of his own capital?"

"He must have, but everything indicates that he is focused on getting to Zeus as his primary goal. Zeus himself is still in hiding - he has not appeared on the field since the war started. I doubt Marduk will cast his eyes back here and divide his forces until he succeeds in defeating Greece. Now, the issue is what we do. Babylon still requires a good few months to stabilize, and that is the best case scenario. I don't think we can spare any troops to aid anyone - I have done my best to strengthen diplomatic relations with the other cities, but they are watching us like a hawk."

You clutch your missing limb, and think...

***

A. You head to Greece. Sooner or later Marduk will meet Zeus face to face, and when he does you will be there. It is time to show these outsiders that humans are not their playthings anymore.

B. You travel to Egypt to aid in their defense. Showing up at a desperate time and rescuing the Egyptians will take away credit from Marduk. Let Zeus and Marduk battle it out in Greece.

C. You stay in Babylon - you can stabilize the city best by being here. Leaving now means you will not be around to exert control should any unforeseen changes occur.
 

Smashing Axe

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Divinity: Original Sin
So much to consider, I think we should be entered into the pantheon, but we shouldn't take the kingdom. Let's give it to Gudersu and create mini-immortals with his daughter. Ruling's no fun, but advising rulers as a god? Yeah, I can see that working.

How's our power treave? By the sounds of things, with Anbar-shi in our hand, stronger and more resilient than ever, I'd think we might be a match for Marduk.
 

Esquilax

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Wow, a ton of choices. We have to make sure that whatever we plan, it must be as cohesive and consistent as possible: inconsistent voting made our short reign in Sumeria a lot less impressive than it should have been.

Here are my votes:

1) C: Recruiting the very best is the way to go. Doesn't piss off the cultists, it ensures stability, and since our army is composed entirely of people sympathetic to the rebel cause, any Marduk loyalists will have serious trouble trying to plot against us.

2) B3: Place Shulgi at the pantheon of the old gods in order to appease the cultists.

As for Marduk worship, we've got bigger fish to fry. Ruthless suppression didn't work with Shulgi's cult after it had been around for only a couple of years, and it won't work with a religion that has entrenched itself for nearly a century. At the same time, we can't allow people to worship Marduk as part of the old pantheon because it legitimises his claim to godhood.

The only right decision here is to do nothing. Remaining silent on the matter ensures that we don't accept Marduk's claim to godhood, while at the same time it avoids the inevitable tension and brutality that would accompany suppression.

3) A1: A show of mercy here would be smart and go a long way to making the remaining soldiers loyal to us.

Oh, and of course we're bringing the Gutians along with us. They'll make up the elite core of our troops. This is exactly what we saved them for! Let's take them with us to Greece.

4) B: There's a lot of hatred towards the nobility right now, but it's still far better than putting a barbarian foreigner with no skill at politics on the throne. There would be unrest at first, but people would eventually stop giving a shit so long as the country still had very good administration and the right people were working to maintain stability (1C). A savvy noble who's familiar with court politics would also be the right guy to nullify the influence of any remaining Marduk sympathizers in the city.

5) A

C B3 A1 B A
 

Baltika9

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B B2 C2 DA

Time to bro it up with Gudersu. Although I strongly recommend that if we leave anywhere to do anything, we leave a child from Itani. Or two, maybe three. treave, could Ean have gotten a reading on Gudersu during his stay? How good a king would he be? And what would have happened had we invited the Gutians to raid?
 
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So many choices. Maybe it would have been better to split this up in two updates.

Anyway, I'm leaning towards giving the cult recognition as a official religion to placate them (or at least a place in the pantheon), but to give actual power to somebody competent. The idea is to make choices that would keep the place stable enough for now so that we can take care of more pressing concerns.

As for Marduk's religion, not sure. Leaving it will create religious friction, but trying to stamp it out is probably pointless as we have learned early in our career. Maybe a compromise is the necessary (if not the best) solution.

And will we be taking the army with us if we move? If yes, then we can take all of them with us, regardless of their loyalties (as long as we are not moving against Marduk). If we are leaving them here, then disband anyone harbouring loyalties to the old regime - it's too risky to leave them behind in position of power. Killing them as an example however would be pointless - once we are no loger there to keep them in line the survivors will only be even more resentful and willing to do something about it.

Also not sure about what to do with Gutians and Gudersu. If only we had included them in the plan, it would be easier to include them in the new order now. How do the locals feel about them anyway? I would like to put Gudersu on the throne and recruit his men, but I'm not sure it would be a really good idea.

Voting for this update is going to be a real mess. But I'm definitely for heading for Egypt afterwards. If that fucker Ares destroys Egypt then everything we paid so dearly for at Tjaru is ruined. After all our failures that was something good we actually made possible, and now some immortal asshole is going to tear it apart? Fuck no. Zeus and Marduk can fight it out until we deal with Ares. If one of them kills the other, great - less work for us. If not, at least they will both be weakened when we get to them.

Edit: Oh, and taking out Ares first would let us recruit Egyptians in our army to take on both Marduk and Zeus more easily. Let's play the general again.

Will give a clear vote later. Also, honourblade is back, and better then ever! To hell with Vajra, this is the real thing - forged from our flesh and bone. And it was the reason behind our anger? So now that we have "compartmentalized our nature", does that mean we no longer have to fear losing control of our anger?
 

treave

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Codex 2012
Gudersu's only ruling experience is in leading bandit raids and arbitrating petty tribal disputes. It's up to you whether that would translate well to being a king.

Gutians raiding would tie up Ramman at the walls, meaning that it would be easier to finish off Ahati then go for Ramman. It'd also mean Gudersu gets fatally injured if neither you nor Sekhenun are there to fight Ramman.

Crashing the banquet and taking the two of them on was a pretty wild choice. Good thing your relationship with Sekhenun is slightly on the better side of things (or that she's alive in the first place). If not...

edit: Regarding troop numbers, Sekhenun advises that you do not bring any troops with you. The fall of Babylon means that the empire will fracture at a moment's notice. The other cities were only kept in line by fear of Marduk. With him on campaign, and his capital gone, it's taking all of her time negotiating just to keep the Sumerian city-states from plunging back into civil war and creating a big mess - she knows you don't want a big mess to happen. It would be great to be able to preserve sovereignty but right now she thinks it'll be lucky if we just make it out with Babylon under our thumb and having all the other cities become friendly independents. If we take troops we weaken Babylon's defenses even more, and that could mean trouble. Well... that's what she says at any rate.

edit 2: Yeah, sorry, quite a handful. Still, given the time scale, the only reasonable part where I could've broken the choices in two was between the management choices and Ean's choice whether to leave or stay. I thought it'd be easier for you guys to plan if you knew that choice was coming up beforehand.

edit 3: At any rate, you guys can think of these choices as your options for running Babylon, and if anyone compiles a coherent plan that is well-liked, people can just vote for that plan instead of each person going their own way. Kinda a toss-up between free-form "write up your own plan" and the old MCQs.

Regarding the anger, no, you haven't solved that issue yet, but theoretically you could probably try to shunt it into the sword... but then again, we might not want to get into a Jekyll & Hyde predicament where the sword is Hyde? The option will be there should you choose to explore it.
 

Smashing Axe

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Divinity: Original Sin
This is long, broken into sections. In short form, voting C D1 C1 C C
________________________________
C

I don't want to give the cult too much power, since they all ultimately answer to Shulgi. All he would have to is go 'yo sup dogs' and he attains kingly power from all our hard work. Once we've stabilised the throne we want to put as much distance between them and us as we possibly can. The only thing these guys have going for them is their tenacity, in all other ways they're pathetic. Furthermore, I don't think we should be picky with the men we take in, vet them with some telepath scans to see if they hold betrayal in their heart, if not, then welcome the capable administrators into our ranks. We need competence right now, loyalty will come with time, or the impaling of rebels.
________________________________

D

Just like the Runi myth in Egypt, I think it'd pay to leave our mark on Babylon. Joining the pantheon is not too egotistical, we're a demi-god already. It's not exactly lying now to claim divinity, and it will afford us influence far into Babylon's future, especially if we spread the religion to other societies.

That said, I think we should pay tribute to our dear friend Shulgi, despite his megalomania, he strangely deserves a place in the pantheon. Perhaps our paths will cross once more, he may appreciate that we aren't hellbent on his creation's destruction. Or he may not. Who knows. Regardless, be our olive branch. The cult shouldn't outright riot either, now that they're allowed to preach on the streets. And when we display our divinity by showing off to the people, will they really stay to Shulgi, when they haven't witnessed one of his miracles in years? Perhaps, perhaps not.

That said, there is one who doesn't deserve to be remembered, whose tainted influence must be stamped from Babylon, and that is Marduk, the usurper.

1. Destroy those who continue to practice the religion. Anything that gives Marduk legitimacy must be weeded out
________________________________

C

I'm persuadable in regards to the military option, I'm leaning towards C, since we need all the men we can get, and it will help us in leveraging power against the allied city states. If we stay in Bablyon, it will give us time to inspire true loyalty in the men, which I think is well within our capabilities. I wonder how our mind control abilities are progressing, we might be able to use our powers with time to inspire loyalty.

1. Gutians, just because. I like the fluff, they're entertaining and make the LP more lively. Will also help to curb some of the disloyal troops we'll be starting with.

________________________________

C.

I'm amenable to the choice of ruler here. I want Gudersu since it'd be the ultimate bro gift, but it may weaken our position in the short run. That said, I think it will work if we stay in Bablyon, which I advocate. I don't really want us to be a god king, where I think it's better to have lower men handle such administration, which will give us time to focus on the higher issues facing the world, while also lending our support to the ruler's family. That said, marry and impregnate Gudersu's daughter, a line of sons descended from Ean (assuming they share in some of his divinity) will strengthen Bablyon in times to come. Will also help with their royal claim once we develop some believers.

________________________________

Lastly

C.

We should stay here, we just destroyed the ruling government, we need to solidify control over the area, I don't think what I propose will work if we are anywhere else but Bablyon. Sure A will let us get the big bads out of the way, and probably increase our power when we eat them, assuming we don't fuck up and sleep for another 500 years, but this will seem like an epic of failure, if we return once again to a shattered Babylon and Egypt.

In regards to Egypt I'd like to help, but again, there's only one of us and we can't be everywhere. Right now we're in Bablyon, and Bablyon needs us. If we leave it'll just be screwed over once more like it was in the past. Let's stay and administrate until the country is stable.

I think the above is the best way we can leave a legacy in Bablyon, the other choices that will make ruling easier will work for us in the short-run, but will not make a successful country in the long-run that we will likely approve of. This requires us to remain in Babylon, but I think it will work if we participate in the stabilisation effort. Yes we will still have Marduk or Zeus to worry about once one destroys the other, but if we dedicate ourselves enough we should have a country standing behind us, as well as any unlikely allies we make during that time through Sek. I'm still unsure what her ultimate objective is, but it doesn't seem to pertain to Babylon per-say, just its former rulers and their struggle with Zeus.
 
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Alright, let's vote.

B. Let's get somebody competent to run things, but do at least some checks on them.

A2. Placate the cultist with the official religion status, but include Marduk in the worship to minimize the religious unrest. If choice 2 is not available for choice A (because A means the cultist take over completely and make Marduk worship illegal), then make that B2.

A1. Discarge the soldiers with dubious loyalties and send them home. If we are not taking them with us (and we definetly should pay attention to Sekhenun's advice), then leaving them in the army is just asking for trouble. But having some of them killed is just going to radicalize the rest once we are not there to keep them in line. Get Gutians to boost the numbers to ward of potentially aggressive neighbours.

E. Let's bring democracy to the middle east! But if Gudersu is confident in being able to take the crown (ask him!) and the general populace is not openly against it, I wouldn't mind having him on the throne either.

B. Let's stop Ares from destroying everything we worked for during the last century. Egypt is (or was until now) our one success, the single successful human lead state among immortals and Gieloths. And if are not taking the army with us, getting one from Egypt is all the more vital before facing Zeus and Marduk and their armies. It's time for the legend of Runi to live again - just showing up there would probably be enough to bring every Egyptian soldier under our command.

One other option I think could work would be to take only those soldier we suspect of disloyalty with us to Egypt. After all, we would have disbanded them anyway, so they are not going to be of much help in keeping Babylon safe. I think they would cooperate - we are not moving against Marduk, but against his enemies and to help his allies. At the same time we gain an army and remove a destabilizing factor from Babylon. And during the march to Egypt we can use our abilities to keep an eye on them and prevent the from rebelling, while at the same time shape them in the fighting force to be reckoned with - just like we did with their ancestors centuries ago. The thought of coming full circle appeals to me.

Edit: Oh, and I'm against having any children at this point (not until we deal with this hunger curse). This situation reminds me of Cain and the vampire creation myth from VtM. Do we really want more potential flesh eating immortal rivals around?
 

treave

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Codex 2012
Oh fuck, just realized I left out the option to appoint one of the cultists as your little puppet Grand Priest-King or something.

Sorry guys. There's that option too. Been a hectic few days. :(
 

Esquilax

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Marduk is a fearsome opponent on the battlefield, and there are reports that he has been using mobile amplifiers to bolster his troops' strength. I'm not sure how he managed to build that many, but the Greeks apparently have no counter to those at the moment.

treave: What do these mobile amplifiers do? Are they similar to Nabu's tower? I'm assuming they make Marduk's troops stronger/faster/more courageous.

Smashing Axe: Tearing Marduk's cult apart brick by brick isn't going to work. Killing Ramman and Ahati is a good start, but the only surefire way to end his cult is to end Marduk.

Now that treave has clarified things, I'm not so sure that bringing the Gutians in as mercenaries is a great idea. The Gutians know war and combat, but they're still barbarians: they don't know how to stabilize a region, and they are definitely not cut out for guard duty. If you want to bring them on, give them enemies to fight! We've got a force of raging, nearly suicidal barbarians, we have to utilize their strengths by using them as a raiding force.

I propose a tentative 3) A3: 1,000 soldiers in Babylon, Gutians come with us to Greece.

Zero Credibility made a good point in that killing a tenth of the Babylonian soldiers might not be the best idea. However, because we've got less soldiers to manage the place, that means that we should invest even more in stability. I've changed my vote from 2) D2 to 2) B2. I could also be swayed to flop to 2) A2 as well. The cultists consider Ean a demigod, but if he raises himself up as an equal to Shulgi, it will definitely cause unrest, especially in conjunction with not giving them all the administrative power. Let Shulgi have his place in the pantheon alongside the old gods. If we leave Babylon, we must do whatever we can to ensure that the situation is stable there.

So, if we go into Greece, here's the game plan:

Zeus and Marduk will meet on the field soon. At the moment, Marduk's forces have the edge due to the amplifiers mentioned in the update. I propose that we bring along the Gutians with us to Greece - the Babylonians will stay to make sure the country doesn't collapse. When Marduk and Zeus' forces start to fight, we get our guys to stage a hit-and-run attack to destroy the amplifiers in Marduk's army. They are at full-strength, utterly loyal to us, and attacks of this sort are their speciality.

That will make it a far more even (and bloody) fight. Once both armies have begun to exhaust each other, we can rely on them to wear each other down. Once Marduk and Zeus are both weakened enough from facing each other, we jump into the fray, slaughtering our way towards Marduk. With Ean's status as a psychic blank allowing him to take advantage of the confusion, we would stand a very good chance at killing Marduk.

However, if we decide to go to Egypt:

I like Zero Credibility 's idea of coming back as Runi. Coming back as the Protector of Egypt would work, and I think that the Pharaoh would be willing to turn against Marduk now that he has the guy who crushed an army of 8,000 Babylonians on his side. Then again, if we do that, we might lose the opportunity to help out Marduk's human lieutenants and have them defect to the rebels.

However, I see an amazing opportunity in Greece and I think that we should take it. We've sat on the Gutian forces we've acquired all this time - now is the time to use them.
 

CappenVarra

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Uhm, you guys suggesting we start a mini-Ean breeding program do realize that children with superhuman powers need to be raised, watched etc. It's just like that first time we became king - it sounded so cool! But when it actually happened, it was just unending waves of state-management and trying to play Civilization in a CYOA format. So, let's say we have kids. Then what? Do they shit supernatural shadows eating away the flesh of babysitters? Do they die in what seems like a blink of an eye to our immortal perspective? What if they get kidnapped by any of our numerous enemies and used against us - or just a curious Gieloth wanting to perform some quality scienmajific experiments? If we were still a simple immortal, we could probably get some info about what happens when they breed with sapiens from our lovely tentacle buddy; hell, immortals could be sterile for all we know. But Ean is currently an abomination of unknown nature and questionable control. Kids? You gotta be kidding me.
 

treave

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Codex 2012
Yeah, it's basically Nabu's tower lite. Marduk has Nusku's soldiers manning them.
 

Storyfag

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The choices! By the Emprah, the many, many choices! Tzeentch help me.

First:
C - I bet some 90% of the Cult of Marduk joined it just to make their lot in life better/break the glass ceiling. Kinda like Communist Party membership here in Potatoland before the commies fell apart.

***

Second
D - this will appease Shulgi's cultists.

Third:
2

***

Foruth:
B - the Roman in me likes the idea of decimation.


Fifth:
1 - As Sekhenun tells it, Babylon will be in urgent need of military power to scare of its former vassal cities.

***

Sixth:

B - time to kick Ares' arse.

***

Seventh:

C - as much as I'd like to help Egypt, we stirred WAY to much shit in Babylon to leave.
 

Esquilax

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Dec 7, 2010
Messages
4,833
C - I bet some 90% of the Cult of Marduk joined it just to make their lot in life better/break the glass ceiling. Kinda like Communist Party membership here in Potatoland before the commies fell apart.

That's a great point that I didn't consider. However, it still means that 10% are true believers and might try to work against us. B provides the same benefits, except that it pisses off the cultists more because it's secular. Still, I think that can be remedied with other concessions.

I think that the key to maintaining internal stability in Babylon will be to offer the cultists a lot of meaningless concessions, but little in the way of real power. If we make Shulgi's cult the official religion or Shulgi is named a god of the pantheon, while at the same time leaving the real power to ourselves or to the unaffiliated, then stability is assured and the cultists are appeased. I know we think they're useless, but personal feelings aside, betraying them would be very foolish right now.

Oh, and I just realized that allowing some form of Marduk worship to continue in a more limited form is a very, very bad idea. Why? Because in our speech a few days ago, we explicitly stated that Marduk was not a god:

“You cannot blaspheme that which is not a god.” You shrug dramatically, shaking your head.

I understand that in these CYOA's that everyone hates the "Do nothing" option, but here it's absolutely the right decision to make. We're in sort of a dilemma here: we can't really ruthlessly stamp out Marduk's cult because it would create a lot of tension and resentment. At the same time, we can't explicitly allow people keep worshipping as part of the pantheon because it legitimises him. Also, because it would contradict our words about him not being god.

Therefore, we should say nothing on the matter. That way, we don't ratchet up tensions against Marduk loyalists, while at the same time we don't legitimise Marduk as part of the pantheon. The best political move here is to not confirm or deny anything.

Oh, and we can't have Gudersu become King. He isn't Akil, this guy is way too rough around the edges to be groomed for that position. Worse yet, Gudersu doesn't even want to be King - putting him on the throne without his consent will strain our relationship. Taking the throne for ourselves is the least bad option. The cultists will be satisfied with Ean on the throne, while at the same time we can keep power firmly concentrated in our hands.

Er... I mean, hand.
 

Baltika9

Arcane
Joined
Jun 27, 2012
Messages
9,611
Actually, putting Gudersu on the throne and staying around to teach him the ropes, shape him from a rough diamond into the crown jewel (ahem) of Babylon could prove very worthwhile. He seems to be a cross between Astarth and Sargon. In other words, badass. About him not wanting it, ask him. What could be easier than saying "wanna be king, bro? I'll help ya out to get settled."
About the kids: have Sekhenun watch them, considering that we make a deal of friendship and partnership with her (why you bros don't want to do that is beyond me).
 

Esquilax

Arcane
Joined
Dec 7, 2010
Messages
4,833
Actually, putting Gudersu on the throne and staying around to teach him the ropes, shape him from a rough diamond into the crown jewel (ahem) of Babylon could prove very worthwhile. He seems to be a cross between Astarth and Sargon. In other words, badass.

Astarth and Sargon were capable administrators in addition to being bad motherfuckers. Gudersu probably has them both beat in terms of bad motherfuckerdom, but he doesn't have the experience needed to be King. But I dunno, maybe if we get the right people in the administration, I suppose it could work with 1B. However, as fucked up as Babylon is right now, I think that Ares' assault of Egypt and the impending Marduk-Zeus showdown are of far greater importance. If we manage things well here, we can come back to a (relatively) stable Babylon. We've played this revolution brilliantly, now we just need to wrap it up properly.

There are 5,000 Babylonian soldiers in Egypt, and the two human lieutenants there can be swayed to the rebel cause if we're smart:

Zaidu – a regular human, the only human general Marduk has. A strong and noble warrior, known for caring for his men.
Igi – rumoured to be extremely skilled in combat, skilful enough for a human that Marduk has made him one of his personal bodyguards.
Dakuri – a young human who distinguished himself in combat by rallying an entire flank during Marduk’s Indus Valley campaign. He was made one of the Twelve in recognition.

Igi is almost certainly serving as bodyguard to Marduk in Greece, so the two generals in Egypt must be Zaidu and Dakuri. I believe that Zaidu can be brought to our side if we play our cards right. A good start to getting him on our side would be to show mercy to the surrendering Babylonian soldiers - no decimation, just let them go home. He cares about his men, and he'll definitely fight against the rebels if we show cruelty to the soldiers here. I'm willing to bet that Zaidu is with Marduk more out of a patriotic sense of "my country, right or wrong" and loyalty to his men than a genuine love for Marduk.

However, no matter what we do, I think that we cannot explicitly allow people to openly worship Marduk as part of the old pantheon. Suppressing the Marduk cultists is bad, but legitimising Marduk's claim to godhood is equally bad, especially after we desecrated his temple. No matter what we do, whether we're in Babylon, Egypt or Greece, the best move there is to shut the fuck up and leave that situation be. That I'm 100% sure on.

I'm on the verge of flopping to a trip back to Egypt, but I really want to get Marduk now, before either side has managed to win.

Storyfag: Haha, never occurred to me. I wish it would work. Marduk's been sullying our good name for nearly a century, it'd be almost impossible to set things right again. Well, short of killing the fucker of course.
 

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