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Storyfag

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getting them to change sides would be preferable, but I don't know if this is even possible at this point.

We're here to kinda rescue them, right? Once we buttrape Ares, I'm sure they'll be willing to listen to reason. Though we should have told Sekhenun to have the puppet king take hostages (the royal, civilised kind. You know, to be raised at court and groomed to become future important officials) from their generals' families. That'd make them comply with the new regime for sure (well, as long as the puppet king wouldn't mistreat the hostages, but the idea is he should not!). Depending on how situation unfolds, we might return to Babylon with them after defeating the Greek army in Egypt. Or we might lead them to Greece and use them to finish off Marduk or Zeus...
 

Tigranes

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Essentially we've lost an arm fighting to free a nation we won't keep and to weaken an enemy we won't defeat.
Oh, but wait, there's more: we're also a God now.
Oh, but wait, there's more: we're about to have Babylonians ruled by an Egyptian demigod, which will either be our greatest flop or our greatest troll yet.
Oh, but wait, you still haven't heard the best part yet: We want to shape and mold civilization directly.
Sleep tight, mankind, you're in, ah, capable hands.[/quote]

A dude oversees an uprising, he says I AM A GOD, RLY, then leaves immediately. Yeah. That's gonna found an eternal cult of Ean worship, for sure. We fucked up and we will feel the results soon enough.

Anyway, enough butthurt. I say B, the whole symbolic aspect is tempting but if we reveal ourselves too early, we might be drawing too much attention from Ares or whoever before we are ready.
 

Baltika9

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Anyway, enough butthurt. I say B, the whole symbolic aspect is tempting but if we reveal ourselves too early, we might be drawing too much attention from Ares or whoever before we are ready.
We want his attention on us, he's marching on Memphis, and we're here to save Egypt. Letting the capital fall would be a bad begging to the rescue. Also, there's a charm to having Runi be reborn at Tjaru, don't you bros think so?
Since we're here, we might as well do what Ean does best: be a bad motherfucker.
Also, repeated to avoid a useless death: propose to Iltani now.
Edit: think about it, the mythological value is making me giggle with excitement. Tjaru was Runi's death. And Tjaru will be Runi's resurrection. The Son of Horus(?) returns from his father's Kingdom in the hour of his people's greatest need to deliver them from another crisis. How can we pass this up? We'll be like an Egyptian Jesus, only better.
Anyone else getting the feeling that Ares will be a giant douche? And that Sekhenun will die?
Edit 2: treave, I know the answer already, but are the voices dead for good and not coming back, for ever and ever? I miss those guys.
 

Tigranes

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Sexxor her up while with one hand while we smash Egyptians in the face with the other?

3380491pWp_o.jpg
 
Joined
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Also, repeated to avoid a useless death: propose to Iltani now.
Just tell her to keep her head down until the noise stops. She want's to help us - fine. But no single mortal can be of any meaningful help to us once we get into badass mode on the battlefield. All she can be is a liability we will need to look after. Later on we will find some way of making use of whatever talents she may have.
 

Esquilax

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We're here to kinda rescue them, right? Once we buttrape Ares, I'm sure they'll be willing to listen to reason. Though we should have told Sekhenun to have the puppet king take hostages (the royal, civilised kind. You know, to be raised at court and groomed to become future important officials) from their generals' families. That'd make them comply with the new regime for sure (well, as long as the puppet king wouldn't mistreat the hostages, but the idea is he should not!). Depending on how situation unfolds, we might return to Babylon with them after defeating the Greek army in Egypt. Or we might lead them to Greece and use them to finish off Marduk or Zeus...

We really need to go to Greece after this - it's too important to leave things up to Zeus and Marduk. Using our persona as Runi, we could get a lot of the Babylonians to defect. I think that we're in a good position to steal away Marduk's troops: we've already shown mercy to the Marduk loyalist troops by letting them lay down their arms and go home, and we've also allowed Marduk worship to to remain in the kingdom, albeit in a different form. We've got a lot of the same people from the old regime still working there anyways, so that's even more incentive. Hopefully we can convince a large number of the men to defect and reinforce Babylon instead of protecting Marduk in Greece.

There are still concerns about fighting at Tjaru: If Iltani is killed, I think it's very likely that Ean will fly into a murderous rage. And that's not even getting into how Gudersu might feel. We may have to use the toxin that Sekhenun gave us, though I really wanted to save it for Zeus.

treave: Do we have a count on the number of Egyptians and Babylonians? Also, now that we have Anbar-Shi, how good are Ean's restoration abilities if Iltani is wounded? If it's possible, I'd like to propose to Iltani now as Baltika9 suggested. At best, she'll go back home or get herself some place safe, at worst, she won't place herself in danger.

Tigranes: I disagree, I think that we handled the whole Babylon situation quite well, and barring unforeseen circumstances (i.e. the return of Shulgi) it should be stable for the next little while. Sekhenun can use her diplomatic skills to hold off the Assyrians from declaring war. We have enough loyal soldiers to hold things down thanks to the Gutians, a competent puppet King with a good administration under him, a strong claim to divinity thanks to the manner in which we dispatched Ramman and Ahati to back up our authority, and an appeased and pacified sect of cultists.

Anyways, I don't think we should wait on this: we have to take Ares out as soon as possible so that we can reach Greece while the war is still hot. If there was ever a time for Runi to return, it would be now.

A
 

Tigranes

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Esquilax: I agree that Babylon will most likely remain stable. I'm fine with that. What I mean is that depending on how things go in Egypt now, there's a good chance we will end up neither a very well worshipped God, nor with any influence with the government, nor a hero of the people with any kind of mobilising power. Nobody remembers a God who was around for 2 weeks to crown himself then disappeared into history. That's what I mean - if we really wanted the fruits of our labours we should have finished things off by going for Marduk, or consolidated what we had by staying.

Anyway, as I say, we've made our decisions and I'm not one to butthurt on and on (unless we do fuck up in Egypt).
 

ScubaV

Prophet
Joined
Feb 20, 2011
Messages
1,022
A
And I second (third?) the motion to propose to Iltani now. Even if she refuses to go back to Babylon maybe she won't be so reckless in her efforts to pay off her debt. Besides, I am intrigued by the possibility of having some demigod spawn as allies and Ean could use to be a little less uptight.

Idle thoughts:
What will Iltani think if/when she sees Ean feed?
Is the effort of regrowing our arm going to improve our regenerative powers in the future?
When will we get our next character summary?
 

oscar

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NZ
A dude oversees an uprising, he says I AM A GOD, RLY, then leaves immediately. Yeah. That's gonna found an eternal cult of Ean worship, for sure. We fucked up and we will feel the results soon enough

Exactly. It was par the course to declare yourself a god those days. Would have been a lot cooler to take the crown and prove to the populace we're legit and a BRO king instead of rushing off on another adventure to fight someone who we barely benefit at all from defeating.
 

treave

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Codex 2012
Chapter 5.14: Terror in Tjaru

As you jog off towards the fort, Iltani runs to keep up with you.

“Well, if there’s no helping it… how are you going to be of use? What skills do you have?”

“I’m handy with a sword.”

“Killed any men before?”

“Well… no.”

“Right, anything else?”

“I’m great with letters and numbers, and I also know plenty about the uses of plants. Father insisted that I learn as much as I could about civilized ways as I was to be a princess. He also made me study the precepts of some old Akkadian king that was a big influence on Sumerian military tactics.”

You stop and turn around to look at her. Giving a big sigh, you struggle to hold back your annoyance as you tell her, “That means you would have done me much more good by staying in Babylon and helping Sekhenun run the city. We definitely need talents like yours back there… I don’t really need an extra sword arm.”

Iltani’s eyes dart towards your stump.

“Look, I know you’re not stupid. You definitely understand that if there was any debt to be repaid, you would have been better off repaying it by staying in Babylon. You won’t be of any real help here. Why are you here?”

She turns red and clams up. Stepping closer to her, you put your hand on her head. She really is shorter than she seems to be. Probably her attitude has something to do with that, you think, and you ask again. “Why are you here?”

You get flashes of what led her here, as her thoughts rose to the surface. It looks like she had developed a slight crush on you ever since you volunteered to be taken hostage in her place, though she seemed too embarrassed to admit it. Apparently, she had asked Sekhenun what you looked for in a wife. Sekhenun said that she didn’t know, but she hazarded a guess that you might prefer strong women over weak ones that did nothing but stay at home, and Iltani had impulsively left Babylon with something to prove.

“Tenacious and impetuous. I thought you better than this,” you mutter. “No matter. If you are following me, listen to what I say and keep yourself out of harm’s way. You’re no good to me dead.”

That came out a bit more harshly than you wanted, but you hoped the message got through to her.

***

As you neared the fort, you notice the gate opening. You stand your ground and prepare to hail the inhabitants, but you are greeted by dozens of Egyptian soldiers fleeing wildly from the fort. They ignore your shouts as they stream past you. Iltani grabs on to your arm tightly as you make your way past the panicking soldiers and enter the fort.

The moment you cross the gate, a palpable shroud of pure fear falls upon you. This must have been what spooked the troops. Iltani’s grip on your arm tightens. Around you, both Greek and Egyptian soldiers lay whimpering on the floor. Some were attempting to get to their feet, and there were a few that were actually upright, shivering, with their weapons trembling before them. Before you could move on any further, two Egyptians fall from the walls right before you with a thud. You whisper to Iltani to move back. She nods, her eyes wide and her face pale. You could tell that she was struggling not to just curl into a ball and scream, but she manages to stay on her feet and hide behind a nearby wall.

You find yourself easily resisting the urge to flee. The terror reached down into the depths of your very being, but there it found only anger, which fed upon the fear, growing stronger with every second. You haven’t eaten in a while.

The besieged gate gives way with a loud crash as two identical looking men, one in red and one in blue, walk in with an arrogant stride. You instantly recognize them as the source of the fear. They are surprised when they see you standing in the center of the courtyard and come to a stop.

“Look, brother, there is a brave, brave soul that does not fear at all.”

“Indeed. We shall have to work up a sweat after all. You there, what is your name?”

You pause for a while before loosening the knot that bound Anbar-Shi to your back. You draw the blade and bring the hunk of dark metal ringing before you. You had patterned its current shape over Gudersu’s great sword as you had found that you preferred your one-armed balance better with such a weapon, as long as you kept swinging.

“Runi,” you answer, “Son of Osiris.”

“We are the gods Phobos and Deimos, sons of Ares.”

“Please do just lie down and die.”

They brandished their spears and come for you, one from each side. Planting your feet firmly on the ground, you draw your sword back and swing it, pivoting to put your entire strength behind the attack. It seems like they were not expecting your movements to be anywhere near as quick as theirs, as the first blow takes the red-attired twin by surprise and neatly cuts through his bronze breastplate. He screams, gurgling blood as Anbar-Shi bites into his lungs.

“Phobos!”

The blue twin – Deimos, it seems – thrusts his spear at you in anger. Predictable. Quick to anger. You had yet to complete your initial strike, and your spin allows the spear to pass by you harmlessly. Phobos – still stuck at the edge of your blade – was not so lucky; his brother’s spear buries itself deep into his abdomen as you swing his body towards Deimos. You complete your swing and throw Phobos’s body off your sword. He crashes into Deimos and the two of them tumble to the ground in a bloody heap.

“This is what passes for a god nowadays?” you sneer as you walk towards them, Anbar-Shi resting over your shoulder. “I hope your father poses more of a challenge.”

Cradling Phobos’s body, Deimos looks up and snarls angrily. “Don’t underestimate our power!” Phobos’s eyes open and stare at you, and an enormous wave of terror flows forth from the two immortals, threatening to make your knees buckle under the weight of that fear. All around you screaming erupts from the soldiers as they claw at their eyes and ears. The two begin laughing, Phobos choking up blood as he does so.

It was singularly unfortunate for the twin gods of fear and terror that your nature took such intense emotion and turned it into fuel for the fires of your rage. You take a step towards them, grinning a bloodthirsty smile.

“If that is the only party trick you have, it’s not a very good one.”

Their laughter stopped. It was their turn to scream.

***

A. You give in to their pleas of mercy and allow them to flee after cutting them up badly. They will serve as suitable warning to Ares that you are coming from him, and hopefully draw his attention away from Memphis to buy the Egyptian defenders more time.

B. You cut their heads off and put it a bag. The trauma of your violence sends them into a regenerative stupor. Then you burn their bodies and toss those down the Chasm of Runi. You will give Ares his warning by showing him the heads of his sons in person. That would be a most excellent taunt.

***

1. You take a limb or two from the twins as a snack. You’ve never tried immortal before – it could be good.

2. You don’t feed… it is not yet time to give in to your hunger.
 

Storyfag

Perfidious Pole
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B, but only on the condition we interrogate them before! I'd like to know what's the Greek* angle here, really. Just the typical "lawl, kill Gieloth", or is there something more, perhaps? If Gieltoh are the issue, why mess up Egypt?
1 - we need powah to face the victor of the inevitable Zeus/Marduk duel.

Also, sons of Ares, eh? So Immortals do breed!

*BTW, what year is it? Still well before 1500 BCE, right? These guys aren't even properly Greek yet...
 

Azira

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Codex 2012
B1

Seems immortals can indeed get offspring. I wonder if it is in rougly the same way the Gieloth do it? If Zeus is a master as some have stipulated, then he would certainly know, but perhaps Sekhenun knows as well.

I think it'd be a mistake to let these sniveling runts flee. Cut, maim and burn. But keep something of them. We are developing a hunger, and these two seem a fitting meal, but best kept for some time where we're alone. :salute:
 

newcomer

Learned
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May 23, 2012
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B2

Eating immortals would be a bad idea... what if one of the voices get stuck in the limb we cut & sends a desperate warning telepathy to the other immortals / master?

At any rate, remember that we got this hunger by eating the voices.. I believe you guys know better than me how DEVOUR SOULS ends up..

Oh btw, +1 for the cute tsundere waifu. I wonder who is the Akkaddian king she mentions... could it be Ean?
 

Esquilax

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Forget interrogation, I don't care about the motivations of the Greeks right now - we're here to get the Egyptians on our side and the Babylonians to defect. Our objective is to defeat Ares, let's not get sidetracked.

We know from Greek myths that Ares is savage and bloodthirsty, but not really much of a tactician; he isn't like Athena. Furthermore, we're at Tjaru and we have the advantage of being on defense. Provoking Ares into making stupid decisions sounds like a great first move for this battle. Taking away Phobos' and Deimos' advantage in the battle is another one.

And a big "Fuck no" to feeding. We've barely even started the battle and you guys are already voting DEVOUR SOUL!!!

A2

Edit: The choices that I see working are A1 and B2. The other choices are disastrous. A2 is bad because it offers mercy to Immortals that will take advantage of us - then we have to fight Ares and his sons without a power boost. B1 is a complete disaster because we know our hunger is related to the manner in which we eat:

It hasn't occurred to Ean to control it because so far he hasn't had reason to. Go back to the first choice of this chapter. Basically his mindset is now that feeding is ok if I do it to the bad, and so far only the bad elicit the anger. His resurrection means he's not a natural extension of the Ean before, and that his character becomes more malleable where the hunger is concerned; it's part of his nature and he's more likely to give in to it if there's no reason not to.

If we give into our hunger after cutting off the heads of Ares' sons, we'll be much more prone to our violent rages and unable to control ourselves. B1 is terrible.
 

Kipeci

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Vicksburg
B2 - Let's take those two out of the fight, but let's NOT keep feeding recklessly.

Actually, I'd like to go for A2 if that has the same number or more votes at the end of the tally than B2. Otherwise, B2.
 

ScubaV

Prophet
Joined
Feb 20, 2011
Messages
1,022
I definitely want to test our palate on some tasty immortal, but I could be convinced to save it for Ares. Leaning towards B1, but I could go B2, let's see what others think.
 

Baltika9

Arcane
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Jun 27, 2012
Messages
9,611
B2. Fuck 'em. Our lovely little waifu may be watching. Besides, they are not worthy of DEVOUR SOUL!!!
 

Smashing Axe

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Divinity: Original Sin
I'll vote A1 if we can interrogate, B1 if not. Also seems this anger has its uses after all. Great update.

I mostly agree with Storyfag, these shits just aren't worth killing, they are however worth a snack. Also let's interrogate them as much as we can. We still have no idea what the hell is going on in the area, we're in the dark just as much as we were back when we awoke from our slumber in Minos' maze.

No reason we shouldn't snack, we haven't eaten in a while and we need to keep it up so our powers do not decline.
 

Esquilax

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I'll vote A1 if we can interrogate, B1 if not. Also seems this anger has its uses after all. Great update.

To be honest, I'm not sure what we'd interrogate them about. Ares would probably know more about this stuff regardless, Phobos and Deimos are just underlings. We've already got an idea of why the Greek Immortals have decided to attack Egypt - it's because they allied with Crete when Minos was around:

"King Minos brokered an alliance with Egypt. They've been helping in the war for the past three months now."

Then, because the Pharaoh realized he was in really deep shit and Mehrune was in Babylon, Sekhenun managed to organize an alliance with their enemy Marduk, pissing off the Greek pantheon even more:

“Zeus and his gods have crushed Crete, and plan to move on to Egypt to punish them for their 'transgressions'. Human soldiers could never stand up to them on the field once they decided to intervene directly. Like it or not, Marduk is the only one with enough power to challenge Zeus on the battlefield right now. His strength is... remarkable.”
 

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