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[LP CYOA] Epic

a cut of domestic sheep prime

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:declining:
Mark my words bros, you shall rue the day! RUE!
 

treave

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Jul 6, 2008
Messages
11,370
Codex 2012
A - 6
B - 5
C - 4
D - 1

Smashing Axe would flop from C to B.

So:

A - 6
B - 6
C - 3
D - 1

root would flop from C to A to prevent B from winning

So:

A - 7
B - 6
C - 2
D - 1

Lambchop19 would flop from C to B to prevent A from winning

So:

A - 7
B - 7
C - 1
D - 1

Anything I missed?

:rpgcodex:
 

Kayerts

Arcane
Joined
Jan 28, 2011
Messages
883
I'd vote B, if you need a tiebreaker. Of the two, it's closer to my desired option (LET THE GALAXY BURN).

(If a choice to not kill an NPC who looks like his girlfriend inside a video game results in him killing her in real life, along with almost everyone else on Earth, Senya should take that to mean that character development is in order. Tearing down the walls of the universe and sundering cause from effect seems like an appropriate response, but if that's not on the table, well, we can at least be a dick about it.)
 

treave

Arcane
Patron
Joined
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Messages
11,370
Codex 2012
I had to make a sacrifice to the character development gods and unfortunately it got a bit out of hand.

As for tearing down the walls of the universe, that would be C, but it looks like we're not headed that way after all.
 

aleam iacis

Liturgist
Joined
Nov 4, 2012
Messages
115
Codex USB, 2014 BattleTech
So noone wanted to work with the separatists? Like we should/could have worked with the Shulgiland rebels? And nobody wanted to work their way up a crime family relying on power rooted in "darkness"? An immortal, mafia hitman eventually becoming the head of the family? Personally taking out anyone in our way as we eventually head out on a rip-roaring rampage of vengeance and violence?
 

Kipeci

Arcane
Joined
May 22, 2012
Messages
3,027
Location
Vicksburg
I would have preferred EA to EB (though EC is still the best), but at least we've got the cult going on.
 

treave

Arcane
Patron
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Messages
11,370
Codex 2012
Well then you should've said you'd flop so that we go back into a tie and wait for ScubaV's lone D to decide the vote. :lol:
 

Kipeci

Arcane
Joined
May 22, 2012
Messages
3,027
Location
Vicksburg
I was initially thinking that at the very best a plurality would go for the cult approach, given how we've almost reflexively rejected that sort of path before. I don't think I bothered to check in past the time when EC was winning, by which point it seemed silly to edit in that flip-floppery.

How do we intend on making the cult go for us, anyway? We don't have impressive tentacles any longer, and somehow I don't think that the Gieloth will be around to help us out with that.
 

Tigranes

Arcane
Joined
Jan 8, 2009
Messages
10,350
I'm pretty happy that EC was decimated after the initial rush, though I suppose it would have made an interesting Triumvirate: the Good, the Practical, the Paranoid..

9-Torment_2011-01-30_20-55-49-06.png
 

Bloodshifter

Educated
Joined
Jul 7, 2012
Messages
542
Location
Somewhere with dead bears
What do you mean under certain conditions? You listed in the last update before everyone Lolz let's believe Shulgi the Plot God! That if Senya wasn't that badly hurt he would be able to 'cut' Shulgi an immortal out from the fabric of the Truth what changed?
 

treave

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Jul 6, 2008
Messages
11,370
Codex 2012
... uh.

You think it is a good idea to use that power all the time?

If yes, you should have picked C.

If no, then there you have it. Certain conditions.

Update still incoming, lots of interruptions right now.
 

treave

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Jul 6, 2008
Messages
11,370
Codex 2012
Reunion in the Old Quarter

Ankida is different nowadays.

A few blocks away from the Commercial Quarter stands the former Imperial Palace, now host to the Governor and his administration. The palace, and its surrounding buildings, have always been walled off from the rest of the city; those walls are now reinforced and guarded at all times. The rich and the elite who refuse to move into space - where they would be subject to military conscription - enjoy a comfortable life behind those walls, reserving the more luxurious of Star League aid for their own use. Meanwhile, the last Emperor of the Shinar still resides within the palace as a guest of honour, a broken old man who wants only to die peacefully where he was born.

The Commercial Quarter is the hub of the remnants of cosmopolitan Ankida. Instead of the orderly, structured, gleaming economic center it once was, however, the current Commercial Quarter is dank and crowded. The streets are lined with stalls and shops manned by refugees who refuse to work on the farms. Few of them can afford to live here, however. Most of the inhabitants of the Commercial Quarter are native Ankidans that have moved into the empty corporate towers, which now serve as residential blocks. Most of Earth's industry and commerce has moved offshore; there is now nothing on the surface of this planet that the Federation and the Star League needs. That hasn't stopped the Quarter from becoming a thriving melting pot of commerce for legitimate businesses... and illegitimate ones. Drugs and sex are easy enough to find and purchase, centered around the red-light district that spans three streets - and if one should find himself low on credits for either, a helpful money-lender is always around the corner.

On the outskirts of the city lies the Old Quarter, destroyed in the colony drop five years back. It has now become the center of the refugee population; shacks and shanties have sprung up from the scars where ancient mud buildings once stood, housing a community drawn from every corner of the world - here you found Higashi and Shulgilanders, Skanish and Gallian. It is also where the largest hydroponic arrays are found. The refugees serve as the main labour force that feeds Ankida's meagre subsistence. Even the separatist politicians do not canvass this area or provide them much help, as refugees have no right to vote for the Governor of the city.

This is also where the remaining branch of the Apostles operate. They are the only ones left in Shulgi's list that I could track down - Erika appears to be off-world at the moment. The cultists call themselves a charity organization, but from the looks of it, they can't afford to be charitable to anyone. The large, ramshackle hut housing them appears to be about to collapse at any moment, and judging from the extensive amount of patching up it probably has once or twice. I step into the yard, looking at the rows of hydroponic trays stacked up towards the sky. A sudden, freezing sensation passes through my head and again, for the briefest moment, I see another world laid over the real. The buildings of the Old Quarter that once stood here appear. Translucent ghosts of buildings. Then, I see her.

Kyrie, standing at the entrance of the hut.

"Hi there, mister. Are you looking to buy some food?" The ghosts disappear without any fanfare. A girl comes out of the hut, a cheerful smile on her face. She's Higashi, just like I am. A strange look comes over her face when she sees me. Before I can greet her, she gives a shout of joy and screams my name.

"Wait, wha-" Still disturbed by the ghostly manifestations, I'm caught by surprise as she flies towards me.

"What are you trying to do?" I ask testily.

"Don't you recognize me?" says the girl excitedly. "It's me! Emiri! Have you forgotten me, Master?"

"Ah." I didn't expect to see her here; she's certainly blossomed in the five years since I spared her in the other world. Emiri begins chattering, asking where I have been, what happened, and how they got to be in Ankida. I miss most of the explanation in the torrent of words, but I manage to gather that Erika rescued her and a few other younger cultists before the Star League sunk Higashi. The branch cult operating here had been active up until a year ago, when the adults had enough of living an austere life of faith and abandoned the place for better prospects in the Commercial Quarter. She pulls me by the hand, dragging me into the hut. Emiri sits me on a rickety chair and begins preparing some tea.

"How many people are with us right now?" I ask.

"There's me, Kaito, Tomas, Rina, from the cult. Then there's the kids we take care of, there's six of them in total. Oh, there's also -"

"Brother?"

There's a clatter as some plates drop to the ground. My sister runs in from the doorway and gives me a hug. This was... unexpected.

"Where have you been? We thought you were dead!" she yells, punching me in the chest.

"I've been... occupied. How did you end up here, Chinatsu? What about mom and dad?"

Wiping away a tear from her eyes, she takes a step back. "They're fine. Dad's commanding a Federation cruiser and mom is with him."

"The old man got back into that line of work, huh?" I groan. "That's not any fun. Why are you here, then? Shouldn't you be in space?"

"I didn't want to go. Earth is where I belong. Besides, all my friends are here - I wouldn't have made it out of Higashi without them."

"When did you become an idealist?" I laugh, causing her to throw another punch at me.

"Hold on, hold on! You didn't tell me you were his sister!" shouts Emiri, interrupting our sibling reunion. "I have a lot of questions to ask about Master..." she mutters as she leads a protesting Chinatsu away.

As their voices fade away, I go back to my chair and sigh. I had come here expecting to find an organized branch of cultists loyal to my every command, and instead I get a bunch of kids and my sister. That's not very encouraging.

Well, I'll work with what I can get. I can't exactly leave them alone now, not after finding them here.

***

That night, I gather all of the members together.

There is Emiri and Chinatsu. There are two other boys about their age, Kaito and Tomas - looking at their demeanour, I can guess that Kaito has been seeing himself as the leader of this little pack. He seems quite annoyed by my presence. Tomas, on the other hand, is quiet and docile. There's another girl,Rina, younger than them but looking a lot more maternal, taking care of six very unwashed children that I mentally designate Kids 1 to 6. I have no need for their names right now.

"What's this geezer doing here?" asks Kaito rudely.

Geezer? I can't be more than 5 years older than him.

"He's our saviour!" says Emiri. "Remember? The one I was telling everyone about?"

"You mean the one that caused our parents to get sacrificed and then left us all by ourselves?" he retorts. "Does he have any idea how much suffering he put us through? How we've been trying to survive since then?"

I grit my teeth, resisting the urge to slice him into ribbons.

"Now he dares walk through our doors and try to tell us what to do? Who does he think he is! I say we kick him out!"

He comes up to me, staring down at me with a challenging glare in his eyes. "What do you want with us, stranger?"

I lean forward slightly, forcing him to move back, my chair creaking as I do so.

"Are you satisfied with your lives?" I ask, quietly.

"Hell no! Look around you. What are you, stupid?"

"What are you doing to change it?"

Kaito takes a few more steps back, glaring at me hatefully. He seems to be trying to put his feelings into words but failing to find the right ones. Then, he balls his hands into fists and puts them up.

"You think you're hard enough, then beat me in a fight and we'll see who's right! I ain't listening to some scrawny geezer like you!"

I wonder if I was ever that irritating. Still, if I can't even manage a group of teenage brats, I have no business taking on more powerful enemies. This will be a good, if unexpected test of my ability as a leader.

***

A. I continue beat him down with words. I don't need to resort to fighting this idiot to prove that they should listen to me.

B. If it's a fight he wants, he'll get it. I'm no pushover despite my five years of sleep. Some people listen only to the language of violence.

C. I will suffer no challenge to my authority. I kill him. Better to rule through fear than to court obedience.
 

Anabanana

Augur
Joined
Jul 31, 2012
Messages
1,061
He seems to be trying to put his feelings into words but failing to find the right ones.

B. Kaito is dumbtastically stubborn and linguistically stunted, the only way we're going to get his attention is by agreeing to his terms. Shouldn't be too hard to immobilize him quickly and cleanly.
 

Tigranes

Arcane
Joined
Jan 8, 2009
Messages
10,350
Let's just say it now, C is insane and we aren't doing that after the way we just voted.

B. This reminds me of Ean's flirting with the straggler immortals group. Kaito may not have any deep-seated grudge against us and if we give him a sharp proof of our superiority he might later prove a good ally. And if not, we can ditch this stupid crowd and take the useful ones. Let's not waste our time.
 

Anabanana

Augur
Joined
Jul 31, 2012
Messages
1,061
Bitch is a kid, what can he do to us? Plus he seems like the typical "I'm a masochist who will only listen to someone who manages to punch my face in" kind of dumb kid.
 

TOME

Cuckmaster General
Joined
May 25, 2012
Messages
1,820
Knock him down and then beat him with words. I guess that is B.
 

Jester

Arbiter
Joined
Mar 24, 2013
Messages
1,493
B
and some brainwashing with our superior Rhetoric pls time to get this started. Kinda prefer to start from bottom. It make winning more satisfying.
 

ScubaV

Prophet
Joined
Feb 20, 2011
Messages
1,022
I think I can pinpoint exactly where we went wrong: when we voted against becoming a space-pirate. Shame on you all!

If you guys want to be Shulgi 2.0 let's at least be consistent with the theme eh? A
 

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