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[LP CYOA] Epic

a cut of domestic sheep prime

Guest
AC - If we had more of an army my answer would have been bc, but I think we need to be there to keep the few troops we have from being butchered.

btw, did we ever decide on the sword name? I liked Anbar-Shi as brosquilax suggested.
 

newcomer

Learned
Joined
May 23, 2012
Messages
919
He's also a better option than A because he will acquiesce to our requests, whereas A may have designs of his own. I see it as essentially a trade-off between loyalty and legitimacy.

We can always go through the mind-fuck skill tree & learn how to control Wanketh, after all he'll make a perfect puppet king. His future courtiers might hate us though, because we hold too much influence in the king's decision, whereas in Akil's case that might not happen because he would have retain most of our current tentacle-hunting team. But anyway let's see where this choice leads us to..
 

Bloodshifter

Educated
Joined
Jul 7, 2012
Messages
542
Location
Somewhere with dead bears
AD
Anbar-Shi sounds cool but do we want to name something that will stay at our side for centuries a name we can hardly pronounce ( Ean can say it just fine but I am doubtful any one of us is of Sumerian descent)
still Supporting Eve
 

m4davis

Scholar
Joined
Jan 20, 2012
Messages
557
btw, did we ever decide on the sword name? I liked Anbar-Shi as brosquilax suggested.
No why do you get the credit for the words I combined but seriously thanks for supporting it and its nice to know I'am not a total failure at naming
 

Baltika9

Arcane
Joined
Jun 27, 2012
Messages
9,611
No. I still agree with Azira. Sekhenun, and morph your face into a smugface whenever announcing it to a Gieloth. And give a thumbs-up too.
Like this
:troll:.
 

CappenVarra

phase-based phantasmist
Patron
Joined
Mar 14, 2011
Messages
2,912
Location
Ardamai
Hmm...

+1 to all skill levels
(slayer's)
+30% hit chance
+100% damage
(lord's)
+1% hit chance per character level
(visionary)
+1 max damage per character level
(grinding)
-20% light radius
(yeah, that's me saying "shortsighted", how did you guess?)
 

treave

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Jul 6, 2008
Messages
11,370
Codex 2012
AD takes the second part.

***

Chapter 3.14: A Dark Proposal

"What are you?"

Those were the first words Wanketh spoke to you after Wankare's troops were soundly defeated before the walls of Memphis, and the Pharaoh himself killed in battle. Five hundred against two thousand may not have sounded like great odds, but two thousand nervous, undisciplined, demoralized men against you were nigh impossible odds. You had first lured the Pharaoh's army out of Memphis by using your ragtag band of five hundred Heliopolitan milita as bait - Wankare himself lead the surge out from the gates of Memphis to prey upon your men, eager to let loose his frustration at his kingdom's state by slaughtering the enemy. Their indiscipline was soon turned upon them. In an open field, with no walls as protection, they were prey for your chariot instead. You had deemed this the best way - leading from the front - to ensure your men survived the battle. Taking Wankare's head in the first few minutes of engagement was just the icing on the cake.

But it seems your display of martial prowess has drawn too much attention. Wanketh, who had come escorted from Cairo by Samun and Kamun prior to your march to Memphis, waylaid you in the palace before you had time to wash the blood off of you.

"What are you?" He repeats his question. You sense that he fears the power you have displayed.

"I am but a general serving your cause, my liege." Wanketh gives a bitter laugh. "I know of no general so young and so skilled that served Memphis. You look Egyptian, and you certainly speak the language well enough, but are you truly of my people?" He strides up to you and grabs your tunic. "Or are you of the monstrous black cult that befouled my cousin's mind?" You shake your head. "I am on your side, Pharaoh. You may ask my comrades from Heliopolis if you do not believe me." Obviously, that does not convince Wanketh. "Why would your friends speak against you? I have my eye on you, Runi." Letting go of your tunic, he turns and walks away, towards the throne room. It looks like he knows of Gieloth infiltration, and he suspects you of being one.

A week after your victory in Memphis, the usual suspects convened again, this time with Wanketh and a couple of his advisors in attendance. He had not spoken to you after his confrontation. At this meeting, you learn that most of the cities on the Delta have thrown their lot in with Wanketh. Defeating Wankare swiftly had impressed them greatly, and Akil had the presence of mind to get the Heliopolitans to go around giving Wanketh the credit for that victory. You still had to solve the problem of the Gieloth agitators, but that could wait for now. There were three hold-outs; Avaris, Bubastis and Pelusium, who publicly declared their support for Astarth.

Astarth had used their backing to stand against Wanketh, claiming that Wanketh's dynasty had lost its legitimacy with Wankare's misdeeds, and a new dynasty was needed to revive Egypt's greatness.

The three cities had the most developed army in the Nile, and had long been siding with the general, who enjoyed military support even before Wankare came to power. It would require considerable effort to defeat one of them, let alone three. Each of them had a standing force of more than 1000 men.Your current army stands at a total of 3000, including levies from the other cities, while Astarth could likely muster up the same number from Heracleopolis alone, with perhaps more to come from the towns and villages he controls. Astarth's planned invasion is still three months away.

***

A. "We should move against the three cities and unite the entire Delta under our rule." Netzi, leader of the Heliopolitan militia, was in favour of attacking Avaris, Bubastis and Pelusium. He reasons that by conquering the three cities, we would not have to worry about them joining in on Astarth's side when he marches on Memphis.

B. "If we move on the three cities, Astarth will make a move on us too. It is best for us to do nothing and build up our forces." Akil counsels caution - we should take advantage of this respite to build up our army and strengthen relations with those cities who have already submitted to our rule.

C. "We could just attack Astarth head on. Defeat him. Once he is done for, the three cities will naturally fall in line. If we do not, we risk getting sandwiched between them and Astarth in three months' time." Wanketh speaks up after convening with his advisors. They think that a swift strike, just like the one you performed on Wankare, would remove Astarth's threat once and for all.

***

The council dispersed as the issue was unsettled. Wanketh was unwilling to force his opinion on his new allies - paranoid though he might be, the man knew that his current rule was shaky, and he would need you and your companions to consolidate it for now. It was decided that the decision on the three cities would be made tomorrow. You are the last to leave the chamber. As you head out the door, one of Wanketh's advisors appears before you - Kumare, you believe his name was, a dark, skinny man. The both of you are alone in the chamber.

"Master Runi, what do you think of the current situation?"

"It is quite a mess - all our options seem to be risky."

"There is another way."

"What do you mean?"

"Astarth must die. He is the only one holding his little fiefdom together - his appointed heir is a weak man with no support, and there is no one in his court who would be smart or powerful enough to take the reins of the kingdom. Once he is gone, all of our problems would be neatly solved... and he must go soon, before he sends his armies against us."

"And... how do you propose he die?"

"We assassinate him."

"Why do you need to tell me that?" you wonder.

"Astarth is a great warrior and a well-guarded paranoid. He has no vices to make use of. An ordinary man would have a poor chance of succeeding, but you, Master Runi, are no ordinary man..." Kumare trails off.

"I am just an ordinary man, Master Kumare. You flatter me."

"Oh no, no. You are extraordinary, Master Runi, your exploits have made that clear. If you are willing to help us out, both the Pharaoh and I would be extremely grateful."

You wonder what Wanketh knows of this. Kumare hides his emotions well, but you can sense that something is not right with this offer. "No matter what, we would appreciate your input on how to deal with the threat of the three cities. This is just an extra, little request." Kumare smiles obsequiously.

***

1. You participate in the plan to assassinate Astarth. There may be something wrong, but you are an immortal and you trust in your strength and wit to get you out of tight situations. You can save tens of thousands of lives by grabbing this chance to take Astarth out before he launches his war.

2. It is too dangerous to enter the enemy's stronghold on the word of a man you do not know. If it truly is a trap and you are unable to get back in time, or worse, Memphis could fall to Astarth easily. You are the only one capable of standing between Astarth and his domination of Egypt; you cannot risk yourself so recklessly.
 

Esquilax

Arcane
Joined
Dec 7, 2010
Messages
4,833
Shit, Wanketh is clearly not as pliable as I hoped, but that's hardly surprising. Still, even though Akil would have trusted Ean, it's likely that the surrounding cities would have risen up in rebellion. In hindsight, it would have been more prudent to take the throne ourselves if we were going to stage such a bold attack.

After Astarth is gone, it's time to high-tail it out of Egypt before the pharaoh's paranoia overtakes his judgment. Not that he's wrong to be paranoid of course. What worries me about choice C is that Wanketh might try to turn the army against us either over the course of the battle or when it is won. Choice A might be better then.

Shulgi needs to stop underestimating Ean as a dumb brute. We knew the guy's telepathic/mind control abilities were greater than Ean's from our previous encounter, so the fact that we're having a lot of trouble figuring out his intentions is not a surprise.

A
2
 

newcomer

Learned
Joined
May 23, 2012
Messages
919
Shulgi needs to stop underestimating Ean as a dumb brute. We knew the guy's telepathic/mind control abilities were greater than Ean's from our previous encounter, so the fact that we're having a lot of trouble figuring out his intentions is not a surprise.

I gues we should also discuss plans to protect our Honourblade from Shulgi?

I will vote for assassinating (and cremate) him & paddle to America escaping Wanketh's wrath, should the choice be available. I can also be swayed to take the throne for ourselves though...

Oh btw treave bro

Can Shulgi revive if we shatter his mind? Can we also take his experience in using immortal powers, just like what we did to that tentacle? Of course breaking his defense would be troublesome, but I guess the Honourblade is there to make this possible...
 

treave

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Jul 6, 2008
Messages
11,370
Codex 2012
Oh btw treave bro

Can Shulgi revive if we shatter his mind? Can we also take his experience in using immortal powers, just like what we did to that tentacle?

Yes, and yes. There wouldn't be much point to the latter, though. Think of it as the difference between an experienced car mechanic (developing the power yourself) and a person who's memorized a book about how to fix cars (getting Shulgi's knowledge). Either way you already have the potential to do what he does, I don't see why you'd want to read his mind for powers.
 

newcomer

Learned
Joined
May 23, 2012
Messages
919
Yes, and yes. There wouldn't be much point to the latter, though. Think of it as the difference between an experienced car mechanic (developing the power yourself) and a person who's memorized a book about how to fix cars (getting Shulgi's knowledge). Either way you already have the potential to do what he does, I don't see why you'd want to read his mind for powers.

Not really, there's at least 2 departments where Shulgi is superior to us: elemental manipulation & telekinesis. Not to mention that we might learn effective mind shielding. But the fact that he can revive is still troublesome... I guess we should eat some of his ashes so that a part of him become faeces...
 

Baltika9

Arcane
Joined
Jun 27, 2012
Messages
9,611
Yes, and yes. There wouldn't be much point to the latter, though. Think of it as the difference between an experienced car mechanic (developing the power yourself) and a person who's memorized a book about how to fix cars (getting Shulgi's knowledge). Either way you already have the potential to do what he does, I don't see why you'd want to read his mind for powers.

Not really, there's at least 2 departments where Shulgi is superior to us: elemental manipulation & telekinesis. Not to mention that we might learn effective mind shielding. But the fact that he can revive is still troublesome... I guess we should eat some of his ashes so that a part of him become faeces...
That's not how we should do it. We roast him on a spit, eat his corpse, shit it out in a cement mixer, make a block of concrete, tie it to an anchor, swim out to the Mariana Trench(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariana_Trench), dump him in there, and force sharks to guard his grave. Then we piss on him.
 

Esquilax

Arcane
Joined
Dec 7, 2010
Messages
4,833
I gues we should also discuss plans to protect our Honourblade from Shulgi?

I will vote for assassinating (and cremate) him & paddle to America escaping Wanketh's wrath, should the choice be available. I can also be swayed to take the throne for ourselves though...

The plan is to just be careful and don't do anything stupid. Do what we do best right now, leading men and kicking ass. If Wanketh has heard about our seemingly impossible victory over the pharaoh's men, then you can bet that it's likely reached the ears of Astarth and his men, and it will probably fuck up their morale.

However, the thing that really concerns me with C is that striking Astarth head-on was Wanketh's idea after he convened with his advisors, one of whom is Kumare/Shulgi. We also know that Wanketh listens to Kumare while he is very suspicious of us. This leads me to believe that C might lead us into a trap the same way that attempting to assassinate Astarth would lead us into a trap too. This has me strongly considering a flip-flop to A in order to gain favour with the pharaoh and possibly see what Shulgi is playing at. Maybe I'm paranoid.

We can't take the throne now, too late for that.
 

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