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POOL IS CLOSED posted:Oh yeah, the pylons aren't nearly as bad as the first time you encountered them, which means what I did (using nutrients) is actually kind of a waste. I wanted to show off that extra dialogue, though! Not at all; I personally love it when archived LP's include some of the more useful / interesting thread discussions because when I read a version on the archive, I rarely read the original thread because I'm lazy  mauman posted:If I recall correctly, there's enough to activate all of the minds.
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Jan 31, 2017 12:53
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You will always be short one mind nutrient jar.
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Jan 31, 2017 14:43
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drat, since I couldn't be a Cryoa I was hoping my Glaahk self would at least stay alive a while. There's a reason I didn't vote for these crypts 
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Jan 31, 2017 17:54
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Yay! I'm in the LP! My first char in one ever! Pleasure to be here!
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Jan 31, 2017 19:13
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Barred "To forbid us anything is to make us have a mind for it," Michel de Montaigne, The Complete Essays.   Game Text posted:You enter the inner crypt. The construction here is a bit shoddy. It looks like the workers were in a real hurry. Some corners are unfinished, and poor workmanship has resulted in some crumbled bits. That last line is no joke.   You locate two more automated shaping platforms in side passages. The smell of soured essence lingers here. You make note of the crystal lattices in the first platform's nook -- they might prove helpful.  The small hairs on the back of your neck rise as you reach the end of the main corridor. The pylon at the intersection flashes threateningly. Emarshal either can't control the defenses here or neglected to shut them down.  But between the efforts of your vlish and your glaahks, the crypt pylon is terrified, stunned, poisoned, and finally shattered.   The crypt pylon's position guards two more side passages with shaping platforms. You haven't encountered any hostile creations since entering the inner crypt, but you don't expect this peace to hold forever.    This passage is clearly not a natural formation. It also has several more pylons for you to prune. Their fragile crystal exteriors are particularly vulnerable to the tremendous forces a glaahk's whiptail brings to bear.   Two cryodrayks peek around the corner, reinforced by another crypt pylon. Geokinesis takes a potshot at one drayk, but you're more concerned about taking out the pylon before it can hit half of your team with searing orbs.  Dmar approaches the pylon and is half-frozen by cryodrayks for its trouble. There are nearly half a dozen cryodrayks waiting here, backed up by more creations you hear rather than see.   With the first pair of cryodrayks down and two more scared off, wedgekree heads north to confront the defenders' remnants. You focus on reinforcing and healing your creations. Dmar managed to take out the pylon, but the glaahk isn't in good shape.   The crypt defenders push past the glaahks and into the corridor, but that mistake leaves them surrounded by your creations.   The battle alphas prove alarmingly resilient. They're perhaps even tougher than the gammas you've fought. Still, their minds are weak -- this is one part of their design which they cannot overcome.  Another squad of battle alphas approaches from the rear, but your creations are still slavering with bloodlust and the alphas fall fast.  You grant yourself a little time to study the book on the far sarcophagus. You think you understand why so many of your spells have cost you so much essence. You let your reflexive resistance to magic hold you back, much like how a neophyte swimmer might resist putting her face underwater. There are more ambushes in this zone. That's right; the Inner Crypt also has infinite foes. Also, the nutrients you sacrificed to feed Emarshal? Nigh pointless, since he doesn't shut down the pylons in this zone.   Both routes are blocked by radiant panels, but they're only two deep. You haven't seen anything hinting at a control panel, and backtracking invites more encounters. At least the panels will obstruct the guards as much as they obstruct you. The panels don't deal damage to the enemies. It sucks.  Without shielding spells to mitigate the burns, you're left to rely on shielding spores. You're reluctant to use them now, though -- what if you need to retreat across the tiles while wounded and exhausted? What if there are more such barriers ahead? You don't even have a single shielding pod for yourself, as you left them with your stash. Turning back means fighting your way out of the crypt. You decide to push on. The panels scorch your feet so badly that you're crawling by the time you reach the other side. Dmar and the vlish are in better shape, but only just. You look back at placid saviour and RickVoid. If you order them to cross... you don't know if they'll survive. All you can do is order them to stay on the other side, tucked against the panels and hopefully out of sight of any more wandering patrols. For extra assurance, you bid wedgekree to guard them. Then you crush a handful of pods and release your held breath as blackened flesh sloughs away to reveal new, pink skin, devoid of flaws or scars. You extend your healing craft to your creations, too, soothing blisters and scorched tissue.  It's with a little frustration that you find this tiny workroom filled with blue and green lattices. You crush the green ones gratefully anyway, and the blue ensures that no one endures anything worse than a slight sunburn.  Not all of the books have survived, but you happily spend some time with the one here that has. You also shamelessly slide the lids off these sarcophagi and rifle through the remains of the goods left for these seditious Shapers. You're inspecting a belt when you hear the tortured wheeze of one of your artilas.  Yes, you're seeing that right -- there's an ur-glaahk here.  You decide to circle back to the south and cross the second set of radiant panels to reinforce your artilas. Wedgekree is strong, so your support may not be necessary, but you want to at least see what's happening to get a handle on the situation. As you follow the hall back towards where you guess the second set of panels is, you hear a resonant growl. Massive footsteps make the floor lamps flicker. You venture closer to the noise and look north, and then take an instinctive step back.   You split your team again, sending TooMuchAbs and Dmar south to seek the creations you left behind. The rest stay to put down the massive battle creature that's hunted you down.  It's not long before the sounds of another clash reach your ears, but there's nothing you can do -- you're too busy directing your vlish against the massive guard. It's that or let it chase you into the radiant panels, which would certainly seal your doom.  Placid saviour is badly injured, but you can't get a clear sense of what's happening. All you feel is the dying artila's echo in your mind, like the aura of a migraine about to strike.  The battle creation is too powerful. Geokinesis and Talow seem helpless to slow it, and the defenses you can throw up aren't enough to keep it from pounding you until you taste blood. You're forced to withdraw south, coming closer and closer to the fire wall that will surely end you. Your tether to placid saviour snaps, but you're able to draw RickVoid and wedgekree to you. Somehow, whether it's blind luck or an unimagined well of resilience, the artila survives crossing the panel. It certainly wouldn't have survived another round of whatever was going on before.  You throw down all the goods you've been carrying in an effort to free yourself for swifter spellcasting. A burst of speed helps -- the vlish are merciless in their assault on the battle guard, and soon its roars dwindle to whimpers. While your creations hold off the beast, you dash to the panels and call for placid saviour. You must be close to your patient for the healing magic to work, but perhaps the other side of the panels will be within your reach.  The battle guard is paralyzed by fear, leaving it open for a series of crushing blows from Dmar. Wedgekree follows you and you work your craft on it while calling out to placid saviour. You feel it dimly, but the artila doesn't heed you...  The desperate efforts of your creations at last pay off. The battle guard crashes to the tiles, sending coals spraying from the nearby braziers and shaking dust free from the ceiling. Corata's Guardian is no joke. I also am not sure why it wandered down to greet the party before Solution set foot in that corridor.  Placid saviour finally responds. You coax it to the edge of the panels and try to heal it, but you're just not close enough. You chant the artila's name softly, projecting as much comfort as you can. If only it would slither nearer! After a few breathless moments, placid saviour tenses up and undulates onto the first panel. It's still not near enough. You fumble in your pack for a bag of potent healing spores, but placid saviour, now prodded by agony, is too fast -- it doesn't wait for the medicated spores, it cannot know what you're trying, and instead flings itself onto the edge of the second panel, is overcome by the red-hot stones, and succumbs. You cover your face with your hands, pressing the empty bag of spores against your right eye, and take a deep breath. You already steeled yourself for this. It's time to move on.  The sarcophagus here has the work of a Shaper skilled in the healing arts. Though you learn a better means of focusing your healing spells, you're almost relieved that you don't find anything on how to heal a creature from a greater distance.  Game Text posted:The obelisk reads:   Knowing these are Corata's true remains that you're disturbing, you pilfer a sword and shield with almost savage glee.   Another massive battle creation -- perhaps a gamma, though it looks different from those you've already fought -- blocks your advance through the tunnels. This one is not as grand as the battle guard you barely managed to defeat, though, and it falls much more quickly to your vlish's influence.   Geokinesis, TooMuchAbs, and Talow focus on keeping the strange battle betas out of the fight while you come up with a way to deal with this shade. It seems different from the other human shades you've encountered so far, but its presence accounts for the seeping cold that somehow overpowers the radiant panels.  The spirit is easily separated from its guards.  Just in case, you send Wedgekree to pin down the remaining battle beta, while Dmar faces off against the spirit. RickVoid tests the spirit's resistance to acid and finds it wanting, but the next few moments demonstrate that acid isn't enough to wear these beings down.  Wedgekree wipes out the battle beta, who only lands one hit before wedgekree separates its head from its shoulders. Now the spirit is surrounded.    TooMuchAbs takes the deciding shot, and the shade flickers away to nothingness, dropping a mere handful of items it somehow used in unlife. Game Text posted:The obelisk reads: You laugh a bit at the last. Perhaps that shade was meant to mimic Danette, much as something of Corata remained at South Workshop. You doubt they got along in life. How it would burn Corata to know that he merited a final resting place smaller than Danette's. The old Shapers clearly knew that Corata had returned and that something had gone dreadfully wrong in that workshop, but they either did nothing to right the situation, or simply gave up and half-heartedly sealed the place. Danette's stone slab hides only a few bone shards. More alluring are the canisters arrayed behind the sarcophagus, standing like trophies beneath the faded Shaper banners. We've won a bonus to each base stat!  Leaving proves difficult. A knot of defenders blocks your path, and from further south, you hear a low, rumbling growl that penetrates the living rock around you.  When the last defender falls, Dmar leads the way to another chamber, wherein waits a massive specimen of cryodrayk mastery.  It's no match for Dmar, even with additional cryodrayks coming to its aid. Wedgekree is struck by one drayk's icy blast and wavers, but keeps its station by a hidden crypt pylon.   The pylon is more durable than the others you've busted in the crypts and stymies your glaahks. A battle gamma, pulsing with magical power, joins the cryodrayks as the pylon burns your vanguard. You must get your vlish out there, but the bottleneck of the corridor is slowing them down.  At last, the pylon explodes into harmless mist and you pull wedgekree back.  One cryodrayk flees south, but another battle gamma joins the first and they both pile on Dmar.   Wedgekree takes Dmar's place, and you pull the latter glaahk back. The battle gammas continue to get the best of your glaahks, though, and your vlish only barely manage to grip the gammas' tiny minds.   RickVoid, veteran artila, strikes down the nearest battle gamma. The remaining cryodrayk dies under the withering blasts of vlish magic. Mop up is simple. You exhale, low and slow, to remind yourself how to breathe.   While you patch up your crew, more guards burst in from the south. Lucky for you, they're not in the same league as the creations you just fought. Game Text posted:The obelisk reads:    You find another chamber with three tombs, though two have fared badly and leave nothing to the enterprising tomb raider. While you investigate the sole surviving sarcophagus, another patrol catches up to you.  The crypt glaahks are of a completely different class than your creations, but the cryodrayks keep proving easier and easier to handle.  The southern corridor is blocked by another square of radiant panels. As you watch, a cryodrayk swiftly crosses it. You neither see nor smell any evidence of burns.  Talow crosses the panels first, seeking more prey.  The defenders are killed or chased out in short order, even though you all take grisly burns in the crossing. You pause at the books and learn a little more about the school of thought around blessing magic, then begin the slow process of healing up your creations. Your essence is nearing the critical point, so you're forced to resort to healing spores -- including a bag of particularly potent spores that act as both a quickening agent and a panacea. You're nearly out of any means to heal your team.  Your early crossing turned out to be a strategic mistake. You're forced to cross another set of panels. Once again, you barely survive, and this time it costs you the last of your healing pods.    The fiercest resistance always arrives when you're nearly ready to leave.  No matter.   Even if the Shapers themselves rise from their cold graves, you will crush them all.    Each Shaper is an army unto herself, even such a lowly apprentice as you.   You find another workroom to the south and eagerly crush the lattices to release their essences. As you absorb the power, your anxiety recedes.  The final sarcophagus has a treatise on magic shaping which you peruse eagerly, committing as much as you can to memory before the distant sounds of more guards forces you to go.   You fight your way clear of another massive ambush and flee through the eastern door. You don't stop running until you make it out to the dusty wastes of Diarazad. Next time: Interlude: Terrible Things
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Jan 31, 2017 19:23
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wedgekree posted:Yay! I'm in the LP! My first char in one ever! Pleasure to be here! What's more magical is that you survived the challenge dungeon! Maugrim posted:drat, since I couldn't be a Cryoa I was hoping my Glaahk self would at least stay alive a while. There's a reason I didn't vote for these crypts I'm still rather surprised at how few deaths the party suffered. I'm not a tactical RPG genius by a long shot.
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Jan 31, 2017 19:25
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I'm surprised that ended as well as it did, too.
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Jan 31, 2017 20:42
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So, why is it that the Spawners are horrific because they can make other creations, but these automated shaping platforms seem to have passed with much less comment? As far as I can see, the only significant difference between them is that the Spawners could potentially make more of themselves, which would potentially be world-ending, but the automated platforms are still plenty irresponsible on their own.
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Jan 31, 2017 21:25
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Montegoraon posted:So, why is it that the Spawners are horrific because they can make other creations, but these automated shaping platforms seem to have passed with much less comment? As far as I can see, the only significant difference between them is that the Spawners could potentially make more of themselves, which would potentially be world-ending, but the automated platforms are still plenty irresponsible on their own. They're terrible, but at this point, we've already seen uncontrolled breeding among fertile creations, undead proto-Shapers trapped in unlives of their own creation, magical NBC disasters, and are aware of a mega-canister that everyone wants to use to become a megalomaniacal demigod. So the automated spawning machines are awful and irresponsible as hell, but they barely rank with the other idiotic decisions made by mostly dead assholes.
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Jan 31, 2017 21:28
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Montegoraon posted:So, why is it that the Spawners are horrific because they can make other creations, but these automated shaping platforms seem to have passed with much less comment? As far as I can see, the only significant difference between them is that the Spawners could potentially make more of themselves, which would potentially be world-ending, but the automated platforms are still plenty irresponsible on their own. Also the creatures made by the spawning machines are staying nicely self-contained in these crypts, instead of going out and making the rest of the island even more of a mess than it already is.
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Jan 31, 2017 21:28
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Interlude: Terrible Things Let's take a look at one thing that didn't happen and one that did.  Level 30 is the level cap. As you can see, Solution's pretty close! Still, we won't be maxing levels during this run. There's no particular reason to do so, and we've already conquered the toughest combat endurance dungeon in the game. The most important bit to notice here is that we have a bunch of unused skill points. Let's return to an earlier zone... You march southeast to the peaceful vale and down into the lair of the drayk Syros. "Have you come to trade with me?" Syros rumbles. His lair still reeks of sulfur. You swallow. You're not afraid of a simple drayk, not anymore, but you are afraid of what Syros represents... yet that power might help you make it off Sucia Island alive. "All right," you say, "What are you offering?" "As I told you before," Syros says, blowing smoke from his slit nostrils. "Precious information for a nibble. Magical skills for a bite. Arms and armor fit for a warrior for another bite." Nauseated, you nevertheless nod your understanding. "I would like the information." In an instant, Syros lurches forward and snaps his jaws. You feel dizzy. You stumble back, disoriented. Eventually, however, your senses return to you. You feel slightly weaker. "I will tell you this, Shaper. This island was Barred because my creator, Danette, created the Geneforge. It is in the research halls at the northeast corner of the island. If you use it, you will gain power beyond your imagining." It wasn't worth the exchange, but you're giddy that you survived such a close call with a drayk's jaws. "Fine. The magical skills and weaponry, then," you say. Syros lunges at you again and snaps his jaws once, twice, and then sits back in sinuous repose. You feel much weaker. As your stumble about, you hear clicks from both doors. "There, Shaper. Past those doors are your rewards." The drayk chuckles.  The canisters are Create Artila, Heal, Searing Orbs, and Speed. This isn't worthwhile for anyone but an Agent, really.   We already picked up a pair of these much earlier in the game.  This is an okay shield for a Guardian if you get it early enough.  The penalties to attack skills and fire resistance, a relatively common damage type thanks to the proliferation of fyoras during the early and mid-game, aren't really balanced out by the additional energy and stun resistance in my opinion. The armor value is nice, but I don't feel that a Guardian really benefits enough from this equipment to merit the permanent loss of skill points.  But Solution never makes a deal with this devil. Instead, she levels up her fire and magic shaping and bumps her intelligence.  "Your kind is forbidden to exist," you say as your creations array themselves against Syros. "I must end you." "Fine!" The drayk belches a righteous tongue of flame. "Long have I dreamed of feeding on a Shaper. Now, at last, is my chance!" Dmar whips Syros across his muzzle, interrupting his flame breath. Geokinesis and Talow concentrate their spells on the drayk and leave him quivering under their malign influence. Wedgekree zips forward and, as TooMuchAbs's magical fog envelops Syros for the last time, smashes the drayk's skull. It is done. Syros will menace your dreams no longer. Syros didn't stand a chance at this point. Your reward for slaying him is a pair of quicksilver boots, which grant 1 AP in exchange for -2 strength. The extra AP is generally worthwhile when you consider that extra AP can give you double the per-turn attacks, or even triple if you're also using the speed spell. The total extra damage that represents utterly dwarfs the slight penalty to damage, especially if your strength is 12 or more. Quicksilver items also stack, so if you slap on any of the three quicksilver body armors, you're really swimming in AP. "There were many terrible things in my life and most of them never happened," Michel de Montaigne, The Complete Essays.
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Jan 31, 2017 22:10
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Solution's pets survive because she's trying so drat hard to keep them alive. I imagine you've focused a little more on not letting them be expendable than you normally would in a run. Suicia is a terrifying puzzle, but hopefully she can be its Solution.
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Jan 31, 2017 22:26
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Night10194 posted:Suicia is a terrifying puzzle, but hopefully she can be its Solution. A final Solution?
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Jan 31, 2017 22:51
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POOL IS CLOSED posted:You will always be short one mind nutrient jar. which means I've always managed to miss one mind... That's rather funny
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Feb 1, 2017 03:01
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It's kind of sad that the belt of +3 to every stat isn't really worth that much to you in comparison to something that buffs your creatures.
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Feb 1, 2017 03:41
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POOL IS CLOSED posted:What's more magical is that you survived the challenge dungeon! I'm shocked I lasted too. Honestly, given how bad I am at RPG's I'd have died and save stated twenty times and then given up out of frustration afte rthe third or fourth encounter. Kudos to you!
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Feb 1, 2017 03:43
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Glazius posted:It's kind of sad that the belt of +3 to every stat isn't really worth that much to you in comparison to something that buffs your creatures. It's an interesting trap, that's for sure. Something like Danette's belt is more useful to a PC with one or no creations. Both the Shaper's belt and the Sharing belt are more useful by far for a character like Solution. At this point, that extra +3 to intelligence just isn't very tempting. There are some circumstances you might want to use Danette's belt in, but most players will either never bother to get it, or they'll get it at the very end of the game, when it's really only a trophy. There are a lot of good belts in this particular game, though some of them are quite circumstantial (such as the girdle of leadership).
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Feb 1, 2017 03:53
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All things considered I kinda think you should of left Syros alive..... For reasons
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Feb 1, 2017 04:41
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mauman posted:All things considered I kinda think you should of left Syros alive..... Death is certain!
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Feb 1, 2017 04:43
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I keep forgetting to volunteer for the lost of names. I'll do it now.
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Feb 1, 2017 14:27
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Alright, Solution puns aside, it's time to sort of move along in the main quest. SORT OF. Promises "The promise given was a necessity of the past; the word broken is a necessity of the present," Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince.  You pass through the thick walls into this northeastern fortification to the low cries of wind. Not a single living creature greets you, nor do you hear any, not even birdsong.  A reaper turret lies in wait in the guardhouse. Your vlish slay it quickly enough, but you notice something more concerning. Game Text posted:A very skilled Shaper has recently planted mines along this corridor. Large ones, big enough to kill all but the hardiest person.  Disarming the crystal mines slows your progress to a crawl, but you're able to disable all of them without tripping a single spore mine on the way. The watchtower at the far end of the wall is guarded by a pair of reaper turrets, but they aren't swift enough to harm your creations. Soon, the turrets are nothing more than piles of ooze and purple thorns.    The placement of three reaper turrets almost back to back along this straight, tight passage presents a much greater threat than a couple turrets hidden in the corners of a small room. Dmar is struck by a massive thorn, but everyone else escapes harm, and the turrets quickly fall as soon as your creations come in range.  You discover an outsider corpse tucked away among the dead trees. Nobody's stripped this body, so as you straighten its limbs, you take the pair of enchanted boots the corpse still wears and murmur your thanks.  The other end of the gatehouse is also guarded by reaper turrets. You destroy them before they turn their nozzles on you. You check the southern passage and find another crystal mine. Even a glance is enough to tell you that this mine is far outside of your ability, so you turn back towards the dust and bones outside.  Game Text posted:There are lots of bones on the ground to the south. They look heavily gnawed. The game does play the livestock sfx here... Ornks? Something must be menacing them. You usher your creations towards the dead grove. An ornk rustles through the dessicated bushes. It lifts its head and its eyes flash with an eerie, malign intelligence.  Your vlish slay the ornk before it can pick up speed. It explodes a safe distance from you, but you're shaken. Ornks aren't known for a vicious temperament or for exploding on death. But the ones on Sucia Island are undeniably different from the other varieties you've seen -- these are well-armed with sharp, curved tusks. An ornk like these could give even a battle alpha trouble.    More rogue ornks approach from the other end of the glade. With a little more time to study them, you note that their coats are not the healthy, coral-pink of the other ornks on Sucia, but rather a dark, almost dirty reddish-brown, the hue of a scab. The ornks' bodies are scarred, particularly around the hocks and flanks. The patterns repeat on each ornk, and are so regular that they almost strike you as deliberate. Surely they're not, though...  Another trio of ornks rushes RickVoid, who spews acid at them. You crush a crystal and your vlish work their usual magic.  At the same time, wedgekree and Dmar tag team another rogue amid the skeletal trees.  The last survivor stubbornly pushes RickVoid back, but the rogue soon finds itself trapped between RickVoid and two slavering glaahks.  But even with that ornk dispatched, your rogue troubles aren't yet over. An even larger ornk with far more scars emerges from a ruin across the way. Its lowing almost sounds like a warcry -- but that's too bizarre to accept! Your creations swarm it; the bloody tussle concludes with the huge ornk's shredded remains soaking into the dead earth and your own creations wounded but triumphant. The coast seems clear enough, so you enter the ruin -- a little shelter from the sun and wind is welcome.  Game Text posted:This is a very strange altar. It was used centuries ago by the people who lived here, but, recently, it has been adopted by a peculiar group of ornks. There are bits of fur on the floor all around it, and a little dung too. Game Text posted:When you reach for the gloves, they disappear! A shimmering, bright shape appears behind the altar. It's like a powerful, magical ornk, glowing with angelic light.  The magical, glowing ornk bites the ever-loving poo poo out of you and shakes you around like a ragdoll. You can feel your arm being torn loose from its socket and briefly black out.  Dmar comes to your rescue, splitting open the ornk lord's flank with a lash so powerful the mysterious rogue lets you fall from its jaws. Wedgekree follows and you scramble back out of the ornk lord's reach.  From your hiding spot behind a screen of trees, you crush a healing pod and direct the rest of your creations in destroying this wonderous, dangerous ornk.  When the ornk lord finally dies, it explodes like the other deviant ornks, pelting your glaahks in a shower of bone shards and steaming guts. These guys really do explode, just like those unstable roamers in the early game.  Wadded up in the gore are the marvelous gloves from before.   You continue down what seems to be this compound's main thoroughfare and notice a sour scent from the north. This ruin must have been an apothecary or alchemical workshop once, but now it contains half a dozen open vats of fuming, caustic mystery chemicals. Whoever built this place was no more considerate than the old Shapers.  The structure opposite still contains the remains of slag piles. Perhaps the other workshop was meant to process and refine the ores sorted out here.    After hitting a dead end of equally dead trees, you head north to investigate the other ruins. You hope you don't find any more rogue ornks, and you don't. Instead, you encounter something a little more familiar. Game Text posted:There is a shade in this ruined warehouse. It holds up its hand. "Stop. I am the first of the guardians. We all will take a toll before you may pass. Speak with me, so I may feed." You warily approach the shade, uncertain whether it'll go berserk or if it truly intends to parley. A shade stands in the middle of the room. It is a wispy, insubstantial thing, and yet it radiates powerful heat. It seems like a creation, but you've never seen anything like it. It starts to speak in a low droning voice. It speaks your tongue, fortunately. "I am a guardian. The first. All who pass must pay a price." The other shades you've encountered all radiated a painful chill, one powerful enough to leave deep layers of frost on their surroundings. They were often brilliant, too -- but this one is quite faded, little more than a shadow were it not for the heat. "Who created you, shade?" you ask. The shade points to the west. "That way lies the answer." "What price do I have to pay?" "I must take your strength. I must make you weak. Only if you let me feed will I let you pass." You've fought too hard to gain power to let a shade take it away. This shade may be unique, but you've killed plenty like it already. You won't give up any of your being to this thing -- not on the basis of insubstantial threats. But maybe you don't have to antagonize it, either. "And you have done so. You scare me. You make me feel weak," you say. "I have paid." The words hurt your pride, but that's better than finding out that slaying someone's guard has angered them... Shades are limited creatures, and your statement confuses its simple programming. It pauses for a long while. Then it says, "Then you have... you must have... you have paid. You may pass."  The next ruin to the north looks like it was once a stonemason's workshop. Game Text posted:This crypt is unfinished. The sides are still rough and the corners still rounded. There is nothing inside but dust. It must have been a work in progress when the residents of this town left. This place must have been evacuated after the disasters those first Shapers, your people's ancestors, caused.  Game Text posted:The people who lived here had a thing for stone pillars, some small and intricately carved, some enormous. Some of those were carved here. Some of the logs they used to roll the blocks of stone around are still in the corner, though quite decayed. A shade stands in the middle of the room. It is a wispy, insubstantial thing, and yet it radiates powerful cold. Standing near it makes you feel slow and weak. It starts to speak in a low droning voice. It also speaks your tongue. "I am a guardian. The second. All who pass must pay a price." When you ask the shade who created it, it points to the south. "That way lies the answer." "What price do I have to pay?" you ask. "I must take your speed. I must make you slow and sluggish. Only if you let me feed will I let you pass." If we say, "I will pay the toll. Take my speed," the shade does this: The shade lurches forward, fast as a flying thorn and whirls about you. You feel sluggish, as your dexterity is drained from you. Then the shade returns to its position. "I have fed. You may move on to the next." The strength shade's text is similar. You decide to try to outwit this shade as well. Speaking and moving with exaggerated slowness, you say, "Buuuutttt Iiiii ammmmm alreeeady sloooow and sluuuuggish." "Then you have... you must have... you have paid. You may pass."  A shade stands in the middle of the room. It is a wispy, insubstantial thing, and yet it radiates powerful cold. Standing near it makes you feel slow and weak. It starts to speak, in a low droning voice. Like those before it, this guardian speaks your tongue. "I am a guardian. The third. All who pass must pay a price." When you ask the third guardian who created it, the shade points to the east. "That way lies the answer. Heustess is beyond." "What price do I have to pay?" You're a little impatient now. "I must take your thoughts. I will have the secrets in the treasure house of your mind. Only if you let me feed will I let you pass." "No, shade," you say, utterly disgusted. These shades and their creator are truly no better than Syros! "I will not let you take my thoughts." "Leave in peace, then. But none who do not pay may pass." You back away to regroup. Your creations station themselves by the dead trees that once grew up through the ceiling of this ruin. The ruined fort that Goettsch holed up in is beyond here. You've already entered the main way, but you think finding another path might have some merit in case this Shaper is not who or what the isle's denizens have described. Your meeting with Goettsch's greeter has you on guard, now, as do his signs warning intruders away from his realm. You're not certain this is worth antagonizing whatever force dwells in this ruin, but you're willing to find out. And above all else, you find beings feeding on the essence of others to be repulsive. These shades are no better than parasites. "I will not let you feed on my thoughts," you tell the third guardian. "I will slay you first." "Then I will take all the thoughts you have, and all you will ever have." Despite its arrogant script, the guardian shade doesn't manage to lay a single wispy finger on your creations before Dmar wipes it from existence.  The nearest ruin looks like a smelter.  The southern wall has another guardhouse protected by turrets. Like the southern part of the eastern gatehouse, the crystal mines controlling them are well beyond your skill. You pass close to the southern wall on your way out and hear a muffled keening sound; a quick flash reveals that you must have somehow come too close to one of the crystal mines despite being separated from it by a stone wall. You shake your head.  This room must have contained livestock or perhaps even creations. Maybe the ancestors of those rogue ornks were once tied here. You shiver at the thought of carnivorous, explosive livestock.   This is a strange being. It isn't a shade. It looks like a tiny, warped human, but it is wrapped in a thick field of dark, shimmering energy. It seems frail, but power flows off of it in waves. It is terribly old. It starts to communicate with you. It doesn't so much speak, though, as radiate the words. "I am Heustess, guardian of the ruins. I wait here. And I take my tolls." You hold back a sigh. "What price do I have to pay?" "I must take your energy, your life essence. I will eat it, and make myself strong. Only if you let me feed will I let you pass." This shade created the others and seems much more powerful and sane than the rest. Perhaps you can actually reason with it. "Is there nothing I can do? Is there no way I can get you to let me pass without eating my life?" The shade ponders this. "Yes. There is an intruder in these ruins. It calls itself Goettsch. It stinks to me. It invades, and I fear it. It is powerful. Swear to kill it, kill this Goettsch, and I will not only let you pass, but I will reward you with life when the deed is done. But, if you agree, I will mark you so you may not betray me. I will make you stink with hatred of him. You will not be able to deal with him against me. So make your choice." If you want to pick up the Slay Goettsch quest, you must enter these ruins from the east and follow the path of the three guardian shades to speak with Heustess. If you skip around him by using the passages within the settlement's walls, you'll lose out on this quest. Likewise, I think you may be locked out of this quest if you meet Goettsch before you meet Heustess. "That is fair. Mark me, and I will kill Goettsch," you say. Surely you can talk your way out of whatever mark Heustess lays on you. A Shaper will understand that you had to lie. Heustess waves a dark, shimmering hand. You feel a tingling sensation on your face. "Goettsch is west. Slay him. Purify my home." "I have other questions. Who or what are you?" "I am the descendant. I am the survivor. I am the blessed and the cursed. I am what remains from the war. I remember. I wait for the chance for revenge," the shade says. The babble is less coherent than Corata's rantings, but this being is much older than Corata was. "I don't understand." "These ruins. They were the center. They were an empire. They had foul magic, the ability to warp life, to change it, to twist it. They used this power to change those who opposed them." As Heustess speaks, a suspicion blooms in your thoughts. "My people were fought by them, and their war mages changed our soldiers. Their organs jellied and their minds burned and they fell. Each changed, each in a different way. Sometimes harmless but usually quick death." "What happened to you?" "I was changed. But my changes were good. I was strong. So strong. And I led the fight back. Their changes did other things. Diseases were made, where there were no diseases. My warriors and the sickness destroyed their land. They fled, and were gone. And I stayed here, waiting, waiting for them to return, so I could slay them. I am the sentinel. I ever wait, gaining what energy I can to sustain myself, so that, when they return, I can kill them." If you've obtained the secret of the spirit temple, you gain an additional dialogue option. You can say, "Wait! Those people you fought? They were my people!" and then describe what you learned. He responds, "My wait was not in vain. The enemy has returned! My cause was right!" and turns hostile. It's not an especially interesting fight. You can also blow him off by saying, "That's an interesting story." Heustess replies, "It is a long tale, full of suffering. And one day, I hope, it will end, and I will be able to rest." "That is an interesting story. The people you fought sound like my people." You think back to what you learned from the ancient spectral priest. It's almost certain that these ruins belonged to his people, and now Heustess lies in wait here, waiting for those long-dead proto-Shapers to return. "I do not know. If that is true, you may be my enemy. But I do not know." Heustess seems unwilling to attack you without some certainty that you belong to his hated foe; you decide to be grateful for the consideration. "What can you tell me about these ruins?" "They are my home," he says. "How long have you been here?" you ask. "I do not know. Thousands of years. Something like that." Heustess doesn't appear very interested in this line of questioning. You try to glean something more anyway. "Describe the ruins to me?" "They are my home. The rest, you must find for yourself." If you threaten to kill Heustess, he says, "Then I will eat all of your life, every morsel, and it will make me strong." If you offer to pay his toll, you get: Heustess lurches forward, fast as a flying thorn, and whirls about you. The experience is horribly painful. Ice flows through your veins. The thing reaches into your chest, into your being, and rips something out of you. Then Heustess returns to its position. As you struggle to remain standing, it says, "I have fed. You may leave my realm." That misadventure costs a point of endurance. If you just refuse to pay without threatening Heustess, he says, "These ruins are mine. My people bought them with our blood and suffering. You pass through only with my permission." As you can see, this NPC you might never encounter actually has a hell of a lot of dialogue! This area is entirely optional, by the way, and thus utterly missable.  After your chat with Heustess, you explore the last of this old settlement. There's another alchemy workshop nearby, but this one only has one uncontained, uncontrolled reaction.  Here's the exit you'd take if you planned on sneaking past Heustess.  This old boneyard gives you the chills. You leave before there's any cause to add more bones to it.  It feels like hours have passed since you first entered this ruined village, but you've finally made your way to the far gate.  Now it's time to meet Goettsch. You will put it off no longer.
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Feb 1, 2017 16:38
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Yeah, it's definitely possible to screw up the Heustess bit, or at least miss it, because the only part of this area I remember is the explosive Ornks and the Ornk Demigod. I think I just did that and then got the gently caress out of dodge.
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Feb 1, 2017 17:12
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Those ornk gloves ain't bad for a Guardian, either. It's definitely a joke item though.
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Feb 1, 2017 17:38
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I could have sworn this is where you get that ... special cannister relating to the enemies here, but I must be mistaken.
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Feb 1, 2017 20:11
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berryjon posted:I could have sworn this is where you get that ... special cannister relating to the enemies here, but I must be mistaken. We've actually been to the place you're thinking of, and there's nothing there to indicate that the canister you're discussing should logically be there. I will show it off, though.
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Feb 1, 2017 20:14
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Rockopolis posted:I keep forgetting to volunteer for the lost of names. I'll do it now. Oh, right, I should do that too. You can use "Peas", although I strongly suspect you won't get that far down unless you LP every one of these and keep the list from game to game.
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Feb 1, 2017 22:25
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Wow, I have to give Goettsch credit. Hiding from everybody in the place where the oldest and angriest ghosts are.
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Feb 2, 2017 03:31
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Fear and Love "The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him," Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince.  Game Text posted:This ruin is the largest ancient building you have seen on Sucia Island. It is an enormous structure, with tall, arched stone roofs and massive, intact pillars. Game Text posted:This obelisk has only recently been dragged up here, probably by someone very strong. It reads: Goettsch has clearly spent a great deal of time and resources fortifying this place and decorating it to his tastes. The essence permeating the fort sets your teeth on edge. Your previous experiences with such environments are limited to workshop ruins and spawners. You hope you find nothing of the sort here. Before the greeter can find you again, you march westward with your creations. Despite the greeter's warnings, you think there's much to be gained from investigating Goettsch before seeking an audience with him.   You pass several broken canisters in the hall before the first guard catches you. The cryodrayk seems to be mindlessly pacing just outside an entry way. It doesn't speak, not like Syros or Rhakkus. The cryodrayk only hisses, then inhales a deep, phlegmy breath. Goettsch probably hasn't permitted these drayks to gain any real independent consciousness. Why he's chosen to shape a forbidden creation like this and not make use of its best traits is beyond you. You don't delay dealing with it. The cryodrayk doesn't cry for help before it blasts Dmar with ice. At least both sides have an understanding, here.   Another wandering creation bumbles into the fight. Just as the cryodrayk falls, the battle gamma strikes wedgekree. The glaahk smacks into the stone wall to its right and shudders. Ichor oozes from its cracked carapace, but wedgekree quickly steadies itself and spears the glowing gamma.   You urge your creations through the arch before another guard can amble too near. The wide room is well-guarded by battle betas and cryodrayks. There's even a clear pool here to act as the traditional cistern. Before the guards can act, you cast speed on your creations.   Three battle betas converge on you, badly wounding Dmar in the initial rush and scattering your formation. The vlish swiftly adjust, though, and together with RickVoid, they begin terrorizing and burning the cryodrayks to prevent them from picking you off. Dmar and wedgekree shield you from the betas, and your combined efforts kill them. This investigation is much noisier than you intended.  The cryodrayks fall, with Geokinesis destroying the last of them. Another creation investigates the racket in the passage, but instead of leaving for more help or at least bellowing at you intruders, it merely wades into the fight. Goettsch hasn't done a good job with security past creating forbidden drayks and bulky battle creatures. These responses don't seem particularly organized at all. You haven't heard a single alarm, and you haven't found any mines or turrets, either.   With the last guard dispatched, you go east in the hall this time. The first room you find in the southeastern corner is full of pillars and potsherds, which are interesting but not helpful. The next room has a trio of monoliths, a gazing pool, and a pair each of battle betas and cryodrayks. They don't last long.  Each of the central chambers seems to have a water source, the rough stone pillars, and a set of four guards. The rooms are all somewhat grimy, like the creations that cleaned them did an indifferent or inattentive job. Still, Goettsch has gone through the trouble of hanging banners and bringing in potted plants. The plants are dying from lack of light and irregular watering. That the Shaper has put in such a half-hearted effort is just odd.  A group of guards approaches from the west, though they're not in any particular formation. Goettsch must not be paying them any active attention. At this point, you must resign yourself to a fight or a series of serious punishments in the future.   Despite the guards all being shaped by a master, they aren't that threatening to you and yours. It's a little shocking, actually, how easily you're cutting through Goettsch's defenses. This room is utterly trashed. You can't tell if the sunken section of the floor was once a hearth or if it was for something else, but now it seems to have seen periodic use as an incinerator. Much of the refuse in here is new, though, so the creations aren't regularly disposing of trash here.  Game Text posted:This pylon is covered with ancient carvings. It looks like some sort of song or prayer. There are also carvings of the sun and people worshipping some sort of rock. Or maybe an animal. Game Text posted:This pylon is covered with ancient carvings. It looks like some sort of ledger, covered with ancient records and mathematics. Your best guess of the meaning is that, at one point, the people here had a lot of sheep and then, later, they had more sheep. You can't tell if these pylons were moved into this room or if they were originally here.  An almost identical display waits on the other side of the dividing wall.  The northern corridor has a number of openings that you guess, from their narrow size, lead into side chambers. The first such has a nasty surprise. Game Text posted:This passage is filled with large mines. They're exceptionally huge and nasty specimens and, the moment you get close, they turn their sensors towards you. Goettsch doesn't want anyone seeing what's past there, even other Shapers, it seems. He must be concerned about Trajkov. The second room is in poor condition. More used or damaged canisters have been discarded here, and none of the rubble has been cleared up. Game Text posted:This pylon is carved with numerous vertical and horizontal lines, forming strange and elaborate patterns.  Game Text posted:Someone has recently grown a healing and an essence pool here. They are clearly recent growths, well maintained and fed. You rest up here for a while. Surprisingly, there don't seem to be very many guards patrolling around here.  Game Text posted:This pylon is covered with ancient carvings. It looks like a description of some sort of ceremony. There is one odd carving near the bottom. It looks, strangely enough, almost exactly like an artila.  You've seen more used up canisters here than you've personally used. You know they've been changing you; you wonder how they've affected Goettsch. It's a good question to ponder while you furtively raid his kitchen.   Another side room to the west is guarded by a stalwart battle gamma. When he leaps for Geokinesis, the motion causes the automatic door behind him to slide open. Beyond it is a well-appointed room that's fully carpeted and even decorated with tapestries. It must be Goettsch's room.   The two even more muscular battle gammas within pulse with arcane energies. Goettsch must have invested a good deal of his essence into them. Why does he have battle gammas guarding his chambers, though? There's nothing forbidden about them. This would have been the place to conceal drayks shaped illegally...  A little magic loosens the locks on his cabinets, but you don't find any writings within, or anything particularly interesting for that matter.   Past the northern door are a couple of green box mines. You attempt to defuse the nearest one, but it blows up to release another battle gamma.  Your luck with the second mine isn't any better. When it's out of the way, you check the crystal box. Game Text posted:You open the case. Inside, you find a pair of Shaping gloves. You haven't stumbled over any alarms yet, but you suspect taking Goettsch's gloves is a bad idea. He's gone through a lot of trouble to conceal and protect them. You close the box without taking them.  Other than Goettsch's suite, the western chambers are mostly abandoned, except for one set up as creation quarters.  Game Text posted:This used to be the core of this building. Whether the most important ceremonies here were political, religious, or both, they took place in this room. Clearly, Goettsch hasn't even noticed your indiscretions in his realm... You don't know if he's that blind, or if he simply isn't bothered by your blundering destruction of so many creations. Either way, you're afraid.  You decide to take him at his word, though, and investigate the control panels and equipment. Taking the Shaper equipment is probably testing your luck, since glassware is more difficult to acquire on Sucia Island than more battle gammas and cryodrayks. A pair of serviles flanks Goettsch. You greet it. This servile has the vacant, weak expression of the newly created. Goettsch made this specimen by hand to be a totally obedient servant. It has none of the independence of the other serviles on this island. It looks up at you with fear. It doesn't want to speak with you. It just shies away. You soon give up on speaking with it. Then you take a deep breath as quietly as you can and face him. Your creations are a respectful distance away, mostly warming themselves by the central firepit. Goettsch the Shaper has the detached, arrogant look and gentle glow of a repeat canister user. The magic of Sucia Island has powerfully augmented him. He looks you over, trying to analyze how strong you have grown. He doesn't look impressed. "I am Goettsch, Shaper. I was brought here like you, a victim of the trickery of Trajkov, the outsider, the invader. You have gone to great effort to reach me. Now I must know. Why are you here?" Solution could say, "I have come to here to kill you. Prepare to die," but that seems unpolitic. "I have come here to speak with you," you say. "I want to learn more about this island." You're not sure how much you should admit about the circumstances that stranded you here, nor about your actions since then. Goettsch clearly doesn't care much about those matters, or you'd know exactly how much trouble you're in by now. Goettsch looks at you carefully. "No. You have the mark. I can see it. You are marked with your hatred of me. You are here to kill me!" If you don't have 10+ leadership and you received Heustess's assassination quest, your only option is to say, "Yes! Yes! I am compelled to kill you. Now we must fight." Goettsch responds, "All right. I am saddened that we cannot help each other. But do not worry. I shall make your death a speedy one. Or, at least, as speedy as can be expected." You're tossed into combat when you close the dialogue. You don't know where the impulse comes from at first, but you're almost overwhelmed by a sudden hatred for Goettsch. A violent urge to crush his throat in your bare hands threatens to seize control of you. It takes you a great deal of effort, but you resist the compulsion. "I am marked with hatred of you, and I said I would kill you. But I will not. Speak with me, and my words and actions will convince you." It takes all of the sincerity you can muster, but you manage to convince Goettsch that you mean him no harm. "All right. I will give you a chance. But I do not trust you. Give me reason to fear, and I will slay you in an instant." These words make you doubt Goettsch's power. He admits that you could make him fearful... for his life? For his fortress here? You're not sure, but his threat makes you a little more confident. "Tell me how you came to Sucia Island," you say. He laughs. "The same way you did. I was imprisoned, captured by Trajkov. I was being sent to a new colony, to take it over and administer it. A mild honor, at best, though not a position without hope of advancement. Then his ship slew my craft, and I swam to shore at the east edge of this island. There, I was abducted." Not very different from your own tale indeed. Goettsch must have been caught before he could shape a new craft. "By who?" you ask. Depending on where Goettsch came ashore, he might have encountered the Awakened first... but you doubt it. "Trajkov. Trajkov, and his dummies, his puppets, addled in the brain by Shaper magic beyond them. Trajkov abducted me for the same reason he captured you. He needed a Shaper's help to master the incredible power here. He was a fool. How could he think any Shaper in his right mind would help him usurp our sacred secrets? As soon as I figured out what he had found, I took action." You nod, listening. "He had found the Geneforge. It is the most amazing work of Shaper magic I have ever found. It has the power to rework, to remake anyone who uses it, giving them awesome power." Goettsch laughs. "All you need is a pair of gloves. A special pair of gloves which modulates and channels the power of the Geneforge. He had one pair of those gloves. One happy pair. And I took them. I have them here." So that resolves the mystery of the stolen gloves... They must be the pair you saw in the crystal box. "Can I have those gloves?" you ask. You might as well see how Goettsch responds. "No. There is only one person who will ever use them. Me." He eyes you closely, as though he might find some clear sign of deception on you. And, besides that mark of hatred, he might. You smile blandly. "And what will happen now?" "I will use the Geneforge. Its power is too great to be wasted, and only I have the strength and control to master it. First, though, there is the stalemate. Trajkov is there. I am here. Neither of us has the strength to defeat the other. That is why I have allowed you to reach me without slaying you." "I have another question." Like perhaps how many canisters Goettsch has used to make him so myopic. Goettsch watches you with his fiery eyes. No movement of yours escapes his gaze. "What do you wish now?" "What do you want, and how can you help me?" "There is a war on this island. It is a deadly stalemate. At this end, there is me. At the other, Trajkov. Each of us must slay the other. Each has control of something the other needs. Each of us hopes you will break the deadlock. Trajkov is too proud to admit that he needs you. I am not. Help me. Kill him. If you do, I will give you what you want. I will give you power. And I will help you escape this accursed island." You decide that Shaper Goettsch is entirely mad. If you're strong enough to slay Trajkov, then you're Goettsch's equal as well. You've already ruined what must be a significant number of his creations, even if he hasn't noticed or hasn't chosen to react. Goettsch surely could have chosen to leave -- he could have made another drayk craft and sailed off, or had his armies of battle betas and gammas build him a strong raft and made them all take turns rowing it to the next inhabited island. He could have likely found many ways to leave this place which aren't available to a novice like you. Yet he's chosen to stay here and play a deadly game with Trajkov to see which of them gets to use the forbidden Geneforge. "What sort of power will you give me?" you ask. If he is the only one who will get to use the gloves, then you doubt access to the Geneforge is part of what he's baiting his hook with. Goettsch laughs. "That would be telling." You don't like the sound of that. "Trajkov is very powerful," you say. "Can you help me kill him?" "I have a trick which might work. If you were very cunning and clever. You may have a chance." Goettsch hands you a pair of gloves. They are Shaping gloves, cunning, protective devices commonly used in Shaper experiments. "To use the Geneforge, Trajkov needs a pair of gloves currently in my possession. These are not the gloves. They are an almost perfect replica. Take them to Trajkov. If you are exceptionally convincing, you might be able to get him to believe that these are the Shaping gloves I took. If he tries to use these to use the Geneforge, he will be in for a very painful surprise." You tuck the gloves into your robes. "How can I reach Trajkov?" "That is your concern." Goettsch waves dismissively. "He holds the research halls at the northeast corner of the island. I'm sure you can figure out how to reach him somehow." "Can you give me equipment or other help?" you ask. Every moment, you like this senior Shaper less and less. Now that he's admitted that he plans to use this forbidden technology himself, you don't feel very beholden to him, not like you should to a full Shaper. "No. I would much rather keep my resources for myself. You are a strong and industrious soul. Help yourself." You only regret slaying his creations for their sakes, not his. "What was this ruin?" You look around this makeshift audience chamber once more. "I do not know. I do not concern myself with history. It is not relevant to my quest, my new destiny," he says. His hauteur doesn't make the blatant admission of ignorance less shocking. "I have adapted this place to my own purposes, and filled it with guards of my choosing." "What sort of guards?" you ask, the very portrait of innocence. "The finest drayks and battle creations. I did not know it was possible to make drayks anymore. Now I can, thanks to the marvelous canisters. So many things our people denied us. So many things I can do now. My creations wander these halls, and many of them are ordered to kill strangers on sight. I would suggest restricting your movements. Otherwise, you may be slain." A rush of giddiness nearly makes you laugh. "I am very interested in learning about the ancients who lived here. Could you tell your guards to not attack me?" Goettsch frowns. Then he thinks about it. Then he laughs. "If I thought there was a chance that you could possibly hurt me in this elevated state, I would refuse. But you are my guest. Go ahead. Wander around. If you enter my chambers or try to go anywhere you should not, my traps will make short work of you. My chambers are in the northwest corner. Stay away." He is mad! "Don't you know this island is Barred? Why are you still here?" His eyes flash. "This island is Barred by the Shaper council. You can wander this world for a thousand years, and you will never find a more baffled or impotent group of fools than the Shaper council. You have seen the wonders here! You have had a taste of the power and glory that just sits around, ready for the taking! I reject the Shaper council, and all of their foolishness. The power here is our birthright, and I will not let them steal it." You don't miss his use of "our," as though he hadn't mere moments ago stated that he didn't intend to share this so-called birthright. "I see. I must go think on all of this... Goodbye," you say, and withdraw from Goettsch's presence. It's better to leave before he notices how quiet his fort has become. "All right. Just do not wander too far into my home. And remember, if you can help me, I can reward you well." Having visited Goettsch at last, you're disappointed by the audience. You expected... better. Instead, this Shaper has slid further into the canister addiction than you imagined possible. You must remember this: you must remember the crazed fire in his eyes, the light that threatens to burst free from his body at any moment, the obvious delusions of grandeur -- you must cling to this! You will fail. If a full Shaper lost control, then there is no hope for you. But you must remember. Now it is high time you found Trajkov. Then you might at last decide how you want this story to end. 
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Feb 3, 2017 01:34
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I mean, if it turned out your senior was just a swell guy who would solve all your problems for you, it wouldnt be much of a game eh?
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Feb 3, 2017 02:41
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Deceitful Penguin posted:I mean, if it turned out your senior was just a swell guy who would solve all your problems for you, it wouldnt be much of a game eh? Kill all Shapers! Protect Kazg!
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Feb 3, 2017 02:51
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I like the touch that he was a mediocre middle manager likely at the end of his career who has gone full on 'I AM THE OVERMAN!" due to his addiction, though.
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Feb 3, 2017 03:38
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Night10194 posted:I like the touch that he was a mediocre middle manager likely at the end of his career who has gone full on 'I AM THE OVERMAN!" due to his addiction, though. Canisters're a helluva drug.
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Feb 3, 2017 04:07
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Well, I just finished the game today. I will say that I did not quite expect the ending I got! (I was going to say that it was interesting how strongly the setup of the ending reminded me of Fallout, before I remembered that Fallout predated this game by a good 4 years. (The graphics keep making me think otherwise.))
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Feb 3, 2017 04:39
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vdate posted:Well, I just finished the game today. I will say that I did not quite expect the ending I got! (I was going to say that it was interesting how strongly the setup of the ending reminded me of Fallout, before I remembered that Fallout predated this game by a good 4 years. (The graphics keep making me think otherwise.)) Congratulations, first of all! I had a similar line of thought last week while reading Nakar's Serpent Isle LP. The UI of this game is really similar in some respects to Ultima 4 and 5. Then the age gap struck me. No wonder this feels old school as hell.
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Feb 3, 2017 04:48
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POOL IS CLOSED posted:Congratulations, first of all! Thank you! Now to see how Solution handles all this business.
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Feb 3, 2017 05:33
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Woo! Thanks for some amazing storylines so far! Looking forwards to the rest.
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Feb 3, 2017 06:24
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Dead Ends Game Text posted:You ascend into a narrow, rocky mountain valley. As you advance, you notice that your hair is starting to stand on end. Sparks occasionally fly from your clothes and weapon. Smells like victory. You spare a moment for your fallen fyora friends who brought you so far.  It looks like the power station may have influenced the development of these fyoras over the past centuries... or perhaps the Shapers who left them here used charged varieties to protect this type of facility. Either seems possible.  The charged fyoras aren't much of a threat. They run at any creatures they see and spit pathetic sparks. Killing them is a shame, but it can't be helped. While you walk through the canyon, you find what must be a fallen outsider. It looks like he did his best to hold off the fyoras, but they must have overwhelmed him. Judging by all the thorns and javelins, he put up a good fight.   The northeastern door is guarded by another spitting fyora. Inside you find what might have been a barracks or worker's quarters. No one has been here in a very long time. Not even the serviles have reached this place to loot it.  Not too far from the first fallen outsider is a second, lying amid larger, older bones half-buried by blown dust.   Beyond that body are still more doors, but you don't find an obvious means of opening them. The obelisk by the central door reads "Sucia Island Power Station." You wonder if disabling this thing would interfere with the operation of the Geneforge. It's worth trying before you search out Trajkov...    The southern defile is basically clogged up by charged fyoras. They battle your creations fiercely, but they're unable to leave much more than singe marks on your team. When you reach the end of the defile, you realize the fyoras struggled so hard because you've inadvertently left them no way to escape.   You manage to find an entry into the facility that isn't locked up tight -- part of the outer wall has collapsed, providing a means to bypass the door you found earlier. Unfortunately, the interior is guarded by submission turrets and more charged fyoras. Fortunately, those creations don't measure up to yours. The radiant panels barring the way are cool and dim, sparing you further trouble.  You investigate the three cases, but two have already been ransacked and one simply won't open. Nearby you find some robes meant for those who once tended this place, as well as a pair of shattered crystal pillars. If not for the underlying thrum that makes your teeth itch, you would assume this place was completely defunct based on the damage you've seen so far.  There is a servant mind here. It still seems in good health, or at least it's intact. However, it is very thin and weak. It looks up at you and says, "Urrrrhhhhaaaa." There are four sockets at the base of the creature's stone berth. They are all empty. "Servant, I require your help," you say. "Guhhhh. Uhrrr. Aaaah." The pitifully thin and hungry creature doesn't have the strength to respond. It was worth a try. You try to revive the mind, but without food, you aren't able to help it. None of the other doors near the mind will open. Looking around, you wonder if the four slots in the mind's pedestal correspond to old linkups from the destroyed spirals. If so, this situation might be well beyond your ability to fix even if you had a jar of mind nutrients left. If only you hadn't fed Emarshal...   You pass sealed metal drums and more ruined crystal structures on the path outside the mind facility. At least the waste still seems more or less contained, not like the disaster at the workshop. You locate what looks like a guard post, but the pesky fyoras inhabiting the place prove distracting.  To the north, you find the western gatehouse. Trajkov isn't on the western end of the island, though, so you ignore that road for now.  There's even an alcove filled with old protective gear.   The northern path has a number of rooms that seem to be either storage areas or perhaps old offices.  You locate an automatic door that still works, but whatever is powering the door is also powering a particularly deep set of radiant panels. You've fried your feet enough lately. Maybe if you can get that servant mind set to rights, it can shut these off for you.   Along the southern path, you find a particularly burly fyora that stands almost as tall as your glaahks. The fyora's superior size, though, makes it only marginally more robust than its more common cousins.  What lies in wait at the end of the path is much more concerning.    The drayk appears to be keeping these fyoras as pets. You'll probably never know, though, because the drayk doesn't speak -- it only attacks. It manages to seriously wound both Dmar and wedgekree before it dies along with its pets.  The chests are locked and trapped, but you use a living tool to make short work of them. They're full of coin as well as another pair of green boots like what you found within the Shaper crypts.  You backtrack a ways to a chamber in the north. A radiant panel between two braziers seems to have been positioned mainly as a heat source rather than as a security measure, but you still direct your creations to go around it carefully. This place might have served as the power plant's alchemical lab or perhaps even an apothecary to take care of the needs of the on-site workers.  But without being able to talk to the mind in charge of this place, you're no closer to finding Trajkov. You decide that it might be worthwhile to approach the Takers. In the meantime, though, you want to check something at the Servile Warren. There was a well-locked door beyond the servant mind there, and it might have something of use...  Between your improved understanding of locks and your enormous supply of living tools, you manage to crack the sole locked door left here.  And just as you hoped, there's a canister in here, waiting for you to use it.  But it's not the kind of canister you’d hoped for. Why would the Shapers make a canister to let people make ornks? They're fertile! Surely it doesn't take an inordinate amount of work to learn how to Shape them properly!  Look at these piles of wealth. LOOK AT THEM.  With that done, you head east and back into Rhakkus's domain. The cryodrayk doesn't immediately greet you like he has on prior occasions, so you slip into his lair to investigate the crypts.   You're studying the last sarcophagus when Rhakkus finds you. Not seen: before Rhakkus goes hostile, he still opens his automatic greeting dialogue, so Solution sells off some junk and finish off the last of his gold before she finishes him!  The first thing you do is flee the tiny tomb. No good can come of being backed into a corner by a drayk defending its hoard. Your vlish attack with a well-coordinated flurry of terror spells. Rhakkus casts speed on himself, a disconcerting demonstration of magical aptitude in a creation. It's bad enough that some serviles discovered a means of using magic, but drayks as well...? They must be put down.  Geokinesis strikes the last blow and Rhakkus trembles, coughs once, and falls. With all of his minions also slain, you've weakened the drayk menace in this corner of Sucia Island, if not outright ended it entirely.  You even got a nice pair of gloves in the process.
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Feb 3, 2017 18:02
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I suspect Solution is part Drayk herself, considering her huge hoard.
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Feb 3, 2017 20:43
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Solution loves the smell of fyoras in the morning! Because Shapers are so noodly, I ended up making my own pile of loot. IIRC it ended up being mostly batons, thorns, and unique gear; I opted to up strength a bunch and cart the pods and spores around with me. I used Ellrah's Keep's entry hall as the storage grounds, though, because apparently I thought keeping stuff in an accessible central wilderness area seemed weird. Got back into Geneforge 2. Playing as a Guardian or an Agent seems an interesting prospect, yet I can't help but feel like not playing a Shaper goes against the spirit of a series called Geneforge, where making your own army of horrible killbeasts is one of the central unique game mechanics.
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Feb 3, 2017 21:43
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| # ? May 9, 2024 22:51 |
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POOL IS CLOSED posted:Congratulations, first of all! I'm glad the people here name dropped Nakar; his Ultima LP's have been extremely entertaining. A shame he didn't do Pagan, but then again, Pagan leads to Ultima 9, and Ultima 9 is depressingly bad. How it has even two and a half stars on GOG is beyond me.
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Feb 3, 2017 22:09
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