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Considering that Trajkov stopped using the canisters himself (if memory serves), one has to wonder if the reduced number/more spread out canisters was actually a blessing in disguise by giving Solution's body more time to adjust to the sudden changes than the Sholai's bodies.
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Feb 15, 2017 20:22
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TooMuchAbstraction posted:The game's really taunting you with all those used canisters. The things were nowhere nearly as densely-packed on your half of the island. There's also the possibility that the Sholai are making canisters. It would fit with the whole divide between warrior/mage if they can arbitrarily make more canisters.
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Feb 15, 2017 20:39
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Dirk the Average posted:There's also the possibility that the Sholai are making canisters. It would fit with the whole divide between warrior/mage if they can arbitrarily make more canisters. They don't have the knowledge to make them; hell, even the Shapers might not have the knowledge to make them anymore, hence why the Geneforge is so important.
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Feb 15, 2017 22:25
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thetruegentleman posted:They don't have the knowledge to make them; hell, even the Shapers might not have the knowledge to make them anymore, hence why the Geneforge is so important. It's also not clear what raw materials are actually required to make Canisters so it's possible that stuff doesn't even exist on an island that's been abandoned for like 200+ years.
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Feb 16, 2017 00:36
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MagusofStars posted:The timeline is what's important here: I don't remember if it's ever specified, but it's clearly implied that the Sholai have only been at Sucia Island for a few years tops, probably less. That's not even remotely enough time for the Sholai to figure out how to create Canisters. Remember that the available information is (a) in a foreign language, (b) highly technical, (c) scattered around various places around the island, and (d) might not be complete. It's also worth noting that the available information probably skips over most of the basics because presumably you'd have to be fairly well trained before you got to be part of a critical, expensive research project - whereas the Sholai are starting with basically zero understanding of the theory behind Shaping. On the other hand, if it's as simple as churning out a preset configuration, it might be possible. I doubt they could make novel canisters that have never been made before, but I think it would be plausible to churn out standardized canisters.
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Feb 16, 2017 00:51
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You're also assuming that there isn't a canister that teaches you how to make canisters.
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Feb 16, 2017 02:30
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Is it actually possible to pick up and move canisters? I would expect that an entire boat worth of dudes might well be ordered to do that.
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Feb 16, 2017 04:22
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Canisters can be moved -- Goettsch has probably done so and the Sholai tell us they have. The player can only use them, though. It'd be neat if they could be picked up, but them I'm sure most of us would hoard them thanks to rpg ocd.
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Feb 16, 2017 04:28
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Also given that we/Solution are just one person and have no allies we can potentially empower with the canisters, we have no real plot or gameplay reason to want to move them, anyway. Like the only meaningful choices from a roleplay perspective or to use them or not to use them, not when to use them. It's not like the canisters are temporary in their effects.
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Feb 16, 2017 09:25
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It would slightly make sense to have a 'break' option.
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Feb 16, 2017 09:54
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I dunno, the PC's internal monologue is pretty clear on how hosed they think they are, what with the rogues, and the distressingly independent and heavily armed serviles, and so on. The canisters (after you use the first few basically out of 'what does this do' plus the tutorial messages telling you to) are your only means of getting the tools you need to survive. Well, as a Shaper/Researcher/Whatever anyway. Probably as an Agent, too? I guess the Guardian class could just become Beef Manhuge by dumping all their points into melee stats and spending their time running at things frothing at the mouth before carving them into Sholai/Rogue/Servile McNuggets. Even so, some canisters offer useful support spells for aspiring Beef Manhuge types. In any case I guess the option to break them would only actually appear once the PC knew the Sholai were on the island, since before that they'd have no reason to - the serviles die horribly if they use them, after all.
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Feb 16, 2017 16:05
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What gets me is that the NPCs can seemingly id canisters without using them but we cannot.
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Feb 16, 2017 16:37
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vdate posted:Well, as a Shaper/Researcher/Whatever anyway. POOL IS CLOSED has made prior references to no-canister runs, which are evidently an established challenge mode. I assume you'd rely on training stats and skills, carefully-hoarded consumables, running back to base to heal whenever possible, and abusing the hell out of the combat system. POOL IS CLOSED posted:What gets me is that the NPCs can seemingly id canisters without using them but we cannot. "This servile's bones have all melted, and it looks like its lungs were turning into some kind of gas sac when it died. Must be a vlish canister!" Sometimes sacrifices are needed in the name of science, okay.
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Feb 16, 2017 19:18
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TooMuchAbstraction posted:POOL IS CLOSED has made prior references to no-canister runs, which are evidently an established challenge mode. I assume you'd rely on training stats and skills, carefully-hoarded consumables, running back to base to heal whenever possible, and abusing the hell out of the combat system.
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Feb 17, 2017 00:12
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POOL IS CLOSED posted:What gets me is that the NPCs can seemingly id canisters without using them but we cannot. I assume they use the same method available to the player; quicksave-quickload.
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Feb 18, 2017 05:10
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Tendales posted:I assume they use the same method available to the player; quicksave-quickload. Insert Undertale joke here.
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Feb 20, 2017 04:47
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Is there any reason you wouldn't take a canister?
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Feb 20, 2017 05:52
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ManxomeBromide posted:Is there any reason you wouldn't take a canister? Plotwise? Yes, obviously. Gameplaywise? No. In Geneforge 1 there is no mechanical reason to ever not use a canister. In the later games, canister use affects endings and poo poo so there is a mechanical reason to not use them.
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Feb 20, 2017 06:06
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RoboChrist 9000 posted:Plotwise? Yes, obviously. Gameplaywise? No. In Geneforge 1 there is no mechanical reason to ever not use a canister. In the later games, canister use affects endings and poo poo so there is a mechanical reason to not use them. Actually even in most of the later games, it tends to be more binary. The system works in a way that your options are either "basically no canisters ever" or "all of them".
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Feb 20, 2017 16:12
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Nioh is real good y'all. (Update coming tomorrow!)
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Feb 20, 2017 16:32
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POOL IS CLOSED posted:Nioh is real good y'all. (Update coming tomorrow!)
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Feb 20, 2017 16:48
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Deceitful Penguin posted:I'm so irritated I didn't keep all my England poo poo Check your storehouse when you get to the world map 
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Feb 20, 2017 16:56
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Not Burning Bridges Part 2  On your prior visits, you assiduously avoided this small building in the middle of the winding road. Now, however, you stop in to what is clearly the Sholai's camp in this area. You have located the commander of this tiny garrison. He has the eerily large muscles and arrogant, slightly glazed expression which you are starting to recognize as the symptom of using a lot of the canisters. He bows at the waist and says, in your tongue, "Hello. I am Treplev." "How do I get to Trajkov from here?" you ask in lieu of introducing yourself. Treplev starts to speak. in his own tongue. You don't know some of the words he is saying. "You go (Unknown) that way." He points north. "Then go east." He points east. "Watch out for (Unknown), though. Will kill you (Unknown)." "Sorry, but I didn't get that. Watch out for what?" "Sorry," Treplev says. "There are lots of (Unknown). Blow your (Unknown) right off you, and you don't want that. If you want to get by, have an (Unknown)." When he said that last bit, he pointed at the box on the floor next to the oven. "Thank you. Have you been using lots of the canisters?" You glance around the guard house and notice an intact one by a pair of beds. "Oh, yes. Shapers are wonderful. They make (Unknown) things. We are amazed. We want to make them ourselves, to make us (Unknown)." You suspect that Treplev also uses any he comes across immediately, but you ask, "Do you have any that I can use?" He looks nervous. He twitches a little. He obviously doesn't want to share. Before casting a nervous look to the north, he says, "None. None. None we can spare. We need all we have to (Unknown)." Did he really think you wouldn't notice that canister? You change the subject before Treplev concocts any plans to keep you away from his precious canisters. "Are there any threats in the area?" "Be careful in the woods to the east. There are crazy (Unknown) in there. They (Unknown) and (Unknown) all day, every day, and it makes them (Unknown). Even we stay from there." He points to the southwest. "Down there, though are a few friendly I (Unknown). They trade." "Traders? I'll be sure to visit them," you say. The tinker serviles seem to have kept you a secret after all. That's a relief.  Then you use the canister that was clearly left here for someone besides Treplev. Perhaps the intended recipient was part of one of the patrols you were forced to slay. Either way, you've gained a little more power to defend yourself in close quarters combat. You also find another spore baton in the chest by the stove. You tuck it away, knowing it will prove useful in the not too distant future. We really need a red spore baton, but honestly, I've forgotten where they can be found!  You find an interesting cloak in one of the cabinets; it's a piece of unusual Shaper work that bonds with its wearer and increases their ability to recover from wounds. The cloak might even be alive, though you can't say you understand enough about such equipment to make a determination either way.  In the north, you find a small store room hidden in the woods. You passed it when you hunted down the wounded battle beta, but it didn't open back then. On the off chance that it contains another augmentation canister, you decide to check it out. The lever is concealed beneath an old pile of leaves, but you're able to trick it into opening for you. Inside, you find some more supplies, including a terror wand. Alas, there are no canisters here.   You retreat south across the river and head toward the western bridge this time. The bridge is located on a quiet stretch of verdant plains, a fine place for farming if you've ever seen one. The land doesn't even appear particularly contaminated.   Sholai march right past you, completely ignoring your presence. You return the favor and investigate the ruins of what must have been a small Shaper compound.  A pair of Guardian statues flank the approach to the bridge. They haven't been defaced, so the Takers must not have invested in this area before the Sholai arrived.  The spore mines here are active. Their antennae point directly at you when you approach. Your brown spore baton sets them off, so you very carefully clear a path towards the door at the far end. The Sholai must be protecting something here.  As you suspected, there's a canister here. It improves your terror spell in the process of Shaping you. It's been a long time since you looked in a mirror... You wonder how you appear to the beings around you now.  The following dialogue is actually glitchy and dumps both the no knowledge of Sholai language and the competent in the language options into the same box. I'm only altering it slightly! You meet a Sholai guard. He says something to you. You don't understand it. You say something to him. He doesn't understand it. The conversation pretty much stops there. You greet another Sholai guard. You know enough of his tongue to make very crude small talk with him. After asking "How are you?" and finding out that he is "Fine," there isn't much else to say. Eventually, he says, "You should talk at Sofya. She on bridge." You take the hint and approach the woman in blue wizard robes. The band of Sholai guarding this bridge is commanded by this woman. She is massive and muscular, almost impossibly so. You suspect that she has been making heavy use of the canisters on this island. When she sees your amulet she bows to you, points to herself, and says, "Sofya. Welcome." "What are all of you doing here?" you ask. She doesn't speak your tongue, and you have a hard time understanding her, but, by sticking to simple words, you are able to communicate. "We guard bridge," she says. "There one like you, but bad, we watch for." "Who is it?" The Sholai don't need to know that you've already met Goettsch. "Name is Goettsch. Like you, but bad. If see, we kill." "Oh..." You pause as if taken aback. "Well, what is in this area?" "Little. Just bridge. You far from good things. You far from Trajkov. Trajkov that way." She points to the northeast. "Do you know anything useful about this area?" "There are storage places near. They have mines, so beware. We can pass mines. You need (something) to pass mines." You don't understand one of her words. "Sorry, I need what to pass the mines?" You don't understand the word she uses. Instead, she pantomimes using something. You think she's trying to indicate that you need a wand of some sort. She must be talking about the spore batons. The game is very cautiously written when it comes to warning players about hazards. Unfortunately, it doesn't track whether or not you've already used a baton, so the script doesn't change if you already know about the spore-baton interaction.  You cross the bridge and head into the Sholai barracks. Like their other encampments, the outsiders have cleaned the place up and done some basic repairs to shore up the walls and ceiling.  In the adjoining room, you find some enchanted sandals in a cabinet. This is probably Sofya's room, so you laugh as you rifle through her meager belongings. The sandals aren't of much interest, though, so you leave them behind.  Across the river are more ruins, including a still sealed barrel of waste tucked away by a pile of scree. This must have been another processing center.  The approach to the ruin is guarded by even more turrets. They face you as soon as you come within range. But neither they nor the mines protecting them can really resist your creations' advance.   And, just like before, you locate another canister. This one grants a welcome improvement to your ability to shape magic creations. You feel like you could take on the entire garrison, but you restrain yourself. For now. The rush of the canister will pass, and you don't want to do anything that you'll regret later.   There's another small ruin nearby in the north. You smell the characteristic zing of an essence pool before you even cross the threshold. Game Text posted:You can see (and hear) the happily bubbling restoration pools in this building. They are in small alcoves in the back. waiting to restore your energy. There is a servile here. He seems strangely unconcerned about the threats in this area. He has a clean home and a nice garden and an almost eerily serene demeanor. He also doesn't seem in awe of you. "Welcome to my home. I am Dig. Please feel free to use the restoration pools here, if you are in need." "Do you maintain the pools?" you ask. "Yes, I do. I have taken it as my purpose. We serviles feel best when we are doing a job. So I feed and care for these pools. They are useful to passers-by." "Who else has used the pools?" "Well, the Sholai visitors used them at times, when they passed by. But then they sort of stopped noticing that I was here. Their demeanor made me nervous," Dig admits. It must be the canisters. "Aren't you afraid, living out here alone?" "No, I am not. I have found that, if I am confident and serene enough, I am not noticed. Much has come from my beliefs. I have gained great strength from them." How curious. "What do you believe?" you ask him. "I once was a Taker. I lived in Kazg. I belonged to a cult there who believed that, with pure meditation and strength of purpose, they could develop powers. I did well there. I mastered their techniques. But I found their hate of your kind to be self-defeating. It was a kind of madness. So I left and came here, to pursue my meditations in peace and to explore my new awareness." You're a little taken aback by this -- Dig is one of the strange cultists. But he isn't hostile to you. Even still, your skin crawls. You're in the presence of one of the magic-using serviles. "I'm glad it's working out for you," you say, almost as a question. "It is. I am at peace. My explorations go well." "You seem unusually calm and composed," you reply. "Why should I not be?" Dig asks. "Should I collapse upon myself in awe, just because a Shaper has deigned to step inside my home?" That is the usual way of things outside of Sucia Island. "I meant no offense." "Oh, dear. My apologies, Shaper. Your presence has thrown my mind out of balance." At least you're not the only one who's uncomfortable here. "Well... Can you teach me any of your methods?" In for one gold coin, in for a thousand, as they say. "It is a path of many years to achieve true mastery, but you are a Shaper. You have already gone along the path I follow, at least partway. I can teach you how to focus. I can teach you to aim your mind, so that reality bends in pleasing ways around you. To do this, however, I need a donation. Your wealth will help me aid those of my kind who are in need. 500 coins per lesson will suffice." This servile is really into The Secret. "I'll buy a lesson." A few coins is hardly anything to you at this point, and buying lessons is a better deal than trading years of your life away as a servant... There is a certain humiliation in getting instruction of any sort from a servile. Yet, Dig does know a lot. The meditations Dig shows you are not entirely unfamiliar to you. You have done similar things in your Shaper training. He helps you to achieve a similar focus in any circumstances. This awareness will help you glide through life with less discomfort. Solution buys several points of Luck from Dig. Luck is an odd stat; it's not clear if it influences drops from enemies, but it does trigger some events, such as getting items from the pylons we've investigated. After many hours pass, you bid farewell to Dig. The meditation has helped you grapple with the lingering rush of augmentation. You think you might be able to use Dig's techniques to help keep that side of you under control, at least for the time being.   Game Text posted:You walk down into a cold, dead valley. Something horrible has afflicted this area. All of the plants are dead, and all birds and animals have left or died. There are tiny bones in the dirt all around you. Unnerved, you decide to stay on the road. You are certain you're very close to South Workshop, where you slew Corata. But the feeling you have now is that some other intelligence waits here.  You met a Sholai patrol. They're clearly very unhappy about where they were posted. They see your amulet and don't attack you. However, they're very confused about why you are here. One of them points northeast and says, "There! There! Trajkov there!" Then they continue their unhappy patrol.  Past the patrol, you find a square described by more monoliths. Just south is a Shaper ruin. Game Text posted:This is an old Shaper obelisk. It is still legible: Game Text posted:A single symbol has been repeatedly carved into the walls. You recognize it immediately. It means 'Sealed.' Every Shaper laboratory is built to be permanently sealed on short notice. This must be where that malevolent force is emanating from. You shiver. Reversing some of the evil done by your people here might require you to investigate the lab, but for now, you're grateful that Trajkov is a more pressing issue.   To the south are a number of rather pathetic Sholai camps. There's nothing else for you here. 
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Feb 21, 2017 19:03
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Are we finally going to meet Trajkov? Can it really be going to happen?
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Feb 21, 2017 23:49
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TheDavies posted:Are we finally going to meet Trajkov? Can it really be going to happen?  One more update, then I have to wrangle ShareX so I can upload new screenshots. This has been a little extra difficult lately. I decided to once again hurt myself while shoveling snow, so my limited desk time is going towards writing and not LPing. Updates will revert to being weekly per the OP for a while. I'll be back to the usual soon, but I figured the slowdown is probably noticeable and I wanted to let you guys know what's up. I haven't burned out or lost interest. (And of course Nioh is real good and you can play that while reclining!)
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Feb 22, 2017 01:07
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Frankly, your adherence to schedule has been goddamn amazing. I'm not gonna begrudge you a more relaxed pace while you provide us with free entertainment.
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Feb 22, 2017 02:32
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POOL IS CLOSED posted:
Ah yes, I'm here to file a complaint about how you're not giving us hourly updates, and you need to apply the whip to entertain us for free, thank you. 
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Feb 22, 2017 02:35
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Yeah, as long as you can finish this out it'll be great. Take your time, especially since combat's probably going to get a little more involving and the plot is going to come to a head. Where else on the island can we spend gold for unlimited training, or is it only with luck?
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Feb 22, 2017 03:59
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Luck affects hit, evasion, armor, and somewhat affects initiative. It's worth maxing out.
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Feb 22, 2017 04:07
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Three spots come to mind; luck with Dig, mechanics with Flig at Winding Road, and leadership with Learned Halm where Rhaklus the cryodrayk lives. You can only train with Halm if you do t have a Taker amulet. Anyway, you can spend your hard earned gold with them to max those abilities.
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Feb 22, 2017 04:41
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StrixNebulosa posted:Ah yes, I'm here to file a complaint about how you're not giving us hourly updates, and you need to apply the whip to entertain us for free, thank you. Now now, we already voted for Solution to be a caring leader who doesn't coldly treat creations like tools. Whipping to enforce rigid discipline is not keeping with the spirit of the LP. Glazius posted:Yeah, as long as you can finish this out it'll be great. Take your time, especially since combat's probably going to get a little more involving and the plot is going to come to a head. This is actually something that shows how Jeff was still kinda tinkering with the system. Future games (both Geneforge and others) have way more options to burn cash.
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Feb 22, 2017 04:45
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MagusofStars posted:Now now, we already voted for Solution to be a caring leader who doesn't coldly treat creations like tools. Whipping to enforce rigid discipline is not keeping with the spirit of the LP. In the case of the Geneforge series, part of that was to build an alternative method of character advancement instead of/in addition to using canisters.
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Feb 22, 2017 05:21
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POOL IS CLOSED posted:Three spots come to mind; luck with Dig, mechanics with Flig at Winding Road, and leadership with Learned Halm where Rhaklus the cryodrayk lives. You can only train with Halm if you do t have a Taker amulet. Anyway, you can spend your hard earned gold with them to max those abilities. You can train with Halm even with the taker amulet as long as you talk to him BEFORE you join the takers.
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Feb 22, 2017 05:40
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mauman posted:You can train with Halm even with the taker amulet as long as you talk to him BEFORE you join the takers. Add that to the list of dialogues that don't recheck your status once you've unlocked the option! I actually haven't ever tried that with Halm.
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Feb 22, 2017 06:34
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I hope you enjoy this longer update. We're heading into the final stretch of the game, but we do have more dungeons to crawl, conversations to bungle, and characters to bother. The Road  Now that you're further north, the land is much more verdant. It's a relief to escape the reach of the South Workshop and whatever is going on within the sealed lab. However, you can't miss the signs of sickness out here, either. The road is in poor condition, but it looks like a main path is being maintained. This is probably the work of those outsiders.  The paths leading into the woods on either side of the road are all mined. You're not certain if those mines are there to protect the road or if they're to keep people out of the woods.  A Sholai mage walks quickly up to you. When he gets close, his form starts to blur. Time speeds up. You feel lightheaded. He brushes close to you. Then he steps away. "I am Gavrila," he says, as you struggle to clear your mind. "You are approaching the place of your enemy. You should turn back." He knows your language, and he speaks it well. "What are you doing here?" you manage. "I am an enemy of Trajkov. We want to deal with your kind in peace. He wants to bring you war. The things he offers you are nothing compared to the destruction it will bring." "What did you do to me?" "Nothing," the outsider lies. "I did nothing." Gavrila must be one of the rebels -- do they think you've turned against them? They must. "How can I get to Trajkov from here?" you ask. "I do not want to help you to reach Trajkov. He is your enemy, despite what he says." You shake your head. You have to reach him -- you have to make a decision. The Sholai must not be allowed to make it for you, neither the rebels nor those with Trajkov! "You're wasting my time!" Gavrila steps aside. "Go then. But you go to your doom." You push by... and later, when the patrols attack you and the turrets turn on you, you realize you've lost your amulet. Gavrila has stolen it! This is a dirty trick. You can kill Gavrila instead of letting him go, but you know what? Let's rewind this playthrough...  Game Text posted:The sensors atop the mines ahead point unerringly at you when you get close. You notice that the sensors have brown spots.  Your brown spore baton takes out swathes of the deadly spore mines. Whatever the Sholai are hiding back here has to be good... or maybe there are more rogues that must be put down.  Some of the mines are cunningly hidden among the undergrowth and you miss them before they detonate. If you had unlimited wands, you'd be spraying spores every few paces, but as it is, you're stuck conserving them and hoping that you can survive surprise explosions. Game Text posted:The sensors atop the mines ahead point unerringly at you when you get close. You notice that the sensors have green spots. Fortunately, you have spore batons for both colors.  The winding path doesn't reveal much useful treasure, but it does take you north to the gates of another massive Shaper installation. The structure is quite imposing. You haven't ever seen one of such size before. The four pillars before the gate are each thicker and wider than a whole squad of battle gammas, and even though the markings have faded over the centuries, the signs of the ancient Shapers are imposing... The Sholai are nowhere to be seen, but there's a whole division of deadly turrets and a carpet of spore mines out here to protect the entrance.  There's also a small warehouse of sorts in the north that contains the remains of several augmentation canisters. After detonating the spore mines where they seem most tightly clustered, you head east through the gates... I missed snagging a screenshot of the gate proper, but you can get an idea of it from the minimap. So, to summarize, there's a nasty little surprise at the Crossroads that you have absolutely no reason to expect. If you activate the event, you'll lose your amulet, and you'll need to kill every Sholai on this map to recover it. But as always, there's a way around this -- take the spore mines path and waste some baton charges! We'll be revisiting this later as an experiment. I don't know if the event will fire if you meet Trajkov and then return, so let's find out!   This side of the grand gate is protected by real, living outsiders, not just by their creations.  The gate must have been built to make a bottleneck to and from these canyons and the installations beyond. The Shapers are always interested in controlling transit -- it's necessary to ensure that no Shaped contraband gets into the hands of unauthorized outsiders. Otherwise, rogues and horrific diseases might ravage the land, as they have in Sucia Island.   Game Text posted:Though this old inn is basically intact, the Sholai haven't made a move to clean out or settle it. It's icy cold inside.  Ahh, your favorite: shades.  The ghostly visitors immediately rush your crew. You duck aside among some intact tables, intending to use them as cover.  The ghosts weren't ready to meet the kind of resistance your creations can muster, and soon there are only two ghosts left, then one, and, thanks to Geokinesis, none.  As you investigate the inn's rooms, you reflect on the changes you've observed in your creations over time. Your current creatures are mainly young, with the exception of your sole surviving artila. It is the most sophisticated in terms of behavior, but even RickVoid lacks the playfulness of your earlier creations. Maybe you should be glad that the glaahks and vlish aren't prone to frivolity, but you miss the individual personalities that had begun to emerge with your old creations...   Strategically placed turrets guard the main road. Several have been placed along the service road to the inn, likely to keep those ghosts in check. The patrolling Sholai ignore you.  You meet a Sholai mage, stationed here at the entrance to Sucia Island's main research halls. She looks at you, taking a moment to take you in. Her revulsion is clear on her face. She seems to have been using the augmentation canisters. Lots of them. She literally glows with power, her raw energy struggling to leak out through her skin. She also has a cold look, a look of almost total arrogance. She doesn't say anything. She just smiles, probably fantasizing about how fun it would be to kill or absorb you. "Where can I go to find Trajkov?" you ask in the Sholai tongue. You're sure that if you speak in your own, she will ignore you even if she understands what you're saying. She looks confused, not understanding how you could bother her with such trivialities. "Find Ferapont. Such petty tasks are left to him." Then, without even a nod of farewell, she walks off. If Trajkov is really controlling these monstrosities, he must either command their total devotion or be utterly terrifying. "Wait!" you say, putting all your powers of command into your voice. "Is there somewhere around here where I could find some augmentation canisters?" Her contempt turns to fear, then fury. "No! They are ours! Any others found? Ours! We must have them! Take them from us, and we will destroy you!" She turns and stalks off, probably to look for more Shaper artifacts. She must have used many more augmentation canisters than you have, because you've not been overtaken by such an outburst yet.  The interior of the ruin has been patched up and civilized for use as a garrison and barracks. Game Text posted:Most of the Sholai warriors sleep in here. The intact beds and furniture were moved to the south end of the room, and the crumbled and rotten stuff was pushed to the north. You meet a Sholai warrior, guarding the front gate of the main research halls. You look at him. He looks right through you. He seems to have been using the augmentation canisters. A lot of them. His muscles seem to almost be bursting out of his armor. He also has a cold look, a look of almost total arrogance. He barely seems to register that anyone besides him exists. He looks at you, but he says nothing. "Tell me about this place," you say. There is a long pause. It seems to take him a moment to engage with the outside world. You wonder just how good a guard he could be if he struggles this much with paying attention to anything besides internal stimuli. "The entrance to the research halls. The domain of Trajkov." "Where can I go to find Trajkov?" He points north. "Through the halls. Through the great gates. To Trajkov. Find Ferapont In barracks. He will tell you more." Then, without even a nod of farewell, he walks off. These mere menials can't even behave courteously to you, the one who is key to their hopes for gaining the Geneforge's power.  Unlike most of the strange, disconnected, augmented Sholai guarding the gates, this warrior seems receptive to talking to you. Not necessarily pleased by the prospect, but at least willing. He looks like he was already a very well-muscled warrior before he arrived on Sucia Island. Now, after the use of many augmentation canisters, he is truly huge. "I am Ferapont, loyal follower of Trajkov. It is good you are here. Trajkov is impatient for your arrival." Fortunately, he can speak your tongue. "Can you teach me some of your language?" you ask. One look tells you that he considers this task far below him. "No. I do not have time for such menial Iabor." Ouch. "Tell me about Trajkov?" You hope Ferapont is more forthcoming about his leader. "Trajkov is the hero who led us here and found the secrets of your people. Without him, we would not have been able to gain the awesome powers we have. And he can share those powers with you. But you should not talk with us here. We are just guards. Trajkov is that way." He points north. "Which way should I go?" You expect more specific directions from Sholai squatting on the threshold of the Geneforge. "Oh, it doesn't matter. Just head north, and you will find him without any problems." Hmm. Strange. Something in his voice makes you think he isn't telling the entire truth. "Trajkov would be very angry if anything had happened to me. Is there anything else I should know?" Ferapont looks annoyed, but he does suddenly remember something. "There have been some rogue problems in the tunnels, and we had to trap them. Go north to the labs, east to the barracks, and then north and you should avoid the problems." You struggle a moment to rein in your anger before you speak again. "Why is this gate so well guarded?" "There is another Shaper on this island. Nothing you need to know about. But he is hostile. We need to make sure he doesn't go where he shouldn't." Goettsch, of course. Ferapont doesn't sound very concerned, but he doesn't understand the threat that a fully fledged Shaper poses. Or the canisters have made him not care. The Sholai no doubt wish to ensure that you only go where you're wanted, too. "How many Sholai are on this island?" you ask. "On the ships that arrived, there were about one hundred and fifty. Some died. Some were disloyal and had to be killed. Some wretches are hiding from Trajkov and his justice." Ferapont seems to consider the dead crew disloyal just for dying. "How many augmentation canisters have you used?" "Me? Forty. Some have used less. Some more. There were lots in the halls. Now there are less. We wish there were more. If you find some, do not take them for yourself. We need them." That's laughable. You will almost certainly use any that you find, if only to deny them to these outsiders. "What will happen if you can't find more?" It sounds like the Sholai have not learned how to make canisters yet. You're sure you should be grateful, yet... more canisters... He shudders at the thought. "Trajkov is trying to find a way to make more. We need more. We need to use more."  You walk to the east side of the gate complex. Game Text posted:This was an office and holding chamber for people and materials coming in and out of the research halls. Now it is a barracks for the Sholai mages guarding the gate. The rage that has been simmering in your belly ever since finding these outsiders threatens to overflow. You approach one of the mages who is examining the dead serviles and nearly strike him. The glint in his eyes warns you that he would welcome any excuse to unleash his powers. Your creations bristle and hiss, ready for whatever commands you give, but, though you hate it and yourself, you back down.   You loot the mages' personal belongings while they're not looking, though.  Just past the benches carelessly littered with Shaper instruments is a locked lever... This next series of events never happened, I swear! But if Solution ignored the warning, this is a taste of what would happen.  It's a simple matter to unlock the lever. Inside is still another, smaller room with another lever -- but this one hasn't been secured. Game Text posted:There is a massive wooden lever here. A sign on the wall above it reads 'FRONT GATES SEALING CONTROL.' Game Text posted:With great exertion, you pull the lever. lt switches positions with a loud clang. You hear the sound of great, rusty gears starting to turn. You hear metal bars olanging in place behind the wall to the north. And then all the NPCs turn hostile and you have to fight your way out. To pile insult on injury, you've also locked yourself out of the Geneforge compound, so you have to hunt around for another way in. This is seriously not worthwhile if you've already gone through the trouble of acquiring a Taker amulet, and it's downright stupid if you already fought your way into the Front Gate zone. Now let's return to our canon timeline!  You go for a walk outside to clear your head. You don't want to enter the compound while angry -- these Sholai seem to want to provoke you, or are at least aggressively indifferent about maintaining cordial relations with you and with the creations on this island. There's another dead servile well off the beaten track. You don't know if the creature died while spying or if it merely got unlucky and wandered too far into Sholai territory. You haven't seen any Takers since coming here, and you're not sure that Gnorrel would tolerate the Sholai killing her people. She's ruthless, but her goal is to protect the Takers and liberate them from the Shapers, not to see her kind wiped out for fun by maniacal outsiders. That scene inside the mage barracks reminds you too keenly of the arena. Your people have abandoned that awful practice, but the Sholai...  There's little else to see among the canyons, and you don't want to risk more interactions with these canister-mad fools. You head north through the gates. They clunk open as you approach, permitting views of functional floor lamps, intact columns, and even cleaned-up sculptures.   You find another lever in a side room, but leave it alone for now.   Game Text posted:Shaper research halls are always built so that the actual labs are just inside the entrance.   You pass through a chamber full of Shaping platforms to reach another chamber with shaping platforms and control panels. On one such platform is the corpse of a robed servile. Game Text posted:This control panel has several wooden knobs and buttons on it. There is also a tube, which is pointing at the body on the shaping platform, and an eyepiece. Game Text posted:You look through the eyepiece and see a blur. You fiddle with the knobs and buttons. When you do, something astonishing happens. Okay, this is lacking a little something in that we all know DNA isn't actually spiraling chains of letters and the language isn't quite floral enough to play that off as a metaphor for the four nucleobases (adenine, cytosine, thymine, & guanine just to refresh your memories). Nevertheless, this is a cool little scene which expands on what one of the servile sages told us months ago in real time. You turn away from the lens, mind abuzz with the possibilities, then see one of the researches here watching you. Staring into the glowing eyes of this augmented human, it is hard not to be afraid on behalf of your people. The canisters have rewritten this man's essence so many times that they have blasted the humanity out of him. If he was a Shaper, he might have had the strength of will and the training to resist what happened to him. But he wasn't, and he didn't. In return for his identity, he was given raw power. He says, in a deep, raspy voice, "Shaper. I am Vershinin. Yes. Shaper. You come. Come look. Come explore." You wish that invitation came from another Shaper, but it does not. Reluctantly, you address the creature who calls himself Vershinin. "What can I find in this area?" He doesn't seem to hear the question. "Where is Trajkov?" you try. No one's failed to respond to that question. But he doesn't reply. "You mentioned exploring? Explore what?" He points at the device in the alcove to the southeast. The device is pointing at a dead servile. "There. Look at the secrets of your people. The spirals. To find and see and read and change the spirals. That is magic! That is a fitting goal for a person!" "The spirals?" you repeat, stupidly. You're still wondering if Vershinin is truly a person. "The genes. Yes?" He shakes his head. "So little knowledge of the secrets of your people. They are the scrolls. The tiny scrolls which contain infinite knowledge. The instructions which make you. Soon, we will write on them, like you write on a scroll." He smiles. "And what will you write?" In an instant, his mood changes. He frowns. He looks bored. "What will we write? Whatever we want, fool!" Then he turns away. You exhale, then examine the other equipment. Where the platforms are empty, the knobs and buttons on the control panels do nothing, and all you see through the eyepieces are darkness. You are tempted to put your own creations on the platforms and look into their scrolls, but you can't predict the outcome of carelessly rewriting their genes. Plus, they might need to be dead to successfully examine them, and you aren't interested in that.  Game Text posted:This laboratory was one (if not the only) of the places where the augmentation canisters were made. Here, crystal tubes were carefully shaped, filled with hot, charged, living material, and magically sealed.  This researcher is hard at work trying to figure out how to create more of the augmenting canisters. He is having little luck. Your interruption annoys him. He says, haltingly, in your tongue, "Doing work now. Very hard. Busy. Leave us." You make note of the power spirals in the back of the room. They all seem to be hooked into circuits powering experimental equipment as well as environmental controls.  Game Text posted:The book is an old Shaper journal, fortunately still intact and readable. It's been dusted off recently. The Sholai must have been trying to study it. One interesting section: You close the book, losing the previous reader's place in the process. The Shapers didn't take enough care to protect their secrets from the Sholai. The measures taken when Sucia Island was temporarily Barred were insufficient for an abandonment lasting hundreds of years. Even the Shapers who defied the Barring didn't take more steps to secure the canisters and other sensitive knowledge left behind here. Now you are being punished for their mistakes.  Nobody is using the library, so you read undisturbed for quite some time. Game Text posted:The book is an old Shaper journal, fortunately still intact and readable. It's been dusted off recently. The Sholai must have been trying to study it- One interesting section: You wish this hopeful Shaper's dreams had come true. But in the last two hundred years, modifications to Shaper designs have been carried out the same way they were before the discovery of the gene -- through tedious, painful guesswork. Game Text posted:The book is an old Shaper journal, fortunately still intact and readable. It's been dusted off recently. The Sholai must have been trying to study it. One interesting section: Interesting. You bet the missing procedures also mention the gloves that Goettsch stole.  The patrolling Sholai and battle creations don't stop you from poking your nose into everything. That includes these side rooms. This canister improves your power to create glaahks. You turn your thoughts to what the books said about the augmentation canisters in order to master the euphoria of the changes being wrought on you. You aren't being granted knowledge or experience or even judgment, but simply power -- abilities like the fyora's power to spit fire, rather than the spells wizards master in hard years of studying.  This canister of domination is guarded by spore mines. You set off the first before you even open the door, but you successfully skirt the rest to get at the canister.  The last door is locked by a lever that requires your control baton to open. It's worth risking discovery, though, because you feel your nimbleness and speed increase as the canister changes your muscle fibers and reshapes the pathways that transfer commands from your mind to your body.  The next automatic door is locked and there seems to be no lever nearby. You nerviously finger the hem of one sleeve while a heavily augmented Sholai and a battle gamma pass you by.  Game Text posted:These chambers, dug out of solid rock and normally well defended, are where the more difficult and experimental shapings, generally of completely new sorts of creatures, take place.   The first Shaping chamber is empty, but as you enter the second, Dmar rattles its whiptail. Something glows up ahead, just out of sight. Then the beta steps around the corner, body pulsating with fulsome energies. It's still merely a beta, though, and susceptible to your terror vlish's mental attacks. RickVoid lands the finishing blow. Beyond the changed beta, you find the corpse of a Sholai near a Shaping platform. Game Text posted:This Sholai mage was careless, more careless than a Shaper would ever be. He tried to make a new sort of creation without any sort of armed support. Death was his reward.  The other side of the Shaping warren leads back to the main cistern chamber, but the path has been blocked by a tight double row of reaper turrets. You work your way back around the way you came instead of proceeding further into the trashed labs. The Sholai are clearly having trouble controlling this area, and it's not currently in your interests to pacify it for them.  The cistern itself seems clean enough, so you allow your creations to drink from it while you think about where to go next. None of these outsiders are interested in providing you with directions to Trajkov, but he must be deeper in the compound. None of the research happening here looks important enough to concern him. Most of all, the Geneforge isn't here.  Nearby is a room with a cold brazier and a bunch of levers. It must have been some sort of control station originally.  You meet the head of the guard in this section. He must have been an impressive figure even before he got here. Now, with the aid of augmentation, he is enormous. Yet, despite his size, he is both quick and nimble. He nods to you and says, in your tongue, "Welcome. I am Serabryakov." He looks like he doesn't want to speak with you, but he is resigned to his duty. "Tell me about these halls." "This area is for research," Serabryakov says. "This is where we figure out what you people can do and learn to do ourselves. North is dangerous rogue area. Best stay from there. West is vats. We don't control. Very dangerous. East is our quarters. Safe." "Why is the area to the north dangerous?" you ask, as though you didn't just slay an out of control experiment up there. Now that you think about it, the Sholai even abandoned one of their own up there. "What is dangerous in the vat area?" "The north is where your kind stored creatures. But they are all loose and they tore down walls and attack us, so we seal it. Nothing valuable there. We stay out. Not a worry." He's either lying or talking about the door that you didn't pass through. You assume the latter for now. "One of your minds, the minds on the trays, is in the vats, and hates us. Fills with rogues and poisons. Makes us mad. We want things there. But we can't reach." You hold back a smile. The servant minds are loyal to a fault. "What if I got rid of the mind for you?" "That is good thing. I would give you secret to helpful thing if you did that. Save us trouble. Mind is to west in vat caves. Kill that nasty thing." You decide to take a look and assess the mind's condition if nothing else. Slaying something that's impeding the Sholai doesn't really appeal to you, though. However, if the mind is in the same shape as the one back in South Workshop, releasing it from service may be the merciful choice. "You look like you have been heavily improved." "I have. Your magic, it was strong. And watch." He draws a dagger and slashes the palm of his hand with it. He doesn't even flinch. As you watch, the wound heals itself before your eyes. "Amazing magic. Your people are strong. And now we are strong," he says. You really don't want to fight with these outsiders, but you suspect you'll be forced to eventually. In the meantime, you will take them for everything you can, just like you've done with the servile sects. "Can you give me assistance?" He looks nervous. "You visitor, but you not have our trust. Your kind betray us before. I'll not give you my secret." The same secret he promised for slaying a mind? Or does this Sholai pretend to a whole bevy of secrets? "And what will Trajkov say when I tell him that you could have helped me but didn't?" "He... he will say..." He pauses. All the canisters haven't done anything to make him brighter. "Oh. I don't know. I... Trajkov can be angry." Unhappily, he says several numbers to you. "That is numbers to open locked door in quarters in my chambers. Leads to canister. We hate giving away canisters, but you are right. Trajkov makes us help you." Unhelpfully, Serabryakov doesn't tell you where his chambers are. You press on. "Where is Trajkov?" "Go east from here to quarters. Watch out for drayks. They can be dangerous. Instead go north. There, you find Trajkov." He thinks. "Oh. There's a door. To go east, there's a door. We keep it sealed because if something ugly is made, well, you know." He points to the southeast, across the pool. "One of the levers in there. It helps." You thank him before returning to the four lever control room, where you promptly give into your base desire to pull every single lever. Then you return west and pass up the guard room entirely.  There's a rubbish-strewn antechamber here that leads directly into a sorting facility guarded by pylons. You carefully back away and turn south instead.  Game Text posted:The main lab complex is to the south. It is full of large alcoves, each home to some busy intruder's experiment.  The hum of power is strong here, but these smaller rooms haven't been claimed by researchers. Damaged equipment like this must lead to unpredictable results. You meet one of the Sholai guards, here to protect their mages and slay whatever rogue creations they make. The guard regards you with a combination of dislike and mistrust. He has the arrogant expression and massive, misshapen body that seem to be the hallmarks of heavy canister usage. "What should I know about this area?" you ask. He shrugs. He says, slowly and clearly, "You go see Serabryakov. He will help you. I will not." Your brows knit together of their own accord. "Do you have some problem with me?" "I have no trust for your kind. Your kind lie to us before. Trajkov get one before you. I watch you. Not trust." Smarter than Serabrykov, but not very diplomatic. You wave him away and move on.  All of the strange creations you've seen on Sucia Island, like the spawners, must have come from mages like this one. This is one of the intruders who have been tinkering with your people's dearest secrets. She looks at you vacantly. You can see that though her body is here, her mind is wandering realms far away. The canisters have freed her thoughts, enabling her to perform great and dangerous acts. You ask her your new favorite question now that you know where the boat is. "Where is Trajkov?" "He is... he is... north. Go there through quarters." She points to the east. You've already opened up the door leading that way. It's good to know it's not a trap, not unless someone has coordinated this response with all of these augmentation-addled Sholai. "What sort of research have you been doing?" "Mastering your... your... your tricks. Making everything your people can. And better. Learning to read the gene. And breaking them. And reforming them." That's a terrifying answer.  The hated crystal mine triggers are growing here under the power of another networked power spiral.  Someone is cultivating essence lattices here.  This appears to be a sort of alchemy research room, with a pair of acid vats linked into the power circuit. The smell makes your nose tingle, and you've seen all that you came to see, so you head east. 
POOL IS CLOSED fucked around with this message at 17:33 on Mar 20, 2017 |
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Feb 27, 2017 20:14
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Considering how most of the Sholai aren't really capable of extended conversations, either due to linguistic difficulties or canister-induced insanity, it feels a bit like it was expected few players would choose this path. So less effort was done to spruce it up with varied content.
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Feb 27, 2017 20:55
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POOL IS CLOSED posted:
Also, the Geneforge wiki claims Gavrila is female (though the name is male) Xander77 fucked around with this message at 01:03 on Feb 28, 2017 |
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Feb 27, 2017 22:15
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About how many canisters has Solution used?
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Feb 27, 2017 22:20
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The proofreading on the actual in game text, including the transcribed dialogues, also gets rougher around here. Part of it was probably just fatigue kicking in. There's a novel worth of text in this game. Xander77 posted:Is it actually possible to kite rogues and Sholai patrols into each other? Thanks! I'll fix those up when I get back to the old desk. Gavrila is a man, as the intro states -- or at least he is in G1. I don't recall him ever showing up again. The wiki could be describing another character. It's not very reliable. TooMuchAbstraction posted:About how many canisters has Solution used? That's a good question! Dozens at least. I don't think we've hit forty though.
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Feb 28, 2017 00:00
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I wonder what the Sholai are thinking of doing. Returning home as god-kings? Living it up here? Going space?
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Feb 28, 2017 02:02
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