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Go for C, trust noone whom you have not shaped out of magic goop yourself.
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Jun 10, 2017 08:54
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Trajkov has spoken nothing but truth, but he has omitted one crucially important fact: Solution is, herself, a Shaper. C is the obvious answer here. I suspect he knows full well what the text of that book says. We will not be able to simply tell him to shove his hand in as far as it will go and leave it at that... ... but when the time comes, the things that must be done must be done. (I am unclear on the difference between B and C here, but betrayal is far more Solution's style than direct assault.)
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Jun 10, 2017 09:35
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I forgot how much Fun the Vats are. 
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Jun 10, 2017 14:53
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We didn't get those faulty gloves to not get someone to shove their arms into the GeneMagicSplooge (tm). C
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Jun 10, 2017 16:15
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POOL IS CLOSED posted:I forgot how much Fun the Vats are.  Fun I take it? I look forward to your pain. 
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Jun 10, 2017 17:10
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C What's a little betrayal between friends? (Also gently caress over Goettsch)
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Jun 10, 2017 17:22
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I guess it comes down to two questions: Who do we gently caress over? Who will that serve? A screws over the Shapers to the benefit of the serviles, the Sholai, and Solution, provided Trajkov is telling the truth. The question here is, why wouldn't he? We've seen and felt what the power of the canisters does to people who use them; if he cared only about power I think he'd be much the same as Goettsch right now. It seems safe enough to assume that he's on the level. This is the option for those who feel that the serviles deserve better than they've gotten and that Trajkov is a man who will give it to them. B is the inverse; it screws over the Sholai (who lose their one sane leader not in exile), the Serviles, and quite possibly Solution herself. If we were a good Shaper, this would be the option we pick. If we were a good Shaper, I believe many things would already have gone differently. Still, Solution's made a point of maintaining plausible deniability of the 'I was only doing it to get off this stupid island' form; she might even be believed. This option seems to be for those who believe Solution a good enough Shaper, despite everything, that she would risk her life to do what her order deems right. C screws everybody but Solution herself. She has already made her contempt for Goettsch clear; a proper Shaper he might have been once, but probably not any more, so she's certainly not siding with him. That being the case, this option offers little that B does not... unless one plans to do the truly mad thing and claim the Geneforge for oneself through trickery. This option really depends on what the thread believes the Geneforge is - if it's some kind of turbo-canister, that sounds like a one-way ticket on the Palpatine Express. If it isn't that, it raises the question of what it does do. This is the option for the power-mad, it's true, but also for those who think that Trajkov is not on the level and that the Geneforge might be harnessed to help the serviles (and are inclined to do so). D has the potential to gently caress everybody - Goettsch, Trajkov, and more than likely the serviles themselves when the Shaper Council hears about all that we've seen and flips their collective poo poo, Solution, when the Council learns that she had the power to bring a decisive end to the conflict and didn't, and possibly the Shapers themselves assuming one of Goettsch and Trajkov get their ducks in a row and end up using the Geneforge in the interim. This is an actively terrible idea; it accomplishes nothing that one of the other three wouldn't do better, and the potential benefits don't seem to include particularly better odds of saving Solution's own hide. This is the option for the people who want to watch the world (or at least this subset of it) burn. As for me, I believe the one consistent thread throughout Solution's Sucia sojourn has been her attachment to the shaped - her own creations, and the serviles. As per the thread's vote, she has kept her creations with her as long as she was able - they are certainly closer to children or beloved pets than tools, or even servants. She has also been surprised, over and over again, across the three factions, by the humanity of the serviles. After her confrontation with the ancient shade in the northwest of Sucia, she has learned that this humanity may once have been more literal than she would have ever thought possible prior to her journey. I do not believe she would ensure their deaths now, as B and likely D would do. She might have picked C once, but the Sholai she has seen on the way here have proved a more potent warning than she might have expected - she is in control, for now, but I do not believe she would expect her control to last through the power the Geneforge might give her. I therefore vote A - it appears the only remaining reasonable choice is to throw in with the only remaining reasonable enhanced Sholai. POOL IS CLOSED posted:I forgot how much Fun the Vats are. oh gently caress I'd managed to forget about that stupid place why did you remind me Like, it seems like maybe a Guardian might have been able to explore them, a little bit, maybe, but they seem like they're basically off-limits to noodly nerds like Solution.
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Jun 10, 2017 18:14
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I'm gonna go with C here because I don't think anybody can be trusted with the Geneforge. We know for a fact that Trajkov wants to use it. So basically kill anything that aspires to godhood.
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Jun 10, 2017 18:36
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One speculation about Trajkov's alternate motivations, if we don't believe he's being on the level, is that he recognises that just one Geneforged individual still isn't enough to overthrow all of Shaper society. And Shaper society is an existential threat to his friends and family back home. I could absolutely understand his desire to make sure that the Sholai, not the Shapers, have control of this game-changing technology. In this scenario, what he'd do would be gain control of the Geneforge (using any means necessary, including kidnapping Shapers and tricking them into revealing its secrets), use its power to uplift a trusted lieutenant, send them back to the Sholai mainland with the news, and use his own Geneforged power to hold off anything the Shapers can throw at him until Sholai backup arrives.
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Jun 10, 2017 18:46
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Honestly I'd kind of pick D, just because... well. You don't just know how to use a giant gene-rewriting machine that changes yourself at a fundamental level as a theory, right? Someone tried this. Someone had to. We have no idea what happened to them, which seems odd, unless maybe this amazing forbidden power isn't all that useful when you get right down to it.
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Jun 10, 2017 20:49
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Glazius posted:Honestly I'd kind of pick D, just because... well. The book itself said 'nobody's used this thing yet; we haven't quite worked ourselves up to it.' Actually, more specifically: POOL IS CLOSED posted:"It is unsure whether we will ever allow one to adopt the mantle of greater being and welcome the changes that the Geneforge will make. Who has the courage to allow themselves to be rewritten, remade? It seems like they'd just worked out how to safely use it (probably after losing a test subject to doing it without gloves, which is why they figured they had to have them). I'm guessing as soon as somebody from HQ saw any of this they stormed in going SHUT DOWN EVERYTHING before anybody had gotten the go-ahead to make themselves into a living god or whatever the hell it's supposed to remake you into. More to the point, using the Geneforge is not necessarily baked into any of the options above; I'm inferring it into C but really it doesn't have to be. B and C both imply killing at least one of the people who wants to use the Geneforge; as PIC said, what to do about the other will be its own vote. vdate fucked around with this message at 21:36 on Jun 10, 2017 |
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Jun 10, 2017 21:33
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I got a sting on me fing by some rude rear end bees after I got done fighting with Greenshot to take the screenshots for the next couple updates.  The next update will take us through another route to the Geneforge. Solution has successfully gotten through the Vats, which is one of the worst optional areas ever for reasons you'll soon see. (You can totally survive this zone as a papier mache Shaper with this one weird trick! Sholai hate it!)
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Jun 10, 2017 23:08
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We should go with A. Trajkov because he seems the sanest of the bunch. Worst case, we can betray him later.
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Jun 10, 2017 23:55
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Slaan posted:We should go with A. Trajkov because he seems the sanest of the bunch. Worst case, we can betray him later. No, we can't. The OP isn't giving us a CYOA page reference; she's to some extent abstracting the endgame into previews for us, with implied ramifications for future LPs of Geneforge's sequels. We'll probably see every endgame, but this choice will apparently hold firm.
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Jun 11, 2017 01:00
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C While A would be entertaining, I think from everything seen so far C is the most in character choice. Solution seems to favor trickery over direct conflict (as seen with her dealings with the servile factions), and even though she has grown disgusted with Shapers as an organization, she still seems to generally agree with their principles.
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Jun 11, 2017 01:25
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C, then kill G, then destroy the Geneforge. It's like the One Ring, the mere desire for it, for any reason, is corrupting.
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Jun 11, 2017 04:13
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C, please.
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Jun 11, 2017 04:29
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C. Trajkov is a butthole. Let's not turn buttholes into godlike beings if we can possibly avoid it.
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Jun 11, 2017 06:52
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I'm going to assume whether or not we use the geneforge is a separate choice? I read C as betraying both sides and using the device, but clearly some are reading it as betraying both sides and destroying it. Might just be me misreading it. If the Geneforge choice is already on the table, I think it makes more thematic sense to use it. Unlike future games, there's no limit on canister use, and we've used every canister unwaveringly. I think the point of no return was a long time ago, and we kept going. Whether we're aware of our own corruption or not, I don't think we'd want to stop. I don't think we'd be able to. And, honestly, it seems a bit forced to turn away from the "evil" option right at the climax. It's a cheap way to "redeem" a character that might not deserve it, and it tends to be boring. We can all imagine how a penitent Solution who sees the error in her ways at the last moment might act. I want to see what our Solution, Machiavellian, paranoid, and alone would become.
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Jun 11, 2017 08:20
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TooMuchAbstraction posted:I'm gonna go with C here because I don't think anybody can be trusted with the Geneforge. We know for a fact that Trajkov wants to use it. So basically kill anything that aspires to godhood. C, precisely for these reasons.
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Jun 11, 2017 17:44
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Random_Username posted:I'm going to assume whether or not we use the geneforge is a separate choice? I read C as betraying both sides and using the device, but clearly some are reading it as betraying both sides and destroying it. Might just be me misreading it. There will be more votes. In this case, we're just voting on what to do to Trajkov specifically, and we could later decide to deal with Goettsch differently, and then Genefore I imagine will be an entirely separate vote as to whether we use it, leave it be, or destroy it (the Geneforge vote is speculation on my part; it's possible that there are more options that I'm not aware of, but those three seem logical).
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Jun 11, 2017 20:24
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Wander and Ponder You need some time to think, and you can't do that while all of Trajkov's eyes are on you. There are lands west of here that you've barely touched, paths you haven't explored. Perhaps something there might help you reach a decision.   Game Text posted:You are at the lower end of a rocky mountain path. This crude walkway is at the one end of a steep valley, spiraling up into the hills at the north end of Sucia Island. You know that smell -- spawners. The Sholai have set them here to guard the western approach without risking any more precious humans. Can the augmented Sholai be called human anymore? Surely not. Those of you who have used canisters are now a breed apart. You are perhaps closer to creations than to humans and other Shapers as a result. That the Sholai are willing to create rogues and let them reproduce uncontrollably doesn't speak well to Trajkov. He tried to disavow the other outsiders' actions, how they use and abuse Shaper powers, but they are his subordinates. He should take responsibility. He should rein them in. You don't know if he will even try once he succeeds in using the Geneforge.    These thoughts occupy you as you explore a small way station to the north. Sadly, the essence pools here have long since dried up. The locks appear intact and untouched; the outsiders haven't made use of these chambers. The air is stale and has the faintest taste of mildew.  The presence of hostile turrets shouldn't be a surprise, but you are distracted. Dmar wanders into their sights first thanks to your inattention.  Though Dmar is stung, the glaahk still crushes the nearest turret with ease. The vlish squad takes out the next one.  You decide to head eastwards along the canyon passage instead of entering the wide-open room to the north. If that door is open, Sholai have probably entered and set up an irritating trap. You'll test the canyon defenses first. At least the long, mostly straight defile provides few hiding places for ambushers and turrets.    Your nose hasn't led you astray. The abominable shaper, its turret guards, and its spectral creations are all crushed by your team. Everyone gets an extra ration of meat in celebration. You aren't exactly certain how vlish consume meat, but they still accept it. You don't watch too closely. You may have shaped them, but that was thanks to the power of the canisters, not due to your own earned knowledge.  The outsiders have set up a shooting gallery by emplacing turrets across a pool. Swimming it doesn't look like a good idea -- nothing but greenish slime lines the banks, and all the skeletons around here suggest that the water here is so tainted as to be incompatible with life. Your vlish make short work of the turrets. If they were reaper types, you'd be more concerned about safety, but these are the ordinary acid type.   Another spawner blocks the path just past the chamber you first explored in these hills.  The glaahks destroy the turrets first, and then turn on the spawner. You direct the vlish to incapacitate the charged thahd. The skirmish is over in seconds. The idea behind the placement is sound, but the creations themselves aren't particularly powerful. This must be the first line of defenses.   A wide crack in the canyon wall circles around to a dead end. Weathered rubble from some long ago collapse masks the terminus; maybe there used to be a cave or even another Shaper ruin here. Some more lattice crystals have cropped up here and you use them. You kill the lone turret quickly and find a living tool and a brown spore baton for your trouble. Someone probably forgot them here.  The canyon trail road traces a wandering path north. You follow it to a door that slips open. The air here isn't very good, but it's cool. You take a moment to patch up the trivial wounds left by turrets and rogues.   The path that wends south leads to the other side of the turret moat you encountered earlier. One strong turret was placed to guard the others' backs, but alone, it isn't much of a threat.  The middle branch ends at a locked door...  The interior proves unexpectedly large. Someone has used up a canister left here by two dried up essence pools. You smell something foul.  Two turrets guard the way to a desiccated corpse. The musty, overripe scent of death still lingers here. The corpse is in such bad condition that you can't tell if the person died of wounds or from other causes. They left behind some decent looking supplies, but most of them smell so terrible that you give up on taking them along. The only thing you salvage is a green spore baton. Even reeking like death, it's too useful to leave behind.  You find the road again as well as yet another spawner.  Unlike the others, this one produces searing artila. The road continues eastwards toward the Geneforge. For now, you head west. There may be more spawners to destroy.    This small ruin, guarded by yet more turrets, is infested with spectral rogues. The outsiders should have also learned from the Shapers' mistakes, not just their texts...   The turret in the back guards two chests containing a fair number of thorns, pods, and crystals, as well as some well-wrapped steel swords. The end of the canyon path wraps back around to yet another trio of turrets placed behind a moat. Thanks to approaching from behind, you are able to eliminate the guard turret with little trouble and then destroy the two moat turrets before they detect you.   You find another spawner and destroy it. The searing artila are more bothersome than charged thahds; their acid is painfully potent.  You return to the open door you passed up hours before. Dead soil has blown in and mounded up in the corners. The statues are shrouded in dust.  Someone has looted the tombs. Given that they left behind weapons and gemstones, they were looking for Shaper knowledge, not grave goods.   But two of the sarcophagi are still intact. The learning of Shapers past helps you improve your understanding of healing craft and of roamers. With that, you believe you've completely charted the canyon route.   The road leading back to the Geneforge stays dusty and barren. The ancient poisons still taint the earth. These canyons were probably marginal to begin with, but now they are a death trap for any being who loses their path here. The nearby obelisk reads, "CRISIS REGION. For supplies and instructions, report to Kantre. For assistance, report to Health and Holding." Well, Sucia Island is certainly in the throes of crisis. You doubt this Kantre still lives, but you might find something useful here.  A feral battle alpha is the first to greet you. Geokinesis and Talow drop it with little effort.  Just behind another rogue you see a cowering servile. Strange...  After the alpha falls, the servile walks nervously up to you. This servile isn't like the others on the island. It looks innocent. Obedient. Dumb. Much closer to what you're used to. Must be a fresh creation. Body of adult, mind of child. It smiles and pokes the ground nervously with its toe. "I am Fwee. Welcome to the Realm of Kantre, Shaper. I am honored to see you. Now leave, or you will be slain." "Why does everything here want to kill me?" you ask. You're worn down and would rather not have to slash and burn the rest of your way back to Trajkov. "Because Kantre wills it. It protects these valleys from all infections, because it is the time of crisis. Kantre is made to do great things in the time of crisis." Fwee is not very helpful, but you suppose Kantre is a mind left here in case of disaster. "I would prefer not to be attacked. Is this possible?" "No, because Kantre wills it. Kantre is charged by the great Danette to protect these sacred vales in the time of crisis, which he has done for all known time. Kantre is afraid you bring impurity, and he is charged to deal with you, and he wills it." Here you can tell Fwee that Kantre sounds like a dangerous rogue and that you must deal with it. This turns the whole zone hostile and triggers infinite spawning platforms. "Danette? I know of Danette." Well, that's not a lie, but the next part is. "She sent me here to speak with Kantre." "Oh. Well, that is not important. I am sure that the will of Kantre will be a harsh..." Fwee stops speaking. His head tilts to one side. There is a long pause. Then he speaks again. "Kantre wills that you shall speak with him. It is a surprising honor. The creations will not attack you until you can answer to Kantre. It is his will." "I see... Thank you. Tell me about Kantre. Where are they?" "Kantre is very wise. Kantre was placed here to act in a time of crisis. Then the time of crisis happened. Kantre was stern and wise and brought about his will." Fwee knows nothing. The servile's adoration is almost painful. "What is the time of crisis?" Understanding how Kantre sees events on the island might help you deal with it. "It was said that there might come a time when the great research halls would have a crisis, and poisons would flow forth, and rogues would claim all of everything. In this event, this dominion was created, and Kantre was given mastery over it, to provide protection and succor to the hurt and dissolving." Fwee points the way towards Kantre; once you leave the servile and walk far enough, the entry becomes obvious. Nevertheless, you put off actually approaching Kantre's domain.  This door doesn't open, and you can't find a lever. If you anger Kantre, this just disgorges hostile creations.  South of the locked door, you locate a small set of chambers. The northern one is clogged with active mines. The next is marked with an obelisk labeled "HIGH CLEARANCE HOLDING. Warning! Reapers!" That doesn't sound welcoming. You move on.   A tiny apothecary still has goods on its lone counter. But what lures you in is the twinkle of an intact canister. You use it without really consciously intending to, and it bestows upon you an even more powerful antitoxin spell.   The eastern plaza is much more built up than the other areas, but the surviving locks are too complex for your unlocking spell, and you don't have a full complement of living tools on you. The only open chambers are ruined shops that have already been cleaned out.   The center of Kantre's domain is a shell of what it must have been centuries ago. Most of the buildings are merely rubble. Bones are strewn everywhere, as though the alphas here fought off fierce attackers. The sun and tainted soil have badly aged the remains, so you can't tell how long ago any of this happened.  A double row of modified Shaping circles greets you first. They look similar to what you found in the tombs Danette had secretly built. You suspect that Kantre must use these to unleash the creations left behind here... You hope that they're not actually spawners too.  Game Text posted:You try to open the cabinet but it is sealed shut. The servant mind says, "No, intruder! You will not steal from me! Answer to Kantre!" You meet Mind Kantre, servant mind and controller of this area. One look into the creature's watery eyes tells you that its isolation on Sucia Island has driven it thoroughly mad. It smiles at you and twitches. "Shaper, you come to my dominion. It is the time of crisis. I am charged by Danette to protect the... the... protect. I see you as a thing of infection. Explain yourself, or I destroy you." There's really only one way to peacefully resolve this, and you need a leadership score of at least 8 to do it. Otherwise your options are, "You dare threaten a Shaper? Do your worst, rogue" or "Wait. We need to discuss this," both of which end in a fight. You can say "l have no interest in this conversation" and just screw right off, but then you miss out on goodies. "Danette sent me to check on you. Do not attack." You're gambling on Kantre having no better an understanding of a Shaper's lifespan than any other creation you've met so far. Kantre looks at you, doubtful. You stare back at it. Something in your voice made the creature think you might be telling the truth. "I cannot slay you, not if you are my creator. Tell me, what are my new instructions?" You didn't say that you are Danette, but, well, this is also acceptable. "Continue doing what you have been doing. You are doing well. However, I need to pass safely." You can try to convince Kantre to kill itself: "Your time of long, noble service can at last end. Danette wants you to deactivate yourself." Kantre smiles. "Thank you. I am glad. I am glad my service and my will have been good." Maybe too good. With nothing to divert its thoughts and no socialization but simple serviles, the servant mind has become hopelessly obsessed. "You may pass through here safely. Oh. I forgot. You will need a key." It points at the cabinet next to it with its withered hand. "And I also have the items you wanted me to store." You hear a click from a door in the east wall. "What is this area for?" you ask. "This is where Shapers come in the time of crisis. There are shops and an apothecary and places for rogues and places to meet and organize. It is all here in case there is a disaster in the halls of research to the east." "How can I enter the halls of research?" "Take the key from my cabinet and go east. That is where the meeting halls and apothecary are. Beyond there is the research halls. You need an entry baton to enter, though." You have one, but on the off chance that you can secure another, you ask, "Where can I get an entry baton?" Unfortunately, Kantre replies, "I don't know. Records of all of that are in Kazg." It's been so long that you don't even remember if Kazg is where you first learned of the batons. "Why did she leave?" you ask, quickly switching subjects. "She never came to say. She never even said goodbye." You pity Kantre a little. The servant mind has made your journey a little more difficult, but it is only trying to fulfill its creator's commands. Even mad, Kantre remains loyal. "What do you remember of Danette?" "So little. I am sad. I remember her words, but not what she was like. She was very wise. She controlled all research here. Then she left," Kantre says. Danette wasn't very wise. Cunning and curious, yes... but not wise, not based on all the mistakes that make up this island. "That is all I need from you." "Yes, Shaper. Thank you, Shaper." Kantre closes its eyes.  The two rooms opposite Kantre are packed with high quality Shaped goods and even some intact supplies.  On your way to investigate the locked western door, you find the ruins of a kitchen.  The western door remains closed, so you head south towards the guarded chambers.  Kantre didn't or couldn't deactivate the mines, so you detonate them with the green spore baton. There's a spent or ruined canister in the back; you're not sure which it was. You do find a rod of defenses in one of the cabinets, though, and that is well worth taking.  Only two reaper turrets guard this room. Your vlish terrify them and then destroy them.  The turrets guarded a very fine piece of Shaper work.  The chambers east of Kantre's room have two intact essence pools, probably tended by Fwee. The Shaping circles here are clean and in good repair.  The creations in the far northern chambers are still hostile, though. They have likely gone rogue thanks to Kantre's inattention. The whole complex is full of rubbish and poorly lit on top of that.  You clear out the left hall first. Someone has left place settings out as though the Shapers might gather here at any time. The pitchers and mugs are covered in grime.  Three glaahks stumble over each other in their haste to escape their confinement. While they choke up the narrow cell door, you quickly put them down. They look hungry, and you look like meat.  A mummified corpse lies among potsherds. The body crumbles at your touch.   Game Text posted:This is a log book. There are instructions on the first page: You head through the gate, setting sun at your back. Next time: Superfun Superfund The vote continues! Next time we will clear the Vats, one of my least favorite areas of the game. Here's an unscientific tally of the vote as it presently stands. Option C has a massive lead any way you slice it. A. 9 B. 1 C. 23 D. 2 POOL IS CLOSED fucked around with this message at 20:32 on Jun 12, 2017 |
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Jun 12, 2017 19:36
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You have a broken image tag for https://lpix.org/2831381/2017-06-09%2021_27_47-Geneforge.png
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Jun 12, 2017 20:31
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TooMuchAbstraction posted:You have a broken image tag for https://lpix.org/2831381/2017-06-09%2021_27_47-Geneforge.png Fixed, thanks!
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Jun 12, 2017 20:32
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Guess I'll thrown in a vote for option A: Trajkov is being a bit too quick to judge Shaper culture from an island the Shapers are ashamed of, and the appeal of stopping this madness is understandable, but Solution's personality seems to have become an odd mixture of benevolent towards her own creations and yet politically ruthless, which is fairly similar towards Trajkov himself. Besides, leaving creations to die on a poisoned island is black-hearted enough to justify a change in management, as it were.
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Jun 12, 2017 21:43
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I just don't trust his word in the slightest.
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Jun 12, 2017 21:52
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Solution has already caught the discrepancy in Trajkov's arguments; his underlings are completely unchecked. If he really cared about the serviles and other creations, he would have brought his people in line. He hasn't bothered in the slightest. In fact, he's even treated his own people horribly - remember dissenters were killed. Trajkov talks a good game, and he looks sane - but actions are the proof, not words. C.
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Jun 13, 2017 07:15
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Never pass up a chance to go full megalomaniac. C.
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Jun 13, 2017 23:23
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Getting the information about Donnette leaving should probably come before asking why she left.
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Jun 14, 2017 10:06
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Huh. So they were just starting out, then. Was this island even used for ten years before everything went Barred? I suppose you can't build everything at once, but all the same, that's some fresh construction.
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Jun 14, 2017 11:06
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Xander77 posted:Getting the information about Donnette leaving should probably come before asking why she left. Interestingly enough, you can get stuck in a dialogue menu where you can ask why or quit out but you don't get the primary option first. It was probably an oversight. We already know about Danette, anyway; this is just one of several chances to get background. Glazius posted:Huh. So they were just starting out, then. Was this island even used for ten years before everything went Barred? The crisis area might have been built later than the rest of the Shaper facilities, but who knows? We have also seen evidence of in progress construction not completed before the evacuation. The Shapers might have had a small outpost on Sucia for quite a while, then made the breakthrough with the Geneforge, and then decided to expand based on that. That is my guess; it makes some sense with the in progress facility and servant mind meant to deal with canister export logistics.
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Jun 14, 2017 13:34
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Superfun Superfund  Game Text posted:Across this rocky valley to the northeast, looming above the natural stone outcroppings, you can see a huge building. It is a massive, Shaper-built structure. It looks like an entryway. Vogel could've used a comma rationer... and maybe someone to keep track of characters' genders. Danette is canonically female, but the dialogue refers to her with male pronouns in a number of places. She's not the only character this happens to. I try to fix the errors when they crop up. I don't blame Vogel for the mistakes; it's rough to keep up with such a large cast in a game with so much text.  You cautiously approach a sparse stand of pines. The road is hidden here and there by mounds of soft, dusty earth that the wind likes to toy with. One breeze kicks up into a dust devil and blows a fine mouthful of grit through your hood. It tastes sour.  Just past the trees is a small structure built into the hillside. It's too quiet; you brace yourself for an ambush. They strike from the second room, a team of spectral Shapers who have been bound here for who knows how long. They seem to have burst from the crystal containment vessels lining the walls.  The spectral Agents are especially powerful thanks to their mastery of diamond spray.  Eventually, though, you lay them all to rest.   Game Text posted:The Sholai defending this area brought several prisoners to this makeshift interrogation chamber. The result is unpleasant.  The dead serviles just prove that the outsiders don't feel any responsibility towards the creations Trajkov claims to respect.  Meltwaters from the mountains to the north course across this dead land, carrying all sorts of contaminants south towards Kazg.  Another blur flickers past you. If you squint, you can make out the strangely augmented Sholai you encountered out west. These guards aren't interested in fighting you, but they don't stop to speak with you either.  I lost the battle screenshots here to the strange bug afflicting my Greenshot setup, but it was about the same as the last spectral Shaper fight. Another squad of spectral Guardians and Agents boils out of the room to the north. The combination of bad angles and many troublesome Agents chews away at your team, but you are able to keep them alive thanks to all the healing craft you've acquired on Sucia. Your endurance is rewarded with another canister -- and this time it augments your ability to Shape the forbidden drayk.  You even find a spore baton in one of the storage cabinets.    The great western gate beckons, but you're not quite ready for that.  The sacks here contain a fine collection of extremely potent thorns, including reaper thorns. Your reaper baton has really served you well lately, so you carefully add your findings to your collection.  More used up canisters...  Game Text posted:The Sholai defending this area have had some success ambushing and dispatching intruders. Some of the bodies have been brought here.   The Sholai fixed up this side of the gatehouse, but the beds look utterly untouched. Everything is sparkling clean. Where do these Sholai sleep if not here? Perhaps they don't, anymore. You're surprised to find an intact Shaper tome here. Game Text posted:This is an old Shaper logbook, used to record people and materials which passed through the west gate. It looks like the Sholai have been reading and rereading it, though you have no idea what they might have been looking for. When you exit, you find that the gate isn't open. Game Text posted:A lone, small stone gate blocks your way into the research halls. There is no lever or other control. The door is recalcitrant in its refusal to allow entry. Nearby, you can see a small control panel. It still looks functional. Game Text posted:There is a small, living control panel here, a sturdy and elegant wood, fungus and stone contraption of Shaper make. Luckily, the Sholai have not destroyed it. You try to repair the switches, but despite your considerable mechanical skill, you have no luck. Game Text posted:You insert the entry baton into the slot. It's a perfect fit. You hear a metallic, grinding sound coming from inside the east wall. Nothing else happens, and none of the switches on the panel become active.  You head east.   Okay, the Vats aren't the worst area objectively; it's just annoying by this stage of the game. We did nastier environmental hazard dungeons earlier on. But by this point, the Vats feel like a waste of time. Part of this is because of how I play the game: I aim to hit every area and see what I can dig up. But there's really nothing very important here. It's just an alternative route to the Geneforge. Nothing story relevant happens. You'd only take this path if you were concerned about facing off against the Sholai without the Taker amulet. This is a speedbump, and it's not even one that the Sholai set against you -- if you'll recall, Serabryakov asked Solution to get rid of the servant mind poisoning this area.  Game Text posted:You enter the vat region of the research halls. Shaper work always requires a large quantity of chemicals, some neutral, some noxious. Those substances need a safe place to be mixed and stored, well away from the researchers.  You pass two rooms of protective clothing, none of it better than what you're already wearing, and much of it hopelessly corroded. If you've somehow arrived here with bad equipment and low resistances, the vat equipment grants poison and acid resistance. It's better than nothing.  Worse awaits you in the southern access tunnel. Someone decided to protect this area with mines.  Disabling them is tedious under the best of circumstances. Disabling them while your eyes water and burn from whatever horrid fumes permeate this place is downright hellish. Game Text posted:This room is full of large Shaper control panels. These specimens were the same sort of life form as the half-organic, half-stone control panels you have found elsewhere, except much larger and more complicated.   This is one of the few reasons to bother with the Vats. To your surprise, the canister here seems intact. The agents inside improve your command of mass restoration, which you immediately test to buffer your creations' stamina against the awful air. Someone has also left a variety of potent thorns inside the pots left haphazardly on the floor.  Your finger slips while attempting to disarm a green box mine and an ur-glaahk pops out. Unfortunately for it, your creations fall upon it with something like glee. Maybe they needed something to vent their irritation on.    You are amazed to find that this servant mind is still alive. It was created with filtered nostrils and a thick skin, designed to protect it from the harsh atmosphere. It looks very pleased to see a Shaper. At last, at last I can get instruction. Thank you for coming at last. I am Mind Karalta. Things have been very difficult." At least Karalta doesn't seem obviously insane. "What difficulties have you had here?" You are so tired of insane servant minds. "The outsiders. They came! Outsiders, intruders, picking through your secrets! There were minds placed here to deal with such intrusions. They destroyed them! Or, those that were still active, anyway... Poor me. Poor, weak me. I did all I could. I did what defending I could. But my abilities were weak." All right, a whiny mind isn't much better than an insane one. You find that your sympathy is almost exhausted. Perhaps it's because you've been tromping around in here for what feels like hours. "What defenses did you make?" "I turned the power spirals back on. And I heated the frozen substances, and burned them, making noxious gasses. And I made defenders, although they soon went rogue. And I made mines. I was very thorough." "Yes, you were." You sigh. Karalta has done untold damage to Sucia Island for nothing. The outsiders already control access to the Geneforge. "Can you clean the air and shut off the power? And deactivate the mines?" "Now that you are here, it is safe. I can turn off the spirals which are heating the chemicals." You hear a distant clang. "I will start to pump the poison gas out of the air." The hum of distant fans reaches you. "And it will take some time, but I will deactivate the mines. It will be safe for you later." You hear Karalta release some sort of control spores. We already disarmed or detonated all the mines, but whatever. "Can you get the rogues to stop attacking me?" "It is beyond my power. Glaahk minds are too strong for me to control. I am sorry, Shaper. You will have to deactivate them yourself." You'd rather not, but you can't leave rogues roaming around with nothing to keep them in check. "I don't need anything more from you, then." "All right." Perhaps that isn't true. Karalta eyes you hopefully when you don't immediately leave. It is lonely. "Tell me more about these halls," you say. The mind looks confused. "The great research halls of Sucia Island? Home of the greatest minds of your people? What can you not know?" You shrug uncomfortably. Karalta's line of questioning won't lead anywhere good. "Well, just east of here is the main research center. North of that is the holding cells. East of that is the quarters. And east of the holding cells and north of the quarters is the Geneforge. Be careful in the holding cells, though. I know that it is full of rogues. It's been so for years. Even the intruders couldn't clear it out." "What is the Geneforge?" you ask. You don't expect Karalta knows more than you do, though. You've gotten so close... "I can tell you what chemicals went into it, but I don't know what it does. All I know is that it is like a huge, more powerful version of the learning canisters we made here. Much, much more powerful. Oh, we had a time making the ingredients for it. The stories I could tell." Its eyes half-close in satisfaction. "How might I use the Geneforge?" "I don't know. I don't know anything about its power, or how to tap it." "Why was this island abandoned?" "Well, when Danette came to give me her final instructions, she said that the power here was deemed unsafe and unstable. She said that it worried the council, and it worried her. But I don't think she was talking to me. Just herself. But I still heard. She did tell me, though, that when Shapers returned, if she wasn't among them, they should see her shade." "Who was Danette?" you ask. "How can you not know of one of her fame and intelligence? She was the head of research here." You're bungling this. "Her shade? Where is it?" "She said she left it in the holding cells area, in a secured location." That's interesting. Mind Karalta looks up at you obediently. "What can I do for you now, Shaper?" "What do you know about the outsiders?" "Only that, when they came in here, I could kill them very quickly. They soon stopped coming." "I see. Thank you." You mull over Karalta's fate. Serabryakov asked you to kill this servant mind, but he also surrendered the reward to you already. You don't have any particular need to see Karalta dead. He's sane and has remained loyal to the Shapers. On the other hand... "You have served my people well. You can rest now. Deactivate yourself." "But Shaper! I am still needed! I need to control and clean up the chemicals! And I may need to restrain more Outsiders. Danette would not agree with this, and she ordered me! You must let me live." The mind's plea tugs at you. Karalta will surely starve to death here with no one to attend to its needs and no one able to make more mind nutrients. But it clearly wishes to live, and for now is still healthy. It has performed as well as could be expected, given its long abandonment and the sudden arrival of the Sholai on these shores. "You are right. Never mind." You're not interested in making Sholai lives much easier, anyway. They've left enough nasty traps for you to stumble over. We can insist that Karalta deactivate itself and it will resist: "No! Danette said, and I listen! I must continue! I have stronger orders! Leave me be!" But if you say, "Look at the mess you made. Poison everywhere. Rogues running loose. Mines. Danette would not approve. You must shut down. You are a rogue, yourself." Mind Karalta looks miserable but, in the end, it knows it must obey. "Yes, Shaper. Though I do not wish to, I must rest. Thank you for letting me serve." Shame is powerful. "Thank you for letting me continue, Shaper." Karalta sags with relief.  Game Text posted:The power to heat and preserve the chemical goop made here runs to the vats through crystal fiber conduits running under the stone floor. The power itself comes from the chamber ahead of you. There's no reason to enter this chamber, and it can really mess you up fast. You turn back before the energy ahead turns on you.  The obelisk says "VAT CONTROL."  The eastern gate leads towards the Geneforge by route of the holding cells. It sounds rather unpleasant, but it can't be worse than what you've found here in the vats. This obelisk says, "RESEARCH VATS. Do not enter without protective gear." You can see why -- all Karalta's efforts have led to vats that still bubble with ongoing reactions.  As you head towards the vats, you encounter the first of several skirmishes with Karalta's army of feral glaahks. Does anyone else pronounce this "glock" or is it just me?  The rogues don't last long, but your creations are scratched up. Fortunately, there's a healthy essence pool in a nearby alcove.    The scale of this facility is immense. The Geneforge wasn't just a feat of research, but also of engineering and logistics.   You'd have an easier time appreciating its scale if you weren't constantly exterminating pests along the way.    Some unlucky being was caught by the glaahks. Their vat gear is still intact.  Geokinesis manages to get close enough to the core to transmit a general idea of its layout to you before the vlish is forced to back off. Nothing seems obviously wrong. The power spires are still cooling.  It's time to head east.   This place seems familiar... You're back to the central labs, before the old Shaper quarters. Obnoxiously enough, the crystal pylons here are still active.   You can take care of that, though.  The pylons are probably meant to protect the crystal boxes and containment vessels, but there's little left of value here.    Some Shaper clearly liked pylons too much.  You do find a ring in the last box you check... The Shaper's boon is a nice reward for fighting the highest level pylons in the game. Fortunately, you've run out of pylons to shatter.  The downside of trying to play through every area is that it really hecks up any kind of pacing.
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Jun 16, 2017 00:31
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Literally all your images are broken because LPix's SSL certificate expired. And you can't even force the site to work in Chrome because of HSTS.
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Jun 16, 2017 01:47
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dont be mean to me posted:Literally all your images are broken because LPix's SSL certificate expired. I believe in the power of Baldurk! (And they all worked when I posted.  )
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Jun 16, 2017 01:58
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I see the images, no problem.
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Jun 16, 2017 02:01
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berryjon posted:I see the images, no problem. The older posts aren't working. The newest one is. Something has gone terribly wrong it seems. 
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Jun 16, 2017 03:09
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mauman posted:The older posts aren't working. The newest one isn't working for me.
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Jun 16, 2017 03:10
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The lpix.org security certificate expired, so any images you didn't load or have cached beforehand won't appear. 
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Jun 16, 2017 03:12
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POOL IS CLOSED posted:The lpix.org security certificate expired, so any images you didn't load or have cached beforehand won't appear. Oh, then I guess they're all gone. I can still read the ghost of the last one though 
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Jun 16, 2017 04:10
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The best thing is that I was literally about to post a bonus update when the outage hit. Had just pasted it in the old postin' window. Well, it's ready for tomorrow. Cross your fingats. We will still have some areas to cover after seeing things through with Trajkov, plus alternative endings and undone quests.
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Jun 16, 2017 04:15
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