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Now that we're waiting on the results of the anointment and whether or not we kicked Manley's face in, I wanted to go back and look at Pamitha's lengthy backstory here, especially since we had a heart-to-heart (but not, by Maple's choice, a brain-to-brain) about her loyalties and reasons for being in the Nightwings. We know that the Harps hate the Commonwealth and were at war with them (and maybe still are?). Pamitha and her sister were no slouches when it comes to command, but where Pamitha drew the line at killing innocents and laying ambushes for a bunch of people, Tamitha was all in for the slaughter. I don't think Pamitha's idea of ratting out her sister in the hopes the enemy would be all cool with the spying was a good one, mind you. I wonder why Pamitha couldn't find some other way to tone down her sister's bloodlust? Maybe she exhausted all other options. What's interesting to me is that both of them got tossed into the Downside, a punishment for Commonwealth residents, and that they are both Harps fighting the Commonwealth. Does this mean that the Commonwealth sees the Harps as meddling rebels that should be under the yoke of empire, or is the Downside's physical and spiritual aspect not limited to people who are citizens of the Commonwealth? Could a visitor to the lands be found guilty of something or other and be exiled to this land even without ever knowing the mystical aspects of it? I think so: the Downside is definitely being used as a permanent prison, true meaning of the Rites and the Scribes be damned. Hell, just look at Manley and Lendel: both embody the corrupt, self-serving element of the Commonwealth of today. No wonder Volfred wants to get a revolution brewing.
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Apr 9, 2018 09:48
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| # ? Jun 2, 2024 17:38 |
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  : Liberation – Gameplay : Music: Never To Return: Music: Never To Return (Vs. The Chastity)Thus ends the Liberation Rite. And thus, the Scribes have chosen: the exile appointed by the Nightwings shall be free. Absolved of all misdeeds. Returned to glory in the Commonwealth. His adversary and all others shall remain… … to carry out their rightful sentences.   : Why, this is an utter outrage!! Have you any idea what you’ve done?! You ingrates!!  : …We did it…. Then… I guess that means I have to go.  : <Reader, my friend… why would you do this? Will you ever forgive me…?>: <…Fikani… wait for me… wait for me.> : He remains silent for a moment longer, then… : Listen to me, all of you. I will not forget this. If there is anything at all I can do back on the other side to help the rest of you, then I am going to find it, and I am going to do it.  : Look I don’t have long now, so just, thank you. All of you. I won’t forget this.: Then, he plunges out of sight, into the Shimmer-Pool. His voice is audible, but growing faint.“…It’s happening. Goodbye, my friends. Reader, everyone, goodbye! Until we see each other.”   Godspeed, Hedwyn. The Eight Scribes are ever merciful. By their grace, the cycle of the Rites may soon commence again. 
Maple Leaf fucked around with this message at 19:42 on Apr 9, 2018 |
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Apr 9, 2018 11:50
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You idiots! 
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Apr 9, 2018 13:13
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Don't worry, it'll turn out Ti'zo is a wizard at the stove. (Note: I have no clue if Ti'zo is a wizard at the stove)
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Apr 9, 2018 13:22
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That was some drat fine sportsballing. I love how, true to character, Manly does loving nothing but stand around and command his sapling. The true Chastity MVP is their Savage.
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Apr 9, 2018 15:52
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Fikani looks downright elvish. Is she even human?
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Apr 9, 2018 18:21
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Olive Branch posted:Fikani looks downright elvish. Is she even human? We're not gonna find out now! Volfred mentioned before the rite that he's worked out how each person will contribute to the overall chance of revolution, but I don't think he ever actually tells you. I think originally it was going to be more of a mechanic where at the end of the game it would roll against your chance to see if you get a good ending. Then they realised that was bollocks, if you failed with 95% victory chance or succeeded with the base 15% after losing every liberation rite, so changed it to something else.
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Apr 9, 2018 18:29
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Manny Matchstick is the kind of person who learns all the ways he can bend the Rites and the rules in his favor, but who learns nothing of the underlying lessons about solidarity, trust, and cooperation. That mid-rite rekindling was a dick move, but it didn't do him a drat bit of good.
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Apr 9, 2018 18:53
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The soundtrack is so God Damned Good, people  Also, you idiots. We could have saved Ti'zo
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Apr 9, 2018 23:10
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Slaan posted:Also, you idiots. We could have saved Ti'zo I realize my mistake now. Ah well, maybe we'll find out why Mae was sent down here. Regardless, this is the most emotionally engaging game about sportsball I've seen.
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Apr 9, 2018 23:37
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He probably just stole a car or something.
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Apr 10, 2018 00:00
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Well, Harps have pointy ears, and we've seen at least one of them with face paint under one of their eyes. I'm pretty sure Hedwyn's been referred to as a deserter at some point, so if you take the two together the outline of the story feels like it isn't that hard to work out.
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Apr 10, 2018 02:26
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Olive Branch posted:Fikani looks downright elvish. Is she even human? Whether she is or she isn't (and I rather think she isn't; we've seen no evidence of elves being A Thing in the world of Pyre, above or below), I rather hope that Hedwyn finds her waiting. It can't be fun to get out of wizard jail to find out that the world's moved on without you - certainly not a fate I'd wish on any of ours. Slaan posted:Also, you idiots. We could have saved Ti'zo What, from his homeland? As far as we know imps are natives of the Downside. vdate fucked around with this message at 13:17 on Apr 10, 2018 |
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Apr 10, 2018 03:43
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Annoint Hedwyn
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Apr 11, 2018 04:51
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Kinfolk910 posted:Annoint Hedwyn Okay!
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Apr 11, 2018 05:00
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Even after we've seen the consequences, people continue making objectively bad choices.
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Apr 11, 2018 12:40
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Maybe that's what freedom really is. It might be a bad choice, but it's our decision to make.
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Apr 11, 2018 12:52
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If only we had got his backstory, we could have known we were freeing "Baby-Eating" Hedwyn, The Orphan Scourge
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Apr 11, 2018 13:01
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Tenebrais posted:If only we had got his backstory, we could have known we were freeing "Baby-Eating" Hedwyn, The Orphan Scourge And he used to do all the cooking. 
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Apr 11, 2018 13:15
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placid saviour posted:Even after we've seen the consequences, people continue making objectively bad choices. ...I'm curious if you're opposed to freeing party members before we learn their deal, or whether you just really hate Hedwyn.
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Apr 11, 2018 23:04
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No no, quite the opposite. I love(d) Hedwyn and was particularly looking forward to finding out his backstory. And I can't fathom why we didn't vote out the mute imp who as a plot point doesn't have a backstory to tell. Still salty.
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Apr 12, 2018 00:17
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I voted for Hedwyn because the reader promised to bust him, Rukey, and Jodie out of this joint, and Rukey wasn't up. Not knowing how many more of these the game will let us have makes those three top priority for me.
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Apr 12, 2018 03:31
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I have to say, of all the people up for it, Tizo and Mae both seem like they'd get on okay down here. Tizo was born here and Mae's got her own interests. Man, Liberation as a game mechanic just introduces all kinds of heavily conflicted choices, doesn't it?
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Apr 12, 2018 13:13
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placid saviour posted:No no, quite the opposite. I love(d) Hedwyn and was particularly looking forward to finding out his backstory. There may be a fundamental difference in the reasoning behind our voting incentives! I was going to call your reasoning something akin to ludonarrative dissonance, but it isn't, really - by its proper definition, that's when in-game incentives and narrative directives work at cross purposes. By that token, the entire liberation thing is a deliberate invocation of that dissonance - the narrative directive is 'get my friends out of Wizard Jail' while the gameplay incentive is 'keep my best sportsballers around so I can keep winning'. That said, this being a Let's Play means that the gameplay incentives aren't as powerful for us as narrative ones, so I guess that's warped things a bit.
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Apr 12, 2018 17:20
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If you really want to know their backstories, you can always search online
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Apr 12, 2018 21:17
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You're right, I might be min-maxing this a bit too much. Even if I would've put myself in the narrative, though, I would've kept Hedwyn. He was the closest thing the Reader had to family and he's never been anything but kind to us. Lord knows he deserved to leave, but he was a stabilising factor - one I wasn't willing to give up quite yet.
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Apr 12, 2018 21:22
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placid saviour posted:You're right, I might be min-maxing this a bit too much. I got into a similar mindset too Like, Hedwyn was with us from the beginning and our right-hand man, our best bud. But he also has a life, and a wife/girlfriend he wants to see again. So you have to ask yourself "am I being selfish for wanting him to stay here a little while longer?" And in the end, you're going to be left holding the bag and stuck in Wizard Jail while everyone else gets the pardon. That also has to sting.
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Apr 12, 2018 21:26
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Something to note for the thread - if we're committing to getting our original crew ascended first, we'll need to play Rukey a bunch in the next cycle, since he didn't have enough enlightenment to qualify this time. Think the long-term game plan! He's the one I'd most like to see the backstory of since I didn't in my own game, so hopefully putting him in a bunch (and Maple Leaf favouring him in pathfinding as a result) will get him to open up to us. I'm still not entirely sure if that's how it works but we got the full blast of Pamitha's story after putting her in pretty much every game, even though she was the last to join us.
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Apr 12, 2018 21:48
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If the Dissidents come up as an option for a rite, we should definitely choose them and field Rukey against them. Assuming he doesn't flake out like he did in that first match against Barker.
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Apr 12, 2018 22:04
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I've seen the game the whole way through once on a friend's stream, and plan to finish it myself once I get a working monitor again. Until then I'm aiming for stuff I didn't/won't get to see (Jodariel just has so much cool poo poo people miss because they kick her up first), or possibly stuff I think the thread would find interesting.
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Apr 13, 2018 07:47
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 : Rukey, Ti’zo, and Sir Gilman got the usual amount of Inspiration for not participating in the Rite. Mae, meanwhile…   : Once more, the perks currently available to us are the first-level perk Heightened Reflex (this perk removes the start-up time for Mae’s jump and dash); the second-level perk Sudden Grasp (after a salute, Mae leaps towards the Orb is nobody is holding it)… and our first third-level perk Dark Vigor (while holding the Orb, Mae has infinite stamina).: I’ve been working towards Dark Vigor from the start, and, come on, look at what it gives me! Mae is our third-fastest runner and our best jumper (maybe second-best, now that Gilman has Ores’ Scales); her having this perk would make her drat-near impossible to catch. This isn’t even a question.: What is the question, though, is which perk I choose last for her. She has room for just one more, and it’ll be either Sudden Grasp or Heightened Reflex. I’m leaning heavily towards Heightened Reflex, to make Mae even more offensive, and I’m not a huge fan of saluting, but… it depends on how overpowered Sudden Grasp is. If it’s powerful enough, Mae might actually be invincible. : And, of course, Pamitha gets a handful of Enlightenment herself, but not enough to gain a new level. She’s about halfway after this Rite.  : I had a good feeling this would happen! : At least someone got out of here.: You succeeded in liberating Hedwyn, who returned to the Commonwealth in glory. : We did what we could. With each Liberation Rite, we strive to advance our Plan. A brighter future awaits at the end of our path… for now, we must persevere. : Speaking of which… Reader? I take it you have seen the stars… or, I should say, the lack thereof.: You have, or did. Once more, the sky is all abyssal darkness, following the Liberation Rite. No stars illuminate themselves to guide you further on your path. : Then, let us go, once more, to Moonlight Alcove. I’ve an errand I must run, besides, once we arrive. Best we recover now, and make our way southward at first light. : In the time between writing this update and the previous one, the thread’s been somewhat divided on our decision to anoint Hedwyn. On the one hand, he’s quite possibly the most deserving of all of the Nightwings to regain their freedom, and getting him back to the Commonwealth will reunite him with Jodariel. But on the other, he was one of our best players, strong (but not specializing) in every position and scenario. Hedwyn himself was extremely conflicted with his liberation: he had made a promise that we would all go free together, and he didn’t know how to accept us choosing to send him up.: What I’m trying to say is, if we’re this conflicted about Hedwyn gaining his freedom, then I can’t imagine what the Nightwings themselves are going through. : Before I ask Volfred what he’s thinking about, I just want to mention that, although he mentioned that he assigned a number to each member of the Nightwings on how much they would impact the success of the Plan, that number doesn’t show up in either the planner or in the character bios. If I had to guess, this was deliberate, in order to excuse why the probability of success increases with each successful liberation, while also not giving the player a reason to be particularly biased for one character over another.: That said. How ya doin’, Fred? : He looks up and smiles as you approach.: Hello, my boy. Excellent work back there. Thank you for your perseverance.: After all that poo poo talk, it would have been rather embarrassing if Manley won, after all.: Though… I was just reflecting on how very fortunate I’ve been in all of this. Not just me, but, really, all of us who had a chance to stand with Hedwyn here. Ours is, admittedly, a somewhat desperate Plan. It was vital to me, should the Nightwings rise again, that it be under proper care and guidance.: I was just thinking how well Hedwyn served in that capacity. Whatever is to be the outcome of all this, no doubt his presence shall be missed.: Depending on who you ask, we’re already pretty hurt about it.: My agents and I, we were unsure of him, at first. A common boy like that. Completely unacquainted with the Rites. But… in the end, I felt that he was worth a shot… someone like him. Sincere, determined. With loyal friends, and desperate to get home. Those qualities spoke volumes.: Then, he falls silent for a time. : That reminds me. All we know about Fikani is a mugshot, and her only major discernable features were that she had unusually-coloured hair; a tattoo underneath her eye; and pointy ears. Assuming we’ve met every race in Pyre and there are no Wizard Basketball Elves anywhere, she was probably a Harp.: Given that Hedwyn called himself a ‘Deserter,’ my guess is that he wasn’t particularly discreet with his relationship with Fikani, and the Commonwealth definitely seems like the kind of place where you can’t just love whoever you want, so, I’d imagine him hooking up with a bird-lady is the primary reason why he was down here. That’s just speculation, though.: You and Volfred speak little more of Hedwyn for now. You are left wondering what shall become of him in the Commonwealth. : We’ll save reading the Book for some other time; we’ve already done our share of reading here at the Fall of Soliam, and, now that the Liberation Rite has concluded, I think we can all take a break from the Rites for now. Let’s just get some sleep.   Gfy : You once again find yourself amid the quiet nooks of Moonlight Alcove. Here you can await the time until the stars deign to shine for you again. : Time to pack in for another little bit….: We have returned to a place of respite. Please make yourselves comfortable, such as you can. We are at the mercy of the stars, but I expect they shall shine bright again, in time.: As for me, I shall return by then, for there is something I must do.: There, from atop the sacred mountain, you gaze down into the abyss that is the Downside. You wonder when the stars shall align themselves once more. The Plan of which you are all a part is set in motion. The Commonwealth, a nation that stood almost for a thousand years, is in turmoil. If your companions return there through the Liberation Rites, what sort of place shall they be coming back to? Many moons pass.  : Soon, everyone is assembled, and Volfred regards the group. : Look around your companions. What do you see in them?: He lets the question hang a moment in the air. : I’ll tell you what I see in all of you…. In all of us.: …I see in all of us a living vision of the Eight Scribes themselves. Each one among them hailing from the different tribes which later formed our Commonwealth.: My observation does not come from pompousness, I think. Rather, I believe the Scribes themselves desired, or shall I say desire, such a course. Together, they created all this ceremony of which we’re now a part.: The exiles liberated through their Rites went on to found the Commonwealth, based on their values and their teachings. Thus, an instrumental aspect of our Plan is to embody the spirit, and the culture, from which the Commonwealth arose so many centuries ago.: That way, when we are all united on the other side in solidarity, the people all shall see that we reflect the values they yet cherish in their hearts, not merely our own.: … So are you gonna get to the point, or–: Anyway! We are still missing one key representative, on behalf of Molten Milithe. And… I happen to know a certain bog-dweller who I think shall fit the part most splendidly, indeed.: He motions for someone to approach… : Music: Snake Soul: It is my pleasure to introduce to you a dear old friend of mine, whom I believe you’ve met. Welcome to the Nightwings, Bertrude.: The bog-dweller called Big Bertrude utters something guttural by way of greeting. : We are to understand that ye require further aid from us.: Yes, dear Bertrude. The time has come.: Bertrude here is far and away the most accomplished alchemist whom I have ever met. You soon will find that she knows much about the Rites, as well.: Bertrude looks you and your fellow exiles, each in turn. : Uh… well, whatever it is you do to me, there’s a such thing as personal space, Bertrude.: Everyone is silent as Bertrude searches their expressions. : Then, tremble, small ones. And hold well thy tongues.: Lest we remove them.: She takes her leave without another word.: Off to a good start. : Everyone disperses. It seems now that the ranks of the Nightwings are complete.: I’m… almost certain we have a position still unoccupied. : Now, then, my boy… perhaps you noticed that the stars are bright once more up there behind those stubborn rains. Meaning, it is time that we got back to business.: Indeed, once more, several stars shine bright within the cold and storming sky.: That’s not how meteorology works at all!     : It’s time for a new cycle to begin. And, if you check the ledger, it turns out that Bertrude is more than just a mystic and more than just an apothecary: she can actually determine through the stars how many Rites remain until our next Liberation Rite. We have three games of Sportsball to play until we have the honour of selecting another of our own to head into the stars.: The Chastity, as they’ve lost the previous Liberation Rite, are rocked straight to the bottom of the list and will not have the opportunity to advance up the ranks at all for now. Which, in turn, means that Ignarius and the Tempers are free of the ‘no-double-dipping’ clause, and they are free to climb as much as they can – provided they win.: To that end, who do you say we should compete against next? Do we go against Ignarius and the Tempers, ranked eighth, at the Hulk of Ores? Do we go against Sir Deluge and the Pyrehearts, ranked fifth, at the Pit of Milithe? Or do we go against Udmildhe and the Withdrawn, ranked second, at the Cairn of Ha’ub?: Lemme know in the next twenty-four hours, and we’ll head on our way!
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Apr 15, 2018 10:24
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Let's knock out Udmilde because they are obviously evil and also we haven't played against their type in a while
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Apr 15, 2018 11:31
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Udmildhe looks good, we'll probably get some backstory on our new member that way; no need to stomp on the Tempers again while they're down and we'll get another chance at the Pyrehearts sooner or later. By the way, are these choices predetermined or semi-random each playthrough? For future choices this season, we fought Essence and Fate recently, I'd keep them for the liberation rite; depending on the choices that'll come up, kicking Manley while he's down could be a decent stress relief. Let's see how that goes though. E: a side effect of the no double dip rule and the hiatus on liberation rites is that, with eight opposing teams, I don't think it's Omobono fucked around with this message at 14:43 on Apr 15, 2018 |
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Apr 15, 2018 14:38
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Udmildhe because she needs to be stomped into ground at every opportunity.
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Apr 15, 2018 15:23
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Udmildhe vs. Bertrude. HOT BOG-WITCH MUD WRESTLING ACTION THE SLIME'S GONNA FLY THIS SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY Hwurmp fucked around with this message at 15:48 on Apr 15, 2018 |
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Apr 15, 2018 15:30
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Really Pants posted:Udmildhe vs. Bertrude. HOT BOG-WITCH MUD WRESTLING ACTION Hell yeah.
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Apr 15, 2018 16:32
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Maple Leaf posted:
I'm still not sure what you mean by a double-dipping clause though.    The Tempers have played two games since their liberation attempt, winning and losing one, and their favor went up by one point. That absolutely seems like they had the opportunity to advance up the ranks, even before the Chastity had their liberation attempt. But if there's an actual in-game thing that I missed that says "no team besides the nightwings gets to do two liberations in a row, even if they somehow had enough favor", then ok. e; although effectively no team should get a second chance in the current state of things, at least for quite a while based on how much favor the other teams have banked, so it's a moot point really Mazerunner fucked around with this message at 22:31 on Apr 15, 2018 |
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Apr 15, 2018 21:54
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Really Pants posted:Udmildhe vs. Bertrude. HOT BOG-WITCH MUD WRESTLING ACTION
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Apr 15, 2018 22:01
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Really Pants posted:Udmildhe vs. Bertrude. HOT BOG-WITCH MUD WRESTLING ACTION
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Apr 15, 2018 23:09
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| # ? Jun 2, 2024 17:38 |
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I'll cast the dissenting vote here and say we should face Ignarius and the Tempers. We've not seen him in a while, and he seemed a decent enough sort. Easier to get along with than most of the team leads, anyway.
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Apr 16, 2018 01:58
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