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Eb is the opposite of at risk. She's a noble who joined the most powerful mage group in the region.
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Jan 22, 2021 22:33
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I look forward to the application of the game-mechanics-as-metaphorical-themes (or whatever) to the DLC. Mostly for how they seem like they don't line up to the base game.
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Jan 23, 2021 17:22
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I feel like this DLC would be really short if you had joined the Scarlet Chorus.
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Jan 23, 2021 20:53
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Cleopatra Jones and the Rehash of Bad Faction Choosing Last time we got a bunch of crap infodumped on us about a vaguely illegal settlement that has nothing to offer us and no one really knows it exists despite Disfavored and Scarlet Chorus forces being camped right outside it.  We're here because Sage Lexeme, Lantry's ex-girlfriend and fellow nerd who was never mentioned before, had some kind of text she wanted to show us.  A bunch of Bane escape this teleporter. It's super spooky!     I sure hope you didn't want to see anything related to these power struggles, water issues, or interrogate the locals! You will TAKE your infodump and you will like it!  I elect to put this off for a bit and explore the town.  We were told that part one of Lexeme's chronicle was down in the farm, so...  AAAGH! Look, I get what they're trying to do. The DLC - so far - is trying to explore the theme of factionalism from the perspective of the budding authoritarians who don't have the power of the empire behind them and are competing for real ultimate power. The problem is that it's just so clunkily handled, and we know that the game can do this better because it's reminiscent of the Ashe and Nerat struggles in Act 1.  In Act 1 we were under orders from our direct superior - Tunon, someone even the Archons fear - to get the stalled offensive moving again or Kyros kills everyone. Thus we have both professional and personal reasons to get involved, we have a history with both the Chorus and the Disfavored from the Conquest, and Ashe and Nerat have a vested interest in courting us to denounce the other to Tunon. They have something we want, they want something from us, and the game does a good job of setting up the history for each in a way that makes sense.  Here we have a settlement that can't even offer us a decent meal that doesn't smell like poo poo. I get that both factions want a Fatebinder to intervene on their side to legitimize their control of the Wound, but what are these guys going to offer us? Soldiers? The anarchist path is hilariously bad at pretending that the Disfavored or Chorus couldn't just...march back into Lethian's Crossing or wherever after we leave. Magic? Artifacts?  We literally have to make the choice based on the word of one guy, as far as I can tell. There's some supernatural mystery poo poo going on with Reef-Talon and the curse (we'll come back to this one) but we could seriously just turn around and leave and go back to our real fight, gaining control of the artifacts to build the myth of Cleopatra Jones, rightful heir of the Tiers. The only thing that could maybe help us with that is this chronicle Sage Lexeme promised, but does it really?  This is what we're looking for and it's the entire reason Lexeme decided to expose this secret settlement to a Fatebinder of Kyros - as I suspect the actual standing operating procedure is for us to report this to Tunon, who can tell Kyros so he can decide whether or not this place gets Edicted off the map.  You get no points for connecting the symbolism of pig poo poo and these writings.  : Now here's a subject close to my heart. Histories of the School of Ink and Quill! Who doesn't love a little autochronicle? Roll calls, minutes, graduation announcements, publication dates, and... letters? Oh my... I doubt Sages Corrun and Ostrek had any idea their correspondences would be immortalized for the records!  : I take it this brings back memories?: Indeed! Some of these notes even have my name on them. Ah yes, here's my series on bird anatomy. I did that back in... 388?! Where have the years gone? : Do those notes include the parts where you conspire to steal our magic? : That seems more like Sage pillow talk than something they'd write down.You know, for all the poo poo Eb gives Lantry about stealing Tidecaster magic, the first thing we had her do was turn over the Gravelight Sigil, which is the supposedly sacred sigil of the Tidecasters she was going to take to the grave. Eb is full of poo poo, and today we're going to see just how full of poo poo Eb really is. : Thank you! We had to assume the Tidecasters might have spies. Come on now, we're running a bastion of magical hegemony, not some cult of sailors past their primes with magic and hand paints.It behooves the reader to note that the Sages resisted till the end, required an Edict to break their fortress, and still fight the Overlord to this day while we trivially disposed of the Tidecasters in Conquest.   : So you knew Kyros was coming... how many years in the making is this School tradition of stashing texts throughout the Tiers?: It was sort of an insult to suggest something was safer outside the Citadel than within it until... the first fall of Vendrien's Well? Back in 429? : I'm suspicious of everything we find in this place. Take a closer look.: How can I say no to that order? With a smug grin, the old Sage dives into the texts.: Several minutes pass as Lantry pores over the pages. : Anything seem incorrect? : Anyone you know very well? : [Let him keep reading]If there's anyone who's going to find anything out of the ordinary, it's Lantry. He lived at the School, we did not. : A relaxed smile sets across his face as Lantry exhales, wiping his sepia-stained hand against his cheek. : Find something?: Well there's a passage here that... isn't quite correct. See for yourself.  If this argument sounds familiar it's because we trotted it out against Arri at the climax of Act 1 when we pointed out they all used Kyros' currency - the ring - anyway. Lantry even jumped in to back us up! : Is this describing a real event?: It's uh... yes but... not exactly as I recall it though... I have written a lot of ink on myself.: It was 425, and Sage Cavel was giving a lecture series - having recently returned from his expedition to observe the Forge-Bound and their ways. At one point, he discussed their teaching methods, so the Riddle of Rings came up as part of his lecture.Remember, we found the document in the Vellum Citadel that the Sages were used as go-betweens for the Chorus and Disfavored. There was a lot of collaborating with Kyros before the war. : At the time, I joked that the real 'Riddle of Rings' is 'aren't we already conquered?' and I launched into a not-entirely sober diatribe about Kyros' inevitable invasion and dominion. : [Remain silent.] TheGreatEvilKing summary posted:
This sheds a bit more light on what's going on. Sage Lexeme wanted us to see this pro-Kyros history, but we're still not sure what she expected in return or why exactly we're supposed to care about this. If we've seen anything of the Kyrosian regime, it's that it is perfectly happy to throw away useful assets in the name of maintaining control. The Sages are either fighting the regime right now or drafted into the Blood Chanters. If she's trying to get leverage to allow the settlement to survive, it's not going to work - settling in the Oldwalls is explicitly forbidden to the point Tunon will not allow Fatebinders there, and even Archons like Bleden Mark face consequences for going into the Oldwalls. Part of our job as Fatebinder is to maintain Kyros' false histories, we even have a talent called "Arbiter of Knowledge" for Kyros' sake! Tunon is perfectly capable of declaring certain knowledge forbidden all on his lonesome without this false history of the Sages. There are more parts to find, so we will see where this goes. Anyway, I've put off Wagstaff chat long enough. Technically you can advance by talking to either, but Wagstaff has a bunch of unique dialog with Eb and Jaspos is a generic fuckoff.  RPG writers: please stop doing this. : Of all the shriveled barnacles to find... you?! : [Step back, let them talk.]: They fought the good fight, but fell to Cairn at the Well. In defeat, they were fed to the Voices of Nerat. I am all that's left. How about you? How'd you slither your way here? : [Remain silent.]: This one? She's with Kyros... it's sort of a long story. More importantly, what are you doing here? Not sure if my emphasis is on you or here...You know what the funny thing is? From a resistance to Kyros standpoint, Wagstaff is doing a hell of a lot more than Eb is. Even Hagrivar is fighting Nerat from the inside, based on Nerat's trouble controlling him at the war council.  : [Remain silent.]Sometimes you just gotta let people incriminate themselves.  Last Update posted:
 : Need me to give you two a moment?: A moment? Hardly. I can't think of the last time Wagstaff has kept up his... banter, for more than a minute or two. : [Remain silent.] Huh. : [Remain silent.] Oh, yes, I suppose we do have to render judgement, don't we?  : I assume someone pointed you towards me to speak for the settlement. If there are matters to discuss, then so be it. I may not like it, but I do lead these people... frankly, only because nobody else can. That stone-straddling fool, Jaspos, will talk himself into believing he's up to the task, but don't believe his bluster for a moment.Note that no one besides us is on Wagstaff's little dick slapping island.  Moment of truth! We can, as far as I can tell, actually slaughter all the denizens of the settlement, but why? We don't even believe in Kyros' law anymore - as we realized in our last Oldwalls excursion, it's a sham, and the only believer is poor Tunon who has deluded himself that he is doing something good. : For now, this settlement may continue to operate independently. Shhh! Sirin! Not so loud! There are informers everywhere!  The moment is ruined by over-explaining what is clearly conveyed by dialogue.  Specifically, these guys got the one Fatebinder who's past giving a poo poo about the laws' intent. Now, Cleopatra is not special in this regard - Calio is chafing at the reins something fierce, and I'm certain that if she'd been sent in with the Edict of Execution she'd be pulling the same crap we are.  Contrast this rather polite speech with what Eb just showed us - a man yelling about going into brothels to slap the dick out of her mouth. We expect Eb to be rude and crude, we don't expect our leaders to be so easily baited. : Let me guess... you need my help? : Depends on what you have in mind.: There's an old rival of mine still out there, a Sage named Phoibe. He twists the rope on the end of his belt, grimacing. Yes, we're from rival schools, no, this isn't just a case of an unsettled score. I'd live and let live, but... she poses an actual threat to the Wound. She had knowledge of my plans to journey north to trace Cairn's path in these mountains, which may expose us.: She could bring a slew of homeless Sages here - probably followed by a gaggle of spies. It's not worth the risk. She needs to die . His tone is matter-of-fact, almost casual. The problem is finding her. We had a mutual contact, Melitta, who used to spend this time of the year in Lethian's Crossing. If the two are still in touch, she'll be able to point you in the right direction.This is all an act. We know this for two reasons - Mell described Wagstaff as lacking charisma, and Eb was able to get Wagstaff to show his true vulgar self.  : How do you know her? Wagstaff slips up here. Remember, the official pretext is that the Sages will expose the Wound and bring spies with them...but like Eb, he can't hold back his hatred of the Sages and briefly slips back into his vulgar self. : Is this Sage really such a threat? You know, when you talk about women the way you talked about Eb it's no wonder they hate you. You're an rear end in a top hat.  : I'm not going to kill someone before they've actually done anything. : Not interested in doing your dirty work, sorry. : [Leave] I've heard enough. That'll be all for now.: I see. Well you know what it is I require, should you decide you wish to help us.TheGreatEvilKing summary posted:
Neither Eb, nor Wagstaff, nor sadly the Tidecasters come off very well here. If you bring Eb Wagstaff shows his true colors as a creepy Harvey Weinstein wannabe, if you don't he affects his vaguely professional mannerisms. Both Eb and Wagstaff casually refer to loving apprentices which makes me suspect that the Tidecasters created what we would call a hostile work environment, and Eb referring so casually to loving all these apprentices despite being a married woman and a mother doesn't reflect well on her. Cleo levels offscreen at least.  Anyway, now that we've promised Wagstaff we're not slaughtering the Wound's denizens the merchants will sell to us.  They have some unique artifacts and some sigils. Anyway, we were told that Jaspos is the other leader and maybe his quest is more palatable. We can talk to his apprentice and see what kind of man Jaspos is.  : How has apprenticing for Jaspos been? : Difficult. Don't mistake me - I pledged to follow him, and my loyalty doesn't waver, but I drat well wish we just returned to the North as planned. Instead, I'm stuck inside these Oldwalls, surrounded by Bane and branded a traitor in Kyros' eyes. He scrapes a worn knife against a whetstone dangling from his belt.: Jaspos didn't like my interest in leather working. I think he saw it as an insult to his craft. If I favored it so much, I should have sought apprenticeship with the Master of Tanning, right? Well, consider that ANOTHER thing I planned to do had we returned North. : [Leave] I'll talk to you later.TheGreatEvilKing summary posted:
So far I think Eldian is still the closest to a competent leader in Tyranny land.   : Ah, Fatebinder! That explains the ruckus. His voice is deep, a confident baritone that easily carries through the open air. Forgive my rudeness - masters of the craft rarely break focus if we can help it. Old habit. He smiles broadly, motioning you to come forward. Your arrival is unexpected, but my Forge is always open to servants of the Court.In my experience, people who are actually good at a craft rarely describe themselves as masters, but we'll get to that in a second. : Word has spread throughout the Wound. They say the Fatebinder will permit us to live. I am sorry you had to... experience Wagstaff - if you had spoken to me, we could have settled things without his insults and tantrums but I am glad an amicable decision was reached all the same. We own a forge, dude. : You may ask, but I make no promises.You should note that despite Jaspos being a Forge-Bound master, that hammer and ingot icon is NOT the faction icon for the Forge-Bound. Earlier in the game posted:Jaspos is supposed to come across as a suave liar here - but he is a liar. Keep this in mind. : We don't have the luxury of trading with the topside - it could attract the wrong kinds of attention. Instead, we craft what we need. In my case, I can make a wide variety of tools, but I can't make everything. When we were building the forges of Lethian's Crossing, I had access to some of the finest chisels, tappers, and abrasives... I carried only my travel kit with me when I found myself here in the Wound. I've been able to craft a few replacements, but to my chagrin, I haven't recaptured the craftsmanship.This is another subtle hint that maybe Jaspos isn't nearly as good as he proclaims himself to be.  Knapping is the process of creating stone tools. I think he's putting one over on us guys. : I will speak with Lohara.: I'm sure this will be a simple matter for you, Fatebinder. Thank you for your assistance. : What do you know about Reef-Talon?: He holds a bowl of crushed rock aloft, squinting to examine its contents as he speaks. So you've heard. It's unfortunate what happened to her. Reef-Talon arrived a year after I did. Massive creature, one of the largest beasts I've ever seen. She never spoke of her past much, but we knew she was in flight when she stumbled upon the Wound with her cubs. He pulls a fragment out of the bowl, running it slowly between his fingers. Interesting. She's not killing them, she's devouring them, and she has a curse that drives men mad. We'll get to what this implies if we actually run into Reef-Talon and the bugs don't eat our game. : [Lore 48] That is no ordinary magic. How did she do this? Pay close attention to Jaspos' dialog here. He is desperately trying to convey that he's a master - we masters don't break focus, his work is "meticulous perfection" (don't think too hard about his inability to create tools despite being a self-proclaimed "master toolmaker"), and he's making a big deal of trying to performatively work while talking to us. We've met at least two Forge-Bound masters, Lohara and Zdenya, and neither one of them bothered trying to convince us that they were masters - they just shut up and walked the walk.  Right now he's performative casting away the chips - but we're not a smith. We have no idea what this means. It's the equivalent of showing up to a job interview and spewing buzzwords because you're being interviewed by HR and not someone in your field. I hate people who do that. : Even worse, those bestowed with magic slowly lose their gifts. He looks toward the Forge, a pained expression visible on his face.. Now they're just known as the Sleepless. All of their life and vitality robbed and spent. A terrible end, Fatebinder. Reef-Talon couldn't face her mistakes and she fled into the Oldwalls like a coward. Again, this is all performative nonsense - Reef-Talon is the other, an untrustworthy beastwoman. Jaspos is a skilled and hard worker who heroically single-handedly keeps the place running. Tonves? Who? Praise Jaspos! : [Leave] Farewell. TheGreatEvilKing summary posted:
So now we have a pretty good idea of what's going on. We've got miniature versions of Graven Ashe and Nerat - the parallels aren't complete by any means, but they're both heading up factions that control something needed for the Wound's survival, and they're both threatened by Reef-Talon. Reef-Talon is noteworthy for a lot of reasons - she's the first Beastwoman we've seen actually leading humans (even Kills-in-Shadow serves us), she's "devouring" the Bane, she has mysterious magical powers that have a mental element. So far it seems clear that Reef-Talon is exploring the themes of new knowledge and innovation caused by exposure to new ideas. The Wound is clearly under threat from the Bane, and we know from the rest of the game the Bane represent unknown circumstances outside the control of Kyros - and thus Reef-Talon's leadership role is extremely outside of the experiences of anyone in the setting, especially with a mixed population of equal humans and beasts. Eb is proud of how the Tiers supposedly treat the Beastmen well by...making them slave in wheat fields, and here we have a Beastwoman leading an entire settlement. Is it any wonder the humans are going insane after being healed? Reef-Talon's reign is a metaphor for implementing new ideas and running into unseen consequences, much like the Articles of Confederation implementing a weak central government and said government collapsing, or the French Revolution turning into a reign of terror. Ironically, by trying to abdicate to spare others the consequences of her leadership, Reef-Talon is proving herself the best leader out of all these idiots by actually trying to act in their best interest instead of looking for adulation or sex. The problem is that Cleopatra still has no actual reason to care about any of this poo poo. I suppose we're supposed to care about Reef-Talon's powers...except the smart thing to do is to stay the hell away, because if we lose our magic Nerat impales us on a spike. None of these assholes can actually help us in our power struggle for the Kyrosian empire, and even thematically this is just Ashe vs Nerat vs the Slightly Better Rebels. Reef-Talon seems genuine, but we still haven't met her and there's no reason to assume she'd use her powers on our behalf. I guess we could look for the singing in the walls Sirin was curious about, but she hasn't really mentioned it much. Oh well. We're here, I guess.  We run into this lady near the cutscene Bane teleporter. : Are the Bane constantly showing up like that? : Welcome to our headache. The way the Bane come and go, you'd think the teleporters were beaded curtains. : What's through that portal? : How'd you get that name?: Funny story, that. She frowns. There's a piece of advice they should give every new Chorus conscript, but don't.   : What do you do here, exactly?: Whatever Wagstaff wants. Guess you can call me an apprentice. I can read, which is more than most can say.Considering what we know of Wagstaff's creepy ways I think we are going to not inquire further. : He's teaching you our ways? I'm sorry you have a fool for a teacher, but you have been given a great honor... do not squander it. : So the blue is to honor Wagstaff?: Exactly. Fucker iced half my gang with his spells, so now I fight for him. Those are the rules.Unfortunately, those rules don't seem to apply to us, considering the sheer number of Chorus we've burned down.  : [Leave] I'll be going now.TheGreatEvilKing summary posted:
I'm not really sure if we're supposed to infer that Wagstaff is Harvey Weinsteining this lady or not. That is the impression I get from he and Eb talking about loving apprentices, but he's a creepy piece of poo poo. You should join Cleo instead, we don't require you to have sex with anyone and we can teach you way more than just Tidecaster magic. Oh well, something tells me adding a new party member was beyond the scope of this DLC.  Booo! BOOOO!!  Really?  This merchant has the good poo poo. This is the strongest strength sigil in the game and was added by the DLC. Naturally, we buy it off him.  It's so strong, in fact, we can't really make reliable use of it. Oh well, next chance we get I'm hiring that respec fatebinder guy and dumping all our mage's weapons skills into Lore.  Decisions Lie Before Us! Unfortunately, the DLC is designed so that we can't just gently caress off into the teleporter and go look for Lexeme, Reef-Talon, and whoever else. We need to do one of these rear end in a top hat's quests, and THEN we can talk to Mell about helping Reef-Talon instead of siding with these two idiots. Thus, we have two votes: Are we doing the quest for Wagstaff or Jaspos?, and are we killing the target? Do we betray our chosen leader for Reef-Talon?
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Jan 25, 2021 08:19
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: I'm glad we don't hold these people to standards we don't even follow!
: Hooray! 
: YAAAAY!
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To be fair to the tidecasters (lol), they got chumped by an Archon so badass, he took an edict to the face and still lives.
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Jan 25, 2021 09:43
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Let's help Jaspos, since at least he isn't implied to be sleeping with his apprentices, and do it non-lethally. Then let's ditch him for Reef Talon, since these two are so stupid they're trying to con someone who could have their entire village razed to the ground with a single word.
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Jan 25, 2021 10:49
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BisbyWorl posted:Let's help Jaspos, since at least he isn't implied to be sleeping with his apprentices, and do it non-lethally. This. Jaspos is merely poo poo at his job. Wagstaff is poo poo as a human being.
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Jan 25, 2021 11:46
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Jaspos seems like an insufferable rear end to work under too but at least he's not a ubisoft manager.BisbyWorl posted:Let's help Jaspos, since at least he isn't implied to be sleeping with his apprentices, and do it non-lethally.
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Jan 25, 2021 12:59
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BisbyWorl posted:Let's help Jaspos, since at least he isn't implied to be sleeping with his apprentices, and do it non-lethally. Agreed.
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Jan 25, 2021 13:23
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BisbyWorl posted:Let's help Jaspos, since at least he isn't implied to be sleeping with his apprentices, and do it non-lethally. this is an acceptable course of action, i vote in favor of this
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Jan 25, 2021 14:28
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BisbyWorl posted:Let's help Jaspos, since at least he isn't implied to be sleeping with his apprentices, and do it non-lethally. +1 to this.
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Jan 25, 2021 16:30
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BisbyWorl posted:Let's help Jaspos, since at least he isn't implied to be sleeping with his apprentices, and do it non-lethally. Let's do this. If the quest bugs out then Jaspos as a backup leader.
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Jan 25, 2021 16:34
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BisbyWorl posted:Let's help Jaspos, since at least he isn't implied to be sleeping with his apprentices, and do it non-lethally. Another for this
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Jan 25, 2021 20:54
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Xarn posted:To be fair to the tidecasters (lol), they got chumped by an Archon so badass, he took an edict to the face and still lives. Most of them also hosed off and left, and I get the feeling most of the competent ones were part of that.
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Jan 26, 2021 01:27
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BisbyWorl posted:Let's help Jaspos, since at least he isn't implied to be sleeping with his apprentices, and do it non-lethally. Like everyone else, I agree with this.
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Jan 26, 2021 05:22
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Do you have to commit to Reef-Talon before you even meet her? I know I hosed this quest up somehow, but I never really figured out why.TheGreatEvilKing posted:Here we have a settlement that can't even offer us a decent meal that doesn't smell like poo poo. I get that both factions want a Fatebinder to intervene on their side to legitimize their control of the Wound, but what are these guys going to offer us? Soldiers? The anarchist path is hilariously bad at pretending that the Disfavored or Chorus couldn't just...march back into Lethian's Crossing or wherever after we leave. Magic? Artifacts? There's a banter somewhere that briefly discusses this, possibly it's with Lantry. What are they gonna do there? All you've claimed is a spire, and them claiming the fortress and lands won't really affect your claim. It doesn't even work as a siege tactic, since you've got a teleporter hooked up to the Lehtian's Crossing spire. For someone to topple a spire they'd have to either climb it or literally knock it over, both of which require more effort than you're currently worth, especially with the civil war of it all. I don't think it's specifically addressed why anyone with a grudge can't just walk up to the base and take the teleporter up, given that the people you employ to hang out there must have the power to come and go, but it's not an unfair assumption that access is limited to people you've allowed in.
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Jan 26, 2021 05:59
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Zulily Zoetrope posted:Do you have to commit to Reef-Talon before you even meet her? I know I hosed this quest up somehow, but I never really figured out why. You have to go to Mell after finishing one of the two rear end in a top hat's quests. I get that people can't take the Spires, but we don't actually have any forces that can project power or protect the Crossing itself. We can in theory let the denizens hide in our Spire until we return to trash the assailants, but we can't actually provide a garrison or anything on the Anarchist path.
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Jan 26, 2021 07:27
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I don't think anyone actually says you hold any land at this point, outside of the game putting your banner a couple places on the map. The Anarchist path undersells how precarious your position is, but it doesn't ignore it. Nobody is saying that you can actually protect Apex or the Crossing, IIRC, just that actually taking you down is not currently the priority of anyone with enough power to do so. Your whole goal is to get into a position like Bleden Mark's, where you can threaten the other Archons personally even if you can't take on their armies. This sometimes comes off awkwardly in the gameplay and writing because every other storyline is you helping your chosen faction take over the Tiers, and writing an entirely separate story for the fallback path is more polish than the game could afford. Hey, that's a thing the Wound has to offer! A power base with an actual garrison and supplies, even if it's not much of one!
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Jan 26, 2021 07:51
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TheGreatEvilKing posted:You have to go to Mell after finishing one of the two rear end in a top hat's quests. EDIT: Never mind IIRC what I was talking about requires a completion of the current conundrum. Derp. Complications fucked around with this message at 07:57 on Jan 26, 2021 |
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Jan 26, 2021 07:52
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BisbyWorl posted:Let's help Jaspos, since at least he isn't implied to be sleeping with his apprentices, and do it non-lethally. Couldn't agree more
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Jan 26, 2021 12:55
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I saw help Jaspos kill the target then ditch him for Reef-Talon. Honestly after reading this update I really dislike both of these guys.
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Jan 26, 2021 16:18
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Wagstaff really lives up to that name on multiple levels doesn't he?
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Jan 27, 2021 00:20
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We are helping Jaspos, killing no one, and selling his rear end out to Reef-Talon!
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Jan 28, 2021 03:41
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Cleopatra Jones and the Enormous Pile of Assholes Last time on Tyranny, we met two douchebags who plunged the settlement of Bastard's Wound into a worthless power struggle and asked us to solve their moronic problems. Today these idiots are going to make a very strong case for Cleopatra to just wipe the settlement off the map.  This position is going to be justified very, very soon.  The vote was in favor of helping Jaspos and then screwing him over and helping Reef-Talon. Unfortunately the wiki lied to me and it turns out you have to help BOTH Jaspos and Wagstaff. Mell is a little poo poo.  We proc a random encounter, and defer to Eb.  So, guess what this is? We refuse, and...  Huh? It's a drat berry. Why are you so mad, Eb? So this is the magical aphrodisiac berry. Really. You offer it to people you want to gently caress. According to the wiki you can offer it to Sirin and she asks you what the gently caress you're doing. We're, uh, not doing that. This is revealed if you ask Lantry or ID it yourself, I just confused it with the other berry encounter where you find tasty berries.  Me, being an idiot, eats one.  It's toxic to magic users like Cleo.  There are two versions of the transcript on the wiki, one where you get horny and either go off by yourself or with Kills-in-Shadow, and everyone else rejects you. I'm glad we didn't get the option to proposition Sirin. Why is that even in the game? The entire encounter is weird and vaguely rapey as the Fatebinder is drugged up and Sirin is fifteen. No.  Anyway, we're here to see Lohara.  : You did well, Fatebinder. Zdenya's capture put us in a difficult position. We're duty-bound to continue our work at all times, but there were plenty in the Forge that wanted to use their hammers to pound Brotherhood skulls, not iron. : I found Apprentice Garrick. Sadly, we have this sigil known already because I blew our cash on it forgetting this quest reward. It's the form sigil for weapon buffs. Oh well. : I'm looking for some knapping tools on behalf of Jaspos. : He's in a remote settlement in the mountains bordering the North. Claims to be one of its founders.: She scratches her chin, smearing soot across them[sic] in short streaks. Now that's odd. Kyros gives us leeway in our duties, but a several-years absence would be frowned upon. That settlement would have to be producing something valuable to excuse his detour. At least I hope so... for his sake. A smile creeps across her face and she offers a half-hearted shrug. But he's not my ward, and not my concern.Remember how Jaspos was desperately trying to roleplay a master last update?  : What did you know of Jaspos? Jaspos is one of those guys who's ahead of the class and thinks that puts him in the same league as the actual masters - but who, when put to the test, can't deliver. : Does Jaspos have any associates still around? : Did the stone knappers leave behind any of their tools? If so, where might I find them?: I have no idea what inventory the stone smiths kept with them. All of our stone workers left some time ago. A few of them meant to return north by ocean travel, which meant first traveling to the southern coastline. I'd imagine they're probably gone by now but if you need those tools, I can't imagine they had room on the galley to take all their sledge hammers. If I were you, I'd ask around for Cassandra, or - since she's likely on a boat home right now - see if some local was drafted to attend to her or haul her stuff - maybe they inherited some of her excess belongings she couldn't take on the boat. Now, we're not given the option to just ask Lohara for said chisels and hammers, even though she's a master herself and could probably at least supervise these guys. : [Leave] I must be going.TheGreatEvilKing summary posted:
 We appropriate this from the smithy in the name of Kyros. Why not.  Anyway, I hire this guy at the Spire. He can respec characters, so you can do things like take all your defensive skills and instead dump them into Lore.  That is not nearly enough Subterfuge, as I am to discover later. Oh well! Cleopatra is far more hardcore as a battle mage now!    We're greeted by one of the locals. I'm gonna sum this up, because it's not very interesting - this guy has some kind of learning disability, the Forge-Bound came to the town recently and have been providing it with useful items, and he has a crush on Cassandra. You can manipulate him into stealing the tools for you and get him executed. We will not be doing that.  We can help this guy out with a Lore check to get him cheap herbs and he tells us there's a curfew and that Capteron is an easily manipulated but well meaning dumb guy with a massive thing for Cassandra.  Anyway, this is Cassandra, the real Master of Knapping.  Notice how Cassandra is just instructing these guys without going out of her way to demonstrate her superiority?  : I thought Jaspos was Master of Knapping. Let's all look surprised.  : So what rank does Jaspos hold if he's not a master? It's literally just Nerat vs Graven Ashe all over again. Wagstaff is an obvious boorish rear end in a top hat, and Jaspos seems like a cool person in a bad place until you dig in and learn he's an rear end in a top hat too. Just wait till we get to Mell.  : It takes at least a decade of consistently impressive work before the Guild would allow for the title of Master to be bandied about. If I dropped dead tomorrow, there are a dozen others more qualified to inherit my title. : Jaspos has claimed that title for himself. : I have chisels older than him - he's far, far too young for such a rank! He of course had potential - I wouldn't instruct anyone who doesn't - but he seeks approval in people, rather than in his own craft. Hardly a master's mindset. Much like Graven Ashe, Jaspos is only a master because he's playing in the kiddy pool of people who don't understand smithing. Much like Graven Ashe, Jaspos talks a good fight and then falls apart when he runs into opposition that's stiffer than a bunch of half-naked dudes with knives. : I'm here to retrieve Jaspos' knapping tools. : [Subterfuge 53] Good question. I'm starting to suspect I've been duped. And I'm guessing the only tools here are yours. : After we left Lethian's Crossing, I noticed the set was incomplete - several key hammers and chisels, one of my best loupes - all missing. At the time, I assumed the fault lay with me. The way to South Haven wasn't without its troubles, and I assumed I misplaced things during the shuffle. I would never have guessed that Jaspos would steal them from me, from his own master! This seems pretty bad, but it's actually worse than that. Let's take a look at what Jaspos said. Jaspos sending us on this quest posted:Note that line about tools breaking. It's a bit of a stretch, I admit, but these things are crafted by a master smith who is also a wizard and Jaspos is breaking them. He's the kid who got an A+ on the multiplication table test and thinks he can build a rocket ship.  : What makes these tools so special?: Zdenya fashioned them as part of series[sic] of works inspired by some pre-war study into the Tidecasters and their ways. She took it upon herself to spend a year working only with the crystals and metals the 'Casters used in their designs. My tools were some of her best pieces that came from that year of experimentation.: I try not to make a big deal about having tools inspired by Tiersman magic, but... they are the finest I've used. I guess the idea is that some of the moonlight's energy remains trapped in the business end of the tools. All I know is that with them in hand, I can work faster, and with more precision and strength. This is the difference between a master and an apprentice. Joshua Bell can pick up a terrible 100 dollar violin and make it sound good, but they give him a Strad not because he needs it, but because he's a master who can use it best. Jaspos is just trying to cheat. gently caress him.  : [Speak sincerely] I misunderstood the situation. The tools are rightfully yours. : You have hair? I thought all Forge-Bound shaved their heads. : [Leave] I must go.TheGreatEvilKing summary posted:
We'll talk more about the cooperative magic theme in a bit, the game has a bit more to say on it.  We have 4 days of traveling without Eb doing...whatever the gently caress that was.  Meet Eisly. She's the second of Jaspos' apprentices and is thus introduced with a text dump per RPG writer convention.  : Sorry, Fatebinder. My spellcraft hasn't been cooperative of late. I take it you're not here to talk about my preoccupations? : What happened earlier, with the hammer?: I was embarrassing myself again... seems like that's my only reliable talent these days. Her cheeks grow flushed as she looks to the ground. The important thing to remember is that Jaspos is a dumbass apprentice who is not let out of the house by himself, so Eisly rating herself as a journeyman is probably not accurate.  : [Lore 48] You're becoming one of the Sleepless, aren't you? Let's remove "probably" from that statement. Also, she's pregnant. You get no guesses as to who the father is.  : What do you do in the Forge?: I'm Jaspos' apprentice. Have been so for the last few years. She scoops up a small clay pot and spins it between her fingers.: Knapping wasn't originally my specialty. I apprenticed under Master Erasma back in Lethian's Crossing, but a freak accident meant that she'd take her secrets of the ceramic arts to the void. : Do you enjoy working for Jaspos? : [Leave] I will take my leave.TheGreatEvilKing summary posted:
Hoo boy there's a lot to unpack here. Eisly's a potter being taught knapping by a barely competent apprentice who's a pathological narcissist. Said narcissist has convinced her she's a super competent knapper despite her hitting herself with her hammer and failing to cast spells for the purpose of convincing her to marry him and impregnating her.   : I decided not to take back 'your' tools. Go gently caress yourself you lying piece of poo poo.  Did you notice that no matter how angry Cassandra got, she never took it out on her tools, materials, or apprentices? TheGreatEvilKing summary posted:
The developers had to patch the game so you could speak with him after this quest, but honesty under the laws of Kyros we could just execute him now and be done with it. There are Fatebinders who execute people for wasting their time, Jaspos lied to us and tried to trick us into sabotaging the Kyrosian war effort. We should just splatter him across the floor after some pronouncement of judgment, but alas we cannot do that.   : It seems Jaspos is rather furious with you at the moment. Not sure exactly what you did to enrage him but... be advised. : I wanted to know if you needed assistance with anything. Dammit. Per the wiki we only needed to do ONE of these quests, but I guess we're going all in on Wagstaff's idiotic misadventure.  On the way to Lethian's Crossing we have another random encounter.  Fortunately this one just has some kind of goony merchant who has some pretty cool stuff for sale.  I buy the sigil of Piercing Force (more armor penetration), the Sigil of Killing Blows (extra damage inversely proportional to target health), and the hood that summons a pig. Why not.  In the interest of keeping the update less harsh on browsers - she's a shady information broker lady demands 800 rings if we don't have Athletics 48 or Lethian's Crossing favor 3. I invoke the second and she points us to a new map marker we can go to progress the quest.   These guys are dicking around. There's a bunch of crap you can do, but we all know how this ends.     The lack of enemy variety really hurts this game, but it makes my job much easier.   : Ah, Sage Phoibe. You're looking... like you're staying active? : Who's your friend? : Let's focus on to the task at hand.This section of the game really needed more time in the oven.  : Wagstaff sent me to kill you - says you're a threat. : What's the story with you and Wagstaff? : I want the details. Enlighten me. : [Subterfuge 48] [Bluff] I already know the unmentionables - he spared few details. I want your side of the story.  : What did you gain from your collaboration with Wagstaff? : [Subterfuge 53] [Lie] My mistake. I'm merely assuming you two worked together, as I can't imagine Wagstaff discovered all that he told me about by himself. : Together, he and I... discovered something special. His understanding of Occulted Jade's magic and my knack for expressions... it all came together when we pooled our rings to purchase a text copied from the Forge-Bound. : Tell me about this discovery of yours. : [Lore 53] So did you stumble upon some undiscovered accent or some new arcane power? I assure you, such matters are not beneath me. Let's see if we can't try something else before resorting to torture, as the Chorus has been torturing her for days and it hasn't worked.  : You don't seem surprised that Wagstaff sent me. : He asked me to bring back whatever you were carrying.: Then it's as I suspected - he wants my writings... he's too late. : I've decided not to kill you. Huh? What are you talking about? All the Scarlet Chorus are dead, right? We killed them, I posted the screenshots. I was very confused at this point. It turns out there's one last Scarlet Fury who is offscreen and didn't aggro. : I didn't say that, just that I won't kill you.At this point I'm sitting here going "help you with what? The Chorus are all dead. You can escape now."  I'm roiling in confusion and already annoyed by having to do this quest in the first place.  Nope, same poo poo.  Another day, another dead Scarlet Fury.   : Tell me about this discovery of yours. Same old poo poo. At this point I was about to kill her because I couldn't see another way of progressing, soo..  : [Draw your weapon.] Killing you and taking your things seems like a much simpler solution, no? : Continue...So I cut out the part where you say "Wagstaff sent me to kill you" and you go back into the regular tree. You have to say this: : Answer my questions, then we'll discuss your fate.: I suppose I am in no position to decline... : What were you doing here? : Why did you come to this ruined village, specifically?: Funny I would be asked by the Fatebinder who proclaimed the Edict of Fire! Can you imagine my colleagues fleeing, parchment and scrolls wrapped around their limbs and bursting from their packs? Well, I've been scouring the area, hoping beyond hope to find some scraps of our old writings. : You risked coming to this village because it "seemed plausible" someone hid something here? Odd risk to take. Unfortunately, we cannot ask Phoibe to unlock the Archive for us. The writers remembered it existed - the Chorus were talking about it - but seem to have forgotten Lantry's monologue on how only authorized Sages can query it. Oh well. : [Athletics 48] Uncertainty is an easy lie to peddle. Tell me why you came to this meaningless spot or I mangle your writing hand.Phoibe here offers the most opportunities to be an rear end in a top hat. One would think Lantry would interject because he knows exactly how cruel of a threat this is - but this is Tyranny's DLC, where Eb tries to feed you an aphrodisiac berry by surprise.  : The truth is... I stashed some old writings in this village years before the war. I came back to recover the texts but... someone beat me to it. : What sort of texts were you here to recover? : [Subterfuge 53] You're right. I was hoping to hear that you had hidden away some research into some rogue Archon known only to the Tiersmen. : Finish that thought...: Though my work was in the earlier stages, I was exploring an adaptation, of sorts, of old Tidecaster magic. I was working with an expression that allowed earth and alloys to be made liquid, then back into solid. So it's a fusion of Tidecaster and Forge-Bound magic that solves a problem in the Wound. Have you realized the symbolism yet?  : [Untie her.] Done. Now your end of the bargain. There's no point to killing her.  TheGreatEvilKing summary posted:
 HMMM.   If we approach the argument, we eventually get to this screen.  I vote to save the Sages on the grounds that the other two groups are our enemies.  The first attempt at the fight goes poorly, not because I lose, but because Sirin is permanently suspended in the air, Lantry somehow permadied with no wounds and still being a party member, and I can't leave the screen.  The second attempt goes much better. You can aggro one of the Kyrosian forces and the other will stand there and watch.   After that it's just the standard Tyranny combat. Spew spells everywhere and all the human enemies with no noteworthy resistances or abilities slowly get chipped to death while being permastunned.  Finally, we can get back to Bastard's Wound.   : I have news regarding Phoibe. : Here's the tome of Aqueous Metallurgy you were really after. I just want to point out we were never told what to look for and if we'd encountered Phoibe at some other time she might not have had it. If we'd hit her before the Chorus captured her we might seriously have just killed her and brought back her stamp collection or Yanni albums or whatever because Wagstaff didn't tell us poo poo and sabotaged himself via withholding information. The man is not competent to run a McDonalds. : So you don't deny it's the research notes you wanted all along? Come on, Wagstaff, you don't have to falsify pretenses to get me on board with killing Sages. It's not a great rationale, but Wagstaff is a moron.  : [Lie.] She's dead, as requested. I suspect getting a Fatebinder to kill someone under false pretenses is a crime that merits execution. Lying to a Fatebinder certainly is. : Fatebinder, I thought your arrival would lead us to ruin but instead, you have blessed us with your service. You have my thanks.: The Bastard's Wound presents all sorts of threats: the Bane, sparse vegetation, the toxic water. Perhaps the oddest threat came from within. Reef-Talon, former Alpha of sorts to our tribe became wild and uncontrolled.: She started to exhibit healing powers, or so it seemed. She could heal the outward symptoms of injuries but those she treated became Sleepless, doomed to waste away. Reef-Talon is gone, she fled into the Oldwalls, but in her lies an answer to our woes.Unethical request in three...  : I'll think about it. : That's all for now. TheGreatEvilKing summary posted:
NOW we can talk to Mell. Ask him if he needs assistance again, and...  : You've probably noticed that both Jaspos and Wagstaff offer much to our settlement. And you've likely noticed, while they both want the Bastard's Wound to prosper, they're long past working together toward that prosperity. : What do you have in mind? You might be thinking Mell is the lone voice of reason here. We'll address that next update. : Reef-Talon created the Sleepless, right? Why would you want her back? : [Lore 53] You think MAYBE she healed someone and they didn't become Sleepless? Huh...  : What do you get out of this?: I get back a leader that doesn't fear the Bane, and the only one who can order around all the Beasts without a protracted argument. : How would one bring back Reef-Talon?: You'd have to find her and convince her to come back... or take advantage of her nature - her kind uses strength as a form of debate. From what I know of her, she left out of self-loathing over the Sleepless. So the trick is convincing her there's hope.This is a not-so-subtle hint that Mell's a huge racist.   : I'll try to find Reef-Talon.: To access the depths of the Oldwalls, you'll need the Keystone that Insipid Moniker carries. No, Mell, I don't, are you going to tell me?  Wait, no, go back! What was that? : Best to make your journey as quickly as possible. Jaspos and Wagstaff have already sent some of their hunting parties into the depths. Their best men, I'd say, hard looks amongst them all. Can't be for any good purpose - my bet is that they're looking for Reef-Talon, and not for a cordial conversation. This is the opening to the DLC, and to be honest, it sucks! Nothing makes sense, your options are all bad and stupid, and you're railroaded into helping these two stupid assholes because it's assumed you're invested in these idiots' survival. I've been saying this throughout the DLC so far, but this scenario is the same as the opening of the game, but there's no actual motivation for us to be here. Jaspos and Wagstaff's conflict is just a rehash of Ashe vs Nerat, but again, we don't care and the game railroads us into dealing with their stupid bullshit if we want to actually engage with the DLC we paid fifteen dollars for. (The sex berry is a separate seven dollar DLC. Don't buy the DLC for this game!) The game wants to drive home the message that Jaspos and Wagstaff's infighting is destroying the Wound and they'd be best served by working together - but the rest of the game has already told us this, from the Tiers falling because they're not unified to us having to carry the Kyrosian coalition through Act 1 because Ashe and Nerat were acting like whiny babies. Yes, each leader's quest item being a combination of Tidecaster and Forge-Bound magic is fairly clever, but this is all undermined by the existence of the Wound itself being incredibly idiotic. Yes, Kyros' forces can't legally enter the Oldwalls under penalty of death, but the water is undrinkable, there are regular attacks by spooky cognitive dissonance ghosts, growing food is nigh-impossible (though they apparently have enough to feed pigs), and they live in the Bronze Age. Just hide in the mountains or the forest or something! Kyros' forces don't have aerial surveillance, they don't even have horses! We could possibly consider the Wound a commentary on artificial scarcity except that there are no prohibitions against leaving or anything like that. All of these people have chosen to be here, and Kyros' forces are all distracted by their civil war so it's not like anyone is actively looking for them. The reason we're here is because Lexeme offered us a false history that we don't care about because we work for the local version of the Ministry of Truth. Mell wants us to believe that Jaspos and Wagstaff are critical to the operation of the Wound, but they could have just set up a farm and some rain barrels in the ruined house or something. The entire thing is a contrived microcosm so the authors can rehash the same stuff we get in the base game, and no one's actions make sense. Mell won't give us the dirt on Insipid Moniker and we're not allowed to ask for it. Sirin is a member of our party with mind control powerful enough to work on Kyros the Overlord, but she can't control Phoibe so we can skip the torture sequence. Hell, the Sleep spell is granted by Sirin's sigil of emotions, but we're never given the opportunity to try to use, say, Lantry's medical knowledge, Kills-in-Shadow's unique perspective, or our own high lore skill to actually do anything about the Sleepless. Trust me, things are going to make less sense as this goes on. Next time:  TROLLEYS!
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Jan 29, 2021 05:49
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Look, can we get this over with? I've got 50 subterfuge and athletics, one of them is going to work.
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The proofreading of my our text.
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Jan 29, 2021 06:29
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It amuses me that you respecced to power up your maginess.... and Lantry's still better at it than you are. Granted he's not that far from doubling the lore of the other two mages who are shown to be competent at what they do. The skill point system would be interesting, but they messed up by having one of the stats be related to a combat use, and the other two largely just being skill-checks with fairly low requirements. I suspect you had to do both people's quests because you pissed off Jaspos and didn't actually help him. But yeah, the DLC here is definitely undercutting the authority a Fatebinder really should have. You're basically just a regular adventurer as far as the quests go. I like Cassandra for being basically as nice as you can hope for in this regime. She's pissed at Jaspos.... for lying and for stealing a precious present from her. She doesn't strictly need the present, but it's still an utter dick move. I know the DLC is rushed and all, but they really should've given us the option to just kill Wagstaff and Jaspos. It may piss off the settlement, but they've given us more than enough reason to. Edit: I will note that Cassandra DOES punch some holes in the wall with her hammer at the news of Jaspos. It's much more controlled than Jaspos' pique, but she does damage poo poo. Keldulas fucked around with this message at 09:44 on Jan 29, 2021 |
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Jan 29, 2021 07:37
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So, there actually are different ways through the scarlet chorus encounter when you are trying to get the aqueous metallurgy book You can subterfuge-murder the leader and IIRC maybe fake through it? You can convince two unwilling recruits to murder the others during their sleep, so you avoid combat. quote:Did you notice that no matter how angry Cassandra got, she never took it out on her tools, materials, or apprentices? No, but I did notice that she took a hammer to a perfectly good wall and smashed pieces out of it. I don't see how that is somehow more constrained than smashing a rock into pieces. ------------- Also you can still just condemn the settlement... you know you want to 
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Jan 29, 2021 09:51
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They should also have given you some reason to not WANT to kill the both of them. Since the game forgets you're a fatebinder and have the legal authority to execute people. Was there not an option to not give over the book? Or is there nothing else you can do with the book
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Jan 29, 2021 09:53
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Xarn posted:I did notice that she took a hammer to a perfectly good wall and smashed pieces out of it. I don't see how that is somehow more constrained than smashing a rock into pieces. Simple really: She's not the one responsible for replacing that wall.
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Jan 29, 2021 10:45
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Xarn posted:Also you can still just condemn the settlement... you know you want to You can't, actually. Tyranny does not have any kind of "force attack" option; you can only fight people who are already hostile, meaning you can only fight neutral NPCs if there is a dialogue option that turns them hostile. Note that we haven't seen an [attack] option anywhere inside the Wound since the we introduced ourselves. Maybe we will see the choice again at the end of the main quest, but you literally cannot say "yeah I've seen enough, gently caress you guys for wasting my time and lying to my face hoping I'll do your crimes for you" at this point of the story. In the main quest we could gleefully tell the Disfavored to gently caress off as soon as we were done with them, and I don't think it's a spoiler to say that that [Betray Alliance] dialogue tag would have showed up again in the future, in the case we only got of their poo poo at a later point. This DLC is of notably lower quality than the base game, in a way I don't think I've seen anywhere else. It's pretty wild.
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Jan 29, 2021 12:31
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Was there only one solution for Jaspos? It seems like you could have gone into another settlement and had tools made, although he would probably bitch they there aren't the "right" tools.
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Jan 29, 2021 17:55
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Y'know, in isolation, I kind of get why they started adding sex and sex-adjacent stuff in the DLC. Sex and romantic relationships are an important thing in peoples' lives and a staple part of stories and RPGs. In this game, it even makes a certain sense that the Fatebinder might feel lonely (in multiple senses of the word) or for people to throw themselves at the Fatebinder for their own benefit. Uncomfortable? Yes, and it probably should be. I think the base game largely passes over that subject for very understandable reasons. The execution, however, completely misses 'deliberately uncomfortable in a way to make the player think about dynamics of relationships and sex' and just goes straight for weird and gross.
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Jan 29, 2021 18:00
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Donkringel posted:Was there only one solution for Jaspos? It seems like you could have gone into another settlement and had tools made, although he would probably bitch they there aren't the "right" tools. They wouldn't be the tools of the Forgebound master of Knapping, hence they wouldn't be what he felt he deserved. Wagstaff's ego, abuse of power, and dickishness are a bit more quickly apparent, but Jaspos is almost as big a pile of poo poo.
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Jan 29, 2021 20:31
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Cythereal posted:Y'know, in isolation, I kind of get why they started adding sex and sex-adjacent stuff in the DLC. Sex and romantic relationships are an important thing in peoples' lives and a staple part of stories and RPGs. In this game, it even makes a certain sense that the Fatebinder might feel lonely (in multiple senses of the word) or for people to throw themselves at the Fatebinder for their own benefit. Uncomfortable? Yes, and it probably should be. I think the base game largely passes over that subject for very understandable reasons.
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Jan 29, 2021 20:39
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Cythereal posted:Y'know, in isolation, I kind of get why they started adding sex and sex-adjacent stuff in the DLC. Sex and romantic relationships are an important thing in peoples' lives and a staple part of stories and RPGs. In this game, it even makes a certain sense that the Fatebinder might feel lonely (in multiple senses of the word) or for people to throw themselves at the Fatebinder for their own benefit. Uncomfortable? Yes, and it probably should be. I think the base game largely passes over that subject for very understandable reasons. There's really no way Cleo can enter any kind of sexual or romantic relationship right now without running into power disparities. All of our party members are sworn to our service on pain of death, except Sirin who is fifteen. This isn't something like Baldur's Gate where your character is first among equals in the party, you are legally these people's master and they have to follow your orders. As Fatebinder, you have the - theoretical - authority to execute anyone in the Empire who is not an Archon or Kyros should they violate the laws, so you're not really in a position where you can sleep around without generating conflicts of interest or be entirely certain there's no coercion involved. This brings us to the second problem, which is that historically in these kinds of regimes people absolutely abused their authority for sex, and by just leaving it out of the game we avoid that particular minefield. The game is written so that the Fatebinder really doesn't find people attractive, but if we were playing some sort of narcissistic individual like Jaspos, doing absolutely heinous poo poo like blackmailing Deya into marrying us instead is within the realm of possibility. You can do these sorts of heinous things in fiction. Lolita is the classic example here, and you are supposed to realize what a loving monster Humbert Humbert is despite his sleazy ways, not identify with him. It does not work very well with a self-insert character where you have to click the button to do completely awful poo poo. People will accept a game where you have to make hard choices and sacrifices to win, but most decent people will be thoroughly appalled by a character who's supposed to be them having the option to do this kind of vile poo poo. As soon as you open up sexual power dynamics and abusive relationships you open a can of worms that many people can sadly relate to. The other two things are that most of the evil in this game is institutional and in this setting you lose your humanity as you take power. Most of the awful things Cleopatra has done have been either in service to the Kyrosian regime or in the name of dispensing justice - there's not much that she does purely for herself and purely for power. Even when we kicked the Iron Marshal off the tower and claimed it as our own we were still carrying out the will of the Overlord in punishing Ashe and Nerat for their incompetence. The evil things we did during conquest we did under orders to carry out a war of subjugation. The game is more interesting in exploring what you would do were you trapped in an evil institution then giving the player free reign to rampage around the setting indulging in puppy kicking. Do these kinds of institutions empower monsters to hurt people? Absolutely, and we've seen that with Nerat - but there's only really one story in running around doing awful things, and it's not very interesting and just depressing. Cleopatra is also becoming an Archon, and all the Archons we've seen not named Sirin are all inhuman mutants of some kind, from masked flame to glowing eyes to living shadow and whatever. So no, I think the game needed to keep doing what it was doing and just leave sex off the table. You have a perfect thematic reason to do that - as Cleopatra walks the paths of power, she becomes more distant from everyone else and less human. You don't need to romance party members, you don't need random encounter sex slaves (that is ANOTHER random encounter we may yet meet), you don't need to show a titty every five minutes like HBO to keep the viewer's attention. Just leave it out! We're cutting out things like Disfavored labor camps and onscreen massacres, we can cut out awkward sexual dynamics too.
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Jan 30, 2021 06:19
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Man, I'm glad I never bothered with the 'Tales of the Tiers' DLC (the one that's generating these on-map text encounters). It's the kind of thing that could've worked if it was in the game to begin with but added on after is just full of weird stuff. Pillars of Eternity 2 does a bunch of this stuff so much better; the only problem is needing to do PoE1 to get the full context.
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Jan 30, 2021 08:12
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TheGreatEvilKing posted:This isn't something like Baldur's Gate where your character is first among equals in the party What party member is the Bhaalspawn's equal, especially after their powers start to manifest (which starts pretty early on even if it's minor)? Sure, combat wise even in ToB you can die easily enough but that also applies to the Fatebinder in this game. Both have a very clear power gap with party members that only grows as the story progresses. If anything, the power dynamic in BG is worse as you move through BG2.
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Feb 4, 2021 19:04
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In Baldur's Gate, you have no actual authority over your party members stronger than "you helped them out and they owe you a favor" and they can and will piss off at any time if you gently caress up enough. That you could theoretically kill them all if you really wanted to is not the same as authority. Compare someone like Barik, who loyally does as he's told even if you go against everything he stands for, or Eb, who you can press into service and make surrender the Tidecaster sigil on threat of death. They don't have anywhere else they can go, and there's a whole bunch of systems saying they have to do whatever you say or be deserters or traitors, which is a much bigger power differential. Zulily Zoetrope fucked around with this message at 19:34 on Feb 4, 2021 |
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Feb 4, 2021 19:32
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Cleopatra Jones and the Unwanted Trolley Ride Last time on Tyranny we slogged through a poorly-written opening where we had to do mandatory quests for Jaspos and Wagstaff that showed what pieces of human garbage they were. Today we're going to do more sidequests that show that almost everyone in the Wound is a piece of human garbage.  Eisly has another quest for us.  Now that we've slogged our way through Wagstaff and Jaspos Are Bad With Women, we can finally get Eisly's unique quest. It's a doozy! : What did you want to talk to me about?: I hope I'm not troubling you over nothing. Insipid Moniker is Wagstaff's prime lacky - or apprentice, depending on your perspective. She's been heading into the Oldwalls in the dead of night, every night. "Woundkin" are the Beastmen who live in the Wound, and boy do they get the short end of the stick. : How did you discover this? Remember, too - as the UI helpfully points out - Eisly is part of Jaspos' faction. : I'll look into it. : [Wait till evening.]TheGreatEvilKing summary posted:
 The game tells you to follow Insipid Moniker, but nothing in the game engine actually lets you follow people, so in practice this means wandering around until you find the teleporter.  This triggers a cutscene where Miss Moniker teleports very suspiciously.  We follow and find this impassible flame barrier which requires Cutscene Magic to pass, which leads us back to Eisly.  I hope you're ready for pointless padding! : I traced her path but was blocked by a magical, flaming barrier of some sort.: I heard Wagstaff is teaching her magic, but, no way she could... well not by herself. Eisly cups her chin pensively. Fire makes me think Blood Chanters - maybe she 'liberated' something from an old Chorus rival? Or she figured out a way to control an Oldwalls trap but to my limited knowledge, those traps don't use fire but some... other, sort of arcane energy. Agh! Eisly posted:
 All right.  : Need a hand? : Looks like you have company. Talk later, 'Sophia. The settler turns to you wearing an uncertain smile. : Good hunting, then. As the settler turns away, the bound soldier takes note of your approach.: Fatebinder! I heard we had newcomers, but I wouldn't have guessed someone of your... stature. She nods as well as she can. : How did you end up on that column?: A few span back, after Cairn was finally declared rogue, the General wanted folks looking for what made Cairn lose his sanity - or his loyalty, depending on your outlook.: My unit played escort for a team of Earthshakers as they retraced Cairn's journey through the Tiers. We were headed to the Gates of Judgment and came across a crevasse which happened to be... well. She gestures upward with her head. I really dislike this setup but I'll save it for after the conversation.  : You sure seem to be on good terms with the locals. : Where was I? We paused to investigate, only to find this... nest, this hive. Trespassers living with Beasts as equals! All of it an abomination.: There was no choice but to put them to the sword. We fought well, but our advance fell apart when that coward Argaen threw up his arms and surrendered. : How are you still alive?: Graven Ashe protects. The General's Aegis can sustain us through far more trying circumstances. She maneuvers her shoulders in a dim approximation of a salute. Keep this in mind.  : Why don't the settlers just execute you?: They have, in a sense. The Beastwoman leader of the local pack ordered that I be strung up until dead. Guess she didn't understand Ashe's Aegis, so who's laughing now? : I'm looking for information you may have.: She glances downward and contemplates quietly before speaking up. : And what injustice is that?: You might have noticed an Earthshaker wandering about this place. That's Argaen, and he betrayed my unit the same way Cairn turned from his allies. The coward surrendered the moment blades were drawn. Now he spends his days cavorting with Jaspos - lost in mystic foreplay with that fool who ought to be forging proper war iron, not polishing rocks. : How do I know you actually have what I'm seeking? : I'll think about it.I cut the dialog where we can say we've come to a decision and it leads to the same. TheGreatEvilKing summary posted:
This entire setup is stupid. Cleopatra is a Fatebinder whom the residents of the settlement acknowledge as having life-or-death power over them, but it never occurs to the writers that Cleopatra might be smart enough to leverage that by offering Telesophia better conditions or even just taking her down from the drat pole. We don't even try to leverage our authority or cite Kyros' laws about wasting a Fatebinder's time, we just have to suck it up and do the dumb murder. Of course, this is overshadowed by this character making no sense at all. Telesophia lost all her fellow soldiers to these people, then they tried to execute her by starving her to death on the column, and now they're just leaving her there to stew in her own poo poo and injuries. Yet she's perfectly willing to carry on cordial relations with the locals despite them treating her like...this. I'm not surprised that the Wound denizens are stupid enough to discuss all their secret plans in front of her because they're all idiots. Whatever. Let's get this quest over with.  Argaen is not a smart man.  : Fatebinder! Forgive me, I didn't see you. Jaspos has me performing these exercises to attune my senses, to see the shapes hidden within the rock. Flustered, he quickly tugs on the hem of his shirt and straightens his belt.: I may not be with the Disfavored anymore, but I still recognize a Fatebinder's authority. : How does an Earthshaker end up in the company of this motley?: I'm the odd man out, I know. He motions to his purple-gray garments.: After Cairn had been... declared a criminal, Graven Ashe charged us with scouring the Archon's belongs and retracing his path. I was with the group headed to the Gates of Judgment. As we cut west across these mountains, we came upon this place.: Of course, any association to Cairn didn't make me popular with the Legion. Telesophia was all too eager to remind me that if Cairn's treachery were ever to come to light, all Earthshakers would likely be executed for assumed collusion.As we know, this is not true, everyone knows about Cairn's treachery.  : [Leave] I'll talk to you later.So it turns out you have to promise Telesophia you're going to kill the guy before you actually do it. Her response?  Lady, I'm pretty sure that's not healthy. : That traitor shouldn't be hard to find. The Wound isn't exactly swimming in Earthshakers, after all. Good hunting, Fatebinder. : There is an important matter I need to discuss with you, but only outside, away from prying eyes.Yup, to make this quest longer and shittier we need to lure this dumbass outside instead of just legally executing him like we have the explicit power to do. : Well.... if you solved the Chorus gang squatting in the ruins outside, I guess it's safe again to step outside and enjoy the fresh air.: If it will assist in your Fatebinder duties, let's talk further. I will meet you topside. Due to the miracle of hobo caves, it takes us five hours to walk outside.  This takes us to the beginning of the map on the other side from the cave we exited, and I have no idea where this guy is until I check the journal and it psychically knew that he was on top of the cliffs. This DLC is really bad.   We are given two options to murder this guy, but screw it, let's try to fool Telesophia. : I'm here on behalf of Telesophia. : Why... why would you- He interrupts the thought with a shake of his head. To recap, Argaen is directly responsible for Sophia being kept on the brink of death imprisoned in her own poo poo while he joins Jaspos' little incompetence cult. : I need information, and your death was her price. Leave Bastard's Wound and we can avoid any unnecessary bloodshed.Or just have him wait outside for like an hour! We can just lie and say he's dead, and then leave her in jail once we have her info - or execute her for wasting a Fatebinder's time.  Wait. Wait. Is Jaspos cheating on his wife with this dude? I can't tell, but he's talking like he married the guy and Telesophia won't shut up about magical foreplay. : Your life is in your hands. Walk away and you may live.: I could... Argaen glances at the dirt path trailing away from the remnants of Rostrom Manor. He takes a breath and plants a foot firmly into the ground.  Argaen attacks us and it goes about as well for him as you'd expect.  He doesn't even have the decency to drop anything good. rear end in a top hat!  : Argaen is dead.: At long last! Thank you Fatebinder, the shame of this task left undone has eaten at me more than starvation or these ropes tied about my wrists. She closes her eyes and exhales deeply. : I'm trying to figure out how Insipid Moniker passes through a magic barrier in the Oldwalls. Any ideas?: It's amazing what people will say around a prisoner. I overheard her and Wagstaff whispering about just that not long ago. She grins, shaking her head. loving finally. TheGreatEvilKing summary posted:
Ugh. This isn't quite a trolley problem, but it's an incredibly contrived scenario to get you to kill Argaen for Telesophia so she'll let you at her sexy brain. At this point I'm willing to do it because I've completely run out of sympathy for the Wound and its inhabitants for reasons you'll see shortly. The entire thing is contrived and pointless, and as far as I know you actually have to either kill Argaen or convince him to leave to satisfy Telesophia's wacky arousal. We're supposed to feel bad for Argaen because Telesophia was mean to him over the little matter that the Earthshakers are potential traitors...but you can recruit them to the rebellion on the rebel path, and Argaen has probably repaid Telesophia over tenfold at this point. There's also the little matter that Argaen is supposed to be an experience mage and Jaspos is a stupid newbie, and yet he's fallen under Jaspos' spell and is maybe helping Jaspos cheat on his wife. Everyone in Bastard's Wound is stupid and terrible and I think any future playthroughs for this LP are just going to be me executing everyone.  Now that we have the Talisman you'd think we could go through the teleporter, but the Padding Lords have other ideas.  We have a terrible intuition that we need to go back to Eisly and waste even more time.  : [Subterfuge 48][Lie] Argaen had enemies in the Wound. I sent him away for his own safety. Don't worry, I'm sure your husband will find more sex partners soon. : Then you did him a kindness. Jaspos couldn't protect him forever. With luck, he'll be able to return in safer times.Note that we don't dispose of the body and he's literally right outside. I am 99% sure nothing ever comes of this.  : [Wait until evening.] loving finally.  Guess where this is going?  Sirin is horrified. Her heart is in the right place even if she's being kinda racist here.  : No, no, no. Don't keep cutting that mongrel at the same spot! The scars will get knotted and tough, and we'll lose a bleeding site. Put the bucket by his ribs and slice horizontally.: She turns to you with momentary disbelief. : Care to explain what's going on?: You weren't meant to see this. We're collecting... donations from these generous Beastmen. Oh look! There's the trolley! Clang clang! Clang clang! The trolley problem is the classic psychology question of whether it's OK to sacrifice the few to save the many. A trolley is barreling down the track, it's going to hit five people who are tied to the track, do you pull the switch to send it to only hit one person? It's also the favored morality problem of inept RPG writers. : Donations? These don't seem like willing volunteers. I'm struggling to describe this scenario without implying the writers were intellectually challenged. : Your solution was to create a 'blood farm'? Were there no other options? Sirin literally got handed over to a pedo by Kyros and was used as a weapon to enslave others, and she's horrified by this. This scene would work if we saw something like Disfavored labor camps, but as it stands things like crucifying rebels are actually common for the time period. This is literally something you would describe to slander your enemies.  : If Beastmen blood donations worked in the past, what changed?: Reef-Talon used to heal her 'kith' after they donated, so they could give more at a time. Pretty much all she was good for. : You seem to enjoy your work.: This settlement would have run its course without me. No shame in taking a little pride in one's duty. She narrows her eyes, challenging you to claim otherwise. : Explain why I should allow this. Here comes the trolley! Ring ring, goes the bell!  : I don't want to kill you, but I can't let this atrocity continue. : [Attack] Enough of this - your life is forfeit. This ends about as well as you'd expect.  None of these people have any interesting abilities or put up any noteworthy resistance. Good riddance.  Cleopatra even levels up. Good job!  We have the option to free the Beasts or kill them all for no reason. I free them.  They nope out.  We get some pretty swanky armor that's probably going on Cleo when I next boot the game.   : I was able to follow Insipid Moniker. : She has a Beastman 'prison' of some sort. It's used to siphon blood from her captured victims. : It's over. Insipid Moniker is dead and the captive Beastmen have been released.: Thank you, Fatebinder. I can't believe one of our own would do this, even one as depraved as Insipid Moniker. And to think I almost didn't mention this to you... She smiles, visibly relieved by the turn of events. I've troubled you enough. Thank you again.TheGreatEvilKing summary posted:
This quest is awful! It's terrible from a design perspective in that you're running around doing pointless tasks and dealing with contrived limitations when you in the narrative have the tools to bypass this garbage. We could have avoided all that crap with Argaen if we'd asked Sirin to help us with Telesophia or the writers had allowed us to use the leverage we actually have. There is no reason we need to go back to Eisly after we have the Talisman save for the purpose of padding. The terrible revelation that Wagstaff was using beast blood probably needed to be shown, but the farm itself looks very mild due to engine limitations. More importantly it shows how nothing about the Wound makes any sense. People are coming to this forbidden place where they are constantly attacked by spooky ghosts that mess with your head and that they need to keep around a bunch of human-eating beastmen to deal with, but the water's also tainted with some kind of disease that requires advanced magic to purify which can only be done by harming said beastmen you rely on for your defense. You are hiding in the Oldwalls to stay away from Kyros, but Kyros' forces have attacked the Wound multiple times. There is absolutely no reason for anyone to stay here! There aren't even guards at the gate keeping people in, the community is fractured into factions under bad and egocentric leaders to the point where the first guy willing to talk to us tells us how terrible they are. There's no reason for these people not to go and just hide in the woods where food and water are abundant and safe except for the game wanting to tell a story about bad leaders controlling people with access to limited resources and having no idea how to competently set it up in this DLC. If I was being charitable I'd describe it as a vague allusion to The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas, except Omelas is a paradise built on the suffering of the innocent and this is a shithole built on the suffering of man-eating Beastmen. It's OK though, we're about to learn about what Team Jaspos has been doing to put them on the same moral level as Team Wagstaff.  This guy is a former noble whose intro I glossed over, but I believe the estate outside used to be his.  : What did you want to speak with me about? : Seeing as you're already helping our leaders with their petty disputes - did I say disputes? I meant their CONCERNS for the Wound. He clears his throat.  You might be thinking this is just a dice game or Warhammer tournament or something. Just wait. : You're gambling?: Yes, not that I want to chance a Fatebinder's ire for my troubles. He flinches a little. Everyone in the Wound is terrible. : Our Woundkin send hunting parties into the Oldwalls to lure the Bane away from the settlement. They're good, but... ah, death wins every wager in the end. : Why shouldn't I put an end to all this gambling?: That's certainly your prerogative... I just hope you agree that some vices are worth tolerating if they prevent even bigger ones. : How do you know Mell is cheating?: Too much good fortune is how! We place our safest bets on the strongest Beastmen, and of late they've been falling more often than the weak. Only Mell stands to profit from that. : Are other settlers complaining about this?: Some of us have talked about it, yes. I suppose you can say I'm one of the... devoted. His cheeks flush a mottled crimson, but Rostrum banishes his shame away with a shrug.: And why not? There aren't many thrills to be had for me, otherwise. I'm putting the remnants of the Rostrom fortune to use. : Does Mell set the odds himself?: No, no, not Mell. Have you seen our Disfavored guest, Telesophia? She's the one strung up like a decoration in the middle of the settlement. He begins a hearty chuckle but grimaces in pain from the exertion.: Not exactly tolerant for Beastmen, that one - but she knows how to size them up. Mell got the idea to use her insight, so she more or less sets the odds. You'd have to get the details from her, though.: I'll talk to Mell about all this.: My thanks, Fatebinder. I just wanted to bring this to your attention. Maybe this is all nothing... but my gut says otherwise.TheGreatEvilKing summary posted:
Let's go harass Mell.  : I know about the gambling ring you're running.: I see nothing escapes your notice, Fatebinder. I'd characterize my participation more as 'facilitating' than 'running', but the distinction may be irrelevant in Kyros' eyes. He clears his throat. Unfortunately Kyros' law doesn't forbid gambling, and because the DLC dumbed Cleopatra down so she could play in the pool with these characters, we can't invoke the law of Sharing either. : How did you get to be the bookmaker?: I was sharing drinks with some of the Woundkin Handlers - those who prepare hunting parties before departure and see to the Beastmen's needs and injuries upon return.: Our conversation took a grim turn toward which of the Beastmen would survive and which would fall to the Bane. Idle chatter quickly devolved into wagers. Before I knew it, everyone was thrusting rings into my hands.Uh huh.  : Rostrom Lenk seems convinced that you're cheating everyone of their rings.: Rostrom? Had a string a[sic] bad luck, so it could be his angst manifested as suspicion. He pauses to think, brow furrowed. : [Athletics 50] Your protestations of innocence aren't convincing. Come clean now while I'm still willing to ask with words. : You're right. Someone is killing Beastmen, and it's Tonves. You should know that this whole killing business wasn't my idea. He nurses his brow.: I saw him returning from the Oldwalls late one night with Beastman blood staining his smock and weapons. He was careful to avoid the Handlers, but didn't catch me observing him. The next day, word arrived that one of the hunters had fallen to the Bane. When I saw Tonves with a fresh hide for tanning, it became all too obvious.: I confronted him, and he suggested that I... use my advantage to profit from it. He'd even defy the gambling odds so that I could keep a greater share of rings. I agreed more out of fright than anything else. Tonves is a skilled hunter, after all! If he could take down Beastmen, he coudl easily silence me!: I do know of his most recent plans. He produces pen and parchment and hastily draws a map to a specific location in the Oldwalls Depths. : What do you mean by "cleansing ritual?": Oh, you're not aware? Beastmen have a curious burial rite for their fallen. Mell grimaces, unable to hide his distaste. : Very well. I'll see if I can find anything there. TheGreatEvilKing summary posted:
 It doesn't take us long to find the dead Beastman. We examine them and the death was clearly caused by blunt trauma.  At least we got a cat out of it. I give it to Sirin.  We also find this. Time to confront Tonves!  : [Point out gap in armor.] You're bleeding, right where your vambrace has been damaged.: I am? He raises his left arm and glances at the torn metal, stuffing the gap hastily with a rag. : [Hold up the missing piece of armor] Recognize this? Confess.  : Why would Jaspos make you kill Beastmen?: He needs Beastmen bone for his sieves. Without it, we'd all catch Withering Rot from the water.: When Reef-Talon was still here, Woundking could donate teeth and talon and she'd use her magic to make sure they regrew. Between that and Beastmen sometimes dying on the hunt, we had enough bone to keep the sieves flowing all day. : So you decided that murdering Beastmen was the solution.: What would you have done? Jaspos made it clear what we needed. If we didn't clean that water we'd all either die or be forced to the surface. Truth is that the Wound is still going because of what I did.God this is stupid.  : Why did you bring Mell into this?: Why did I? It was that loving bookworm thought to make a profit from this. He spits on the ground.: Mell caught me returning with hide and bone at an odd hour. Sussed it out before I could think of an excuse, and forced me to give him advance word of any killings for his little gambling operation. : So Mell did cheat the other gamblers. : Do you truly believe this is the way to keep Bastard's Wound going? I see we've gone full Numenera now.  : It sounds like Mell wasn't fully forthcoming. I'll need to speak with him before settling this matter.: You will? I figured you'd just take my head and be done with it. His lips come together to form a faint smile. Tonves' eyes suddenly widen in alarm and he takes an instinctive step backwards.: No. No, no, no. Mell's a crafty one. He's held the murders over my head ever since he found out. Threatened to reveal what I done to everyone! He'll have half the Wound up in arms over me.: Tonves moves quickly through the Forge, grabbing tools and weapons from nearby ranks and tables.: I'm not running, but I'm not going to give myself up to an angry mob. I'll head to the Oldwalls and wait for news from you. After you've talked to Mell, come find me. You already know where to go. He drops a well-worn hammer into a belt loop and rushes out of the Forge.Then he just loving cutscene escapes. Really. Neither Cleopatra the Fatebinder nor the party hinder him in any way. TheGreatEvilKing summary posted:
 : I spoke with Tonves. He made it clear that you forced him to target the strongest Beastmen, all for profit.: He said that, did he? You needn't glare again. I know an explanation is in order. Mell sighs.: Tonves never knew my true motivation, which was decidedly not in service of rings. When I confronted him about the killings, I saw an opportunity to turn his crimes into something that would help us all. He lowers his voice.: The Wound's well-being is also my well-being, and I've seen what others have been happy to ignore - not all of the Beastmen care for our current arrangement.: When Reef-Talon was with us, she stamped down dissent within the Beastmen. This place may look like a miraculous experiment between our races, but its success rests upon a shaky foundation. Ever since she left, I've seen more of the dominant Beastmen voice concerns, even suggest that they leave us humans to fend for ourselves. That, of course, would be unmitigated disaster. Let's take a look at these options. Option one is a clear bribe, and...keep looking.  Wait, what? Why are we not given the opportunity to put this guy to death? The first law in Kyros' Empire is that you cannot kill another because their lives belong to the Overlord's. That's huge. We may not believe in the law, but we can certainly use it! : Regardless of your intent, all this scheming stops now. Tonves' murders are wrong and must be put to an end.: He presses his lips together tightly, a restrained expression of consternation. Are you loving making GBS threads me? : But you are the Fatebinder. If Tonves must stop his work, then we'll just have to find another way to keep the present arrangement agreeable to our Beastman brothers and sisters. Really! That's it! We can't actually do anything to him. TheGreatEvilKing summary posted:
Now, what I completely forgot is that you have to go find Tonves in the Oldwalls to complete this quest. You can't go back to Mell and sentence him to death now, and at this point I conclude that I've done enough stupid sidequest bullshit.  This is awful and it's just not interesting. I just want to reiterate that we as the Fatebinder have absolutely no stake in the Wound and no real reason to save it. The entire place is incompetently run, all the humans are murderous scheming assholes, we suddenly get forced into the role of a generic RPG protagonist instead of a Fatebinder (you know, the entire point of playing this game), the Wound has nothing to offer - we can't even use it to raise an army as everyone is tied down fighting the Bane.  Screw it. Let's go look for Lexeme and Reef-Talon, maybe something interesting will happen.
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Feb 5, 2021 06:02
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Thanks for the update. A few random thoughts that I had while reading: It really is terrible how the PC in games like this often seem to forget the powers that aren't on their skill bars. Literally, this whole update should have been solvable by Cleo just brandishing her status as a Fatebinder. It would have been more interesting too, as compared to a bunch of generic fetch quests. Reading the update did make me terribly curious about what possible reason the Woundkin have for sticking around in this shithole though. From what I can tell the Woundkin are responsible for the safety of the settlement and also for 'donating' the necessary resources to keep the settlement running while the humans are essentially just entirely parasitic and don't contribute anything at all? That being the case, why haven't the Woundkin just murdered all the idiot humans and called it a day? Maybe keep the... what, three? useful humans that have a direct role in purifying the water? What's stopping them? Are they intimidated by how strong the humans are? Even though they are the ones appointed to be the fighters and hunters? Very confusing set up here and I have a lot of trouble envisioning a set of circumstances that would lead to this outcome, where the humans sit around jacking off all day and doing nothing while the woundkin do all the work, only occasionally pausing from jerking off to brutally murder some of the woundkin so they can drink their blood/bones and live another day. And the woundkin just silently accept this treatment despite being in the overwhelmingly superior physical position? If this is supposed to be some sort of metaphor for how the rich exploit the poor in real life, it doesn't really work because the rich in real life have the cops and the military to keep the poor in line, but the humans in this settlement don't seem to have anything like that... I also really don't like how it gets revealed that Jaspos and Wagstaff are both Equally Bad™. Given that this is Tyranny, it completely makes sense that they would both be involved in some reprehensible poo poo, since everyone in the setting is, but they're both involved in the exact same reprehensible poo poo for the exact same reasons? Just one is taking blood and the other is taking bones? That's just lazy writing if you ask me, and it also really takes away from any sort of illusion of 'moral choice', right? If the two parties are essentially just doing the exact same thing, then we (the players) can't make any sort of judgment about which side has the moral high ground, so what are we supposed to base our decision of who to help on? Which sprite looks better to us? If the writers want to do this "the two leaders of the spooky settlement that you have to choose between both have a deep dark secret" thing then it doesn't make any sense for both leaders to have the exact same deep dark secret, right?! They should be different so that the player can make a judgment about which reprehensible thing is less reprehensible, just like with every other moral conundrum that has come up before this point.
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Feb 5, 2021 10:41
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