|
Zandar posted:Obviously all names on the Moon of Madness must have the letters MAD in them, as seen in Nadia Thimbatool. Since Throckmorton only has M, its first name must have A and D, which means that the only possible name out of the choices given is Beadle. This cannot possibly be wrong. Sounds legit.
|
#
?
Jul 14, 2018 18:55
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 12, 2024 05:03 |
|
|
Zandar posted:All I can think of at the moment is that the name Nadia Thimbatool is meant to be a hint at some relationship between first and last names on the moon, or a property that all full names have. I can't find anything, though, so I'll just guess based on a random thought I had while checking anagrams. This is crazy enough to work.
|
|
#
?
Jul 14, 2018 19:08
|
|
|
Zandar posted:Obviously all names on the Moon of Madness must have the letters MAD in them, as seen in Nadia Thimbatool. Since Throckmorton only has M, its first name must have A and D, which means that the only possible name out of the choices given is Beadle. This cannot possibly be wrong. Sounds plausible enough to me!
|
|
#
?
Jul 14, 2018 19:48
|
|
|
Domus posted:But whoops, they're slightly mislabeled. They actually contain jellied petroleum. Napalm. Hijinks ensue. Even when you aren't playing in what came to be known as the Zap style, everything—up to and including shoe polish—was a high explosive, horrifically toxic or mutagenic, or both. quote:Nadia Thimbatool Names like this must be why we accidentally came up with inscriptions from the One Ring while trying to make up some magic words. That's definitely a name from West Mordor, there. Given what we've seen so far, I have to wonder if this isn't a case like bribing the guard where the only thing that matters is that there is a signature. The game is, at this point, training us to lie to it sometimes.
|
|
#
?
Jul 14, 2018 20:27
|
|
|
Level Four: A Test Of General Reasoning In which we somehow "bluff" the Librarian by giving the correct answer (The Lady alone knows how we knew it), then get drafted to help conquer the world in the name of the Mad One whilst on a quest to do pretty much the exact opposite of that.
|
|
#
?
Jul 15, 2018 19:01
|
|
|
This ended up being pretty straightforward. There are five countries, divided into two alliances. Triple Alliance of Middlemark, Occipotia, Suidemark. River Entente of Nosten, Ostania. The key ends up being the fact that Occipotia is NOT a naval power. The festival mentions all five countries obliquely: Corpolin being an admiral, means the country who failed to attend cannot be Occipotia. Middlemark and Nosten are mentioned by name, and more importantly the non-Occipotian nation mentioned last who hired a cavalry leader (Balit) makes the archery contingent the Occipotians. Since the naval leader must be from a Triple Alliance nation, as it is the only bloc with a navy, that means Balit was hired by Ostania and thus this is the cavalry nation. Nosten thus must be an infantry power as all alliances have an infantry contingent. Of the leaders, we've already accounted for Corpolin and Balit. Engrout doesn't do infantry, and Abstantor doesn't work with the River Entente, so Dindee is an infantry leader for Nosten. That explains the River Entente. Edit: once we've given names to the other participants of the festival not directly named, the nation who was a no-show is Suidemark and thus has Corpolin and therefore a navy. Now the Triple Alliance. Occipotia is the archery nation, as above. The only leader it can hire is Engrout since it's NOT an infantry power and we've already accounted for another nation having Corpolin. Middlemark cannot be the naval power (since it showed up to the party above) and so it MUST be the infantry power as again all alliances have one infantry focused nation. Abstantor is the only leader not accounted for, so here we are. Suidemark has Corpolin and thus is the naval power. Final answer: Middlemark, infantry lead by Abstantor Occipotia, archery lead by Engrout Suidemark, navy lead by Corpolin Nosten, infantry lead by Dindee Ostania, cavalry lead by Balit kw0134 fucked around with this message at 19:59 on Jul 15, 2018 |
|
#
?
Jul 15, 2018 19:40
|
|
|
I eventually got the same answer as kw0134. Though the notion of this actually being viable military intel that commanders are expected to act on is... actually not all that implausible these days but utterly horrifying. Much like that, uh, centaur I guess?
|
|
#
?
Jul 15, 2018 21:25
|
|
|
I did a search for Elias Throckmorton, and aside from a TVTropes page referencing this exact puzzle and a genealogy page for someone with the name, the only thing that really came up was a romance novel from the 90's (The Amourous Heiress) which was in Google Books for whatever reason. Maybe Nadia Thimbatool was a similar reference to that (not in that book, though?). The only other major Throckmorton I've ever known used it as a first name, rather than a last name.
|
|
#
?
Jul 16, 2018 13:14
|
|
|
There's also the possibility that Persephone ALSO got the Sword and Talisman. This is all some kind of Eternal Recurrence where everything you did gets reset for the next Candidate to do. It'd be like if you returned to each POP, it would be as if you never were there. 
|
|
#
?
Jul 16, 2018 20:00
|
|
|
Level Four: The Final Stretch In which we discover that we missed our calling as a military man, then attempt to pull rank on the janitor. This is the end of the road. Last stop on the line. Only the heart of the madness remains to be explored, but it's a doozy. First we'll have to get past an array of optional challenges, similar to the Citadel of Osmet Khan. Only once we're past that will we have a chance at finally reaching Moraziel... if the Mad One and his Archpriest don't find us first.
|
|
#
?
Jul 16, 2018 20:23
|
|
|
MaskedHuzzah posted:I did a search for Elias Throckmorton, and aside from a TVTropes page referencing this exact puzzle and a genealogy page for someone with the name, the only thing that really came up was a romance novel from the 90's (The Amourous Heiress) which was in Google Books for whatever reason. Maybe Nadia Thimbatool was a similar reference to that (not in that book, though?). The only other major Throckmorton I've ever known used it as a first name, rather than a last name. Your cousin, Throckmorton?
|
|
#
?
Jul 16, 2018 20:41
|
|
|
If you try to use earth on the general does it obliterate him or do you get the standard line about earth not working on the moon? Final puzzles incoming. I bet they’ll be nasty. Though the table puzzles like the general’s actually seem to have gotten easier - they’ve been putting in 5-way disjunctions that give you tons of information.
|
|
#
?
Jul 17, 2018 00:35
|
|
|
Level Four: The Stuff Of Madness, Arrival In which we seek to bring order out of chaos, and succeed only partially, bringing puzzles out of chaos instead. I don't think this first test is particularly hard (arguably only one part of this entire final PoP is genuinely tough), but like the Citadel of Osmet Khan, the truly intriguing question is how we know the wrong answers are wrong and what they'll do to us if we fall for them.
|
|
#
?
Jul 17, 2018 17:04
|
|
|
The past glory option is going to kill us by trapping us in them. Alternative option, it'll punt us back to, say, Gonzaga; technically not a death but I'd say it counts as one.
|
|
#
?
Jul 17, 2018 17:39
|
|
|
I'm inclined to go with the nondescript passageway, on the theory that it feels the most out-of-place. But that's kind of metagamey. The cake would be too vast to consume; we'd suffer coronary heart failure before making it through. The sword looks nice but who's to say we'd be its master? I bet it'd betray us. The beggar would honestly be my second choice; I don't think material riches are likely to be needed past this point, and charity is a virtue. The monster I bet we'd get into a shouting match with, get impossibly angry, and try to rip apart with our bare hands, with predictable results. The past glories tempts us to relive the old days rather than push towards the new; I agree with Omobono that we'd be trapped there. And the treasure chamber of course would turn us into an orangutan as well; where do you think the others came from?
|
|
#
?
Jul 17, 2018 17:48
|
|
|
So these are the seven deadly sins - the cake is Gluttony, past achievements are Pride, the magic sword is Envy, and so on. Have we gotten any advice about sinning?
|
|
#
?
Jul 17, 2018 18:05
|
|
|
Added Space posted:So these are the seven deadly sins - the cake is Gluttony, past achievements are Pride, the magic sword is Envy, and so on. Have we gotten any advice about sinning? Conspicuously missing is Lust, unless spittle-flecked beggars taking our last coin is meant to be lustful.
|
|
#
?
Jul 17, 2018 18:10
|
|
|
nweismuller posted:Conspicuously missing is Lust, unless spittle-flecked beggars taking our last coin is meant to be lustful. Right. Give him the coin, then? It's the only charitable action available and would show we are not consumed by our desires.
|
|
#
?
Jul 17, 2018 18:12
|
|
|
pride: past deeds greed: treasure pile lust: ??? envy: sword gluttony: cake wrath: French monster sloth: ??? I guess sloth could be the featureless tunnel, which suggests we should go with the beggar.
|
|
#
?
Jul 17, 2018 18:12
|
|
|
We have specifically had the clue, "Pity the mad, for the fault is not their own" which seems to suggest pitying the mad beggar. We've also had, "The easy way deceives", which suggests avoiding the featureless tunnel, and "Money isn't everything" which suggests avoiding the treasure. What else has there been?
|
|
#
?
Jul 17, 2018 18:25
|
|
|
inflatablefish posted:We have specifically had the clue, "Pity the mad, for the fault is not their own" which seems to suggest pitying the mad beggar. We've also had, "The easy way deceives", which suggests avoiding the featureless tunnel, and "Money isn't everything" which suggests avoiding the treasure. What else has there been? The Archpriest specifically recommended trying the cake, which I think counts as an anti-hint. There is also the Best Clue, from the great stone head, "You are what you eat." So... I think we can rule out cake. We've also got "pride goeth before the fall", and I think there was something about wrath along the line? EDIT: Also, there was a random guru who didn't do much except specifically tell us Valterre is the best sword ever, so we can assume the sword is bullshit. the holy poopacy fucked around with this message at 18:31 on Jul 17, 2018 |
|
#
?
Jul 17, 2018 18:27
|
|
|
Lust is Actually, I think it's Pride: past battles Envy: sword Lust: treasure cave Gluttony: cake tunnel Greed: beggar Sloth: plain corridor Wrath: insult creature There were clues about these in all those sententious comments we got, but I'm not going to go check. The only one that gives a chance not to indulge is the beggar, so I say we go that way.
|
|
#
?
Jul 17, 2018 18:44
|
|
|
Even with no clues the beggar definitely stands out - it’s the only virtuous option. The rest are all pretty obvious traps. Treasure will never be the right option, especially in a game with no state. Also I’m wondering about Iggy. Why did the game give him to us for this area? Sure, he gives some hints, but he’s not reliable and the game hasn’t gone for it before. I guess the question is, is he a servant of the Mad One or is he the Mad One or is he Moraziel or what? I expect some twist from him or why would he follow us to the moon?
|
|
#
?
Jul 17, 2018 18:53
|
|
|
Qrr posted:Also I’m wondering about Iggy. Why did the game give him to us for this area? Sure, he gives some hints, but he’s not reliable and the game hasn’t gone for it before. I guess the question is, is he a servant of the Mad One or is he the Mad One or is he Moraziel or what? I expect some twist from him or why would he follow us to the moon?
|
|
#
?
Jul 17, 2018 19:10
|
|
|
Zereth posted:Well, he wanted out of the prison, and the only path available (other than somehow sneaking out through the insect city) lay through the Pyramid, and other than climbing back to an earlier part of the maze, which causes him to mysteriously disappear, we haven't had any chances for him to stay somewhere safe. I’m not sure that the moon of madness is an improvement over that prison, but I was mainly looking at it from a Doylist perspective anyway. Why did the author have him exist and follow us, rather than why in character he would do so.
|
|
#
?
Jul 17, 2018 19:16
|
|
|
Qrr posted:I’m not sure that the moon of madness is an improvement over that prison, but I was mainly looking at it from a Doylist perspective anyway. Why did the author have him exist and follow us, rather than why in character he would do so. But from an in-world perspective, well, once he's past the pyramid, his choices are "try to go back through the pyramid and sneak back into prison alone", or "keep following the heavily armed wizard and hope". Or, I suppose, "sit down in the maze and die of starvation/dehydration".
|
|
#
?
Jul 17, 2018 19:28
|
|
|
Are we going to _pay_ Moraziel? Give the beggar your last coin. This game isn't "edgy" enough to make that be a bad decision, and really, that's the path where we're commiting a virtue, not taking an obvious trap bassed on the deadly sins.
|
|
#
?
Jul 18, 2018 03:26
|
|
|
I'm going to buck the trend and say eat the cake. Both Iggy and the talisman think it's a good idea, and cake is delicious. And when it inevitably fails, death by chocolate is an incredible way to go*. *In practice it's probably really gross, but eh. Theobromine poisoning or bust.
|
|
#
?
Jul 18, 2018 04:30
|
|
|
From a Doyalist perspective, I think Iggy is following us because in each new section of the maze we gained a new power that we can consistently access. In the first section, we had practically nothing. In the second, wealth, weaponry, and (physical) strength. In the third, the magic talisman. In the fourth... we get a companion. Makes sense to me. He's our "level up". Of course, he might ALSO be a twist ending. But I think we're supposed to see him as our level up, regardless of if there's a twist or not.
|
|
#
?
Jul 18, 2018 08:56
|
|
|
Andyzero posted:Are we going to _pay_ Moraziel? Give the beggar your last coin. This game isn't "edgy" enough to make that be a bad decision, and really, that's the path where we're commiting a virtue, not taking an obvious trap bassed on the deadly sins.
|
|
#
?
Jul 18, 2018 13:32
|
|
|
Zereth posted:The fact that we're suddenly down to exactly enough money to give the beggar a coin is also a bit of a giveaway. The game doesn't actually track an inventory. Also we still have Valterre and the amulet. I don't know how much is their value, but I'm willing to bet it's a lot of  . We're a knight, a wizard and an hero, we know treasure basically grows on trees for us. Horrible man-eating trees, of course, but nothing we haven't handled.
|
|
#
?
Jul 18, 2018 13:41
|
|
|
Level Four: The Stuff Of Madness, Colors In which virtue prevails, more or less, and we find ourselves seeing the universe as, perhaps, the Mad One himself sees it. Qrr posted:Also I’m wondering about Iggy. Why did the game give him to us for this area? Sure, he gives some hints, but he’s not reliable and the game hasn’t gone for it before. I guess the question is, is he a servant of the Mad One or is he the Mad One or is he Moraziel or what? I expect some twist from him or why would he follow us to the moon? Iunnrais posted:From a Doyalist perspective, I think Iggy is following us because in each new section of the maze we gained a new power that we can consistently access. In the first section, we had practically nothing. In the second, wealth, weaponry, and (physical) strength. In the third, the magic talisman. In the fourth... we get a companion. Makes sense to me. He's our "level up". Andyzero posted:Are we going to _pay_ Moraziel? Give the beggar your last coin. This game isn't "edgy" enough to make that be a bad decision, and really, that's the path where we're commiting a virtue, not taking an obvious trap bassed on the deadly sins. Omobono posted:Also we still have Valterre and the amulet. I don't know how much is their value, but I'm willing to bet it's a lot of
|
|
#
?
Jul 18, 2018 22:19
|
|
|
Oh my God the Pride one is great. Also, uhhhh... colours. The only hint I remember is Orange is hungry from Mokoo, unless I'm misremembering that one. So probably we should avoid the colour Orange because it'll devour us or some such. Judging by the hints I'd say visit Blue, Green and Yellow, in that order. But it seems a bit too obvious. Probably an awful trap of some sort.
|
|
#
?
Jul 18, 2018 22:29
|
|
|
PurpleXVI posted:Oh my God the Pride one is great. There's also Red is Moraziel's Robe and Green is the Lady's staff. Don't remember what blue and yellow are. So... we probably want to hit up green first?
|
|
#
?
Jul 18, 2018 22:36
|
|
|
Nakar posted:This logic makes obvious sense, though in a game that does track state I wouldn't put it past these writers to have an "easy" solution that wastes the last of our money then put a tollbooth barring the path to Moraziel or somesuch. There're no alternate options in this instance, but it'd be quite a kick in the pants if there were! Given that there's only one way to get to the colors section, they could still totally do this! And then gleefully kill anyone who claims to have money to pay the toll, because they're clearly cheating.
|
|
#
?
Jul 18, 2018 22:37
|
|
|
Purple lies Madness was a hint we got
|
|
#
?
Jul 18, 2018 22:59
|
|
|
Well, we were given color hints by a yellow cat, and a wizard in blue robes. That's the only thing I can think of for those colors. Edit: King Carlon's colors were red and yellow. So maybe yellow is good? Domus fucked around with this message at 23:33 on Jul 18, 2018 |
|
#
?
Jul 18, 2018 23:25
|
|
|
Blue, because it's my favorite color. 
|
|
#
?
Jul 18, 2018 23:46
|
|
|
Level Four: The Stuff Of Madness, Unexpected Obstacles In which we test the defenses of the Archpriest and Moraziel, finding them a bit too tough for our meager abilities. Looks like the Lady's going to need to bail us out yet again... if we can actually reach her important artifact.
|
|
#
?
Jul 19, 2018 19:42
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 12, 2024 05:03 |
|
|
Nakar posted:And then the entire game starts over. No joke. That is wonderful  Also props to Iggy for not only casting a spell but casting a useful one. Chicken soup is good for the soul.
|
|
#
?
Jul 19, 2018 19:49
|
|