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Yeah, let's not piss off the River Styx while we're in the Underworld. Trade. Also I loved Pisces' reaction to Zeus. Fuckboys don't get offerings.
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Mar 21, 2021 10:04
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Poseidon and Apollo are pretty drat bad too.
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Mar 21, 2021 10:21
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There's a solid argument to make that it depends if you're dealing with Hesiod purists like, well, the rich ancient Greeks, educated that way, or non Hesiod purists, like the rest of the ancient Greeks, who had some opinions on the rich and their thing about how every god was a serial rapist and so on. According to some of the scholarship on it, while people "obviously" believed in the gods, I mean, the sea is right there, and there was a thunderstorm the other day, obviously they are there, not many people believed in the myths as they were and found that believing in them for real as they were written was odd, or eccentric, on account of all the money.
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Mar 21, 2021 11:12
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And in the middle of all this is Hades, who just lost a game of dice and got stuck with the goddamned underworld. Not entirely a bum deal as he got dominion over everything beneath the earth, it just happens to include The Naughty Zone. Like, aside from the whole Persephone thing (And she seems to be okay with it, it was Demeter who threw the whole shitfit to get her back), Hades is a fairly chill dude[citation needed].
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Mar 21, 2021 12:13
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Dareon posted:And in the middle of all this is Hades, who just lost a game of dice and got stuck with the goddamned underworld. Not entirely a bum deal as he got dominion over everything beneath the earth, it just happens to include The Naughty Zone. Like, aside from the whole Persephone thing (And she seems to be okay with it, it was Demeter who threw the whole shitfit to get her back), Hades is a fairly chill dude[citation needed]. Yeah, there are multiple versions of the Persephone myth where she instigated it and even the ones where she was abducted often say the pomegranate thing afterwards was her decision. Generally she seems to be scarier than Hades too, she tended to give out harsher punishments for stuff and was less inclined to give people fair chances and there are a lot of recorded prayers begging her for mercy. Most of the people loving up on Underworld quests specifically did the things Hades warned them not to do, Orpheus. But then the whole spectrum of Greek myth is so broad you can cherry pick versions of every story to suit your headcanons. Except they pretty much all agree Zeus is a fuckboy.
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Mar 21, 2021 12:30
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  Active content warnings: ......Torture, Violence........ Welcome back. Last time, we ran into what's likely an old friend trapped in Hell. She's suffered similar memory loss to uss, and we've resolved to help her get her memories back. The first of those had been seized by the incarnation of the river Styx, who was using the Order to let her appear human. We saved up a bunch of Order, so we just decided to trade her some of it (read: a lot of it) for the memory. It's a  pretty good song. 8 motes is the most we've spent on anything ever, but they're burning a hole in our pocket at this point.  Words and images appear and vanish in the air as the lost woman reassembles the fractured memory. Her eyes are distant as her focus is entirely inward. ==> This must be what I look like.Then there's a shimmer of gray as the memory dissolves and flows up her arms. She straightens. She reaches back and, with practiced motions, does up her hair with the clip I gave her. And suddenly, I know her. I didn't recognize her before, but now I do. At least enough to dredge a name from my fractured memories.  We should talk. I remember more about us.We're co-workers, I think. Or perhaps contemporaries?  That sounds right.Your name is Susan. Is it?Thank you.  I remember falling too fast. The parts of my cognition tied to my body were uprooted. Then I hit water. The river.But it's only after I was underwater that I...lost things. Her voice is level, body poised, hand touching her mouth in thought. But that hand is in a fist and its knuckles are white. The fall was unpleasant, but it's only after the water that I became truly disoriented. Based on our conversation with the Styx and what I recall, I suspect that my memories are in the rivers of Hell.Of which there are five. I've learned something of the geography in my time here.  We would be a massive hypocrite if we stopped hoarding memories now. Besides, it would be uncharacteristic of us to not help anyone in need at this point. Susan looks more ill. I...appreciate that. She crosses her arms and frowns. I suppose. If we can recover them efficiently and safely. We have ourselves a new party member, and we have a zone to explore. But first, let's see what Susan knows about our past. Yes.A corporation run by sorcerers. An old family of sorcerers, I believe. From back when they believed magic was hereditary. I don't know much about it. I believe...a rabbit disliked it. A rabbit? Yes.We've seen a memory and a book of computer puns indicating that we're friends with someone named H0pp3r. What do you remember about me? You are precise. And competent. And private.You specialize in prophecy, which has always struck me as a strange profession for someone with those characteristics. I think I have been helping to manage your affairs while you've been comatose. What happened to me? An accident in the Web.An attack perhaps? I don't think we were sure. Decker said we should wait for you to return on your own. He didn't want another domino line of deaths in the Deep Web, like what happened with Carol's polycule. I suppose...I must have disagreed with him. I'm betting we ran into Carol's polycule. The open sorcery community really is a small world. Who's Decker? Oh.I'm not sure? That must be in a different memory. Do you remember anything else about how you got here? Whatever's blocking our mind off, it shattered a webship just for getting close to it. I suppose we can only hope the Debugger is made of sterner stuff. I think it destroyed my webship.I fell, landed in water, and then my memories were taken. Presumably by the rivers. I woke up to a demonic seagull trying to eat me.Without my memories I was impressionable, which is certainly how that office-torment caught me. I've been awake here for perhaps a month. Though it's hard to say how time here will translate into the physical world. Do you remember any of your spells? That'll come in handy on the webship. I'm surprised your name wasn't in your first memory. I remember that being one of the first things I found It seems most people refer to me by my surname. McCade.At least in my professional life. I know you by your first name and I feel comfortable with you pushing my chair.We must be close. Susan smiles slightly. I think that is a safe assumption, as I'm confident I hurled myself into the Web looking for you. A mysterious hooded figure on the river Styx seems relevant to us. Maybe Omini can help us navigate this. The figure's eyes flicker red.His gaze turns baleful. I decide not to try and use magic on him. He settles back from threatening to passively ominous. This individual has been singularly unhelpful to me so far.But he also hasn't tried to eat me.  Talking to him directly doesn't get us much, but it turns out we do have business in the underworld. We present Charon with the package Persephone gave us. The hooded figure seems surprised. It Seems You Have Business With My Master.I Will Give You Passage. He beaches his boat and offers to help me into it. Charon helps me into the boat, folds up my wheelchair and secures it safely with rope.Once I'm settled, he helps Susan into the boat. We cast off. He uses an oar to get us away from the shore, and then switches to a small outboard motor. Soon, we dock in the Underworld.  Good to see Charon's moving with the times. The moans in the air can be distilled into Death motes.   Prophesied: repose, diminish, perish. . . . .  Remember that one time where we actually used Death motes? Good times.  These are the only motes to find on this side of the Styx, so we can head back. Thanks, Charon.  Oh right, the package. I guess we'd better go back.  Here's what things look like to the west of the shore. The underworld only has two screens - Pisces isn't interested in meeting Hades personally, even if we could get past the dog.  Seems rather out of place, doesn't it?Function follows form. It's probably some manner of mystical communication.  I was joking when I named the Olympus Temple update "Narrative Roguelike", Hermes. quote:it sours quickly. quote:Now, only the sour parts of love are left to me. quote:Without the preservative maintenance of touch and words quote:Love is perishable. . . . . . Love is perishable.Without the preservative maintenance of touch and words it sours quickly. Now, only the sour parts of love are left to me. It seems like Pisces' relationship did not end well.  A completely unknown spell. Back in Geisthome we found a spell that was ambiguous between Dream and Nightmare, but even then we had some idea what we were building. A memory and three death motes isn't a bad haul, but it looks like we don't have any more memories here.  Riiiiight. Forget my own head if it wasn't screwed on. For people who don't stop by Demeter's statue, we can also get across the Styx using the Freeze spell. You don't actually find the package unless you actually try to offer an item to the shrine, so it's very missable.  Seems like the Greek gods may have mellowed in the millenia since the height of their power. Also, our Death reserves have now surpassed our Dark reserves.  The path south is blocked by tormented souls. Let's grant them a brief respite with Suffero.  I guess we weren't "granting" them anything, but it at least got them out of the way.  Two memories, one screen. We haven't seen that since the Wailing Pit.  More importantly than our memories, we can siphon some Fire motes from the volcano. Prophesied: scald, scorch, smolder. . . . .  We can simply pick the nearer memory up. quote:to be in pain is to be an inconvenience to you quote:you owe me nothing quote:i won't even let you think to worry about me quote:everything else is more urgent quote:you will leave . . . . . you owe me nothingI can't show pain because to be in pain is to be an inconvenience to you and if i am inconvenient you will leave don't worry about me i won't even let you think to worry about me i'm strong everyone else is in more pain than I am everything else is more urgent than me don't worry about me i can be alone i'm strong This one's a bit of a bastard. Two more memories remain.  What a violent landscape.It's complex enough you would probably need multiple matters to mold it into something easily traversable. When a solutionrequires too much matter better use a spell. Back in Hani's Spells and Things, we had to spend three Earth motes to dig up one of the Freeze memories. It might have seemed unusual that there was a puzzle with only one solution, especially if that solution was just "throw motes at it". Technically there was a second solution to that puzzle - it was just a bad one. You see, we could have fished that memory out using the spell we learn in this zone, but getting it is absurdly expensive. To get this memory, we'd need to sink five Water motes into cooling the magma, and then another five Earth motes into solidifying the resulting mud. Back during early access I think it was just eight Earth motes, which is less in raw number, but is more precious Earth motes. EDIT: I've been advised that, once you've turned it into mud with the Water motes, Susan can just wade over and grab the memories for you. Given that, it's likely more optimal to hold off learning Freeze and spend 5 Water here instead of 3 Earth at Hani's.  Alternatively, we can just fish the Freeze memory out with motes and get this memory out using Freeze. It's something of a catch-22, with both options costing us quite a lot of Earth. Earth shortages end runs if you want to deliver the prophecies. quote:again. quote:can't do this again. quote:I can't do this quote:do this again. quote:this again. . . . . . I can't do this again. I can't do this again. I can't do this again. I can't do this again. I can't do this again. I can't do this again. An easy reassembly, but not a pleasant one. One memory remains.  As good a time as any to get back to exploring Dis.  Rezrov? Rezrov.  quote:you only want to touch for a moment quote:a splash of water on the face of someone dying of thirst quote:I want you too much quote:a blank silver void with cutting edges quote:so that my pain doesn't inconvenience you . . . . . I want you too muchit hurts your slight, unintentional movements away cause me pain I want to cling to you you only want to touch for a moment I accept a butterfly kiss a splash of water on the face of someone dying of thirst I smile, a fragile mask over what I really feel so that my pain doesn't inconvenience you I ask for your attention and there is silence for a day a blank silver void with cutting edges I can't do this again. Compiling the spell costs a Fear mote, and we still don't get to know what it is beforehand.  This one doesn't feel like an ordinary spell. Let's finish up in Dis before we deal with it.  I unironically love this.  I try to talk to the spirit.It seems to understand me, and gratefully, desperately tries to express something that seems terribly important to it. But all I hear are nonsense syllables. I give it a piece of paper to see if it can write. It seems excited for a moment, but all it can do is scribble. It moans softly. Ah. Yes. I can resolve this. Susan reaches out towards the spirit's throat. Order flashes from her fingertips.It stands stunned for a moment, then clasps her hands, crying with gratitude.  That's... Good? From a preference utilitarian standpoint?  And *that's* the last thing of interest in Dis. Now we need to decide what to do with this spell.  We return to our webship to prepare. Seems like Susan was willing to abandon her memories for our safety, but she definitely doesn't seem comfortable with being apart from her memories. We weren't either. The memories that make up this spell are fraught and painful.i want you too much you owe me nothing love is perishable i cant do this I don't like the story this tells about my romantic life. I don't like that these are the memories that gravitated towards Hell. I don't like the ideas of incorporating this stuff back into my head. But there's power here, and I could use that.  Would this even give us strength? Do we really want this as part of ourselves? Doopliss fucked around with this message at 16:29 on Mar 27, 2021 |
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Mar 22, 2021 02:47
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Recompile it so we can learn from our old mistakes.
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Mar 22, 2021 03:20
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Running from the pain won't make it better. Compile the memories.
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Mar 22, 2021 03:49
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While some things are best forgotten, we're not in a position to know what's best forgotten in the first place. Regret is for hindsight and people who aren't rehabilitating amnesiacs. Compile the memories.
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Mar 22, 2021 05:04
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Repression doesn't help in the long run. Sorry, Pisces, time to face the music. At least you've got Ringo to help you through it. Compile.
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Mar 22, 2021 06:11
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You wouldn't need to use earth motes to get that memory. Susan will happily trudge through knee deep mud for you. She's a good friend!
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Mar 22, 2021 07:59
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cant cook creole bream posted:You wouldn't need to use earth motes to get that memory. Susan will happily trudge through knee deep mud for you. She's a good friend!
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Mar 22, 2021 13:55
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Don't do it. Forget those memories, and never recompile them. Instead, we'll remember that we had those memories, and chose to forget.
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Mar 22, 2021 22:59
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 Welcome back. Last time, we found the last spell in the game - we're not clear on what it is, but it's based on some memories of what sounds like a disastrous romance that we found in actual Hell. Pisces considered not incorporating the memories at all, but the thread quickly nixed that idea.  We're not quite done with this one. quote:fault quote:it's not his fault quote:love quote:not his fault quote:his fault . . . . . it's not his faultit's not his fault it's not his fault it's not his fault that he doesn't love me  You would think the worst time in my life would be losing my leg.No. It turns out it's when I was in love. As I relive the story, I just kind of curl in on myself, pathetic and small in my seat.  It hurt so much and I couldn't even be angry.You can't blame someone for not loving you. ==> At least, I can't. ==> Not when they're so kind, and well meaning and like me so much. So I couldn't do the trick where I turned pain into anger. So I just was in pain for three years. We lived together for a while. And that was actually hell. Not the Web's clumsy imitation. I think there must have been a period of reciprocation?Or, at least a time where he resigned himself to my affection as the path of least resistance. I can't imagine that was any better. Any healthier. God, what a mess he was. How pathetic I was. Is this what love is like? Or is this what love always looks like in bitter retrospect? Or am I just singularly bad at it?   So here's the morality system I alluded to in the first update. Our kindness increases when we go out of our way to help others. Our ruthlessness increases when we harm anyone for pretty much any reason (except for webship encounters, which don't count). Because this is about Pisces' psychology, our kindess also increases when we express empathy or compassion, and our ruthlessness increases when we express callousness or cynicism - for example, we gained kindness when we tried to stay optimistic during the Hungry Ghost's attack, and we would've gained ruthlessness if we just endured it instead. They're often offset against one-another, but they're not zero-sum - killing Packet Rat would have been a more ruthless way of getting the selkie's coat, but it wouldn't have been less kind.  I exhale slowly.I am still here. I am still whole. Life was awful for a while, but I recovered. A sense of power sinks into my body. Something no one can ever take from me.  Strength does what it says on the tin - raw physical muscle. Had our ruthlessness been greater than our kindness, we would instead have learned the Pain spell, which significantly surpasses Nightmare as an attack spell. This is the only thing kindness and ruthlessness do - no hidden checks, no ending changes (I think). Mechanically, I suppose it's no different than a good versus evil meter, but I appreciate that they're not written as mutually incompatible. Of special note, if your kindness and ruthlessness are equal at this point in the game, you're considered kind *and* ruthless and get both spells. Generally, you also get a full heal for compiling Strength. That's not relevant for us, of course.  With our last spell under our belt, we have a bit of cleanup to attend to. First up is the coffee elemental we bullied out of the library hallway.  Normally we'd have to play him to get him to leave, but that's what Mute is for.  We don't get an explanation of the rules at all unless we talk to him in the hallway, but this is Tarot War. We each get dealt three, and pay one. The higher-scoring card... Scores. No doubles, no nothing - just the raw value of a single card. . . . . .  World, as it turns out, is very good. Wheel of Fortune is not.  You can't have it every time, man.  Better.  Who's got the World now, coffee boy?  Coffee Dude obviously isn't programmed to play optimally, and we break 50 points for the win. The simplest tarot puzzle by a wide margin - I thought people spent their university years playing complicated stuff like League.  Since we got the Coffee Elemental out through other means, there's no reward for this. Just the "thrill" of the game.  More importantly, the time has come to deliver our prophecies. We could spend some Earth motes to reach the oracle's stool...  ...But our new spell will also get us there. Our only options up here are "see the future" or "leave the stool". I take a deep breath.The faint mist from the chasm swirls around me. I let my mind lose focus and drift. This process feels familiar. The altar before me glows with a silver light.  I catch the power of this place.My mind drifts with the smoke. I move, though I am still. I move towards what has yet to come.  We find ourselves in the future, with six prophecies that need attending to. That bit about Omini about the bottom is interesting, though.  We get something to help us with any puzzles we still have outstanding. Not great value for us, but it'll get at least once chance to strut its stuff.  The game will make it pretty obvious where any missing prophecies are. We'll follow up on that later.  Next up is the Prophecy of Water (The Lost Prophet). If we have the prophecy, it'll give us an opportunity to impart it,  Imparting a prophecy requires 5 of its associated motes.  I guess this is dooming us to suffering a devastating injury (if prophecies even are retroactive in this setting), but we didn't come this far to back out of what we started down here.  The Prophecy of Darkness goes to an illiterate but well-intentioned shadow monster.  The Prophecy of Light goes to a gender-questioning child at the same address as the shadow monster.  The Prophecy of Fire goes to the same house, at the same time. Merry Christmas.  The Prophecy of Earth... Right. Earth motes.  I probably should have held off learning Freeze until we could get the Hell memory with Water motes. Fortunately, this is why we held on to our trunk full of treasure. The treasure chest vanishes in a flash of light.Lost treasure chest. Then the statue in front of me begins to move.  Hephaestus is a bit more proactive than the other gods in the temple.  Oh, geez, thank you for the offer, but we really just need the Earth motes.  Hephaestus finds the pixie camera fascinating, and we would have had a bit more wiggle room if we used that. Ares would also take pretty much all of our corpses in exchange for Death motes, though we're not likely to run out of those regardless.  The Idea is another prophecy sent into the past, though in this case it's the very recent past.  Time to pay the Mirror of Prophecy another visit.  We last left off the mirror world in front of an iron gate labeled "Speak the word of opening". Rezrov should do.  Oh, right. Our spells are off. In that case, as the thread pointed out, we'll just literally say "Rezrov". The gate swings open. Next up is a reversed version of ourselves. I'm sure we'll listen to reason. I try to talk, but I interrupt myself, saying the same thing. Getting in my own way is a familiar sensation.Pisces isn't interested in using attack spells on someone who can mirror our movements, but she is willing to cast ValeMundo.  Reflections generally aren't physical either, but we'll take it.  And here's our reward. The only problem is the large, murderous tiger blocking our way. I approach the pedestal.The tiger growls. I wheel backwards. Good kitty. Big kitty. I've always liked cats.This one is a bit big. Since strength has turned to pain, we might just be able to solve this with an attack spell.  Effective, but not effective quickly enough to stop us getting murdered. It did imply that something similar but more benign might get the job done, though.  Everyone's scared of falling, right? The tiger is not concerned about falling.It always lands on its feet. Everyone's scared of... dying of grievous wounds and not being able to express it, right? The tiger is not familiar with concepts like "social obligation" and "anxiety."So this dream doesn't work on it. Lucky tiger.  Tooth loss gets the job done. Annoy Cat would also have worked, as would various mote-based solutions.  This one was labeled "The First Lesson". We could go back to Olympus to deliver this, but we actually know a spirit of Air and Chaos that's looking for something interesting to get back into Titania's good graces with.  We shout the prophecy in fancy occult-voice, which I won't transcribe, as we just read it. The prophecy leaves me and I can speak normally again.Asper is staring at me.  Chaos from order?What an idea. What an intriguing idea. What was that first part? A soul line that smells of water? Interesting. Interesting. The Prophecy of The First Lesson Has Been Heard. Asper would go on to run into BEL/S at a retirement home, teaching her Chaos and starting her on her path toward sapience. One prophecy for a (currently) non-magical child named Toby, one prophecy for Toby's nightmare friend Eek, and one prophecy to deliver the others. The last three prophecies all seem targeted at putting a powerful AI spirit in the right place at the right time. A useful thing if an apocalypse is about, I suppose.  With the prophecies delivered, we can get back to business regarding Susan's memories and our trip to the surface. Hell's last screen is a massive racetrack. A bloodstained curve of asphalt begins here and winds off into the distance.When it reaches the Acheron river, it leaves the ground, becoming a elevated path floating in abject defiance of conventional physics. I won't need to ride on top of the track, like the racers with cars and motorcycles, but it marks the best path for me to follow to gain momentum.  Some very Reverse Soave vibes, with reversed capitalization and everything. I wonder if that means this is an *actual* demon rather than just a random spirit. The name also suggests he might be related to Delicia's non-fairy mother Scordatura. I don't want to race--can I just use the racetrack to gather momentum? no.if you use My racetrack outside of My race then I will destroy you. Okay then. Scordaturn seems to relent slightly. if you do not wish to race, you may gather the momentum you need during the race and leave the track early.but you must start the race. I need another racer. Can you tell me the rules of the race? hear me speak the rules of this race:thou shalt begin at the start line when the starting crow screams. thou shalt travel along the five rivers of hell. if thou leavest the track, thou hast lost and may not return. thou shalt survive. to die is to lose. thou mayst only hinder other racers AFTER the race hath begun. thou shalt cross the finish line first to win highest praise. second to win praise. third to win faint praise. Are there prizes for winning? This concludes our exploration of Hell, and we're still at only one of five memories for Susan. The race winds around all five rivers, so it seems like we'll be collecting the other four memories during the race. The race is also our only way of getting back to our body, so it's something we'll be doing at least in part no matter how we approach this. Should we retrieve Susan's memories, ignore Susan's memories to win the race, or just ascend as soon as we have enough momentum? To spoil things ever so slightly, the race is our last opportunity to spend motes, so we have only hit points to lose from going all-out. Winning the race while retrieving Susan's memories isn't impossible, but it isn't easy either, and we might have a few options to tilt things in our favour. Should we avoid messing with our competitors, mess with competitors in borderline-fair ways, or cheat outright? Doopliss fucked around with this message at 18:19 on Mar 28, 2021 |
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Mar 23, 2021 05:21
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There's no way we're leaving Susan in the lurch!!!!
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Mar 23, 2021 05:29
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Get Susan's memories and mess with people fairly. Also, would it be possible to trade enough corpses to Ares that we can use Hermes' exchange to get the 2 Earth and then get the upgrade from Hephaestus? GrayGriffin fucked around with this message at 06:04 on Mar 23, 2021 |
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Mar 23, 2021 05:55
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GrayGriffin posted:Get Susan's memories and mess with people fairly.
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Mar 23, 2021 06:22
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Our kindness score is sky high, we're grabbing those memories. That said we haven't exactly been playing fair. Karmically appropriate cheating is acceptable. Also thoughts. I was confused if the Prophecy of Light was meant for Janet instead. After delivering it, I just stared at the screen for the longest time, because that had completely slipped by me unnoticed. I think I owe OS1 another playthrough.
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Mar 23, 2021 06:26
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Cheat as much as possible! I didn't find any way to cheat and want to see that. Also, give Athena a fully filled form, she likes those. And spend the last treasure to get some fire.
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Mar 23, 2021 07:59
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GrayGriffin posted:Also, would it be possible to trade enough corpses to Ares that we can use Hermes' exchange to get the 2 Earth and then get the upgrade from Hephaestus?
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Mar 23, 2021 13:58
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Doopliss posted:I mentioned the other puzzle possibilities because I had kind of already deemed that puzzle "completed" when we made our choices a few updates ago. Given our massive surplus of Death, Water and Dark motes, we could definitely do it anyway, though I'm not sure it's optimal at this phase of the game. Mostly I just find it funny to bully Hephaestus. Shame on you. Hasn't he been through enough already????!
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Mar 23, 2021 13:59
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Leraika posted:Shame on you. Hasn't he been through enough already????!
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Mar 23, 2021 14:01
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cant cook creole bream posted:I agree. He was dealt a really bad hand. And leg.
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Mar 23, 2021 14:39
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can we not with the ableism
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Mar 23, 2021 15:53
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I genuinely did not want to lead it into that direction.
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Mar 23, 2021 16:09
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Oops, sorry. That was hugely insensitive of me.
Dareon fucked around with this message at 23:41 on Mar 23, 2021 |
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Mar 23, 2021 23:37
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  Welcome back. Last time, the thread revealed themselves to be a bunch of Hephaestus fans, so we're taking a quick trip back in time. Thank you, Hephaestus, we would be honored to have you work on our ship.  We take the rudder, giving us a flat +2 Momentum. Fire resistance is for people who get hit, and we're looking for maneuverability on this next voyage. We trade in 10 Death motes to get up to six Earth, so we can have one left over for emergencies after the prophecy.  Per the thread's request, we also give the pearl to Hestia in exchange for Fire motes, as well as trading some surplus Chaos, Water and Dark for some spare Fire. We'll get into that later. In retrospect, we might have went a bit too ham trading in our Dark, but seven motes between Light and Dark should be alright.  Now that we're fully prepared, we scope out our competition a bit. Most of them range from aloof to murderous, but a few of them are willing to chat. This looks like a normal semi-truck, only the cab has transformed into a leering skull, windshields embedded in its eye-sockets.A woman with wispy white hair and overalls sits on the driver-side step, eating a sandwich.  We'll call her Linda. I'm sure she gets plenty of Skulltruck. Your truck has an interesting aesthetic. Yeah, you like him? He's my superpower.Or something like that. Some family magic or curse. Comes with quest and destiny stuff, but I won't bore you with that. The short version is: whenever I drive something, it slowly turns into a giant truck with a skull on the front. She pats the cab of her truck. This guy used to be a bicycle.If it's a family curse, I choose to believe that "Skulltruck" is her surname. Do you have any advice about the race? I've done it enough, I suppose I should.If you've traveled the Web at all, you'll recognize some of the spirits and weather patterns on the track. Hell puts its own spin on things, staining anything that comes in here brimstone black and fire red. But if something looks familiar, like something you've seen before, it'll likely work the same way.  We, of course, are here to race. Linda nods. If you want to win, you have to think about passing other racers.You have to gather Momentum to pass, and you use most of it up in completing the pass. When you pass, you open yourself up for attack. Some folks shoot. Some don't. But you have to be ready to defend yourself. Shields are best, but failing that, you want plenty of matters and motives. Hard to use spells from inside a cockpit. And, on the other hand, if you get slow enough people might try to pass you. Then you get to decide if you're the sort that shoots on the racetrack. Passing costs enough momentum that we're going to have plenty of people trying to slip past us while we recover. Can you tell me about any of the other racers? Faust is probably the German man in the Ferrari, and I'm guessing Dudley is the transparently-shady guy in the purple webship. Not sure who Hellracer and Phantom are.  We encounter a wild Ghost Rider in the stands.  I'm sorry, I meant Phantom Driver. This must be the Phantom that Linda mentioned. Do you have any advice about the race? He nods, and starts to sign. The start of the race is very important.That is your best chance to get in a good position. Make sure you have Fire. You can use it for an early burst of speed. Remember those Fire motes?  Unlike Linda, Phantom Driver knows something about just about everyone. The Bentley's still a wildcard, though. The black and gold webship posted:
The flock of bat winged women posted:
The semi-truck with a cab shaped like a skull posted:
The German in a Ferrari posted:
The translucent train posted:
The floating pirate ship posted:
The tiny imp on a go-cart posted:
The sinister man in the purple racecar posted:
The huge, winged demon posted:
A zeppelin made out of lead posted:
The Phantom Driver posted:
 That's it for Phantom, but the imp he mentioned seems eager to talk as well. Do you have any advice about the race? YES.You need to know the environment! Having a super fast, super big car won't help you if you don't know the rivers! They're all different and they need different things! What are the rivers? The rivers are Acheron, Cocytus, Lethe, Phlegethon, and Styx. Mimi counts them off on her fingers. It takes both hands, since she only has three fingers on each. We race them in that order! Remember it!Acheron posted:
Cocytus posted:
Lethe posted:
Phlegethon posted:
Styx posted:
Can you tell me about any of the other racers? Crucial tactical information about our competitors. Despite Phantom saying she was young, her advice on the rivers seems sound.  We've been warned off this Dick by three different racers, but we will not be deterred.  That may be the most offensive thing anyone's told us all game.  Yes yes yes. Perfect for my purposes. He's twisting his mustache like mad now. You're here because you're racing? Yes? Of course you are.And you're here wanting to win! Sure. Yes! Well. We all want to win!And I have a way to make it more likely that the winner will be one of the two of us! He grins and reveals a small red-and-purple machine. I know Linda said he wasn't the fun kind of heel, but I'm kind of digging this. I suppose it wears out its welcome. He stops laughing abruptly. Unfortunately, the other racers here have developed a certain wary respect for my methods.But YOU are new, and look harmless! I'm not sure whether he thinks I look harmless because I'm short, a woman, or in a wheelchair, but whatever his reasons I find it extremely annoying. All you have to do is casually attach it to the side of one of their cars! We're a little bit above actual cheating. However, we are not above narcing on a competitor to thin out the opposition. Scordaturn's eyes flare and it hisses. dudley. It flaps its many wings, fluttering over to the sinister man and the purple car.Through the argument, I hear Scordaturn repeatedly yell: during the race. during. not before! There is a shouting match that ends with the man angrily driving away. Pisces isn't interested in talking to the murder-demon, but...  ...She is interested in tipping the odds a bit. I drop the corpse near the giant red demon.He soon notices it, picks it up, and devours it. Two corpses is probably all the corpses a demon should eat before running an intense race. It's not "interfering" with him, really. We're just leaving corpses lying around, and the Bailgor is choosing to eat them.  It's not our fault if the Bailgor makes poor choices.  We've done our strategizing, we took two of our competitors out of the running, and we've prepared our inventory. That line at the end is how the game tries to tell you not to sandbag motes.  Normally, passing takes a lot of hard-earned momentum. Passing here just costs motes, so we dump all 10 in. The crow screams.My engine roars. I shoot forward five places in the lineup. The Bailgor is slow and sluggish from all the corpses he ate. He falls behind. I am in 7th place.  We're off to the races. It's largely normal webship play, except instead of being done after three or four events we're in for the long haul. The webship racing music  kind of slaps. Acheron starts us off with a softball. The Maiden's Blessing sees us through. The black misery leeches hope from me.Dark damage prevented by the Maiden's Blessing. I gain 18 Momentum. [+2 from rudder] [+8 from sails] [+8 from engines]  We got a specific webship part for this event, and no other. I honk the Goblin Horn.HONK The traffic moves enough to let me through. I gain 18 Momentum. [+2 from rudder] [+8 from sails] [+8 from engines]  We've dealt with plenty of fog in our time, and the Search Engine's always done the job. That doesn't help me.The dread and disorientation drive me to distraction. Dangers in the fog scratch my ship. I gain 18 Momentum. [+2 from rudder] [+8 from sails] [+8 from engines] Apparently the obstacles here have a bit more intensity to them. That was a painless miss given our webship armor, but the next one might not be.  Reaching our momentum limit gives us the option of passing or exiting the race.  The Ghost Train ignores us, and we ignore it.  The obstacles we face are deterministic, but there's some randomness where the other racers wind up. I've seen races where Hellracer gets stuck in the back half, though this definitely isn't one of them. Anyway, let's make this our first ever webship event motes. This seems Fear aligned, and it seems unlikely that we'll spend all four Love motes this race. I bewilder the fearsome shade with a jolt of pure Love.I pass safely. I gain 18 Momentum. [+2 from rudder] [+8 from sails] [+8 from engines]  Mimi advised us that Ice was Earth. We could spend a Love mote on this, but Air is way less scarce, and both counter-elements generally work. While air does oppose the earth matter of the hail, a simple wind is too weak to force the hail away.The hail batters my ship. Lost 2 ship parts. I gain 18 Momentum. [+2 from rudder] [+8 from sails] [+8 from engines]  I was wrong - the race events often work more on logic than they do formal elements. As Phantom Driver suggested, Linda doesn't shoot.  As we finish the first leg of the race, we find Susan's memory in Acheron. Naturally, we're prioritizing Susan's health over bragging rights.  We burn through our last 10 momentum to take a quick detour down to the river. Not sure what his motive would be, but it certainly seems like he doesn't like Dark. I blot out Acheron's glow with Dark.As he reels, we swoop down and recover Susan's memory. Recovered 2/5 memories.  The screen fades out and in, and we get a different-coloured UI for the next region.  Seems like a variant of the habit floe, so Chaos should break it up. I unfurl the Non-Euclidean Sail.I use its chaotic energy to crack the floe, shattering its solid order and breaking it apart. A few traitors fall out into the cold water. I gain 18 Momentum. [+2 from rudder] [+8 from sails] [+8 from engines]  Linda is nice. I don't want to shoot at Linda. We'll pass her later.  Last time we tried using Air on Earth it ended badly, but maybe this one will go better. I fill my sails with air and rise briefly to avoid the flightless devils.I gain 18 Momentum. [+2 from rudder] [+8 from sails] [+8 from engines]  Peep's Love couldn't break this one, but it does remind us of the Wailing Pit, and it seems like it has to be Fear-aligned. I soothe the spirits below with a mote of Love.They quiet, for a moment. I gain 18 Momentum. [+2 from rudder] [+8 from sails] [+8 from engines]  We continue to jockey for position with Linda. We still have the time for four more passes.  Love is the obvious one, but we're starting to run low on it. Hopefully some Order will counteract the senselessness of the impulse. I ground myself, the octopus and Susan with the stability of Order.The traitorous impulse gradually fades. I gain 18 Momentum. [+2 from rudder] [+8 from sails] [+8 from engines]  Crap. We need to spend another Love mote, don't we? I warm myself and my ship with Love. The snow melts and the winds gentle in a circle around me.I travel safely through the storm. I gain 18 Momentum. [+2 from rudder] [+8 from sails] [+8 from engines]  That's great and all, but now we only have one Love mote left. Anyway, this seems like a good opportunity for Susan's shield spell. Susan blocks the cannonball with her shield.I pass Mimi the Imp. I am in 4th place.  Linda has passed Mimi, and is right back on our tail. More importantly, it looks like we're in for a fight with Cocytus. Missing here means one memory Susan won't be getting back. Which mote should we use? Doopliss fucked around with this message at 04:19 on Mar 24, 2021 |
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Mar 24, 2021 04:13
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Krysmphoenix posted:Also
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Mar 24, 2021 04:21
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Feels like Love would work here, though we only have one mote of it left. And man, I keep wanting to say that Fire should oppose ice, even though we've already been told it doesn't work that way.
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Mar 24, 2021 04:43
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Doopliss posted:I think the only indication that Toby's gender-questioning in the main game is the tiara under Toby's bed. Jingle BEL/S is where the real content is on that front. well, that and the closet adventure gently caress, how dare you leave it up to the chance of the thread here! ...but I actually think Fire is the right move here?
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Mar 24, 2021 04:49
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Drat, double drat, and triple drat! Kind of disappointed we don't get to race against Not Dick Dastardly, but then again, it's not surprising that we told on him for breaking the rules.
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Mar 24, 2021 05:40
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It might be our last mote, but at least we know for certain that this river is earth-aligned. Fear or love might also work but those are scarce too. Fire is a really bad choice because that might not even work against earth and would be our last mote as well. But it might work. Those puzzles work on logic, so the fire might melt that thing, while earth could shatter the ice. Unfortunately, I don't see wind helping out a lot here.
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Mar 24, 2021 07:47
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...I think I know who the guy in the Bentley is. And I am going to be so, so happy if I'm right.
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Mar 24, 2021 08:05
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 I'm so very happy that we got a glimpse of the Mean Machine, with those double-dealing do-badders: Dick Dastardly and his sidekick, Muttley. (Or their expys, anyway.)
Yapping Eevee fucked around with this message at 08:19 on Mar 24, 2021 |
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Mar 24, 2021 08:17
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Seems clear from the dialogue and keywords, along with the testimony from Mimi, that this river is Earth/Fear aligned. Therefore, we should counter it with Air/Love and probably not Fire. We know the other rivers are going to have the remaining memories. The upcoming rivers are likely opposed by Life and Water based on their descriptions so no worries with motes there so far. It's a risk to use our last Love, but we've used of our other Love motes on obstacles so far. Hopefully we can tank any other encounters that require them in the future, but it seems worth using our last one to retrieve this memory. Air feels riskier for some reason.
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Mar 24, 2021 16:29
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The guy in the Bentley seems a slithery sort to me...
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Mar 24, 2021 22:39
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 Welcome back. Last time, we began a race across the rivers of Hell to retrieve Susan's memories, as well as for its own sake. We find ourselves in a battle with the river Cocytus, who seems like a being of Earth and Fear. The thread decided to resolve this with our last Love mote as a counter-motive.  The Love mote gets us there. There was also one vote for Fire, which would also have got the job done.  We speed on to the River Lethe and enter the next leg of the race.  This seems like something the Search Engine might vaguely help with, but we were warned that the Lethe is heavily Death-aligned, and we have plenty of Air to blow errant fumes away. I blow the river's fumes away with a gust of Air.I gain 18 Momentum. [+2 from rudder] [+8 from sails] [+8 from engines]  Dammit, Linda. Two Momentum away from just staying ahead with raw speed.  Surely the Search Engine will work here, at least. Surely. That doesn't help me.I cannot tell reality from illusion. I am lost for a time in the caves. I lose -2 Momentum. [+2 from rudder] [+8 from sails] [+8 from engines] [-20 from event]  Goddammit, what is this thing even for if it can't keep us going in the right direction? To add insult to injury, Mimi attempts a pass. We throw Death motes at her until she backs off.  The offering is just healing. We have full health.  Fortunately, we have a shield specialist aboard. Susan shields us from the spear.The throwers call out apologies as I sail past. I gain 18 Momentum. [+2 from rudder] [+8 from sails] [+8 from engines]  We try to pass Hellracer, who's exploiting our lack of shield and Love motes to ruin our day. We hope the needles count as Earth matter, and can be blown away with Air. That doesn't help me.The needles sink into my ship, but I complete the pass. I am in 4th place. Used 40 Momentum. Lost 1 ship parts. Lost 1 health.  They don't. Air, uh, isn't very good. Still, the damage isn't unreasonable. Naturally, we have nothing to fear from supernatural darkness. I am lost alone in the dark.Dark damage prevented by the Maiden's Blessing. I gain 8 Momentum. [+2 from rudder] [+8 from sails] [+8 from engines] [-10 from event]  I was very wrong. Immmunity to Dark damage isn't immunity to getting lost in the dark.  Transparently Dark-aligned, and we have plenty of Light motes. I illuminate Lethe with a sudden burst of Light.She flinches back, upset and confused. We swoop down and recover Susan's memory. Recovered 4/5 memories.  Two rivers to go, and we need to make up three places. Not unreasonable by any means.  Hellracer gets cheeky, but that bastard shot us with needles. We're under no obligation to play nice.  Skulltruck's making massive gains. Four water motes isn't a ton, but it's enough for this event. I douse the bolt of fiery rage with Water.It steams and is extinguished. I gain 18 Momentum. [+2 from rudder] [+8 from sails] [+8 from engines]  That's what I like to see. Things we can solve with Air motes. I twist the thermals to my will using Air.I direct them to spin me where I want to go. I gain 23 Momentum. [+2 from rudder] [+8 from sails] [+8 from engines] [+5 from event]  Queen's Greatest Hits, presumably.  Not sure about this one. Likely a Fire demon, but I'm not sure it's her main characteristic. I even try the Golden Spyglass, but apparently she isn't considered a spirit. Hell, we'll try Water anyway.  Dammit. We're not making great time on this one.  Sounds like Water motes don't have enough power for this, but maybe we can ride the Chaos with a Non-Euclidean Sail.  Perhaps Order would have done better. At least we don't lose Momentum, I suppose.  Two Water motes left means one for this, and one for the boss. I douse the fiery anger with Water.I gain 18 Momentum. [+2 from rudder] [+8 from sails] [+8 from engines]  We trade positions with Linda for the fifth time this race, *and* we keep enough momentum to stop a pass-back. Looks like it's just us and Phantom now.  Did I say we keep enough momentum to stop a pass-back? We don't. Theoretically, we could fight it with Order, but we can't afford to miss, and this race has taught me not to trust Order and Chaos for anything. I douse Phlegethon with Water. It sizzles and moans.As it reels, we swoop down and recover Susan's memory. Recovered all of Susan's memories. As Susan fully regains her command over Order, she reaches out and optimizes the ship. Permanent +5 Momentum.  We've nearly completed our loop, and we don't have any more boss fights to worry about. We're also running very low on motes, though our team is fighting fit.  GOD loving DAMMIT I guess this is a short update, because we've got ourselves a dilemma. The Bentley's driver's been civil so far, but he's definitely not as friendly as Linda, and dropping to third place means we need to make two passes in one river to take first. That'll be cutting it *real* close, even with Susan helping us out. Getting into fights with the racers is absolutely allowed, though it's a bit rude, and we're not sure who we'd be pissing off in the process. Do we block the Bentley, or try to pass him later?
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Mar 24, 2021 23:58
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As much as I don't like not playing nice, we only get one shot at this and we can't guarantee making up the distance. block.
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Mar 25, 2021 00:36
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Block apologetically.
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Mar 25, 2021 03:32
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Attack him with a Life so he knows we don't really mean to be mean
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Mar 25, 2021 03:40
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