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Isath, Kelp City Isath saw the enormous mass of ice descending on the refuge it had intended to build and nurture, however short the time it imagined it could rest for, reality had been much harsher. Isath saw the Shark God, and it saw the Ice. There was only one chance here - the threat of the Ice, while enormous, was predictable. The other God, however, Isath could not fully predict. So Isath threw caution to the currents, and opened a titanic maw, blasting bubbles of bursting light and millions of spine-covered tentacles in the direction of the Shark God. An all-out, no-nonsense frontal attack, meant to defeat and consume all that the other God was, and make Isath stronger, stronger for the Ice. Isath hoped it could feed, and Isath hoped it could become strong enough for the silent killer of the world. If it couldn't, then, it thought, it wouldn't matter anyway. Attacking the Shark God with Flesh +6, Light +4, and if possible using the Watcher as an advantage, flipping out, with the objective to consume him
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Aug 1, 2015 00:11
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Parelle, Loki - Fraud: the Eighth Fiefdom of Niflheim Standing at the threshold between Home and Hell proper, Parelle paused to get a full sense of the immensity of the place. It was vast, impossibly vast and shaped in a way which would have bewildered mortal senses but was easily understood for her and her siblings. Viewed a certain way, Hell was a vast circle which curved in around itself, ringed by an implacable wall. It bent naturally towards a central depression, but at the same time it was also a singular downwards line that touched all points and made one area indistinguishable from one another in distance. But now the way was blocked. Six semi-transparent lenses blocked the way between each of the layers of Hell except the Fraud and Treachery (where Loki was busy screaming for help against Vendruck) and to reach him and put her foe to rest she'd have to break through them all at once. Parelle rolled up her sleeves as Reggie finished making the last of his preparations and Pirsuq built up a great head of wind and pressure behind him. The three of them held hands and she grinned as the enormous weight of their power gathered within. She looked back at her dead siblings one last time. They were safely interred right? Probably. "Let's go."  NO! Vendruck roared as Parelle and her siblings smashed through to Fraud, leaving Hell to shudder and contract violently in their wake. He stretched his hands, too slow and too late to prevent her arrival or do anything but scream. "Greedy, shortsighted, suicidal idiots! " Loki had already poured the last of his power into a burrowing defense, fleeing through the substrate of Fraud and letting the stony flesh of the titans strip away Vendruck's chains even as it rose up to shield him. Fraud crumbled and broke around him, creating a natural runnel pointing straight towards the Dwarf Lord's form. Vendruck eyed the impression, leading straight towards him from Treachery where Thrym's icy power reached a fever pitch. "No, not like this, not after everything I've sacrificed and already lost! I AM HELL'S MASTER AND NONE SHALL ESCAPE!" As Vendruck roared his defiance chains tore forth from his body. Hell twisted and shifted as Vendruck's chains pierced every layer and resident simultaneously, weighing them down with the heavy curses built into the dimension itself. Loki escaped, ducking beneath the rush of power and taking shelter within the temporary tomb created by his spell but Parelle and her siblings were caught. The ice of Treachery smashed apart, the weight of sin contained within proving too much to contain. Damned souls and infernal jailers alike within Hell screamed and gibbered as the evil presence (still unformed) drew itself forth in a vast and unknowable mass. "YESSSS! ZESPRI HAS PASSED, HIS SONS ARE SLAIN! THE DEVANAGARI HAS COME AND I WILL BE FREE!" It spoke, and the mortal beings of Hell died rather than know its awful meaning. "MEWLING CHILDREN, INCONSTANT ONE, IMPEDE ME NOT AND YOUR LIVES WILL BE SPARED ELSE SUFFER ALONG WITH THE HALF-CLOTHED BEGGAR OF ZESPRI'S GET!" PARELLE & FRIENDS (+18) Travel instantaneously to FRAUD, breaking through every teleport barrier along the way! Roll was success! CADENZA (+4) Heals LOKI of damage, uses expendable +2 BANDAGES OF HEALING TO heal 1(+2) rank of damage! Roll was success! LOKI has recovered 2(+4) ranks of damage! LOKI (+16, 6AP) Plays it Cagey, casts defensive spell An Uneven Ground! Roll was success! A +2 defensive upshift has been generated in addition to LOKI breaking free of the enchantment, LOKI adds +10 to THRYM's next attack! DWARVEN SIN OF SLOTH +6 assists VENDRUCK! VENDRUCK +20 Flips out casts attack spell, All Infernal Bind against all units in HELL! VENDRUCK had advantage from the trait, Place of Imprisonment! VENDRUCK had advantage from the trait, Twisted Space! Roll was success! PARELLE +8 auto-defense, roll is failure! PARELLE is under effect BIND and must spend an action to free herself before taking another action! REGGIE +4, roll is failure! REGGIE is under effect BIND and must spend an action to free himself before taking another action! PIRSUQ +4, roll is failure! PIRSUQ is under effect BIND and must spend an action to free himself before taking another action! CADENZA +4, roll is failure! CADENZA is under effect BIND and must spend an action to free herself before taking another action! THYRM +14, roll is failure! THRYM is under effect BIND and must spend an action to free himself before taking another action! LOKI +18, roll is success! LOKI is unaffected! THE IMPRISONED +18, roll is success! THE IMPRISONED is unaffected! THE IMPRISONED +18 breaks free of the COCYTEAN ICE! Roll is success! ALL MORTALS within HELL have died! VENDRUCK & SLOTH have been drained of all AP! Isath - Kelp City The seas frothed and burned. Keratinous fangs, superheated water, and sharks exploded, cut, and swirled in a chaotic mix as Isath sucked in eagerly and desperately in a bid to consume the Shark God and increase its strength to resist the Ice. Isath was the center of a great vortex which yawed and swallowed the shiver of sentient sharks whole. Writhing in ineffectual terror against the tide they screamed and died to become raw power for the furnace that was Isath. With a groan the Shark God tore itself free, fleeing the area as fast as its battered and torn body could take. In its wake the ponderous and all-destroying iceberg continued to descend, crushing Isath's spawn or freezing them solid as it did. Isath's core was mighty and still blazed with the power of its captured Sun, but along its outer carapace muscles and vessels contracted in response to the cold and it noted with sorrow as the Watcher's delicate mechanisms froze and died in quick succession. ISATH +12 Flips Out, casts Attack Spell ALL-CONSUME! Had advantage from THE WATCHER! Roll was success! SHARK GOD +6 Plays it Cagey, defense was success! No Damage dealt, not effected! THE SHIVER Plays it Cagey, defense was failure! THE SHIVER (600,000 sentient sharks) were all consumed by ISATH! SHARK GOD already had no AP! SHARK GOD flees the zone! ISATH +8 resists wild ICEBERG +12! Roll was success! TUNNELERS resists ICEBERG +12! Roll was failure! TUNNELERS sustained 100,000 losses! ELITE BEACONS resists ICEBERG +12! Roll was failure! ELITE BEACONS sustained 50,000 losses! THE WATCHER resists ICEBERG +12! Roll was failure! THE WATCHER has been killed by (temporary) cold damage! ISATH suffers drain of -1AP!
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Aug 11, 2015 05:18
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Loki, Fraud: the Eighth Fiefdom of Niflheim Ensconced as he is within the Titanic flesh, Loki manages to avoid the the binding chains, but then an even greater problem arises from the Ice. Oh, sure, his allies may have weakened the newcomer's Ice-prison with their marvelously destructive entrance, but the DwarfLord was certainly not helping matters either. The situation was rapidly spiraling out of control -- normally be a circumstance that Loki approved of, but the entire mortal populace of Hell being destroyed with a word from the new arrival was disturbing. He would rather not see such a being unleashed on the mortal world -- if everything and everyone were dead, then there would be no space for Chaos, would there? Only a constant, monotonous...nothing. That notion was too much for Loki to bear. So he calls upon the slumbering Titans again, setting the realm of Hell to the task of breaking the chains holding his allies. Then, perhaps they would succeed where the Cocytean Ice failed -- if they worked together. And hopefully Vendruck will realize (as Loki did) what the biggest threat truly is, and finally start to cooperate. Healing Trickster Spirit (back up to +4) and Trickster's Mask/Reflection of Divine Essence/Mirror Without Reflection (back up to +4/0/-2). Calling on Hell Warden +4, Everything New Under the Sun +2, Inbetween All Realms +2, Trickster Spirit +4, and Trickster's Mask +4/-2; hampered by Spirit of Chaos -2; freaking out for +2 = +14. Rather than Parelle, Thrym, Reggie, Cadenza, and Pirsuq each taking a dedicated action, I'm using mine to free them all at once, so they can all tackle The Imprisoned together. Assuming Thrym is freed, does he still get a bonus from my assistance from last round, or is that gone since his attack was foiled? At the very least he should still get his own bonus from building up his power the previous round. Remaining AP: 0/24
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Aug 17, 2015 01:41
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Isath, with an iceberg on its head There was no time to think. The shark had escaped - Isath would hunt it soon. And eat it. And rejoice. But first, a huge piece of ice was about to destroy everything. Extreme measures were necessary. Isath extracted all the power of worship it could from the feeble souls of the shark-beings, and then it burned their very existence to the core. Revelling in the surge of power thus obtained, Isath used the refuse of the shark corpses, melted all the flesh into highly corrosive organic compounds brought together with the one purpose of melting ice, and, with a surge of light akin to the birth of a miniature star, superheated it and ejected it violently onto the iceberg's impassive surface. It would have to do. Tapping 6 AP from sharks and burning their souls for 6 AP more, then recovering 1 drained AP, then Flipping out with a stream of extremely corrosive organic compounds meant to melt ice secreted with Flesh +6, superheated by concentrated beams of Light +4, all of it empowered by 11 AP, for a total of +23 0 AP
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Aug 19, 2015 23:45
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Parelle, Loki - Fraud: the Eighth Fiefdom of Niflheim The imprisoned Titans of Fraud groaned and thrashed uneasily in their sleep, but Loki's command over Hell was too powerful for their feeble resistance. Stony flesh buckled and bones harder than iron splintered and stabbed forth to shatter the chains which bound Parelle and her siblings, setting them free as the Imprisoned roiled overhead in a nebulous mass of vileness and suffering. "I SHALL GIVE YOU DEATH AND HORROR. JAILORSSON'S WHORE! NO SMALL MERCIES OR RESPITE WILL BE GRANTED TO ANY WHO AIDED IN MY LONG IMPRISONMENT!" Vendruck gritted his teeth and muttered something beneath his breath, working grimly at some device of his own, not even bothering to look for what the other Gods were doing. LOKI +14 casts spell, Bones of Tartarus! Roll was success! PARELLE, REGGIE, PIRSUQ, & CADENZA have been freed! As a PC character PARELLE is next in the initiative! Isath - Kelp City Sharks, kelp, and souls swirled into the vast maw of Isath. With a titanic contraction of its forward sphincters, it drove a crushing current which smashed all to pulpy slurry before Isath broke it down even further into subatomic particles and released them all in a desperate, last bid to melt the ice. The blast shattered the iceberg, but as it broke apart the shower of still enormous chunks descended inexorably into the depths and Isath found itself straining to twist and loose its load of burning acid in time. Its shots were quick and its aim was true, but although the immediate seas were clear of ice the greater bulk of the glacier above still loomed and threatened to break apart and drive deeper into Isath's ocean haven. ISATH (+12, 11 AP) attacks ICEBERG +12! Roll was success! ICEBERG has broken apart for now but was not destroyed and will reform in 3-ish rounds!
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Aug 24, 2015 08:27
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Wallastra 0/16 BP Soul Furnace That brought back memories, Soul Furnace, the sorcerer kings of the desert many years ago made some of the first 'soul furnaces', they for a time were what allowed the kings to make a sizable empire, fed on the souls of undesirables and dissidents. The iron that they made was superb, but cursed, vengeful spirits suffused the metal, it made such weapons dangerous to use. When the kings were thrown, quite literally from the walls of Wallastra, the many things where destroyed to never be constructed again, the soul furnaces were one of them. That was something born out of mistrust for something that was a thing of pure evil. And what is pure evil now? My people bleed, my people freeze, and my people will die, die if we cannot rebuild, die if we cannot escape, die if we just sit here. So we need to expand, we need to rebuild, we need to survive you will use every advantage available to you Wall Spirit, you've let in the sorcerers, you've created your own gods, you've built a city of the damned within your walls, now, I do believe bringing back a very, powerful technology, and pulled us from the brink. What we held onto as gospel won't save us from the coming storm. Adapt, or, die "Wizard, I do believe what you have suggested... Come with me, I might have something on similar lines to your plan" And I would die with shame if any of my brothers knew that despite my intent to rid that abominable scourge from my city forever, I couldn't bring myself to destroy the books, on that little, black cabinet. That little black cabinet, if anyone was found in possession of so much as page, of any of the books in that little black cabinet, they would be thrown from the walls. 'Never again' said the Wall Spirit but, I burned every single copy of those books in the old library, every penwright who wrote them, every design, every living memory of how to destroy them. And I kept that little black cabinet, because even if it's wisdom disgusts me to my very core words dying in the fire is something I cannot bare. Besides, no one who knew exactly what they were capable of remain, that is a blessing in disguise I presume. And gods help me if anyone does remember. --- Desperate times call for desperate measures. The soul furnace was an old design, but a relatively simple one, all it really did was take a convential forge and with some sigils in place burnt souls instead of coal. Incredibly efficient, made good quality steel, side effects may include possessed steel that sometimes moved with a life of it's own. We are bringing back the bad old ways, but in a new light, not so much a soul forge, but a soul furnace, one that could power the city's heaters, it's industry. And if it came to it, it's escape. We will not just survive, we will thrive! By bringing back some of the darkest parts of our history and making them shiny and chrome. We are doing this on the down low right now, firstly we will be making a prototype, and then working on the infrastructure. So firstly we will just be using [+4] - The Grand Design and the [+2] Wizarding Party to start with, Wallastra can provide the plans from the little black cabinet, and the memories from the condemned areas of the city to get the specifics down, the Wizards will provide the necessary magics, and we can borrow an abandoned forge in a quiet part of town. [-2]Does Not Micromanage shouldn't apply, a lot of this is being done through the Wizarding party and various parts of the Utopian Sect that know how forges and poo poo work. Hopefully this won't result in a catastrophic failure. Which means it probably will
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Aug 24, 2015 18:18
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Parelle - Hell (tl;dr below) Parelle had had it. gently caress Vendruck. gently caress Hell. gently caress Malador. gently caress this Imprisoned thing. gently caress them all. "You accuse me? Suicidal? Vendruck you could have knocked! I would have given you your dwarves back with a smile. I am probably the closest thing to good that you could find still existing on the mortal plane. You just had to ask, but no, you just bought into your paranoid delusions that I'm a horrible, evil person instead of someone who was desperate and trying to survive. I lead, fed, clothed, housed and protected your dwarves every step of the way. You then kicked in the door to my Home with threats and an army. I killed Malador because I didn't want you both coming back and because Malador ran a place dedicated to the eternal torture of every living sentient creature who did something wrong in their short, miserable lives. Your ally was a monster and if Hell was a real place on the mortal plane someone would have given it a good kicking long ago. Malador would have tortured your Dwarves too if Hell was a place for them. If Hell wasn't falling apart I still would have followed you down here to talk, yes talk to you because I knew you were going to get paranoid and sharpen your ax for another round with me. I did you wrong, you did me wrong, we did this place wrong, we've done a lot of stupid and bad decisions because the ice made us and others desperate. That doesn't make it right, but it can create a sort of balance. Let's loving get over it and not murder each other for stupid reasons when there are bigger problems to worry about. Or we can all throw down here and probably get a lot of gods killed, because Reggie and Pirsuq protected them as well and if my sister Cadenza was about she would have too." TL;DR is that Parelle and her family saved Vendrucks dwarves at every turn, they never intended to harm Vendruck, that Parelle's attack on him was out of desperation as she felt like she was at the end of her rope, that his situation is bad seeing as if he attacks The Imprisoned wants a piece of him and Parelle will too after he's slapped that hand away. Further violence is stupid and they should all get over it for the greater good. I destroy my enemies when I make them my friends!  Trying to get Vendruck to calm the gently caress down and not attack anyone unless they're hostile. Higher risks, greater rewards. Arguing that Vendruck really shouldn't be able to use that item of his against a social attack. It's a banner for the warden of Hell. Hell is hosed. All the mortals are dead. Also maybe not dwarves either because...Well...There are no more dwarves. Vendruck didn't really diversify his dwarf portfolio by keeping any with Parelle. That's a stretch though. Anyway! +2 Travel +2 Food and Drink, +2 Hope, +2 Sun and +2 Nature because Parelle sheltered, clothed, fed, gave hope and warmth to the dwarves. +4 Wind Storm because Pirsuq helped too. +4 Construction because so did Reggie, even if he was insane and undead at the time. +4 Healing to help soothe the rift between Parelle and Vendruck. Asking for an upshift because Parelle not only sheltered his dwarves, but was here to fix Hell and then treat with Vendruck. This was both in character and out of character plan all along if there weren't so many mini bosses in my way. Also due to the presence of the imprisoned and Vendruck as the current ruler of Hell the Imprisoned is going to want a crack at him. It's going to turn into a loving bloodbath and he is not looking good for coming out of it on top. Also Vendruck flipped out! -2 penalty on him I guess. 2+2+2+2+2+4+4+4(+2 upshift?) = 22(24?) -2 on Vendruck for flipping out. Defending everyone in the family including Loki. Ice Phisherman fucked around with this message at 04:25 on Aug 25, 2015 |
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Aug 25, 2015 03:51
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Parelle, Loki - Fraud: the Eighth Fiefdom of Niflheim Vendruck hammered away at some mechanism of his, attaching it to Thrym's still trapped form. Intent on his work he paid little heed to Parelle's accusations. "drat!" Trying to wedge the Banner of Hell into the device Vendruck slipped, jabbing himself with the spikes which adorned Malador's twisted body. He fumbled, trying to recover his position but the siblings tirade wore on and sapped his attention. "drat!" The litany of good deeds continued, a mocking parody of the Dwarven oaths of grudge by design or by accident. He swung his hammer down, charging it with infernal might but caught himself on the thumb. "drat!drat!drat!drat!drat!" Vendruck hammered away at the device, bitter tears streaming down his face as his composure crumbled beneath the weight of his failures and the impossibility of the situation. Although Parelle was its chief architect, he found no outlet for his rage. His people were dead, many by his own hand, his oaths were broken, and the single remaining duty charged to him was soon to be a complete failure. Vendruck fell to his knees and the resistance drained out of him. "Just go. Do whatever you want. I don't care anymore." "WHAT AN AMUSEMENT. YOUR DESPAIR PLEASES ME AND THUS EARNS YOU ANOTHER PATHETIC GASP OF LIFE. YOU ARE OF LITTLE CONSEQUENCE. MY IMPRISONMENT IS NOW OVER AND I LONG TO BE FREE!" Poised to strike out in retaliation against everything in Hell, the Imprisoned laughed its awful laugh to see Vendruck brought low. It curled in on itself, found impossible depth, and flooded across the skies and surface of Hell. As it passed through each layer of Hell the twisted landscape grew softer and duller, more mundane and three dimensional. When it finally reached the former Black Gates a whole organism, the Imprisoned turned back on the mortal-scale landscape and smiled before pushing its way through. "WRETCHED CHILDREN, WHAT MADNESS HAVE YOU WROUGHT TO THIS WORLD?! NO MATTER, I WILL BE FREE!" A burst of ice and cold shot through Hell from the open Gate of Home, and after a moment of shock and surprise it poured out and into the world. "FREE!" The Imprisoned left, and something ephemeral but critical to Hell went with it. The chthonic titans and other never-dead divine prisoners of Hell thrashed against their bonds and groaned one final word of relief in echo as they died at last and collapsed to nothing. "FREE" Thrym shot a heavy bolt of Stygian ice after the cloud but found no purchase. Well you don't kid around about the destroying enemies part of that plan do you? iirc your flaw right now is -4 Protector of Mortals so that doesn't apply. I'd argue that the Hellbanner does still help as a social defense in this instance since its the symbol of rightful authority in Hell at the moment and a Hell population of Vendruck + god prisoners still applies. Everybody in the family agrees with the premise of your social attack and the very, very explicit explanation of everything they did to help the Dwarves though, so let's see how vulnerable Vendruck is to peer pressure- PARELLE & PIRSUQ & REGGIE & CADENZA (+22) Social Attacks VENDRUCK (+16)! Defense was failure! VENDRUCK took 12 (+24) ranks of Social Attack damage! VENDRUCK is unable to continue! VENDRUCK has acceded to PARELLE's request to be chill! THE IMPRISONED was amused! THE IMPRISONED has fled HELL, recovering 2(+4) ranks for each (7) GATE OF HELL it passes through and is now a total +46! THE IMPRISONED has fled the area of HELL! MALADOR'S HELL has lost the trait, Twisted Space! It's still pretty big and can hold a lot of souls/real estate but it's lost something very important. THRYM +14 casts spell, Freezing Return! Roll was failure! Wallastra Some Gods held that souls were a natural occurrence, a resource created by them and for their use like water, air, or sky. Others with more scholarly or doctrinal religions considered the soul to be a gift granted to the mortal races by their all-knowing creators. Whether either of these schools of thought was right was beyond Wallastra's knowledge. But what he did have knowledge of was the history and technology wrought by the warring cities and wizards of his domain. An old technology made new, which most Gods considered blasphemous and vile. The soul forge. Souls were energy, and in a certain metaphysical sense they were tangible and workable as clay or coal. What Wallastra needed now was a furnace. His priests and wizards had the will and the power, and through him flowed the ancient knowledge. Together in harmony the people of the city trapped and stripped the Undead, paring them down of surplus requirements and binding them tightly into the belly of a great furnace which soon glowed red hot. What matter was it that the invading evil dead were made to serve for the living residents of the city? There was no place for moral equivalency now that the Ice had come. Wallastra looked upon the soul furnace and knew it was hot. It would burn dirty but well enough, and over time the priests could increase its efficiency and power but for now the effect of constant screaming heat was more than enough in a world beset of snow and ice. With time too, his city would learn to build more for themselves and in doing so weather the lethal cold. The world was polluted, and Wallastra was as well.  WALLASTRA +6 guides his followers to construct a SOUL FURNACE! Roll is success! It's a bit dirty, it's inefficient, it causes the literally worst possible pain imaginable for the soul in question, but PROTOTYPE SOUL FURNACE has been built! PROTOTYPE SOUL FURNACE will convert souls to heat energy and can be replicated by mortal craftsmen! Puppies are dicks fucked around with this message at 21:28 on Aug 26, 2015 |
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Aug 26, 2015 21:24
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Parelle - Hell Parelle looked to the shapeshifter, then to Vendruck and then up. The imprisoned went up top and became far, far more powerful. Hell became mundane. She had no idea what any of this meant. There was also Sloth, but it didn't seem like he posed much of a threat by himself with Vendruck as defeated as he was. It might have even been kind to put him out of his misery. Every single piece of this from start to finish was like some comedy of errors. It occurred to her though that hope for the Dwarven race probably wasn't entirely lost. Batajulik was carrion food, but dwarves didn't really go to heaven or hell. They sank into the stone and slept. If the souls here weren't able to be recovered the odds were good that she could find a few certainly old, dead dwarves to use as seeds for the future. The Travelers could be recovered as well as Pirsuq's wildings. Everything certainly wasn't lost. Things were bad without a doubt, but not lost. She knelt next to Vendruck and placed her mittened hand on his shoulder. "Things look bad. I know that it's easy to despair. I know that dwarves value their promises. They're proud and stubborn just like their Father. Before you give up how about you listen for a little bit? There may still be souls floating about. Even if there aren't I never saw a single dwarf down here and I doubt they'll be in heaven. They're under your old cities and they are dead, but can be used again to seed a new dwarven race. I know you didn't see Home, but I created their own hold there. There were over two million dwarves in it at one time. I doubt that all of them made it as they're mortals, and Home probably would have protected their souls. We plant those seeds and your race can flourish again. Hell can have a place in the cosmos again, not as a place for senseless, sadistic eternal punishment, but as a place for redemption for the fallen and justice for the irredeemable," she said softly. Slowly she turned and turned to her family, even the shapeshifter who was the newest addition of a sort, even if she didn't fully trust him. First she pointed to Pirsuq. "Warrior." Her finger then pointed to Reggie. "Builder." Her finger pointed to Cadenza now. "Healer." She wavered a bit, but then she winked and smiled at the shapeshifter. "Perhaps a spy and rabble rouser if you want the job?" She turned to Vendruck and tapped a finger over his heart. "I plan on getting this place back up and running. Souls shouldn't be tortured forever, but mortals should be punished for their actions. It shouldn't happen forever, but it should be comparable to the way that their soul is stained. Sin is a weight upon them and that weight should be lifted if they are repentant or drag them down if they're unwilling, " she said. "You could rule the dead while I nurture the living. You could be the judge. Things fall apart, but this is not impossible to restore back to status quo. We have a blank slate. We can make something better here. Do you want to sit around and mope or do you want to take this blank slate we've been handed and make something of it?" She reached inside of herself and with a tugging sensation she gasped. Light streamed through her fingers and the wound she created sealed up. "You can join our family, Vendruck," she whispered, her voice shaky. "You wouldn't be the first sibling I've squabbled with after all. You and I take a grand tour up top and sort through your old cities. I have something for you. It's something that I hold dear, but that you need far, far more than I. Perhaps we can trade?" She opened her fingers and displayed a warm, happy glow. Bright light filled the once dark place. It was something alien to this place of evil and the remaining shadows recoiled. It was her Hope. "Trade me. Trade me anything. Just take it, Vendruck. I'll have a little of you and you'll have a little of me. That way we'll never come to something like this again." She cupped it with both hands like a candle and pushed it towards him. "Trade with me." Since we're coming to the end of an age can I just make a few requests for the sake of brevity instead of rolling over and over again? I sort of want the age to come to a close. Parelle wants to: 1. Recruit Vendruck into the family. Parelle is offering her +2 Hope for any of his powers. Probably artifice or the underground. I doubt he'd give dwarves. Vendruck is Hopeless and she wants to restore that to him. It's the power I have used the most in the game and has arguably been one of the most powerful as it can be used in almost any situation. It'll probably temper him as well. She'll make a similar social attack if necessary, but this seems a little more poetic to me as she literally rips her Hope out to trade with the hopeless lord of Hell. 2. Go on tour with Vendruck. Grab her Travelers and Pirsuq's Wildings from that one city whose name escapes me as the first stop, drop the kids off at their new home and then hit up Vendruck's old haunts for dead dwarves and maybe to preserve some lost dwarven treasures. There are a bunch of old failed dwarven cities after all. There have to be some old dwarf souls still kicking around. Pirsuq stays behind to guard the place. If Vendruck peaces out and either leaves or kills himself she is going to do a crack down on Hell and then leave to pick those dwarves up anyway. 3. Either revive the dead dwarves if they weren't soul killed or make a tour around the old Dwarven capitals for old, dead dwarves. Originally there were nine of them and only one is currently a snail shell. The dwarf souls don't go to Heaven or Hell. They just sleep in the stone. If there aren't any dwarves left in Hell there are definitely some just lazing around under the old ruined fortresses. I don't think that soul death was explicitly stated for the living dwarves. As far as I read they were just killed, not killed and then soul killed. I doubt there are any souls that were originally souls left in Hell though. There might even be a few easy to grab souls in Home. The dwarves were there for a while. Doubtless a few died as Parelle is a cook, not a healer, and saw to their bellies, not so much their wounds. 4. Kick the sins back into place with new marching orders to redeem instead of torture with the help of Vendruck and her soon to be revived family. They're the old Hell. This is the new Hell. Shape up or get murdered and used as building material. 5. Get in on reviving the rest of Parelle's family. Luckily there is a bunch of unclaimed land and the sins need overseers. Something to temper the sins as a counterweight. Still with their previous memories, but different powers after the seven heavenly virtues (with extra) as there are nine left. Limbo - Certainty. - The place with all the living people. Home is sacrificed and imprinted here to make it a garden. Lust - Chastity. - Dead all the way down. Gluttony - Temperance. Greed - Charity Anger - Patience. Heresy - Faith. Violence - Peace. Fraud - Honesty. Treachery - Honor. I don't think this would actually conflict with our resident shapeshifter. All of these once dead gods would be bound to Hell to help redeem damned, dead souls. Reggie and Cadenza would be another matter though, but we can burn that bridge when we get to it. 6. Hell is pretty depopulated now. She's going to task Reggie and see if she can get Hell running again not as a place for torture, but as a place for redemption. Once her siblings are revived they sacrifice Home and make Limbo into a place for the living. A garden. Sorry if that is a lot, but I feel that it fits. I can break it up if you want, but it seems like we're coming to a good stopping point and Parelle has access to a ton of manpower to get things done before everyone sleeps. Also up to ideas, agreement or disagreement from said shapeshifter. Parelle is in charge of Hell as per the agreement after all. And all of its souls of course. 
Ice Phisherman fucked around with this message at 23:02 on Aug 26, 2015 |
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Aug 26, 2015 22:56
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Isath, Kelp City Isath released a sigh of temporary relief. There was time enough to fix this. It looked up at the looming mass of falling ice, and thought of a solution that might take a while, but would be certain. It reached out to the Breeder stock shivering under the behemoth's shadow, and also to the many corpses lying around, and twisted them together into something else - something minuscule yet numerous, a legion of tiny, brilliant lights, seen as a swarm, an Aurora Borealis under the sea. They would gather and produce heat, then head to the iceberg, and heat it up while making up for some of the energy lost. It was a process that would perhaps take longer than just blasting the iceberg with Isath's divine powers, but Isath needed to do other things, and besides, Isath had the creeping suspicion that icebergs and gods might just keep on coming, an eternal assault, never a moment's peace. So Isath thought, it might as well try and see if it could solve the problem this way. It needed, wanted to hunt the Shark God. If it looked like this might work, Isath would try to reach that bastard next, and devour him. Morphing half the breeder biomass and all the corpses lying around into a new species: a microorganism akin to very tiny shrimps that heat themselves up absorbing ambient light, heat (some from the geothermal vents), and with an internal semi-magical bioluminiscence, and then go to the coldest spot they can find and generate chemical energy through the heat differential, equilibrating temperatures. Their metabolism is jacked up to eleven when such differentials are available, and go dormant when they're not. Basically a fast-breeding divine bioweapon tailored to melting that bloody iceberg and also keeping the place warm long-term. It could go horribly wrong but we do have a giant iceberg on our heads. Using Flesh +6 and Light +4, all corpses and half the Breeders still alive
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Aug 26, 2015 23:08
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Wallastra 0/16 bp "The forge is working as intended my moored" "... Yes" "This is good steel, very his steel" "... Yes" "And we can build more, build them better, more efficient" "Good, I will return to my duties, I trust you can handle the rest" And I want to be out of this room, I can hear then screaming within the fire and it is torture to my nerves. Wallastra wandered the city, ambling his way towards the towing necropolis, there was a very noticeable change within it's stony interior. Before it whispered, some threats, some dark things, mostly just senseless murmurings. So now, the deafening silence coming from the walls was some how worse the the hushed chattering. He put his hand on the walls. He wanted to apologise, he wanted to ask for forgiveness, a small part of him wanted to tear off the seal and release the souls within. But the other in that moment took over. My offer before was out of kindness, out I'd a desire to reform you to a better future, and yet it seems I could not convince you. Therefore, I am forced to try a different tact The necroplis loomed Now I come to you again hand outstretched, there is a bright future here, one with bent possibilities for the good of all parties concerned, I offer my hand again. But this time I want you to listen The necropolis did You feel the heat don't you, the fire rises, it hungers for more and will only get larger, and you can hear what happens to those fed to it don't you? Listen to the screams. The necropolis listened. It listened for a long while. I have offered you you carrot, I have shown you the stick, and so I offer to you once more, a bright future in the light, or a long future in the fire? The necropolis, did not say a word. I will get you service yourselves, I will be back next sunset for your answer. And so Wallastra left the denizens within top decide their fate, a future in the light, or one in the fire. Serve the city, or feed the fires. Submit, or burn. --- Leveraging the construction of the necropolis again of course to make sure not one of them missed that announcement with a side order of using the soul furnace as a helpful example of the alternative. [+4] The Grand Design + Prototype Soul Furnace And whilst I'm here I wanna shuffle some traits around. [-2] At All Costs, I can't quite remember it's exact name is a bit weird, something that's a bit hard to place and only shows up every so often so I want to replace it with something else. I was thinking [-2] Guilty Conscience would be more appropriate at this point. A lawful good god is making morally ambiguous actions at best to ensure the survival of his purview and worshippers, it's going to weigh a metric ton on his conscience over time, and I think something like this is going to tip him over the edge
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Aug 27, 2015 09:03
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Vicissitude -- the Empty Shell Formerly Known as Hell Thrym's ineffectual spell is completely ignored by the fleeing (formerly-)Imprisoned, all while Parelle and her family take their sweet time confronting Vendruck -- first as an enemy, and then as a potential ally. Seeing the results of this clusterfuck wrapped in a fiasco, Vicissitude loses it. "You let him go? YOU LET HIM GO?!?" he shouts at the Goddess. "The DwarfLord was an annoyance, to be sure, but he was nothing compared to The Imprisoned. Your collaboration on the invasion of Hell was most welcome, of course, but then you had to go and gratify your petty, shortsighted vendetta instead of bringing all of your considerable power to bear against the real threat -- one, I might add, that only became a threat due to the utter lack of finesse evinced in your invasion in the first place! The only reason Thrym and I had not defeated the DwarfLord already is because I was attempting to shore up Hell's meta-structure against the effects of having an entire realm come crashing into it with Divine force." Turning to the Ice Giant, he adds, "Speaking of which, see to it that Parelle's Family stays out of this." Rounding again on the Goddess, Vicissitude continues to vent his rage, even as his features shift to reflect Parelle's own face back at her. Her former naivete, idealism, and bleeding-heart devotion to the lesser beings populating the world are displayed, each in their turn, as a rebuke to her. "With your carelessness, shortsightedness, and inexplicable inaction, you may have done more to threaten the continued existence of the mortal races than anything short of The Encroaching Ice itself! If I didn't think that banding together was still the best chance we all have for surviving the multiple apocalypses now facing us, I'd turn my back on you and your precious Family, and gleefully watch from afar as your Pantheon cowering in its little haven gasped its last. Just as Parelle melodramatically holds her Hope in her hand, so also Vicissitude calls for the power of the Hell Warden to be made manifest, and black tendrils of fire play over his open palm, before he holds it up for her inspection, a look of utter contempt on his face. "The power you so graciously shared with me -- the power over the Realm of the Damned -- what good is it now? Because of you, there is no more Hell! What, then, of all the souls of the departed, especially those that preyed upon the weakness of their fellow mortals? Shall they evade the just penalty for all their sins? How will any mortal of good conscience survive, now that those without remorse are given free rein? Listen to me now, heed my words, and you, me, all the Gods and all the fragile mortal races just might survive yet -- though just now our chances don't look good." ++++ I'd love to try to stop The Imprisoned, but Thrym already failed, and Parelle has already made it clear she's not interested in dragging him back to god-jail -- when she actually had a shot at succeeding, she focused her power on Vendruck instead, and then when the thing was on its way out the door, she still decided to chat up the DwarfLord. So unless we're all going to re-do our actions, I don't see a way we possibly have of actually stopping it. But if that's wrong, then I'll edit my post accordingly. Two can play at this game! Assuming what I've said above is accurate, I'm taking my non-Divine action to feed the essence of Parelle that I acquired previously into my Trickster's Mask, then making a social attack on Parelle. Trickster Spirit +4 for the glib verbal assault, augmented with Trickster's Mask +4 to reflect Parelle's failure back on herself; Between All Worlds +2 as well as Hell Warden +4 are relevant, as the souls of the damned were supposed to be my purview; topped off with Everything New Under the Sun +2 and Flipping Out for an additional +2 on offense/-2 on defense: Total is +18 attack/+14 defense. The goal is to browbeat her into listening to me and deferring to my decisions, at least in the immediate future. If any of The Family join in on her defense, I'm bringing in Thrym's +14 to freeze them out of the conversation (metaphorically, if not literally). In the medium term, given Vicissitude's actions and character development recently, I'm probably going to drop my anti-social disadvantage in favor of picking up the mantle of Defender of Mortals that Parelle has apparently forsaken. Long-term what I'm looking for is (perhaps surprisingly) to actually remain in the Pantheon of the Family, since I do actually think it's in everyone's best interest to join forces, even if I question the competence of everyone else around me. Also, at this point I'm actually OK with eventually giving back (hopefully in the most melodramatic fashion possible) the +2 Hell Warden that Parelle gave me, though renegotiating the terms of our initial agreement might be in the cards if I win this little altercation with her. Other concessions I'd like include control of at least some portion of the reconstituted Hell, likely with the mischievous Wildings co-opted to be its denizens (and maybe with a rebooted Sloth - one that I dislike much less -- as my viceroy). Beyond that, since everything that I wanted out of Hell has been destroyed, I don't really care what Parelle does with its empty shell now, so there will be no serious conflict between us on that front. So she can go off and spend the rest of her likely short and miserable existence hunting missing dwarf souls or whatever; meanwhile, I have decided that I now have two primary goals in life: 1) Figure out how to stop The Ice. I suspect Thrym will have some important knowledge in that regard, so I definitely want to keep him around as my sidekick. I envision that stopping The Ice will likely also entail a trip up North, so I plan to call another convocation of all the surviving gods to pool our resources and plan our (hopefully not suicide) mission. OOC, I also see this as a good opportunity for all four remaining players to interact, if we want to. 2) At the same time, I also want to hunt down The Imprisoned and, well, see that he lives up to his name again. Even though Hell is gone, there is at least one being that I can bring back to justice as a final hurrah for my (now mostly useless) job in the Divine Economy. Since this is also Thrym's raison d'etre, I expect he'll want to stick around to help me with this, if nothing else. Who knows, maybe even Isath could be convinced that the opportunity to consume the power of a being like The Imprisoned is a worthwhile goal to pursue in the company of a few other (hopefully not too tasty) Gods. We'll certainly need all the help we can get to go up against a +46 UberGod. Incidentally, whenever Thrym and I are out hunting, I plan to collect whatever stray dead souls I find. Again, since rounding them up has been my job all along, I should have no problem carrying them all with me (perhaps aided by another artifact that I'll be creating in the near future). Ultimately, I'll either dump them in New Hell if I think they'll get what they deserve there, or keep them for myself (i.e., for AP snacks whenever I need them).
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Aug 29, 2015 16:16
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Parelle Parelle's eyes slid away and she sighed at her own reflection. It wasn't perfect. It was a caricature. He was right in his way, but his logic wasn't perfect. "I knew it was bad, but it was a three way fight. Vendruck was the more imposing at the time and I didn't want to get hit from the side while dealing with it. I made a judgement call of what seemed more threatening at the time. I thought we had a moment to deal with it. I had no idea that it would eat Hell. I didn't even know that was possible. I'm not even sure if you knew that was possible. I didn't even know that anything was insane or evil enough to do that and not explode like an overstuffed wine skin. I'm a gambler by nature. I would have died a long time ago in an attempt to be safe if I wasn't, but right now as we are if we are we'll lose. She shifted uncomfortably on her knees next to Vendruck as she recounted her story. "You weren't there for it, but I remember Malador, who was powerful, facing off against me and my Family, who were twice as powerful as him in the place of my power toe to toe against me until we got a lucky shot on him as he fled. That imprisoned thing's power is going to be immense as it ate Hell and all of its souls for all of that loose power that we all started with. Odds are its heading to either go to its own places of power or it's going to eat the nearest thing to get bigger. As we are we don't stand a chance against it. Even with you, even with your giant, even with me and my entire family, and you don't know the extent of your control over that giant. That once imprisoned thing will squash us as we are now, and I had no idea that it could grow that fast. So when I saw it grow so large I was thankful that it was happy and excited to leave, because otherwise it would come back here and probably eat us or worse. Vendruck might be interested and have ideas to help with putting him back in the box if I can help him, because besides Malador no one else did and he's been doing his best. However the sins will probably stab us in the back if we attempt to marshal them. We're not their leader, the line of succession to Hell is broken, Hell itself is broken and they can do what they want now." She looked back to the last dwarf and nudged Vendruck with her power. It would just take barest touch to accept it now. Hope brushed against his skin like a fine, white snow. "I'm probably not cut out for leading. I'm too young and don't grasp the big picture. I'm a traveler, a builder and a breaker of things. On my best day I'm wildly over my head and I'm more a thug than a leader. So you want control? That's fine. I'll back you up as far as putting that thing back in a box goes, but just realize that being in charge is far, far harder than you think. Now I'm going to tend to Vendruck and settle in for the ice. If you have an idea of how to take it down I'm all ears, but until then I'm going to marshal my forces and tend to those that need tending." I'm not sure how a social attack would work in pvp combat, or if it would at all. I guess if Parelle loses she could only bend to his will or flee. I'm not even going to worry about the combat. Vicissitude can be in charge for as long as Parelle feels that he's working in everyone's best interest. No contest for now. So anyway, here's the breakdown. 1. Parelle had no idea that it was going to hulk out and more than double its power in the span of a turn. 2. Parelle is arguing that with his +46 that he might be killable, but probably not. She remembers Malador's fight and he punched way above his weight class with all of that AP he had. Odds are it isn't full at 92 AP, but it could be. The odds are excellent that they'll get pasted if they go into the fight as they are now. I have ideas on how to deal with that, but they're mid and long term, not short term. 3. Given two, now you need extra muscle, but that muscle is unreliable and hated Parelle and Vicissitude moments before. There's no guarantee that Vendruck and the sins won't turn on P & V as soon as Vendruck is fully functional again. She needs time to get him on board. 4. If you can get all of the sins and Vendruck to launch a long range attack at him that is entirely doable and he'll probably go down under sustained fire, but it'll take some coaxing to get everyone on board. That's about the only way that Parelle sees him getting defeated quickly. Mid and long term the sins are probably going to stab everyone in the back if P & V show a moment of weakness and may jump ship to its banner. On the other hand I'm not sure if Vendruck would be up for a fight yet. It's an extremely shaky coalition to take the imprisoned down. In this game even when they like you NPC's are not exactly reliable. Vendruck and the Sins do no like Parelle or Vicissitude. 5. Parelle is fine with taking back that +2 power. If you want to renegotiate terms that's fine too. It's not really that great as a negotiating chip though as she was able to do without it in the first place. She's more interested in negotiating because she's not a very good leader and is probably realizing that she's over her head, unstable, prone to fits of destruction and has a touch and go relationship with sanity. 6. Anyway, to sum it all up, P & V have the power to take the imprisoned down, but assembling it is going to be difficult and extremely dangerous. I give good odds that it'll turn into a god fight if P & V spend zero time getting Vendruck on board. Ice Phisherman fucked around with this message at 18:52 on Aug 29, 2015 |
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Aug 29, 2015 18:39
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Vicissitude -- the Empty Shell Formerly Known as Hell Aww, you're no fun. After all this time, I really just wanted to see how V and P stacked up against one another. I guess not fighting is one way of answering that. As Parelle offers a half-hearted response, Vicissitude realizes that his verbal assault is not nearly as satisfying to him as if had won a vehemently-contested argument with her. So he falls silent for a time, a bit unnerved despite having made his point convincingly. Finally, he adds, "Very well, you should indeed continue to improve relations with the DwarfLord to see if he can be brought around to your point of view. If neither you nor he wish to be in charge, however, perhaps I ought to retain greater influence over the Realm we are crafting to replace Hell. And as to the Sins -- it seems we are in accord that those demigods ought to be stripped of the majority of their influence, lest they undermine us at the first opportunity. "In any case, once we have prepared our domain, Thrym and I shall set off on our Hunt, so let us see to our respective tasks." Vicissitude then addresses Thrym. "You were drawn from the Icy depths of Cocytus...perhaps you know more of the nature of the one that we shall be pursuing. What caused him to be sealed within Hell initially? What crimes against the Gods did he commit? Do you know the significance of the names he uttered when he was released? And what manner of power does he wield?" As he waits for the Ice Giant to respond, Vicissitude begins assessing the cracks in his Mask that were sustained in his conflict with Vendruck. As he sets about repairing them, he continues his conversation with the demigod. "Completely apart from The Imprisoned, we must face the problem of The Ice as well. Given your nature, I also expect that you might have some insight into the cause of the global apocalypse, where it originated, and perhaps even how it might be ended." Picking Thrym's icy brain for anything that might be useful for either goal. Since I'm not using my stats as part of this regular conversation, I figure I can repair my Mask in parallel (the Special Ability is currently at +0 instead of +4). If I need stats for that, +4 Trickster Spirit and +2 Everything New Under the Sun are relevant; if Reggie can spare some power to help in the reconstruction (or even improvement) of the artifact, that would be nice too. ++ With regard to the status of the Family and New Hell, of course I'd be keen on keeping the +2 HellWarden for myself since I'm nominally "in charge". But I expect to be a rather absentee landlord -- so how about we keep the +2 at our home base in New Hell itself, for whoever is physically located there to use in the administration/fortification of the place (provided we trust them)? In particular, how about one of the NPCs (Reggie? Vendruck? Thrym?) fashions a throne made of brimstone and spiked chains to allow the Hand of the HellWarden to access the power? Relatedly, I completely agree that trusting the Sins is a bad idea. They are definitely not invited into The Family, so once Vendruck gives up his position they will lose part of their power and become only +4 demigods. On top of that, I'd like to remake them so that they are each only +2 Sins rather than +4 Sins (and collectively only +14 rather than +28). If that reshuffling of the Sins' power works, can those semi-divine +2 traits be given to others, or would they just be lost? This seems a really cheap way to bump up somebody's power a lot (+14 in total), so I expect that it's cheating just to transfer a +2 from each of them onto someone else (but hey, if their power can be literally stolen like that, so much the better for one or more of us lording it over them). If I'm going to be the one to refashion the Sins, Trickster Spirit +4, Between All Worlds +4, HellWarden +4, and Leader +2 = +14 are all relevant, though of course others (I assume Parelle, if she has the time) may want to have a say in how the New and Improved Sins turn out. Though the Sins are not going to be a part of our Pantheon, I do want to retain the option of adding Thrym to The Family at a later date (giving him an additional +4 like Reggie, Pirsuq, Cadenza, etc.) -- once I'm sure I can trust him, of course. ++ As to my subsequent actions after the Mask is fixed and the Sins are revamped, while Parelle is chatting up Vendruck (and maybe proposing marriage?!?) I want to create a new Artifact -- what I'll call a Soul Seal -- to allow me to vacuum up whatever souls we find while Thrym and I are out on our hunt. Ideally, as I add more souls the power will increase, until I either use their essence for AP or empty the souls out into New Hell for safekeeping. This will use Between All Worlds +4, Everything New Under the Sun +2, and HellWarden +4, along with Reggie or Vendruck's Construction/Artifice powers, if they are available. If there is any more time before the end of the Age, (and if someone hasn't done so already) I can be the one go get the mortals from Ascalon, especially if Parelle & Vendruck are busy on their dwarf hunt instead (speaking of which, aren't there a whole bunch of dwarves -- in form, if not in soul -- hanging out with the Scurrying beneath Ascalon?). Yes, of course I have ulterior motives in being the one to go get The Family's followers, even if I am being a team player -- I want to regain my direct influence over the Wildings. Technically the benefits of all of our worshippers are held equally by all of us; I just want some to be more equally mine. This is lower down on my priority list, though, so if we can get an NPC or two to handle it, so much the better. Finally, I'm assuming that calling the Convocation of the Gods will happen at the close of this Age, but they won't actually be assembled until the start of the next Age? In any case, I want us to call all remaining Gods except those that we know from experience will actively try to screw over The Family or the mortal races -- at the moment, that's Bisthak, Larissa, and the Imprisoned. Isath, however, is definitely invited -- he may be a gigantic Penis of Doom, but he takes care of business. If there are any other Gods (named or as-yet-unnamed) that might be questionable, maybe let us know and we can make the call on a case-by-case basis (Out-of-character, I don't know how much effort you want to put into making new NPC Gods, especially if they're the God of Being an rear end in a top hat When We're All Trying To Work Together). And now for the bookkeeping specific to Vicissitude: Trickster Spirit +4 is unchanged, as is Trickster's Mask +4/Special Ability +4/Mirror Without Reflection -2 (unless Reggie and I manage to improve upon it). The new +2 for our bigger Pantheon is going into upgrading my other power: Between All Worlds +4, since I expect to do a lot of traveling and soul-sorting as I go. I would actually like to keep Spirit of Chaos -2 (I'm not entirely moving on from my old identity), but I do want to switch out the other negative Trait that I almost never use for Defender of Mortals -2. Per our initial agreement, Vicissitude will drop his power down to HellWarden +2; as a slight tweak, however, I'd prefer for the remaining HellWarden +2 to go into the HellThrone +2 mentioned above instead of directly back to Parelle. Finally, I think Everything New Under the Sun has served its purpose and can be replaced; given the new responsibilities I'm shouldering, how about we change that trait to Leader +2 instead? TL;DR: Some traits have been shifted a bit. Vicissitude's Master Plan is as follows: Round 1: Chatting up Thrym, fixing Trickster's Mask (with Reggie's help?) Round 2: Refashioning The Sins to reduce their power and ensure that behave themselves (with Parelle?). Getting one of the relevant NPCs (Vendruck? Reggie? Thrym?) to make the HellThrone. Unless Parelle has a better use for them(?), send Cadenza and Pirsuq to retrieve the mortals from Ascalon. Round 3: Creating the Soul Seal artifact, probably with the help of one of the relevant NPCs. Whoever is sitting on the HellThrone (I nominate Thrym for the time being, though Reggie would be fine too) can start working on pushing The Ice back from our front door, or otherwise shoring up New Hell's defensive fortifications. Cadenza and Pirsuq should be returning from Ascalon with all of The Family's mortal followers. Round 4+: Bring the mortals back from Ascalon myself, if Cadenza and Pirsuq (or whoever) have not done so yet. Final Round of the Age: Call the Convocation of the Gods, with the help of pretty much the entire Family, so that we don't kill ourselves when The Ice tries to hitch a ride as we extend our Divine Presences.
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Aug 30, 2015 12:48
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Parelle Parelle turned her attention to Reggie and nodded slightly. "Please help him with his mask, Reggie," she whispered. "Pirsuq, Cadenza, I'd like you to prepare some supplies for travel. We're going to look for some dwarves and grab our worshipers on the way back. Sloth, please let the sins know that I want some of them to travel with Pirsuq and I while we look for dwarves. Envy and Pride will do. If that is okay with you," she says, and looks at Vicissitude. She places her Hope in Vendruck's hands and bows slightly at the waist to him. "I'll see if I can find any of your people." I'm okay with a fight, but I'm not okay with social combat between player characters. I don't like mucking around with player agency. Forgot about Pirsuq, Cadenza and Reggie in the interim. They need orders too. Reggie is being asked to help repair the mask with +6 Construction +2 Lightweight tools. Cadenza is asked to make more medicine in case we get injured on the way. +6 Healing. Pirsuq is asked to call up some favorable winds with +6 Wind Storm. Sloth is being told to get some sins ready to travel with Parelle. Counter offer. There's still the +4 broken shield that Malador had that's just laying around. I'm pretty sure it could be used as raw materials for the Hell Throne with Reggie's help. Items can be made, powers can't be. They can only be taken or earned in a pantheon and Pantheons aren't exactly stable. It seems pretty inefficient to use it like that since the expenditure of said power is only going to generate 2 AP while the broken shield can be used for 4 AP. I'm not really comfortable sending anyone out in force until the sins are under control, but it can be grabbed next turn. Parelle doesn't have to have it the power, but I'm against wasting it. If anything it can be given to Vendruck to cement loyalty to the Family Pantheon so he's less likely to kill us later. Further, Pirsuq and Cadenza really aren't meant to travel on their own. I'd think about it if they both had travel skills, but Cadenza has no travel skills and no healing skills. Pirsuq can travel on his own, but that's risky. He'll fight anything, has no judgement skills, is easily distracted and generally Parelle is the only one that has anything resembling control over him. Here's my suggestions. 1. Turn one, kit ourselves out for extended travel, fix your mask, recruit Vendruck. 2. Parelle takes Pirsuq and goes on a tour with Pride and Envy to dig while Parelle and Pirsuq travel. They're intent on finding dwarves as that was a promise to Vendruck and breaking promises is a no no. In the end they're going to be ordered to find cultural items to bring back to educate the next batch of dwarves. Parelle takes +2 Dwarves as the pantheon bonus. Parelle and Pirsuq represent a loss to Hell in terms of stability with the sins, but taking two will serve as hostages and extra muscle. Cadenza converts all of the dead, but useable biomass into Hell into usable biomass for purgatory. Mostly that's corpses. Vendruck/Reggie helps with the throne and help with locking down Hell from the ice. 3. Turn three, Parelle and Vendruck have found no dwarves and go to Ascellon, pick up the mortals and then head home. The conference is called while Hell is rebuilt. The mortals bunker down in Home. Purgatory is imprinted with Home so people can actually live there and Hell is locked down for the end of an age. That way we have AP for the beginning of next age.
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Aug 30, 2015 21:23
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Ice Phisherman posted:Parelle Eh, I see social combat as no different than a fight, except that actually dying removes player agency a lot more permanently than being browbeaten into submission does. quote:Counter offer. There's still the +4 broken shield that Malador had that's just laying around. I'm pretty sure it could be used as raw materials for the Hell Throne with Reggie's help. Items can be made, powers can't be. They can only be taken or earned in a pantheon and Pantheons aren't exactly stable. It seems pretty inefficient to use it like that since the expenditure of said power is only going to generate 2 AP while the broken shield can be used for 4 AP. I'm not really comfortable sending anyone out in force until the sins are under control, but it can be grabbed next turn. Parelle doesn't have to have it the power, but I'm against wasting it. If anything it can be given to Vendruck to cement loyalty to the Family Pantheon so he's less likely to kill us later. I think you misunderstand me -- I don't want to expend the power, I want to make it easy for the +2 HellWarden trait to change hands whenever we need it to, and the HellThrone is a convenient way of intsantiating that. Making the HellThrone from the shield or whatever is fine too, but somebody still needs to hold onto the power that we're protesting that we don't really need. If situating it in the HellThrone is too complicated (or too easy to abuse) then I'll just hang onto it. quote:1. Turn one, kit ourselves out for extended travel, fix your mask, recruit Vendruck. If you want to head out right away with whomever, that's fine. Thrym and I will take care of neutering four or five of the Sins and you can modify the remaining two or three as you see fit once you return with them. I think that everything else fits in with what I want to do with only a few NPC duties rearranged, as long as we can move calling the Convocation to Round 4 (which also gives you an extra round to deal with any trouble that crops up on your travels). Issues for Puppies to adjudicate (at least from my end): * Is the HellThrone a good idea for keeping tabs on the spare +2 HellWarden trait that we're kicking around? * When I forcibly remove some of the power from each of the Sins, where does it go? If it is just destroyed, so be it; if it doesn't need to be lost but is cheating for me to take +8 or +10 (from the four or five Sins that I'm handling) all for myself, should we distribute the power in some other fashion (including, perhaps, channeling it into attributes for New Hell itself?)
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Aug 31, 2015 02:01
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Parelle, Loki - Hell Vendruck's face softened, and a portion of the infernal weaponry festooned around him crumbled and fell away as the light of Hope entered his heart. Shocked by his master's seeming change of heart, Sloth grasped the Helljudge's arm and hissed with uncharacteristic energy. He argued in a venomously low tone. "free the others...she killed Malador!...This is entirely her fault!" "I don't care. Everything is gone and we can't fix it ourselves with that thing out there hanging over our heads. You will wait." Vendruck pulled away, "I'll join you Parelle. Count me as a member of your family." With that the link which bound him to the Dwarven Sins was broken, and Sloth lay back on his divan. Horror and surprise flickered across his features before he settled on the lazy resignation which was his normal fare. He shrugged and lay back in silence as he watched the negotiations between Parelle and Loki carry on. Vendruck and Vicissitude would join the siblings, and together they would arm themselves for whatever Age would come. Hell would be split between the victors, with Thyrm taking charge of its core. The trickster himself would repair his mask with Reggie's help, while the others would make their preparations for a global journey to search out the last of the surviving Dwarves and bring Parelle's people Home. "It is evil in its purest incarnation. I'll drag it back and bury it in ice no matter how long the age or how great the cost. Nothing shall escape Thyrm." Vendruck and Thyrm answered in part as they considered what they knew of the Imprisoned. "Sin. Malador told me that its existence is Sin itself. Hell was made to punish it for that crime, and in a way the prison was also made from it. That's why I was reinforcing each of the gates before you burst in and broke everything. They destroyed its name and form so that mortal beings could not give it worship, but that doesn't stop them from giving it power by the mere act of existing." Reggie and the Trickster were bent over the broken mask, but the repair was proving difficult. Reggie nursed his thumb and grimaced at the plain white mask. "It keeps changing shape! I have to nail it down just to get a grip on it and then the damned thing wriggles out of the way when I bring my hammer near." While they worked (and failed) the remaining siblings gathered up what scraps of power and provisions remained within Hell that could be useful for the great journey ahead. Sounds like you guys have come to terms so good enough. Instead of getting moving right now your respective actions are to gear up at Home/chat up Vendruck & Thrym first. Anyway that leaves us the following: 1) Vendruck swaps +2 Hope onto his sheet in exchange for splitting +6 Artifice down to +4 Artifice. His new sheet is Hellwarden/Artifice/Hope/Malador Banner. He hasn't had Dwarves since he became the (former) new lord of Hell. 2) In exchange Parelle takes +2 Artifice (or Hellwarden if she wants it instead), and takes also the +2 Hellwarden from Vicissitude. 3) Vicissitude swaps out his flaws for -4 Protector of Mortals for his own reasons. 4) Vicissitude, Vendruck join the Family for certain, bringing total pantheon attendance up to 7. All relevant parties receive a bonus for new pantheon rank since it's #/3 round down. 5) Vendruck abandons his position as the head of the Sins. 6) Thyrm/Vicissitude are given a permanent slice of Hell, for simplicity's sake let's say it's the area formerly known as Treachery and is the straight center or deepest part. Per Thrym, his area is now Niflheim, a literal icy hellhole. VICISSITUDE & REGGIE (+12) repair the TRICKSTER'S MASK! Roll was failure! PARELLE, PIRSUQ, CADENZA, (+20) prepare provisions for a global Travel action, roll was success! +6 upshift has been generated for next Travel action! Wallastra Wallastra placed his hand on the boundary of the Necropolis, communicating his intent as the many voices of the damned fell silent. Nothing. No pleading, no threats, no dangerous buzzing as the evil souls trapped within swarmed and fed off one another in their captured fury. There was only silence. Fear perhaps? Either way they'd be made to serve but it was better to lead with the carrot than with the stick. This he told himself again, repeating it aloud as if doing so would make it true even though deep down he knew that it wasn't. But he had other matters to attend and an entire city to run. He flexed his muscles and phased out in the confidence that the problem would be solved one way or the other with the dawning of the new day. As a God, Wallastra did not sleep by mortal means. Day and night were only technical distinctions to him, and he felt no weariness or need for rest save that between great Ages of the world. But the ice-shrouded sun set over Wallastra and along with all of his populace he found himself nodding into unquiet slumber. The city dreamed and Wallastra's nightmares stirred. Built upon the bones of earlier generations, Wallastra had an endless amount of back alleys, dead corridors, and dark hollows. He knew all of them intimately, was all of them. But what about the places at the corner of his eye? The dark spots on the edge of his vision or when he turned around? In his dreams his city warped and bent. The orderly corners and avenues displaced, familiar brick and stone became shadowed and unfamiliar, and something visceral and strange slowly but surely made its way out into his city's consciousness.  As one the city groaned in the night and looked away. Wallastra forced himself to look again and check. Were the seals on the Necropolis still strong? They held and were as powerful as they had ever been. The damned were trapped within and pacified by the orderly design of the streets and avenues. But then what was the source of his discomfort? What was the unease that struck him every time he passed a darkened corner? There wasn't anything there. No other God or unaccounted spirit occupied the city, but hearts and minds of Wallastra's citizens were unsteady as if something was. One last shot at negotiating (social attack controlling) the millions-strong mass of evil souls trapped and currently pacified in the Necropolis... No luck. Something pretty bad does seem to be in the air though and the city doesn't feel great for anybody at all. People (or Wallastra) keep seeing things that probably aren't there but don't feel right. Isath - Kelp City Isath drew light and form from deep within itself, shuddering as it released a creation that annihilated and reformed the flesh of all the corpses and many of the Breeders in the area.  Fast breeding and swift, just like the basic form of Breeder from which they were derived. Isath knew that it would have to deal with the ice overhead sooner or later but after its many battles (and before it could replenish its stores with the flesh of that damned shark) it didn't fancy its chances in a direct confrontation. But with time even mice could undermine a mountain, so heat-producing shrimp could destroy the threat of the Iceberg above it. Wriggling, multi-eyed, and photoluminescent, the Photoplankton would do just that but even though Isath had been successful in spawning a great deal of the semi-magical creatures it would need either hundreds of millions more of them or a preposterous amount of time to pass before they could have any positive effect on the ice currently overhead. ISATH +10 creates PHOTOPLANKTON, sacrificing half of the BREEDERS and all corpses in the area! Roll was success! Magical non-sentient species PHOTOPLANKTON has been created! They absorb light/heat and produce light/heat as they go but there's nowhere near enough of them to effect the amount of Ice overhead! Hundreds of millions more would be necessary to raise local temperatures enough to effect that sort of change!
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Sep 10, 2015 04:34
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Parelle - Hell Parelle felt thoughtful and sad. She'd released Sin into the world with a capital S. It seemed that Hell had a purpose and that purpose was to imprison Sin. This would have been fine knowledge beforehand. Fine knowledge indeed. Still, there wasn't much to be done about it now. A coalition was being formed and she was not at the head of it. This was probably for the best. She was excellent at getting things done. In fact she was startlingly excellent at it. However the why of what she was doing and if should should escaped her. With some forethought this could have all been avoided. Better to leave all of this to wiser heads. She wasn't that smart anyway. "Reggie, I have something for you. I want you to hold it, but not absorb it. I tried it and I do not suggest it. Make it into the throne with whoever's help you can requisition please. I believe that our shapeshifter friend has tasks for you. Do them if they seem reasonable please," she said. "I trust your judgement." She handed it over to him like the evil, wretched thing that it was. Ugh, it felt greasy. "Pirsuq, you're coming with me, little brother. We're going to see if we can find some Dwarves so we'll have worshipers. Speaking of which, we're going to pick up the Travelers and The Wildlings on our way back." She hoisted the prepared travel items for the road. "Cadenza, I want you to move our dead family out of the pocket dimension. It shouldn't be a big task. After that I want you to expand Home's boundaries to all of the first plane of Hell. I know this is a big task, so I would kindly ask Vendruck to help her. We need a physical space for followers to grow out into. If you can't or don't want to, I understand, but we do need a place for followers. If you could also do a check in the hold for any lingering dwarves, dwarven souls, dwarven bodies or culture artifacts it would be appreciated. I don't intend to let an entire race of mortals die out. Let's go, Pirsuq. We're going to move fast." With that she headed out. This was just as fast as the Road she created and then had Reggie destroy. With Pisuq in tow she moved quickly towards each destination. Taking +2 Dwarves as a domain. Parelle and Pirsuq are booking it. She can't take Envy and Pride like she originally wanted as they are sinsicles. Instead it'll just be her and Pirsuq. Pirsuq really won't do that well at salvage operations, but he can move quickly. +6 Wind Storm and +6 Upshift to move to each hold and end up at Ascellon. If they find something really interesting they'll stop and investigate. Parelle on the other hand is going to look for Dwarven artifacts at the holds. Essentially Pirsuq keeps the car running, Parelle moves in and grabs anything interesting and they do this until they end up at Ascellon. +2 Travel to search quickly and get into those hard to reach spaces, +2 Sun to illuminate the places, +2 Artifice to create devices for heavy lifting, +2 Nature to move through holds reclaimed by nature, +2 Food and Drink to find and recreate Dwarven food and drink and +2 Dwarves to find Dwarven artifacts (antiquities, not godly items, though those would be cool too). 6+6 = 12 to move between each hold and end up at Ascellon. 2+2+2+2+2+2 = 12 to search for Dwarf stuff. Me metagaming means I know that finding Dwarves is doomed to fail, but Parelle doesn't know that. Functionally she's going to take +2 Dwarves as a new domain. By absorbing the entire culture of a race she can in some way be the last dwarf. It's sappy and naive and not very effective so it fits Parelle like a glove. Thematically she'll have brought the race back to life by bringing herself back as the new mother of the Dwarven race. She's really hoping that she can find at least one though for the sake of continuity of the race, but that's not going to happen, so I want Parelle to end up at Ascellon to pick up the Travelers. Or not pick them up if they want to keep them because that would be an enormous problem and amusing. +2 Warden of Hell becomes +2 Hellthrone, but it hasn't become that yet because no one has made it. Right now it's just sitting around doing nothing. I'm going to transfer that to Reggie so he can help make it. Reggie isn't going to absorb it, but hold it until he can imbue it into a physical object. For the moment he's under Vicissitude's control unless he asks Reggie to do something bad. Barring that Reggie is to help with whatever Vicissitude needs. Parelle is asking Vendruck to assist Cadenza in making a living space out of Home that will cover all of what used to be purgatory. Mortals need living space and Home by itself isn't going to cut it for this many deities. Maybe the original Family members, but not for seven of them. After that she has no more tasks for Vendruck. Cadenza will be using +4 Healing and +4 Life to push the boundaries of Home out without breaking it. It doesn't even need to be immediate. It just needs to grow. Vendruck if he chooses to help will use any relevant powers that won't taint Home. Cadenza moves her dead Family members out of the pocket dimension because it's unstable as gently caress. +6 Healing and +4 Life to push Home's boundaries out without damaging it. Asking Vendruck to add any relevant domains that aren't going to taint the process. 6+4+?=? Ice Phisherman fucked around with this message at 01:40 on Sep 13, 2015 |
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Sep 10, 2015 07:32
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Isath, Kelp City Isath considered its options. It could probably do two more things before the ice fell on it. It decided to gamble. A part of Isath's body detached itself, and morphed into a sharp, giant living harpoon, made for moving at ludicrous speeds and homing into the shark-god and putting it into Isath's mouth. The tip burned bright - it was covered in condensed light, like a myriad whirring chainsaw blades made of a brilliant white gossamer, sending clouds of superheated steam towards the sides and back, which helped propel the thing. Shooting a giant shark-god-homing harpoon connected via a long powerful string of muscle (to reel it in for miles) towards where I feel the shark-god is. With a burning condensed light armor piercing tip. Flesh +6 and Light +4. Megastructure -4 might apply. Pochoclo fucked around with this message at 13:52 on Sep 10, 2015 |
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Sep 10, 2015 13:50
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Vicissitude -- the Empty Shell Formerly Known as Hell With his efforts to repair his Mask a failure, Vicissitude turns away in frustration and seeks to focus his attentions elsewhere. He speaks again with his new companion as they continue to work. "There is more I would know, Thrym. As you are of The Ice, have you any knowledge of the source of the great glaciers that move over the surface of the world? What brought the Bitter Cold? Even if the cataclysm engulfing us did not originate from Below, surely you felt it when the ice of Cocytus moved?" Reggie is making the HellThrone this round, and will stick +2 HellWarden on top of whatever other traits he creates it with, while Vicissitude enlists Thrym's aid in creating the Soul Seal. This will use Between All Worlds +4, Everything New Under the Sun +2, and HellWarden +2, along with an equivalent amount from Thrym's traits (which are relevant since the artifact will basically be the only thing that is storing/imprisoning dead souls for now, given there's not a properly-functioning Hell anymore). I don't want Thrym to have any more control over the Soul Seal than I do, hence the desire to limit his contribution to only be equivalent to what I am bringing to bear (+8). I also really hope that Thrym has something to say about what brought on the Ice Age. Puppies are dicks posted:Parelle, Loki - Hell As Parelle indicated, +2 HellWarden is going into the HellChair. Also, I think you missed my earlier statement that I only want to swap out -2 Without Light, There Are No Shadows for -2 Protector of Mortals. I want to keep -2 Spirit of Chaos. And I am still not clear on the power remaining to the Sins: if their pantheon is dissolved and they are returned to their natural state, are they at +4 or +2? If the latter, then they are no serious threat. Either way, are they on ice until Thrym or someone else actively releases them, or will they escape in time? No matter what, Sloth (at the very least) is in for a makeover, though I'm going to wait until Vendruck and Parelle have left to do it.
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Sep 12, 2015 06:17
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Parelle, Loki - Hell Thrym shrugged shoulders the size of boulders. He and the Trickster traded theories for the origin of the Ice as they prized loose one of the giant's mechanisms for trapping and imprisoning the souls of the damned. Pared down and reinvented with the power of chaos it held more raw power than any of the lesser artifacts the Trickster had found to date. It was hungry, non-sentient but efficient in its dumb power to grasp and keep souls. Reggie looked on and whistled in admiration as he continued the stolid work of forcing Hell's authority into a physical form. "All is ice as it should be. The wild Ice above is inescapable and powerful enough, but has no will behind it. It's different from mine which is the stuff of Hell, and will eventually be too cold for even Thrym to handle. All I felt was the contraction of Hell as the Ice encircled us. I will build my power and make it my own." "Malador had no guesses, and it seemed the Imprisoned was surprised by the Ice when he found it. I don't think they're related." Vendruck considered the gates of Home from the inside, his mastery of artifice and sway over Hell giving him insight into its working. "This will hold for now, but the being you've trapped here no longer has the full power of Hell and its millions of souls to warm itself. It's good that you're bringing your mortals here. You should bring many more and make sure they know to keep it fed." "Just so we're clear you're not putting any people in there, living or dead, you hunched little freak. We're going to channel their prayers and as much of the heat we can hold inside towards the door instead." He grunted darkly at Cadenza's words but bent beside her to prepare the way for the mortals to come. Right, my mistake there. -2 Protector of Mortals/-2 Spirit of Chaos it is. Remember to specify if you want the Dwarven Sins to depantheon/if you want to defrost any of them when you do. Next up is Vicissitude + Reggie's Hellthrone-making, followed by Vendruck/Cadenza having the most awkward afternoon ever while they assemble IKEA furniture for all the little mortals they're expecting. Vendruck will not be using the Malador-banner because that's kind of offensive and in poor taste. They've been asked to do several things so will get to those others in following rounds. THYRM & VICISSITUDE +16 REGGIE +8 creates/transfers +2 HELLWARDEN into a new artifact! Roll was success! +2 THRONE OF HELL/-2 IMMOBILE THRONE has been created! CADENZA & VENDRUCK +18 prepare HELL for mortal habitation! Roll was success! HOME has gained the trait, Splendid Mortal Habitation! Parelle - Ascalon Parelle and Pirsuq had blasted through the shattered Dwarven holds, finding nothing but looted ruins and gnawed bones which crumbled to frost at the touch. The five fortresses of the Dwarves had been smashed open, the inhabitants eaten, frozen, or enslaved, and their contents rendered the same by the ice and invading armies. Karkullessen, the fortress built into a great volcanic caldera had been melted to slag by some terrible heat form Beneath, though the volcano now lay as cold and empty as the ruins themselves. The fifth, Batjullik lay somewhere far beyond her seeking. It was probably with the monster which had burst in on them in the chaotic battle against Arthak and Bismark. It left a bitter taste in her mouth that nothing was left of the Dwarves save worthless fragments and ashes but she perked as they rounding the world one last time and found the vast host of her worshipers well provisioned and packed for a journey before Ascalon's heavy gates. They waved her in and warmed her chilled hands with a cup of hot soup while they shared their tale. "That was... strange, Parelle. The Prophet God knew you were coming and bade us wait outside the gates, but the entire time we were inside nobody talked to us or even looked us in the eyes. They just put everything we asked for or needed out in front of us before we knew to ask for it. He said you would be here to take us back and that he was done with us for now." They shrugged towards the mountain fastness which was sealed tightly shut. Now for Parelle's trip around the world(Pirsuq helps!), PARELLE & PIRSUQ +24 slingshot around the world in search of DWARVES and DWARVEN ARTIFACTS, ending their journey at ASCALON! Roll was mixed success! TRAVELERS are all ready to go! TRAVELERS have a +2 upshift to travel to HELL! ASCALON has been shut to all outsiders! Isath - Kelp City Isath twitched, the massive shudder which ran down the length of its form causing a seaquake which muddied the waters of the icy ocean around it. But it's cast had been successful, and the delicious but cowardly shark would soon be pitted on the great spike Isath had grown for this express purpose. It jerked and thrashed, reeling in the titanic line as it tasted the sweet fear of its prey. The prey struggled, the line went slack and retightened, but Isath registered with some alarm that it was returning at a prodigious rate.  "INTERLOPER"  "INVADER"  "INTRUDER" "PREY" The Shark God had returned and brought other Gods with it. The four of them swirled around Isath and shouted/demanded in unison. "TELL US WHY WE SHOULD ALLOW YOU TO LIVE OR THE OCEANIS PACT WILL EXTERMINATE YOU FOR THE GOOD OF THE SEAS." ISATH +10 casts spell, Homing Sharkpoon! Roll was success! SHARK GOD has taken damage and is being reeled in! SHARK GOD was reeled in! OCEANIS PACT has entered the scene! Isath, meet the Oceanis Pact. AOQIN, SILVER SWARM, SHARK GOD, HYBOREAS are all +10 Gods with a mix of sea/fish related domains with the exception of SHARK GOD who has been weakened. If you know any from the Before Time feel free to write it in with the usual caveat that if you know their traits/flaws they probably know the same about yours. Puppies are dicks fucked around with this message at 01:06 on Sep 24, 2015 |
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Sep 21, 2015 21:21
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Parelle - Here and There and Back Again Parelle grew increasingly depressed as she made her way from dwarf fortress to dwarf fortress. Their great works destroyed, their culture gone. Even their bodies were too decrepit and rat gnawed to be salvageable. All that was left were the old, crumbling ruins that used to be holds. Soon even they would be gone. The only one that could still be left, Batjullik, was far beyond her now if it still existed. She was no tracker and she couldn't spend the time or energy. She had other obligations. In her dejected state she wondered if her Travelers were even alive. Her feelings were mixed as she saw them outside. Elated as she saw them alive and unharmed, but worried as she saw them outside. Her fears were assuaged by one of the elders as they weren't kicked from the city. She sat in a circle with the wisest while Pirsuq played with his Wildings. "In these times I suppose it's well enough that you were all taken care of. Times are strange and a ban on interacting with any of you is by far the least strange thing I've come across. I see the provisions and I see that you're all unharmed. In this I am content. There are going to be some changes soon. We're going back to Home, but Home is in a new place now and hopefully larger to accommodate all of you, your children, grandchildren and children to be born. Vendruck, yes that Vendruck, and my sister Cadenza are working on it as we speak. I'm confident that they can get the job done." She picked up a cup of soup and blew the steam from the top of it into the circle. It billowed and showed all of the history after she left. The preparations, the ride into Hell, her talking down Vendruck, Sin escaping, the breaking of Hell, the new additions to the Family, her ceding authority after her mistake, setting up Home in the first layer of Hell, the confirmation of the extinction of the dwarves and then back to here. She narrated each of the steam illusions and left nothing out. "I'd like all of you to know that I have good intentions, but good intentions do lead to good outcomes without wisdom and power does not make the gods wise. Most of my decisions were not born of intelligent action, but desperately trying to do whatever it took to stay alive and do good in the moment. I had to be hasty and in that haste I made mistakes. I could have done things differently, but probably not much. My methods work well enough for survival, but they don't scale up very well. I have much to learn. A new age is dawning and I need to reflect." The steam coalesced as she thought about it and as she dwelled on the dwarves the steam lingered as well. One by one all of the illusionary dwarves disappeared into the ice until there were no more of them. She spent a few more minutes checking in with the wise ones and ordered everyone to get ready to march. "Pirsuq!" she called out. He came and she grinned. She ruffled his hair affectionately. He could always make her smile. "We're heading home. I'm going to lead the caravan, but I want you to keep the weather calm and keep a lookout for any mortals on the way back. If they're not too far out of our way we'll divert the caravan and grab them on the way back. Bonus points if you can find some non-humans. I figure there have to be some out there. Don't get them, just point them out. Why don't you gobble up some of those supplies and I'll keep the Travelers fed? It's going to be tough work and you're still growing after all." Parelle kept quiet as she came back. What was she going to tell Vendruck? I was hoping to pick up some souvenirs for the road, but I guess the dwarves were just too hosed up. Save for the dwarven souls inside of Isath that no one but it knows about the dwarves are extinct. Sad times. Parelle will see if Vendruck wants to make some new ones when she gets back. Parelle is heading back with the Travelers and the Wildings. +2 Travel to move, +2 Sun and +2 Artifice to melt the ice before them, +2 Nature to move through the harsh, natural environment, +2 Food and Drink to stay well provisioned and I suppose I have that unnamed +2 domain lying around. So for now I'll take another +2 to Sun until Parelle speaks to Vendruck. If he doesn't want to make new dwarves that's fine, and the extra Sun domain will help make her followers warmer while the age comes and goes. So in actuality it'll be +4 Sun. 2+4+2+2+2=12 to move back to Hell. Pirsuq on the other hand is going to keep an eye out for people on the way back. Parelle is extremely interested in picking up any other dying races as just having humans would be sort of boring and monocultures are boring, but she'll take whatever she can get. His job is to still the wind and keep an eye out for mortals. +6 Wind Storm to still the wind to increase visibility, +2 Supplies to keep him fed and strong for the sustained effort. 6+2=8 to find mortals. Ice Phisherman fucked around with this message at 23:08 on Sep 21, 2015 |
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Sep 21, 2015 23:01
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Isath, in the shadow of a huge iceberg and surrounded by fishgods Isath sighed. Not even a full pantheon of pissed off fish-gods could hope to compare to the horrors that now loomed ever so closer, but for now Isath was outnumbered, and there was no way out but playing nice. Isath streamed its thoughts directly to them. "LAND COVERED IN ICE. IT IS COMING TO THE OCEAN. ONLY HOPE IS SMALL SPACE HELD WARM BY A GOD OR GODS. LOOK UP. GIANT ICEBERG - NOT WHAT IT SEEMS, ICE BUT DIFFERENT. I SUGGEST DEALING WITH IT BEFORE WE DISCUSS ANYTHING ELSE. I WILL HELP, WANT ONLY TO LIVE IN PEACE. YOUR SHARK FRIEND ATTACKED MY CHILDREN FIRST. I DEFENDED. I DO NOT HOLD GRUDGE." Isath's thoughts then took a darker tone - a tone of barely repressed fear, its massive flesh quivering, trembling. "ALSO. HELL BROKE. IT IS BROKEN. SOMETHING WRONG, SOMETHING BAD, IS COMING HERE. UNCHAINED. THERE IS NO ESCAPE. THERE IS NO HOPE. NONE OF US NEED MORE ENEMIES." Trying to quickly tell these guys what's up with the ice and a very bad thing that will eventually come to the sea, and also that a huge iceberg is about to fall on everyone's heads and maybe we should take care of that first. If they agree, Isath will use Flesh +6 and Light +4 to blast the iceberg, otherwise Isath will use the same traits to defend against the iceberg's fall (Playing it Cagey wherever it might apply). Pochoclo fucked around with this message at 00:14 on Sep 23, 2015 |
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Sep 21, 2015 23:57
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Puppies are dicks posted:Parelle, Loki - Hell Reggie was working on the HellThrone by himself, since he was guaranteed to have at least +2 to put into into, on top of whatever the result of the roll was. Thrym and Vicissitude were working together on the Soul Seal -- presumably the results of the +16 you used for Reggie & Vicissitude could just be applied to Thrym & Vicissitude instead. Edit: If the stats are the same, then I should just end up with a +4 Soul Seal/-2 Some Disadvantageous Trait, right? If you want to work things that way, the only thing currently lacking is a separate roll for Reggie's action. TychoBrahesNose fucked around with this message at 05:24 on Sep 22, 2015 |
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Sep 22, 2015 04:11
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Vicissitude -- the Empty Shell Formerly Known as Hell Since Hell is no longer really a thing, Vicissitude reasons, so the Sins are really no longer needed in their current incarnation. "Thrym," he says, "I require your assistance on another matter. The Sins can sit, ensconced in your Ice, for as long as you care to maintain their prison. But why not put their powers to use instead? If we are to engage in our Hunt, I would think we'd need a Pack of Hounds to accompany us, wouldn't you?" While Parelle is away, I'm going to begin the process of reshaping the Sins into the Hounds of Hell -- starting with Sloth. Thrym and Vicissitude are again working together on this, with V contributing Trickster Spirit +4, Between All Worlds +4, HellWarden +2, and Leader +2 while sitting on the +4(?) HellChair and testing out my brand spanking new +? Soul Seal. Thrym is contributing his own +12 for a total bonus to our Divine Reshaping of at least +28. Yes, I expect Sloth to resist, but he's at +6 at best, so I think that's just too bad for him. We'll work on the rest of the (trapped) sins once we see the results of the initial "experiment" with Sloth. I am not entirely clear on what I want the final stats for the Hounds of Hell to be, but it will certainly involve a lobotomy to remove some amount of intelligence and free will to make them more like semi-intelligent slaves or domesticated (i.e., obedient, if dangerous) animals. Off the top of my head I'd say the basis for the new semi-divine beings we're creating is the +2 Hunter trait; while they are Pantheon'd, they will have the +2 or +4 Pack trait as well. If they end up with the negative trait -2 Lacking in Self-Will or some such as the result of T&V mucking around with their basic essence, that's OK I guess. As an aside, the idea that The Ice is just a natural (if supremely inconvenient) phenomenon had never really occurred to Vicissitude, but that seems to be what Thrym is indicating, and that changes V's strategy considerably. Maybe there is no way to stop the advance of the Ice, and just hunkering down and constantly pouring effort into maintaining a stable biosphere in a limited region is the way to go. If that's what we decide in the Convocation, at least we have a good start on it here in The Place Formerly Known as Hell. But presumably the Gods that we summon will have more useful information, or Thrym and V might find out something on their hunt...whenever it is that we get to that point.
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Sep 22, 2015 05:21
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Wallastra - Wallastra 0/16 Something wicked inhabits this city. Something is wrong here. Wallastra stalks the streets, it's late at night, everyone has retired, but Wallastra walks the streets, the street whispers to it's City God, it's a good feel of what's on it's cobbled heart and cooling mind. And yet, this night, the streets are silent. This is a bad thing, this is a very bad thing. But what is wrong? Everything is wrong, everything is wrong. No, nothing is wrong, the city survives, the city may return to it's former glory, but something is still wrong. The Necropolis? No, I checked that damnable Necropolis, multiple times, I checked the seals, I rechecked the seals, I even added more seals, it's occupants are silent and are not going anywhere in a hurry, and something remains wrong? So it's not the Necropolis. The Soul Furnaces? We are building more, building them better. Not better for the souls. But better for the men. But the seals hold, and the furnace burns, and the wrongness remains. Now Wallastra is getting desperate, he has taken to putting seals around the city itself, small seals, carved into woodwork, shaped from ruins, inscribed into stones, and something is still wrong. It was beginning to worry at Wallastra's nerves, is the wrongness, me? He thinks, But I am fine, I am well, I am... I am... I am holding on. So where is something that isn't there, and I know shouldn't be there, but despite every evidence to the contrary, is there. And so, Wallastra, stalks the streets in the night, chasing ghosts, beset by personal details, and searching for nothing. The night, moved. --- It's a buggery when you think there's something wrong and you don't know what. That point where you've lost your wallet, and you check the cupboard and then you check the cupboard again and then when you are about to do something else you check it again because maybe you missed something and it will have been there all along. Wallastra is looking, he is looking through his Grand Design [+4] and he is now plodding the street at ground level, looking for something that is out of place, or shouldn't be there. Perhaps there is a hole in the firmament, a seal he missed, a ghost misplaced. But Wallastra is not having a good week, his Guilty Conscience [-2] is weighing on his soul, and he is reduced himself to actually checking under every nook and cranny for something that isn't there]. And maybe the last thing he should do is actually find what he is looking for.
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Sep 25, 2015 18:40
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Wallastra Long ago Wallastra had tried to describe the sensation of being himself to another God. An animal God, or the God of Forests and Hunts? It had been so long ago his memory had dimmed. As the God of Cities embodying the selfsame city he was at every moment every brick, every girder, every street, pipe, and block. He was there in the populace, and their movement, their past, and their future dreams were etched in him as they were etched in the stones of the people's homes. He had tried to describe it to the God of Forests and hadn't had any more success with the task than a blind man feeling up an elephant. In his city Wallatra was everything. But now everything was wrong. How it was wrong he was still uncertain but he walked the streets and found things just slightly out of place, knowing it instinctively if not intellectually. Blind alleys were blinder. The night was darker and sounds echoed strangely through streets that had no name but ran on longer than they should. His people subconsciously took care not to look deeply into darkened crevices for fear of what they might find. He looked again, forcing himself to triple check despite his own apprehensions. There was nothing there. "Our first responsibility as gods is to see the world around us. If I do not look in shadows, if I flinch from pain, I abdicate that responsibility." He rubbed at his eyes, the tension of each fruitless confrontation building up to dark and strange thoughts within him. Seals! That would do it. Wallastra found himself obsessively crafting and placing an array of seals of all shapes and sizes behind him. Seals against movement. Seals against treachery. Seals against murder, betrayal, deception, and disease. He became so incensed with his work that he bent the design of the city itself to create seals blocks high and pondered the feasibility of doing so with the city entire. Suddenly he turned and found it, aware for the first time that he'd been walking in circles without noticing the obvious feature which took up an entire city block.  An enormous sinkhole ran straight down from the center of his city Beneath. By some strange means it was as part of Wallastra as anything else, fitting seamlessly into the design well enough that he could feel and know all of its dimensions except the extent of its depth. Wallastra watched as his citizens subconsciously approached the bottomless sinkhole, only to leave momentarily and furtively after disposing of their common trash and unwanted possessions into its gaping maw. Was this a manifestation of his own unconscious guilt? Or maybe something worse?  A change has occurred in all mortal beings! The Curse of Sloth has stained their hearts and altered the way they perceive/react to the world!Then something went wrong. Made of the hearts and minds of his citizens Wallastra felt a tepid malaise stain his soul, and although faith guided their lives some small portion of a hundred thousand minds wondered, why bother? Who would care? WALLASTRA +2 walks at street level, seeking out what is out of place or wrong! Roll was... success? WALLASTRA has found BOTTOMLESS SINKHOLE! WALLASTRA (the city) ha gained the trait Bottomless Sinkhole! The citizens of WALLASTRA have been throwing their trash and unwanted items into BOTTOMLESS SINKHOLE without being fully aware of it because they subconsciously refuse to accept what they're doing! It's a mind-bogglingly deep hole which gives no sign of having a bottom! Parelle, Vicissitude - Hell Thrym grasped the unresisting Sloth and through unspoken agreement with Vicissitude held the Dwarven Sin fast so that they could break open his soul and make him anew. With the amount of power they held between them and the Throne of Hell it was impossible for the Sin to resist but even as the giant pried his jaws open for the Trickster to reach and change his beating heart Sloth calmly whispered. "My curse for you, traitor. My curse to all that lives and holds mortal life. Let the stain of Sloth never be eased from the mortal heart." The world flickered. Sloth had given it his all and somewhere within his corpulent form he'd found the power to reach out of Hell and into the souls of all mortal kind. Somehow it was easier for the Dwarven Sin, even as his flesh twisted and the light of new change broke him something of Sloth melted and fled to taint the unconscious of every mind. Watching from the seat of Hell Vicissitude could feel the literal transmission of sin from one to many, to all, like a terminally infectious disease. A change has occurred in all mortal beings! The Curse of Sloth has stained their hearts and altered the way they perceive/react to the world! "What are you doing? What's happened to Sloth?" Vendruck and Cadenza turned from their work, simultaneously annoyed and surprised at the wave of evil intent which swept past them and out of Hell. Parelle had followed right behind them and in the same way they did felt the shiver of Sloth's curse pass through her worshipers and past her. For the most part they didn't really care because at least now they were Home. "Hey Parelle! I love you Parelle! That was pretty yuck Parelle! But I saw THIS MANY tiny clumps of mortals on our way back Parelle! Lots of them weren't human! THIS MANY!" The Wildings took up Pirsuq's cry, flapping their arms and wriggling their fingers in imitation as they told the tale of the many (not really very many) enclaves of nonhuman survivors in the wastes Pirsuq had found. By the look of it there were at least ten and possibly less than ten thousand. Mechanically you might as well be sacrificing Sloth and using the parts to build a new God because the new +2 HOUND OF HELL has basically no traits in common with Sloth. It's the same difficulty/bonus either way for brutally breaking down and otherwise remaking him with the only difference being there's a greater chance of getting -2 FORMER SIN OF SLOTH the one way. Since your wording was more specific I'll give -2 PACK INSTINCTS better odds. Sloth does get a chance at one last hurrah though since he's been watching and waiting for a chance to act. Turns out there was no good chance to act and Sloth's going to get shafted, but here's hoping he can make some changes to the world before he goes out screaming- DWARVEN SIN OF SLOTH +6 Flips Out, uses expendable +2 upshift from Curse of Sloth against all mortals in the world to cast attack spell, Global Curse Mortal! Roll was success! All mortals in the world have been effected! VICISSITUDE & THRYM +28 forcibly change DWARVEN SIN OF SLOTH +4 into a new God! Roll was success! DWARVEN SIN OF SLOTH has been severed from the Pantheon of the DWARVEN SINS! DWARVEN SIN OF SLOTH has become +2 HOUND OF HELL/-2 PACK INSTINCTS! PARELLE +12 guides WILDINGS & TRAVELERS to HOME! Roll was success! PIRSUQ +8 watches for signs of non-human survivors along the journey! Roll was success! ENCLAVES OF NONHUMANS have been discovered and may be recovered or interacted with in subsequent rounds! Isath - Kelp City "FOOD/FOOL/OBLIVIOUS PREY." The piscine Gods of the seas swarmed around Isath as they harangued it in unison and indignation. "WHAT GOD WOULD NOT KNOW OF THE DOOM THE ICE FORETELLS? THE ICE WILL GIVE YOU LAND-GODS QUICK DEATH BUT STILL YOU INVADE THE SEAS TO TAKE WHAT IS OURS." Isath had one more gamble to play, another fact that the fish Gods would have to deal with on their own. Surely they also feared whatever had gone wrong in Hell? "WHAT ESCAPES HELL MATTERS NOT TO US. OUR DEAD, OUR FOOD. WITH NO DEAD, NO CORPSE SOLDIERS FOR THE WICKED MAY RISE. NO CITIES, NO PLACES FOR THE ARMIES OF THE EVIL DEAD TO SEIGE. THUS WILL THE OCEANIS PACT OUTLAST THE ICE, THUS WILL THE OCEANIS PACT OUTLIVE THE DAMNED. NOW DIE, BECOME FOOD TO FEED OUR WARMTH!" Isath threw up walls of hot flesh reinforced by a web of hotter light so dense it was solid. This proved to be fortuitous as the Oceanis Pact dodged the falling Iceberg and slammed against the bulwark in quick succession. Grinding against it with fin and fang they were rebuffed by the thick walls of subcutaneous fat Isath had grown to resist the cold, and bounced back as the temperature of the immediate seas dropped sharply. As the crumbled ice met the sparks of light heat generated by the Photoplankton the already tumultuous currents surrounding Kelp City they rapidly froze, solidifying into crystals the size of mountains. Everything in the area, Isath, fish and all grew sluggish and slow as the supercooled currents began to gel the seas around them. A change has occurred in all mortal beings! The Curse of Sloth has stained their hearts and altered the way they perceive/react to the world!Seems only right that Isath's +10 defense, Playing it Cagey also applies in case of angry fish god attack because that's what they're going to do. Turns out they already knew about the Ice (at this point nobody doesn't) and have been fighting off incursions from hastily adapted land-based Gods since. Ironically also neither Isath nor the Oceanis Pact have been negatively effected at the present by Hell's overflowing due to their cannibalistic, nomadic nature, and lack of anything approaching advanced culture. It's hard for hungry ghosts to congregate/possess things if there isn't anything to possess and you pick up stakes and move everything at Godspeed almost every round. Anyway now for the gang of pissed of fish gods to try and kill Isath before the iceberg falls and kills everybody. ISATH +10 Plays it Cagey, taking a full action to defend against the descending ICEBERG! AOQIN +10 attacks ISATH +12! Defense was success! SILVER SWARM +10 attacks ISATH +12! Defense was success! SHARK GOD +10 attacks ISATH +12! Defense was success! HYBOREAS +10 attacks ISATH +12! Defense was success! ICEBERG +12 reforms! The combination of titanic-scale insulated cold surfaces and plummeting temperatures has created the trait Supercooled Water Currents in the KELP CITY zone! Supercooled Water Currents will count as a disadvantage against all units resisting (temporary) cold damage and damage from the Ice until they have been destroyed! ICEBERG +12 may continue to grow in size and strength on succeeding rounds!
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Oct 6, 2015 00:41
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Parelle - Home Parelle frowned as she felt the curse. That felt wrong. She had a sneaking suspicion that it had to do with the shapeshifter's plan to neuter the sins. Still, there wasn't much to do about it until she examined it further. She herself didn't have time to examine her followers. Instead she'd have to delegate while she rescued other mortals. Down she descended into the hollowed out remains of Hell with her Travelers and the Wildings. There she saw the fruits of Vendruck's and Cadenza's labors. "Oh wow, this place is a garden," she said. "It's wonderfully suited to mortal use. Thank you, both of you." She hugged her sister and kissed Vendruck on the cheek. However the happiness was short lived. If it wasn't one thing, it was a another, and that meant the curse and the lack of dwarves. Also the ice. Always the ice. "I felt that curse though and I don't like it. We need to investigate. I'm going to collect a few more mortals that I found and come back to sleep. In the meantime, Reggie, Cadenza, I'd like you two to work together to investigate the curse. Perhaps shape some device to understand and eliminate curses?" The old her would have just said "Fix it," and immediately changed the mortals without thought of what happened. She was more cautious, at least for now. She remembered and looked sadly at Vendruck. She turned to him, squared her shoulders and smiled sadly. "I couldn't find any dwarves. I don't know if they're all gone, but I went to each of the old holds and found nothing. I...I am going to save a few of the remaining races. However if you wish to create new dwarves I will..." she paused, and blushed slightly, "I will help you make them anew in whatever fashion you require. I must go now. Talk to me after I get back if you wish to do this." She flipped up the fur trimmed hood on her cloak and went back into the snow. She still had a few mortals left to save. She was so...So tired. It would be good to sleep for an age after this. Having Cadenza and Reggie examine the curse in order to better dispel it. They're going to create a device to examine and disperse curses. +6 Construction and +2 Lightweight Tools to create the device, +6 Healing to give it it's purpose. Parelle and Pirsuq and going to swing by the non-human enclaves and snag the rest. Humans and Wildings are fine, but it would be best to collect many races to keep from establishing a monoculture. Odds are at least one of these races will be better at surviving the cold. +6 Wind Storm and +2 Travel to move, +4 Sun and +2 Artifice to melt through the snow, +2 Food and Drink to stay provisioned, +2 Nature to move through the elements. They're going to head out into the snow, scoop up the non-humans and come back to bunker down. Since the mortals are effected by sloth they might just laze around and not come willingly. So they're coming whether they want to or not. So her action is to run outside, scoop them up and run back inside. 6+2+6 = 14 to create a device that investigates curses. I suppose it would give an upshift to dispelling said curse. 6+2+4+2+2+2 = 18 to sprint out of Hell, find the non-humans and bring them back in a turn. Ice Phisherman fucked around with this message at 07:26 on Oct 6, 2015 |
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Oct 6, 2015 07:17
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Vicissitude -- the Empty Shell Formerly Known as Hell Vicissitude was momentarily taken aback at the surge of Sloth's power, and the vehemence with which he unleashed his bile upon the remaining mortals. The world just keeps getting more and more broken... Vicissitude sighed to himself. Parelle was on the right track by asking her minions to attempt to negate Sloth's curse, and he directs Vendruck to assist them in reversing the curse of his erstwhile lackey. Vicissitude would have preferred to contribute to the effort himself, but he first had to ensure that the other Sins were prevented from doing something similar. Besides, there would be time later to assist the mortals more directly. So with Thrym at his side yet againl, Vicissitude sets about reshaping the other Sins that had been frozen by the Ice Giant. Reshaping the other Sins into the Hounds of Hell. Thrym and Vicissitude are again working together on this, with V contributing Trickster Spirit +4, Between All Worlds +4, HellWarden +2, and Leader +2 while sitting on the +4 HellChair and implementing +4 Soul Seal, but tossing in -2 Protector of Mortals since I'm actually setting aside this responsibility for the moment to focus on the Hounds, as well as my new artifact's -2 Hungry for Souls. Thrym is contributing his own +12 to reshaping the five remaining imprisoned Sins (Gluttony, Pride, Lust, Envy, and Greed), bringing our total up to +28. If all five additional Sins are converted into the Hounds of Hell, then they will rejoin with Sloth to have a Pantheon/Pack bonus of +4 to their traits. Meanwhile, Vendruck is adding his +12 (or is it +18?) to Reggie's and Cadenza's effort to fix Sloth's Curse. One other matter I'd like cleared up: the HellChair is inherently +2/-2, and then has the +2 HellWarden characteristic that we were passing around added on top, yes? If not, it would seem that the only thing that Reggie accomplished with his "sucessful" creation of the throne is to add a -2 trait on top of the +2 HellWarden trait that was already in existence. That really doesn't strike me as a "success" by any conventional definition of the term.
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Oct 7, 2015 04:37
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Isath, fish and chips A deep, alien rumble filled the waters as Isath laughed in desperation and madness. "MY CORPSE WAS BORN WITH THE WORLD'S FIRST DAWN. THE WORLD WAS BORN WITH A HOLE IN IT. YOU KEEP FOCUSING ON HELL, BUT YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND. HEAVEN AND HELL ARE FABRIC INTERTWINED - AS ONE FALLS, SO WILL THE OTHER. AND THE ABYSS WILL BE BARE UPON THE FRAGILE BUBBLE YOU BELIEVE TO BE SOLID REALITY. CORPSE SOLDIERS? DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH. THE ICE? A MERE THING WITH PHYSICAL EFFECTS. THE ICE WILL ONLY MEAN OUR DEATHS. DEATH IS A BLESSING. EVEN THE HORROR OF AN ETERNITY CONFINED IS PREFERRABLE TO WHAT LIES BEYOND ALL CONCEPTS, BEYOND ALL EXPLANATIONS. THE ONE WHOSE EYES I SEE THROUGH IN A DISTANT PAST, CROSSED THE THRESHOLD, MERELY DABBLING ON THE SHALLOW SURFACE OF A LIMITLESS, INCOMPREHENSIBLE NOTHING, AND... IT CANNOT BE EXPLAINED WITH WORDS. LET ME SHOW YOU A FRACTION OF WHAT YOU FACE. LET ME SHOW YOU WHY NOT EVEN KILLING OUR OWN EXISTENCES MIGHT SAVE US NOW. OPEN YOUR EYES AND SEE." These guys really don't understand that Hell is child's play compared to what's coming so I'll try to hammer some memories from the world's birth and the Beyond into their scaly heads. A social attack I guess? I dunno. Flesh +6 to annihilate the limitations of their physical manifestations for a fraction of a second and the process of transfer itself, and Light +4 because the beginning was a world of Light, and Light was all Isath had in the Beyond and the only way it managed to keep existing in some way, but in the edges of the Light that produced a compatible reality, there was the Beyond eating away at the very concept of Isath, a process that can't be explained in words, a primal chaos one level above the concept of reality. If this doesn't work, Isath will eat a hole in reality next turn.
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Oct 7, 2015 23:57
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Alright this is the last action for the round. Whatever you post by Monday-ish will be the endnote for the Age if you're interested. Otherwise I'll roll some results, add up modifiers, and wrap things up accordingly. Parelle, Vicissitude - Hell "How did that worthless sack of flatulence manage to do this?" Cadenza rubbed her fingertips against the beating pulse of the Traveler's soul. She frowned as the dark stain remained firmly indelible, somehow integrally part of the soul as if it had been there all along despite the fact that she knew it was not. "This is not the power of Hell." Reggie grunted in response, already bending over the dais of the rapidly forming altar. He looked to Vendruck for help but the Dwarf God was lost in surprise and shock at Parelle's confirmation of what he already knew. "He shouldn't have. None of the Sins had enough power to touch the hearts of every mortal in existence. They embody mortal sins, not the other way around. I- I'll deal with that later since we need to do this now." He shook his head and lent the power of his artifice towards the task, and together the three of them constructed a powerful lens above the altar to glean into the state of the mortal soul. Vicissitude half listened, half watched the lens take shape but spent the majority of his attentions on the task at hand. Five Dwarven Sins remained, and to avoid any potential upsets or hidden plans he elected to break them open and hollow out their minds while their bodies were safely frozen. Thyrm's ice rumbled, pushing each frozen Sin to the surface as he and the trickster tore open their hearts and chipped away at their minds until the frozen bodies of five new Gods lay before him. He nodded to Thrym, and the two of them braced themselves as they sent one final charge of force forth.  Severed from their bonds and reforged under the Trickster's knife, the Dwarven Sins were no more. Now was the time of the Hell Pack. They howled and snapped at each other, the raw hate and hunger burning off of them melting the lesser ice as they circled Hell's throne. They watched Vicissitude as he watched them, tense and furious until they bent and presented their throats before his seat. For Parelle there wasn't much time. She was tired. Deep, soul-weary, in the bone tired. She had started her journey in sorrow with the best of intentions but somehow situations just kept escalating until they became emergencies. Deep down she knew that soon she would fall asleep whether she was on her feet or securely warded in a place of power, but there were still loose enclaves of desperate mortals out there. It wasn't right that only humans and Wildings would survive, and even if they didn't know to pray or worship her they would certainly be better off in Hell than eking out a tortuous existence wherever they were. Running at the head of a great storm which plucked them forth into the skies, Parelle swept the mortals from their homes and deposited them all within Home's heavy but welcoming gates. A wide array of species and peoples slumped and stared at her in shock. "What is this? Are we dead? Who are you?" There were plenty of them, but the rather than meeting their abduction with anger or surprise Parelle found herself looking at a crowd of faces slack with despondency and resignation. The nonhumans were plentiful enough to form their own separate population but most just sat or lay still in anticipation of some fresh offense yet to be inflicted upon them. THYRM & VICISSITUDE (+28) forcibly change the DWARVEN SINS into new Gods! DWARVEN SIN OF GLUTTONY defense failure! Changed to +2 Hound of Hell/-2 Pack Instincts! DWARVEN SIN OF PRIDE defense failure! Changed to +2 Hound of Hell/-2 Pack Instincts! DWARVEN SIN OF LUST defense failure! Changed to +2 Hound of Hell/-2 Pack Instincts! DWARVEN SIN OF ENVY defense failure! Changed to +2 Hound of Hell/-2 Pack Instincts! DWARVEN SIN OF GREED defense failure! Changed to +2 Hound of Hell/-2 Pack Instincts! A new Pantheon has been formed! THE HELL PACK live to relentlessly pursue, devour, and assault the beings of the world, ostensibly under the command of the Lord of Hell (probably whoever is sitting on the Hellthrone)! CADENZA & REGGIE & VENDRUCK use the HELLWARDEN'S BANNER (+32) to create an upshift to identifying/dispelling Sloth's curse! Roll was great success! The MORTAL LENS, an expendable +8 upshift was created towards a future attempt to identify or dispel Sloth's curse! PARELLE & PIRSUQ (+18) cast Travel spell, Gathering Storm From its cavernous depths it conjured, casting shadows which gibbered and writhed before the weight of a stable reality forced them screaming back into a blissful non-existence. Deep down Isath knew the horrors which awaited the world now that the primary occupant of Hell was free, and it would show these damned fish that a fast death by fang and high density laser was a better fate than most Gods could hope for. The gods of the Oceanis Pact were caught flat footed by the burst of blasphemous light, the Shark God voiding himself violently in startled terror. As quickly as they swarmed they fled, escaping the Ice as much as the ego destroying shapes and concepts Isath stretched itself to convey. The silver swarm scattered harmlessly, its million eyes too stupid or uncomprehending to understand what was being shown, but seeing its companions flee it fled too. But not before one last parting word. "Live for now. Submit//Adopt//Protect the ethos of the Oceanis Pact or face our wrath thereafter. Sea for Sea, Ocean for Ocean. No cities, no peoples." Then they were gone aloft on a rapidly retreating surge of the seas, leaving the ponderous weight of the Iceberg to descend upon Isath and the Kelp City. It fell gently and almost carefully upon Isath, carrying as it did the supercooled currents of the seas in a great rush. The Tunnelers went first. As the largest and fastest moving creatures left standing they had the wherewithal to swim straight into Isath's glowing maw in search of shelter. But many still froze before reaching the relative safety of Isath's bulk. The Elite were worse off, immobile and tapped into Isath by umbilicals and fiberoptic nerve clusters they had no way to flee. The freezing currents swept over them and annihilated the species before they could twitch or moan in protest, bringing the same sudden and even handed extinction to the lesser fishlike forms of the Breeders and the rest of Isath's spawn. Isath was distraught but unharmed. The deaths of its lesser and greater spawn drained reserves of power that were as good as exhausted and still it was rooted in place to the Kelp City. ISATH +10 social attacks the OCEANIS PACT to shock them into being chill or loving off! AOQIN +10 defense failure! 6 (-12) ranks of social attack damage was taken! AOQIN has fled the scene! SILVER SWARM +10 defense was success! SILVER SWARM casts Travel spell, Escaping Sea-surge! Roll was success! SILVER SWARM has fled the scene! SHARK GOD defense failure! 9 (-18) ranks of social attack damage was taken! SHARK GOD has become tame! HYBOREAS +10 defense failure! 1 (-2) rank of social attack damage was taken! HYBOREAS +10 assists SILVER SWARM in casting Travel spell, Escaping Sea-surge! Roll was success! HYBOREAS has fled the scene! Rather than face the Ice or risk looking straight in Isath's gaping flash they're going to choose to flee. Their parting shot is to ominously threaten future attack unless you 1) Become a fish 2) Never build cities 3) Never have worshipers with an advanced or tool-using society 4) Agree to gang-shank any God that isn't already in the club and/or doesn't follow the above Wild ICERBERG +12 attacks everything still in the zone! TUNNELERS, disadvantage from Supercooled Currents defense failure! TUNNELERS sustained -200,000 losses! ISATH suffers -2 AP drain from loss of persistent belief! ELITE BEACONS, disadvantage from Supercooled Currents defense failure! ELITE BEACONS sustained -50,000 losses! ELITE BEACONS eliminated! BREEDERS, disadvantage from Supercooled Currents defense failure! BREEDERS eliminated! PHOTOPLANKTON, disadvantage from Supercooled Currents defense failure! PHOTOPLANKTON sustained serious losses! ISATH +10, disadvantage from Supercooled Currents! Defense was success! ISATH takes no damage!
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Oct 24, 2015 02:26
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Vicissitude -- the Empty Shell Formerly Known as Hell Those Hounds of Hell look pretty badass! Turning from admiring his handiwork, Vicissitude addresses the others. "I think we have done all we can to prepare our Home and ourselves for what is to come. It seems to me now that the only question before us is: what other Gods have survived, and which are willing to ally Themselves with our cause? We can certainly benefit from others to help track down the being formerly known as The Imprisoned. And also to determine what, if any, strategy is best for warding off the Ice, or even forcing it to retreat. "What say you all? Shall we put summon all the surviving Divinities to a Godsmoot at our newly-remodeled Home?" I think if we all work together we can get a message to everyone while still keeping our divine Selves warm enough to avoid being frozen to death by all the Ice everywhere. Adding up everybody's everything, we are at something like +80, or more if we can count on mortal/demigod assistance (though how the Hounds, for example, will help is not really clear to me).
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Oct 24, 2015 12:55
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Parelle - Hell Parelle looked at the young orcish man and smiled wearily. "I'm Parelle. I saved you and your kind from freezing to death. I'm sorry that I didn't have time to give you the choice of coming, but I'm in a rush. If you have questions seek out one of my Travelers. They have a firmer grasp of this than most mortals." She looked to the Shapeshifter, then to her Family, then to the mortals. She sighed. So tired. "I'd love to, but first Cadenza and I need to fix the problem with the curse and with the wandering souls. It's actually quite likely that this is the work of Sin and we need to fix this if we're going to have any worshipers when we wake up. I don't need anyone else for what I'm planning though. I can attend when I'm done if I'm still awake, but this is a priority. After this there's still the problem of damned souls. They're going to linger and get into bodies and cause problems. The good souls are going to leave, but this was Hell after all, but it's a broken Hell. If we don't do something about that as well it'll cause problems too in the short, mid and long term. I'm going to do my best to fix them now. Now, sister Cadenza, we need to work." She cracked her knuckles and confirmed with her sister. There was going to be a moot here. A worldwide spell could be opposed. Instead they would create a local one and send those who were willing home with the fruits. Literally, fruits. So I was planning on making some immortal caretakers in order to provide a sense of continuity from one age to the other, but that doesn't seem to be in the cards. Instead I'm going to create a tree whose fruit lifts curses. It's an all purpose curse lifter and its seeds to be used to create new trees elsewhere which will grow in short order if planted deep in the soil. How deep? Deep enough that it won't accidentally choke out all arable land by accident. Cadenza is on that with the work of the lens and Home. Parelle is going to create some Wilding Lights. Wilings are quick, they're fast, they can get everywhere. They need a job. So each is going to be given an external light that they can flick on or off much like a bic lighter. That job is to find wandering souls and absorb them into the lights. They're going to be soul janitors. Currently Hell doesn't work. Bad people no longer go to Hell and there's going to be some amazing amounts of undead clutter if they're just allowed to laze about. The end result is that the souls will be absorbed into the lights and will either be available as AP for the beginning of the new age or will be used as heat if the ice busts in. Also I can't remember if I've done this yet, but I'm taking the dead family out of the pocket dimension. I think I had Reggie do that at one point, but the dimension isn't permanent and needs to be cleared out. I assume it's a pretty mundane action to just put the mausoleum back where it was. Cadenza's action: Curse lifting tree: (+8 mortal lens) Use the lens to give her fine control over (+4 Life) creating and growing a tree to (+6 healing) lift curses. Parelle's action: Wilding Lights: +2 Travel to make them portable, +4 Sun to make them a heat source, +2 Food and Drink to make them a source of potential nourishment for the divine after an age of collection, +2 Nature and +2 Artifice for them to be able to craft their lights from what Home produces. +8+4+6 = 18 to make the curse lifting tree (which would make an amazing door prize) +2+4+2+2+2 = 12 to make the Wilding Lights Sorry about not being able to devote all hands to the goodmoot, but Cadenza probably wouldn't be able to help that much in getting them there anyway. Parelle would, but we need functional worshipers next age, not a bunch of curse riddled mortals and undead. Pirsuq can help with the Travel part anyway.
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Oct 26, 2015 12:06
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Vicissitude -- the Empty Shell Formerly Known as Hell After much wrangling about the specifics of who will accomplish what, and just how the Godsmoot will be initiated, Vicissitude sets out with Thrym, Pirsuq, and the Hounds in tow. Speeding on their way, the Hounds seek out any and every God that they can, while the more powerful deities ensure that the Hounds -- and any gods who respond to the summons -- are sufficiently protected from the Elements during their travels. Hounds of Hell (+36) are searching out and offering a summons to attend the Godsmoot at Home to every deity they can find, whether on the surface of the earth or Beneath it -- or, for that matter, above the earth (assuming they can fly) and under the water (assuming they can swim/hold their breath). If a god refuses (or worse, tries to fight), the Hounds are to move on immediately. Obviously the surface-dwelling gods will be easiest to find, but any aerial or subterranean gods they happen across are welcome too -- the more the merrier. Aquatic gods are probably only coming if they are amphibious, but we're making at least a pro forma effort to include them in the invite. The Hounds, and all those who accept the invitation, will be offered assistance by Vicissitude, Thrym, and Pirsuq (+30) in keeping warm and traveling to their destination, though we also expect the gods to use any relevant characteristics they themselves possess. Meanwhile, Vendruck and Reggie sitting on the HellThrone (+24) are preparing Home to serve as the venue for the Godsmoot by 1) making it look like the sort of place a Godsmoot would happen and 2) making our little corner of Reality timeless for the duration of the Godsmoot. Since that's the most important trait for Home to have, they're focusing exclusively on that, and the other "normal" features of a Godsmoot will be strongly implied as being in place, but are not actually being created/enforced.
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Oct 30, 2015 02:32
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Parelle, Vicissitude - Hell "Whooooo psychopomps! We love you Parelle! These lights are great!" "Ah my eyes!" (x100) The Wildings were full of joyous energy, and though she was nearly spent for the age Parelle made one last push to try and give them something productive to do. Maybe this would keep them out of trouble in the long run. Each of them flickered and burned with supernatural light, blinding observers with a flash whenever two Wildings met in a mid-air collision or buzzed in too close to mortal eyes. The flickering lights proved to be hypnotic to the listless dead, and when they remembered to the flighty little creatures guided souls through Hell towards their ultimate destination. It would have to be good enough. Her tree would have to be good enough as well. Curse-lifting and not yet fruiting it had no hope of providing for every living mortal in Home, much less every one on the planet, but it seemed that it would work and she was already out of ideas. It would at least probably not do more harm. There were no obvious and disastrous consequences stemming from its creation anyway, and given her track record that small victory would have to be good enough. Then the flow of time in Hell blinked and stopped. Borne aloft in the wake of the Hell Pack, Vicissitude guided the Thyrm and Pirsuq, driving their power of ice and storm with the stuff of chaos and whatever hidden knowledge he had left within him. It was a wonder how many Gods still lived Beneath the earth, in the depths of the seas, and scattered in the Icestorm-wracked skies themselves and the Hounds found all not sufficiently hidden or already lost to the sleep of Ages. The Pack found them all, driving through sea, sky, earth, and ice in the same timeless moment as they bore the dire pronouncement of Convocation. Their senses were sharp, driven by the perfection of the task to which they had been created as the great power of Hell (greater than they ever had apart) coursed through them and the Gods they faced acquiesced or declined. Vicissitude waited in the timeless moment for those he called to answer. Parelle makes a change to the Wildings, granting them the supernatural ability to guide the flow of souls in the form of a flickering light! Where it comes from is up to your imagination! A tree whose fruits apparently cure curses has been created! It's nowhere near the size/production necessary to cure all mortals, and is currently in no condition to bear fruit! Hell has gained the trait (Temporarily out of time)! While this trait is in effect no AP, spell, or trait-related actions effecting the outside world may be taken! Hell has gained the trait (<false>Convocation) which gives it the appearance of a normal Convocation, i.e. laws coded into local reality which prevent attacking other participants, etc.! Gods with relevant abilities can check against the DC set by <false> Convocation's effect to see that it is not so! The Hell Pack has been successful in contacting all active Gods across the planet! Isath - Kelp City The damned fish had finally left and Isath could at last deal with the serious impending threat of the Iceberg about to crush it to death and freeze it into a massive block of frozen meat. It was too weary to put up much of a fight, too sapped of strength to actively resist the rapidly freezing seas. Isath had two choices, dig deeper into the thermal vent which fed the Kelp City with warmth and minerals, possibly triggering its own pyroclastic demise as organs designed specifically for water and air retention proved useless against the sort of seaquakes and destruction that an eruption of underwater lava would bring, or once again uproot itself entirely and flee. Isath chose flight. Painful and laborious flight, for it had already set down roots and wound the delicate structures of its nervous and digestive systems into the kelp. It hurried as it consumed as much of its internal biomass as it could spare, wringing dry deep reserves of energy already blown and spent. Isath tore free of its roots, morphing into the arrow-like shape of a massive and whiskered bottom-feeder as the light of its consciousness dimmed. Soon its mind would sleep but the flesh would continue onwards by instinct to sweep the lower seas of plankton and carrion as whatever of its spawn remained to cling to its surface. Something tore through the deep seas, a pack of infernal Hounds that burned the water as they bayed and howled. There was a word for the message they bore, and something in the recesses of Isath's memory sparked. Something which it held with familiarity and dread. Convocation. Isath has successfully escaped Kelp City and the encroaching Iceberg! Isath is unharmed but has lost the city of Batjullik! Isath has changed shape into an enormous phallic bottom-feeder fish set to auto-pilot the lower seas until the next Age when its consciousness has enough energy to return! The surviving Isath-spawn have clung on to its bristly God-whispers and are along for the ride! An invitation for a Convocation has been extended to Isath from the Trickster God, borne by monstrous Hounds reeking of the stuff of Hell! Wallastra The city was safe. Unease wormed its way through Wallastra's guts. Wallastra was safe. Pieces of him were missing, he scrabbled for them like a forgetful leper. His people were safe, guarded by an order of powerful wizards and lesser beings which he hoped would mature into watchful demigods. Forgetful, fearful, lethargic, they tried too hard not to look behind themselves at night. The walls were strong, the Necropolis securely warded, his city was safe. Dark spaces festered. A great gaping hole ran through the depths of his city and Wallastra could not plumb its depths. As they set about their tasks secure in their faith in Wallastra's great plan, the citizens of the city looked to the great edifice which they were erecting for the glory of their slumbering God. The soul furnaces of Wallastra huffed and roared, making the quiet scream of destroyed souls into blessed, life-giving heat. Through the long first age of Ice, Wallastra would be warmed. Somewhere from a moment out of time, a brace of foul Hell beasts ran across Wallastra's surface, invading his uneasy dreams to half stir him from his slumber. The Trickster God called. A Convocation at Hell itself, with participants to be guaranteed the usual rights and privileges. Wallastra takes a nap! Things are looking pretty good for Wallastra city, and the locals are building a civic wonder to celebrate their God! An invitation for a Convocation has been extended to Wallastra from the Trickster God, borne by monstrous Hounds reeking of the stuff of Hell! Puppies are dicks fucked around with this message at 06:00 on Oct 31, 2015 |
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Oct 31, 2015 05:54
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Isath, Ocean Depths Isath regarded the messengers with hunger, opening its maw to feed on them instinctively. Then their message came to its mind, and it knew that it would probably be a bad idea. No lone struggling God would have managed this much - at the very least, Isath couldn't conceive of a sane God which had survived this long, wasting its reserves of power on such a long shot, especially not if they were still holding on to Hell's power, after it broke. But here they were, calling him to this... gathering, this... Convocation. Something shuddered deep within Isath's new piscine form - a faded fragment, distant and dull. A Convocation - a gathering of the Gods. Stiffness and formality giving way to argument and outrage. Differences, too many to bridge. Isath felt that most of them should be like that. Except for one - the last one it had experienced, it felt like. Isath's bristles contracted in fear as a sensation washed over it. It was convinced that standing at the center of a Convocation was really, really bad. This time, however, it was clear the invitation was intended as a desperate last resort - whoever was calling for a Convocation, would most certainly be concerned first and foremost with survival, as were all gods in this dying age. Isath would attend, and watch, and listen. Isath was hungry - very hungry. If these gods had a mind to save the world, if they had survived this long in the lethal Ice, then they would be reasonable, wouldn't they? They would surely understand the ageless concept of trade. Something to eat. Isath looked at the Shark God - the hunter's glint in its eyes was gone, replaced with a sort of resignation. It looked delicious. But the sea was their domain, and a Convocation was neutral ground. Soon, though. Soon. Isath regarded the messengers, bade them to lead the way. It would follow. Attending the Convocation (don't think this is an action that needs effort), keeping that Sharkgod close
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Nov 2, 2015 15:03
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Parelle - Hell Parelle heaved a weary sigh. Of course it wouldn't fruit yet. That would have been easy. Still, it was better to do a small thing with farther reaching results rather than screw up a large scale spell. She'd at least known that much. Mostly. "Good work, sis," she said as she squeezed Cadenza's shoulder. "I think that the convocation is soon. Care to join?" She walked with her sister through frozen time, picked up Reggie and Pirsuq on the way and readied her family for the convocation. "The curse lifting tree might not have born fruit yet, but I think that people will eventually get curious and eat some. Plus I think the problem with the threat of undead in our locality has been dealt with," she said in a mildly congratulatory way. "When we wake up again maybe we should think about setting proper worship down. Codifying some laws. Dividing up who gets what kind of followers. That sort of thing." She chatted amiably with her family as she waited for the convocation to start.
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Nov 2, 2015 17:42
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All Convocating Gods - Hell In Hell, time stopped. The flow of time and space had never quite been right. With its final prisoner freed the place was substantially more mundane but its current builders found that building infernal mechanisms to concentrate and freeze the movement of time was surprisingly easy. Like previous Convocations all Gods would attend and discuss in the same timeless moment, prevented from effecting the outside world or being effected by it while their existences were out of sync. Hell flexed and all the attending Gods were there. "CONVOCATION//CONVOCATION//CONVOCATION! THE OCEANIS PACT IS HERE! STRAY NOT INTO THE SEAS OR PERISH AT OUR HAND!" "Who dares summon Bisthak, like some puling godling when I ALONE am the ONLY FLAME which bears civilisation and hope for the future! Kneel before me or burn with my wrath!"  "Shut up Bisthak, anyway who knows either half of you is painfully aware that your threats are about as dangerous as your abysmally tiny cock."  "Larissa, my emasculating flower. How good of you to take time from your busy schedule of sucking diseased bodily fluids for nourishment to join us." The Lord and Mistress of Empire sat atop their opposing thrones, one drunk and the other cold, both hating the other.  "What? A Convocation and none sought me? Haha, perhaps my invitation was lost. No matter little morsels I have come of my own." The dragon forced itself bodily through a portal of its own making, laughing as it easily violated the Hell's space. "Hold your peace, monster. The world freezes and whatever escaped Hell will threaten us all if nothing is done. Is this every God that remains?"   Somehow from the rear of every group, Tiphanes the Blind silently watched all the attendees, making way for the pack of monstrous beasts snarled and snapped at each other even as they did their level best to cower away from the great dragon.  Welcome to Hell, for the last scene of the Age! Hell has the trait (Temporarily out of time)! While this trait is in effect no AP, spell, or trait-related actions effecting the outside world may be taken! Currently attending are all listed PCs, anybody from the OOC recruitment that has a legible sheet and wants in, the four Gods of the OCEANIS PACT (AOQIN, SILVER SWARM, SHARK GOD, HYBOREAS), ALVANDE THE LADY OF SUMMER, TIPHANES THE GOLDEN, THE LORD AND MISTRESS OF EMPIRE (two NPCS), a dozen +10 GODS OF DEEP BEASTS that I won't bother to name unless someone really, really wants me to because they're barely sentient, TIPHANES THE BLIND SEER, and ALL FLAME ALL DEVOURER +24 (who was not invited) has arrived!
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Nov 5, 2015 23:47
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 Montcorr, the Watcher in the Sky The pale figure took careful, precise steps across the hall, as if taking much care to avoid some invisible filth scattered all over the place. "Is this what passes for a Great Hall around here?" Montcorr asked, looking at no one in particular.
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Nov 6, 2015 08:42
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Vicissitude -- GodCon "Be welcome, Divinities," Vicissitude declares from his seat upon the HellThrone, "to the Convocation of all those deemed worthy of Worship by mortal beings. The Family have opened their Home to you so that, as in Ages past, a great coming together of the Gods can be effected, that we might together address matters of great import to all of us. "The members of the Oceanis Pact, masters of the seas: Aoquin, Silver Swarm, Shark God, and Hyboreas are welcome within Home. "The God of Steel and Flame: Bisthak is welcome within Home. "The Goddess of all those Beyond Life: Larissa is welcome within Home. "The Dragon know by many names -- Azazel, Qing Long, Fafnir, Jormungandir, Leviathan, Orochi, Tiamat -- all names that strike Fear into the souls of men and Gods alike: All Flame All Devourer is welcome within Home. "The Lady of Summer, She Whose Footsteps Bloom: Alvande is welcome within Home. "The Golden One, the Sightless All-Seeing One: Tiphanes is welcome within Home. "The gods of all those that crawl and stalk beneath the earth, those whose names are forever Unspoken, they are welcome within Home. "The God of Those Who Dwell Within, The Voice of the People: Wallastra is welcome within Home. "The Stalking Horror, the Pulsating Pillar, the Engorged One: Isath is welcome within Home. "He Who Brings Light to Shadow, He Who Watches from Beyond: Montcorr is welcome within Home. "The Goddess who cares for her People, She whose name is on the lips of every mortal in Bastion: Adrianna the Priestess is welcome within Home. "The Enlightened One, He Who is Pure Thought: Lai Xi Boi is welcome within Home." I wasn't sure if "The Lord and Mistress of Empire" were titles for Alvande and Tiphanes, or if they're separate Gods (also you have Tiphanes listed twice). In any case, if I missed anybody/if anybody else joins, I'll edit them in here. Standing, Vicissitude indicates his fellow Family members as he continues with the remaining half of the Litany that is the ritual opening to every Convocation. "The Goddess of Hope, the Cornerstone of the Family: Parelle welcomes you. "The Great Jotun, the One from Whom None Escape: Thrym welcomes you. "The DwarfLord, the Inspiring Artificer, the Warden of the Underworld: Vendruck welcomes you. "The God of Craft and Tool: Reggie welcomes you. "The Healer, the One Who Sows: Cadenza welcomes you. "The Spirit of Wind, the Patron of the Wildings: Pirsuq welcomes you. "And the Messenger, the Speaker, the One Who Binds Souls: Vicissitude welcomes you. "As in Ages past, the voice of every god and goddess shall be heard, in time, should they desire it. But the matters of utmost concern to each and every Divine Being shall first be laid before all. Fimbulwinter has been heavy upon us for an Age, and the Family has sought to solve the mystery of its source, and how the clutches of the Cold might release its grip from the world. Those with knowledge are welcome to share what they have learned during the past Age, and those with Power and the Will to use it are invited to join us when we commence restoring the balance in the next Age. For there will again be an Age wherein the Cold might linger in its appointed place at the Ends of the World, but in the Summer Lands, in the domains of Fire, in the depths Beneath, in the Waters surrounding all, in the great Cities of men and Gods, all shall be warm and free of Ice. We shall soon know if this vision is the desire of the Gods assembled in Convocation as well. "Furthermore, when Malador, the God Who Judges, failed in his appointed role, those who are now of the Family stepped into the breach to heal the wound inflicted upon Reality. But there is still loose in the world one who must be Imprisoned. This truth has no doubt been felt by all who possess mortals that call upon their name, for their very souls have been tainted by the work of this one. As with the Ice, so also in this matter, The Family seeks to serve all the Gods by returning The Imprisoned to his rightful state. As with the omnipresent Ice, so also in this matter: those with knowledge are welcome to share what they know of this being, and those with Power and the Will to use it are invited to join us when the Hunt commences in the Age to come. The flaming Hounds of Hell were created for this task, and the Ice Giant Thrym shall not turn aside from his appointed task until Punishment is once again meted out upon the one who deserves it, that the worship of mortals that is our rightful possession might once again be unafflicted by the Curse. We shall soon know if this vision is the desire of the Gods assembled in Convocation as well. "It is now that we shall hear the voices of all the Gods of this Convocation, this great Pantheon of Pantheons, with regards to the matters of the Fimbulvinter and the Curse. As of old, in Ages past, when our discussion has taken its course, when Divine judgement has been rendered, when the voices cease, then any Divinity among those assembled may bring to light any other matter for the Convocation to hear, and to which each Divine being is invited to respond." Laying it on thick with the pomp and circumstance (and a bit of flattery for good measure), trying to get the gods to fall in line with the primary topics of conversation. Hopefully if we get down to business right away, no one will see fit to ask any questions about why the whole edifice of (what almost looks like every other) Convocation is held together with duct tape and string. At least Home itself looks like it has seen some recent sprucing up for the party. Trickster Spirit +4 with Trickster's Mask +4/Mirror Without Reflection -2 for convicing bullshittery, Inbetween All Realms +4 to make use of Vicissitude's name recognition and credibility (such as it is) with every God of every Pantheon (and those of none at all), Leader +2 since look who's pretending he's in charge and knows what he's doing, Warden of Hell +2/HellThrone +4/Temporarily Out of Time (+?)/<false> Convocation <+?> to take advantage of the setting and Divine expectations built up over who knows how many previous Ages. Spirit of Chaos -2 as well, because this whole Convocation thing, from beginning to end, is all too neat and proper for Vicissitude's taste. Assuming the location-specific traits are only +2 each, the total let's-get-down-to-business roll is +20. As the junior partners in the Family (all less than +10), I expect Reggie, Cadenza, and Pirsuq will be doing the running back and forth and using their respective powers (and the power of Home, though I don't remember all its traits) to respond to any request from the attending Gods. Perhaps these demigod servitors (+20 all together) also lend credence to Vicissitude's attempt at turning our faux-Convocation into a real one...? After all, we have an appropriate setting, we have lesser deities to pour the ambrosia, and we have someone calling the meeting to order -- what more is there? Oh yes, Thrym, Guardian of Cocytus +12 is working the door with the Hounds of Hell +36 as another layer of intimidation against any God who is contemplating violence. Total is +48 for the show of don't-gently caress-with-us power. This might be the relevant number for dealing with the more belligerent attendees (the Dragon, Isath, the Oceanis Pact, Bisthak) than all of Vicissitude's eloquent verbiage -- even if they don't believe The Trickster, nor respect the mores of the Convocation, hopefully the threat of force will be enough to prevent the actual need for it. Of the NPCs, Vendruck is left to act as he wishes, unless Parelle has something for him to do. Also, did the Hounds discover anything useful with regard to The Imprisoned while roaming the earth, and going back and forth in it? TychoBrahesNose fucked around with this message at 13:52 on Nov 6, 2015 |
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Nov 6, 2015 13:48
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