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I actually like the Death of Rats in this game. He may not serve a purpose, but it's a pretty good comedy bit, and I always like characters who can be understood by other characters but not by the audience. You observations about Lewton in this episode reminded me a lot of Philip Marlowe, with the way he pretends to not care but really he's a good guy, and how he's not doing it because he's being paid, he'd be doing it anyway. Really reminded me of the bit in Farewell, My Lovely where Marlowe has just seen a man walk into a building and then another man violently thrown out: "Silence. Traffic resumed. I walked along to the double doors and stood in front of them. They were motionless now. It wasn't any of my business. So I pushed them open and looked in."
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Nov 24, 2014 16:28
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| # ? Apr 27, 2024 00:17 |
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Part 1 of the history up: more to come soon!
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Nov 29, 2014 08:57
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Thanks for the recap, Bacter. Great stuff and really helpful. 
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Nov 29, 2014 16:07
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Thanks! I didn't realize until this (probably my... sixth playthru?) how much they love their little jokes. First conversation with Carlotta: C: "I won't bite" L: "That's a shame. I haven't been bitten in a long time"
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Nov 29, 2014 17:17
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Bacter posted:Thanks! Likewise, I note how you screencapped "Well I'm never going to be another woman's dog for as long as I live" for the recap. Well played.
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Nov 29, 2014 21:59
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History part 2
Bacter fucked around with this message at 09:56 on Dec 1, 2014 |
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Nov 30, 2014 09:12
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All history, this brings us fully up to date!  If this doesn't clear up everything, just shoot me a question!
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Dec 1, 2014 09:56
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 The revelations are coming thick and fast now! Vote for our next location to check out, and nerd out with me about how exciting this plot is ALL IN THIS UPDATE Bacter fucked around with this message at 03:14 on Dec 9, 2014 |
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Dec 7, 2014 00:12
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We don't have info on the order of the murders, do we? I'm guessing it'll match the proper way to inscribe the Eelder Sigil. Barring that chance to foil a murder, scout out the Dysc and find out what horrors reside within. Or worse, actors. *shudder* It's a really nice touch that marking each murder has their own animation of actually marking that point on the map.
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Dec 7, 2014 01:25
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Oh boy. I second checking out the Dysc, since it seems like, well, the center of things.
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Dec 7, 2014 02:11
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Man, even having played this twice before, I still thought Lewton was one of the cult killings. It would have slotted into the plot wonderfully. Aside from the fact that he didn't die, anyway.
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Dec 7, 2014 02:15
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Bruceski posted:Barring that chance to foil a murder, scout out the Dysc and find out what horrors reside within. Or worse, actors. *shudder* I'm not a man to give away spoilers, but you will be AMAZED how many times Lewton can narrow his already slit-thin eyes, and KEEP NARROWING them. He doesn't have a lot of patience for thespians, is what I'm saying.
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Dec 7, 2014 02:16
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Hmmm... this looks like a prime opportunity for bad Shakespeare jokes. To The e: If that place doesn't get burned down by the end of the game I will be very sad. FoolyCharged fucked around with this message at 02:48 on Dec 7, 2014 |
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Dec 7, 2014 02:45
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Enter Skippy Granola Although we've Lewton seen through thin and thick It's clear the time has not yet right arrived To loose upon the stage our private dick There's one last thing for which we yet still strive. Churning ichorous and thick beneath there where all-night fish takeaway we eat, a mystery to sink our pointed teeth the foggy cobbles of foul Dagon Street Though wolfish wit and life we gladly risk it's not time to investigate the Dysk. Exeunt omnes
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Dec 7, 2014 05:18
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Bravi, bravi, bravissimi.
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Dec 7, 2014 05:22
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A nice little reference Malaclypse does: Ambiguous Puzuma is one of Discworld's cooler animals. Another one: Leshp is actually a tiny sunken island about halfway between Ankh-Morpork and Klatch that occassionally raises from the waves and causes a small war over it. No eldritch horrors were confirmed but it does have some squid-themed mosaics. Anyway, I'd suggest Dagon Street, since it's the eldtritch-horror-murder joke in the books. edit: A crazy idea just occured: So Carlotta has witnesses corroborating she was in the Temple, but Malaclypse denies it without any apparent reason to lie to us - so she's in the Anu-anu crowd, right? How about this: Carlotta is Therma. Think about it - the whole story about a troll ending up in a noble mausoleum was suspect from the start and I don't think we've ever been told Therma was a troll, Lewton just rolled with the idea because it's a troll name. And the one who told us about the grave was? Carlotta. She's a femme fatale meaning she has to be involved - and Therma is the only cult member we haven't heard from. anilEhilated fucked around with this message at 09:44 on Dec 7, 2014 |
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Dec 7, 2014 09:14
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Why was malachite on the run, again? Slipped m'mind.
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Dec 7, 2014 11:13
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Yeah, that might put a hole in it since I don't remember that or whether he stated what exactly their relationship was either... Should rewatch the earlier videos, it was just a thing that struck me after watching the cult meeting. edit: Ah-hah! anilEhilated fucked around with this message at 12:06 on Dec 7, 2014 |
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Dec 7, 2014 11:51
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Malachite was in prison because he busted his way through the Von Uberwald mansion without stealing anything.
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Dec 7, 2014 11:59
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Bacter posted:
So Lewton will take a diamond tooth from a dead troll knowing that the family that owns the mausoleum will do something terrible to anyone that disturbs it, but taking a book from a student is a step too far. Also, I neither noticed the troll in the Temple of the Small Gods or the fact that the stained window depicts a literal mooncalf before even if I have played this game numerous times.
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Dec 7, 2014 13:17
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I really like the dialogue between Lewton and Carlotta in this latest video. It's very noir.Alhazred posted:So Lewton will take a diamond tooth from a dead troll knowing that the family that owns the mausoleum will do something terrible to anyone that disturbs it, but taking a book from a student is a step too far.
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Dec 7, 2014 17:57
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Tiggum posted:Assassins are one thing, the Unseen University's librarian is entirely another. You do not want to get caught stealing or mishandling books in or near the UU library, believe me. 
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Dec 7, 2014 18:39
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Walrus Pete posted:You do not want to get caught stealing or mishandling books in or near the UU library, believe me. You do not want to be caught reading books in or ear the UU library.
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Dec 7, 2014 20:32
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Btw Necrotelinomicon is literally translated as the Telephone book of the dead and is also another Lovecraft reference. It was written by Achmed the
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Dec 7, 2014 21:23
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Ferrosol posted:Btw Necrotelinomicon is literally translated as the Telephone book of the dead and is also another Lovecraft reference. It was written by Achmed the It is also worth noting that Achmed the Mad wrote the Necrotelinomicon while knurd and that the page headed "About the Author" spontaneously combusted shortly after Achmed's death.
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Dec 7, 2014 21:36
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It's a particularly good reference since Pratchett is a known cat person and his first book was, well, humorous stories about cats.
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Dec 7, 2014 23:16
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Reminds me of horror mangaka Junji Ito and his Cat Diary short series.
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Dec 8, 2014 02:20
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Alhazred posted:So Lewton will take a diamond tooth from a dead troll knowing that the family that owns the mausoleum will do something terrible to anyone that disturbs it, but taking a book from a student is a step too far. To be fair, it would be a book stolen from the University's library specifically. That probably raises problems all its own. e: should have refreshed the page.
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Dec 8, 2014 02:31
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So here's why I like Pratchett storytelling. I remember the first time I played through and got here, being sort of taken aback by Warb's presence in the True Believers. "This isn't right", thought I, "Warb isn't some puppetmaster or, heck, even a fanatic! He's just sort of a directionless sop." Then a different part of my brain said "Aaaaand who exactly do you think has got a lot of time to listen to Mooncalf drone on about sacrificing hamsters and complain about budgets and lead bad hymns?" It's absolutely perfect - there probably ARE cults that would attract the elite in society, but man, not this one. This is the fanaticism that comes from not having a whole lot else going on on a Friday night. We saw how easy it was to convince Warb to completely betray his job, just by offering him something he sort of wanted and sort of being his friend. He's just about the only person in the game who always sounded glad to see Lewton, and I think part of that was that not many people took the time to talk to 'ol Warb. He was an unimportant guy with an important job, and some good skills, and Mooncalf knows his clientele, is what I'm saying.
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Dec 8, 2014 03:45
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I'm not sure I find that convincing. You're right that Warb, as we've seen him, suffers from a lack of attachments and loyalties. He's got no friends we know of, but the cult of Anu Anu doesn't seem like they're his friends, so much as co-conspirators. I could see Warb ending up as part of the cult in general, just looking for someone to be with but the inner circle? Did they just butter him up to get access to his professional knowledge? They're not, as far as we can tell, deceiving him about their end purpose to summon Nylon-whatever its name was. So why does he want that to happen? It's true he betrayed his job for us, but he didn't do it out of desperation for a friend, he did it in exchange for a magical luck charm that we didn't exactly tell him the truth about. So why is he betraying it for the cult? Of course this is a Noir, and he could well be putting on a false face to us and in fact actually IS a fanatical cultist, but unless we see that he's in fact a lot more malevolent than he appears, I don't see why he'd be motivated to help them. He's got no skin in the game.
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Dec 8, 2014 07:03
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We still don't know why they want to summon the eldritch horror, though. Besides, secret cabals and societies on Discworld are both plentiful and incompetent, see: Guards! Guards!
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Dec 8, 2014 12:06
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Mzbundifund posted:I'm not sure I find that convincing. You're right that Warb, as we've seen him, suffers from a lack of attachments and loyalties. He's got no friends we know of, but the cult of Anu Anu doesn't seem like they're his friends, so much as co-conspirators. I could see Warb ending up as part of the cult in general, just looking for someone to be with but the inner circle? Did they just butter him up to get access to his professional knowledge? They're not, as far as we can tell, deceiving him about their end purpose to summon Nylon-whatever its name was. So why does he want that to happen? Because Mooncalf wants it, and Mooncalf is presumably one of the few people in the world who will give Warb any of his time. Hell, you only have to read about things like  The FF7 House for real-world examples of how people can be manipulated into doing utterly ridiculous things in exchange for nothing beyond a little validation and human contact.
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Dec 8, 2014 13:26
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Welp, now I need a shower. I guess that is the kind of people susceptible to cult practices.
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Dec 8, 2014 16:54
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See I could understand Warb being part of the cult. I could understand Warb being manipulated by the cult into betraying his employers. What I don't see is Warb being part of the Inner Circle. As far as we've seen (which isn't much) Warb isn't being manipulated, he's part of the group doing the manipulating. I know we've only just had this revelation so there's still a lot to be shaken out, but the personality presented by Warb thus far just doesn't fit with that motivation. I can only assume that Warb, as we've seen him, is a big false front and the real Warb has a drastically different character than the aimless slovenly layabout we've seen hanging around the casino way too late. Take his intro dialogue, for instance. Warb: Hey, that's not the way to win. Lewton: There's a way to win? Warb: Well... there's a way to lose more slowly. That isn't a guy who thinks he has a higher calling, or a guy who thinks he has a secret in on some great significance that everyone around him is missing. That's a guy who's disillusioned, killing time, and doesn't particularly care how he kills it.
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Dec 8, 2014 21:35
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Mzbundifund posted:See I could understand Warb being part of the cult. I could understand Warb being manipulated by the cult into betraying his employers. What I don't see is Warb being part of the Inner Circle. As far as we've seen (which isn't much) Warb isn't being manipulated, he's part of the group doing the manipulating. I know we've only just had this revelation so there's still a lot to be shaken out, but the personality presented by Warb thus far just doesn't fit with that motivation. I can only assume that Warb, as we've seen him, is a big false front and the real Warb has a drastically different character than the aimless slovenly layabout we've seen hanging around the casino way too late. You're thinking of the Inner Circle as a group of masterminds. It's probably better to think of them like the Elucidated Bretheren of the Ebon Night from Guards! Guards! Chosen for their ability to be led in the right way, not for any cunning or guile.
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Dec 8, 2014 22:47
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Yeah, that's essentially my point of view. There are a couple ways we could think of Warb at this point: 1) He's showing a false front of being kind of a mopey loser. This makes sense if we assume the cult has been on to us and our spying for some time. If this was true, he shows up as a mope to allay suspicion while befriending you and keeping an eye on you / helping your inquiries. This would seem to be contradicted by Mooncalf calling this emergency meeting as if he's just finding out about us, although that could be that he never expected us to be so successful as to get the list of names. What would fit this model is that Warb was our gate into actually getting the sword. Why one of the cultists didn't get it themselves if Warb controlled the gate in is a mystery, but it's interesting nonetheless. One other interesting point was that Mooncalf didn't seem startled to see us post "death", like he would be if he knew we were dead. If we're assuming that the bestial attacker has got something to do with the cult (and, at this point, I think we are), then it would be, um, odd if he didn't know who it was attacking and killing. Note that he didn't keep his composure at ALL when we talked about "Kingdom Coom". 2) He genuinely is as advertised. The way to understand this is more or less like Bruceski says: Warb is just sort of an adrift soul. He's smart, smart enough to become a wizard, but doesn't have the fire or ambition to actually make something of himself. Well, I say he doesn't have ambition, but that's not really correct either. He could PROBABLY have a relatively cushy life just sinking into some obscure branch of wizardry (heck, his current job probably pays pretty well), and living off that, but that's not enough - he wants to WIN. Hence the casino. If you'll allow me to delve into my particular nerdy branch of enthusiasm, games theory (not game theory) for a minute, Warb hangs out at a place where all the games are about almost pure chance - what Roger Callois in Man, Play and Games called games of Alea. Games of Alea are opposite of games emphasizing Agon, which is structured competition. Most people like games with a combination of the two - in a game of pure Agon, the more skilled player will always win every time, which makes for some boring evenings if you aren't the most skilled player. But to go PURE Alea, PURE chance, is a tacit admission that you aren't skilled enough or good enough to earn your victory, but you think you're still owed it, so you count on fate or destiny. This can fly in the face of mathematical understanding of odds and probability and such. So: Warb. He's lonely, he's cynical, and he thinks he's owed something great. Who better to be recruited into an inner circle of ANYTHING, in this case the cult of some god. I didn't get the impression that any Discworld wizards or wizzards were particularly religious, at least as far as small gods go, and I think it's likely he doesn't care about Anu-Anu, but what he does care about is that there's somebody who thinks the world is divided into two, people that get it and matter, and people that don't, and that he thinks Warb is on the good side. There's also the possibility of him dangling rewards in front of Warb, but we don't know that. Edit: Fixed Mooncalf/Warb mixup Bacter fucked around with this message at 07:17 on Dec 11, 2014 |
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Dec 11, 2014 04:38
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I think you got "Mooncalf" and "Warb" mixed up once or twice there. I don't have anything else to add, but I appreciate the character deconstruction.
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Dec 11, 2014 04:59
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I just got around to watching the last video  As a note, Ikebana is the Japanese art of flower arrangement, so using that name for a goddess of topiary is pretty appropriate.
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Dec 11, 2014 05:29
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Bacter posted:I didn't get the impression that any Discworld wizards or wizzards were particularly religious Generally wizards acknowledge that gods exist, but don't worship them or make a thing about declaring their belief in them. Their attitude to gods is generally fairly similar to their attitude to anything that doesn't happen within the Unseen University, ie. that they're not really worth paying attention to.
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Dec 11, 2014 07:53
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| # ? Apr 27, 2024 00:17 |
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Tarezax posted:
Ha! Awesome. Alright, DAGON ALLEY is the next location - should have the next video up tomorrow or so.
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Dec 11, 2014 09:04
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