Register a SA Forums Account here!
JOINING THE SA FORUMS WILL REMOVE THIS BIG AD, THE ANNOYING UNDERLINED ADS, AND STUPID INTERSTITIAL ADS!!!

You can: log in, read the tech support FAQ, or request your lost password. This dumb message (and those ads) will appear on every screen until you register! Get rid of this crap by registering your own SA Forums Account and joining roughly 150,000 Goons, for the one-time price of $9.95! We charge money because it costs us money per month for bills, and since we don't believe in showing ads to our users, we try to make the money back through forum registrations.
 
  • Post
  • Reply
Coq au Nandos
Nov 7, 2006

I think I would say to my daughters if they were to ask me this question... A shitpost is the greatest gift that you can give someone, the ultimate gift of giving and don't give it to someone lightly, that's what I would say.
You people voting for anything other than getting the hell out of this messed up village hand in hand with the only person in the village who's been consistently nice to us (and who is probably our mum) are not thinking this through.

Our village sucks.

Our dad, a violent, unpleasant man who is likely a rapist and kidnapper, sucks.

A.

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

RandomPauI
Nov 24, 2006


Grimey Drawer
With our dad dead the village has become our responsibility.

That said, if there's a tsunami on the way we'll still need to GTFO. Our people probably know to do that too.

No to take the tooth with us. Dad will be SO pissed at us taking it if he's only temporarily dead

RandomPauI fucked around with this message at 10:42 on May 28, 2013

the_steve
Nov 9, 2005

We're always hiring!

H
I wanna grab the tooth and run, but, we lack survival skills. We still need to do some growing up before we can avenge our dad or do whatever it is we decide to do.

Nettle Soup
Jan 30, 2010

Oh, and Jones was there too.

Revenge!

JT Jag
Aug 30, 2009

#1 Jaguars Sunk Cost Fallacy-Haver
To not take up the tooth means to abandon our birthright altogether. : we'll learn on the go, I guess.

Natalie Fartman
Apr 5, 2013

I selflessly rescued an abandoned cat during the COVID-19 Pandemic :3:

all the way. Maybe with a dollop of because holy poo poo this is confusing and frightening and we are 11.

Also:

Diogines posted:

You have decided that you believe in BOTH the gods of your people and in Jalitha's Sky Giants, at least for now and when the men of the village went away, prayed to all of them that Jorah would return safely. So far, he has.

Considering we believe in both the Sky Giants and Asherah, we may not be without protection.

GloriousDemon
May 1, 2009
You can't leave sharp dark god idols just lying around, someone could get hurt!

Half-wit
Aug 31, 2005

Half a wit more than baby Asahel, or half a wit less? You decide.
E Even though Dad was a dick; he meant well (probably).

Skanky Burns
Jan 9, 2009


The last time we held the shark tooth was a very traumatic experience; I doubt we would want to touch it again.

Basscop
Jun 4, 2010

Lightnin? HA! Thats a good 'un!
Now why dontcha
come o'er here and
GET

IN

MY

BELLY!!!
D for the fish god

Zybourne Clock
Oct 25, 2011

Poke me.
and .

The tooth might not hold power of its own in that it's only a ritual tool for unlocking a priest's theurgical potency. But that's not a gamble we should take. If it is the conduit of Asherah's magic, we should take it with us. Not necessarily so we may one day fling lightning bolts around everywhere, but mainly so that nobody else will have it.

RadicalR
Jan 20, 2008

"Businessmen are the symbol of a free society
---
the symbol of America."
and .


This.

UppaTree
May 4, 2013

XOXO posted:



VENGEANCE!


This.

Our dad probably *was* protected from harm by Asherah. The guy took three good stabs through the chest with spears and didn't even seem to notice, until somebody cut his head off with a sword.

Does dad's immortality work on Highlander rules? Was it a magic sword? Are swords fishgod kryptonite? we dunno, but drat was that impressive.

He also makes a habit of cutting himself whenever he's going to do something occult-y, so Asherah likes blood sacrifice.

The shark tooth has been repeatedly described as Extremely loving Sharp. We probably could gut this motherfucker like a trout. and that offering of delicious blood would bring the pain down.

Note, if we go with them, we will not be a prince, we will be an ignorant tribal heathen at worst, or a commoner at best. Here, we can be High Priest, King of the ignorant tribal heathens, and with our dad gone, we can change the old ways as much as Asherah permits.

Better to rule in Hell a stone-age village *with lightning powers* than serve in Heaven the big city, which is woefully lacking in them.

UppaTree fucked around with this message at 13:22 on May 28, 2013

Walkin Goon
Apr 4, 2011
I lost power 3 goddamn times typing a longass post, and am not doing it again. :suicide:

Option G: Take the tooth, and find Jorah and Pagem. Inform them that the preist of Asherah has been slain by the outsiders, and that they don't intend to leave without us. Tell them of the earthquake, and to take the villagers inland until the sea's wrath has passed. Carry out option H from there.

edit:

Outrail posted:

^^ You can't be serious. Narod was planning to throw us under a wagon from the start, pretending to worship us while building up our successor. If you forget we ended up exiled at the end of the last CYOA.

In regards to Narod, I thought it was clear that he honestly thought Denziroh his "onegod" and the cause of his good fortune in life, and thay the idea begun to take a form of its own as worship for it grew. While it remains to be seen what would've happen between Narod and Denziroh had we not scheduled the end of the world ahead of time, the dude fully trusted us during his time as our champion.

Despite Og's apparent battered person syndrome, letting his obviously assholish and xenophobic father handle the entire negotiation with the outsiders was a mistake. Still, Jalitha isn't in the right for accusing the whole village in a way that could get them all imprisoned or condemned by armed outsiders, even if none of them stood up against the man who viciously beat and enslaved her.

This is a lovely situation with a lot of buildup to it, and boy howdy did it get the proper catalyst for it to explode today.

As for Asherah, it may be possible to calm his rage by killing the man who decapitated his high priest with the tooth, similar to how we were forced to cut Jalitha's hair after she did the same to us. However, that's a big assumption to take another's life on before armed soldiers, especially when the narrative so far acknowledges that we simply don't really know any of the rituals at this point.

From the stories we know of him, the fish god doesn't strike me as a caring deity, and if his wrath is indeed coming, it might be best to use the time we have now to round up the villagers and get them as far away from the ocean as possible. It would certainly be easier than attempting rituals we don't know, provided, of course, the armed men don't get in the way too much.

Walkin Goon fucked around with this message at 13:57 on May 28, 2013

Nothingtoseehere
Nov 11, 2010




My name is Og. You killed my father. Prepare to die.

Nothingtoseehere fucked around with this message at 13:44 on May 28, 2013

Flame112
Apr 21, 2011
Does anyone voting to go with these strangers realize that we are like ten years old and just saw them behead our father? Seriously, what the gently caress.

E. Stab an invader.

Sogol
Apr 11, 2013

Galileo's Finger
Og the Unforgiving. Og Drinker of Blood.

Let's go to Baitel and start up a completely ill informed blood rite Asherah Cult. Wreek vengeance on the whole loving place.

It's just an idea.

Beef-Stew
Feb 1, 2005
mmmmmmm... Beefy
Oh yeah, let's totally go with the people who just decapitated our dad :doh:.

Voting to grab the shark tooth and then D, let's see these armored fucks get us out of the ocean. We should stay in the village and help make things right with the help of our uncles. We can't abandon our people!

SerSpook
Feb 13, 2012




The problem with finding people is that they certainly already know bad poo poo is happening. We are literally an eleven year old boy, we are not a hero (yet). We almost certainly can't kill the dude that killed father either, and if we do we will pretty certainly be killed by the other 9 men that weren't hit by lightning or killed by us.

The dude that killed dad took multiple shots from the magic, and still stands. Asherah is a chump, the tooth is more trouble than it is worth.

Going elsewhere probably won't work either. We are still within grabbing distance of the many men that came to the village. We possibly can't even get the tooth even if we want it when we go. IMO this vote is basically just to see how we react to this situation and how we're treated. With obvious death options for us like screaming vengeance and stabbing a possible king of a people that can easily destroy our people. And the tooth as potentially loving us over with a fairly obvious demon considering the setting of this game.

eta: Jalitha has a gently caress-ton of pearls, which we were the ones to actually get while diving for them as a hobby. We probably won't be doomed to some life of poverty.

SerSpook fucked around with this message at 15:54 on May 28, 2013

Outrail
Jan 4, 2009

www.sapphicrobotica.com
:roboluv: :love: :roboluv:

Sogol posted:

Og the Unforgiving. Og Drinker of Blood.

Let's go to Baitel and start up a completely ill informed blood rite Asherah Cult. Wreek vengeance on the whole loving place.

It's just an idea.

Liking this one. We can make our own version of fish god. Anyone read American Gods by Niel Gaimen?

Zybourne Clock
Oct 25, 2011

Poke me.

Flame112 posted:

Does anyone voting to go with these strangers realize that we are like ten years old and just saw them behead our father? Seriously, what the gently caress.

E. Stab an invader.

We're a ten year old boy and the best weapon available to us is a very sharp tooth. Our guests have bronze plates and shields, and wield swords and lances. This is not a fight Og could hope to win, unless he throws the tooth at the guy's throat as a desperate hail Mary. All that will accomplish is that our guest's friends will pile on a now unarmed and defenseless Og.

Fighting simply isn't an option here. Even running away to the ocean would be preferable to that.

Theglavwen
Jun 10, 2006

Frankly, I don't know anyone who likes Chinese bronzes, but I have one of the finest collections in the country.

Callipygian Weasel posted:

Also this, geez. There is no rational way to write the outsiders as the assholes in this situation.

Say you were with a group, modern day, of anthropologists, who stumbled upon a primitive tribe in the Amazon or something. They're obviously hostile, and don't want you there. You hang around, keep on trying to pressure them into trading and talk to them with a big, doofy, North American smile on your face. THEN you try and grab, kidnap, one of their kids, and take him with you, right in front of a bunch of their hostile men, who are pointing spears at you. Did you act properly, or were you a ridiculous rear end in a top hat who would be lambasted in the media and academia back home, once your corpse was discovered?

Granted, in this situation, you had another North American woman run up to you and start shouting to be saved, saying that they had kidnapped her, and that the kid was her son. But even granted that you'd be right in trying to save her, trying to snatch someone who was still a child of, and member of, this primitive tribe would be an rear end in a top hat, unethical move that would be guaranteed to end badly.

The invaders were probably justified in cutting off Dad's head, but only because it was literally kill or be killed at that point (and those of you who say he failed to kill anybody, he dropped the other guys instantly with lightning, it was only the guy with the sword who 'cried out in pain but didn't fall').

Now, let's step back a second. Yeah, the invaders were stupid, arrogant, and antagonizing. However, you're right, there's probably not a real rational way to make them out to be the assholes, they obviously had good intentions, and our Dad acted bitterly, hostilely and aggressively. That being said, we shouldn't be interested in what the objective, rational assessment of the situation is. We should be interested in what an eleven year old kid will think of the people he just saw murder his Dad on the word of a raving woman who was often fairly kind to him, but otherwise pretty unimportant. What would this kid think of the people who not only tried to 'poison' and murder his father, but who poisoned and murdered the High Priest of Asherah, the symbol of authority and faith in his eyes, to whom he had only recently redoubled his efforts to take seriously. How will this kid feel about the people who, in his eyes, have almost certainly angered God, the creator of the world, the all hungering judge and ultimate power?

I don't think he'll feel good about them.

SerSpook
Feb 13, 2012




^

He didn't kill those guys. They're still breathing, just dazed and might end up dying. We're also being told to come by the most motherly figure in our life, who has always attempted to look out for us as far as we are concerned. Dad consistently beat us and only sometimes praised us, and we only started taking his lessons seriously out of a sense of duty. In character arguments here aren't really as cut and dry as you're making them out to be, and even if they were we define the character.

SerSpook fucked around with this message at 16:02 on May 28, 2013

Genpei Turtle
Jul 20, 2007

Theglavwen posted:

Say you were with a group, modern day, of anthropologists, who stumbled upon a primitive tribe in the Amazon or something. They're obviously hostile, and don't want you there. You hang around, keep on trying to pressure them into trading and talk to them with a big, doofy, North American smile on your face. THEN you try and grab, kidnap, one of their kids, and take him with you, right in front of a bunch of their hostile men, who are pointing spears at you. Did you act properly, or were you a ridiculous rear end in a top hat who would be lambasted in the media and academia back home, once your corpse was discovered?

Granted, in this situation, you had another North American woman run up to you and start shouting to be saved, saying that they had kidnapped her, and that the kid was her son. But even granted that you'd be right in trying to save her, trying to snatch someone who was still a child of, and member of, this primitive tribe would be an rear end in a top hat, unethical move that would be guaranteed to end badly.

The invaders were probably justified in cutting off Dad's head, but only because it was literally kill or be killed at that point (and those of you who say he failed to kill anybody, he dropped the other guys instantly with lightning, it was only the guy with the sword who 'cried out in pain but didn't fall').

Now, let's step back a second. Yeah, the invaders were stupid, arrogant, and antagonizing. However, you're right, there's probably not a real rational way to make them out to be the assholes, they obviously had good intentions, and our Dad acted bitterly, hostilely and aggressively. That being said, we shouldn't be interested in what the objective, rational assessment of the situation is. We should be interested in what an eleven year old kid will think of the people he just saw murder his Dad on the word of a raving woman who was often fairly kind to him, but otherwise pretty unimportant. What would this kid think of the people who not only tried to 'poison' and murder his father, but who poisoned and murdered the High Priest of Asherah, the symbol of authority and faith in his eyes, to whom he had only recently redoubled his efforts to take seriously. How will this kid feel about the people who, in his eyes, have almost certainly angered God, the creator of the world, the all hungering judge and ultimate power?

I don't think he'll feel good about them.


Yeah, I think I'm going to change my vote to not-A or H or whatever has us going with the strangers.

There no reason to go with these guys after they killed our dad. Sure our dad beat us and Jalitha, but so what? Think about the society we live in. Corporal punishment for children was just a given everywhere until the tail end of the 20th century. It still is probably the norm today in most of the world. It wasn't until the end of the 19th century that wife-beating started to become frowned upon in the Western world. Clearly no kid likes to be beaten, but it's unlikely we'd see it as some sort of horrible thing to be done to us given the environment we live in. The fact that our dad is the only one to beat anyone in our tribe is an indication that we're shockingly peaceful considering our society's level of development.

Theglavwen
Jun 10, 2006

Frankly, I don't know anyone who likes Chinese bronzes, but I have one of the finest collections in the country.
^^^ (SerSpook)

Yeah, but presumably we want to define the character in keeping with how it's developed so far. Seems strange to me if you aren't taking previous decisions, characteristics and reasonable/available in-character world-view into account when you go on to consider what this character would do in a new situation. Yeah, Jalitha was likely the most motherly figure in our life, but that still wasn't a very strong one. Even when we were voting for priorities, she typically came in around the Pagem/Mother category, after spending time with Dad, Jorah, and alone, and even then only typically because people figured spending time with Jorah meant spending time with Jalitha. And while it's certainly true that a big part of us taking our lessons seriously stemmed from a sense of duty, that doesn't really change anything I said; what's happened to that sense of duty? Dad died so we've just given it up then?

If the guys who dropped instantly are still alive, then yeah, my bad, I thought they were dead. Although I suppose people do live through lightning strikes relatively frequently.

SerSpook
Feb 13, 2012




Theglavwen posted:

^^^ (SerSpook)

Yeah, but presumably we want to define the character in keeping with how it's developed so far. Seems strange to me if you aren't taking previous decisions, characteristics and reasonable/available in-character world-view into account when you go on to consider what this character would do in a new situation. Yeah, Jalitha was likely the most motherly figure in our life, but that still wasn't a very strong one. Even when we were voting for priorities, she typically came in around the Pagem/Mother category, after spending time with Dad, Jorah, and alone, and even then only typically because people figured spending time with Jorah meant spending time with Jalitha. And while it's certainly true that a big part of us taking our lessons seriously stemmed from a sense of duty, that doesn't really change anything I said; what's happened to that sense of duty? Dad died so we've just given it up then?

If the guys who dropped instantly are still alive, then yeah, my bad, I thought they were dead. Although I suppose people do live through lightning strikes relatively frequently.

Jalitha was actually right up there with Father. I want to say it went Jorah-Ocean-Father-Jalitha.

And right now we don't have much of a defined character. That is what these decisions are essentially doing. All we know is we are eleven, we like Jalitha, we have a feeling of duty to our people, and we like Jorah/the Ocean. We also gave Jalitha a bunch of pearls over the years, so I'd say it is clear we liked her more but our sense of duty prevented us from spending as much time with her.

It isn't inconceivable that certain revelations to us spurred us towards going with them too. For instance, we are almost certainly a tribe that practices ritualistic cannibalism. Someone (Coconut Tree?) pointed out a bunch of stuff suggesting that earlier in the narrative, involving Asherah's myths and the biannual events when boys become men. Another thing to keep in mind is that Asherah's holy symbol is a wide open fish-mouth, preparing to devour.

In addition, the foreigners kidnapping us are under the impression we are also being kept prisoner and are Jalitha's son. And to be honest, the last part might be entirely true. We have no siblings, which seems strange, particularly considering the importance of father's line as priest of Asherah. That suggests our mother is barren, and he considered Jalitha washing ashore to be a gift from Asherah to correct the lack of an heir.

eta: And I think this really bears mentioning. This is definitely out of character knowledge, and I guess feel free to disregard it. We know how the world was made, and it isn't how it happened in Asherah's myths. We see the world being made in the OP. We also know this was going to be the angelgame, and it's based on Dante/Milton. Asherah, IMO, is a straight-up demon and sticking around to worship him will not end well for us. That's also why I think we need to abandon that tooth, like right now.

SerSpook fucked around with this message at 16:28 on May 28, 2013

Mexican Deathgasm
Aug 17, 2010

Ramrod XTreme

Genpei Turtle posted:

Yeah, I think I'm going to change my vote to not-A or H or whatever has us going with the strangers.

There no reason to go with these guys after they killed our dad. Sure our dad beat us and Jalitha, but so what? Think about the society we live in. Corporal punishment for children was just a given everywhere until the tail end of the 20th century. It still is probably the norm today in most of the world. It wasn't until the end of the 19th century that wife-beating started to become frowned upon in the Western world. Clearly no kid likes to be beaten, but it's unlikely we'd see it as some sort of horrible thing to be done to us given the environment we live in. The fact that our dad is the only one to beat anyone in our tribe is an indication that we're shockingly peaceful considering our society's level of development.

The thing is, the violence isn't the norm here. It's been stated that other people don't beat their kids and wives, it's only our dad. So that would be a pretty big red flag, even in the brain of an 11 year old.

ConfusedPig
Mar 27, 2013


Look at it this way, we can go with the outsiders, grow up among them and learn their ways, find out what everybody's intentions are, and then use that to exact revenge upon the king/Jalitha/whoever we want. maybe we can return one day to the coast to unite the Asherah-worshipping fishing villages into one great tribe (using the tooth as some sign of credibility), and with the help of potentially greater education received from the Baitel people, kick some major rear end.

Now, I'm not sure how likely that scenario is, but if you guys are so freakin' revenge-hungry, that's probably the best way to go about it. We don't know how likely we will still be welcome among our own people after this (or if the Tsunami will render them practically non-existent), and if we're exiled, we don't know how to survive in the wilderness.

e:

SerSpook posted:


eta: And I think this really bears mentioning. This is definitely out of character knowledge, and I guess feel free to disregard it. We know how the world was made, and it isn't how it happened in Asherah's myths. We see the world being made in the OP. We also know this was going to be the angelgame, and it's based on Dante/Milton. Asherah, IMO, is a straight-up demon and sticking around to worship him will not end well for us. That's also why I think we need to abandon that tooth, like right now.

The thing is Diog was asked if the creation story in the OP is what happened or is he being an unreliable narrator, and he gave a deliberate non-answer to keep us guessing. All though my gut says that there are probably bigger proverbial fish in the proverbial ocean than Asherah, and frankly, maybe even more powerful than El and co.

ConfusedPig fucked around with this message at 16:51 on May 28, 2013

Tudhalias
Sep 7, 2009

Previously on Paradise Lost posted:

Your mother and Jalitha are happy and enthusiastic. Your father is cold, distant and uncaring

Your father does not appear to notice or to care.

[Jalitha] always has time for you, even when mama does not and your father, who never does.

Jalitha is hurt badly as your father beats her.

"If you ever touch my son's hair again I shall finish what Asherah began and feed you to him upon the moon!"

Your father is no more loving than before, he is cold, distant, impatient and quick to criticize at the smallest mistakes,

Jalitha walks more slowly since your father beat her

She continues to be kind and loving to you.

Your fathers job involves more than simply beating you

you accidentally sorted some sacred sea shells wrong and he beat you.

Jalitha was always there to hug you and tell you it would be okay after your father's less than kind treatment

She has walked more slowly since you were a young child and her face is a pained expression

You are now old enough to understand that Jalitha is a bit taller than other women in your village

You are tall for your age

You are rather tall for your age.

Asherah ate the flesh of his sons and daughters and the flesh of their sons and daughters.

According to your father, Asherah does not help people but will punish you

All are consumed by Asherah.

"Asherah does not care for the prosperity or suffering of our people, except that we obey his commandments.

Asherah is represented by a set of teeth dripping blood.

The man takes the jug and drinks something out of it and makes an exaggerated smile, then offers it to your father with both hands and says words you do not understand.

"POISON!" your father screams.

"Cannibals! Cannibals! Cannibals!" she wails

Man, bAlls to this place.

Edit: also, F, for good measure.

Tudhalias fucked around with this message at 17:22 on May 28, 2013

Diogines
Dec 22, 2007

Beaky the Tortoise says, click here to join our choose Your Own Adventure Game!

Paradise Lost: Clash of the Heavens!

Genpei Turtle posted:

Yeah, I think I'm going to change my vote to not-A or H or whatever has us going with the strangers.

There no reason to go with these guys after they killed our dad. Sure our dad beat us and Jalitha, but so what? Think about the society we live in. Corporal punishment for children was just a given everywhere until the tail end of the 20th century. It still is probably the norm today in most of the world. It wasn't until the end of the 19th century that wife-beating started to become frowned upon in the Western world. Clearly no kid likes to be beaten, but it's unlikely we'd see it as some sort of horrible thing to be done to us given the environment we live in. The fact that our dad is the only one to beat anyone in our tribe is an indication that we're shockingly peaceful considering our society's level of development.
Just to be clear, as previously stated, there is no violence in the village. Men do not hit their wives or children. The only violence in the village was your fathers, directed at you and Jalitha. Jalitha when caught being a heathen and you on a regular basis for screwing up lessons or skipping them.

Theglavwen
Jun 10, 2006

Frankly, I don't know anyone who likes Chinese bronzes, but I have one of the finest collections in the country.

SerSpook posted:

Jalitha was actually right up there with Father. I want to say it went Jorah-Ocean-Father-Jalitha.

And right now we don't have much of a defined character. That is what these decisions are essentially doing. All we know is we are eleven, we like Jalitha, we have a feeling of duty to our people, and we like Jorah/the Ocean. We also gave Jalitha a bunch of pearls over the years, so I'd say it is clear we liked her more but our sense of duty prevented us from spending as much time with her.

It isn't inconceivable that certain revelations to us spurred us towards going with them too. For instance, we are almost certainly a tribe that practices ritualistic cannibalism. Someone (Coconut Tree?) pointed out a bunch of stuff suggesting that earlier in the narrative, involving Asherah's myths and the biannual events when boys become men. Another thing to keep in mind is that Asherah's holy symbol is a wide open fish-mouth, preparing to devour.

In addition, the foreigners kidnapping us are under the impression we are also being kept prisoner and are Jalitha's son. And to be honest, the last part might be entirely true. We have no siblings, which seems strange, particularly considering the importance of father's line as priest of Asherah. That suggests our mother is barren, and he considered Jalitha washing ashore to be a gift from Asherah to correct the lack of an heir.

eta: And I think this really bears mentioning. This is definitely out of character knowledge, and I guess feel free to disregard it. We know how the world was made, and it isn't how it happened in Asherah's myths. We see the world being made in the OP. We also know this was going to be the angelgame, and it's based on Dante/Milton. Asherah, IMO, is a straight-up demon and sticking around to worship him will not end well for us. That's also why I think we need to abandon that tooth, like right now.

Hm, you're right, Jalitha had a higher vote percentage than I thought, from the last graph posted she's nearly a full digit over 'Mom'. However, as I said, I expect a lot of that came from the fact that she essentially piggy-backed on the number one spot, Jorah. I know I voted Jalitha as fairly high, third or fourth, based on the fact that we couldn't very reasonably spend a majority of time with Jorah without seeing her, and although I'm not going to go back and survey all the votes, I'm of the impression that a lot of other people did as well.

We don't have a terribly well defined character, I'll give you that, but I think we have more than enough to be able to determine how we'd realistically feel about a bunch of strangers who just murdered the people we've grown up with, and defied/defiled our God, in whom we most certainly believe, and the symbols of his authority. To assume that there's a completely blank slate there is, I think, to be pretty dismissive of a child's formative years. We do have a character, it's a young kid, who has just been asked to renounce everything he's ever known. He's grown up in this culture, it would be what's 'right'. And even if we did just have the 'revelation' of cannibalism, which I think is a doubtful proposition to begin with (the idea that we'd just instantly comprehend and believe the magnitude of that statement based on Jalitha frantically shouting it out a couple times, not the cannibalism itself), there's no real reason why we'd instantly decide it was bad. In fact, we've been brought up with the idea of a hungering god who eats everything; life devouring life is just a fact of nature here.

I think it's a pretty big stretch to say that the foreigners would be under the impression that we were a kidnapped prisoner either. Back to the anthropological anecdote: when the North American woman comes running up to us, and points to an eleven year old boy, standing freely with the leader of the tribe, with whom he's just casually walked up, dressed and behaving in the manner of the tribe and appearing perfectly comfortable with them, whether or not we believe that the woman gave birth to the kid, he's still clearly a child of the tribe, who's grown up among them, and is culturally one of them. Trying to yank him away from his people, right in front of them, would still be a monumentally stupid and dickish thing to do.

And yeah, I'm right with you on the OOC stuff; we know that this is supposed to be a Dante-esque game, and that, given that, Asherah is probably not the be-all and end-all, but that's absolutely the sort of meta-gaming I think ought to be avoided. Personal preference I suppose, but if the character doesn't have the available knowledge, then I don't think it should factor in to voting based on character impressions. And hey, we know it's a Dante-based game, but maybe Diogenes has a pretty fluid idea of how it will actually play out. Maybe in this world, the 'Barbarian' cult of Asherah rises up to overthrow the 'Romans', as it were.

SerSpook
Feb 13, 2012




The child of the tribe also stepped toward them after a hand was offered. This isn't really kidnapping in there mind, it's rescuing a woman and her child.

We can agree to disagree on using all knowledge available to us, I'm just pushing for what seems likely to be the best outcome or the most interesting story. In this case the two coincide in my mind. I'd also point out that the most out of character votes by far are the vengeance/stabbing votes. We come from a place that doesn't even know violence. We were not raised to fight. We felt a sense of duty to our father, but no particular love.

Looking at it purely in terms of what will work, I don't think it is possible to not end up going with the foreigners either way. They are within easy grabbing distance, there are 9 of them in good condition, Jalitha is right beside us.

And if we want an in character justification to go, the ground is shaking and our dad just did some super scary poo poo. Yeah, we might lose everything we know, but leaving with them right now so they can fight off the monsters of the forest and we can quietly slip away when the crazy poo poo stops seems completely in character.

my dad
Oct 17, 2012

this shall be humorous
A Get the hell out of there!

Changed my vote.

my dad fucked around with this message at 17:55 on May 28, 2013

Theglavwen
Jun 10, 2006

Frankly, I don't know anyone who likes Chinese bronzes, but I have one of the finest collections in the country.

SerSpook posted:

The child of the tribe also stepped toward them after a hand was offered. This isn't really kidnapping in there mind, it's rescuing a woman and her child.

Eh, I suppose there's a grey area on what they may have seen, but I don't think a kid taking a step forward, holding out his hands to both groups and making placating verbal noises should appear to anyone as a definitive 'Grab him away from his people who are right beside him' sort of gesture.

quote:

We can agree to disagree on using all knowledge available to us, I'm just pushing for what seems likely to be the best outcome or the most interesting story. In this case the two coincide in my mind. I'd also point out that the most out of character votes by far are the vengeance/stabbing votes. We come from a place that doesn't even know violence. We were not raised to fight. We felt a sense of duty to our father, but no particular love.

Looking at it purely in terms of what will work, I don't think it is possible to not end up going with the foreigners either way. They are within easy grabbing distance, there are 9 of them in good condition, Jalitha is right beside us.

And if we want an in character justification to go, the ground is shaking and our dad just did some super scary poo poo. Yeah, we might lose everything we know, but leaving with them right now so they can fight off the monsters of the forest and we can quietly slip away when the crazy poo poo stops seems completely in character.

I'm mostly with you here, to be honest. The vengeance thing would be pretty out of line, I agree, although I can understand the sentiment that we might freak out and lash out from fear or anger. The reason I don't think going with the newcomers makes any sense though is that they've insulted and defiled, aside from our father (who we can argue is balanced out by the favour they show to Jalitha, maybe), the only other two things we would hold in esteem: the village/people we've grown up with, and, more importantly, Asherah, whom we believe to be all powerful and probably angry at the invaders. I think it makes a lot more sense to be running from the hostile invaders, towards the things that have always provided safety and comfort: the ocean, primarily, and to a lesser extent our people, namely Jorah. The sea has been our companion growing up, I don't think we'd be more afraid of it than of these murderous strangers right now.

Maybe, yeah, we recognize the sea as also being dangerous, and want to just get anywhere right now, and as a result just want to flee with the best armed and most capable looking people around at the moment. I don't personally think, though, that we'd see the dudes that just murdered our people as being less dangerous than the threat that we are already familiar with; Devil we know, and all that.

Plus I fear that going with them will essentially be a 'Time-jump, it's been four years, you live in Baitel with Jalitha, aren't you glad you didn't pick that option originally?' sort of situation, but that's neither here nor there, really.

The Bad Llama
Nov 22, 2004
The coke is just for color...
OPTION E: Grab your fathers giant shark took and avenge him! Stab the man who killed him!
OPTION F: Cry! This option can be included with any other!


That unknown man just MURDERED our father. We were being taken from him and these invaders refused to leave. We're an adolescent and need to rage out and try to avenge him, especially since we finally started to take our Lessons seriously.

SerSpook
Feb 13, 2012




We'd not actually be going to Baitel for what it's worth. This is a different city, Zetash or whatever it is. And the dude that tanked dad's magic seems quite possibly to be there king, and a hero-king type dude at that. He had armor, Jalitha said that the king specifically saved us and the battlecry was both El and King. Also a sword.

I honestly think the city we are going to IS part of our start and not a reset. I don't think we have that much choice in the matter here, and what choice we did have involved finding some way to stop Jalitha from doing what she did. At that point we can only react.

Like, these guys were going to come no matter what. If Jalitha were alive, she'd have done roughly what she's doing no matter what. This is a continuation of what we've been doing these last few votes, only with more chance for death or being corrupted by a demon.

Bistromatic
Oct 3, 2004

And turn the inner eye
To see its path...

SerSpook posted:

eta: And I think this really bears mentioning. This is definitely out of character knowledge, and I guess feel free to disregard it. We know how the world was made, and it isn't how it happened in Asherah's myths. We see the world being made in the OP. We also know this was going to be the angelgame, and it's based on Dante/Milton. Asherah, IMO, is a straight-up demon and sticking around to worship him will not end well for us. That's also why I think we need to abandon that tooth, like right now.

It was already pointed out that we don't know if the OP was reliable narration but even if it was, we have no idea how the world and reality work in this story. When gods are involved pretty much all bets are off, there could be one true creation story, a bunch that are interpretations of the same events or perhaps there's several ones that are all different but all 100% true and accurate or who knows what else. Neither we nor Og have the slightest idea what laws govern these kinds of things.

Theglavwen
Jun 10, 2006

Frankly, I don't know anyone who likes Chinese bronzes, but I have one of the finest collections in the country.

SerSpook posted:

We'd not actually be going to Baitel for what it's worth. This is a different city, Zetash or whatever it is. And the dude that tanked dad's magic seems quite possibly to be there king, and a hero-king type dude at that. He had armor, Jalitha said that the king specifically saved us and the battlecry was both El and King. Also a sword.

I honestly think the city we are going to IS part of our start and not a reset. I don't think we have that much choice in the matter here, and what choice we did have involved finding some way to stop Jalitha from doing what she did. At that point we can only react.

Like, these guys were going to come no matter what. If Jalitha were alive, she'd have done roughly what she's doing no matter what. This is a continuation of what we've been doing these last few votes, only with more chance for death or being corrupted by a demon.

Could be, could be. In that event though, I'm still going with the vote that has the possibility to provide more interesting or chaotic events along the way; if we're going with them regardless, why go for the vote that just does what we're already going to do no matter what? Stir things up I say! See as much as we can before we're whisked away!

Ego Trip
Aug 28, 2012

A tenacious little mouse!




gently caress you, fishdad.

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

jng2058
Jul 17, 2010

We have the tools, we have the talent!







I only see the one option that lets us keep the holy artifact, so let's go with that one.

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • Post
  • Reply