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Loel
Jun 4, 2012

"For the Emperor."

There was a terrible noise.
There was a terrible silence.



Day 22
Current: 34,683
Total Goal: 36,666

Shrine City 2

Athena cocked her head. “So, what do you think of all this?”
Di Musio coughed. “Not my first choice, I will say. But I think she needs more help with Faith. I know where I stand.”
“Yeah? Which two would you have chosen?”
“Kahn and Vulkan.”
“Really? I had you pegged for Dorn and Corax.”
He gave a small laugh. “I respect them, don’t get me wrong. Dorn’s focus on the task at hand, Corax’ generally sneakiness. I’ve used a lot of their skills in my trade. But for me, at the end of my life? Kahn and Vulkan.”
“Why those two?”
“Kahn was considered a barbarian and a brute, but he was actually cultured. He could be incredibly brutal when he needed to be, but he was merciful to the surrendered.”
“And Vulkan?”
Di Musio gave a ghost of a smile. “Only Primarch who cared about the little people.”
“And you do?” Athena was generally curious.
“Aye, I do. I kept the Dregs well fed, happy. Didn’t interfere with them. They paid me and I kept them safe. And the Family was loyal, and could live their lives.”
“What did you think of Amacita, then?”
“Heart in the right place, except when it wasn’t.” He coughed. “A joke. She cared for people, but sometimes didn’t see the big picture. She ended up taking charge, because she let her caring get her above her station. It would have been better if she had just stayed focusing on the welfare of the Dregs, while someone else maintained the limits.”
Athena’s voice turned thoughtful. “Do you disapprove of how Ohone is running things?”
He shrugged. “It’s a different time. Her actions and strategems probably wouldn’t have been best in my era - but she’s not in my era. And in the same way, I might not have been ruthless enough.”
“You? Really?”
“I prefer a softer touch, but I had time to build it. Decades. She’s needed to forge a fanatical loyalty in a tenth of the time. And this war is like nothing the Imperium has ever encountered.”
“Must feel weird, going back to Golgotha.”
Frederik coughed again. “I don’t expect to.”

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Loel
Jun 4, 2012

"For the Emperor."

There was a terrible noise.
There was a terrible silence.



So, now that we're about 40% through writing the book, Im getting a feel for who the main characters are :v: Im picturing a Game of Thrones style shifting viewpoint, and these are who stand out to me.

main characters: ohone, amacita, cruentus, limosa, di musio, jeb, dwarf, carmilla, sister suffer, sister katarina, ching shih, athena, hera, navigator guild member, fabiyan, caroline, edourd, astri, elenora, isaac, theta-411, lukacs, megabyte, fluors, the grotesque, the stowaways, kozilek, jazmine, lynwood, patience, herrion, mother, abraxus, galahad, kaydras, de vadallio, malkum, woodhouse, tanya, emile, siadwell, the gangs, the magi sisters, sincera, skade, de la torres, kraig, henderson, erasmus, anna, miriam, devries, matthais, jenine, little sire, julian, adeliade, knoxie, raul, travis, katarina, wolfgang, bricellus, julian, gant, maruseva, fabricator

Anticheese
Feb 13, 2008

$60,000,000 sexbot
:rodimus:

snarls

paragon1
Nov 22, 2010

FULL COMMUNISM NOW
We should just lay out our whole personal history for CS one evening just to see if we can get her to throw up again.

alpaca diseases
May 19, 2009

Lowell I'd just like to say I'm eagerly awaiting you introducing those Tyranid/Ork super hybrids from the 50k fanfic

:v:

Outrail
Jan 4, 2009

www.sapphicrobotica.com
:roboluv: :love: :roboluv:
I'm really enjoying Athena and now Hera's candid conversations. Godlike, millennium old artificial intelligences taking like mall rats is far more entertaining than it should be. .

Loel
Jun 4, 2012

"For the Emperor."

There was a terrible noise.
There was a terrible silence.



maxhush posted:

Lowell I'd just like to say I'm eagerly awaiting you introducing those Tyranid/Ork super hybrids from the 50k fanfic

:v:

Meeee too :v:

poor life choice
Jul 21, 2006

Outrail posted:

I'm really enjoying Athena and now Hera's candid conversations. Godlike, millennium old artificial intelligences taking like mall rats is far more entertaining than it should be. .

Yeah. :shobon:



vvv Yeah. :shobon: vvv

poor life choice fucked around with this message at 16:43 on Nov 22, 2015

Rahul
Dec 10, 2004

I like how pretty much all our remaining allies keep casually talking about how much of a monster we've become whenever we not in the same room with them.

Loel
Jun 4, 2012

"For the Emperor."

There was a terrible noise.
There was a terrible silence.



Rahul posted:

I like how pretty much all our remaining allies keep casually talking about how much of a monster we've become whenever we not in the same room with them.

Speaking of which :D

Day 22
Current: 35,048
Total Goal: 36,666

Shrine City 3

E ~What do you think?~
L ~It’s … not great. Her stability was never the greatest. I was hoping the Vulkan Shine-City might help, all the signs said Di Musio wanted to go there.~
E ~But she didn’t ask him.~
L ~No, she didn’t. Kind of surprised there, actually.~
E ~Miscalculation on our parts, we thought his opinion was more important in her schema.~
L ~You and your machines.~ The voice was amused.
E ~Yeah, yeah. What’s going on in her head?~
L ~She shows remarkable attunement to Ferrus.~
E ~Are you surprised?~
L ~... No. It’s simply not optimal.~
E ~For us, maybe. Kozilek still is putting all the chips on her.~
L ~Like we have a choice.~
E ~Kozilek’s rarely been wrong before.~
L ~Not that. The universe is twisting around her, it makes me dizzy to look at. Our plans aren’t going to mean much.~
E ~I’ve almost started to think a certain bird was involved.~
L ~Certainly is, but she seems to be independent.~
E ~Seems to be?~
L ~Burned his shrines down, turned down his offers.~
E ~Just as planned~
L ~You know as well as I that the Grey Knights checked every nanometer of her soul.~
E ~Still. Wish we had a bit more control over the situation. Millennia of carefully laying plans, and she hurricanes the planet.~
L ~Why Ferrus, of all people?~ The voice was plaintive.
E ~I guess the universe wants her to be more stubborn and ruthless~
L ~She hardly needed the help!~
E ~What worries me is that she does. Suggests we haven’t seen anything yet.~
L ~You know what the seers are predicting. And the cogitators, and the Emperor’s Tarot.~
E ~Yeah. And there’s a big blank spot where she is, at the center of it all. We aren’t seeing the whole picture.~
L ~We never are. Stick to the plan, trust Kozilek.~
E ~Just hope this isn’t one of the rare times he’s mistaken. We won’t be coming back from it.~

Loel
Jun 4, 2012

"For the Emperor."

There was a terrible noise.
There was a terrible silence.



Looks like Space Wolves are in the lead. I might start on that soonish, unless there is a sudden change in the votes.

Outrail
Jan 4, 2009

www.sapphicrobotica.com
:roboluv: :love: :roboluv:
Would everyone that's worried about how ruthless and unpredictable we are be more or less concerned if we did a 180 and started being compassionate?

Also if I had known there was somewhere munzio wanted to go I'd have been 100% on board with that. Can we send him off to his preferred death bed?

Volmarias
Dec 31, 2002

EMAIL... THE INTERNET... SEARCH ENGINES...

LowellDND posted:

So, now that we're about 40% through writing the book

Wait, I thought this was the last arc?

Tomn
Aug 23, 2007

And the angel said unto him
"Stop hitting yourself. Stop hitting yourself."
But lo he could not. For the angel was hitting him with his own hands

LowellDND posted:

“Our fearless leader is a trigger happy maniac who refuses all advice, independence, or input.”
“You grew up under Nathan loving Dorne. Does she really compare?”
Ching Shih’s expression turned thoughtful. “Hm.”

Whelp, I guess we know who we're purgin' next! :v:

Loel
Jun 4, 2012

"For the Emperor."

There was a terrible noise.
There was a terrible silence.



Volmarias posted:

Wait, I thought this was the last arc?

Oops I accidentally added 5 more

Loel
Jun 4, 2012

"For the Emperor."

There was a terrible noise.
There was a terrible silence.



Outrail posted:

Also if I had known there was somewhere munzio wanted to go I'd have been 100% on board with that. Can we send him off to his preferred death bed?

We're heading that way, yup. The Eternity Gate is the end of the pilgrimage, we're just making a few different pit stops.

poor life choice
Jul 21, 2006
Aww, I didn't think about old-sire (and the implication of our choices), changing my vote from space wolves to Vulkan/salamanders.

Just, uh, checking out the extremes. Ohone's still at the crossroads guys~~

It is not yet the Wolftime.

poor life choice fucked around with this message at 17:12 on Nov 22, 2015

Outrail
Jan 4, 2009

www.sapphicrobotica.com
:roboluv: :love: :roboluv:
As the nukes drop and life as we know it starts to burn off we see Lowell smearing on some sunscreen "Probably got time for one, no let's make it two more arcs."

yeah, also changing my vote to wherever old man lordsire wants to go.

Haystack
Jan 23, 2005





Vulkan

I can take a hint

Loel
Jun 4, 2012

"For the Emperor."

There was a terrible noise.
There was a terrible silence.



Haystack posted:

Vulkan

I can take a hint

Im not trying to pressure the thread, promise :D I can write anything and interpret it so all the npcs view it with ~*~ominious foreboding~*~. If you want Space Wolves, I can do that, if you want Vulkan, I can do that too :D

Vote for what you think Ohone would do, not trying to anticipate what my ~*~secret plan~*~ is :D Half of this is improvised on the spot.

Haystack
Jan 23, 2005





To be fair, the hint I got was "last chance to be not-100%-stalin" not "but thou must"

poor life choice
Jul 21, 2006

Haystack posted:

To be fair, the hint I got was "last chance to be not-100%-stalin" not "but thou must"

Yeah for me it's like, it would be nice to show a final kindness to the guy that made us Lord-Sire. And yeah, maybe expressing that kindness would throw some compassion into our mix.

Amacita gave us her heart, after all.

Wentley
Feb 7, 2012

Yep.

Loel
Jun 4, 2012

"For the Emperor."

There was a terrible noise.
There was a terrible silence.



x x x x x, x Leman Russ, Space Wolves
x x x x x, x Vulkan, Salmanders
x x x Guilliuman, Ultramarines
x x x Omegon, Grey Knights? Maybe?
x x Corax, Raven Guard
x x Horus? Really?
x Rogal Dorn, Imperial Fists
Lion El Johnson, Dark Angels
Jaghatai Kahn, White Scars

For context, the Space Wolves are the Emperor's Executioners, and gave knock out punches to four Space Marine Legions (including Grey Knights!) as well as the Inquisition (to protect civilians). They ignore all rules but their own, obey the Emperor alone, and are killers.

The Salamanders are from a world with shifting gravity, love fire, and routinely defend civilians, do rearguard actions, and hang out among their populace as opposed to being in a fortress monastery somewhere. Hilariously, they have something called the Prometheus cult :v:

Zybourne Clock
Oct 25, 2011

Poke me.
Salamanders, Ultramarines

hollylolly
Jun 5, 2009

Do you like superheroes? Check out my CYOA Mutants: Uprising

How about weird historical fiction? Try Vampires of the Caribbean

Yeah, switching from Ravens to Salamanders

alpaca diseases
May 19, 2009

What are the chances of being able to second a Wulfen into our entourage to replace Flours?

e: Leman Russ and Corax so we can out-bird Anna

Loel
Jun 4, 2012

"For the Emperor."

There was a terrible noise.
There was a terrible silence.



Only get one choice since we already are in the Iron Hands :v: Ill grab the first one you say, which puts at

x x x x x, x x x Vulkan, Salmanders
x x x x x, x x Leman Russ, Space Wolves
x x x Guilliuman, Ultramarines
x x x Omegon, Grey Knights? Maybe?
x x Horus? Really?
x Corax, Raven Guard
x Rogal Dorn, Imperial Fists
Lion El Johnson, Dark Angels
Jaghatai Kahn, White Scars

There Bias Two
Jan 13, 2009
I'm not a good person

VULKAN

sullat
Jan 9, 2012
Sally Manders

Loel
Jun 4, 2012

"For the Emperor."

There was a terrible noise.
There was a terrible silence.



sullat posted:

Sally Manders

I want you to know I started going through both spreadsheets before I figured that out :colbert:

Slaan
Mar 16, 2009



ASHERAH DEMANDS I FEAST, I VOTE FOR A FEAST OF FLESH
Vulkan knows that we sacrifice to protect the common people. :patriot:

There Bias Two
Jan 13, 2009
I'm not a good person

Slaan posted:

Vulkan knows that we sacrifice to protect the common people. :patriot:

Slaan you forgot to vote to eat something, are you not feeling well today?

Loel
Jun 4, 2012

"For the Emperor."

There was a terrible noise.
There was a terrible silence.



Day 22
Current: 35,390
Total Goal: 36,666

Shrine City 4

It was a matter of days to travel to the next Shrine-City, becoming part of the massive crowd, not even walking as much as flowing down kilometers of tiled pavement. Around you, the millions slept standing up, by order of the Imperial Palace - movement was curtailed at night, and the gargantuan lights dimmed for that purpose. Natural light was a somewhat passing thing, here on the oldest of hive worlds.

The lucky few might be raised on the shoulders of their families, resting on boards or platforms or sleds. Di Musio didn’t really have that problem, being as he was in a life support chair, but for the rest of you, it was an unpleasant set of nights. Great vents in the towers around you managed the vast body heat of billions of pilgrims, managing the airflow and ensuring everyone could breath. Losing tens of thousands of pilgrims a day was expected - losing billions was not.

And so the great lumbering beast, a serpent measuring in the billions of people, slowly made its way down the winding road. The serpent never stopped, never ended, even as its component parts joined, walked, and departed. Its breath was the breath of billions, and the sound of its slumber shook the mountains themselves.

The Shrine-City of Vulkan was one of the more popular choices, not least because of the relatability of its Primarch. Millions entered the city, and immense resources were granted for help and succor. At the Shrine-City of Ferrus, suffering and endurance was expected, weakness punished. Here, food and water was made available, limited medical treatment and support. You came here not for you, but for the Lord-Sire.

Hot Dog Day 80
Jun 23, 2003
Lowel, this might be crazy, but why can't we just be different like we always are and visit 4 shrines? I want to see Russ, but I think we should also visit Vulcan shrine. So why not just do both?

Loel
Jun 4, 2012

"For the Emperor."

There was a terrible noise.
There was a terrible silence.



Hot Dog Day 80 posted:

Lowel, this might be crazy, but why can't we just be different like we always are and visit 4 shrines? I want to see Russ, but I think we should also visit Vulcan shrine. So why not just do both?

Uh. Sure, no reason not to. If the thread wants to extend the pilgrimage a few posts, I can do that.

Loel
Jun 4, 2012

"For the Emperor."

There was a terrible noise.
There was a terrible silence.



Day 22
Current: 35,674
Total Goal: 36,666

Shrine City 5

E ~Well, what does that mean?~
L ~Hah. Maybe she’s mellowing~
E ~Never happen. Every day she grows harder~
L ~Sure, but at least she can recognize time and place. I was half expecting her to go to the Wolf shrines~
E ~Hah. Can’t you just imagine that? Setting herself in opposition to the Inquisition and the Grey Knights.~
L ~You know she doesn’t accept any authority accept her interpretations of the God-Emperor~
E ~And you know just visiting these shrines doesn’t set their life in stone. Trillions of people have gone through them, and not a one became a Primarch~
L ~Still, its showing what she values, what is important to her…~
E ~It doesn’t matter.~
L ~Eh?~
E ~Doesn’t matter. Whether we approve or not, whether we prepare or not, her decisions are what will happen. She’s the butterfly spinning hurricanes.~
L ~Still. This is good. Either it shows she cares about her Family, or about Humanity in general~
E ~Really? I never thought you would be naive after Siadwell~
A pause
L ~That was unnecessary~
E ~You need to focus. She cares about Humanity in the abstract, but she’ll write off trillions if she felt the need. Or the whim.~
L ~That’s the point of the Rosette.~
E ~We play with planets. She has the galaxy. We need to ensure this goes along the most optimal path. Understood?~
A pause
L ~Yes Inquisitor~

Waci
May 30, 2011

A boy and his dog.

LowellDND posted:

Uh. Sure, no reason not to. If the thread wants to extend the pilgrimage a few posts, I can do that.

Three shrines is normal for an inquisitor. Three shrines is normal for a magos. Three shrines is normal for a rogue trader. Obviously we should visit three for each. of our major hats.

Loel
Jun 4, 2012

"For the Emperor."

There was a terrible noise.
There was a terrible silence.



Waci posted:

Three shrines is normal for an inquisitor. Three shrines is normal for a magos. Three shrines is normal for a rogue trader. Obviously we should visit three for each. of our major hats.

If we're going to the wolf city I want to see how the cats react :colbert:

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Ubern00b
Nov 4, 2009
Maybe there's an encounter we're missing at one :tinfoil:

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