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 What the heck is this? The Age of Decadence is an isometric role-playing game developed by Iron Tower Studio, a small indie team that prides itself on creating hardcore RPGs. Work began on the game in March 2004, but a full release didn't happen until October 2015. I discovered the game on Steam about two years ago, played it, died a bunch, then put it away out of frustration. This year I gave it another shot, and after much trial and error (and combing through guides), I discovered it was a drat good game. It's not perfect: the graphics are a bit rough and the combat is clunky as hell. What shines is everything else -- the story, the characters, the extensive dialogue trees, character customization, choices -- I can't say how many times you'd need to replay the game to see absolutely everything, but it'd be a lot. Every quest has some point to it, even if it's not apparent in the beginning, and many decisions you make have big consequences. Sadly, like most niche games by indie devs, it's not a well-known title, which is a shame. That's why I'm going to LP it. So, what's it about? Centuries ago, the Empire and the kingdom of Qantaar waged a magical war that devastated the known world, leaving a few broken city-states ruled by noble houses as the remnants of civilization. Today, various factions struggle for dominance among the ashes while progress relies on the discovery of arcane artifacts and ancient knowledge. Greed, betrayal, and ignorance are the norm. There's much, much more to it, but we'll learn more throughout the LP. To show off the maximum content, there will be one main playthrough and several "side" playthroughs focusing on some of the different factions and quests we can take. Oh, and if you're one of the few who played this game, then refrain from spoilers, please. Does that mean goon participation? To an extent -- if I asked for input on every decision, the LP would take over a year to finish. Still, I'll let the thread vote on some of the major choices. Speaking of which: tell me if our main character is male or female, and give me a name -- a Roman name, to be precise. TABLE OF CONTENTS Part I: That's a lot of numbers Part II: Did I mention I don't like the combat? Part III: Seriously, gently caress Teron Part IV: Town of motherfuckers Part V: The worst NPC Part VI: Greed is good Part VII: Making friends through blatant cheating Part VIII: Well, that was easy Part IX: Murder, Inc. Part X: A series of unfortunate events Part XI: You asked for this Part XII: Blood for the blood god Part XIII: I'll take that. And that. And that. And that... Part XIV: It's a Maad world Part XV: The library of Saross Part XVI: Jehovah's Witnesses, 5th century AD edition Part XVII: Return of the worst NPC Part XVIII: The Abyss Part XIX: Please stop talking Part XX: Never trust a wizard Part XXI: Loose ends Part XXII: Everyone involved in this plot sucks Part XXIII: Traveling salesman Part XXIV: The greatest battle Part XXV: A jarring heist Part XXVI: Candygram Part XXVII: Love potion Part XXVIII: Exploring Ganezzar Part XXIX: Class warfare Part XXX: Bad omens Part XXXI: Second star to the right Part XXXII: Is that a giant spear in your pocket or are you just happy to see me? Part XXXIII: The birthplace of the Gods Part XXXIV: The power of money compels you Part XXXV: Errand boy Part XXXVI: Winners do drugs Part XXXVII: Just following orders Part XXXVIII: Legatus at last Part XXXIX: Hindsight is 20/20 Part XL: I made a mistake Part XLI: The temple of Thor-Agoth Part XLII: Alternative endings Part XLIII: The compact must be honored rudecyrus fucked around with this message at 17:10 on Oct 16, 2020 |
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Jan 12, 2020 00:28
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| # ¿ Apr 23, 2024 18:13 |
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Looks like we have a clear winner -- Octavia it is. I'll try and get the next update done by tomorrow.
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Jan 13, 2020 00:45
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Part I: That's a lot of numbers The game begins with a quote from a dark fantasy novel, so you know what we're in for.  Soundtrack: In A Dead World The main menu has this ominous tune, setting the tone for the rest of the game.  And here's the opening message we get when we click on "New Game." None of it is an exaggeration -- it's very easy to die, and combat is the worst way to progress. Even if you avoid combat entirely, failed skill checks can mean an instant game over. We're advised to start with training to learn the combat system, but I'll explain it later.  Soundtrack: Daratan The character creation screen has a much less foreboding track. The music is arguably one of the best parts of The Age of Decadence, which is good because the graphics and customization options can be described as "bare-bones." We can choose our skin color (out of three), our face (out of six, which, except for tattoos, are muddy and mostly similar), our hair (out of eight for men and five for women), hair color (out of six), beard (out of seven) or circlet (out of three). All of this customizing is moot because we don't have a portrait. What's more interesting is the "Background" section. Note that this doesn't mean "class" -- it determines what opening vignette we'll play, what guild we'll work for (if any), and our reputation with the seven factions vying for power. The factions are:  House Aurelian survived the Great War mostly intact due to keeping its forces in the outlying colonies. Led by General (now Lord) Gaelius, House Aurelian controls Maadoran, the largest city in what remains of the world. Naturally, the other Houses want Gaelius dead. House Crassus dedicated its resources to sciences and arcane research. According to legend, it was instrumental in conducting the Great Ritual that summoned the High Lords to defeat the Qantari. After the death of the Magi, House Crassus fell back on religion, calling for the worship and restoration of the gods as the rulers of men. House Daratan was once the most powerful Noble House, but was all but destroyed during the War. Now, what remains controls the small town of Teron, a backwater with little to recommend it. Despite this, Lord Antidas is committed to restoring House Daratan, no matter the cost. The Boatmen of Styx were the Emperor's guard in the old days, specializing in infiltration and assassination. After the collapse, they reformed into an assassin's guild, taking the name of their old regiment. You'd think having a band of killers operating openly would lead to outrage, but scruples have fallen by the wayside. The Commercium sprang up after the apocalypse when the heads of the merchant guilds centralized into a single organization that monopolizes all trade. As you'd expect, it's full of greedy assholes willing to do anything to line their pockets with gold, but it's also the easiest faction to work for, so it evens out. Formed from the remnants of the Imperial Army, the Imperial Guards act as peacekeepers, keeping the Noble Houses in check. Powerful and influential, their ultimate goal is the restoration of the Empire, as unlikely as that seems right now. The Forty Thieves are a large and tenacious guild made up of smugglers, thieves, and other ne'er-do-wells, tracing its origins back to the early days of the Empire. The name is said to come from the forty kingpins of the forty largest towns coming together to coordinate their criminal network.Some of the backgrounds have low reputation with the factions, meaning you can't join them. For example, everyone hates thieves (except the Boatmen and the Thieves, natch), while the assassin background has low rep with the Imperial Guards (because they see you as a disruptive coward who wouldn't win a real fight). Most backgrounds have positive or neutral rep, so it's not a big concern. As for the backgrounds, some are self-explanatory while others are more murky. Praetor is essentially a knight-diplomat working for House Daratan, which is interesting because most of the backgrounds are low-class. Grifter is sort of like a Thief but guildless and more dialog-orientated, while Drifter is a blank slate and for players who want complete freedom when making a character. Mercenary is the combat-oriented background and should only be chosen by players who want a death wish. Of them all, Merchant is probably the best for beginners because you can get through the game without fighting once. However, for the main playthrough I'll be choosing Loremaster. It's an easy start, I can join any faction I want, and my skills let me understand pre-war technology and see content I'd miss otherwise. But what are skills, you ask?  These. These are skills. Before your eyes roll off the page, I'll explain. The numbers at the top are Stats you see in every RPG and serve basically the same function with a few additions: Strength determines maximum carry weight, starting combat skill points (CoP), and damage modifiers. Dexterity influences Attack and Defense values, CoP, action points (AP), and sequence in combat. Constitution determines Hit Points, Defense value, and resistance to poison and other environmental hazards. Note that HP remains static throughout the game. Perception influences Attack value, starting skill values for ranged weapons, the pool for civil skill points (CiP), accuracy modifiers for all weapons, and helps you spot hidden things in the environment. Intelligence determines the CiP pool and the number of bonus skill points you receive for completing quests. Charisma influences the CiP pool and modifies your reputation. All of these stats can be checked in dialogue or other interactions. Now, onto skills. To keep it brief (too late), you have eight weapon skills and two defense skills. Concentrate on beefing up ONE weapon skill, maybe two in the late game. Block and Dodge don't overlap, so choose whichever is higher and forget the other one. Critical Strike is interesting because it determines the chance of causing bleeding on a critical hit (which can be a powerful status effect), but it's also used in dialogue to get an instant kill. You'll understand later. Civil skills are the most important set and where we'll be dumping the majority of our points. Keep in mind the game rewards specialization -- having a bunch of 2s and 3s will get us nowhere. Notice some of the skills are highlighted, which is the game's way of saying "Hey, you might wanna go with these." Lockpick and Traps, for instance, are useful for us because we'll be exploring ruins where those things would be common. Sneak and Steal? Not so much (although some points in Sneak lets us get loot we wouldn't find normally). Impersonate is used a handful of times and is therefore garbage. We have three dialogue skills: Etiquette, Persuade, and Streetwise. Of the three, Streetwise is most useful, with Persuade a close second. Etiquette is pointless and only comes up when talking to nobles. Alchemy lets us make poisons, bombs, potions and other stuff that's handy in combat and a few other situations. Crafting allows the forging of better weapons and armor, plus it's often used in conjunction with Lore when examining ancient artifacts and machinery. Speaking of Lore, it's possibly the most worthwhile skill of all. Without it, the greater backstory is lost and the obscure knowledge we discover is more or less nonsense. Trading is good in some dialogue checks and getting better prices, but otherwise you can leave it.  Here's the character I'll be using with adjusted stats and skills. I'm keeping five CiP in the pool to use later. With all of that out of the way, let's finally play this drat game!  Soundtrack: Teron   So, we live in Teron, a dying town in the middle of nowhere, and we're apprenticed to somebody named Feng. Think of it as humble beginnings.  Here we are! Instructions for controls are in the upper left, although they don't tell you everything.  For example, hitting Tab marks any interactable objects in the player's immediate vicinity. An eye means it can be examined, while a hand means it can be picked up or used.  Like so! Only there's nothing useful here.   In fact, the place is filled with worthless crap. Feng is something of a fraud -- most of the "artifacts" he sells are secretly junk.   There are some hidden gems, though. Examining these documents gives us +1 to Lore and Lockpick, respectively.   Other than that, it's a whole lotta nothing. Anyway, let's go talk to Feng.    : What if it actually is a valuable artifact? : Artifacts? I've been stuck in this shithole you call a town for the last twenty years. Year after year, farmers and diggers bring me everything they find, hoping for a lucky break. They bring me bracelets, cheap pottery, rusty old locks, pipes, chamber pots, even deformed skulls. The sad truth is that this town doesn't have anything of value, which is probably the only reason why Antidas is still in charge.Wow, way to poo poo on our town, Feng.  : Why did you stay then?: Weren't you listening? Every year peasants bring me junk to appraise. Good business. : You said he had a trinket?: I think the word "map" was mentioned. Go and take a look. If it's something good, bring it to me.: I will go there right away, Master.We're instantly whisked away to the inn.     : Please forgive this uneducated trader, mistress Octavia, but who are the High Lords? I will be presenting this map to Lord Antidas tomorrow, and I'd like to impress His Lordship with some bits of knowledge.: According to the legends, the High Lords were our allies in the war between our glorious Empire and the ruthless Qantari. While their nature is debatable, most loremasters agree that it was definitely supernatural. This map bears the seal of Thor-Agoth or Toragoth, as he was also known. Our first skill check! Sometimes the game checks two skills, like here. If the skill is green with "success" after it, it means a guaranteed pass. Otherwise, cross your fingers and hope like crazy. : Of course not, mistress. Please, take the map and study it properly.: And the money? I'm sure you know what the standard research fee is.We pass, and now we'll get some coin out of it.  Success also means getting a funky-looking metal sphere.  Ugh. Might as well see what this prospector has. : Sure. An easy lore check lets us know his "artifacts" are junk.  He does have a genuine glowing skull, which turns out to be extremely dangerous. : Why?: The old magic is like fire. Fire can keep you warm, cook your food, and help you forge weapons and tools, but it can also burn down your house or a forest, the moment you lose control, which we don't have to begin with. Not anymore.  He also has this... thing. Whatever it is, it's unusual. Let's try to bluff him. : [streetwise] Junk. Worthless junk.: [failure] Junk? The very fact that I'm standing here before you should attest to the quality of this charm.Dammit. I didn't put any points into Streetwise, so the check fails. : How much do you want for it? Well, maybe we can haggle for a better price. : [failure] The jewels alone are worth at least three hundred. There is no way I'm letting it go for less than five hundred.gently caress this, I'm leaving. : I'll think about it. Hey, I didn't promise poo poo. I'm starting to come around to Feng's point of view.   At least we got some coin and skill points out of this. Next time: We murder a random guy in cold blood to "secure our future." rudecyrus fucked around with this message at 00:38 on Feb 11, 2020 |
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Jan 14, 2020 01:16
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Part II: Did I mention I don't like the combat? The next morning, Feng informs us the map is nothing special. Oh well.   : Secure my future?  And he wants us to kill some guy named Cassius. Great! We're free to do whatever at this point, so let's go over some game mechanics.  Hitting "I" brings up the inventory. Currently, we have two daggers, a sword, some alchemical ingredients, a few ingots of bronze and iron, the map, and the sphere. I'll cover the alchemy and crafting tabs later. On the right is our carry weight, damage, armor Damage Resistance (DR), and other stats. Let's see what happens if I equip a dagger.  Our damage and Critical Strike (CS) rating goes up, but Attack goes down because I didn't put any skill points in daggers. Still, I'm sticking with it for now because it uses little AP.  Pressing "M" opens the map. We can fast travel by clicking on the names, but Teron is small enough to traverse in a few seconds.  "C" opens the character screen, where we can distribute skill points. SP are split into three categories, two of which I've mentioned: CoP are received by winning fights, CiP through solving problems with talking and other non-violent means, while general SP is picked up by finishing quests and advancing the story. The latter can be used to level up any skill. General Reputation is a bit harder to explain, but certain actions increase the numbers -- for example, killing Cassius for Feng raises Loyalty. Some interactions can be passed by having high enough numbers, just like Skills. Traits & Ranks are titles we can get as we progress. Most are flavor, but there are a few with gameplay applications.  "J" opens the journal, which contains quests, lore, a list of factions and major characters, plus any important items. Like our goofy sphere. Enough of that, let's head to the inn.   As you can see, it's a classy establishment.  There's a lot we can do here, but first, let's talk to the fellow in the loremaster garb.  Welp, we're a dutiful apprentice with no qualms about murder, so let's get this over with. : Lord Antidas has sent me to escort you. Follow me. [lure him to an abandoned house] : Master Feng thinks you've made a mistake accepting Lord Antidas' invitation so... hastily. He asked me to correct it.  I don't think insulting our master is the wisest move. Still, let's hear him out. : I'm listening.   Cassius, I'm going to kill you just for making me read all of that. We have a high enough CS to off him outright, but I have to show off combat, so... : This is going to be fun.Lies. Blatant lies. By the way, we can't do a critical strike in dialogue unless we have a dagger in the inventory. Hooray!  Soundtrack: Combat I So, combat. I don't like combat in Age of Decadence. In fact, I don't like combat in most turn-based RPGs, because it's bunch of number crunching and I just want to kill the drat enemy. To-hit chance? Action points? Tactics? I haven't got time for that poo poo! Regardless, I'll do my best to explain. We can move to any of the blue squares during our turn and attack within the green squares. Red squares are blocked. In the upper right is our Attack and Defense ratings. At the bottom is our HP, AP, equipped weapon, how much damage said weapon inflicts and how much AP an attack uses (in this case, 2).  Mousing over Cassius shows us our to-hit chance (THC), CS chance, and Armor Damage Chance (ADC). THC is determined by our attack rating minus the opponent's defense rating, plus 50 percent.  We do 2 points of damage, with 1 absorbed by his armor. Daggers (at least, in the beginning) are poo poo for damage, but the small AP cost means a lot of attacks.  We get lucky here and inflict Bleeding. Bleeding takes away a set amount of HP per turn, plus the effect stacks, meaning you can lay the hurt down with the right type of weapon. Oh right, weapons. There are a shitload of weapons in this game, each with different AP costs, bonuses, hardiness ratings and passive traits. Daggers have an increased chance of a Critical Strike on aimed attacks, swords are more likely to cause Bleeding, axes can do increased CS damage, hammers can lower DR, spears can interrupt attempts to get close, bows can Cripple (which means movement penalties), crossbows can Stagger (-3 AP), and throwing weapons can bypass armor completely. "What are aimed attacks?" I hear you say. I'm glad you asked! Right-clicking on the weapon (something I don't show here) brings up a bunch of attack options, such as Power or Aimed. Some options use more AP but cause more damage or some other effect. Cassius started the encounter with Flurry, a dagger-only attack that hits multiple times with low damage. Aimed attacks have their own effects: aiming at the head can inflict an Attack penalty and even knock out an enemy on a CS, while aiming at the torso can lower DR. There's a ton of effects and weapon-specific special attacks that I won't go over, but if they come up in the LP, I'll explain. Honestly, the best strategy in combat is to fight like a dirty rat. Use nets, bolas, bombs, poison, anything and everything to inflict maximum damage in the shortest amount of time. The game doesn't give a poo poo if you fight honorably, so don't.  Cassius succumbs to blood loss. Time to loot his body!  We take everything except his clothes. Hey, let the poor guy have some dignity. We'll melt down the dagger to get some iron.  Let's inform Feng. Hopefully, this was worth it.  : Cassius is no longer a problem.  Geez, we kill a guy for him and Feng is still being a condescending dick. : What are you talking about? : Count me in. : Where are you from, Feng? : I've never head of Zhin.: The locals are convinced that their Empire had conquered what they call the known world. I can assure you that is not the case, although they did do their best to turn it into a wasteland.: Why did you come here? If you have the loremaster background or high Charisma, Feng opens up. Otherwise, he tells you it was so long ago he can't remember. : Couldn't you refuse?: You don't refuse such high honor and live. Even a fool like me knew that.: What happened next? : There is more to life than this. : Because we are not animals. Our thoughts, our minds are capable of so much more... : The men who built the Empire were different. They did something with their lives. I think there's a difference between someone hunting for subsistence and a rich noble conquering nations, but whatever.   Feng, how many people have you killed       Hmm. Seems unlikely, but we'll file this away if it becomes important later (it will become important later).  For listening to his life story, Feng increases our Streetwise and Trading skills, plus we get a few CiP. : Let me ask something else.This takes us back to the topic screen. : Do you think it will ever get better?   : Do you have anything else for me to do?  Carrinas is the commander of the local garrison. We'll meet him and the other guild leaders in other playthroughs. For now, we'll remain a free agent. Time to explore Teron!  Outside Feng's house are some vines.   With enough Dexterity, we can climb onto the roof...  ...which is filled with trash. Does Feng own anything valuable?  We can lockpick the hatch, however. There's no real reason to do this with our background, but we get some CiP for the trouble.  Next to Feng's is the blacksmith.   : I was thinking of crafting a weapon or two myself. How do I go about it? : Can you sell me some materials? : Sharpening stones? : Tiny crystals?Getting some Solid Snake vibes from our PC.   He also sells weapon and armor schematics for 50 and 75 gold, respectively. We'll buy the one for swords.  There are arms and armor for sale, but good luck with those prices. We're better off crafting our own stuff. Time to thank this helpful guy by breaking into his house.    The door and first window are locked, but the second pays off.   Here's why I put points into Sneak.    The chest holds a pretty nice axe for this stage of the game.    There's also some documents that raise our Crafting skill!  High Perception lets us find some metal ingots. There's nothing else here, so time to bug out.  Here's what the crafting tab of the inventory looks like. With the right materials and schematics, we can make anything, provided we have enough levels in Crafting. Right now we can only make bronze stuff, but that'll change soon. We can also melt down weapons and armor to get back metal, albeit only a little at our level. Let's head back to the inn. There's an interesting conversation happening right now.  Story time!     The cut-off bit says, "go forth and call up these allies. All the resources of the Empire are at your disposal!" Also, this sounds like a bad idea.   A really bad idea.  A really, really bad idea.   "blood and fire." : Do you really believe in demons? Do you believe they are the reasons the Empire fell? : But surely there is more to the story? What about the Qantari themselves? Were they really bloodthirsty savages as the stories say?  : What can you tell me about these Lords that came with Ibn Hadad?  Remember those names. Anyway, this whole story reeks of bullshit. There may have been magic involved, but nothing like what this guy says. Plus, he's a racist. Next time: Thieving, sneaking, and dying. rudecyrus fucked around with this message at 00:40 on Feb 11, 2020 |
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Jan 17, 2020 09:19
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drkeiscool posted:each skill has ten ranks. going from level one to level two in a skill costs five points, and the cost goes up by five for each level afterwards (if i recall correctly) You're half right. Going from level 1 to level 2 costs five points, then it goes up by ten every other level.
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Jan 17, 2020 20:17
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Part III: Seriously, gently caress Teron : Do you have time for a few questions? Woof. Alright, let's go through these... : Hear anything interesting? As you can tell, the innkeeper is a fountain of information. : What do you think of Lord Antidas?  He's also an unrepentant suck-up. : What can you tell me about House Daratan?   Totally unlike Antidas, I'm sure. : What can you tell me about prospectors?    : Why are there so few towns?   : Do you think it will ever get better?   Oh, good. Meru's crucifixion-happy.  tl;dr: Everything sucks. Anyway, let's get a room.  For 100 imperials, this had better be the best room in the place!  The nice thing about renting a room is it gives us a handy place to store stuff we don't need right now.  Time to sneak around and steal valuables! I won't show off everything here, as it's generally going into rooms and lockpicking chests. We don't have a high enough Steal skill to grab everything, but we get enough. The game is pretty lenient at this point -- getting caught just means being kicked out of the room.  The sole exception is this chest. It's trapped, and traps can be deadly even this early. Let's try to disarm it -- how hard could it be?  Oh. Whoops. Death Count: 1  Never mind that. Let's talk to this guy instead.  : I'd like to learn about alchemy. : If I know what to do with it? Ew.  : So, uh, what can I make?  : Can I heal myself during a fight? No, you can't heal during a fight. This is a hardcore RPG, motherfuckers!   We'll buy the reagents. Every little bit helps!  Here's a dress I, ah, acquired. Do I look pretty, goons?   Here's the trading plaza, where we'll offload our ill-gotten gains.   We'll become familiar with the Commercium in another playthrough.  Hey, that sounds pretty sweet. Forget what Feng said, we're joining the Imperial Guards!   you know what forget it  While strolling through the graveyard (as we do), we meet this dude. : What do you mean? Christ, everyone's an rear end in a top hat. : Pleasure then. And everyone has a scam. This had better be worth it...  If by "rare quality" he means grifters and murderous loremasters, then I agree.   My man, have you left this graveyard recently? Teron is one bad day away from becoming worm food.  MAKE TERON GREAT AGAIN     Yeah, thanks for wasting my time. *grumble grumble*  Yo, maybe you could get off your rear end and bury this body?  Yuck. At least we get a grappling hook out of this.  Near the palace is this crowd.   "zeal. And for a moment more the spell holds, the crowd subdued in the face of his conviction. But only for a moment." Methinks we've found one of Meru's zealots.   We could throw a stone at the preacher, but let's see what happens.  "I think we've heard enough, old fool," the heckler again. He spits his contempt at the old man's feet then turns, smirking, and pushes his way out through the crowd. At this, the crowd begins to disperse, grinning and making jokes. He makes the mistake of talking down to his audience and everyone leaves.  High intelligence gives us an opportunity to get in the preacher's good graces.    : Who are these Gods you speak of? Where did they come from? : Why did the Gods leave? Why haven't we seen them? If they wish to help us, why did they leave us to starve and struggle? : You spoke of false Lords... : Tell me of Lord Meru.  Sounds like we need to visit Ganezzar. For now, we need to get back to business...        ...like observing what a backwards shithole Teron is.  Weren't we going to show our map to Antidas? Let's get that over with.  The easiest option is to talk our way in.  This is Dellar. Dellar will be a constant pain in the rear end, save for one playthrough. : Master Feng has sent me to see Lord Antidas.    uuugggghh   : What else can you tell me?  : Can you give me any men?    : I'll think about it.Thanks to Biggus Dickus, we can't go in. We could try and solve those problems he mentioned... or we can find another way.  We'll try the palisade route.  How about the grappling hook?  Hey! Luckily, our DEX and STR are high enough.  Did I mention failing the checks from this point results in instant death?   It may seem suicidal, but we're going for the guard house.   Heading west...  poo poo poo poo poo poo go back I strongly advise against killing the guards unless you've got high charisma and good persuasion skills -- Antidas will call you out for it, and if you can't convince him? Game over. The back of the guardhouse might be safer.  It's not, but we can get some loot for our trouble.   Another option: impersonating a guard. Since we have no points in Impersonate, it's time to go upstairs.  Yet another option: pretend to be a servant. We'll try the tower from this level.  nope We make our way back outside and investigate the ground floor.  nope! The only option open to us is going to the east side of the compound...  ...climbing onto the roof...   ...and hastily picking the window lock.  Into the dining room!  Thank god no one glances under the table.  Time to check out the display room.   I really need to put some levels into Traps. We might juuuust make it...  ... Death Count: 2  A perception of 7 gets us out of this mess.   A combined score of 11 not only opens the door, it allows us to find a hidden chest.   We can't read the scroll at the moment. Looks like the only way out is downstairs.  DELLAR!   Never mind swearing loyalty; it's time to show Antidas the drat map.   "crumbling towns, still fighting each other like savages."   Antidas really likes to hear himself talk.   At long last, we have our long-term goal: find the temple of Thor-Agoth. : I want to learn more about your House, my Lord. Seriously, gently caress Teron. Next time: Digging for artifacts and killing a bunch of people. rudecyrus fucked around with this message at 00:42 on Feb 11, 2020 |
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Jan 21, 2020 06:23
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Part IV: Town of motherfuckers Welcome back. There's only a few things left to do in Teron, so let's finish up. I put on a nice green cloak I didn't notice I had.  Always be on the lookout for plants to harvest, because you'll save money. Certain plants can't be picked if the Alchemy skill is too low.   Here's the alchemy tab of the inventory. Ingredients are separated into two types of reagents: base and modifier. Base reagents are used to make the basic (duh) potion/salve/bomb/whatever, and modifiers can do things like lengthen effects, add damage, etc. For now we can make some healing salves and poison vials, but that'll get us through the early game.  I'm forging a new sword, made of iron, as higher quality metals do more damage. I'm also adding two techniques -- one raises our THC, while the other raises the chance of a CS.  Near the palace is this house, with some guy in flaming orange robes outside.  As far as I know, he'll only say more than one line to you if you're a loremaster.  Ugh.  A Lore of 4 tells us this stuff is legit. Thessalos must have more valuables around.   Let's rob this fool for waving his dick in our face.  Sadly, we can't grab much -- at least 5 in Traps, Sneak, and Lockpick are needed to get everything. Right now, all we can get is bronze dinnerware.  Opposite of Thessalos' house is this one.  Well, well.   gently caress.  That's okay. We have other options.     We're in!     Time to scram. After selling everything we have about 500 gold -- quite a bit for this game.  Making our way to Teron's main gate triggers this scene.  Oh good, more unreasonable dipshits. : So, you will let them starve and die outside the walls?   Sigh. Let's talk to the refugees...  As hilariously dickish as it is to demand 1500 gold, we'll be nice and pay their way. : Don't worry about it.  We find Aemolas between these buildings.  : So, what happened to your village?   We'll keep an eye out for this place. Sounds dangerous.  The armor we received is nice, but we'll forge something better shortly.  Cado is the leader of the local Forty Thieves chapter. Again, I'll save meeting him for another playthrough.  Not far from the tavern is this group of fine-looking individuals.  Hey! Let's do something really stupid!   Alright, I've had enough.   Three thugs to deal with, and one has a big-rear end hammer. Enemies with two-handed weapons are a real pain because they can dent your armor as well as dish out huge amounts of damage.  Always put poison on your melee weapon because the effect stacks.  I get lucky with my dodges here. Not only is Hammerman trying to knock my head off, there's a second prick throwing knives at me. I like how the two people near the wall don't give a poo poo.  gently caress yeah, critical strike, bleeding, and armor damage. I might actually win!  Things are going well, but now I'm getting surrounded...  Hammer Bro is down, but I'm at 9 HP. The inevitable happens...   Death Count: 3  This time I focus on the knife-throwing prick and pull a feint to keep the three in front of me.  One down.  Two down. Still in good shape, but we have to contend with Peter Gabriel.  He dodges, I dodge...   We win! We loot the bodies of everything and break down the weapons and armor.  Time to visit the healer.   It sounds worse than it is. Honest.  Because I'm a glutton for punishment, we'll do those tasks for Dellar. There's some new icons on the World Map -- we'll head for the Bandit Camp, which is east of Teron.  Soundtrack: Ambient I think we've found it. The dude in the cage must be the relative Dellar was talking about.   Hi, Esbenus. : I have an important message for you! Bye, Esbenus. : [streetwise][intimidate] Your captain has insulted House Daratan and paid for it. Fortunately for you, House Daratan doesn't hold the rest of you responsible. Hand over the prisoner and walk away with your lives.  If you're feeling suicidal you can fight the others, but there's five of them and two are equipped with bows. Good luck.      We'll see Antidas about our "magical" ring. I didn't do this earlier because I didn't have the Streetwise for it. Otherwise, we just hand him the ring without any explanation and he hands it back immediately.    Feng does what he does best and we get Antidas' ring as a reward, which we'll sell for a nice chunk of change. At this point I made some iron heavy armor and a bronze helmet, as it will be very handy for the next encounter.  Not far from the pile of corpses we left near the tavern, we stumble upon this scene. Meet one of the few female NPCs with a portrait. Our Streetwise lets us know the whole thing is a farce.  Grab her!  : Hand me everything you have. Hmm...  YOLO  Well, we're surrounded in an enclosed space by two heavily armed men. There's only one thing to do: Fight!     The fight starts off okay, then the mercenary lands a CS and knocks me out. Being knocked out deals massive penalties, like not being able to move or attack for several turns. If you get knocked out, you might as well reload the game.  Death Count: 4    It's smoother the second time around. The lady, Livia, has a mini crossbow that's annoying, but not as dangerous as this fucker with the axe and shield. Again, poison helps.  Notice they're hitting me for 10 points of damage. Thank god for the armor or else I'd be a pile of gore.  Both of the men are down, leaving Livia.  She's armed with a bronze dagger, so the fight's more or less over.  That'll teach you to ambush me.  Time to deal with the mine. Dellar mentioned the Aurelians getting regular supplies, so we'll ask the local merchants if they know anything.  Of course. Nothing's free, right?  The shanty town is just outside the main gate.   Here's the man himself.    Rhaskos, you picked a bad day to say "no" to me. : Then what do I need you for?  He goes down like a sack of scrap iron.  All of this killing has made me hungry. Luckily, there's a kebab seller nearby.  : Sure. God loving dammit!   Must suppress urge to flip out... : [body count] I take it, you don't know who I am.We have a body count of 10 at this point.    At least we get a meal out of it. Next time: The worst NPC rudecyrus fucked around with this message at 00:43 on Feb 11, 2020 |
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Jan 24, 2020 02:28
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 Octavia's stats, for those interested. New update coming shortly, which will close out the Teron chapter. We got the "Infiltrator" trait by sneaking into the palace. rudecyrus fucked around with this message at 21:22 on Jan 24, 2020 |
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Jan 24, 2020 21:20
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Part V: The worst NPC Before leaving for the mine, I notice some squatters in a ruined tower.  Yum.  Soundtrack: Ancient Even better! : Can I fight them? This is the devs taking shots at every RPG that forced you to fight rats in a cellar.     The drain looks interesting, but we can't see anything through the muddy water.  Let's check out the walls.    Time to flex our crafting skills.    We found a... thing. Whatever it is, I'm sure we'll find a use for it. When we leave...  You've gotta be loving kidding. : [streetwise] Don't you see?! It's the curse! The curse of the tower! To touch it is to die. : [streetwise] Hmm... maybe I should leave it here. Disturbing a curse can bring one all kinds of misfortunes. I feel weaker already... So long, suckers.  Near the merchant plaza is this guy.  I smell bullshit : Sounds like a good deal. Maybe even a little bit too good to be true? It's probably a trap, but... : Alright, let's go and take a look. Called it!    There's only two guys, but they aren't pushovers, which I discovered when one knocked me out.  Death Count: 5     Second go around, I managed to dodge more attacks and inflict poison on both of 'em.  Behind a locked door is a chest containing a sharpening stone and 20 steel ingots! A good haul.  Miltiades has a rendezvous with my foot in his rear end.  : Ah, Miltiades, my good man. I can't believe you missed all the excitement.  : What are you mumbling about? I doubt he'd have the balls to trick us again. : Deal.   Motherfucker.   I really don't want to fight again, so it's time to intimidate this fop. : Miltiades may have made a fool out of you, but I'll make a loving corpse out of you, unless you put a leash on your apes and get the gently caress out of here.It's been a long day. Octavia's had enough of this poo poo.  Time to find Miltiades and stick my sword down his gullet.  He's hanging around by the blacksmith.  As tempting as it is to slice him to ribbons on the spot, we'll chew him out first.   472 gold? You've bought yourself a reprieve, Miltiades. A short one.    And he scampers off. I hope we never meet again.  The only quest left is to investigate the mine. We could buy the amulet off the prospector, but gently caress that, I'm not spending 500 gold.  We'll take the usual approach.     The crates contain a Bomb and some Black Power, which we'll definitely use.   We know what the machines are for, but there's no way to activate them.     We found... another thing. Presumably, we can put it in the console.   We could overheat the smelter and destroy everything, which would please Antidas, but do we really want to? Teron sucks a choad. Besides, I wanna see this thing in action.   Well, whatever. We were going to Maadoran anyway.  Soundtrack: Slides That's it for Teron! At the end of each "chapter," there's an epilogue of sorts, showing you how the major plots and power struggles play out. You're probably thinking, "The Boatmen killed the Imperial Guards? What does the Commercium have to do with this?" Patience.   We also find out the fates of the more notable characters and the consequences of some of our actions. I'll take a break from the main playthrough to explore the other factions and subplots. There's more to this than you think. Next time: Alternative starts rudecyrus fucked around with this message at 00:45 on Feb 11, 2020 |
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Jan 24, 2020 22:50
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Xander77 posted:Can we come back and We can come back later, but not before a certain point. yes good
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Jan 25, 2020 21:50
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Part VI: Greed is good This is Gaius Goonius, and he'll be starring in the side playthroughs. First up: merchant.  Merchant is arguably the easiest background for beginners, as you'll rely entirely on dialogue skills and won't get a sniff of combat if you're smart.   I'm getting good vibes from Linos.  Remember Gracius, the merchant with the map who ended up dead? Linos was behind it. : You'll kill a man for trading in your town? : What about the laws? Oh, well if that's all...   We're transported to the Boatmen of Styx guild. It's nice to see someone who enjoys their work. : This time?   I invested some points in Trading since we're a merchant. It'll come up a lot.    I didn't know Stalin existed in this universe. Time to see our buddy, Feng!    He's his cheery self, as usual. : What do you do around here? He's also the sass dispenser. Time to show him the map.  Our Streetwise/Trading is high enough to know Feng's bullshitting us. : Easy there, Feng. Let's leave this "valuable artifact" act for farmers and discuss a reasonable price. : Here is the money. What else can you tell me about the map?   This sounds familiar. : How grateful are we talking about? Time to squeeze Feng a little. : [trading] I wonder what you will do once the new loremaster settles in. I've heard that it's hard to start begging at such an old age. Nice. We'll deal with Cassius right away.  Instead of shanking the doofus, we'll convince him to leave town. : You aren't getting it, are you? If you stay here you *will* die. Do you want to wake up everyday, wondering if today is the day? Do you want to live in fear, never knowing when the assassins will strike?  We tell Feng the news, he gives us the ring, blah blah blah.  Something I didn't show off in the main playthrough: there's a trader outside the inn we can bilk. It's easier if we have the merchant background.    Ah, there's nothing like shaking down hapless citizens. Puts a smile on my face.   With that out of the way, we go back to Linos.  : About Gracius' map...   I imagine Linos bathing in a pile of gold every day, like Scrooge McDuck. : What should I do now?  : Cado's tavern? Isn't that the thieves guild?  : Why do you care about the Imperial Guards? Linos sounds like Mr. Burns in my head.  By the way, the Zenon we referenced earlier? He's right here.  : I have some questions... Q & A time! : How long have you been with the guild?  The Commercium operates much like the mafia, it seems. : Why did he refuse? : Who runs the Commercium? Great. Sounds like Strabos is another unbearable, power-hungry tyrant. : Who else has the power in the organization? Linos, Strabos and Athanasius could form a comedy team. Call it "The Three Sociopaths." : Any tips? Thanks for the SP, Zenon. : What do you do here?     I dunno; the Commercium is less of a hen and more of a viper. Off to the palace. We talk to the preacher along the way, but things go differently...  Instead of asking about the Gods, we can go on an ego trip.    A major ego trip.  We need a charisma of 9 to pull off this next bit. Luckily, we do!   Yes, we convinced this man we're the loving Messiah. How many games let you do that?   Huh, this is different. Thank god we don't have to waste time with Dellar.  CASSIUS!  Back outside we go. Looks like we have to complete Dellar's missions after all. Before we leave... : I've heard you raided caravans back in the day.        Aw, poor Dellar. Sadly, his training is wasted on this character. At the bandit camp...  : I'm here to negotiate. : Lord Antidas will certainly appreciate your kindness, but a thousand coins is too much.     I told you Trading would come up a lot. : How does an Imperial Guard become a raider? Boy, people will tell you anything when you've got god-like charm.  : So, how did you end up here? Pay attention to this next part.    : I've heard of such platforms. It's said that there is a similar device in the Commercium's building in Maadoran. : A temple carved into a mountain? It's got to be Hellgate. The stories I've heard match your own -- it's a gateway to the underworld. No man has ever returned for only the dead can dwell there, or so the legend goes. HELLGATE  : Do you remember where this cave was? Back to Dellar!  : They want money. They asked for a thousand, but I talked them down to five hundred. Oh come on! I went through the whole negotiation for nothing? : Then pay the raiders to attack the Aurelian outpost. You'll kill two birds with one stone.  Back to Esbenus!  : blah blah, do the thing, blah blah God dammit, why do I get pushback on every plan I propose? : [persuasion][trading] Do the thing and get paid. Back to Dellar! Again!   Yeah, it looks like Esbenus held up his end of the bargain.   We could keep the money, but, uh, that seems like a bad idea.  And he gives us the power module for keeping our word. See? It pays not to be a backstabbing douche, Cassius.  From here, we activate the smelter like we did in the main playthrough.  You'll notice we can do something else at the control panel, but our Crafting is too low. We may find out what it does later...    We show Antidas the map and he goes through his spiel.  Remember when we asked Antidas about his House and he shut us down?  : The story is most inspiring, my Lord.  So, Daratan was king of the hill until the war against the Qantari almost wiped them out. Then a prophecy said Antidas would rebuild the Empire and, being a stuck-up noble born with a silver spoon in his mouth, he swallowed all of it. Yay! : Speaking of rings, check out this piece of work! Uh oh.  Hilariously, Cassius spots it's a fake immediately. Time to poo poo on his expertise. : The only ring you've handled is the one on your cock.   : Shut up and sit down, my unassailable logic has bested you. Eat my entire rear end, Cassius. Next time: Subterfuge, forgery, and windbags rudecyrus fucked around with this message at 00:47 on Feb 11, 2020 |
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Jan 27, 2020 06:09
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Part VII: Making friends through blatant cheating After humiliating Cassius in front of his boss, we, naturally, request a meeting.    He isn't keen on talking to us, but he relents if you have positive reputation with House Daratan.  : I want to know more about the war with the Qantari and the summoned "allies." "accounts of the battle of Estios all claiming the same thing: Ull-Xerath rose from the deep and attacked the legions of General Kesion, slaughtering over a thousand soldiers before the magi forced him to retreat." Christ, I regret this already.   : Is there anything you can teach me? Even the game hates Cassius. Let's get out of here and see Mercato.   The idea here is to get leverage on Mercato so he'll spill the beans about Carrinas' plans. : I need a favor.  I'm surprised Cado gives a poo poo.  If we want Cado's help, there are two ways to do it: threaten him (at which point you have to fight the entire guild unless you can talk him down), or give him something. : What do you want? He makes a good argument. : I accept your offer. What do I have to do? Think about this for a second: the Forty Thieves guildmaster -- a guild infamous for deceit -- suddenly wants to be our friend. All we need to do is give him our signature. If you believe Cado is on the up and up, you haven't been paying attention. : It's a death sentence. I'm not signing it.  You're about to lose and we salute you! -- Let's Play A Game of Chance  drat your skills, Mercato! We don't have much DEX, but perhaps we can win by cheating.  Nope. Thankfully, we have the magnetism of Jesus Christ, Mick Jagger and Winston Churchill combined, so he isn't upset about it.     It takes a bunch of skill checks, but we get Mercato to our side.  Carrinas is smarter than I thought. : So, what happened between you and Carrinas?  : If it's a shithole, why do you care?  : Sounds like the locals had learned a valuable lesson.  : So, what's out there? Come on! You can't leave it on a cliffhanger!     Aw, we made a friend. Back to Linos.   : Final test for what? : Elsewhere? To the    For once, Neleos is reluctant to take the job.   It makes sense; killing the local commander will bring reprisals.  To the palace!   You know what, Dellar? You're okay.   He's reluctant to do anything, unsurprisingly. A bit of sweet-talking might do the trick.    Crap. It's pretty difficult to convince Antidas without evidence, so don't feel bad.   : How do I get inside? : I can forge the proof. Decision time! There are, currently, two ways to get proof of Carrinas' plans: Ask Mercato for help or Go it alone. What should we do, goons? rudecyrus fucked around with this message at 03:29 on Oct 16, 2020 |
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Jan 28, 2020 03:55
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Looks like we're asking for help. I'll have the next update done as soon as I can.
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Jan 29, 2020 04:33
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Part VIII: Well, that was easy When we last left Gaius Goonius (merchant edition), he was attempting to find (or forge) proof of Carrinas' plan to overthrow Lord Antidas. You voted to ask Mercato for help, so let's do that.   We need a suit of armor if we're going to infiltrate the barracks. Hopefully, this Quintus won't be difficult.  Oh good, another hovel. I was hoping for a palatial estate constructed out of gold, but then again I'm stupid.  Maybe Quintus could sell rat-on-a-stick as a kind of regional cuisine. I smell an untapped market!  Our perception is too low to find the armor. I like to think our character looked at the two or three objects Quintus owns and then gave up.  Time to exercise our silver tongue. : Master Quintus? I'm a censor and I'd like to ask you a few questions. It's about the new order issued by Commander Marcus Carrinas.   Quick attitude change.   We just scammed a nearly homeless veteran out of his only prized possession. All in a good day's work. To the barracks!  We don the armor and pray like crazy Mercato is there.  Thanks, Mercato.   : Where are the orders?   We do well until our Level 1 impersonate skill fails us. Oh well. There's still good ol' fashioned bribery.  pffft yeah right     Our high reputation with the Commercium ensures the guard gets paid. The bad news? Linos will totally dock our paycheck for this.  Easy. There's a third way to get what we need: if we gave Cado our signature, he'll hand us a writ that gets us past the guard -- he'll even raise the impersonate skill at no extra charge!  : Here is the proof, my Lord.  Jesus, how loaded is the Commercium?   Linos, if you can give away 50,000 imperials like that, then it's time to discuss my pay.     : What do you think of Antidas?   : Gods?  : You mentioned Meru... So, he wasn't always a believer?  Interesting. It seems Meru became a true believer after going deep into Castle Ganezzar.    Another revelation: House Crassus played an important role in summoning the High Lords. It makes sense Meru would be especially religious.   Whoa. A lot happened off-screen. If you were wondering how the Imperial Guards were wiped out, things should be getting clearer. We have two options: convince the remaining Guards to join Antidas, or convince Antidas to kill them. We'll try the less bloody route.  Looks like Mercato got promoted.     Mercato, buddy, don't ruin our friendship like this!   : Listen to me, Mercato. You got lucky. Carrinas ended up dead and you ended up on top, but now you want to quit the game. You're thinking like a farmer who finds a plough, being eager to break his back working the fields. Think like a merchant. Ask yourself "what can I get for this plough" and leave the fields to simpler men.   Chalk up another success.  : I have convinced the remaining Guards to join your House. Our reward is a drat good dagger. Useless for this character, but whatever.     That's the end of this chapter! We performed so well we're going to Maadoran to speak with the head honcho of the Commercium. By the way, this is where throwing your lot in with Cado comes back to bite you on the rear end. If you give him your signature, he uses it (and steals your ring) to divert the gold shipment meant for Antidas to a warehouse, where it's promptly stolen. What did you expect? You idiot. You fool. If you can't convince Linos you had nothing to do with it? Dead. Decision time! For our next playthrough, will we be a thief, an assassin, or a mercenary? rudecyrus fucked around with this message at 00:52 on Feb 11, 2020 |
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Jan 30, 2020 05:16
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Looks like assassin is the winner. Update will come sometime soon.
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Jan 31, 2020 04:15
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Part IX: Murder, Inc. Playing as an assassin is one of the harder backgrounds in the game. You're expected to split your SP between civil and combat skills, and if you choose poorly? Good luck. One thing I'll say is impersonate isn't a bad choice for assassins, unlike most of the other backgrounds.  Here we are at the guild's HQ, which you're familiar with. I decided to name the PC Gaius Stabbius -- it seemed appropriate.  Ah, Neleos. It's always good to see a smiling face. : Only fifty? : He's just arrived and someone wants him dead already? Enough farting around -- we've got a mark to kill.   RIP We don't have any levels in persuasion, so there's only one thing to do: stab the guard in the neck.  It doesn't kill him, but it removes a good chunk of health.   Using nets to entangle the guard makes the fight much easier.   It's not too difficult to put this guy down, but we have to use aimed strikes to pierce his armor. Get used to this.  Finally, he takes a dirt nap.  We loot the bodies and take everything from the nearby chest  Time to scram.  I believe the perception check is for the sphere. The PC ends up with the map no matter what.    : Do you have time for a few questions? : I'm surprised we operate so openly.  : How did it become a proper business?   Before we see Feng, let's talk to the other guild members.  This is Coltan.   Coltan raises our alchemy a bit, which is indispensable for assassins.  In the next room are Agatai (the guy in front of us) and Dias.  Agatai is a big conversationalist. : Can you teach me how to fight like you?  It's his way of saying "No, I won't teach you." : Tell me about the Ordu.  You didn't answer my question, rear end in a top hat.   Dias is more helpful. Good thing he lived to tell the tale, because dying at the hands of a teenager would be embarrassing as gently caress.  Last stop is Fulvio.  : So far. Any tricks of the trade you can share with me? With that out of the way, we go see Feng.   When negotiating over the payment for offing Cassius, we can use our assassin background to squeeze out a few more imperials.  We persuade Cassius to leave, but this time our PER lets us know he's lying. There's only one response to this.  Ah, that was satisfying.   Something else to note: An alchemy of at least 2 allows us to know the ring is fake. Time to get another job from Neleos.  : Always.   : Are you sure that they are spies? : Payment?  Here's the house.   Huh. I didn't expect this.  : What happened to him?Please ignore the dagger in my hand and answer my questions.  If nothing else, maybe we can get the spies' descriptions from her. : Does anyone else live here? : I'm looking for two people. They are probably not from around here. I have a message for them. Waaaaait a minute...  drat spy acting like an old man covered in feces!   The fight isn't too hard, especially when you use poison.    The lady gets off a few lucky shots and I end up with 7 HP. We win, just the same.  gently caress. : What kind of help? And what assurance do I have that you would keep your word to an assassin? Puh-leeze. : No deal. Hand me the reports and I'll let you walk away. Our persuasion isn't high enough to pass this check, so let's go with the other choice. : What choice do you have? poo poo. Remember Dias' story?  Death count: 6   The second round is much better thanks to higher HP and some nets.   Mission accomplished.  I nearly died for these loving reports. I hope it will be reflected in my pay.  I don't know what Agatai teaches us. Presumably, "don't get hit." At this point, I get Dellar's quests and go to Rhaskos to convince him to poison some wine. If we use body count...  ...we fail, because it's not high enough. I guess killing only 4 people doesn't impress these days.  He wants 100 imperials, but gently caress that.  If we leave and come back, a new option pops up. : The guards are looking for you! They'll be here any minute! So long, Rhaskos.  Let's do this.   Hopefully, this will work.     Don't mind the strange aftertaste -- the vintners are trying a new, um... formula. If we return to the outpost...  Looks like someone is suffering from a case of... sour grapes.  One down, but there are three more to grapple with, all in heavy armor. The fight is over so quickly, I didn't capture any of it.  Death count: 7    On the second go around, I manage to kill two of the guards, but the dipshit with the crossbow one-shots me. Death count: 8  Third time's the charm. This time, I crafted a dagger and used sharpening stones to up the damage.    Incredibly, I came out of this more or less unscathed.  One of the bodies has the mine key. I like the item description.  Oh, good.  There's five more people in the mine. Three are lightly armored, but it's still a bear of a fight.  The narrow tunnel is great if you're a range-focused fighter. It's not so great when you're reduced to using a loving crossbow that takes 5 AP to reload. It becomes downright frustrating when the enemies get close and stomp another mudhole in your rear end. Death count: 9 Next time: Impressing others through wanton murder rudecyrus fucked around with this message at 00:54 on Feb 11, 2020 |
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Feb 2, 2020 07:23
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Part X: A series of unfortunate events Last time, I kept dying to some bastards in a mine. This time, I'm wearing heavy armor.   The idea is to pick off the weaker, unarmored workers, but my THC is at 1% until they're about three tiles away, at which point I need to either back up or pull out a melee weapon. Oh, and I died shortly after the second screenshot. Death count: 10  On the next go, I get lucky with a critical strike.  I didn't capture it right, but two of the workers were lined-up, single file. The first one dodged the bolt and the second one caught it square in the chest.   Already doing better -- two enemies are down.  Three down.   Four down...  pleasedon'tdiepleasedon'tdiepleasedon'tdie  YEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAGH!   We can't do anything with the machinery, but who gives a poo poo? We won!   75 imperials for killing eight people? gently caress you. Antidas, map, yadda yadda. We negotiate with the bandits and come back.  : What do you want me to do then? : I don't think so. There are too many of them. Our high perception will let us give a detailed explanation of the camp. : (perception) haha i'm not typing all of that 50 imperials. A little less than an octuple homicide. We should get another job from Neleos.  When the game gives you a break and outright tells you to prepare, do it. I put on some lighter armor for more AP.  : I am ready. Tell me what this job is about. "the stairs, so use the window; two crossbows and ten steel armor piercing bolts, and some merchant robes to avoid attracting attention. Any questions?" : What happens afterwards? Won't the Imperial Guards come after us? I see no flaw in this. : What do you know about the merchant who rented the room? Guess everything's all set. Let's do this.  If you're feeling insane, you can kill Dias and join the Guards. We're not doing that.  Follow that Dias!   Awesome. Time to get back to the guild and celebrate.   What! You mean the gentlemen's agreement to not attack the guild that depended on humans being perfectly rational creatures... backfired?  There's four guards in heavy armor, but having two companions is a big help.  I use a black power bomb to inflict a whopping 13 points of damage.  Then it's a flask of liquid fire to break up the clump of soldiers.    The three of us whittle them down until there's only this turtled-up dingus.  He's not dangerous, but his tower shield means he'll block a good number of attacks and prolong the fight. Eventually, he bites the dust.    That's a bad idea. You're crazy. Okay FINE : I'm in.  Coltan gives us some poison for keeping him alive. I'll use it almost immediately because we're low.  The fight begins at range. Cue me missing all of my shots.  Close combat is where I shine.  Dead.   Deadx2   Hopefully, Neleos and the others are okay.  Yeah, I think they've been here.  RIP Agatai. I didn't know a thing about you.  RIP Dias. You had so many years of murder ahead of you.  Neleos!  Eat bomb! Interesting fact: the explosion is cross-shaped, so I can hit the guards without harming Neleos.    Down to one. The Centurion is another pain in the rear end thanks to his shield.  Neleos! NOOOooooo!     Neleos... It's possible to save Neleos, but it's difficult. You need to deal substantial and consistent damage to both guards, and the enemy AI is programmed to focus on him. I believe he shows up later if you're successful.  Time to leave.    That's it for Teron! That's it? Yep, that's it. I'll admit, I was disappointed the first time I played an assassin. After the opening vignette, there's only one guild-related quest before you're railroaded to the end of the chapter, and everything after Carrinas' death where you pull a Terminator and decimate an entire barracks felt... off. Where's the subterfuge? I wanted more intrigue and less evisceration. Fortunately, things pick up in the next chapter. Since mercenary was the second most popular choice, I'll be playing that next. Next time: Solving problems, one death at a time rudecyrus fucked around with this message at 03:51 on Oct 16, 2020 |
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Feb 6, 2020 06:52
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quote:Oh, and if you're one of the few who played this game, then refrain from spoilers, please.
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Feb 6, 2020 17:42
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Part XI: You asked for this   Meet Gaius Brutus, our PC for the mercenary playthrough. He'll show us why a campaign relying solely on combat is an incredible pain in the rear end.   The prologue has us assigned as Gracius's guard. Our gear is fine for now, but that'll change soon. : On my way.   Well, that could've been worse.   Crap. Who will pay us now? At least we can exact bloody revenge.    The assassin isn't hard to kill.  Poor Gracius. Might as well take his stuff, since he doesn't need it.  Notice we didn't pick up the metal sphere? Our PER is too low to spot it.   I'm sure it'll go smoothly. There have never been any complications in this game so far. : Alright, let's go.   WHO COULD'VE PREDICTED But seriously, how does Cado stay in business when he's backstabbing everyone?  Alright, time to chop these thugs down.   Again, not a hard fight. Vardanis is there, but don't expect him to contribute -- he does little damage and is certain to die after a few turns. Theoretically you can save him, but I've never done it.   RIP Vardanis.   A sound observation, game.  If you go see Cado, he extorts you on threat of death. Are you surprised? Back to the inn.  Oh yeah, the money is gone too. Honest!     Off to Feng's.  Sounds good!  Fun fact: My first playthrough was as a mercenary and I totally bought Feng's horse poo poo. It wasn't until much later I discovered I'd been cheated.   I'll admit, Feng's a drat good actor. Cassius dies, etc.   Feng sells us a fake ring as a reward. Thanks, Feng!  Time to join the Imperial Guards.      : Why do we have to act like raiders attacking our own people? Good thing we have no morals! : Yes.  So. This fight.  It's against two guards in light metal armor armed with axes (one-handed and two-handed), two guards in heavy armor with shields (one has a spear, the other has a sword), and a merchant constantly sniping you with a crossbow.    I hate this fight. Part of the problem is that I don't have enough levels in combat skills to tackle any big fights at this point, my equipment is dog poo poo, and the guards in heavy armor nullify most of my damage.  loving look at this. 7 points of damage and none of it affects his HP. At least his armor gets dented.  Whoops, looks like my AI partners are dead and I'm down to 7 HP. That's another thing: the AI doesn't seem to have any tactics beyond "attack nearest target." Sure, they're not brain dead (they'll vary strikes, characters with ranged weapons try to stay at range), but it's not like they'll try flanking maneuvers.  I saw this screen four more times after this. Death Count: 15  After the fifth death, I reloaded an earlier save and spent almost all of my money buying heavier armor and a bigger shield. I also forged an iron axe. For fun, I decided to walk around town with nothing on.   Heeey!  I also tried some (ugh) tactics here by running around the wagon in the hopes of funneling someone towards me. It worked. Nets are super useful here.  Astonishingly, the three of us are alive with only the trader left.  This is for your sniping, you little turd.  Remember, no morals.  We rob the corpses of pretty much everything.    Man, this application process is brutal. : Kill the other two? Eh, hell with it.   Compared to the last fight, this one is a breeze.  : No spoils of war for the victor?  And just like that, we're a legionary in the Imperial Guards. Next Time: Carrinas makes his move rudecyrus fucked around with this message at 00:56 on Feb 11, 2020 |
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Feb 11, 2020 00:36
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Part XII: Blood for the blood god We're at the Teron barracks. Before getting our next assignment, we need to get some things out of the way.  First, killing the poo poo out of the thugs near the tavern.  Then we convince Rhaskos to poison the wine at the Aurelian outpost and kill them too.  Man, this is a piece of cake compared to other playthroughs!   We finish up by slaughtering the bandits holding Tiberius hostage. I got the Terminator achievement, as you can see.  Enough of that; we need to get back to work. : Yes.  Soundtrack: Imperial Guard I Carrinas means business.     Geez, how green are these recruits?  Naturally, we go with the block option.  Any option is fine, but I prefer to attack the exterior guards.  The fight is nothing special: there are more enemies in the tower, but they're occupied by our allies.  Christ. I don't think I can convey how tedious some of the fights can be. When you've got multiple people in heavy armor and shields blocking damage or straight-up absorbing it, these scuffles become grinding bores.  We're officially awesome!  The quartermaster has a nice selection of items, which we'll make use of shortly.  : Yes. Place your bets on whether this goes smoothly.   : My Lord. I'm sure you're aware of the situation... Oops, I didn't put any points into the speech skills!  No regrets!   For a noble, Antidas is a tough old bastard.  Eep.  RIP Antidas. Unfortunately, this doesn't make the fight much easier.  Cue a long, interminable fight that ends in death.  And then two more after that! Death Count: 18  Eventually, I start throwing bombs. Sometimes it's pure luck whether you survive. Just before the above screenshot, I was hit with a CS which did something like 20 points of damage. I decided to reload a save, because gently caress that noise.   I stumble into a winning strategy by shanking Antidas and then retreating towards friendlies. Healing salves are a must, or else you'll take a dirt nap via blood loss.   That's Dellar, managing to hold off five Guards. I swear, the friendly AI is braindead at times.  Dellar finally dies and we mop up the lone spearman.  Thanks. Could you give us some people that aren't loving idiots, next time?    We're a centurion now!  Oh, and we're being arrested.: Is it necessary? : Why not go with the questioning? : I can handle it. Trust me.  We could escape, kill the guards, and go to Maadoran that way... but I'm going to wait. The outcome is a little more intriguing.    One more side playthrough, and then it's back to Octavia. Next Time: Kleptomania
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Feb 14, 2020 03:02
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Night10194 posted:The Antidas Fight is honestly one of the best fights in the game. There's a nice actual balance between trying to be a hero (because as you saw here, the friendlies will lose if you don't chip in; Dellar is a loving nightmare of a warrior and Antidas is no slouch with his heavy crossbow) and having to keep yourself alive by not biting off too much. Oh yeah, there are a bunch of different outcomes for this quest, but this was the only one my thick-as-pigshit mercenary could take.
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Feb 14, 2020 03:44
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Part XIII: I'll take that. And that. And that. And that...  Our final side playthrough is as Gaius Impuratus, Forty Thieves member and all-around scoundrel.  Oh boy, Cado's our boss. I can't wait!  : I'm the one doing all the work... I wonder how many times Cado had to tell us this. : Where does the name "Forty Thieves" come from? No no, prostitution is the oldest profession.    Climbing the wall seems safest.   There's the map. While we're here...  It takes a level 3 lockpick skill and a level 3 steal skill to get everything.  Sure, we could fool Cado, but we get a better reward if we hand over everything.  Like an increase in lockpicking!  Before we leave, we should chat with the other guild members. First up is the guy to our right.   : The one on the right. Thanks for the dagger we'll never use, Lucius. Next is the guy at the bar.  Kleitos functions as the guild trader.  okay fine, sell me on your weapons of death   I buy a standard crossbow from Kleitos, even though I plan to avoid combat.  Finally, there's this dude.   : What can you tell me about the guild's history? : We operate openly...  Personally, I think the Forty Thieves are in a more precarious position than everyone lets on.  Oh, you're an enforcer. Got it.     Time to see Feng.   On the way I steal this merchant's purse, because why not?   I also break into Feng's house.  He's not even all that mad if you get caught -- he just wants you to come back with money.  Stealing from the blacksmith...  Stealing from the inn...  Stealing from random merchants! It's great when you don't have to buy anything.  We have a new option in the woman/mercenary encounter. : Nice try, dear. : Does Cado know you're running cons in this town?  So, is the mercenary just standing there with a dumb look on this face during this?  Anyway, we break into Thessalos's place (remember him?) and take everything not nailed down.   He's loaded! And he has poor taste in ancient erotica.  Also burgling the house of the noble lady with the pretty gems. After selling everything, I'm swimming in roughly 2000 gold.  If you're part of the thieves' guild, there's an extra option for dealing with the raiders holding Tiberius hostage. : I'll run it by Cado then, see what he says.    Good to see the Forty Thieves graduated from the "pay me first" school of friendship. We're going with the "Steal" response since it's our highest skill right now. : (does fancy poo poo with a coin) A favor for a favor?  We'll try the window. Seems like a safer bet.  Good thing I put points in traps this time!  The goblet is likely in the chest, so let's explore first.    Got it! Back to Cado.  Looks like Livia's here.  Why are you calling me "sugar," like a 50-year-old aunt?   Thanks for the impersonate training.  At least act glad to see us, Cado. : Here is the goblet. I did that so you'd have a new wine cup? Whatever.    Cross that off the list.  As for the mine, we sneak in like in the main playthrough, but with a different outcome in mind.   : The machines are working. They are turning iron into gold! Gold!  RIP everyone.   We can add "industrial saboteur" to our list of traits.  Our next job for the Forty Thieves involves making an ore shipment disappear.  Talking with the gate guards gives us a variety of options. : They cut your pay?!  : I bet the Imperial Guards wouldn't risk their lives for nothing. What do they do anyway?  : When do you expect the next shipment?  : Wanted to ask about Flavius... Did he pay his debt?  Maybe we can ask Cado for help.  Remember the part in the merchant playthrough when Cado tries to trick us into giving him our signature? Instead of Gaius Goonius as the sucker, it's Zenon, and he signs.  : The Imperial Guards have a special shipping mandate. The gate guards can't even tough their shipments.  Thanks for the vote of confidence, Cado.   Feng!  All in all, we have four options: 1. Bribe the guards 2. Steal the mandate from the Imperial Guards when the shipment arrives. 3. Talk to Flavius about his debt 4. Forge a mandate with Feng's help Ordinarily I'd leave the decision up to you lot, but I'm going with what I think is the optimal path.  First, we need to talk to Flavius.          : Doesn't sound like much of a problem, if you ask me.  We'll pick the lock.        Very clever, Kaeso.   : I changed my mind. I'd rather take cash. Two hundred imperials and we're even. So what will we do now?  See Feng, of course!  : Cado sends his regards. He needs your help in a delicate situation.   Iron Tower should make a game starring Feng.  : I'm going to forge the mandate.     Hooray! The next day...  : What did you want to talk about? Did you take care of the ore shipment? Are you making GBS threads me? Did I do all of that just for Cado to change his mind at the last second?  : A fortune in gold? : At night? They will ship it at night?  Let's use our big brainy brain and come up with a different plan. : A direct attack *will* have consequences. The merchants guild will be bound to respond in kind. Maybe now would be a good time to use the paper you made Linos' man sign.    At the Commercium HQ, we find some guy in blue standing in the hall.     Dumbass.  : About the gold shipment... Here's your drat ring.   : Yes, I'm sure. Sudden merchant outfit.  Good thing Livia taught us how to impersonate a rich douchebag.     : You're not going to leave him with the gold alone, are you?       The trick is the sneak requirements get higher as you take more crates.    Level 5 in Sneak will get us every crate.  Off to Maadoran, then.  Let's say our goodbyes.  : Yes.  : And if I can't? Thanks, Lucius.  : You do?  : Easier said than done.  Thanks, Aziz. I think.  : Yes. Jesus Christ, not another complication.  We need to make our way to the main gate, but there are a bunch of people blocking our path.  Let's go for a diversion.  Easy.  Oh, right, the gate guards.  : Let me pass. No dice. : I'm on a mission of great importance. Unless you want to explain to Lord Antidas why you thought that his mission could wait, open the loving gate NOW! : Were you supposed to? Does Lord Antidas have a habit of informing you about his latest plans? Listen, we're on the same side here. Don't make it difficult for me and I won't make it difficult for you. Now, open the gate, I've lost enough time chatting with you here. Freedom!  gently caress  To hell with it, time for stabbing.      With that, we leave Teron for good.    Apologies for the massive update, but I'm eager to return to Octavia, which is what we'll do next time! Next Time: Seriously, didn't you read the above sentence?
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Feb 19, 2020 16:48
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Hypocrisy posted:Huh. How much more gold does Linos have? Does this leave Antidas broke and incapable of replacing the Guard with mercenaries? Nope! The Commercium is rich as gently caress, so presumably Linos sends Antidas more gold after the heist.
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Feb 21, 2020 19:02
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Part XIV: It's a Maad world Soundtrack: Maadoran Last time, Octavia was "convinced" by Aurelian guards to travel to Maadoran and meet Lord Gaelius.   Well, when in : Yes, my lord. Who can say no to that? : I swear my fealty to you, my Lord.     tl;dr: go to tomb, deal with raiders, bring back helmet. : Why is it called the Helm of Destiny? : Maybe he was a good general? : You mentioned Darius was quite mad when he was killed. Don't wear the helmet. Got it.   Time to explore. Maadoran is the largest city in the game, divided into five districts and serving as a noticeable bump in difficulty and complexity. If you had a hard time in Teron, you're going to be miserable in Maadoran. You'll see later.  For now, we'll get a room at the inn.  Whee! More stories!      Ouch.  Ibn Hadad again, showing up to save the day.   : Did the scroll mention the name of that demon? We'll keep an eye out for that name. : What were the Magi working on before the attack on the city? Personally, it sounds like the Magi were lording it over the commoners, but what do I know? I'm an apprentice loremaster. : The Abyss used to be called the District of Wisdom?   Enlightening stuff. Let's get a room.  : I need a room.   I do the old "steal everything" routine, but it's much less successful. Something tells me you need to be at the Proficient level (around 5-6) in the thieving skills to get anything. It's still a good idea to get a room, because your stash can be transferred from city to city via a chest, something I neglected to mention before.  Back outside, we strike up a chat with a local.   : Asmara and Cippur?  : What can you tell me about Ganezzar?  Flying ships? Pull the other one. : What can you tell me about Caer-Tor? : You mentioned villages? Honestly, I thought the stories of the realm being an empty, blighted wasteland were exaggerated, but things are more dire than I thought.  We need the lay of the land, so let's ask for help.  Of course it's not free.  Maadoran is making a good impression so far. : How many districts are there in the city? Especially if it's your masturbating hand!    Deadly fog? I'll keep that in mind. : Who rules the city?This question is funny, considering we met Gaelius five minutes ago.  Sounds like Gaelius has his hands full rooting out schemes from the other Noble Houses. : Why do guards avoid the Slums? Surely, they can restore order? Spoken like a true member of the bourgeoisie.  : I'm looking for some people. UGH, I guess we should check if Miltiades made it... : Miltiades. Oh. What a shame. : Domitius Ulpius. : Do you know a good loremaster?  Another crazy person. Excellent. : Where can I find some work? Arena? Maybe we'll take a look.  There's a tavern, but we can't do anything there at the moment.  A map of Maadoran. Ignore the gigantic crater for now. The Arena District doesn't have much going for it, save the titular building and the Fort. As we approach the Arena...   Looks like it's time to make an rear end of myself!  : Is that what you do for a living? Rob and kill the newcomers? Fool, I'm giving a righteous speech! : Get out of here. We have a body count of 12 at this point. That's probably enough to intimidate this dingleberry. : Or I'll loving kill you. Wait, what?   Naturally, I died. I died quite a bit.   Even the almighty power of bombs didn't keep me alive. I was surprised at how tough these dudes were -- they're not in heavy armor, but they do hit hard and inflict a lot of status effects: crippling, bleeding, armor damage, etc. If you don't stay on top of things, you're brown bread.  After some trial and error, I used liquid fire flasks to keep the group separated.  The fire persists for several turns, so you can put on the hurt if you're smart and lucky.   Finally. Death Count: 23  We get a family heirloom as reward. Next time, don't rely on the kindness of strangers or heavily-armed women.    Geez, I'd hate to see what the Slums are like.  There's a new option when talking to the merchants of Maadoran: asking to see something "special."  : What happened to him? Doesn't sound so impressive. I just fought three guys and won (barely)!  The special items are unique arms and armor with exorbitant prices that most players can't afford. We can craft our own stuff anyway.  This is likely a bad idea, but let's talk to the arena master.  Kinda need to work on the opening pitch, pal.  : Why not? : The guild? : Yes. Our first fight is against an unarmored schmuck with a dagger.   Easy.   : Is there a healer around here?  We're going to become very familiar with the healer.    Next opponent is an old guy with an axe and shield. He's tougher, but not by much.   Like so.  We'll hold off on Isatis for now. My armor's pretty damaged.  Off to search for a blacksmith.   : Why did you come here then? : Aren't you with the Commercium? : Why do you stay out of small towns? ignore the floating hand carrying the crate  : Who's running the Commercium here?   The Trade District has a lot to offer, but we're sticking to the blacksmith for now.  A map of the Trade District. Abukar's house is near, but again, I'm saving it for later.   Back at the Arena, Isatis is another easy enemy. His crossbow can gently caress you up, but his lack of armor is his undoing.  To the healer!  Dammit, I'm spending more than I make for these check-ups. I hope the payouts increase soon.   Papa Yochan has a big hammer, which means denting the poo poo out of your armor and big damage. Other than that, he's unremarkable.     The raider is our first dangerous combatant. He'll Poison you reliably and will block many attacks. I didn't realize this and died as a result. Death Count: 24  He goes down on the second attempt.  We're reached the rank of Gladiator, but there aren't any fights available right now. Good thing, because I'm nearly dead.    There's a House of Ill Repute near the entrance to the Trade District. I could go for some company...  ... No, no, I won't be dissuaded.   You mean I can't pay for a prostitute in this game? LAME  Even the City of All Cities has problems with building codes.  Domitius is in a house next to the fallen minaret. The first time I played, I was tearing my hair out looking for him. The guide hints he's in the Arena District, but I had searched every nook and cranny with no joy. Then, I stumble onto an unmarked building and he's standing inside. God, I was pissed.  : Lord Antidas sent me to find the temple. You're my first stop.  : Attacks? : You mentioned a buried temple.     Hellgate was mentioned in the merchant playthrough. I don't know why people explore a place with a name like that, but I suppose the call of arcane knowledge is too strong.  Whatever Domitius saw, it scared him badly. Obviously, we need to find this place ASAP.    Another name. Ganezzar is the next stop after we're done..   Hmm. It's something to think about.  What the gently caress? Were you following me? : And if I refuse? Couldn't he simply extend an invitation? A little card with "Please see me immediately" on it? : Alright, let's go see him.  None of your business, Shmulius Shmaesar.   : Antidas isn't a fool. : So, you aren't tempted by the power at all?      Lord Gaelius is definitely cut from a different cloth than Antidas and Meru. Antidas wants the Temple because he'll use whatever's within to fulfill his destiny or some poo poo. We can infer Meru would want to find the Temple so he can bring back the Gods. Gaelius wants the Temple found so he can seal it forever. He doesn't believe in gods or demons and he's downright contemptuous of the Magi, thinking it's their fault the world is in such a mess. Don't meddle with things you don't understand, and so on.  This is a good place to end the update. We haven't even scratced the surface. Next Time: The plot thickens
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Feb 23, 2020 05:34
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Part XV: The library of Saross Last time, Lord Gaelius charged Octavia with finding the Temple of Thor-Agoth so he could seal it forever. Presently, we're in the Trade District, which offers an abundance of merchants with unique items that are way out of our price range, so I won't show any of that. If you have a ton of money and can't craft your own stuff, I suppose this is your place.  We're visiting Abukar, who lives in this... observatory?  Thanks for making me climb to the top floor, rear end in a top hat.    He's as friendly as Feng. I guess being prickly comes with the job. : What is this thing?    Say, do you know Abdul Alhazred? : What did the scrolls say?   : You've mentioned the library of Saross. Do you know where it is? : What did you seek at the library?  : I thought magic was gone from this world. : Our own backyard? You mean the Abyss? And so, Abukar became a pioneer in the study of electromagnetism. : Prophesized?  : This device, do you still have it?Aw, I wanna detect energy fluctuations too!  : So, you wanted to explore the Abyss? We have some things to show him.  First, let's give him the metal sphere Feng said was "just a bead from some necklace."  Abukar seems to think it's more than that. If we show him the Jellyfish artifact...  Okay? If we show him the map:  Thanks, we already know it was a tremendous failure. : What do you know of Thor-Agoth? I don't think we're going to get anything coherent out of Abukar.  Let's check out Saross for ourselves. It's far to the west of Maadoran.   Beautiful, yet desolate.  Argh. I'm capturing this at an unusual resolution (1024 x 768) because if I capture at my native resolution (2560 x 1440), the screenshots look lovely and indecipherable after conversion. Unfortunately, this means the text gets cut off at the edges sometimes. Bear with it for this update. Before we talk to the prospector, let's walk around back.  We can move this rubble here.   Interesting. Let's talk to the prospector.  Finally, someone with manners.  god loving drat it Two can play at that game.       Eat poo poo  He has an air valve. As you do.  Time to explore and find some lost knowledge.   There came a great disturbance in the town of Lakia by the Nazvian Sea, with confusion and flight. [...] And all the people fled from the ships of the kingdom of Qantaar, which had crossed the sea, inflicting every kind of punishment upon the people of Lakia. [...] The Imperial army, being blessed and varying in design, fell upon the enemy. Slain were the men, their ships set aflame, the women taken into bondage.  Something about the First of the Magi: he who built his ascent up to the sky, he who founded his vaulted dome above Maadoran, he who raised the mighty pillars... Presumably, this is about Ibn Hadad.  Upstairs...     Not much left. Maybe the basement holds more.  Yikes, it's dark. Where's a torch when you need one?   This machine in the back could help.  The prospector must've been down here.  Needs an oil injector. Didn't Abukar say he was in these ruins?  Back in Maadoran... : I found an old machine beneath the library of Saross, but it's missing some parts. : Is that why you've disabled the generator? So that nobody can find that "nothing" you want to keep hidden?  Definitely an oil injector. Abukar mentioned the Curio seller, but we have what we need to fix the machine.   Our alchemy skill (4) is high enough, so we get a bonus!  If only Feng could see us now.  Pretty. Let's hope we get a more material reward.  drat it  A scroll in a side room is more promising: the locations of Zamedi and Inferiae are revealed. Antidas mentioned Zamedi is the only Magi tower left intact.   War did come, and like the army who brought it, the magnitude humbled all that came before. Men and towns burned alike and even the seas stirred with the fury of war. The sun became as night, and the moon ceased to shine. The war continued with the passing of many years and although countless thousands had died, [...] The Qantari Servants of Power called upon the Gods of Chaos, who came forth like an eruption consuming the armies and fleets of men[...]  If I have this right, the scrolls say Qantaar attacked Lakia (a raid?), but the Imperial army stop them. A year later, Qantaar retaliates with a massive invasion force and calls upon the "Gods of Chaos" which lay waste to the land. The Magi summon otherwordly beings who fight back, then leave this realm. Both Qantaar and the Empire are devastated and the land is changed irrevocably. This lines up with what the legends say. Maybe they're true?  More locations. This is gonna be a long chapter.  I didn't capture it here, but a message pops up saying the air vent on the surface indicates a room beyond this wall. If you didn't find the air vent, having high PER lets you spot the hidden door. Turning on the lights helps.   This looks different.       ... What? Next Time: Slumming it rudecyrus fucked around with this message at 06:26 on Feb 28, 2020 |
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Feb 25, 2020 05:18
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Part XVI: Jehovah's Witnesses, 5th century AD edition Let's ignore the implications of what we found and keep exploring. First up -- Zamedi.  Soundtrack: Desert (This is a favorite of mine, btw) Whatever happened here flattened the town. I'm surprised the tower is still intact.  Not at all ominous.  Zamedi has a huge map, but you're confined to a path in front of the tower. It's mostly ruins anyway. Looks like a caravan's here?  Oh great, another zealot.  : So why did they spare it?  Enough of this. Let's get in that tower.  Um?  A wall of energy we can't pass. Y'know, I think we should leave.  The Arch is the next stop. It's far to the east, directly north of Ganezzar.    MORE of these guys.  Can I just explore without getting preached at? : How do you know that?    Totally normal behavior.  Might as well talk to the Oracle.  At my local polling place, there's this ancient woman with a glass eye who counts the ballots and such. Her eyes look in different directions and I'm never sure which one to focus on. I imagine it's like that for Octavia.  : Octavia. : Suffice to say, I have doubts. We're hard up for info, okay?   Gonna have to try a little harder, dude. : I could bring myself to envy that on some days. So, what do our "gods" have for me and my search? Of course I need to pay. You get 5 imperials and nothing more.  FINE. 50 imperials.   This sounds vague. Suspiciously vague.  I paid 55 imperials for nothing, didn't I.  Son of a --  It's hard to make out, but the Arch is covered in strange writing.  Huh, I expected something to happen. We'll come back later. For now, it's back to Maadoran to finish some quests, starting with talking to Basileios.  He's in the tavern near the Arena.  : I've heard you're having problems.  We can take care of a few thugs, right? : I'll handle it. : We're closed. gently caress off.   These two aren't very difficult, but the one with the dagger is likely to stick you with poison, so be prepared.   Free meals? Now you're talking!  : Yes.  Money is money... : Sure, why not? Hey, someone who pays up front. Nice! Let's get more info from Basil.  : What can you tell me about Quintus? Believe me, I know. : So, who's running this racket? : I saw thugs collecting protection money. I'm curious where the money is going.  Famous last words.  Better check on Quintus.     Took a lot of damage during this fight, probably because my armor was in poor condition.  I manage to triumph.  Back to the tavern.  : I don't think they'll bother you or Quintus again.  : What kind of information?  We'll talk to Kemnebi much later. Off to the healer.  She gives you a quest after you've been healed a few times. Add it to the list...  How can you say no to an offer like that? : Sign me up! : So, whom do you expect me to fight? The villagers?Good to see Octavia knows proper grammar.  : I'll take a look. Now, fix me up. While we're farting around here, let's chat up some of the locals.   Well, why not? : Fair enough.   : So in the good years you man a stall in the market and get rich, I suppose?  : Why not skip the major towns? Travel around and sell to whatever settlements are out there?  : Potatoes, onions, dust radishes, and some very healthy tomatoes. No luck with yellow gourds I'm guessing?   : Do you own your own land or does it belong to Gaelius?  : A farmer philosopher with a heart of gold. You're quite a rarity. : How much does the Commercium charge you? There's no gameplay reason to talk to the farmer, but it adds a bit of flavor and it's nice to meet someone who isn't a dick.     The Trade District is certainly... colorful.  There's a shop we can enter here.  As soon as we step inside we're assaulted with a sales pitch. I have a bad feeling about this.  : And if he ends up dead? Strong arm someone into giving up a jewel? Done.  Back to the arena.   One on three this time. Play it smart, keep them separated, and they go down easy.     Nicander is the first real challenge. His tactics consist of getting in close, jabbing you with his trident, then backing off. While that doesn't sound hard, spear users have the annoying ability to interrupt your attack whenever you try to get close or flank them, meaning they'll whittle down your HP while you attempt to deal damage.  Ranged combat is the way to go, or lacking that, bombs.  I ran out of bombs and had to resort to liquid fire. Whatever gets the job done.    Bendidoros is tough. He hits hard and blocks often.  I got lucky and beat him on my first try.  Sarpedon is another spear user? Fuuuuuuck that.  While wandering through the Arena District, we come upon this angry mob. Being the rubberneckers we are, we're investigating.    : What preachers? More of Meru's preachers stirring up trouble. Will it never end? : What do they preach? Hell, we've handled worse. : Sure. We could play peacemaker, but where's the fun in that? : Alright, the show's over, so get the gently caress out of here. Oops.  Well, they're unarmored peasants armed with shovels and sticks, but there are seven of them, so this might get messy...  Never mind, these losers can't get past my armor. This is the easiest fight in the game!      At least we get a reputation boost out of this.  Near the entrance to the Slums is a beggar claiming to be a veteran.  Eh, why not? Support veterans!  : Are you really a veteran?  : I'd like to hear it.     Another story of Meru doing a 180, personality-wise. What the heck happened to him?   Antidas bit off more than he could chew, and now he's lord of jack poo poo. Fortune is a fickle mistress and all that.   Next to the beggar is this out-of-place youth.     : What's in the package? That... sounds like ingredients for a bomb. : Why does Neros need these things? : Can't this Neros buy these things in the Slums? Burn  : Alright, I'll do it. The adventures of Octavia: loremaster, gladiator, courier.  Let's do the opposite of what the guide recommended and enter the Slums. I'm sure nothing bad will happen.   I get good vibes from this guy. : Alright. Here is the money.  Uh oh.  I'm sure this isn't a red flag.  D'oh! Fooled by my naivete again!    Don't gently caress with me, slum rats. Next Time: Slumming it. For real. rudecyrus fucked around with this message at 04:46 on Oct 16, 2020 |
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Feb 27, 2020 00:12
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Part XVII: Return of the worst NPC It's time to explore the Slums. As you'd expect, it's full of ruined buildings, homeless beggars and armed thugs. There are also some ball-crushingly hard fights, so step lightly.  Right, we'll talk to the filthy man. Not much else to do.  : Easy money is my specialty, friend.   Eh, why not. : Believe it or not, I don't have anything better to do at the moment.     We head left.   No regrets. Off to the other passage.  Yes, you can drown. Thankfully, our stats are high enough.  This time, we go right.  Yoink.    We survived!  whoops, low poly boobs  That's better. Blue Steel is the second-highest crafting material you can get. Let's examine the strange doorway.  Well, I have no idea what it's for.   The cut off bit says "power of the sun." Some kind of power source?  We don't have any power tubes, so this thing will remain a mystery for now.     Sky Metal is the highest tier of metals for crafting and requires a whopping 10 levels to use. Let's look at the strongbox.   Unfortunately, the power tubes we picked up won't work with the strange device. What was that about a respirator?  This is, in fact, the same kind of relic the prospector back at the beginning of the game tried to sell to us. This is why we didn't buy it. Nothing else here, so it's time to go back.    Heck, he can have the money. We have a much cooler partially digested ruby.   The Abyss is on the other side of the wreckage, but you'll notice the gang blocking our way. We'll try the other direction.  oh NO  Sigh. He does owe us, so I guess we'll save his rear end. Again. : He owes me money. It will be harder to collect if he's dead.  : If Levir wanted to get paid first, he should have sent more men.   Time to chuck some bombs.      Got lucky with my critical strikes.      I swear to loving god, Miltiades...   I'm going to regret this. : Yes. Let's go.  : And what do you get out of it? gently caress it.     It turns out a bunch of soft nobles are easy to kill.  2104 imperials? Maybe you're alright, Miltiades. : You lied to me.   On that ominous note, it's back to the arena to face Sarpedon.  I don't like Sarpedon. He's a spear user, for one. He'll try to cripple you and bypass your armor with torso strikes, so be prepared for that. He'll also start the fight by throwing a pilum at you, which, remember, can bypass armor as well. Add in the fact he's got a tower shield and Sarpedon is an all-around dick.   He goes down after three tries. Death Count: 27   Later. I need to lick my wounds.  It's time to snoop around Darius's tomb and find his special helmet.    They seem friendly enough. : Would you mind if I take a look?  Doesn't look like there's anything left.  poo poo. I don't like the idea of telling Gaelius the helmet is under a ton of rock.   FINE I won't touch your stuff On the way back to the entrance...  There's a variety of options, but the simplest one is to ask the raiders for help.   What a gentleman!  Jackpot.     Let's grab this thing and get out.  ... : The gold is in these two chests. Let's end this.     Slightly disconcerting. We're not returning to Maadoran just yet.  We also pick up Darius's armor, arguably one of the best sets.  I'll admit, I expected something fancier.  We loot their stash before heading out. I upgraded the lore skill, so I made a trip back to Saross to see if those weird tablets could be translated.  Dire warnings. Goody. Next Time: A startling discovery
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Feb 28, 2020 06:24
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Part XVIII: The Abyss We should give Gaelius the helmet.   : Why does it take so long? Gaelius is expecting us, so we don't need a badge.  Ah, another poor soul with problems. Looks like a potential quest.    At least look at me when we're having a conversation!     What did he expect? : You should have seen it coming. You hire fighting men you have no leverage over and hope that they will be kind enough to let you keep the spoils. You're lucky they didn't kill you. My heart bleeds. : You and your men have recklessly destroyed priceless documents left for future generations and then squabbled over the armor of a man left to guard them. You deserve what you got. Against better judgment, we're going to press on. : What do you want me to do? : I'm busy. I have places to go and people to see. If you want me to drop everything and help you, make it worth my time.  I hope he doesn't pay us in literal trinkets, or else I'm going to go apeshit.    The game is calling out my questionable decisions.       We could kill Marcus and his guards easily enough. Our reward would be a power tube. Ooooooor, we could make a deal and get the best piece of armor in the game. : I don't care about Amerius, but I'm interested in that armor.  : What do you propose? : Sure, we have a deal.  We'll keep our deal a secret. : I'm working on it. Sorry it took so long; I have this compulsion to talk to random people so I can solve their problems. : About the helmet... : I give you the Helmet of destiny, my lord. Aw, shucks. 'Tweren't nuthin'.  And now we're a praetor. Octavia is moving on up!   Well, it's a bold plan. : You'll open your gates to the Ordu? : You think you can control them?     We're a praetor and now a noble wants a moment of our time. How the tables have turned. : Certainly. Maybe we'll live in an estate like this someday...     : And what about Gaelius? : Why would I betray Gaelius' trust? Senna may have a point. On the other hand, I get the feeling there's more to this than simply balking at barbarians living in the city.  : We? So, there's multiple nobles involved. Interesting. : What stops you from giving Pavola my name? That's reassuring, I suppose.  I put on my new awesome purple cape and go back to the Slums.  Time to deal with the punks blocking the way to the Abyss.  : How much? Fuuuuuck that. : Out of my way, scum!  Mehrab and his Blades aren't tough. Most of their attacks can't pierce my armor.  Here's Whirlwind, which is great if you're surrounded.  Okay, I almost died, but only due to a few lucky criticals. A quick trip to the healer and I'm set.  No sense in delaying this anymore.   Maybe the locals will tell us more about this place.  Never mind, he just wants to sell us junk.   You've got to be loving kidding. A rock on a string? : So, you've personally ventured into the Abyss?  Strangely, I believe him.  Hang on, that Enarion?     : What do these charms do? I dunno, what if it slowly liquefies my organs? : I'll think about it.  Jesus, I can't see the bottom.  It's hard to see, but there are occasional flashes of lightning deep inside the crater.  Here goes nothing...   This might have been a mistake.      Let's put this poor guy out of his misery.  Um...   Our ultimate goal is finding the location of the Temple of Thor-Agoth, so... : Knowledge.     We can power through this.  oh gently caress use respirator now  aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah  phew  We came this far...  What the hell?            Okay, let's examine what we can and get the gently caress out.        Let's never speak of this again. Next Time: Ordu ordeal
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Feb 29, 2020 06:47
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Kacie posted:Can we come back to that place later with higher lore and find out something more? Yep.
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Feb 29, 2020 22:57
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Part XIX: Please stop talking After our discovery at the bottom of the Abyss, we need a well-earned break at the Arena.  First up is this pair of Ordu.  They're not too hard, but it's getting to the point where you need a pretty high dodge/block skill to survive these encounters, plus my damage output is being minimized by heavy armor. Hopefully I can get some better weapons soon.  Still, it's no fuss to kill these guys.  We're rewarded with a new rank: Executioner! On to the next victim.  The Butcher, indeed, hits like a freight train, but our armor is tough enough to withstand it. I'm using the scimitar for higher damage.  No problem.  Mack is a tough fight, so we'll put him on hold for now.  Instead, we're going to the Slums to fight an absolute motherfucker: Hermon.   : I'll pay. : 1,000 imperials for passing through? I don't care for your attitude, sir! : gently caress off. That's your first and final warning.  There are a few things to know about this fight: First, coming in with under 8 in block/dodge is suicidal. Second, poison, sharpening stones, and bombs are essential. Third, patience is key. Fourth, the outcome is dependent mostly on luck.  Get ready for a lot of savescumming, because this fight is hard. The arena opponents so far look like child's play compared to this poo poo. Hermon is the primary target here, because he will try to damage your armor, and if that happens, his buddies will pick you off in no time. By the way, if the fight begins and you don't go first? Reload an earlier save and try again, because you're not winning. My strategy (such as it is), is to crit strike Hermon with a bomb so he gets knocked off his feet, then attack him and hopefully inflict bleed/poison so he dies within the next turn. If you're lucky, you can kill him outright. Usually, I'm not so lucky. Oh, and if you don't crit Hermon with the bomb? Reload a save, because you're not winning.  Even with Hermon dead, it's still a beast of an encounter. His friends will cripple you, crit you, entangle you with nets, hit you with bleeding, and so on. Bring healing salves.   This is from one of my more successful attempts. I dodged attacks four times in a row, only for the archer to kill me on the next turn. Fuckers.  After the eighth attempt to kill these guys, I pull out the scimitar. One good thing about two-handed weapons, besides the increased damage, is you can hit opponents that are diagonally opposite of you. I don't know why this isn't possible with one-handed weapons, but whatever.  I can't stress how important luck is here. After hitting a wall with this group, suddenly everything clicked. My dodges were on point, my armor stayed intact, the enemies were less aggressive -- it's like the universe took pity on me.   loving. FINALLY. Death Count: 37 (If we're counting reloads as deaths, it's more like 67, but gently caress that.)  Oh hey, it's Neros's place. We have a package for him.  : I have a package for you. You owe me 3,000 imperials. Great, now I have to worry about the loving Unabomber.   You have no idea. : Do you really think that I'd try to blow up your boss while standing next to him? I got played, but if you help me find the fucker, I promise that he'll pay for this.    Before we exact revenge, there's one more area of Maadoran to explore.   : What's this area? : How did you end up here?     We'll see more of Clemens later.   The temple area has some merchants and the Forty Thieves HQ. Other than that, there's not much here.   Time for a house call.  Man, you're gonna be in a world of hurt.   Uh, no? : He killed a man and almost got me killed. : And if I don't see it this way? You know what I hate more than nearly dying from an explosion? Stuck-up nobles. : Justice must be served!  Let's gtfo.  Before going to Harran's Pass, let's check out Inferiae -- which has a big Eye of Horus?   Nothing strange about this place, no sir.  Old crone? Check.  : So, this is your garden? I get the feeling she doesn't like us.  : It holds answers to many questions.  : Tell me about the relics. : You mentioned wisdom? Or was it fear?   : What's wrong with hope?  : Not everyone needs a selfish reason to help someone. Being able to is the only reason they need. They've helped us once, they can do it again! Maybe she has a point. : You seem to know a lot about the town life for someone who lives in the middle of nowhere. gently caress. Hang on...   : Water? In the desert?   : It seems you've adapted well to the desert.  : The sacrifice? I hope she's talking about goats and such.  Hmm. : I'll take my chances. This conversation unfolds in a few different ways. If you choose certain options (specifically, the "it's a small price to pay for their help" option) and have high Persuade, you can convince Azra to reveal the location of the temple and how to get there. Some choices will let you leave the village safely. Otherwise, it ends like this:  We've made our choice; now we endure the consequences.   Ah. She wasn't talking about goats.  DEMON! Let's go say hi.   : Why do you kill intruders?  : Wait! What if your master comes back? You won't kill him, would you?   Ha! This creature can't comprehend my unassailable logic!  drat it.   The Guardian (as it's called) looks imposing, but compared to Hermon it's like crushing an ant. It has high defense and HP and attacks twice in one turn, but other than that...  The Guardian crumbles to pieces on defeat.  We receive its core as a reward.   We could get out the way we came in, but we haven't seen the rest of this place.  Downstairs, we find what appears to be a tiny star floating in a chamber. Compared to what we've seen, this is practically mundane.   Always, always tamper with strange devices.   It works! No idea what this does, though.   Ah, it powers a portal. Of course.  We're back in Maadoran.     We can likely use this in the chamber connected to the well. That's for another time.  The message is hastily written; many words are smudged or faded. The magus was dying from wounds sustained during the attack on his tower, so clarity wasn't at the top of his priorities. "Balzaar attacked... has fallen. He's too powerful. I couldn't stop him. All my defenses... He's coming for you... You must do it before it's too late. Don't hesitate for the price we have already paid is too great. ...wait any longer, there will be nothing left." Balzaar? Is that the Balzurath the storyteller talked about?  Next to the dead magus is this glove. No idea what it's used for, but hey, free artifact.    The elevator takes us outside.  Guess we should deal with the Ordu problem Gaelius has.   gently caress the : What business is that of yours? poo poo : Wait! : I'm a loremaster. A trader told me that he saw some ruins a few days northeast from here. I want to get there before anyone else does. Gee, thanks.  Ugh, stuck in an encampment with a bunch of meatheads.  Who? Me?      He has another ancient Nintendo power glove. We don't need a second one, but I'm buying it anyway because of what he offers next.  Power modules! Yes, please.    : Tell me about the Ordu. : Tell me about the elements. : Tell me about the mutations. Sounds lovely.   I talk to the quartermaster and buy some sharpening stones. That's all of note here.  We're going to wait until dark and then sneak out.   Run!    We made it. Looks like your typical nomadic settlement.  Friendly folk.  Next to the khan's yurt -- excuse me, ger, is this lady.   : Yes. I have many questions.Get ready for a lore dump.  : Who are you?    What's with these harsh ritual punishments? How about a pat on the back and a "Better luck next time"? : Tngri?    Blah blah blah, our people are so awesome, blah blah. : Did this Tngri ever have a name? Nope, never heard of him.  Pay attention to this next part.     : This shaman Adad, who was he? : What happened to these seven Tngri?  Enough story time. We have a mission to accomplish.   Probably shouldn't piss this guy off. : It's waiting for you in Maadoran.  : Can't you do something about it? : What else can convince your men? : Why does Belgutai oppose you? : Bolad?  : Was anyone else ever honored? : Who was that shaman? : Hadad? Abu Hassan Ibn Hadad? The Magus?Yes, it turns out it was Ibn Hadad all along -- which makes the tale about binding Tngri into human bodies much more relevant.  No, I think you'll find the shaman was more than a messenger. : How long ago was it? : What do your stories say about the Great War?  gently caress me, we're full of questions today. : Do your stories say anything about the Qantari?      : Why did you accept Gaelius' offer? : You speak our language well.  Thank god we can get out of this conversation. For a people that don't like outsiders, the Ordu are a chatty bunch.  Time to deal with Mr. Grumpy Pants. : They say you're the best. I have a mind to test it.  Belgutai isn't a pushover. He's quick, hits hard, and likes to inflict Bleed. He can take you to 0 HP in seconds.  Imagine my surprise when I killed him on my first try. He has a really nice shamshir I'll be using for the time being.  : Belgutai is dead. I killed him. Sexist!  If we take Thorgul's offer, we end up fighting a bunch of reinforcements, so gently caress that. : It would take too long. Bass has probably fortified the pass by now and sent for reinforcements. If they arrive, we will be stuck at the pass. Saying no gives us the same outcome as staying and partying, so... : Yes, I think so. : How do you know about these crates? : Alright, I'll do it.  Predictable.  We're trapped in a small room surrounded by Imperial Guards. Despite that, this fight wouldn't be so hard if it weren't for one thing.   That goddamned archer. The three melee enemies can be handled fairly quickly at this point, but that loving archer will stand there, arrows dealing double digit damage every turn until you're dead, and then he'll give you his little archer smirk, satisfied because he killed you with a loving bow. I hate that bastard. Death Count: 42   I use bombs liberally here. I hate wasting them, but in this situation it's the best strategy.    Thanks, Thorgul.  Give me a loving palace, Gaelius. I earned it.    Gaelius is personified at this point.  : Zamedi? : How did the tower survive the attack? : Is it safe now? I dunno, Gaelius. We've found things that would surprise you.  This object will get us into Zamedi, which is where we're going in the next update! Next Time: Revelations at Zamedi
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Mar 4, 2020 19:14
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Verviticus posted:can you post your stats from time to time? Here you go! 
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Mar 5, 2020 00:17
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Part XX: Never trust a wizard Since we're a praetor, we're allowed access to the third floor to see Erebus, Gaelius's loremaster. What a waste of floor space.   We have many questions. : What can you tell me about the War?  : What do you know about the gods and demons who fought in the war? : So, the Empire stood for more than a thousand years, yet there is not a single record of otherwordly beings, gods or demons. Then the Qantari came and at the drop of a hat we summon "gods" to aid us in battle as if it's something one always does in times of crisis.   : And yet the war started before the fleet came. Why would a few ships attack us, knowing full well that they don't stand a chance? : I'd be more interested to learn how "a few scout ships" managed to hold their own against the Empire for a year. Basically, much of what the records say doesn't pass the smell test. : Why did the Empire fall?   I like Erebus's description of why empires rise and fall.    : Why is Gaelius so afraid of the artifacts?  We saw one of those warnings (kind of) in the hidden room under Saross.  : I have some artifacts I'd like you to look at. We can only show him the Jellyfish artifact.   So it's some sort of key. Good to know. : Is there anything you can teach me? A boost in Etiquette. At least we know which fork to use when eating salad now. Speaking of showing our stuff to loremasters...   The metal glove is used to manipulate machines from other realms. Okay then! The part about needing to see the other realms seems important. If we show Abukar the reliquary, he pisses his pants and yells at us to get out, so we do.  We're going on our second trip to Zamedi. Hopefully, the artifact Gaelius gave us will do something about the force field.   It works! Side note: the demon core we picked up from the dead Guardian does the same thing.   It's good to see stone demons amuse themselves by reading. : Dispose?   With a Streetwise of 5, we can sense the Guardian is fibbing about the treasure.   : What makes you think you can kill me? Don't fight this Guardian. Unlike its counterpart in Inferiae, this one is fully functional and will slice us to ribbons in seconds. : What do you need? Find ring, bring it back. Simple.    This looks exactly like the strange chamber under Inferiae.  : How will I get back? : Wait, I'm not sure about this. oh poo poo run   Made it. Let's look around.    Mass distribution... gravitational wells... voids, charted and uncharted... low-density space... physical evidence... cognitive dissonance... universal mechanism...  Ferrous and non-ferrous extractive metallurgy... pyrometallurgy... thermal treatment... energy output variations... sustainable temperatures and proposed solutions...  Forms of energy... laws of conservation... conversion of electromagnetic radiation to thermal energy... a treatise on dispersion, dissipation, and absorption... solar-thermal collectors... I don't understand any of this!  Finally, something I can really use.   Yet another artifact we don't know how to use. Par for the course. Besides a chest full of alchemical ingredients, there's nothing else of note. Time to go upstairs.  The windows contain energy fields instead of glass, because Magi are just too good for silica.   We'll figure that out soon.   Let's examine the image first.   Probably not a good thing. On the bright side, we have some leverage over the Guardian. Time to figure out how this contraption works.  poo poo! You need an Intelligence above 7 and an absurd level of 10 in Lore to figure out this thing.  First up: the portal network.  We can teleport to two places, one of which (the ziggurat) is the endgame. We'll visit both locations later, so we're not using the network. Looking for more information on the Gods yields something far more interesting.  Okay, not immediately, but trust me. Let's start by looking up info on the war.  It was very, very bad. Next query:  We finally meet Abu Hassan, albeit not in the flesh. By the way, I like that al-Sarabi means "the mirage." Sums him up nicely.   These recording are a plot bombshell. I''ll admit I was pretty staggered when I discovered them.   Might that scroll be the one we found with the surgical tools?  Balzaar again. Something tells me this ended up being another poor decision.   I was right!  Agathoth? Thor-Agoth? Time to go back to the Guardian.   Not so fast. : I know what the ring does. : You mentioned treasure? Thought as much. : I'll trade you the ring for some answers. : Are you a living thing? A mechanism? A magical construct? This Guardian is one sarcastic construct. : Your appearance is... unusual. : Why were you created? : What happened to your master?  : What happened to Zamedi?    That's one mystery solved.  We can assume the other magus in the recordings was Marcus Domitius.    You're really pushing it, dude. Just because you're a superior life form doesn't mean I'm going to take poo poo from you.   : Given bodies? Human bodies? I don't understand, don't the gods have their own bodies? : Were the Magi really trying to create gods? : Whose bodies were they given? : How many gods did they bring?  Pretty sure we're not wrong. Plus, Abu Hassan said "We lost two more. Now we are three against four." : So, the gods were here before the war?        To sum up: The Magi were transferring the essence of extradimensional cosmic beings of immense power into human bodies and containing them with wards. At some point, the wards fail, the gods take over the vessels and start nuking cities (as an Elder God would do if one attempted to trap it), although it seems a few remained somewhat human judging by the "three against four" comment. The Qantari attack and the apocalypse kicks off. From the recordings, we can gather Balzaar, one of the god-things, eventually betrayed the Magi and had to be put down -- remember the story about Abu Hassan defeating Balzurath? With the help of Thor-Agoth/Agathoth, the "demons" are defeated. According to the Guardian, the Qantari Servants first made contact with the otherwordly entities and convinced the Magi to use their technology to bring the things here. Something happened, presumably the whole "wards failed" thing, the Magi blame the Qantari and attack, which sets off a war. In other words, this is all the fault of a bunch of bickering wizards. Never trust a wizard. Two questions remain: what's at Al-Akia, and what happened to Agathoth?  Well, you were helpful...  Surprisingly, the Guardian doesn't rip our head off. It just leaves.  There's some stuff to find downstairs.  Eh, why not?   That's a loving rifle.   Never mind the rifle, we've got a big sword! The Bolter is arguably the best "crossbow" (it's classified as such) in the game. It uses only 1 AP to fire, so if you have high DEX and a high crossbow skill, you can run around the map and poo poo on your foes at range. Let's get out of here.  Okay, maybe I didn't think the whole "let the giant construct roam free" thing through.  : About the tower...  : There was a demon, but it escaped. : The demon said it was created by the Magi.  I suppose the Guardian could have been lying, but the recordings corroborate its story. : Many strange and wondrous things. : Perhaps it's not too late to start reclaiming the lost knowledge. Erebus has a point. Knowing what we know, do we really want the possibility of someone imitating Abu Hassan?    Meru got caught with his hand in the cookie jar, so Gaelius is giving him a hard spanking. : His transformation?  Judging by what we've heard, Meru is a true believer. : What would stop Meru from killing me on the spot?  : It's not what I meant. For gently caress's sake.    : You'll be seen as a conqueror, not as a savior.  : Some would say House Aurelian owes its good fortune to the fact that when the Empire fell, your House grabbed the best and biggest slice of the pie. It's much easier to do well when you control the largest and richest city. : I've heard that House Daratan stayed behind and held the line to give other Houses enough time to withdraw. Gaelius doesn't give a gently caress about ancient history!  I'll admit I have a bit more respect for House Daratan now. It's too bad Antidas is all that's left. : Didn't Maadoran belong to House Calani? After upping our Lore skill, let's see if we can read the scroll from Antidas's collection.  It's a mantra to persuade air elementals to pull a flying chariot. Naturally. There's one more place to go in this update: The Abyss. Remember those scrolls we couldn't decipher?    The creature is the result of the binding process. Considering the flashbacks it showed us, Galath was chosen to receive the Gift (read: having an unknown entity grafted into your body), but the "other" (Athazor) escaped, leaving Galath like this. Whatever he, or it, is now is extremely dangerous.  So let's gently caress around with the console!   Of course we're going to power it up.  It's fine.  This is fine.   Uh...   What did you expect would happen? If you have a CON below 6, you die in the explosion. Reload!  Good riddance, honestly.   The Abyss is now just a giant hole.   You kill a god and people bitch at you for it. Where's the gratitude? : I'm sorry. : A creature floating in a tank. I think it was a man once...  Sigh... Next Time: Finishing up Maadoran rudecyrus fucked around with this message at 21:48 on Aug 1, 2020 |
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Mar 9, 2020 19:41
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By popular demand posted:You got a couple of broken IMG tags there. Thanks. Fixed.
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Mar 9, 2020 21:40
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ulmont posted:For an extensive rebuttal to Erebus, check here: https://acoup.blog/2020/01/17/collections-the-fremen-mirage-part-i-war-at-the-dawn-of-civilization/ My knowledge of ancient history is poor, so thanks for the link.
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Mar 10, 2020 06:31
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That link also confirms people have complained about "kids these days" at least since the invention of writing.
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Mar 10, 2020 20:28
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Part XXI: Loose ends I forgot to show a branch of conversation at the Ordu camp, so here it is. : Tell me of your people.   It's more or less "our people strong, your people soft." Whatever!  We need to deal with Mack the Knife. He's a pain in the dick and can bring you down to 0 HP in seconds. His attack pattern usually consists of throwing a net at you, then running in and stabbing you to death, relying on his high chance of hitting you with Bleed and multiple critical strikes. Luckily, he doesn't have much health and his armor is nonexistent, so I'm taking my new blue steel shamshir and ramming it up his rear end.      3v1, but this is a breeze compared to the encounter at Harran's Pass. The one with the hammer should be targeted first.   By this point, I'm hitting around 20 points of damage on criticals and Bleed is stacking up to 15 points of damage per turn. It's still a bit of a grind to kill these guys, but nothing too hard.  Three more bite the dust.  We're holding off on the champion until Ganezzar.  Instead, we're sticking the big power module we have in the doohickey in the Slums well room.   This is one of the locations we could have accessed from Zamedi. It's probably a mistake to look in the tank, but I'll do it anyway.      I don't want to know anything about these procedures, thanks.   Reading the scrolls lets us grab one of the canisters. Its use will become apparent much later.    Aw, thanks for the uplifting message, game.  The canister is in a strongbox next to the machine.  Using it will raise our Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution by 1. I'm going with CON because more HP is always good.  Owie.   Hooray!  Here's a merchant I missed at the Temple. He has an extremely metal skull collection.   Don't touch the merchandise! : Where did you get it?  Simmer down and take my money.  What a weird device. Maybe Clemens would know what it does.  : Ever seen anything like this? Yes, we're really doing this.  I have the utmost confidence.    Despite what Clemens says, there isn't an impact to gameplay now that we have no depth perception.   And it's permanently grafted to our skull. Great!  Soundtrack: Teron II Making a stop in Teron, something I couldn't do until the main plot of this act was resolved.  A bunch of tents have popped up around town.  We're here to pick up a sidequest from Aemolas, since our Word of Honor is high enough.   : How much is there? Whoa. : The wasteland has been kind to you, Aemolas.  : I'm in.  Off to find hidden (and likely stolen) treasure.  Parley!  : Yes. : Why should I tell you? : And then? Hmm... nah.    There are eight guys to fight, but they're using basic equipment.  Barely a scratch.  Heck, we've got enough money. I'll be nice and split it with Aemolas.   Another good deed done. We only had to kill eight people to do it!  Back in Maadoran, we meet Kemnebi, the guy Basil told us about several updates ago. : I was just curious about what line of work you were in. Okay, be that way. : Are you Kemnebi?   : Whose mortality?  He's tight-lipped about the job, but gently caress it, the promise of killing fools is enough for me.  : Yes. : Are you killing raiders? Are you some kind of militia? : How do you know about the botched raid? : How much money are we talking about? Kill raiders, get gold. Simple.     We've been tricked.  : Who are the Hundred Swords?   gently caress it. : I'm in.   It's time for a big brawl. Almost 20 combatants shedding blood on the sand. A true battle in every sense of the word. It's boring! The enemies can't do dick against us, so this encounter consists of waiting like 30 seconds until everyone else's turn is over, then advancing, taking a swipe at an opponent, repeat.   Thank Christ that's over.  Let's get our reward.  Son of a bitch. Gracchus better have a good explanation.    Oh. That's okay, then. Oh wait, I have an automatic rifle, so your crossbow is useless to me. Where's the loving "slit his throat" option?   drat it Kemnebi, this stuff is beneath me! Where's the mountain of gold I was promised?  : Do you have any more work for me?    Fascinating. Can I get something out of this exchange now? : Is there anything you can teach me? Good enough.  This lovely gentleman is hanging around the inn. : Nice spear.  Time for another sound decision.    Kadmos wouldn't be a problem, except he's a filthy spear user and therefore 100 times harder than he should be.  Thanks for almost killing me, fucker.  One more place to go. Remember the tablets?      Good. Glad that's cleared up. That's all for Maadoran. In the next update, it's back to the side playthroughs. Next Time: King of the assholes
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Mar 17, 2020 02:02
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Hypocrisy posted:I think we've met everyone, more or less, on the op banner at this point. Not yet!
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Mar 17, 2020 18:53
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Part XXII: Everyone involved in this plot sucks The Commercium is flexing on Gaelius now. No doubt Gaius Goonius will play a role.    Strabos, who looks like a cross between John Goodman and Joe Ligotti, is the guildmaster of Maadoran, making him the de facto leader of the Commercium. He's more or less a mafia boss.  : Why do you need a fresh face?    Ah, the "replace competent ruler with useless relative" gambit. I hope you don't end up with a Joffrey Baratheon, Strabos.   We have three people to talk to: Lady Lorenza, Lord Senna, and Legatus Pavola. We've met Senna and Pavola before. : I have a few questions. : What can you tell me about Maadoran? : What does master Linos think of your plan? Strabos isn't very helpful.  Here's the guy with the badge in the Palace District. What if we try to buy it from him? : Can you sell me your badge?  : You used it, didn't you? I'm not paying for you. My share comes to 125. Take it or leave it.  tfw you have a high Trade skill  Let's try the badge.   What, you thought that would work? You idiot. You utter simp. It's never that easy. : I want to talk to Lord Gaelius.  Showing the map does nothing. We're not seeing Gaelius, period.  Anyway, our first stop is Lord Senna.     As you can see, our dialogue skills are getting a workout. Don't try this unless you have a 6 in Persuade/Etiquette/Streetwise.   I'm... not sure what the differences are between the two options. The outcome is the same, regardless. : I'm only looking for what's best for the city, my lord. A man destined to rule this great city should posses a lot of qualities, but I believe that it is the willingness to listen to well-meant counsel that will set him apart from all others.  Done.  Next is Lady Lorenza, who lives across from Senna.  She sounds charming. : Thank you for receiving me on such short notice, my lady.  : I'm well versed in history, my lady. House Calani ruled Maadoran for centuries until House Aurelian took it by force shortly after the Great War. I hope that one day your city will be restored to you. : I represent the guild, so I don't stand alone. : I wasn't given much choice in the matter.  Christ, it's always "me me me" with you people. : Do you really expect me to? : To make a name for myself and see where it takes me.  Impatience of youth? You look to be 25. Passing the etiquette and lore checks earlier makes this one easier. : You have two options here. Make a deal with Strabos and share the power or refuse to come to an agreement and watch Gaelius tightening up his grip over your city. I know that I'm just a lowborn and could never grasp the full extent of your concerns, but where I come from, something is always better than nothing. Success! Before we leave, we can ask Lorenza a question.  It's a bold conversation opener. : They say you killed your five husbands. : Are you saying you didn't? Yeesh, I can't believe men are still trying to marry her. : What happened to husband number five?    #girlboss  Last on the list is Pavola.   I admire his bluntness. : I thought it was customary to think of the enemy of your enemy as your friend. Pavola may secretly be the wisest character in the game.  : We want what you want -- a Lord who isn't a a fanatic, but a reasonable man, a man with an open mind, a man we all can deal with.  Aaaand done! Huh, that was easy.  : About the conspirators... : Legatus Pavola, Lady Lorenza Calani, and Lord Senna. Oh god, there's a catch.  Of course you did, you rear end in a top hat. : Who's Darista? Language! : Does it mean that Gaelius knows?  Maybe da Boatmen should have dere kneecaps broken in da back of a chariot. lets go Blues baby love da blues  : What stops me from selling you to the Boatmen?   : Unless he thinks he's saving it.     We're not going to Pavola, since getting the guards triggers a fight when Hamza shows up.  : Yes.  Not much to do in the villa except talk to the servant.  : Yes.  : You want a name? Strabos. It's his plot. I have nothing to do with it. Oh come ON. : So, Gaelius will let him get away with it? Well, he did broker an alliance between two Noble Houses, a Legatus and the most powerful guild in Maadoran, so I'd say he's somewhat of a threat. True, I played a significant role , but c'mon...At this point we can: 1. Fight, which is stupid. 2. Convince Hamza to kill Darista. 3. Convince Hamza to kill Lord Massalus. Option 3 seems the safest. : I want a better deal.  I'm tempted to sell out these dickheads. : Lord Massalus.  : Have you ever laid eyes upon a noble who didn't want more power? Wait, really? Wow.   : You don't seem to be worried. : I'm still surprised that it's so easy to kill a man like Gaelius.  : Why are you doing it? He's doing it in the name of equality : No lord would ever accept such beliefs. "By the gods, I WILL recieve an invitation to the annual fish fry!" : How did you become a guildmaster? You don't seem like most merchants I've seen.   Like I said: mafia boss.  RIP Gaelius.   : I want to talk to Lord Serenas. Master Strabos sent me.   Talent really does skip a generation.  Settle down, Lord Fauntleroy. : I beg forgiveness, my lord. My master is nothing but the humblest of your servants. His service was indeed his duty and does not require a payment, but I was so certain that your first official act would correct your uncle's mistakes that I assumed that you'd reward his loyalty and dedication.  : It seems like neither of them is suitable for the task. You need someone who will do what needs to be done, without bothering you with insignificant details or "bickering" with the others. Someone like my master. : And that's precisely what makes him a perfect candidate. Running the city is a job. You know the noble-born better than I do. Where would you find one who's willing to work day and night, going over the balance sheets? When am I gonna be magistratus?  : I talked to Serenas... : Congratulations, you're the new magistratus. While Lorenza and Senna were fighting and putting more pressure on Serenas than he could handle, I convinced them to give the position to you. : What does the report say? : And what do you think? Lordships for everyone!  : What can you tell me about Athanasius? : If he's such a problem, why not just kill him? Yeah, I don't think I want to work for Strabos anymore.   Next Time: Things get bloody rudecyrus fucked around with this message at 05:42 on Oct 16, 2020 |
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Mar 22, 2020 07:20
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Part XXIII: Traveling salesman When we last saw Gaius Stabbius, he was going to Maadoran because the Boatmen guild in Teron had been wiped out. Maybe he'll have better luck here.    : Yes, I was. In retrospect, Neleos was a bit of an idiot. : It was all we could do. The Guards broke the treaty, we couldn't let the insult stand.  Peacekeepers, eh? I guess it makes sense if you're a believer of "death solves all problems." : I couldn't care less how "proper" you think things are done here, it all eventually devolves to people killing each other over scraps and titles. As long as I'm on the living end of this arrangement, that's as "proper" as I need things to be.  Don't you hate it when people laugh at their own jokes?  : That's what they said about Neleos. : Better? Working for Gaelius has its perks. : Who's Gaelius?   The game implies Darista is ugly now, but her portrait shows otherwise. Seriously, she's a 9 out of 10.  : I'm ready to work. Oh hey, looks like the stolen treasure has come up.  : I'm in. What's the plan? : We're stealing from thieves now? I thought we were assassins. Okay, geez... : You're working for Gaelius now? : I'll talk to Hamza then. Several invisible men, it seems. : How are we going to take the gold out? : Who's Levir?  The logic of this is questionable. Levir is a loving thief sitting on a pile of gold -- why would he let us take it?  : Disguising ourselves is the only way in?  Next to Hamza is this guy, who totally stole my name. : I don't have many options at this point.  Thanks, Cyrus! This will come in handy in our current quest.  : Yes.  We don't need no stinkin' guide!   Can we pull this off?  Yes, we can.   Invisible men and women. The only point of interest is this brick wall.  Let's take a closer look.   Sir, I'm selling this fine dagger...   This guy is no big deal. My dagger can pull off critical strikes fairly regularly now.     What? You mean Levir isn't going to let us waltz out with the gold? Who could have predicted this!   Let's try to find this hidden tunnel. We can talk Levir into letting us go, but he'd want us to do a job for him in return and I don't feel like getting mixed up in that bullshit.  Nothing here.  Ah-ha!  We'll try the crafting option.  So long, Levir.    Okay, we lost a lot of people, but at least we get a big pile of gold.  Let's chat with Hamza. : So, are we working for Gaelius now?   : How long have you been with the guild?      : Any tricks of the trade? Hamza is arguably one of the "best" characters in AoD. Sure, he's an assassin who's killed countless people, but he's loyal, which is more than I can say for most of the characters.  : Do you have any work for me?  Now this is a job I'm looking forward to. : Mind if I ask you a few questions? : Last time I killed a high profile mark, all hell broke loose.   : Surely there are some causes worth fighting for?  There's something poetic about the Boatmen being formed out of the remnants of the Emperor's personal guard, only to end up working for a man who wants to be emperor.    Darista had some bad luck when it comes to joining mercenary groups. : Vultures?  : You mentioned the business side?  We'll see about that.  : Another job for Gaelius. The Boatmen used to be independent... I wonder how many times Darista has to listen to guild members moan about working for Gaelius. Anyway, time to stop loving around.  : I'm ready to take care of Lorenza.  We can't sneak in, so we'll take the direct approach.  Good sirs, are you interested in buying a quality dagger? It's very sharp!   Nothing outside, so let's go in.  : A job's a job.  We could join forces with Lorenza, which means killing Darista. Frankly, I'd rather chew broken glass. : Your life.   Okay, now I'm fighting a bunch of scantily clad women. This fight can get out of hand quickly, so make sure to brings bombs/nets/whatever you can to even the odds. It goes without saying that antidotes are a must.   I got unlucky and took some critical hits, so...  Ow. Death Count: 43  Things go smoother the second time.  Eat cold steel, Lorenza.  Lorenza and her ladies-in-waiting have some good stuff we can sell.    Three guesses as to who that someone might be.  What the gently caress? Even Octavia didn't get a private audience with Gaelius!  Looks like he's decided to take care of that nephew problem.   : And if there isn't? : What do you know about the conspiracy? Who's pulling Serenas' strings? : How many men are guarding Serenas? How good are they? I heal myself and prepare for the next quest.  There's an option to impersonate a guard, but I'm not taking it since it means getting into a fight. : Yes. Do or die time.   Hope this ring works.  Phew.  : My message is for your ears only, my lord. Lord Meru insisted on it. Moron.  Yes, I have the message written on this dagger...      I guess murdering a lord is the next step up from murdering nobles.   For a bunch of skilled assassins, the Boatmen can't handle a mob.   Being unleashed like a plague sounds loving badass. : So, what's with Meru's madness?   And with that, this part of the story comes to a close. Next Time: Pain rudecyrus fucked around with this message at 16:46 on Oct 12, 2020 |
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Mar 26, 2020 05:02
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Part XXIV: The greatest battle Last time we saw Gaius Brutus, he'd been arrested and sent to Maadoran to answer for the crime of killing Lord Antidas.  As you'd expect, Gaelius enjoys the theater of the trial. : My Lord, it is the Imperial Guards who were attacked. Our only crime was to defend ourselves from an unprovoked attack.  : We were sent to notify Lord Antidas that the Imperial Guards have invoked the Charter. : The Charter's provisions are very clear. If Lord Antidas had issues with them, he should have sought the counsel of his peers, not attacked the men who were doing their duty. : I didn't judge Antidas. The Charter did. If memory serves me right, it was written by men whose blood was as noble as yours, my Lord. Yikes, this isn't going well. Time for the last resort: dialogue skills! : Another month and we'd have lost Teron to raiders. Would you consider it a better outcome? Would the interests of House Aurelian, as well as those of the lords of this city, have been served better, if raiders were allowed to turn Teron into a stronghold, from which to attack Maadoran? We fail, of course.   Gaelius, you magnificent bastard.  : An axe. t : How about a shield? You can also shove the snarky commentary!  The game neglects to equip the items, so I have to waste AP doing it. Age of Decadence!  Not that it matters. The fight consists almost entirely of me blocking their blows.  Uh, thanks?  We've got nothing but the dinky axe and shield, a neurostimulant, a bronze sword, and a tunic. Carrinas mentioned smuggling our inventory to Maadoran -- maybe the local fort has it.  This day gets better and better! : Well, he did succeed...  Not the best call, Pavola. : What happened? : Back to peace and quiet? That's all you dream of?   I feel so honored.  Is everyone in the Imperial Guards a sarcastic douchebag?  Vitus is just outside.  : Do you have my things?  Much better. Off to Strabos.  I regret this already.  : I can assure you that I'm as happy about it as you are. Well, my stats are weighed in favor of a combat build, so I like to think so. : That's me. Don't flatter yourself.  Night falls. I spend a few seconds looking for something to click on until I realize I need to talk to Strabos again.  Has Strabos been sitting here for hours? Did he have us follow him to the shitter?  : I thought the Boatmen would send more men.  It's tempting to let Hamza kill Strabos, but we need his information. Sorry, Hamza.  Hamza, as you'd expect, is pretty tough. He starts out by entangling you, then inflicting you with Poison and likely Bleed. Healing draughts and antidotes are a must.  We win in the end.    : And Gaelius hopes to control them? : You seem to know the Ordu well. Add rank hypocrisy to Strabos's list of flaws.  : How do you know all that? Hamza has nothing noteworthy on him, so I left that part out.  : Yes.  Hooray...  : My orders are to hold the pass against the Ordu. I'll require your best weapons and armor.   : What do you mean "just for show?" No wonder the Imperial Guards hate the Ordu -- their presence means the former has to get off its rear end and do something.    I've heard of sea water and oil being used for quenching, but piss and blood? What loving maniac thought that up?  Off to Harran's Pass.  Is "Bass" pronounced like the fish or the musical instrument? : I expected a bit more. "Disappointment" is the word of the day when it comes to the Imperial Guards. : What about the Ordu?  It's raining heads! Hallelujah, it's raining heads!    : Was it necessary? Seriously, the Guards are making the Boatmen look well-adjusted.   : No.   A simple "please" would do.  Okay, off to the Ordu camp.  Instead of being nice, we're going the opposite route. : Who are you to question Lord Gaelius? Now that you've agreed to serve him, you will do wise to remember your place. : That of any vassal, of course. You and your men will be given food and lodging in exchange for faithful service and obedience. You will lead your man as their khan, for as long as my lord is pleased with your service. If not, another will take your place. poo poo. Nothing we say will work.    These two can be tricky. Stacked bleed effects are likely. The biggest obstacle is their agility; my THC is only around 60%.   Luckily, I can block most of their attacks and I die only once. Death Count: 44  Sure, why not. Poisoning isn't beneath us.  Usually we'd have to pass a Sneak check, but since we don't have to be subtle anymore, it's an automatic success.   : What are you going to throw at them? Boulders?  Poisoning the well gives us time to make adjustments to our armament.  Our alchemy isn't high enough to change anything, but we do have a robust Crafting skill.  That's all we can do.   Quite a few men on our side, but who know how many Ordu will show up?   Gulp.  There are about 15 Ordu warriors. Tough, but not impossible.    are you loving kidding We don't have to actually fight 100 people. Most are static models.  The fight went easier than I expected. My first playthrough was death after death after death, but this was relatively smooth. Belgutai should be the first target since he poses the most danger.   Hey, we're winning! Albeit at a snail's pace.  Hi Thorgul!  We're pushing the Ordu out of the fort!   Reinforcements! It's about time.  If you convince the Ordu to leave, Carbo gets upset and calls you a big sissy.  Oooh, we're gonna meet the big cheese. Let's talk to Bass first.   Oh good, another tyrant. : And if you're not?    I want to stress that Gaelius is the best of the bunch when it comes to leaders in this game. Strabos is a greedy and amoral thug, Antidas is a mediocre ruler with delusions of grandeur, and Paullus is a dictator. We don't know much about Levir and we haven't met Meru yet, but their chances of being likable are slim. loving Darista inspires more confidence.  What have I gotten myself into?  Next Time: First world problems
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Apr 3, 2020 01:39
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