Inactive [LP CYOA] Overlord

[lightbane]

So 1B won at last? Yay! Whatever happens, it should be better than having the permanent fear of being suddenly backstabbed over and over.

The Barzamites were the ones present here, attempting to control the Governor by pretending to be able to heal Ellen’s eyes with their faith.

Hm, the weird thing is that Ellen was effectively healed after all. This might cause extra confusion. Oh well, worst comes to worst, she can be healed again (this time with a discount).

I mean, it is entirely possible that Velburg has its own burgomeister (possibly with a hot daughter, since it is becoming a running gag by now) that we might want a thing or two from down the line.

It is a common cliché that governors and influential politicians always have hot daughters waiting to be enamored by the hero... Well, or whatever Erdrick is now.

 

[archaen]

I thought that the Gods were entities 'friendly' to each other, what with them being talked about in plural. The Priest didn't talk about a particular Methussian patron deity when he mentioned the gods, although I admit he is not really a good representative of their faith.

But what I am hearing here is that you think there may be a Holy War, with one clergy appropriating a miracle, and the other denying it? That seems mighty fine to me.

Look, once the Governor goes against Hargreave, Ellen's safety is not guaranteed, regardless of the reason. She can be - and has been - used as a leverage against Ambrese. Whether it is us, or Barzam, or whatever - is just a dress up.

By the way, are you telling me that by owning up to our presence here we also admit to healing Ellen? Which I do not think we do, but just checking the logic here.

B explicitly states we give credit for her eyes to them. E leaves Ellen's eyes a mystery as far as I read. We know the duke is going to be a dick but we don't know much about the politics of their religions. We may draw the eye of the church, the one entity we probably need to be afraid of, on to Ontoglia.

 

[Nevill]

B explicitly states we give credit for her eyes to them.

It states they were 'pretending'. I don't know how we want to play this. I suppose we could ask treave.

We know the duke is going to be a dick but we don't know much about the politics of their religions.

That's why I asked if we can run easily foreseeable ramifications of our actions with someone who does, like the Governor. We don't really understand what they are likely to lead to in the short/mid-term.

Any of these options, except accepting blame, step on someone's toes. And you bet they won't be happy about it.

 

[treave]

I forgot to tag you properly when I asked this question above, so what sort of forcefield would this be in option 2D, treave? Are we aiming for a huge version of the protective spell that was in place during the banquet duel, or something that's more like a physical barrier? Do we have reason to think it could protect the inhabitants of the village if Erd was to nuke something with Gigadyne vaguely nearby?

It's got multiple settings e.g. physical, magical, camouflage, and when fully tapped into the abundant leylines of the land should be able to defend against a direct strike from a high-powered Gigadyne. Zayan makes no guarantees though since she cannot grasp the upper limit of your strength.

It states they were 'pretending'. I don't know how we want to play this. I suppose we could ask treave.

Poor choice of wording on my part, Erdrick knows that it is a pretense but it shouldn't be that way in the story the Snake tells. But certainly when the Duke asks around, they'll be confronted with the idea that their faith is not all-powerful enough to heal Ellen's eyes so there's no telling if they might actually pretend for real, for pride's sake.

That's why I asked if we can run easily foreseeable ramifications of our actions with someone who does, like the Governor. We don't really understand what they are likely to lead to in the short/mid-term.

If the Duke buys the story, Hastwell thinks:
Byarlant - likely to cause some ripples when the Duke begins investigating in private. The archmage is known to be prickly and may get offended.
Barzam - he has a line of communications with Barzam, and this may draw them to interfere more closely in the kingdom if the Duke chooses to use it.
Galbaldy - the mercenaries are unpredictable at the best of times, this will probably cause him to be more on guard against them.
Amesdan - he'll investigate Amesdan and perhaps begin to suspect the Adventurer's Guild of withholding information.
Trider - the asshole's going to get more crimes added to his rapsheet. Governor can play at being the victim more easily because Trider is known to do some really illogical and unexplainable things.
Magical Beast Dark Lord - Governor is not sure what to think. Probably cause the Duke to be on guard.

The teleportation circles remaining behind is unacceptable!

Can't teleport itself anymore than a person can lift himself off the ground and walk around. It's just how magic circles are, they can't affect themselves. Zayan won't say that it can't be done, but it definitely can't be done within the proposed timeframe, with these prototypes. Further improvements may come in time, though for now they will be set to self-destruct in case someone attempts to activate them with the incorrect magical signature. There's room enough for an extra Fireball spell inside.

 

[Nevill]

I will withhold my vote for Barzam, voting 1x for now.

Perhaps framing Amesdan is not such a bad idea, to drive a wedge between the Duke and his hires.

 

[treave]

The main reason is that adventurers generally do not get involved in the politics of their native country. It's considered very bad form to do so since there has been prior examples of Guilds pushing for regime change via questing. Monster extermination, treasure hunting, bandit subjugation, all these are legitimate work. Kidnapping governors' daughters, not so much. Given that Amesdan has always had a great reputation in the guild, it is unlikely that Alexander will leave him out to dry and instead attempt to defend him against any allegations made.

 

[treave]

People can't lift themselves off the ground and walk around? I thought that would be pretty easy for most mages in this setting, actually! In a magical setting, it's obviously possible for the devices to teleport themselves. Zayan just needs to be more creative.

Unfortunately, in this magical setting, magical circles are unable to be affected by the spells that they cast.

 

[lightbane]

I will withhold my vote for Barzam, voting 1x for now.

Perhaps framing Amesdan is not such a bad idea, to drive a wedge between the Duke and his hires.

I find it doubtful the latter will happen by now. What's most likely is that this results in a tie for choice 1 and cause a delay of several days for the next episode/the current chapter's epilogue.

 

[treave]

Can the shield be carried around? It sounds as though it can be used for ambushes and other aggressive strategies, as well as the usual cowering and worrying about being attacked.

The mechanisms are bulky and the power requirements are high as it saps energy directly from the leylines in the area. That's what those towers are for. At the moment it is better classified as a structure. Any miniaturization will require further research.

Also, can the shield camouflage itself, or just other things around it?

The force field can camouflage whatever is contained within it.

 

[Nevill]

The force field can camouflage whatever is contained within it.

Does it camouflage/block signals that allow Cloakies trace Rin?

Given that Amesdan has always had a great reputation in the guild, it is unlikely that Alexander will leave him out to dry and instead attempt to defend him against any allegations made.

Which I assume will be supported by the Governor?

It never is a good idea to have adventurers looking into your businesses. They always stumble upon something through sheer incompetence stack overflow.

Looks like there are two wild cards that won't trigger some kind of shitstorm down the line - the Galbaldians and Erdrick. Maybe the Beast. Because they are all unpredictable dicks.

Of the shitstorms I like the archmage one, but Athos has me worried a little. Barzam... kind of lost its perks for now.

I am borderline pro-Erdrick...

Tally so far

Nevill E, B, A>DIV
Kz3r0 B, A, DII
Lambchop19 C>D>F, D>B, C
Azira E>A, A>D, DIII>DII>DI>B>A
lightbane B>D>F, B>D>A, A>DI>DIII>DIV>EI
Storyfag B, D, A
Gobblecock x, D>E, DIV>DI
Grimgravy D>F, B, A>DII>DIV
TOME B, B, DIV>!A
Esquilax E, E, A
Jester D, A, A
Kipeci A>E, A>D, DIV
archaen D>E, E>B, DI>DII>C
ScubaV E, B, A
Elfberserker E, A, A
Baltika9 C, E, A

A - 1 [p.2] (0) Kipeci
B - 4 (3) lightbane
C - 2 (1) Lambchop
D - 3 [p.5] (5)
E - 5 [p.7] (6)
F - 0 [p.3]
x - 1

A - 5 [p.6]
B - 5 [p.7] (7)
D - 3 [p.6] (1) Lambchop19
E - 3 [p.4] (2) archaen

A - 9 [p.10]
B - 0 [p.1]
C - 1 [p.2]
Di - 1 [p.4]
Dii - 1 [p.4]
Diii - 1 [p.2]
Div - 3 [p.6]

I flop to 1E.

 

[lightbane]

Blaming the Archmage is unlikely to work, since it is hard to believe the Archmage himself would be doing the kidnapping, as it has been mentioned before already. IMO the Barzamite choice is ok, they hate non-humans by default so there's nothing good to be gained from these zealots. The Galbaldians, meanwhile, we have little info about them, but if I recall correctly, they tolerate non-humans and such, so it would be a bit of a pity to make such a mess with potential allies. Lastly, blaming ourselves will work, but only if you have a severe martyr complex wish to see our negative reputation becoming even worse*, which personally I don't.


*Possibly to the point even the Farland prince and the others starts doubting about our actions. The incident with Wisteria perhaps is still considered an accident, but attempting to kidnap Eileen will be way harder to believe it wasn't intentional.

 

[Nevill]

IMO the Barzamite choice is ok, they hate non-humans by default so there's nothing good to be gained from these zealots.

Precisely why I don't want them to gain more ground here. The reputation of healers is of a positive sort. Their increased involvement in Methuss is something that I'd like to avoid. They already have good hooks here and are one of the major magnatite buyers.

Hm, I wonder if the Governor has any say about where magnatite goes or who gets a priority in those deals. Maybe he can give us a hint about the next shipment... but this will have to wait until he throws the Duke's people out.

only if you have a severe martyr complex wish to see our negative reputation becoming even worse

It is more of a 'Trider gonna Trider' case.

The only real victim is the Duke who got his people killed... and, well, our love is mutual.

 

[lightbane]

Precisely why I don't want them to gain more ground here. The reputation of healers is of a positive sort. Their increased involvement in Methuss is something that I'd like to avoid. They already have good hooks here and are one of the major magnatite buyers.

That's possible, but it is unlikely we're going to return to Methuss territory any time soon (except for the Temple, maybe). Even then, it's still better than acquiring a reputation of "kill on sight", so I consider it the lesser evil. We'll have to agree we disagree.

Changing the topic, these leyline towers make me think migrating won't be as easy as we believe. Perhaps once we acquire more followers and territory we can turn the village into an outpost, but that's something to consider another day.

Lastly, treave, since it is unlikely the spell research course of action is going to happen now, may I ask what would DII involve? I assume Erdrick would use his magic researcher aptitude to create a new variation of his signature spell, but would he be able to develop several elemental variations of this spell, or only one or two at most (giving us the choice of which element we prefer*)? I think it would be the latter, since it took him years to develop his most powerful spell and we do not have too much time right now. Also, would these spells include a Verandert variant as well?


*Calling it now: the ice version is going to be named Bufudyne, the fire equivalent Agidyne and the earth one Geodyne.

 

[Kipeci]

*Calling it now: the ice version is going to be named Bufudyne, the fire equivalent Agidyne and the earth one Geodyne.

And we'll have Sensodyne for when we master tooth wizardry.

 

[archaen]

I'll go 1.D > E to give it a chance over B for who ever tie breaks.

 

[TOME]

Lastly, treave, since it is unlikely the spell research course of action is going to happen now, may I ask what would DII involve?

Don't go asking spoilers just yet. We will probably get these options next time also.

 

[Esquilax]

Frankly, I am not that opposed to E, provided that the Codex does not go full retard and start LARPing a MONSTAR because 'all the bridges are burned, why not?', which, alarmingly, is the logic that is being used even now. We tend to go to the extremes at a drop of a hat. We sold the world for Rin? WE MUST NOW EAT ALL THE PUPPIES! The prince asked us about a star? HE KNOWS EVERYTHING, GIGADYNE TO THE RESCUE! Wist dropped dead? METHUSS HATES US NOW, KILL THEM ALL!

For the record, I think you are right that saying that it might be an exaggeration to say "METHUSS HATES US 4EVA!", but nevertheless, I think that pinning the deed on oursevelves gives us the opportunity for some shrewd manipulation, if we play our cards right. I'm not in favour of burning bridges out of a sense of fatalism, rather I think that diverting suspicion away from the governor and towards ourselves, with both the Guv and Shara acting as "double agents" in the Duke's midst is something smart that he won't see coming at all. I suppose you can pin the deed on the Barzamites, but that might lead to consequences we can't really predict, whereas we have a clearer idea of what will happen if we take the heat for it ourselves.

By the same token though, I'd also urge the voters to not dismiss E out of a sense of "Codex cannot into intrigue" fatalism as well. We have a shrewd character who has a talent for this sort of thing (i.e. not Ean or Xu Jing), and he is more cautious than Dio without his naked lust for power and penchant for insane, desperate last-minute gambits that end up working out somehow. I think that we can pull it off.

 

[ScubaV]

Are B and E tied? If so I'll flop back to E, to avoid any potential delays.

 

[Kipeci]

Nevill, what is your distinction between the [p.#] and the (#) in your tally? I realize that it's a pain to resolve flops especially when some extend to some four or five votes out and you don't know everyone's exact intention, I'm just not quite sure what your notation means and my brain's not working so well right now. If we're just one person away from getting 2D or 2A then it may be worth it for me to pass the time by trying to convince some folks to flop away from teleportation given the limitations.

 

[Azira]

C'mon, spell research options are not winning?

Guys, we need to focus on making Erdrick better, not his minions. Please.

 

[Nevill]

Nevill, what is your distinction between the [p.#] and the (#) in your tally?

Potential votes (meaning the total number of votes for that option, including ALL conditionals), and the votes after flops are resolved.

For example, here are two votes:

Lambchop19 C>D>F, D>B, C
lightbane B>D>F, B>D>A

lightbane is voting 2B>D>A, so even though his vote adds [1] potential vote for D, it will remain a potential as long as B leads - as that's his primary vote. Lambchop adds (1) for B. On the other hand, if D establishes a lead, then Lambchop won't be voting for B and lightbane will flop to D as a secondary vote.

How many people you need to convince for a given option to win depends on who you are convincing, as that changes vote distribution and flopping results. Yes, it's a pain in the ass to count flops, news at 11.

Guys, we need to focus on making Erdrick better, not his minions.

Once they become self-sustainable, then sure. I just want to have some reliable helping hands, because we can't be everywhere.

 

[lightbane]

Alright, fine. I'll change my 2nd vote to 2D so that possible ties are prevented and the incoming trainwreck update can be delivered faster.
Vote summary:
1.B>D>F.
2. D.
3. A>DI>DIII>DIV (only if 2B doesn't win, otherwise ignore it)>EI.

Don't go asking spoilers just yet. We will probably get these options next time also.

Maybe, or maybe not. Chances are the next chapter will have plot-related reasons to prevent us from sitting around in our base and simply accumulate power until we can magically headbutt the world into submission.

I'd also urge the voters to not dismiss E out of a sense of "Codex cannot into intrigue" fatalism as well. We have a shrewd character who has a talent for this sort of thing (i.e. not Ean or Xu Jing), and he is more cautious than Dio without his naked lust for power and penchant for insane, desperate last-minute gambits that end up working out somehow. I think that we can pull it off.

You mean like that time he betrayed all of his comrades, all of their beliefs, his entire race, caused the direct and indirect death of several of his former companions and broke the script on the off-chance he got some pussy?

Zayan makes no guarantees though since she cannot grasp the upper limit of your strength.

Just to know: does that mean she can analyze our magic's total power level, or is she making an estimate based on the assumption Erdrick is as strong as a "real" Angel?

 

[Nevill]

Alright, fine. I'll change my 2nd vote to 2D so that possible ties are prevented and the incoming trainwreck update can be delivered faster.
Vote summary:
1.B>D>F.
2. D.
3. A>DI>DIII>DIV (only if 2B doesn't win, otherwise ignore it)>EI.

Just be aware that there were no ties before you flopped, and there won't be any after unless any more changes happen, but you won't be getting any teleportation (as the 3rd vote favors twins). As long as you are fine with that.

I will recount the tally once I get off the smartphone.

 

[TOME]

Aren't we getting teleport circles now?

 

[Nevill]

Here, the latest tally.

Tally so far

Nevill E, B, A>DIV
Kz3r0 B, A, DII
Lambchop19 C>D>F, D>B, C
Azira E>A, A>D, DIII>DII>DI>B>A
lightbane B>D>F, D, A>DI>DIII>DIV>EI
Storyfag B, D, A
Gobblecock x, D>E, DIV>DI
Grimgravy D>F, B, A>DII>DIV
TOME B>D, B, DIV>!A
Esquilax E, E, A
Jester D, A, A
Kipeci A>E, A>D, DIV
archaen D>E, E>B, DI>DII>C
ScubaV E, B, A
Elfberserker E, A, A
Baltika9 C, E, A
Karwelas E, D, A

A - 1 [p.2] (0) Kipeci -> E
B - 4 (2) lightbane, TOME -> D
C - 2 (1) Lambchop -> D
D - 3 [p.6] (6)
E - 6 [p.8] (7)
F - 0 [p.3]
x - 1

A - 5 (3) Kipeci, Azira -> D
B - 4 [p.6] (5)
D - 5 [p.8] (7)
E - 3 [p.4] (2) archaen -> B

A - 10 [p.11]
B - 0 [p.1]
C - 1 [p.2]
Di - 1 [p.4]
Dii - 1 [p.4]
Diii - 1 [p.2]
Div - 3 [p.6]

As usual, the closest contenders are bolded.