why Aspirational?

>>31902367
?

It's happening

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time to waste a Fate Point

CAn we please get a revote because of all those informal votes? I think if you continue on like this it's going to make a lot of people mad.

Rolled 6, 6, 18 = 30

I voted for 2 but seeing as we are this far in, we better kill this fucker

Fuck sunk cost

>>31902398

I ain't mad, we just need this Blackwater dead now

>>31902398
I'd honestly just call those guys idiots. But losing a FR in general is a pretty bad thing so it would actually be a pretty good idea to double check here.

>>31902398
At least two of those were people trying to same fag. Clear from the space between the post link and number.

>>31902398
>CAn we please get a revote because of all those informal votes?
I would appreciate it

>>31902419
we were explicitly told this will not kill him, nor will it reveal his secret

>>31902419
won't kill him or reveal secret, its a blow out

>>31902398
I voted against, but it won't make me mad. Sure, we don't have a way to get the points back yet and we could easily die later on, but no harm done.
Really though it's bad to just revote.

>>31902430

Yes, but it means we can continue the fight at least. Which gives us an outside shot of killing him

My current guess at his immortality since I just got here: He's at least partially outside of reality.

>>31902449
he's about to bolt, worst we'd do is wound him enough to hammer home he shouldn't fuck with us

>>31902448
We really should talk to the foxy waifu about how to get FR points back now that I think of it.

I hope your happy Aspir, you got nearly 700 posts of SHOCK AND AWE and PANIC.
I hope it was worth it.

>>31901893
>IF a master of Blood can't heal that, then his Blood powers are obviously tangled up somewhere else. WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
what if he is basically a hive mind with multiple bodies overlapping in space? Every time he takes significant damage, he swaps out a body and uses his blood powers to grow a replacement over time. Or... he just distributes the blow across all his bodies at once to mitigate it?

>>31902496
So he's Funny Valentine, basically?

>>31902496
Heh. This here tells you pretty much all you need to know Aspirational. We've exhausted all the sensible ideas and are pulling out our wildest dreams to try and explain this shit

>>31902519
Nah, If I was pulling things out of my wildest dreams he would be unhurtable because he is turning the damage we do into illusions. Or twisting the laws of reality so that it's logically impossible to hurt him.

>>31902468
>>31902496

Looking at the theories, they broadly seem to be in three different categories:

(1) Lady is a Fae or sold sort of magical creature that is giving him power

(2) Illusions/Clones/Body Swap

(3) Planeshift /Demi-Plane/Fae Corridor hijinks

>All our senses (and that of vad) say he is there
>Strike feels like he isn't there, for both of us
>It feels like we are hitting SOMETHING, just not him
time shenanigans? he reverts himself slightly in time? and each time he does that, he regains his power to do so because the reversion restored his power not just his form?

>>31902576
Nah. Pretty sure in this setting time is a concept you can't mess with.

>>31902569

Reposting Hints Compiled:


>Mal, likely having realised that his antimagic can’t disrupt the summoning of power if it doesn’t appear to be taking place, l

>Blackwater remains unharmed, if defensive, even as the icicles tear through him, smaller ice shards coming out the other side as if they had truly impacted his flesh.

>Swing your arm around his in that oh so brief instant of suspension Blackwater goes through, you tangle your arms around his and pull him towards you at the same time you crash your head forward. Your helmet clangs loudly against his head, indicating a physical impact, but the feel of everything is so… false. Your grip around his skin, the impact of your helmet against his head – everything feels slightly off.

>Mal, likely having realised that his antimagic can’t disrupt the summoning of power if it doesn’t appear to be taking place, l

>Blackwater remains unharmed, if defensive, even as the icicles tear through him, smaller ice shards coming out the other side as if they had truly impacted his flesh.

>Swing your arm around his in that oh so brief instant of suspension Blackwater goes through, you tangle your arms around his and pull him towards you at the same time you crash your head forward. Your helmet clangs loudly against his head, indicating a physical impact, but the feel of everything is so… false. Your grip around his skin, the impact of your helmet against his head – everything feels slightly off.

>>31902519
actually this isn't an original asspull, I have seen it done in several different works

>>31902512
who?

>>31902576
Or maybe his body is frozen at one point in time, like with Yomiel from Ghost Trick. Which would explain why he isn't able to heal himself.

>>31902569
You're forgetting Blood and Darkness magic MAX LEVEL bullshit ideas

>>31902593

>His nose remains as obviously broken as earlier, piquing your interest given how trivial an injury it should be for a daywalker of his calibre to heal.

>The clangs of his fists against your armour feel real, as does the force that ripples through them into your body, shaking you slightly, but somehow it doesn’t feel right. A niggling feeling that what’s causing this isn’t what you see in front of you.

>So far as you can tell, he's right in front of you. He has the same sort of strange feeling as the other daywalkers and so far as you can tell he really is there, except anytime you come into contact with him it just feels... wrong. Just like the way he's summoning his sorcerous power.

>Blackwater has a very particular form of 'immortality'. A couple of guesses have been on the right train of thought but took the wrong path at a fork of logic.


>“What the hell is going on? It’s like he’s there but isn’t there,” Vad whines. “All of my senses say there’s a daywalker in front of me, but when I hit him with an anti-sorcery attack, which are good against these bastards, it goes crazy like it can’t decide if there’s really a daywalker there.”

>The strangest part of all this is that he doesn’t seem immune to momentum – when you grab him or hit him, it’s like he’s still feeling the impact but his body never changes. Like you can’t actually cause the wound but can manipulate the physical reality before you – except that one time.


[Continued]

>>31902569
And we know it's Astral related, since Talon and Vad can feel it.

>>31902600
oho, oh this is awesome. His body is frozen in time, we managed to punch through it with astral power. He cannot heal because he is frozen, for good or bad...

>>31902620
Or like that other bastard by and of nature he can't be sensed.

>>31902620
not necessarily, they have the sharpest senses

Maybe we are looking at it backwards, what if his power is too simple/stupid that we over looked it?

>>31902618

>The golden light on it signifies a lot of astral power, but clearly it wasn’t enough, as he merely freezes as your sword cuts through him. The feeling though, is your biggest hint – you feel bone, flesh and sinew being torn apart by your sword. It feels just like every other person you’ve cleaved through – but it feels wrong. Not just the fact that as your sword cuts through him he remains unharmed, if stunned, but the feel of cutting through him is just that little bit off.

>everything says this is the real deal but you just know it’s not.

>Last hint: Nobody else gets the feeling of wrongness when they hit him. Just you and Vad.

>One of the guesses was close enough I’ll give a slight bonus as it points towards the solution. If somebody still gets it right, you’ll autosucceed (though Blackwater might still get away given how late the realisation is).

>>31902625
But then why does he freeze up every time he is about to be hit?

>>31902620
Only Tal and Vad could feel Darian's bullshit too, and he wasn't using astral.

>>31902651
He is the elemental lord of not getting hit

>>31902651
it is a nice sentiment but doesn't get us anywhere

>>31902654
he doesn't, he freeze up during the hit. In fact, his face showed SURPRISE when lynn cleaved him in two from the back. He didn't see her coming to do it.

And this actually does support the time frozen theory

>>31902625
>>31902600

OH! Now he's going to have a bloody nose for the rest of his life! And the 'senses freaking out' is him reverting to a time when he wasn't a daywalker temporarily! That could work!

... no it doesn't, dammit.

Remember how he was sucking whats her face dry at the beginning? Maybe that was important somehow.

Maybe if we knew how black waters sweat taste like we can figure something out.

>>31902684
>And the 'senses freaking out' is him reverting to a time when he wasn't a daywalker temporarily!
no, that is the time around him not working properly fucking up sensory input
also, he said there is no daywalker suddenly, not that there is a person who isn't a daywalker. as in, he is gone and there at the same time, not a mortal and daywalker at the same time

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Given that there haven't been any problems with informal voting for a while (and this isn't the first time there's been a couple of people using carriage returns), just tuck it away as a lesson learnt if it affected you. Remember that the quest ran for a while without FR points and you've yet to burn a fate point.

>>31902489
I promised a bossfight with property damage against an immortal. You got a bossfight with property damage against an immortal.

>Dramatic failure

You launch yourself across the clearing, ready to launch a hammer strike into Blackwater’s back with all of the power you can muster. But your armour betrays you, the damage done to it early causes it to crack and through off your aim. Your vision of reality wavers for a moment and your punch flies weakly.

Deftly dodging your attack, Blackwater summons his shadow sword and prepare to bring it down on you. You know he’ll just walk away after this. After insulting you like this. You won’t let that happen.

>FR Point Burnt
>You have 0 FR points burnt
>Target met

As the sword flies down at you, your arm flicks up and grabs his. You wrench the smug bastard closer to you and hammer your fist straight into his ribs. You feel them crack beneath your gauntlet and Blackwater splutters, his breathing rudely interrupted by your hard blow. Then, you rise to your feet, your helmet cracking into his face, stunning him if not harming him. You leverage yourself against his body and, focusing all of your strength, wrench his arm forwards.

>continued

>>31902703
That was just him being a backstabbing daywalker.

Guys, I've been reading up on Australian folklore and I think I might have a hint. In his pastebins, Asp mentioned another form of magic similar to sorcery called Spiritualism. Look at what the bin says about it's abilities:

Spiritual magicks are very precise and old. It's to astral energy what evocation is to magical energy. The difference is why - astral energy is potent, so for non-astral beings to use it requires great care. Trying to use astral energy ad hoc is liable to get yourself killed, along with everybody near you. Spiritualists specialise at fighting sorcerous beings like most monsters or dragons, though their talents also make them good against mages.

Furthermore, among the Australian vampires are creatures called Talamaur, who feed on spiritual energy as opposed to blood. I don't know what this means, but I'd like to propose we explore these concepts a bit.

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>>31902716
Blackwater screams, and you feel his shadow power rail weakly against your armour. Then, with one last burst of power you wrench his arm free of his socket. You spin the vampire by his loose arm and hurl him to the ground. He rolls off the edge of the ramp, crashing to the ground below, and you almost collapse to the ground. The pain and exhaustion are catching up. You know he’s still active, if heavily weakened, but you don’t know if you’ll have the spare energy to afford to keep fighting him.

>1. Keep fighting him.
>2. Let him leave. You’ve bloodied him enough that he knows who truly stands on top here.

>>31902735
>1. Keep fighting him.

>>31902735
he is leaving, yes? Astral arrow to the back anyone?

>>31902735
>1. Keep fighting him.
He's just going to cause problems later if we don't kill him here.

>>31902735
>2. Let him leave. You’ve bloodied him enough that he knows who truly stands on top here.

We've done out damage, I doubt he will cross us.

>>31902735
>1. Keep fighting him.

>>31902735
>>31902755
This shoot an arrow in his ass.

>>31902735
2

We can't keep going anymore.

>>31902735
>2. Let him leave. You’ve bloodied him enough that he knows who truly stands on top here
But not without insulting him for running away.

>>31902748
>>31902755
>>31902757
the risk is that we take near fatal damage and burn a fate point, losing a major named character in the process
like, he knocks us out, then executes one of our followers "for the drama" and leaves

>>31902735
>2
Think of Undine here.

>>31902735
>1. Keep fighting him.
Can't let him survive.

>>31902735
1
Hes down lets kick his ass
On the topic of his powers what if his lady is a fae?

>>31902735
1

I don't understand the logic behind voting for a FR Point and then not pursing this to the logical finish. Why not let him leave in the first place and save the point?

>>31902773
"THAT'S RIGHT! SLINK AWAY TO YOUR LADY MARIANNE! IT WON'T SAVE YOU FROM ME!"

>>31902728
>Talamaur

That looks suspiciously close to Taour to me. Either that or the sleepiness is catching up to me.

I really think we need to look into this.

>>31902735
Final destination vote?

>>31902735
>>2. Let him leave. You’ve bloodied him enough that he knows who truly stands on top here.
"I may be a foot note in your future, but your arm will be a trophy for my present"

>>31902591
>Nah. Pretty sure in this setting time is a concept you can't mess with.
what about when talon used FR to revert the antimagic balista bolt taking out our mages?

>>31902728
I don't know, we know absolutely nothing about it. We can't even hazard a guess about the nature of his powers in spiritualism since there just isn't any info. I don't think Aspir would do that to us.

Guys keep in mind that we know where he lives. We can go get him again once we've healed up and knocked our heads together with our advisers to figure out his weakness.

>>31902735
I kind of want to see what would happen if we froze the bastard. But I kind of either want to let him go while laughing and saying it was a good fight.

>>31902735
>1. Keep fighting him.
fuck letting him go now.

>>31902801
I am against yelling taunts at him as he leaves
this is unbecoming of our station, and honestly I don't want to piss him off too much here.
we aren't not going to brute force a kill on him in our condition

>>31902735
>1

>>31902735
>1. Keep fighting him.

>>31902842
It's not a taunt, it's a threat. We're proving that we know about his secret, at least partially, and he had better fuck off if he know's what's good.

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>>31902816
That wasn't manipulating time. They're supposed to appear more like visions.

I'll be finishing up the Blackwater fight quickly no matter what. Then I'll do an aftermath post or two, then it's quits for the session.

CONTENTIOUS VOTE

Option 1
Keep fighting Perin Blackwater despite your own injuries and exhaustion.

Option 2
Let Perin Blackwater leave. You've already bloodied him enough and you can't risk him besting you and taking out his anger on your comrades.

Rules for voting are to make a post with a link to this post and the number you are voting for. No other text (including carriage returns), no greentexting the number. All informal votes will be discarded. Voting window will be five minutes after the first vote.

>>31902716
>his breathing rudely interrupted by your hard blow
vampires breath?

>>31902877
1

>>31902877
2

>>31902816
I want to think that was playing with events. Erasing that then saying this is how it goes. At the same time that isn't going back in time that's just manipulating how things are so that everything is erased. It be why Vad notices when we do it.

Though I can't even remember where he said time was something not even the strongest beings can mess with.

>>31902877
1

>>31902728
Right, so Astral Energy and Spiritual energy are pretty much the same, right? We know that by filling ourselves up with Astral Energy, we can move into another plane and move intangibly. What if that's the same with Blackwater, only he's using Spiritual energy? This guys is playing on a lot of drama and emotion, components of spirit. Astral energy and evocation use specific gestures and maneuvers. What if his grandstanding and posturing is an element of spiritualism, sort of like chanting for voodoo? Whenever we do something awesome, we feel ourselves "fill up" with Astral Energy. He's pretty pumped himself, sort of like us.

>>31902877
2

>>31902877
1

>>31902842
Unbecoming of our station? You don't want to piss him off? We just tore off his arm, and we are not some noble that is afraid to taunt. It is well within Talons character to taunt a fleeing enemy.

>>31902877
1

>>31902877
2

>>31902877
2

>Barely hurt him with a nat 20
>Arm is turbo fucked
>He is leaving and won't bother us
>We still haven't figured out how he is mitigating all damage besides a nat 20 and a FR point
>"Let's keep fighting!"

Really guys?

>>31902817
We should have probably looked more into this lady of his anon. Like I said about 3 threads ago or so I would say when everyone said we should just attack him till he dies.

>>31902877
1

>>31902905
>Unbecoming of our station?
it comes off as immature

>>31902877
2

>>31902877
2

>>31902877
2

>>31902877
2

>>31902911
I think we've got people from /qtg/ here trying to fuck up the quest.

>>31902877
2

hey, maybe when we tell tsucchi all that happened she can help figure out his power.

>>31902877
1

>>31902946
No text, you fucking retard. Link and number only.

>>31902877
2

1

>>31902877
2

>>31902877
We we let him go we should give a laugh and just say "Well done. For fighting so well I'll consider this done for now. But know next time I see you you die."

>>31902946
Improper as the other anon said and pretty sure Aspie says he is going to explain it to us once Blackwater leaves.

>>31902897
Like he is acting out a ritual?
Oah my god, diorama! This whole thing was a play. I think I get it now. He was acting out a ritual and a script, and the script says he does not get hurt. The more we deviate from the script the less power he has. Our reality warp let us break the script at the start.

>>31902960
I didn't notice it said contentious vote, I thought it was a regular vote. thanks for pointing it out, I revoted properly

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>all these votes
Christ.

>>31902897
Spiritual energy isn't a thing. Spiritual techniques are just a way to manipulate astral power safely for most people.

>>31902889
During discussions of what you can do by binding a PoP to yourself I ruled out all time control.

>>31902981
Whoah

>>31902981
but that doesn't explain how he does that... is this an astral spell? an enchanted item?
Only thing i can think of is the stones... which is why i suggested we break those earlier.

>>31902989
You're so popular Aspir.

>>31902984
... when you see everybody else voting with nothing but numbers, you didn't think to yourself, 'gee! it might be a contentious vote right now'?

>>31902981
Doubtful but neat idea. Doesn't explain quite a few other things.

>>31902989
>All the votes
We're all awake now, and paying attention.

That, or half of us pulled out our phones.
But eh, what're ya gonna do.

>>31902877
>Keep fighting Perin Blackwater despite your own injuries and exhaustion.
worth mentioning is that if we run out of power our iron body wears off, this can mean instant death depending on the injuries we have at the time it wears off

>>31902989
So Did anything level up for the PC?

>>31903007
With all this discussion? Na.

>>31903021
We were worse condition at the battle with the daywalker magi.

>>31903040
fair point, all we have here is a broken arm

>>31903030
what discussion its just 3-6 of us talking.

>>31903000
We have some control over fate, I think its safe to assume others have some measure of control over fate as well. Though maybe not as strong as ours.
I don't want to hand wave and say fate magic, but that's what I'm trying to get at. I guess we are about to find out anyway.

>>31903040
>>31903048
We were also doing damage to him.

>>31903048
yup nothing beats having a gaping hole in your chest.

>>31903057
3-6? It's just me, you, and Aspir.

>>31903007
Phone, tablet, laptop, other PC...

Then log onto neighbor's wifi with all that and do it again because it's a different IP.

>>31903069
I think we should had used the FR point earlier if we were gonna end up using it.
Since using it now fucked him up good.

>>31903080
>Samefag intensifies
I prefer not to think of the tools at such faggotry's disposal, anon.

>>31903057
>>31903076

A lot of us aren't participating in discussion right now since we already voted and we are pretty burnt out on guessing Blackwater's immortality source.

There's a ton of discussion near the start of any new topic

>>31903111
funny thing is, the only place that is good against that level of same fag is anonkun.

>>31902716
You know..looking at it we have mainly hurt him with wrenching him.

>>31903111
>>31903080
>>31903076
>>31903117

You're not fooling anyone by replying to yourself single other guy in the thread.

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>>31903021
The only thing keeping you upright is Iron Body - the reason you still feel exhausted is that it has limits at its current level. You've had your wrist tendons cut, taken a few hard blows, been suplexed through solid steel and had a hard drop and had your arm broken (and then made it worse by forcing it back into position).

>>31903028
I'll do the checks before the next thread. Too much crazy stuff happened for me to be sure. At first glance: Endurance, Intelligence and maybe some attack skills

>2

You pull yourself to your feet, and barely manage to reach the edge of the ramp. Down below you see Blackwater standing up unsteadily, but in better condition than you are and walking away. You watch him, uncertain over whether to leave him alone.

As he reaches an intersection and is about to vanish from sight, he turns and salutes you with his good arm. Then he vanishes. You have a pretty damned good feeling you won’t be seeing him again for a long time – especially as his mansion is in the opposite direction.

Undine comes up behind you and coos a bit over your injuries. Not wanting to black out, you leave the energy drain that is Iron Body in place even though you’re running near empty. You’ll need to make contact with your officers and finish cleaning the place out, as well as see what Lady Terce is like – you saw her body lying on the ground, having been blown off the edge of the platform by your initial attack.

For now, though, you just rest in Undine’s arms.

>That’s the thread.

I was going to do aftermath, but I’m not up for it right now. It’s been a long session. I’ll post Blackwater’s immortality trick shortly.

Next thread is May 10th at 6pm EDT. Keep an eye on my Twitter as depending on my week, I may instead be taking a weekend off for preparation.

>>31903117

I'm at that point too. I kind of wish it wasn't mentioned that if we figured it out we get bonuses/win/whatever. It has really burnt me out and will leave a sour taste in my mouth regardless of how this ends.

>>31903080
>tablet, laptop, other PC...
same IP on all of those. actually your phone also has same ip unless you disable the wifi

>>31903149
>At first glance...Intelligence
Wha, really?
I'm surprised. Can't remember the last time that leveled up.
...
I don't feel that smart. Was it all the fruitless guessing that did it?

>>31903149
>may 10
>a week later

Such is life

>>31903176
Phone can connect to a 4g network to get internet rather than wifi, and some newer wireless routers have two separate bands (and IP's) for wireless devices and PC's. That's 3.

>>31903182
Back to another sad week of work looking forward to AEQ

>>31903149
Thanks for running Aspie, it was a blast. Good fun trying to guess Blackwater's trick and the fight was amazing.

Also did we ever get a physical description of Talon? I don't see it in the pastebin.

>>31903182

>tfw we will never have every other day Aspirational back

Quit your job, I'll pay for you life.

>>31903182
>Or possibly take that weekend off
>2 weeks later
We can only dream of a world where Aspir runs every day, and has infinite energy

>>31903179
>INT

I think that is closer to WIS here in this system.

>>31903176
I have two phones.
1 for work and 1 for home.
Both have different IPs.

Rolled 15

>>31903179
True intelligence is being willing to take a shot in the dark, or something like that.
Rolling for level ups

>>31903235

>Infinite alcohol.

Fixed that for you.

>>31903179

I feel dumber to be honest. My only "contribution" was compiling the hints and realizing I have no idea what his immortality source is.

I'm sure the immortality source will be super obvious in retrospect

>>31903149
>I’ll post Blackwater’s immortality trick shortly.
but, how would we know?
... oh, wait, brick by brick disassembly of his mansion, brainstorm with team and tsucchi. it would possibly come up that way

>>31903149
>. I’ll post Blackwater’s immortality trick shortly.
Wait next thread or this thread?

>>31903235
If I had the money, I'd be willing to pay Aspirational to do this as a day job. Running Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and a short one on Saturday.

>>31903149
So...
How did things go, you think?
It's clear we did something wrong, unless this was suppose to be a fight where the bad guy casually strolls away. I ran out of ideas of what his immortality was long before anyone else did.

>>31903277
Its called patreon.

>>31903257
It's ALWAYS super obvious in retrospect. Don't beat yourself up though, anon you tried.

Hell, we all tried. Everyone, thanks for the efforts and all. Really. You did more then I could to help us figure this shit out.

Rolled 11

>>31903260
Nope, Talon figures it all our later tonight upon genuflecting.

>>31903257
Honestly if we did more research instead of rushing in it would have probably went better. Either way though we pretty much won this fight and I kind of Feel Talon would view it as a good time.

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>>31903149
>he turns and salutes you with his good arm
so we earned his respect in a sense by ending the fight on our terms
won't he be surprised when we find his waifu

>>31903315
He is doing this naked with a hard on.

>>31903308
>If we did more research instead of rushing in
Pretty much that, I hate to say.
Sigh.
I mean, sure we beat Taour, but all of the fucking Daywalkers got away. The warcrimes one, the fat one (though no one really cares about that one) and the kingpin himself.

Just...man.
I feel like crude.

>>31903281
I am pretty sure we went into the fight at a disadvantage since we didn't investigate Lady Marianne and we failed on the search roll in the mansion.

Once there we could have brought it back if we determined what the trick was but obviously couldn't do that. Only thing that would save us then was amazing rolls.

Also this is like the "boss" of the first arc or so of the story so it was understandably difficult.

I think in terms of the War we made a relatively good decision to finish off Taour now. Make note that there weren't any mentions of makeshift Griffon banners or graffiti or anything of that nature. The city needed to be taken for the sake of everyone before it became too far lost for us.

In terms of fighting Blackwater. I don't know what else we could have done to prepare. But I felt lacking.

>>31903332
and i can accept that, if vad is any indication we are a very attractive man

>>31903332
>>31903315
So no one tried nut shots?

>>31903315
Honestly I would be fine just letting the guy go after finding out his weakness for later. We had a good fight and got some good hints on his powers. He gave a good fight.

>>31903281
He was planning on strolling away the whole time.

>>31903339

Well, at least we captured two weaker Daywalkers and indirectly eliminated the Lady Daywalker

>>31903339
Inquisition anyone?

>>31903339
There were anons warning you guys and telling you to trap him inside, and not to rush.
But, people thought he was gonna be as easy as the one we just beat even though Asperational said he was supposed to be a hard fight, and we just got lucky.

>>31903339
We offed the Mage and the Knight, and the Siren is either dead or ridiculously easy to capture.

>>31903339
If you people had 3 brains cells between you and didn't rush in head first against a guy we KNEW had some sort of immortality without first figuring out his secret, we wouldn't be having these bad feels right now.

>>31903367
Actually, I voted to take the surrounding providence while we investigate the immortality crap.
But that might have had something to do with it too

>>31903366
I'd be up for it, but I doubt we'll catch them that way.

>>31903377
>Mage and Knight
Yeah, but those are tools. Not the wielder.
>Siren
I kinda hope she's dead. If her power is thrall voice, then we can't risk keeping her prisoner.

>>31903367
I honestly passed out hard during the middle of this so I didn't get to say anything. I did mention it like 3 threads ago when people where talking about overpowering his immortality though.

Kind of wish I was here to try to make things easier. But I"m pretty satisfied with this ending. If we really must kill him for some reason we can always powerlevel later and when we have a large nation do it. If he isn't going to bother us I don't see a reason to continue though.

I'm just waiting for the reveal and then heading to bed. Inquisition can start next time. No mercy for Vampires, thralls get the usual treatment.

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So, Perin Blackwater’s immortality. Basically, he was there but he wasn’t truly there – he bound his soul (or what’s left of it, being a vampire) to Lady Marianne. This sounds like a phylactery, but it’s not – it’s more a case that you literally cannot change the physical state of him without affecting his soul. The reason people couldn’t hurt him is that even though they’re coming into contact with his physical body reality says ‘Nope can’t change that.’ The reason you could hurt him with astral power is that you were overriding that power.

The behaviour comes from programming principles. Blackwater was an object whose attributes could only be changed by his ‘existence’, and his existence only does so if reality tells it to. Because his existence isn’t really there but with Marianne, when you attempt to change his attributes (by hitting him or slashing him) the world freaks out when it realises he’s not ‘there’ (because it defines people by their existence) but it knows his physical being is there. But because his physical being is there reality can tell other beings what it feels like – but people using astral power like you and Vad sense the wrongness naturally. The reason he was freezing was because reality would momentarily try to erase his physical being (as it didn’t ‘exist’) then it would be recreated by his true existence bound to Marianne.

In a nutshell, he was there in all sense but he had tricked the world into thinking he was actually where Marianne is so nobody could harm him. You hurt him by overwriting this trick with raw power (this is also why he couldn’t regenerate). Also, though it probably feels like a red herring, the magic coming from nowhere was a magical metaphysics thing I don’t think I fully explained.

And yeah, this is really confusing. I’ll try to answer any questions that might explain it better over the next 50 minutes or so. There were two guesses that got each half but not together

>>31903417
>Actually, I voted to take the surrounding providence while we investigate the immortality crap.

As did I. It would have also prevented the other two Daywalkers to run as easily.

No sir none of this has sat right with me. Not a single thing since Hiien.

>>31903437
I FUCKING CALLED IT

>>31903332
I thought he summoned new clothes the way he summoned a replacement cane after we shattered his

>>31903437
Well. That's wonderful.

I am goin' to bed.

>>31903437
>mfw when I basically guessed two halves of this but not them together

Motherfucker. I guessed there was something about his form not being able to be changed and something about duping the usual workings of reality.

I can see why we never guessed it, we knew nothing about the whole "if your soul isn't there the programming of the world glitches" thing which is the lynchpin of it all. Interesting stuff.

>>31903437
Damn, I really liked my theory too. Didn't know we had to guess the whole thing either, thought it was good enough if we had it all laying out.

Thanks for running Aspir. It was pretty fun.

>>31903437
>>31903456
God-dammit, I fucking called both parts of that shit. The Phylactery and the Status-lock! Motherfucker! I had both parts of that!

>>31903437

Hmm was hoping for something more esoteric then just a lich kind of effect. Eh, I'm just glad to be out of this section of the game and into the fun parts.

>>31903437
See, now, that right there sounds like some shit we'd need to be in your head to guess.

Aw well. Good to know the fight was doomed from the start.

>>31903437

Yeah, I don't feel as bad now. There's no way I would have gotten that.

Good run, Aspirational

>>31903510
I think we could had won if we used an FR point after the first nat 20.
>>31903437
What was the hint in the mansion?

>>31903437
>mfw Blackwater's name has no hidden meaning
>mfw it wasn't all a ritual he was playing out according to a script
Time to drink and sleep

>>31903437
Oh fuck me, I came up with a few ideas that came close to that. Wish I'd been participating from the start of the right.

>>31903437
Though in this case there really isn't a way to counter it. Other then killing Marianne or dropping enough astral to murder everything in a few leagues.

>>31903541
or using astral power to prevent reality reasserting itself, aka, attack the trick itself

Thats actually kind of simple. We went pretty wild with our ideas didn't we...

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>>31903281
Basically, short of very good dice rolls or being damned insightful you were never going to kill Blackwater when you chose to assault the capital. You would have needed to raid Irris' mansion without invading the city then hunt it down. Blackwater was always more of an extra stage boss, Volante and Darian were the real big bads.

>>31903495
>>31903499
Basically, in order to actually get a bonus you need to work out what you were actually overwriting with your astral power. Without knowing that, you were simply wielding the largest hammer you could find and hoping you hit the invisible nail.

>>31903526
The mansion hint would have confirmed Marianne was a phylactery of some sort.

>>31903456
Did you actually guess it and I missed it? If so, point out the post and I'll mull over how to deal with that.

>>31903437

If anything, the sheer number of replies to this post confirm that a ton of people are participating in this quest.

(Seeing as there's no incentive to samefag to the reveal post)

>>31903568
>Blackwater was always more of an extra stage boss, Volante and Darian were the real big bads.
Oh. Really?
Well I feel a little better then I guess. We killed those two.

Still. the nature of vampires makes me very unhappy that he, and the warcrimes Daywalker got away.

>>31903574
It is a deep game samefags play. Only you and me, Aspirational, are really posting.

>>31903568
This does prove soul manipulation is possible though. Which is something useful to know for later. Maybe if we could see our soul we would get a hint on the nature of our powers.

>>31903568
Well might as well throw my guesses in the ring, I made,

31901768
Maybe his from just resists change? The Astral Punch fuck you reality here's my owned over that but in other words he works to keep himself immortal by literally not allowing change to occur on his body at all?

and a general post on subverting the normal rules of reality. But I can see how it doesn't quite hit the nail on the head, close but no cigar.

I feel good he was an extra stage thing. As I thought the mansion thing would have helped out a lot. I think we would have guessed it eventually if we knew anything about how Marianne was a phylactery.

>>31903437
I can see where the "close but went down a different logic path" comes from, we were thinking she is a phylactery that he would recreate his body near her when killed, not that his body is really here and will regenerate on the spot. And that it regenerates because of a reality hack

Interesting that reality can be hacked in such a manner.
Then again, undine is dead and brought back by a source.
And that fae was dead and coming back through a person he packted with
And for some reason reality manufactures unbound pure elementals to make sure there is always one and makes them appear like human females

>>31903604
and me to.

>>31903568

Well, this makes me feel a lot better. At least I can rationalize us spending the FR points on Volante since we beat him down easily.

I don't think anyone came even close to suggesting a raid on Irris' mansion before the full assault and I doubt the idea would have carried the day. (Too risky etc)

So yeah, I don't feel bad about this invasion plan either in retrospect.

>>31903604

But how do I know that you aren't Aspirational posting without a trip?

>>31903604
what if...what if I've been the reply box all this time?

>>31903568
Is it just me, or do you usually run a little longer?
I take it you have something to get done today, and such.

Also I just wanted to say: That is the weirdest way to say 'he's a Lich' I've ever heard out of anyone.
Like, I know you said it wasn't technically a Phylactery, but it really kinda was.
>Soul not here, fighting us
>Bound elsewhere to protect mortality
The only difference is in this setting, becoming a Lich glitches the world out, and instead of respawns, lets you exist as a shell/two places at once.

>>31903591
>Warcrimes

Honestly there is worse shit going on then just bleeding people to death. So I"m not too hung up on it since we already got the place now and can bring up the damages later.

>>31903649
>Is it just me, or do you usually run a little longer?
5pm to 2am in CST is pretty average for him.
Sometimes it lasts longer, sometimes it is shorter

>>31903604
But anon
I am Aspirational

>>31903635
>don't think anyone came even close to suggesting a raid on Irris' mansion before the full assault
there were a few anons, but we forgot about it since Hien happened.

>>31903656

Creating concentration camps to bleed people to death is pretty high up on the warcrimes chart.

Just saying

>>31903591
>and the warcrimes Daywalker got away.
he ran away a couple of days ago.
we captured his 2 apprentices, and they were going to set up a meeting with him via sending. we can still use that to trap and kill him

>>31903630
Why don't we hack reality that way?
If he can do it, why not us?

>>31903635
>>31903634
Everyone knows archive readers don't read the discussion, only the OP posts. This entire quest is me trying to write a book that reads like a game. I don't know why I'm explaining this to myself though.

>>31903568
So, blackwater's going to return at some point, right? When we're properly leveled to actually fight him, right? I can't stomach leaving this unfinished.

>>31903591
>Warcrimes
His crimes are generally more of a crime against humanity than a warcrime
Bloodfarm isn't a WAR-crime since it doesn't relate to war

>>31903646
Remember, you here forever just got a lot more frightening.

>>31903705
I'm honestly thinking of tricks like that for later. We already know we can get close to immortality so the best way in a setting like this to become nigh unkillable is to pull like 3-4 tricks like this.

>>31903693
It's pretty bad but it's useful in that we can use it as propaganda.

>>31903734
at least its better than the creepy chat rooms with the spam bots talking to them selves.

>>31903711
part of why i didn't want to be told his trick is that it basically demolishes our chance of having a rematch against him

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>>31903624
That was the guess close enough to give you a small bonus (though you dramfailled that roll anyway). Basically, if you'd added something like 'maybe something else or Marianne is preventing him from being changed' I probably would have given it to you (or maybe called a sensory roll depending on the wording).

>>31903649
I sometimes do, but I always finish by 3:30am EDT if I run on Saturdays.

Also, there are more traditional liches - vampires have bizarre souls so Blackwater's trick would produce different results in a mage or other human.

>>31903711
He may reappear at some point in the far future. He's old and almost nobody can kill him so he can just bide his time.

>>31903747
>t we can use it as propaganda.
yup, just like the jews did with the hilariously large death count.

>>31903751
Anon.
We weren't going to guess it.
We got close. But there is no one in hell someone was going to say he was hacking reality.

>>31903731
Does the Geneva convention treaties actually exist here? Or is this like old laws. Where you take what you can conquer legally.

>>31903770

So does Talon know the trick now? Or is just meta knowledge for the readers?

>>31903792
>Does the Geneva convention treaties actually exist here
No one fallows this, hell the America doesn't follow it.

>>31903770
>There are more traditional liches
Oh.
Well shit.

I aim to keep my promise to those Daywalkers, for the record.
Hunt down the remaining Daywalkers, Blackwater's lady included.

>>31903776

pol pls

>>31903792

I'm guessing it's not accepted behavior and frowned upon and may be the basis for a widely accepted casus belli

>>31903770
Ah at least I contributed the bonus, fun times Aspie enjoy your week. Also did we ever get a physical desctiption of Talon? I am feeling drawfaggy for this quest.

>>31903793
Considering he's never reappearing again, it's meta-knowledge.

>>31903817
Take the red pill, anon.

>>31903770
>He may reappear at some point in the far future. He's old and almost nobody can kill him so he can just bide his time.
yeah, but at this point I think we'd have an honest shot at him
>or just employ extreme anti vampire protocols throughout our empire so when he does come back the entire Talon Empire will be waiting

>>31903817
Yeah. Just in general the concept of crime against humanity probably doesn't exist as we would think of it. Something closer to "You bastards killed my brothers!" and less about it being a crime against human nature.

>>31903782
Honestly I was seconds away from guessing it. Mainly because I was wondering why people seemed to talk about him without adding the lady into the equation. The main thing that got me was I didn't really think he would cause reality to glitch like that.

>>31903782
>We weren't going to guess it.
but we could have still found it out via exploration
QM outright told us we could get the info by raiding a particular mannor, one that has been in our sights for a while

>>31903875
Towards the end I had given up the lady as a red herring that had fooled everyone.

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>>31903793
Tsucchi will uncover the trick, if not how he did it, from the notes you'll recover from Blackwater's mansion (when you let her search it) and yours and Vad's testimonies.

>>31903792
Well, if they do exist (and they don't) you probably broke them with those terrifying tar geysers that you blew up in Raupe). Of course, terrible treatment in general could be a reason for others to attack you.

>>31903823
I've given some vague descriptions before: Brown hair, cut short (probably a No8 or so). Full beard (but not bushy). 6'1. Buff physique (adonis like, really). His new armour is based on something I've seen but can't recall from where - you could really use any bulky full suit of plate (like Chaos Warriors) for your image. Greatsword. Tower shield. Longbow.

>>31903860
Honestly depending on what friends we get if he showed up later on I would rather just have our allies bumrush him. I know we have ties at least with lynn so we might be able to get some friendship there.


>>31903770
This makes me curious about something. Prime Saareg vs. Blackwater. Could he kill him?

>>31903770
>That was the guess close enough to give you a small bonus
Ah, and I ignored that one because I thought it was a case of "obviously, but this doesn't say how"

>>31903923
I still kinda feel like we failed.
I don't know why. I just do.

>>31903923
>tar geysers

I came up with those, based off the Princess Bride Fire swamp. I was so happy that they worked. What was your internal reaction when that was suggested and won, aspie?

>>31903923
>Full beard (but not bushy)

I've always imagined him as kind of having a low cut beard. Just because bushy beards are asking for it in a war zone. Hahah.

Rolled 5, 11, 17 = 33

>>31903966

Can't win them all, anon

At least we kicked vampires out of Taour proper without losing anyone and should take over the rest of the Taour shortly

>>31904029
yep yep. Now comes the fun part.

>>31903792
>Does the Geneva convention treaties actually exist here?
the concept of a crime against humanity or warcrime both predate the geneva convention.
First documented warcrime trial was in 1474.

>>31903799
this is not true.

Aside from that, most have no clue what it actually says and assume it means "nice fluffy feelings". For example, the geneva convention stipulates that anyone who is fighting out of uniform is hiding among civilians and is going to lead to massive civilian casualties, so the law forbids killing civilians, but also stipulates total revocation of all human rights to any soldier who is fighting out of uniform. (for example, pretty much every guerrilla warrior)

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>>31903966
>>31904029
we bloodied and tore the arm off of the single most well know unkillable vampire in the world, thats more then anyone else can claim
>gettin that arm mounted as a trophy if it kills me

>>31904080
Wait, what?
I thought we just dislocated it. It was torn off?

>>31904080
>gettin that arm mounted as a trophy if it kills me
hahaha

>>31904080
>>gettin that arm mounted as a trophy if it kills me
the real questions are, where should we mount it and should it be posing or holding something>

>>31904100
I think so too.

I am more than a bit curious to know how/if he can heal from this

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>>31903937
Saareg would have decent odds against Blackwater but it wouldn't be a sure thing. I mean, Blackwater could never defeat Saareg but that doesn't mean he'd lose the fight. The real problem Blackwater has is unlike a real lich he's vulnerable - a real lich could be killed with astral power and just resurrect himself (or regenerate endlessly depending). There's a reason Blackwater is obsessed with immortality as he realises this isn't 'true' immortality.

Of course, Blackwater would try to avoid winding up in such a fight in the first place.

>>31903980
My thoughts when you mentioned the fire swamp were: 'This will be so awesome.' because I had a cool scene in mind almost the second I thought of suggesting using tar for geysers to produce the effect.

>>31904080
Unfortunately, you only wrenched it from its socket. You didn't pull it off.

>>31904100
did we not? maybe i just assumed from how i read it

>>31904079
Yeah but in general you need to do some bad shit to get that. Then lose the war. In general in settings like this things like that aren't really codified so thoroughly.

>>31904080
I'm just glad we got the point across for a time.

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>>31904131
ahh, re-read it and yeah we just fucked it up really bad
shame two, i had a list of poses and things for it to be holding over our throne

>>31904131
I noticed that Blackwater seemed...well a lot of his attacks seemed kinda wimpy. Rather, compared to someone like Volandte, he's strikes and blows didn't do as much as his magic bullshit did.

I assume that was intentional.

>>31904131
>Talon wanting to become more immortal is a go!

>>31904134
We tore it. But not off more like dislocating shit.

>>31904131
>You didn't pull it off.
damn, we could have mounted it over our throne
with the panties of all our "conquests" clenched in its hand

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>>31904165
That just made me sad anon.
Again.
Have a pic to cheer us both up

Rolled 7, 2, 10 = 19

>>31904152

There are also reasons to be "honorable" for pragmatic and entirely self-serving reasons.

Off the top of my head:

(1) Most of your followers, especially Undine (in this very session) generally want you to act in a honorable fashion. Brutal, but fair.

Alienating them would be a bad to terrible idea.

(2) We don't want Talon to develop a reputation as a brutal, baby-eating tyrant. We need the people's support as we build a nation.

So again, brutal "don't fuck with me" but fair and honorable seems like a good approach for most situations.

>>31904131
>a real lich could be killed with astral power and just resurrect himself

God damn it Mal. Learn how to do this.

Also just a random backstory question. We know Mal is in the top ten of mages at full potential. But where was Kushan? Like number 1 or was there people that could mess with him? For that matter how well does the archmage compare to Kushan?

Was just thinking about this and given it's backstory it probably wouldn't be too meta to know.

>He infinitely regenerates because it isn't his power
>It is the power of reality, which he tricked into thinking he cannot be harmed
>Talon didn't overrule blackwater's power, he overruled REALITY's power with that nosebleed punch
that is bloody brilliant

Say Aspir, what about my suggestion of leaving the sword jammed inside him, or trying to trap him in stone so he can't move instead of trying to kill him?

Also
>He freezes for a second before breaking our arm
that was such a huge red herring

>>31904152
>In general in settings like this things like that aren't really codified so thoroughly.
Prior to the geneva convention, no codifying existed and people still were tried for warcrimes. All it really requires is that the victor have cause to make a kangaroo court

>>31904233
Oh, yes I agree. I was just more talking about thinking of it in terms of Crime against humanity isn't a good idea. Just because that's a large concept. While most people here are going to be thinking.

"These bastards fucked up my men! Fucking assholes!"

>>31904291
>Crime against humanity isn't a good idea
crimes against the people of Taour?

>>31904262
Honestly it is pretty basic in general. I was hoping for something a little more crazy. Though right now I wish we had Tohno shiki ;_;

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Okay, so I'm off for the night. Thanks to everybody for participating. I'll try to run next week, though that depends on my prep work - I may still just run and make it a lighter thread (fitting given what the thread title will be) while saving the heavy planning stuff for another thread.

>>31904180
Blackwater isn't a fighter, he's a statesman. He's feared because in a fight if you can't hurt your foe and he can hurt you he basically wins by default. Otherwise, he's got some decent talent at fighting but no really powerful attacks.

>>31904257
Kushan is No1. Even the No2 mage was nowhere near as ridiculously broken as Kushan - I mean, when you guys were suggesting to run a quest with an evil mage I was thinking I could do something with Kushan but it would be like 'DC3 Destroy City' and 'DC10 Defeat Archangel of Death'. All three Lords (plus some supporting cast not known IC) had to work together to stop him and, well, there's a bit more to the story that may be plot important in the long run so I'll hold off on that.

>>31904262
If you tried to trap him, he would have just broken free with his own power (as you didn't have anybody capable of keeping him in one). If you stuck a sword in him, the freezing would have worn off and he would have just kept going.

>>31904291
>While most people here are going to be thinking.
>"These bastards fucked up my men! Fucking assholes!"
I am thinking more along the lines of
>These are horrific human eating monsters
>That put people in farms
>Burn them, burn their families! mob mob mob
and to be fair, this is a perfectly justified thing to form a lynch mob over

>>31904321

Or as most people would think in Taour "Fucking asshole vampires!"

>>31904337
>If you stuck a sword in him, the freezing would have worn off and he would have just kept going.
with an injury?
I was basically thinking of turning him into a pincushion

>>31904338
Hahah.

>>31904337
>DC 10 Defeat archangel

Love this guy already.

>>31904383
>roll three 9's
/tg/

>>31904337
>Blackwater's whole thing was his immortality
Ah. I thought so.

Well I guess it's good that he won't be like a rampaging warlord in other territories.
Still. This whole thing has left me awfully salty.

Sorry, I don't mean to be a bum, and all. It was a good thread, and you're a good QM. Hope that it didn't come off the opposite. Thanks for running.

>Lighter thread, before heavy things
Alright then. I wouldn't mind a decompressing thread about our conquering of Taour.
Will we be doing the rest of Taour right after? Or do we still have the fight with that great wall place to go?

>>31904410
nono... roll three 1s
that is how he lost in the end

>>31904337
>but it would be like 'DC3 Destroy City' and 'DC10 Defeat Archangel of Death'

God damn it again Mal. Couldn't you be more useful like this guy?

>>31904337
I am personally happy he got away.
Feels more right, lesson that we really can't just brute force everything, and we got ourselves a white whale now.
Killing him would have gained us nothing but personal satisfaction
As it is, the fact he is out there is going to actually benefit us. because people will be scared of him coming back and need talon for their protection

>>31904337
Glad I got to participate this time Aspir, good thread man!
How do you feel about everything that went down? It was a damn hard fight for us here, one that we (sorta) lost, even after spending the FR point.

>>31904337
Though if Kushan is 1. Then what would the current archmage be in a general area? or mage Talon? Kind of wondering how the top mages today compare to yesterday.

>>31904451
and we got XP for the fight, yet can fight him again for more XP later on :P

>>31904337
>Kushan is No1
isn't he the guy who invented magic?
I am a bit amazed that nobody ever managed to surpass him

He made evocation I think. Not magic in general.

>Patterns are both the object and the being it creates, which is self perpetuating one started
>Elementals are basically naturally occuring patterns, almost, they self start
>World creates more pure elementals, naturally, as needed
I wonder, how natural are elementals. Maybe someone was behind their creation.

>>31904477
Didn't we like get 3+ stat ups?

>>31904619
I still wonder how the hell Patterns works in a way. I mean do they like morph into something with the shell or is it just like metal.

>I wonder, how natural are elementals. Maybe someone was behind their creation.

They seem to be something like a grounding for the physical world. So as natural as the world.

>>31904732
that doesn't mean they are natural
They could have been made artificially to prepare the world for modification

>>31904732
>Pattern
You first research one, it can be of any creature. An orc, a dragon, whatever.
You then manufacture it, then you activate it with magic. At that point it creates a summon that will remain summoned forever unless killed

>>31904819
Don't think we can make a sentient one though. But dear lord we really need to get a pattern+Magitech factory going on.

The mental image of pouring thousands upon thousand of metal men and just swamping foes gives me boners.

>>31904957
I think it can be sentient
And I think it will produce slower than mageplate, meaning it is less efficient

>>31905079
If I remember right Aspirational answered a question that went something like "Can patterns be sentient?" with "Theoretically yes. But mages say in practice it won't be done." if I remember right that is.

>>31905079
>And I think it will produce slower than mageplate

That's why you get two factories.

>>31905136
that doesn't solve the efficiency issue, you make 2 mageplate factories instead

If mageplate factory produces 5 plates a day, and pattern factory proiduces 3 autonomous fighters a day, then 2 plate factories are still better in terms of army power.
And by having 2 factories for plate you can focus your research instead of splitting it between the two.

Also, anyone remember how many AA bows we make a day? IIRC it is a really low figure. I am thinking "overwhelm them with numbers" is just not gonna happen. A few a day is still way more than enchanters can make without the automation

>>31905211
Yeah the difference is you don't have to feed the automations or cloth them and they don't have internal organs to break.

Both have their advantages and weaknesses.

>Also, anyone remember how many AA bows we make a day?

125 weekly I think.

>>31905211
Speaking of this I still wonder if people will go for my idea of a magitech wall builder for the men. Though personally I think we should go for HMK/LMK/FMK then work on other things.

>>31905242
Course thinking about it this depends a lot on how much a pattern automation would cost in money vs mage plate.

>>31905242
that is just under 18 a day.

>>31905242
>Yeah the difference is you don't have to feed the automations or cloth them and they don't have internal organs to break.
They are also non sapient so they are very limited in their fighting efficiency.
Also, unless the automaton is wearing a mageplate, wouldn't it be basically man at arms level?

>>31905370
It would be a metal guy with no internal organs. I would imagine it would be a tad stronger given trying to stab it to death if your a normal human would just break your hands. That and we could also do things like build siege golems and other specialist things that mage plate can't do that well. Summoning and patterns can do some pretty crazy things if we use them right.

>>31905445
Though I'm mainly thinking of building something like hyper elite patterns with a lot of crazy shit added into their power sets. Like assassins or the likes. Then the mass producible ones would be something more like a squad of unbreakable troops for line breaking missions. Course this just depends we know like 1000 Mage plates is 100 TB so I don't really know if they would need maintaining or not. Since I don't know how much is maintenance vs food and the likes.

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>>31905211
>AA production
It's 125 per week per factory. You can have multiple factories churning them out. This production figure averages out all the supply line issues (e.g. weather delaying wagons carrying magical catalysts) as well as the fact foundries shut down a day a week for maintenance.

Production will take longer now as it provides real strategic choice - you really can overextend as your recruiting power outstrips your production power very easily (unless order drops through the floor).

>>31904497
Kushan effectively conquered the world single-handedly, destroying powerful militaries of dragons, Aefir, dwarves, elves and Fae. He also (though you don't know this IC, but it's trivial info) slapped down the archangels. He invented evocation. Fighting him is like fighting Cain in oWoD.

>>31904472
Oh, well, if you ignore Kushan McBroken then Alyce is the most powerful mage in history. Or at least the most well known powerful mage - she might not be at her peak right now just as Mal isn't at his peak. Alyce, the PC Mage (and his replacement), Darvui and a few other big mages floating about are all up in the big leagues (technically there's a top twelve, but that includes several mage characters I probably won't use).

Basically, the setting has a theme of the old, ancient powers falling from their peaks as the new magical power (like mages) rise to replace them. Divine power has to come from somewhere, after all.

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>Patterns v Summons v Constructs

As my lorebin is pretty vague and a tad confusing, I'll see if I can do a very quick summary here (by which I mean a long summary).

Summons are basically creating magical beasts with magic. They use a ton of magical power, usually need a ritual to summon and only last for so long. Simple but effective.

Constructs are essentially building physical parts then imbuing them with magic to create an automaton. They can be upgraded and maintained on the fly as the magic is in their individual parts, not the whole thing.

Patterns are permanent summons. A pattern is basically a blueprint that shows where the logic centre is, how it shovels around magical power, where and what the enchantments are and where the junction points that go into the shell are. A shell is just the physical representation of the pattern, but it also needs to sort of match the pattern itself - if the shell is a suit of armour, you'll want the pattern to have junction points for the strength enchantments on its arms and legs. You then basically build the shell physically before binding a copy of the pattern to the shell (which is why it's called a pattern - it's reproduced en masse). Because the shell is a permanent object, the magic in the pattern is bound to it permanently as part of the ritual (like good barriers in walls).

They're complicated as the only way you can easily work out how to build all of this is via trial and error or somebody else's work. Plus, the pattern bound to the shell can become unstable if the shell changes too much (excessive damage, upgrades etc) - this would vary depending on how good the base pattern's design is. Plus, patterns can technically be unbound from the shell but Mal, an expert on enchantment and disrupting magical flow, doesn't have the slightest clue how you'd do that.

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>>31904453
It was good fun for me, even if things went down differently to you guys expected.

That opening 20 was probably my favourite part, though I did go overboard. I don't think I've written an update that long since the 4th thread (it was about 1200 words). At the same time, this wasn't really a winnable fight without knowing his trick - it wasn't a scripted loss but it was improbable.

Now I just have to make sure I have some interesting foes for whichever direction you guys decide to go next, once all the world events play out a bit and you guys get your chance to play around in the sandbox.

>>31907006
>The nat 20 at the start was my favorite
Dude, mine too. That was a glorious opener, and hell, shit blew up too. I was totally hype for that.
I sorta expected...well, I dunno. I thought it would be a much longer, knuckle drag out fight, where both sides beat each other senseless, but no real winner emerges (Not that his immortality meant no damage at all happened)

But looking back, I think it went damn well (narrative, and game wise, that is)
>Enemy super confident "Come get me lol"
>Comes and gets him
>Weird immortal shit, fuck that
>MAKES him get hurt
>He is now wetting pants just a little bit
>"R-Right, well...you can't do that again...so I'm totally gonna go. Not nervous at all."
>"LET ME GIVE YOU SOMETHING TO REMEMBER ME BY!"
>OHGODMYARM

Though, the uh...FR point thing was a shame. Felt kinda wasted. But what can you do.

>>31907006
Am I right in assuming our fair lady will be far far away from wherever she was last moved, with Blackwater escaping?
Because I hope we don't spend a ton of time trying to track her down, only to find our princess in another castle

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>>31907287
If I were a vampire-lich with a living, breathing phylactery I certainly wouldn't leave her anywhere near the empire of the guy who tried so very hard to kill me. No point taking chances.

So yeah, it's safe to assume that Blackwater's moving faster than you are. You don't live a few centuries without learning how to look after yourself.

>>31907234
Eh, there'll be more FR points to gain in the future. And I do agree that the fight played out differently to expected but I think it makes a neat narrative, even if it's broken up a bit as a participant.

>>31907374
Yeah...I was afraid of that.

I swear, when we conquer the continent, we're going to hunt that bastard down and make up for this.
Assuming he doesn't do it for us.

...

Also that vampire lady in the isolated castle. I want to talk to her. Is she opposed to anything getting close enough to say words at her at all or...
I mean, she's basically a big fat mystery box sitting in our borders. I wanna know her deal. And why Blackwater was afraid of her.

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>>31907453
Personally, most of my worries around you guys dealing with Aladria is pacing. Castle Dalrec is a setpiece dungeon of sorts so it will work to break up the downtime a little if you guys go there at some point (assuming you don't come up with and enact some way of working around it but that might not be a good idea).

I'd also recommend sorting out the leftover vampires thing first, so you don't get your wires crossed too much.

>>31907666
Well, I don't figure Warcrimes McVampirepants will be too hard to find. The fat Daywalker guy probably isn't much to worry about, considering, but he's still a daywalker, and daywalkers can make thralls.

I assume most of our next 'business' thread will be setting up things with Taour (maybe conquering the last of their lands), and sending out our best scouts and spies to find those two (at least). That'll probably be one of those things we 'do' in our short lived moment of peace Taour's conquer will bring.

>>31907666
>leftover vampires
A stake through the heart after being decapitated and then burnt at the stake should do nicely for each one of them.

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>>31907727
Oh, I was actually referring to the fact you have a number of live nightwalkers and daywalkers to deal with in some manner. Plus all the thralls and your research. You'll need to come up with some sort of policy towards them and that will have impacts (and no, just killing all the vampires won't make everything better) - especially if your decision there contradicts any decisions you might make at Castle Dalrec.

I wouldn't worry too much about the vampires who thought they could get away. After all, you're not the only person who can hold up their end of a deal.

On a completely unrelated note, you guys have been scoring respect from Merce all over the place (even if you haven't been changing her attitude). You smashed Taour faster than expected - I put down two months and you guys have taken about five weeks.

>I assume most of our next 'business' thread will be setting up things with Taour (maybe conquering the last of their lands)
Well, you've also got to worry about Darlesia, nobles, ownership of natural resources and land etc. I'm trying to make a list of everything that will need to happen and the effects of them, which is why I may end up delaying the next serious thread. I also think it might be fitting to make the XXX thread something fun.

Anyway, I'm off for the night for good. If this thread is somehow alive in nine hours or so (given how close it is to autosage, unlikely) I'll answer any questions before heading to work. Otherwise, I'll see you in the next thread.

>>31907889
Ah, our prisoners. Well I am not too worried. A lot of anons seemed to agree on a policy of
>Cooperation is good, research to cure thralldom first
After that, then we take away one of the scariest things about them (assuming it can get done)

And then, after that, we 'cure' vampirism'. If I am not mistaken it is still a 'disease' or rather an affliction, right? If so, then it is possible to cure it, I should hope.

That will probably be damn hard, though. Until then, we hold them as 'captives' but ensure we are working on a way to cure their foulness.

Rather, that is my idea of it. Approach the matter like an illness, and people with it are quarantined.
I suspect this will anger a few of the vampires who are a bit proud of their heritage, but we're the boss here, so it shouldn't cause too great a trouble (not to mention make sure everyone back in our lands is at least sorta satisfied. It's no 'hang them all by dawn', but it's some justice, I'd say.)
Plus it keeps to our 'Vampires R bad' campaign, but a different sort of bad then we all thought. Maybe even play the sympathy card a little? Not that they'll get much, but hey.

>Don't worry about escaping vampires
Heh. I was hoping our good friend over in the Magi League could help there.
Good to know it's mostly handled.

>Merce
Oh, really?
That should make for a pretty amusing conversation soon. I look forward to slowly earning her respect, and watching her tone when she speaks with us changing from chastising, to begrudging respect to playful yet harsh antagonizing. (That is probably the only mode she has, I bet)

>Thread XXX
Fuckin' Roman Numerals, haha.
Well I look forward to whatever you have in mind then. Hopefully I'll be able to make it in time to participate and such with the thread.

>>31908013
Vampires are undead, curing them would be equivalent to killing them.
Really all we have to do is set up paid blood donations and then sell the blood to the vamps, we get money, humans get money, vamps get food, noone gets eaten or purged.