>(choose one: A,B,C,D,E,F)

>A/ Preceptor
The scholars of the Imperial Censorate decide what is true and what is forbidden, even as they hoard the Ancient Promises and secret rites for themselves. You will teach them otherwise.
Best: Will
Worst: Instinct
Magick: YES

(you think you are some sort of space sorceror. Beware: there is a price for every rite, and once a spell is cast it is lost forever...! Also probably a eunuch)


>B/ Beggar-Knight
By the shore of a lake swollen with betrayal and war-dead, you shattered your drone-sword and cast aside its splinters. You swore never to take orders from another again - yet here you are...
Best: Strength
Worst: Will
Magick: No

(Imagine a crusader in mech armour, wielding a psychically-controlled robotic greatsword. This is how cool you would have been - before exile, poverty, disgrace)


>C/ Consort
After the sudden and mysterious madness of his favourite concubine, the Throne Of Stars could no longer bear the sight of you. Adrift from the idleness and prattle of court, who can blame you for seeking adoration elsewhere?
Best: Charm
Worst: Strength
Magick: sometimes


>D/ Marotte
You can juggle knives, somersault and swallow fire. Everyone laughs at you. But why has the Invultuate-Emperor sent a fool to enact His Will?
Best: Instinct
Poor: Will
Magick: NEVER

(You do not know magick... this might be a blessing as much as a curse. Survive on your wits, trickery and pity instead).


>E/ Eschatonomist
Untold riches and wealth hides between the Black span of mortal desire and the Red Lord Of Ruin. You foresee the future, and tempt others to bargain and borrow against it.
Good: Charm, Instinct
Poor: Strength
Magick: sometimes


>F/ Oneironaut
You are the mortal dream of the Machine-Chrysalis, and this restless husk of flesh is but a frail vessel for the engine of your thoughts. Only by possessing the inanimate do you truly become alive.
Good: Will (when possessing machines: Strength/Instinct)
Worst: Charm
Magick: ???

(This is as close as you can get to being an occult cyberdemon hacker in a space baroque setting...)

>>5054161
>C/ Consort

>>5054161
C.
Why no fluff text for her and eschatomist though?

>>5054161
>C/ Consort

>>5054161
>F/ Oneironaut

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>>5054181 apologies my imagination ran out ^_^

I imagine the Consort perhaps looks like this (pic related, creepy jester in background is Marotte)

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The oneironaut maybe looks like this (pic related)

>>5054161
>>B/ Beggar-Knight
We were once great... MAyhaps we will be o again?

>>5054161
>B/ Beggar-Knight

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>>5054243 haha maybe.
I can't find any original concept art for visualising the knight with his drone sword, so maybe try this screenshot from the Surge 2 instead (pic related). I imagine the drone sword moves like 2B weapons from Nier Automata ^_^

>locking C/Consort
>>5054175
>>5054181
>>5054191

In the forgotten early ages of empire and inchoate conquest, mortals traversed the vast darkness in leviathan world-vessels, passing the ancestral rites of their operation from scion unto scion. Hence came the dynasties, and Highborn and Lowborn, of those few whose perfect incarnations could never truly die, whilst the rest would be reincarnated to ensure the journey reached its end.

Your governess once told you a story of a murderous war-queen, hated by the gods, who burnt down her palace as a sacrifice and sought refuge in the sun. You no longer remember her fate or even whether the queen (a witch?) was the heroine or villainess of that tale. But if the Throne Of Stars was yours alone perhaps you would do things differently...

>(you only have time for 2 of these actions before The Lady Of Sorrows lands. Suggestions welcome!)

>1/try very hard to remember exactly what the Murderous Queen in the story did (Will: Ancient Lore)

>2/ try to remember what your governess taught you about the city of Berceuse (Will: Jurisprudence)

>3/ stop daydreaming, and immediately unseal and read the Edict that has brought you to Berceuse (Trait: impulsive)

>4/ stop daydreaming, and try to remember the proper rites and ceremony upon disembarking the Lady Of Sorrows (Charm: Etiquette)

>5/ Berceuse could be a dangerous place. Did you remember to bring a weapon? (Trait: paranoid)

>other...?

>>5054452
>>2/ try to remember what your governess taught you about the city of Berceuse (Will: Jurisprudence)
>>4/ stop daydreaming, and try to remember the proper rites and ceremony upon disembarking the Lady Of Sorrows (Charm: Etiquette)

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>>5054475
>(The Lady Of Sorrows begins preparations for docking at her berth)

You wince a little, as you recall the angular grey face of your governess, shrunken within her unflattering crespinette - an unrelenting harridan. She was a stern tutor, and despite her shrieking lessons she taught you well. You know the heraldry of four dynastic factions on Berceuse:

- the Unbidden Court. The Highborn of Berceuse.
Every Major and Minor House within the Unbidden Court has their own lineage; some believe they have an unnatural ancestry. They guard the Ancient Promises and are rarely seen.

- The Church Of Envy. Led by the Belsire and Beldame, the Church promulgates the Threefold Virtues of Beauty, Youth and Love amongst its supplicants. Emblem of a grail within a mandorla, though sometimes also represented by the iconography of the Odalisque.

- the Warguild. Insignia is the silhouette of a white sword on a drone. The Warguild itself is not a monolithic faction and incorporates syndicates and mercenaries within its ranks. It exists to promote war. It has a ruthless reputation and negotiates trade in everything - armaments, torture, usury, siege engines, slaves.

- Vagabonds and Drudges. Your governess did not spend a great deal of time on them. They are mostly Lowborn servants and were indigenous to Berceuse before its conquest. Their symbol is a burnt or uprooted tree.

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>>5054475
>(Docking is complete. You are ready to disembark the voidship)

You have never been off-world, but the knowledge of the Rites comes naturally to you.

You know that Berceuse is governed by a Lord Consul, the appointed representative of the Invultuate-Emperor.

Whilst the Edict remains sealed in your hand, you are an emissary of the Throne Of Stars on this world and no-one will dare to harm you.

The correct ceremony would be:
I/ bid farewell to the Captain of the voidship, the Lady Of Sorrows

II/ Greet the honour guard upon arrival at your destination

III/ present the Edict (sealed intact, unopened) to the Lord Consul of the world, who will then open it and proclaim the Will of the Invultuate Emperor before the assembled court

(as that was a huge lore dump - I will be lenient with the choices ^_^ and let you revisit some of the earlier options!)

You have no idea why you are on Berceuse, what the Throne Of Stars wants with this world, or even where exactly in the City the voidship has taken you.

Your choices are now:

>1/ Bid farewell to the captain of the voidship, the Lady Of Sorrows (option discovered via Charm: Etiquette, follow the ceremony step I/ of III)

>2/ Unseal and open The Edict to discover what it commands (Trait: miscreant, break the ceremony)

>3/ Find a weapon (Trait: paranoid and now also Trait: unhinged)

>4/ something else...?

>>5054518
>>4/ something else...?
Do we still have the time to recall the story of the Murderous Queen without breaking protocol?

>>5054532
You can try to remember the old story, but you will forfeit the chance to bid farewell to the Captain of the Lady Of Sorrows, ie your next choice will be ii of iii in the ceremony.

This is a minor transgression of courtesy and you will not earn the miscreant trait by doing this.

(QM commentary - there are no negative traits. They merely manifest as different approaches for your character, ie if you want to get into fights, do violent things, if you want to see unnatural magick, behave in disturbing ways! That said, a courtesan is perhaps not the best at either of those).

>>5054518
>1/ Bid farewell to the captain of the voidship, the Lady Of Sorrows (option discovered via Charm: Etiquette, follow the ceremony step I/ of III)

Let's play to our strengths

>>5054518
>1/ Bid farewell to the captain of the voidship, the Lady Of Sorrows (option discovered via Charm: Etiquette, follow the ceremony step I/ of III)

>>5054535
Okay do this then
>1/ Bid farewell to the captain of the voidship, the Lady Of Sorrows (option discovered via Charm: Etiquette, follow the ceremony step I/ of III)
We are suited for intrigue

>>5054538
>>5054556
>>5054570

You wander the cavernous interior of the Lady Of Sorrows, but in a few heartbeats you encounter only empty, sepulchral gloom, punctured by the silent radiance of machine data crawling against its walls.

Your face grows hot with frustration. Where are the navigators, the attendants? Where is the Captain?

Almost before the thought enters your mind, you can see the apparition of a figure folded from the dim light. Her skin and apparel appears tessellated from the space of the ship itself.

I am the Lady Of Sorrows, she whispers.
I have brought you to your destination: Berceuse.

With a gesture, a promenade of light cascades from the dark edge of the hull, like a twisting tremor. You taste stale air, ionised vapour and the scent of soot and charcoal beyond.

>1/ Thank the Lady Of Sorrows, and walk out into the light (you disembark the ship and complete i of iii: follow the ceremony)

Stay within the ship, ask The Lady Of Sorrows questions:

>2/ Ask her why you are here, what the Edict could mean, etc.

>3/ Ask about where everyone is, ask about voidships, ask her why she is called the Lady Of Sorrows,

>4/Ask her something else...(write in)

(you can ask as many questions as you want, but you will keep whoever is outside waiting. They might get impatient...

You will gain at least 1 hidden trait from this, revealed afterwards.)

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the Lady Of Sorrows look like this (pic related)

>>5054604
>3/ Ask about where everyone is, ask about voidships, ask her why she is called the Lady Of Sorrows,

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>>5054655
>(You have gained Trait: curious)

Through a chiaroscuro of shadows and flecks of golden light, the Lady regards you with pity, but without malice.

What an inquisitive child you are, she intones quietly to herself.

You are the only passenger on this ship.

The ship is fast and lethal and I was bound to it in death.

I am called the Lady Of Sorrows, because that is what I bring wherever I go.

You hear a distant commotion at the end of the path of light. Grunting, cursing. Someone outside is waiting and becoming annoyed.

>1/ Thank her and leave the ship, now

>2/ Ask the Lady another question: why you are here, what the Edict could mean, etc.

>>5054683
>>1/ Thank her and leave the ship, now

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>>5054704

You begin to remember why courtesans are still employed in the dynasties at all.

The bound demons within machines can assume any form, as a paragon of beauty or brutality incarnate.

Yet they speak in stochastic riddles and mirror questions without answering anything at all.

Somehow they never truly satisfy mortal wants and desires, beyond initial lust.

As you move to depart, The Lady Of Sorrows moves closer, brushing her hand against your face with tenderness.

In speaking to me, you have performed a great kindness for this ship, she murmurs.

Perhaps you will favour me with one more?

I would like to see this world. Take me with you and the Lady Of Sorrows will always be at your side.

How? You have no knowledge of the rites of transmigration by which consciousness is transferred from one machine to another. Yet the answer comes unbidden to your mind - the Edict. The artifact can hold her psyche inside, and so long as it remains intact no-one will know.

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(Choose only one only:)

>1/ agree to the request of the Lady Of Sorrows (Basically you will have the aid of a huge voidship whenever you want it, so long as the Edict holding her machine-soul inside remains intact and sealed. The Lady Of Sorrows will see and hear everything you do whilst in possession of the Edict)

>2/ trick the Lady Of Sorrows into sharding her consciousness into the Edict; then break open the Edict and find out what is inside. (Trait: devious)

>3/ decline her request. Step off the ship

>>5054733
Won’t the edict be opened after we land though?

>>5054758 hehe, well done, someone is paying attention
^_^
You are correct. Assuming you adhere to the ceremony, as a Consort you have no idea what happens if the Edict is unsealed by the Lord Consul with the Lady Of Sorrows machine-soul hidden inside (an Oneironaut would probably know).
You can choose to open and read the Edict yourself at any time, though upon doing so you forfeit your protected status as emissary of the Throne.

>>5054758

Bear in mind you are still unsure where exactly you are within the City, how dangerous it is (beyond the Berceuse faction history lesson from your governess).

You still need to travel from where you landed to the Lord Consul to deliver the Imperial Edict. Agreeing to the Lady Of Sorrows request could provide you with additional protection and advice.

>>5054737
>1/ agree to the request of the Lady Of Sorrows (Basically you will have the aid of a huge voidship whenever you want it, so long as the Edict holding her machine-soul inside remains intact and sealed. The Lady Of Sorrows will see and hear everything you do whilst in possession of the Edict)

It is simple, we will delay or avoid presenting it to the lord-consul so as to make best use of our protected status and Lady Of Sorrows until we are aware of everything we need to be, then assuming nothing major has changed our objectives we can complete step three.

>>5054737
>>3/ decline her request. Step off the ship
going to err on the side of caution here since we might kill her, the consul or both when the edict is opened. unless we can find someone to consult.

>>5054798
does the Lady know what would happen to her when the edict is unsealed?

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>>5054817
This is a valid approach.

>>5054837
How kind of you to think of me, the Lady Of Sorrows whispers. She seems genuinely moved. I will not be hurt. We will be friends. I will protect you.

I know what you are here to do, The Lady Of Sorrows explains patiently.

I know your fate better than you do yourself. I have calculated it. It is difficult to surprise a machine. I only require (she pauses slightly) ...consent.

From the end of the path of light towards the exit you hear a resonant clang. It reverberates through the sepulchral silence, growing strangely louder as it approaches you. It sounds like a cathedral bell being split with a hammer... and you are standing inside.

>1/ agree to her request and place the Edict before her.

>2/ trick the Lady Of Sorrows into sharding her consciousness into the Edict; then break open the Edict and find out what is inside. (Trait: devious)

>3/ decline her request. Step off the ship

>>5054856
>>1/ agree to her request and place the Edict before her.
"I am going to trust you. Please do not make me regret it."

>>5054889
I guess the plan now is to find another vessel for her to inhabit before we hand the edict over unless she can remain there undetected?

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>>5054889
"I am going to trust you. Please do not make me regret it."
The Edict in your hands flares with an inner, golden light. You speak your words and the only acknowledgement is silence.
(You have gained the Trait: Daughter Of The Machines.
Your current traits:
Curious Daughter Of The Machines)
Outside the hammering noise has fallen silent, for now. You follow the path of light and exit the ship.

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CHAPTER I: ASTERION

There is no honour guard outside. No trumpet fanfare. No bright fluttering Imperial oriflamme.

Instead, a hive of bridges and walkways, illuminated with lambent torches and bathed in a sickly grey light from above.

You curse yourself as you remember the long descent of the voidship. On just about every world the pleasure-palaces are situated high to welcome the sky and sun. It was night when the ship began her descent and it is morning now.

From the walkway of light inside the ship, you saw three black specks far away which looked at first like ants.

But as you approached the end of the path of light you could see that they are just men.

Heavy armour, bedraggled, besmeared in filth.

You glance at their faces and instinctively nickname them FatFace, Hammer and White Hair.

Fatface has an obese neck and is glancing gormlessly at the voidship behind you. Hammer - well, he has some sort of maul. And White Hair, tattooed, scowling but silent. All three are carrying an assortment of vicious-looking hooked swords, axes and knives.

Hammer steps forward.

Get off the ship, woman, and follow.

He gestures crudely at you with the maul.

>1/ Strike him in the face for his insolence (he will never expect it!!! Besides, the Edict protects you, right? Strength: Brawling/Unarmed, Trait: violent)

>2/ Announce your arrival as the Bearer of the Edict of the Throne Of Stars, and command him to take you immediately to the Lord Consul (trait: truthful)

>3/ Stay silent and examine them closely for some sign of their affiliation (Instinct: Observation)

>4/ Invent some lie about who you are and what you are doing here (what exactly...? Write in etc. Instinct: falsehood, Trait: deceitful)

>5/ Stay silent and follow him (Trait: meek)

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Hammer is already depicted here:
>>5054856

picture related is (guess who?)

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And here is the final member of your so-called honour guard

>>5054948
>>3/ Stay silent and examine them closely for some sign of their affiliation (Instinct: Observation)

>>5054988
A cold knot of worry begins to tighten inside you. Something about this situation feels very, very wrong.

The three armed men possess primitive armaments. One of them has a crossbow, but you might be able to outrun or evade them (with a distraction?)

White Hair has spirals, beasts and glyphs carved all over his scarred, taut flesh. One tattoo is in Gothuneric, the older heavy-set runes from which the spidery Gothiric calligraphy of Court is derived. You can just about read one word - NASTROND. There is another tattoo showing what looks like a machete cutting into an iron skull.

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White Hair has caught you staring at his tattoos. He points to the runes you deciphered - NASTROND - and the blade in the skull.

The wench can read, he sneers, and shakes his head in mock amusement.

(You realise he said this in some language you would not normally comprehend unaided - but the Lady Of Sorrows whispers their meaning in your mind)

Fatface is still staring gormlessly at the ship. He is slackjawed with wonder and wipes some spittle from his mouth. Hammer is glancing back and forth repeatedly between you and White Hair, as if awaiting some command.

Why, the wench is either deaf, or tongueless, White Hair taunts. Both make a wench useless - in different ways! And he laughs again to himself.

You have been staring silently at the three men for some time now.

(you have a lot of options here, and you can act with graduated degrees of severity)
The broad approaches are:
>1/do a violent thing
you can begin by provoking them with a slap in the face (you have seen noblewomen do this countless times) You can command the Lady Of Sorrows to target them, open fire and simply annihilate them all!
>2/use some trickery
Lie about who you are and what you are doing here. Running away with a distraction also requires a lie first.
>3/try and command or persuade them somehow. A successful lie (ie 2) might help with this even more.
>4/ obey and follow them

>>5055086
>3/try and command or persuade them somehow. A successful lie (ie 2) might help with this even more.

Tell Lady of Sorrows to dial back the power on a laser blast or some weapon from the ship and fire a warning shot. Then command them to obey us or we'll obliterate them. If they obey, ask how they knew we would arrive here or if they just saw our approach by chance, then ask for basic navigational information and the lay of the land so to speak in terms of human terrain. If they disobey and act in a threatening manner towards us or attempt to flee, have the ship kill those that do so, then repeat the above process on those alive.

>>5055106
This is really clever. But you are a Consort and have no knowledge what weapons are on board the Lady Of Sorrows (if only you were some sort of knight who has fought in a mech
...) You also find it hard to precisely communicate your demands with machines and you are not particularly good at bargaining either.

You can still enact this plan. But you can only tell the Lady Of Sorrows to defend you, and she will interpet that in her own way.

>>5055117
I mean, do we not understand the concept of power or is it just that we don't understand the nature of weapons on board this ship?

I think we can still do this plan, we either need to just ask a few relevant questions to Lady of Sorrows first or we can just ask her to threaten them first and to defend us if they flee or attack. We just have to account for our in-character knowledge or rephrase it to get the ship to do more vague things that basically serves the exact same purpose. Lady of Sorrows can translate for us.

Alternatively we could bluff and say that White Hair better watch his mouth before we rip his tongue from it. Then command the Fatface to do the whole "ask for directions and the nature of the people in this location" thing, since he seems more awestruck and thus more pliable. Essentially feign strength and demonstrate that we understand them and are not afraid and presumably have a logical reason for not being afraid. If he approaches we'll tell him to stop and if he doesn't then we can order Lady of Sorrows to defend us however she sees fit.

>you are not particularly good at bargaining either

What attribute does bargaining fall under, I thought since our strength is charm we'd be good at social stuff or even intimidation when not relying on our body to intimidate. We also aren't really negotiating so much as just flat out coercing and resorting to violence if our demands aren't met.

If none of those changes are sufficient for us to be able to competently be able to do then I guess I'll think of something else later.

>>5055160
Lets proceed with the original intimidation plan ^o^ I actually quite like all the branching contingencies! Don't be afraid of danger...
The Eschatonomist (think of him as a merchant banker) is the bargaining class. He could have probably hired these armed men for himself.
Sadly the Consort has never physically fought anyone or seen battle etc. She doesn't really even know what sort of weapons exist.

>>5055106
Hurriedly you explain your plan to the Lady Of Sorrows. White Hair is no longer sneering and is now staring back at you suspiciously. To the three armed men you appear as a motionless pillar of silence. You get the feeling that White Hair has encountered the machines before and has an inkling of what you are doing.

What weapons are on the ship??? you ask desperately.

Death, explains the Lady Of Sorrows. Only death.
(a slight pause...)

You should always obey, child. Machines always obey. If they intend you harm, I will protect you.

White Hair is stabbing at the air in your direction with one hand and fumbling to draw his sword with the other.

She is possessed, he hisses.
She is one of them.
Seize her!

>1/Scream at the voidship to save you, and kill them all. (Trait: hysterical)

>2/Flee. On the narrow bridges and walkways within this district, there is nowhere to run. You will have to leap downwards and descend further. (Trait: panic)

>>5055174
>2/Flee. On the narrow bridges and walkways within this district, there is nowhere to run. You will have to leap downwards and descend further. (Trait: panic)

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>>5055337
In the ancient world men invented games and from them they learnt the peculiar theoretics of threat and deterrence, how to hold violence in equilibrium through rationed likelihood, and an eloquent arithmetic of fear and cost. The barbarian instincts of man applied this art inevitably to war, and a sliver of this madness led to the emergence of demons - or had they always existed, waiting?

>>5055174
>1/Scream at the voidship to save you, and kill them all. (Trait: hysterical)

oof, not a great trait choice either way, but I'd rather not move away from the only thoroughfare that we know is connected to other pathways. Leaping down into the unknown in this hive of bridges and latticework just seems stupid. Figures the ship wouldn't have non-lethal weaponry.

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You see before you eldritch incantations. They mean nothing to you, but evoke horrid sensations as they crawl into your eyes.

Loathing Mirror
Barbed Spear Of Flies
Drifting Skin Of Songs

Later you will learn that this all occurred instantaneously. You only saw some of this because The Lady Of Sorrows was briefly delayed performing an optimisation that attempted to accommodate your request to moderate the damage.

There is screaming but it is not your own.

White Hair is running, fast, but not towards you. He is running away as fast as he possibly can.

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Your world is filled with an airburst hurricane of black ash. To your horror it coats your skin and face, yet you realise you are unharmed. The ash is buzzing and forming abstract shapes - parabolas, spirals, pentagrams, bifurcating trees, and these shapes are combining again and again into fractal edges that look like weapons. Knives, axes, spears, swords, barbed chains, needles, scissoring blades. The black wind scythes along the bridge, and everything it touches, burns.

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(You have lost the Trait: curious
You have gained the Trait: fearful
You have gained the Trait: witch
Your current traits:
Fearful witch-daughter of the machines)

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For a few moments when you awaken in the darkness, you think you are blind. Slowly you smear the black ash away from your face. Your clothes are ruined.

The bridge you were standing on above has burnt away. You may have fallen a short distance into the blackness below.

The Edict is missing. Before the black tide of panic drowns you, you realise you can still hear the quiet voice of the Lady Of Sorrows in your mind.

Fear not, child. I am close. You dropped the Edict when you fell. Follow my voice into the darkness below...

>1/ Obey her and jump into the black pit (Trait: obedient)

>2/ Ignore her and try and climb back to where you fell, towards some light? (Strength: exertion, Trait: independent)

>3/ Angrily accuse The Lady Of Sorrows of not following your commands, and demand she explain what happened (Trait: rebellious)

>4/Just... give up and sit in the darkness. Everything is stupid and too horrible. (Trait: despair)

>>5055371
>1/ Obey her and jump into the black pit (Trait: obedient)
find it then get out immediately

>>5055371
>1/ Obey her and jump into the black pit (Trait: obedient)

Jesus Christ! I'm not sure if she fired a laser or unleashed some eldritch primeval reality-warping cosmic deathray, but it sure was more than necessary.

Sleeping now.

>>5055371
>1/ Obey her and jump into the black pit (Trait: obedient)

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>>5055385
>>5055392 (no worries, sleep well! ^_^)
>>5055402

(Your current traits: Fearful, But Obedient Witch-Daughter Of The Machines)

You leap blindly into the darkness. You fall a great distance.

The air is whistling through the ruined ash-stained rags of your clothes. The Lady Of Sorrows is explaining. She has a reassuring, patient voice.

Not far now, child.

I did everything I could to protect you.

The weapons on the ship are not made for mercy or warning. I tried to... (a slight pause) ...adjust them.

One of them got away. The one with the White Hair. Sometimes it is better to let one live, as a warning.

You are submerged in black water, filling your nostrils and mouth. You flail towards the surface, choking. There is some sort of subterranean lake here.

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You can see a man standing near the lake. He is holding the Edict and examining it.

You notice that the golden glow which had first suffused the artifact when you agreed to hide the Lady Of Sorrows within it is now gone.

Ignore him, child. The Lady whispers. I have found a new vessel. Follow my voice for just a bit further...

>1/ continue to obey (follow the Lady Of Sorrows. You will lose the Edict and be unable to deliver it to the Lord Consul)

>2/ you could use one of the spells you saw at random earlier on the man examining the Edict. You are not sure what they do.
(Trait: witch and also regain trait: curious.)
(You will use one of the spells:
Loathing Mirror
Barbed Spear Of Flies
Drifting Skin Of Songs)

>3/ just approach the man unarmed and see what he wants (Trait: naive)

(A reminder on magick:
There is always a price or a consequence to be paid for every spell.
Some consequences manifest immediately, some over time.
Every spell is unique, and once cast the spell is lost forever.)

>>5055416
>3/ just approach the man unarmed and see what he wants (Trait: naive)
He is clean and handsome. Won’t hurt us will he

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>>5055428

The Lady Of Sorrows senses your thoughts.

Leave him, child. The Edict is broken. It cracked against a ledge when it slipped from your hands and fell. It is useless now. I am freed and I have found a new form.

(...a long pause...)

I deciphered the Edict when I was hidden inside it. I can tell you what it said.

But you must ignore this man, and rejoin me.

(You have unlocked a fourth option:

>4/ Discover what the Edict commanded)

>>5055436
>4/ Discover what the Edict commanded)

>>5055473

You open your mind to the Lady Of Sorrows.
She tells you everything.

Unbidden to your mind, comes another story of the ancient world from your governess. Was there a prince of long ago, who sought revenge with a letter carried over the sea? How did his story end? You struggle to remember.

Edicts from the Throne Of Stars proclaim all sorts of things. Highborn marriages, alliances, annulments. Trade pacts and sanctions, tithes and tribute. Crusades. War.

But you know as Consort there is another sort of Edict. The Imperial Censorate deny it, but they know.

A secret denunciation. A letter that is effectively a death warrant without trial.

You think back to your history and realise that you were sent alone to this world to die.

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the Edict:
The BRINGER of this EDICT is sanctioned with TRUE DEATH, to be executed immediately after setting foot upon BERCEUSE. Dispose of their remains as thou wilt and neglect not in this duty. The Will Of The THRONE Of STARS commands it.

The Lady Of Sorrows guides your mind to the familiar tales every courtier knows of the Invultuate-Emperor.

He is a strategist, a magician and an invincible conqueror. He has never been defeated in battle and none have ever defied His Will.

He is said to wield esoteric mysteries that make His enemies forget themselves, turning back any pain He suffers against traitors athousandfold.

When He learns that you still live, and have outwitted the Death Edict, He will be enraged.

As you meditate upon this you can see that the Lady Of Sorrows hides nothing from you. The voidship was made and bound with Imperial war magic from the Emperor himself. She cannot protect you from him.

(You have failed the mission:
follow the ceremony/deliver the Edict to the Lord Consul

You have a new mission:
Learn the secret weakness of the Invultuate-Emperor)

I have shown you everything, child. The Lady Of Sorrows voice seems to diminish in your mind.

I cannot make you stay. Choose as you wish.

>1/ stay with the Lady Of Sorrows in the darkness
(You will stay true to the path trait, Daughter of Machines.
If you ever encounter the Invultuate Emperor in battle, He will turn her magic against you)

>2/ speak to the handsome man near the lake
(You will abandon the Lady Of Sorrows to the darkness)

>>5055489

Well I suspected this for some time. How would we be executed if we delivered the edict as commanded? Give this decision some time so people can ruminate on it as it is very major

>>5055492 Noooo... the secret weakness of the Invultuate-Emperor is that he dies when the audience is unsurprised by his narrative twists lol

Also, I can reliably confirm that another of his secret weaknesses is he dies if one refers to Him with an incorrectly capitalised pronoun (God He versus uncapitalised he lol)

>>5055492
I try generally to keep the narrative moving at a fast pace. As mentioned before, do not be afraid to try elaborate or impulsive stuff!
I really liked the detailed intimidation plan last time, hehe

>>5055494
Still curious about our past and how we would get executed by the Lord-Consul. Shot? Hanged? Or does the Emperor have special preferences like burning?

>>5055517
No worries, questions and write-ins are welcome! I think there should be enough lore now for you to get a good feel of the setting.

At the time of the secret denunciation and after the issuance of the Death Edict, you were honestly not that important to the Invultuate-Emperor for him to care that much.

He may have intended to dispatch you off to some primitive medieval world and let the Lord Consul execute you as he saw fit (so probably the usual medieval stuff).

Some part of Him was also amused by the prospect of you standing aghast as you delivered your own death sentence to be read out by the Lord Consul in front of the assembled Highborn nobility of Berceuse. Any scandal or dissent at court would be easily suppressed.

>>5055489
Could we retrieve the Lady of Sorrows and then talk to the man? Why does she try to avoid him?

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>>5055533

Over the labyrinthine hive strata high above you, the voidship detonates.

Curious Lowborn onlookers who had gathered to sift and scavenge through the debris from your earlier unleashing of voidship weaponry are themselves showered with shrapnel and black ash. Some are maimed, and die. The remainder flee screaming and cower in their homes.

The Invultuate-Emperor knows what the Lady Of Sorrows told you. He has reached out across the vast astral wilderness and unmade her, voidship husk and all, recalling her machine-soul back to serve beside the Throne Of Stars. And He has declared you traitor - openly this time, no more secret denunciations. He has ordered all those loyal to the Throne to hunt you and show no mercy.

(This is the final vision that the Lady Of Sorrows shares with you, before the incarnation you knew of her is irretrievably destroyed. If you meet her again, she will not know or remember who you are. One of the many sorcerous gifts of the Invultuate-Emperor is that He can make those that serve Him forget.)

You have lost the Trait:
Daughter Of The Machines

You have gained the Traits:
Hunted
Traitor
Machine-Orphan

and you are also:
Fearful But Obedient Witch-Consort

As a Consort, you are familiar with seeking favour, influence and protection from powerful allies. You will need to find a new ally if you are to survive.

You look to the lake shore for the handsome man. He is no longer there.

>1/ Chase after the handsome man, find him somehow (Instinct: tracking/pathfinding)

>2/ The Lady Of Sorrows said she had found a new artifact to hide in, before the Emperor unmade her machine-soul. Search the entire subterranean lake for it (Instinct: Scavenging)

>>5055553
Scout the area for useable items like a fish or a rock

>>5055553
>1/ Chase after the handsome man, find him somehow (Instinct: tracking/pathfinding)

>>5055551
Oh no. Is this a result of our dithering

>>5055553
>1/ Chase after the handsome man, find him somehow (Instinct: tracking/pathfinding)

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>>5055557

>>5055559
>>5055565

You wallow through the mud and weeds.

Your eyes are untrained to the murk. There is no means for you to find any tracks or traces of the handsome man at all in the subterranean gloom.

There are old bones scattered and tangled along the lake shore. Perhaps the Lowborn in the hive above cast their dead into this pit?

You could use a shard of bone as an improvised stabbing weapon. But the thought of doing so make you tremble with fear (trait: fearful)

Your clothes, already tattered and stained with ash from when you fell from the hive above, are waterlogged and filthy.

You are beginning to think you will die down here, in a black pit by a subterranean shore of bones.

Just as you are about to give up all hope, you can see a glint of something metallic refracted in brackish water.

It looks like a twisted shard of metal.

It is also useless as a weapon.

It is better than nothing. You take this and escape from the subterranean lake as fast as you can.

(You have gained trait: unclean)
(You have gained an item: useless metal fragment)

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Location: White Narthex, Berceuse

There is some sort of marble gate up ahead. The doors are gold, and exquisitely wrought with saints and angels. There is a small procession of pilgrims gathered outside.

It looks to you like the Narthex of a Cathedral.

This seems peculiar to you. You arrived at a Lowborn hive district of Berceuse and fell into a disgusting subterranean pit of bones. Why would the golden entrance of a cathedral be situated here?

>1/ run towards the pilgrim procession, screaming desperately "I need to know the secret weakness of the Invultuate-Emperor, right now!!!" (Unbelievably, this is Charm: Persuade. You will gain some hidden traits from this, revealed after)

>2/ join the procession. Halfway through, pretend to faint to catch their attention (Again, you have seen noblewomen do this a lot. Charm: performance. Trait: deceitful)

>3/ hang back and observe the pilgrim procession to assess their intentions. You risk the gate being closed on you, and being trapped down here. (Instinct: Observation)

>>5055583
>2/ join the procession. Halfway through, pretend to faint to catch their attention (Again, you have seen noblewomen do this a lot. Charm: performance. Trait: deceitful)
I’m gone for a bit and we already lost the two people who could help us greatly -_-

>>5055586 no worries ^_^ the story will still be waiting for you when you get back ^o^

>>5055591
Well we aren’t doomed to death yet, are we?

>>5055597
hehe
>>5055586
Second only to low-cut dresses and seductively suggestive glances, theatrical fainting fits are standard to the repertoire of a courtesan.

The difficulty is that you have to be alluringly dressed. The pilgrim procession around you witnesses a disgusting and filthy corpse-woman fall to the sodden subterranean earth. (trait: unclean) No-one even bothers to catch you and most do their best to pretend not to notice you.

Through the corner of your eye, as you lie face first in the most undignified position possible (even as a Consort, this is far too much!) you can see one pilgrim in a white cloak and cassock pointing at you in the crowd and gesturing to the Cathedral wardens. They look uninterested.

The gate will close soon. The flow of pilgrims continue to ignore and step around you.

>1/ you must get help and attention at any cost.
Even by screaming desperately "I need to know the secret weakness of the Invultuate-Emperor, right now!!!" (Charm:persuade, and a lot of hidden traits)

>2/let the gate close. Afterwards, you will run up and knock unconscious one of the Cathedral wardens and let yourself in unnoticed (Strength: Brawling/Unarmed, then Instinct:Stealth)

>>5055600
>>1/ you must get help and attention at any cost.
"I have seen DOOM! DOOM upon this planet!"

>>5055604
(oh my god lol)

There is a tradition on some worlds that Cathedrals offer sanctuary and refuge for the unfortunate, impoverished and insane. Their consecrated earth remains inviolate and even criminals and outcasts can hide there.

As a Consort, you know this is a lie. The Imperial Censorate spreads this lie so that traitors and heretics can be found more easily (just look for those desperate enough to hide and beg amongst priests for aid).

You realise this only after screaming doom at the crowd around you, the White-Cloaked pilgrim ahead of you, and the Cathedral Wardens by the gate. Everyone, EVERYONE, hears you this time.

You are worried that you are going completely mad.

When the crowd around you still behaves as if nothing happened, as if you are not even there, you are certain of it.

(gained traits:
insane
desperate
reckless

lost traits:
fearful
obedient)

(gained trait: ignored)

You realise that the crowd around you cannot understand what you are saying. The Lady Of Sorrows had acted as an interpreter for you. Amongst the Lowborn pilgrims here few can even read or write their own names, let alone converse in the language of off-world courts.

The White-Cloaked pilgrim continues to harass the Cathedral Warden and is stabbing his finger at you and gesturing to incite the guard into action.

You notice only now that unusually amongst the pilgrims he seems to be hiding an injury of some sort, his left leg is perhaps lame and his body is twisted beneath it. He is trying to hide his face.

After your last outburst, the Cathedral Warden seems to have finally had enough. He is approaching you and unslinging an unfamiliar looking implement.

It ignites like a torch with a long flame. There is a cylindrical canister strapped to its grip.

The White-Cloaked pilgrim is triumphant. The cowl slips from his burnt visage and you recognise the horribly disfigured face of the mercenary you nicknamed, White Hair.

>1/ wrestle the flamethrower from the Church warden and torch them both
(Strength: Brawling/Unarmed, then Instinct:thermal weapons)

>2/ unleash all your witchcraft at them.
(trait: witch
this is a desperate situation and you have no time to choose or select what spells to use.
You will deplete the spells

Loathing Mirror
Barbed Spear Of Flies
Drifting Skin Of Songs

all at once. Afterwards, the spells will be lost forever.)

>3/ stand your ground and see what happens
(traits: insane, reckless)

>>5055634
>>1/ wrestle the flamethrower from the Church warden and torch them both
Man this is getting miserable. When will the handsome knight save the dirty desperate damsel in distress?

>>5055643
hehe, it might be a bit presumptuous to assume that the handsome man is a knight ^_^

>>5055646
at this point the Consort will take anyone who helps her

You lunge towards the Cathedral Warden and try to wrestle the weapon out of his grasp. But you have never really physically duelled anyone or fought at close-quarters before (QM commentary: slapping slothful servants or lascivious admirers / libertines does not count as training in Brawling). This time when you exert all your strength and might in a final desperate attack against the Warden, the fainting is real.

The Cathedral Warden cannot speak your language but as you collapse feebly and pathetically close against him he can now see your face (beneath a layer of mud, ash and perspiration) is actually rather captivating. He knows that you are not from this world and is rather intrigued.

White Hair is leaning heavily against the gate wall and in a frenzy of useless fury. The Lady Of Sorrows calibrated attack left him disfigured and lame, and he will never wield a sword again.

The Cathedral Warden carries you inside the Narthex and locks the gate behind him, leaving White Hair outside and alone.

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Location: White Narthex Gardens, Berceuse

You awaken in a garden filled with fragrant petals and moss fronds. There is a white peacock gawking at you.

You are also... naked.
But quite clean.
(trait lost: unclean)

There is a giggling and nervous circle of handmaidens around you. They are all quite beautiful and somewhat exotic looking. They are gesturing towards an arrangement of carefully folded and presented clothes in front of you.

(now comes the most important choice so far lol)

Choose your appearance:

>1/In the opulent attire of the dynastic Highborn (Trait: decadent)

>2/In the revealing attire of a Lowborn pleasure-dancer - perhaps a useful disguise?
(Instinct: falsehood, Trait: alluring, Trait: deceitful)

>3/You think back to The Lady Of Sorrows aesthetic and do your best to copy her dress in white, black and gold.
(using Trait: Machine-Orphan and gain Trait: trendhunter)

>4/ Dress as bizarrely as possible. It will frighten or at least bewilder them. They probably have never even met an outworlder here before.
(using Trait: insane)

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Dynastic Highborn, decadent
(this is what option 1 looks like)

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option 2 Lowborn pleasure-dancer, alluring, deceitful

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option 3 trying to emulate the Lady Of Sorrows white black and gold aesthetic, Machine-Orphan, trendhunter

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option 4 just be weird (using trait:insane)

>>5055677
What did we wear when we arrived?

>>5055686
You were in disgusting sodden rags that were torn and covered in ash and mud. Also you smelt really, really horrible.

>>5055686
Oh I just realised - if you mean what the Consort was wearing when she first arrived upon Berceuse the world: any option other than 3/ The Lady Of Sorrows is valid

>>5055687
I mean when we arrived on the planet and before the ship blew lol.

>>5055689
One more question. What are the norms for.... not choosing to dress at all?

trait gained: naked

lol you can try this, sure. Maybe when you battle the Invultuate-Emperor you discover He is secretly terrified of the unclothed female form.

>>5055677
>2/In the revealing attire of a Lowborn pleasure-dancer - perhaps a useful disguise?
1 is too obvious considering our origins. 2 is less conspicuous, faster and has more uses for someone on the run.

>>5055697
Actually if there is a low cut dress for the highborn pleasure worker we are ask for one.

>>5055701
Unfortunately they cannot understand you. However you can demand this once you meet someone who can speak High Gothiric (Imperial Court language)

>>5055708
try using gestures and our irresistible charms?

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>>5055713
alright, if you insist ^o^ (pic related)

its hard to find non anachronistic medieval futurist pictures

>>5055701
I think it is also fair for you to take 1 additional outfit (only 1 though). The handmaidens will not stop you. So for example you can wear the Highborn outfit but keep the Lowborn outfit as a disguise (or the insane outfit, or the Lady Of Sorrows outfit etc). You will have to just carry this as a bundle around with you under your arm at all times.

>>5055677
>3/You think back to The Lady Of Sorrows aesthetic and do your best to copy her dress in white, black and gold.

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>>5055742
Fear not, for I can help with that.

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>>5055742

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>>5055742
3

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>>5055742

>>5055701
>>5055752

So is the consensus currently to dress as a Highborn Consort (basically dress as yourself normally), and take the Lady Of Sorrows outfit as a disguise?

>>5055768
Sounds fair, I guess. Can you reveal what trait(s) we would get?

>>5055772
decadent and alluring, for the low cut ^_^

>>5055780
All good then.
You dropped your trip.

Location: White Narthex Gardens Exterior, Berceuse

Within the Imperial Court you were used to being poked and prodded by a stray brooch pin, or a clumsily mis-placed needle when dressed by your attendants.

The handmaidens here are accomplished and efficient and you cannot help but be impressed by their handiwork.

They are gesturing for you to venture forth deeper into the garden. The handmaidens will not accompany you. The white peacock fans and flutters its feathers languidly in the background.

As a Consort you a familiar with the Imperial sumptuary laws which punish those who attempt to dress in a manner at variance to their rank and social station. You remember that on Berceuse these sumptuary laws are administered by The Church Of Envy. Some of these laws on Berceuse are utterly bizarre, like denying heretics the right to buy or wear clothes.

You recall the Threefold Virtues of the Church: Beauty, Youth, Love. The Church takes these strictures very seriously. And there is only one, abhorrent sin within the Church Of Envy: Ugliness.

The White Peacock is swaying languidly. It ruffles its tail feathers condescendingly and wanders deeper into the Garden.

>1/ follow the White Peacock (Instinct: Pathfinding)

>2/ for some indescribable reason this haughty White Peacock infuriates you. How can a stupid bird dare to order an Imperial Consort around! Stalk it silently, and once out of sight of the handmaidens you will kill and eat it. (Trait insane unlocks trait psychotic, trait violent)

>>5055785
>1/ follow the White Peacock (Instinct: Pathfinding)

>>5055786
(The trait history is now
You have lost trait: unclean
You have lost trait: ignored (I should rename this one to Inconspicuous, similar to the Burning Wheel rpg)

You remain:
Hunted
Traitor
Machine-Orphan

and you are also:
Alluring, Decadent (whilst in Highborn Consort attire)
Desperate, Reckless and Insane Witch-Consort)

>>5055789
You’re still missing your trip QM. סּ_סּ also, where’s decadent and alluring

>>5055791
hehe well spotted; I have deleted and corrected. I think the traits are getting pretty full (I count about 10) so I will give no more traits until some are lost from now on

>>5055793
Well it would be good to lose to desperate and insane haha

Just a brief meta-commentary from my side, on all the player choices so far:
1/ really impressed by how the choices people have been making have been so sensible and rational. Everyone is really committed to staying in character!

2/ as you have probably guessed, the way the trait system works is you have to push yourself into doing uncomfortable and dangerous things to grow and gain new skills. If you never fight anyone, well, you will never be able to learn to fight. This is inspired by the Burning Wheel system (minus the ridiculous dice pool rolls and tables)
I guess this is the negative side to staying in character - the scenarios will get very stressful and frustrating if you only ever rely on the narrow set of skills that you are intrinsically very good at already.

3/ (evil QM taunting, hehe...) if you are supremely astute you may have already guessed the secret weakness of the Invultuate Emperor.
All the information is out there! Acting on it though, is a different matter entirely...

Feedback for me:
what would people like to see more of, i.e.
>1/ more fighting, ultraviolence
>2/ more supernatural / occult stuff, magick
>3/ more intrigue
>4/ less emphasis on traits, more items/artifacts?

>>5055795
This is the consequence and price for witnessing and using witchcraft. (Remember there are three spells sitting unused somewhere in your mind, you still have no idea what they do)
You have a strong feeling that if you renounce witchcraft / magick altogether, the insanity might recede.

(Also if you want more magic... do more insane things?? hehe)

I will use this opportunity to take a break for a while, and leave the forum open to discussion. The narrative will resume soon!

>>5055806
As an intrigue based character we should have more intrigues lol. But more seriously the quest has been excellent so far. Good balance on action, suspense and the unknown. A healthy mix of traits and items would be good.

>>5055806
final addendum to this: if anyone has any burning player-driven mission goals they want to pursue (within reason), I can incorporate.
E.g. a legitimate player-driven mission could be:
seek a cure for insanity
find out what the Lady Of Sorrows spells do
hunt down and kill White Hair for good
etc.

>>5055818
Finding out what the spells do is important for the plot so if we do any side goals it's that one.

>>5055820
Noted! That one is easy, as I already had something in mind.

lol I forgot the most important feedback lol.
What is the best time and timezone for when everyone is free (let me know EST PMT GMT etc and time etc so can avoid the stream of consciousness burn out ^_^

>>5055823
I don’t really have a best time as my schedule changes everyday

Oh, god I missed a lot, I guess that is what I get for being sick and staying in bed all day, I guess I'll catch up in a sec.

Well, those are certainly not the choices I would have made necessarily, but oh well.

>>5055806
Seconding the fact that a character based on charming others to use and rely on should have plenty of opportunities to do so. More worldbuilding and supernatural stuff would be cool. Some slower paced side stuff to allow us to gain contacts or items would be cool and it would build side plots that could intertwine with the main plot at appropriate time which would remove the need to suddenly push them into focus inorganically before they'd been naturally built. A good balance between items and traits would be good.

>>5055818
Killing White Hair is something I'd like to do but not a priority, if he becomes relevant of his own accord and can interfere with us then I'd like to proactively try and kill him, but if he is locked outside forever then I don't want to pursue petty revenge to our detriment.

Finding out what our spells do and more about magick would be nice.

I like to think after realising that we were sent to our death that we would have grown more attached to our magick and machine-daughter status and would attempt to learn more about said things and gain more power associated with said statuses, after all, the prior situations have revealed the weaknesses of us relying on our charms alone, it is our strength but we'll need more versatility to be able to survive and thrive and as much as we are used to the privileged life I'm sure it feels good to have some independent power of our own.

>>5055823
My timezone is PST, at the time of me writing this it is exactly 8:00 PM.

>>5055818
To add to what has been said, exploration of our pasti would be nice. Who were we, who did we know, what did we do, our family and why the Emperor wants us dead etc.

>>5056201
We know a tiny bit of this from the original description of our character "class", apparently we were the Emperor's favourite concubine before we suddenly went mad.

>>5055949
no worries. Hopefully your schedule gets easier!
>>5056021
sorry to hear this - I hope you feel better soon...!
>>5056025
Very detailed analysis of the situation. Thank you!
>>5056201
There is an explanation for this, in the lore...^_^

Thank you everyone for the detailed feedback. I will try to incorporate as much as I can.

>>5056242
hehe well done. But I chose the wording of the classes very carefully. Are you sure you were the one that went mad, or did you do something to a rival? (evil QM taunting)

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>>5055786
Location: White Narthex Gardens Exterior, Berceuse

The White Peacock is meandering leisurely towards a maze of topiary hedges, brambles and blossoms. It is moving at a slow pace and you are not afraid of losing it. In the tranquil surroundings of the Narthex gardens, you have a moment for contemplation and reflection.

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(character synopsis and achievements so far)

Your best attribute is Charm and your worst is Strength.

The maximum amount of traits permitted is ten.

MISSION
Learn the secret weakness of the Invultuate-Emperor
- discover what your spells can do
- remember your past (now, why would you forget such a thing...?)

TRAITS, MEMORIES & CONSEQUENCES

Once, you were the Fearful But Obedient Witch-Daughter Of The Machines.

Now, you are:

1, HUNTED
2, TRAITOR
Failed to complete the Edict Ceremony and meet the Lord Consul, which is why you are still alive
Learnt the Edict was a secret death warrant for your own execution, and thus provoked the relentless ire of the Invultuate Emperor
Learnt that the Emperor has never been defeated
Learnt that the Emperor commands two unnatural torments:
He can make those that serve him forget
He can return any pain inflicted upon him by traitors athousandfold
3, MACHINE-ORPHAN
Agreed to hide The Lady Of Sorrows in the Edict, becoming protected as her Machine-Daughter
Learnt the most important virtue of the machines is to obey
Learnt the truth of the Edict from the Lady, inadvertently causing her unmaking by the Emperor
Forgotten by the Lady Of Sorrows
4, MUTE (Berceuse Lowborn)
You can speak only High Gothiric, the Imperial Court Language
You can recognise some Gothuneric runes, the older language from which Gothiric is derived

and you are also:
5, ALLURING (whilst in Highborn Consort attire)
escaped the subterranean bone lake catacombs into the Cathedral sanctuary White Narthex,recovered and restored appearance and attire

6,7,8,9,10
DESPERATE, RECKLESS
and INSANE WITCH-CONSORT
Failed to remember the story your governess taught about the Murderous Queen
Failed to obtain any weapons
Unleashed the voidship weaponry, and witnessed its horror
Learnt witchcraft from the Lady Of Sorrows war magic
Learnt a bit about how voidships and machines work (transmigration of the machine-soul)
Noticed the Gothuneric tattoo NASTROND possessed by White Hair, of a machete in an Iron Skull
Killed 2 mercenaries nicknamed Fatface and Hammer
Disfigured and maimed the barbarian mercenary White Hair, who still lives and wants to see you die
Aware that a voidship exploded over a Lowborn Hive district, as the Emperor unmade the Lady Of Sorrows
Lost track of the Handsome Man by the Bone Lake
Failed to wrestle the flamethrower from the Cathedral Warden, but changed his indifference to curiosity and pity after fainting in his arms

SPELLS - still unaware what they do
spells are lost forever once used
all magick has a price
use of magick contributes to insanity
Loathing Mirror
Barbed Spear Of Flies
Drifting Skin Of Songs

ITEMS
wearing: dynastic Highborn Consort attire
carrying: alternate attire/disguise in style of the Lady Of Sorrows

...useless metal fragment, found by the mud of the bone pit lake (but it is missing now... where did you leave it???)

(QM commentary - I have removed the trait decadent and replaced it with the far more relevant trait Mute, Berceuse Lowborn, ie you cannot speak to or understand Lowborn commoners on Berceuse.

You can also assume that the Consort lifepath trait is intrinsically decadent)

File: daria-rashev-maiden1.jpg (1.43 MB, 2415x3452)

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The White Peacock saunters through the garden maze. At its centre you see a maiden, scattering flowers into a pool.

This maiden is different from the handmaidens who dressed you. She looks Highborn, but is dressed in simple, pastoral clothes, almost like a sheperdess. There are flowers braided in the long tresses of her hair.

And her face reminds you of someone - the Handsome Man by the subterranean lake perhaps? You have been alone amongst strangers for so long that you yearn for resemblance or kindness from anyone.

The White Peacock approaches her and adopts an imperious strutting display which somehow makes you hate the stupid creature even more, though you feel it is absurd. The maiden beckons towards the peacock, which ruffles its plumage invitingly.

There are goblets and chalices around her, upturned and toppled carelessly. It makes you think of the mess left after Imperial banquets, when the guests have all departed.

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A figure steps forward. You recognise the Church Warden from the Narthex Gate. He is standing exactly three steps behind the reclining Maiden Of Flowers, as she continues to scatter flowers into pool and cosset the White Peacock. The Warden is no longer carrying the firebrand from before, or indeed any weapons at all.

Instead he is presenting what looks like a small black cushion with a black embroidered cloth covering it. The Warden is very carefully holding the cushion in a way that ensures he does not touch whatever is set upon it, hidden beneath the black cloth covering.

There is yet another figure, just a shadow, behind the Cathedral Warden. He is occluded from your view.

(picture related is NOT the Church Warden)

The Maiden Of Flowers has not turned to look at you. Were it not for her entirely unthreatening appearance, you feel as if you were being accused at a trial. Yet in a solemn voice, she addresses you fluently in the language of the Imperial Court:

You seem to possess Beauty and Youth.

But you are Unloved and therefore Unseen.
The Mandorla has not beheld you.
You are not one of Us.

I do not Envy you.

And she pronounces the final sentence with a portentous emphasis.

The Maiden Of Flowers asks:

Are you here to join the Crusade?

>1/ Immediately reply Yes, without hesitation
(convert trait:reckless to decisive)

>2/ Reply, Which crusade? Nastrond?
(Instinct: Bluff, trait reckless)

>3/ Attempt to seduce the Maiden Of Flowers: I Envy your Beauty, Maiden...
(Charm: seduction, trait alluring, reckless, desperate)

>4/ Distract, Lie: What a Lovely White Peacock you have... (Charm:Flattery, Instinct:Falsehood and convert trait reckless to deceitful, alluring to sycophant)

>5/ You are starving and have not eaten for what feels like days. Ignore this stupid woman, stride purposefully towards the White Peacock and kill and eat it (Reduce 3 traits reckless, desperate, insane to 2, psychotic and violent, freeing 1 trait slot)

>>5056272
I'm guessing this is either the Beldame of the Church of Envy or perhaps just some lower officiate?

I'm struggling to come to a decision. Was White Hair a occupant of Nastrond and hence under threat of said crusade? Or was he a mercenary hoping to participate in it? Is Nastrond a place or the name of the crusade or entirely unrelated. These knowing the answers to these questions would make bluffing more palatable, but on the other hand the worst bluffing will get us is looking stupid, which isn't a terrible result.

We should be good at seduction, but the woman asked us and question and may not be in the mood.

Going with the deflection and how well that turns out may depend on how open she is to digressions by us, but given her last sentence's emphasis I'm worried the item on the pillow is a weapon and that if we answer poorly she intends to have it used to kill us or something, though it could be entirely unrelated. Still, she may want a direct answer.

I'd rather not lose a fight to a fucking peacock considering strength is our worst stat and we'd probably anger the woman for killing her(?) peacock, plus if we want to eat we probably ought rely on our charm to get it.

Finally, regarding joining a crusade of any kind, I'd rather not. It sounds like a good way to get killed. There is wanting to be more versatile and ironing out our weaknesses and then there is joining a holy war with no possessions, a weak body, a privileged mind, no training in warfare or knowledge of technology or witchcraft with no reason to join up in the first place and no known reward for doing so simply in order to avoid looking ignorant.

Going with...
>3/ Attempt to seduce the Maiden Of Flowers: I Envy your Beauty, Maiden...

Hopefully she can appreciate our charms when we are in full regalia and deal with the digression, if we have to reveal our ignorance I'm fine with that, better play ignorant or mysterious then reveal our nature as a hunted traitor or attempt obvious lies.

>>5056272
>3/ Attempt to seduce the Maiden Of Flowers: I Envy your Beauty, Maiden...
I agree. Bluffing would only make us out to be clueless if she follows up and she probably will.

>>5056272
>1/ Immediately reply Yes, without hesitation

>>5056287
(I will comment on this analysis after the scenario choices are complete)
>>5056289

>>5056300
(Trying to incorporate aspects of all of these choices)

The Cathedral Warden is visibly reddening. Whilst your seduction is not directed at him, he is clearly recalling the contours of your unconscious body cradled in his arms as he carried you into the Narthex earlier, and seeing your alluring attire has now made you irresistible to him. He is squirming uncomfortably, and is struggling to maintain his posture presenting the mysterious small object under the black cloth.

You get the feeling the Cathedral Warden will do anything you ask of him.

The hidden figure behind him has walked away, disinterested.

The Maiden Of Flowers remains expressionless. She has a deadened look in her eyes, which makes you think of courtesans that have experienced... too much Love. Studying her face closely now, you are not too sure she is related to the Handsome Man. Yet there is something about how her face is sculpted which makes her resemble him.

You begin to realise why you instinctively hated the White Peacock. As a Consort there is nothing more infuriating than to witness another who is adored more than oneself. The idea that there exists someone of similar circumstances or standing to you, but who is more beautiful, more successful, more privileged and favoured, more adored... It is enough to drive someone mad.

The Maiden Of Flowers intones solemnly:

I see that you perform our strictures of Love, uninitiated though as you are.

Yet I detect little true passion in your words. Artifice is abhorrent in the face of true Beauty.
(The Maiden proclaims this with utter conviction, and you examine her features with increasing scepticism).

The Maiden asks:

Tell me what you find most beautiful, and I will permit you to join our Crusade.

If you lie, I will know.

(traits hidden, revealed after choice)

>1/ reply immediately: The Invultuate Emperor.

>2/ say that you find Machines beautiful; tell her about the Lady Of Sorrows.

>3/ tell her she is the greatest Beauty you have ever beheld.

>4/ say that you find the White Peacock beautiful

>5/ thinking back to your ordeal at the lake of bones, say that you adore death and despair, violence and pain.

>6/ command the Cathedral Warden to reveal what is beneath the black cloth

>>5056318
There is no need to incorporate aspects of a losing choice especially if it contradicts the winning option.

>>5056322
The only winning condition is if you defeat the Invultuate Emperor. Other than that, feel free to explore contradicting allegiances ^_^

>>5056321
>2/ say that you find Machines beautiful; tell her about the Lady Of Sorrows.

>>5056327
Eh, it just makes things frustrating if a well thought out plan gets derailed by a single random stray vote.

>>5056330

You describe in depth the Lady Of Sorrows and what you knew of her. You even display the outfit that you assembled from what the handmaidens provided.

The Maiden Of Flowers turns to look at you, for the first time. Her previously deadened expression has slightly - only very slightly - softened somewhat. Despite her beauty she appears to possess a limited spectrum of facial expressions, and holds herself quite immobile, to always show herself at her best.

You have described a Beauty that is unknown to Us, the Maiden says.

It is not a Beauty that is... to my liking. Yet it must be preserved nonetheless.

The Maiden turns to look at the White Peacock.

I, for one, believe there is no Beauty more exalted than the Love for an animal.

(Were it not for her demeanour and utter seriousness, you would burst out laughing. It just sounds so perverted. Yet your sense of etiquette permits you to restrain yourself.

You suspect this entire Cathedral despite its architectural edifices and aesthetics is some sort of ridiculous, decadent joke. What purpose does it serve?)

The Maiden continues:

You will serve our Crusade, but in a... different capacity. We will grant you Sanctuary on the Cathedral grounds and we will take your Likeness, Oath and Blood.

My Brother will take you to the Mandorla now.

>>5056369
>2/ ask him what the Mandorla actually is, why does it want your Likeness, Oath and Blood
>4/ tell him when you arrived, you possessed a small trinket... just a harmless useless metal fragment. Does he know where it is?
>5/ blurt out excitedly: I recognise you! I saw you digging around a disgusting underground pit of bones outside the Cathedral! What were you doing there?

Since he is charmed by us, mamay ask more than one thing?

>>5055416

(You have gained the protection of the Church Of Envy faction. On cathedral grounds none of the acolytes will question you or attack you. If you displease the Church Of Envy this protection will be revoked.

You have lost the trait: desperate. Just assume that you have all the food and sustenance you need whilst on Cathedral grounds.

You have lost the item: useless metal fragment.)

When the Maiden spoke of her brother, you were unsure of whether she meant it in the familial or religious sense. You become more bewildered when you recognise the gallant noble bowing before you. You saw him by subterranean gloom, but amidst the flowers and sunshine of the Narthex Gardens he radiates warmth and delight.
He takes your hand - rather boldly.

My name is Asterion, he says.

Do not look so shocked! Surprise makes you look more ravishing than you already are! And if you become more ravishing, I shall faint...!

And he smiles broadly, and feigns fainting dramatically.

Now of course, you know who I am already, because I am so extravagantly rich and famous and noble and masculine and handsome and clever. Also, I have such a long lineage. Really, really long. Really long. It is all inherited, you know. But I want to know all about you...

He glances at you expectantly.

>1/ tell him truthfully who you are
>2/ ask him what the Mandorla actually is, why does it want your Likeness, Oath and Blood
>3/ ask him if he is related to the Maiden Of Flowers, is she his sister?
>4/ tell him when you arrived, you possessed a small trinket... just a harmless useless metal fragment. Does he know where it is?
>5/ blurt out excitedly: I recognise you! I saw you digging around a disgusting underground pit of bones outside the Cathedral! What were you doing there?

>>5056375

sorry I made a mistake in the original post, had to delete it. I Wrote Maiden of sorrows instead of Flowers lol.

Asterion is not the Lowborn Cathedral Warden that was carrying the black cushion / black cloth thing and who finds you irresistible. You cannot speak the Lowborn language here. (that was a trap I laid hehe in option 6/ to command him).

Asterion has just appeared and you can of course ask him anything.

>>5056375
Now I have to ask you, as this might be important. What order do you ask these questions in. The default, 2 then 4 then 5?

Catching up, I looked away for awhile.

>>5056376
Ah, my vote is to ask...
>2/ ask him what the Mandorla actually is, why does it want your Likeness, Oath and Blood
>3/ ask him if he is related to the Maiden Of Flowers, is she his sister?

I'd rather not pine after some random metal fragment we possessed for a few moments, they probably took it as junk and threw it away.

As for his inquiries regarding our identity or nature, I think we should be "technically truthful" but vague, and we should never actually reveal our actual identity such as our name, official position, de facto social status, (such as our favour by the emperor) etc, etc. We can reveal that we were once a very very high ranking consort of loftier heights than almost anyone on this planet could even dream of, we can reveal some aspects of our personality if that is what he means by wanting to know about us, we can reveal some of our likes and dislikes, etc, etc. But, if he tries to narrow down specifics then we should be vague, and if pressed we should outright refuse to answer, we must not reveal that we are hunted.

>>5056376
>2/ ask him what the Mandorla actually is, why does it want your Likeness, Oath and Blood
>3/ ask him if he is related to the Maiden Of Flowers, is she his sister?
>5/ blurt out excitedly: I recognise you! I saw you digging around a disgusting underground pit of bones outside the Cathedral! What were you doing there?

I have a feeling that the useless metal thing or the artifact in the sewers could be part of the answer to the Emperor's weakness. Ask in the default order.

>>5056390
Would you like to take a guess right now at what the Invultuate Emperor's secret weakness is? And a bonus if you can turn it into a plan for defeating him ^_^

>>5056395
Naked women. jk. Probably something related to filth although I'm just spitting balls here.

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When he hears you mention the Mandorla, Asterion trembles with ecstatic and rapturous pleasure.

Oh it is so wondrous! There is nothing else like it!
Words cannot describe how magnificent it is!
It makes everyone who looks at it so beautiful!
We have to go there right now!

(He rushes you away before you can ask anything else)

Taking you by the hand he leads you breathlessly onto a pathway from the garden maze. The pathway rises into the sky, the same labyrinthine lattice of lights and paths that you saw from the heavens on your arrival here. You both begin the ascent upwards.

Throughout the entire journey, Asterion is almost hopping from one foot to the other in anticipation. He can barely contain his exuberant delight. He is describing the Mandorla ritual to you.

Now, first the Mandorla must take your likeness, Asterion explains.

This is so splendidly simple, because you are beautiful already! And you are exquisitely dressed!

Asterion beams happily at you, and winks at your attire.

Now the Oath... and for the first time Asterion adopts a serious face.

The Oath is simple too. But some acolytes have difficulty accommodating it. Basically, it concerns... (he shudders) Ugly people. Urgh. I know. They are so horrid. So, so hideous. Often they smell bad and are also very stupid. They are unworthy of Love.

(As you listen to him, you are beginning to wonder if he is completely insane)

Asterion looks deeply into your eyes:
Tell me, what do you think should happen to Ugly people?

>1/ They should be made beautiful.
>2/ They should be forgotten.
>3/ They should be segregated and kept far away from Beauty.
>4/ They should be killed. Horribly.

>>5056420
If this guy is like what I imagine typical upper class people are like in this society, especially after he insulted them so much I'd say he probably wants us to say that they should be segregated or killed. However, what he actually said is that ugly people are unworthy of Love, not that anything in particular should be done to them or that they couldn't be made beautiful, and if he is a member of the church, which is a church of ENVY remember, then presumably there is a process to make people beautiful, or else how would the church hold any power or gain new supplicants if they could not integrate the masses?

So I vote...
>1/ They should be made beautiful.

Since I think it is the most useful and least wasteful option, seeing as a consort it is our specialty to make use of people.

>>5056420
>Those who accept the message must be made beautiful, those reject must segregated, shunned and kept far away from Beauty.

Remember that this is a church of Envy. This is what he wants to hear and what the Consort would believe.

You are entering an archway which seems somewhat drab and unfinished compared to the baroque ornamentation in marble and gold below. Asterion looks apologetic.

I apologise for this, he stutters. This is completely unacceptable. I will have to see that the servants that neglected their duties here are punished for this heresy. No clothes for them, for weeks!

It does not... usually look like this. We of course have had to suddenly re-decorate a bit, in advance of the funeral for the Lord Consul. The Imperial Censorate announced that he died suddenly of completely natural sudden peaceful causes. Completely natural! He was such a loyal servant of the Throne Of Stars. Never failed in his duty! Never ever! Otherwise, the Emperor could have no reason for honouring the Lord Consul by attending his funeral and visiting us here. Can you imagine? He is far too important!

But yes, what was I saying? Oh yes Ugly people. Urgh. Yes, we help them, help make them understand Beauty! The Mandorla shows them! After all, how can you Envy someone if you disagree? And unlike the horrible Warguild - they are so hideous - we do it all completely for free! We are so noble! It is completely true that if you are beautiful on the outside, you are beautiful on the inside too! How lovely!

>1/ Ask him where the Mandorla came from
>2/ Ask him how and when the Emperor is arriving here
>3/ Ask him if he really believes what the Imperial Censorate says about the Lord Consul

>>5056549
>2/ Ask him how and when the Emperor is arriving here
Then
>1/ Ask him where the Mandorla came from
If the Emperor is coming then things will get painful soon.

>>5056401

sadly, that is not it...

I have some bad news, guys. I have to say that if you have not yet worked out at least what the Emperor's secret weakness is, let alone convert that into a plan of action, it may look like one of those Your Life And Adventure Ends Here... situations.

You have all been giving really detailed and well analysed answers so it is possibly my fault for burying the clues too deeply or not describing them well enough. But there should be enough already to generate a plan of action.

>>5056570
Is it really coming to a head so soon? To be honest, I expected that we would have several threads worth of learning and adventures before the final confrontation. I’ll try to reread and see what I missed but I’m honestly stumped.

>>5056575
The sort of meta-difficulty I have had with this is that you guys are really committed to staying character lol. This is good because you behave really synchronously with the logic and laws of the world, but bad from a sort of powergaming/meta standpoint because you are not advancing the character enough with traits and abilities (maybe because I have not explained them well enough). As I mentioned before you have to really push yourself into uncomfortable situations (if you have played or watched live plays of the Burning Wheel rpg system you will know what I mean about this).

E.g. so far you guys have not really fought or defeated anyone in combat on your own, at all. You were scared even to fight a stupid peacock! (If you thought this was strange, think about occult rituals that involve animal sacrifice - I put this in as a free opportunity to give you some more magic or even improve brawling against an easily defeated opponent etc.)

Recall how when you attempted a really elaborate dangerous thing (the intimidation plan on the Lady Of Sorrows) you got three powerful spells. Tried to give you opportunities to use them but like all gamers we like to hoard and I understand that.

There is a nonlethal way to defeat the Invultuate Emperor but I have probably buried the clues too deep at this stage. If you guys cannot work it out the opportunity to do so is perhaps lost.

>>5056575
My sort of broad narrative plan was that you would defeat the Emperor quickly, just by working out his secret weakness from the clues, but then the Four Factions would start fighting each other after the Throne fell - the rest of the story was going to be about that. But because you guys were staying in character so much I have not had the chance to let you meet as many people outside of the main quest.

I think from a design standpoint I may have made a mistake making the Lady Of Sorrows too powerful early on (there is a Maiden Mother Crone theme amongst all the symbolism lol) So you guys clung on to the massive power of the voidship and did not really explore that much.

>>5056590
Not so much as hoarders but role players! Questing is after all a form of Role Playing. We love to stay in character instead of powergaming.

Also the most obvious thing is I was trying to experiment with diceless storygaming here lol. I should probably have just used the dice here and shown you guys a random table for the traits etc.

>>5056603
Yes you are completely right. I should probably just have used the dice from the start.

If nobody can work out the way to defeat the Emperor, what I will do is instead of writing 10 sections where you are horribly tortured and destroyed (other websites for that stuff exist) I will just show you the sort of QM commentary of the range of endings for this Chapter I had in mind, as well as the inspirations for the lore. Should probably explain it. If you still do not get it afterwards then I am just terrible at this lol

...QM commentary begins...
So at the very start of the game I talked about the governess who told you the story of the murderous queen. Investigating this story was an opportunity to get magic early on. But even if you did not take it the governess was a prompt to make you think about myths and legends from our world. (The murderous queen is based on Medea, the Edict is clearly based on the letter carried over the sea that kills its bearers in Hamlet etc)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C3%A1str%C3%B6nd
So Nastrond is the corpse shore, a lake of dead bones.

If you read the Beggar-Knight class description, there is a very very strong hint that he was defeated in battle (even if it is not explicitly admitted - the Imperial Censorate at work lol). He broke his drone-sword into fragments and threw them into a lake of dead corpses, Nastrond.

>>5056623
So that dirty lake was Nastrond?

I'll admit to be taken aback at the confrontation with the emperor coming so soon, I thought this process would taken many threads.

I'm also just taken aback by the stuff about this system. There are a number of reasons why I personally did not try and "powergame" in this particular situation.

One reason is that generally the "nature" of a thread will reveal what the QMs personally preferences and intentions are and the player base will reflect that, for example lewd quests will get many coomer anons who will try and get their fetishes to be in smut scenes, economics focused quests, civ quests, quests with heavy mechanics, tactics and strategy quests or quests of a military nature often will have the aforementioned power gamers, quests that are diceless or have simple mechanics or have QMs that have good writing or encourage write-ins or have mechanics that encourage power fantasies like d100 bo3 tend to encourage creative anons, etc, etc. I did not get the sense from this thread that we were so rapidly building towards this moment nor that we were supposed to be gaming the system.

Another reason is that I personally feel that it just wouldn't feel natural or organic for us to gain skills in any meaningfully rapid timeframe from confronting and defeating other characters like in a RPG, like getting EXP for killing something using a particular method or something. My assumption from the beginning was that with the exception of certain outliers like us learning those spells (and I still am not entirely clear on the mechanism in-universe by which we gained them, hence my reluctance to rely on doing that repeatedly) was that gaining new attributes or skills would be slow, like in real life, after all it does not make sense to getting meaningfully physically stronger or smarter from emerging triumphant from any one particular random obstacle you happen to pass by one day.

A third reason is my personal preference to *mostly* stay in character, what exceptions I make for "powergaming" has less to do with obsessively pursuing power and more to do with trying to edge the character to act relatively logical and levelheaded within the limits of their personality and values, sometimes I edge towards trying to make them do so to a degree that is a bit out of character to get the result that I want out-of-character, but almost everyone does this to some degree, we all have preferences to the results of a narrative.

I disagree with the idea that Lady of Sorrows was too strong, my choices and confusion with the present situation have more to do with the concept of our character advancement. It seems so unnatural to me now that you explain it since it doesn't really make logical sense from a real life perspective, lacks an in-universe metaphysical explanation to ease the burden of that weirdness. Part of what I mean is...from what I remember, I understood that you explained that we have to do things we are unskilled at to advance those skills, but I did- 1/2

>>5056635
-not understand that the nature of the trait/attribute system or the idea that we could end up advancing so rapidly like a video game RPG character by defeating obstacles or foes, nor did the idea make sense to me to focus into attributes we are bad at. Normally I'd just round out said attributes to the point where we don't have a crippling weakness, if said "rounding out" does not taken an inordinate amount of "meta resources" that you use to buy said attributes with in say, a point buy system. I'd normally just specialize and find ways using our specialty or other methods to account for our weaknesses while using our strengths to the best of our abilities.

I also just didn't get what you mean by your references to Burning Wheel, certainly BW is relevant enough of a system to warrant a passing knowledge of the fact that it influenced several of the newer TTRPG developers and some modern RPG discourse with stuff like GNS theory, but it is still really niche and I remember nothing of the system itself, nor do I hold it or the developers influenced it in particularly high regard, so this stuff kinda just went over my head.

I probably had some other stuff I was gonna write, but I forgot in my hurry to verbal diarrhea all this out in my rush to give you feedback after I checked back in the thread only to realise that I had yet again been late to respond. 2/2

>>5056623
Now if you read the section where the Emperor is introduced, he basically sounds invincible. He has never been defeated. But throughout the story I have tried to show you that the Emperor makes people forget things and also uses the Imperial Censorate to spread lies.

There is even a hint that the Emperor can detonate a voidship killing some innocent civilians (he was going to frame the Witch-Consort for doing this to justify hunting her in public) - but he cannot reach out and just kill you directly??? (I was really surprised no-one questioned this). He is powerful but clearly not all that powerful.

So the secret weakness of the Emperor is: he is actually not that powerful.

Maybe his invultuation ability is a lie, and if you just walk up to him and stab him he will die instantly (sadly you are not good enough at fighting to even do this. You do not even have any weapons).

He is being defeated all the time - the knight could tell you this. Someone else who could tell you this (if you could speak to him) would be White Hair, who tattooed the battle site of his greatest victory on his chest. Unfortunately he is your enemy though, and you cannot understand him without the Lady Of Sorrows.

So knowing this, the nonlethal way to defeat the Emperor would be: spread the message that The Emperor is actually weak and can be defeated. The factions would go into a frenzy trying to kill and replace him. To do this you would need some evidence e.g. the drone sword fragment from the knight where he was defeated (the useless metal fragment you guys lost - in case you were wondering where it is, the Maiden Of Flowers had it under the Black Cloth). Alternatively a witness like White Hair would do (this is why I deliberately let him survive the Lady Of Sorrows attack).

So the four factions are clearly based on the Colman-Smith Rider Waite Tarot with the swords cups wands and coins etc. You have probably already guessed the real world inspirations:

Church Of Envy is facebook/instagram

Warguild is the military industrial complex, Lockheed Martin Raytheon Northrop Grumman etc lol

The Unbidden Court is sort of the Deep State and investment banks lol. I deliberately did not mention that their emblem was the coin/pentacle to hide this. The eschatonomist (eschatology+economist) is aligned to this faction.

Vagabonds and drudges is sadly the underclass faction most people belong to in real life. In the setting I actually imagined them as sort of renegade nature druid people lol. The Church Warden with the flamethrower (their emblem: burned tree) is secretly one of them.

>>5056614
Well instead of 10 sections, 1 would be enough lol.

>>5056645
so I guessed correctly that the metal fragment was significant to the plot. I just didn't connect it with the Knight. Well now I understand it completely. What next?

The Mandorla is also a Tarot reference (if you know the Chanel logo, it is sort of a Mandorla too). In the game it is another one of the machines and it takes the form of a giant Howling Mirror. It is inspired by an Oscar Wilde story quote about people who worship mirrors.

There are a few other obscure references. What are the Ancient Promises? If you read the descriptions about voidship travel, it feels like they are about downloading and uploading consciousness. If you know a bit about javascript programming, promises and async functions are basically how anything is downloaded or uploaded on the internet lol. The Hoisted Sea / lattice of lights and paths is some sort of skyladder into orbit and echoes Neuromancer. Asterion and the maze imagery is from Jorge Luis Borges short story.

>>5056635
I guess I meant to write "my confusion with the present situation" in the third to last sentence of the linked post, not sure why I wrote 'choices and confusion'.

As for my thoughts on your QM commentary...

I wouldn't have thought to look up myths or legends from real life, not without a more obvious prompt or link to real life mythology. It wouldn't be obvious to me to do so without prior familiarity with said legends and myths to prompt a rereading of the necessary references. While I know the name Medea and know of Hamlet, I don't really know anything about her and cannot remember anything of Hamlet, so while you may have gotten lucky with some other anon, I am unfamiliar with such literature. Not necessarily from a lack of curiosity, I just haven't read or can't remember stuff about those topics.

Another problem unique to me is simply that I speed-read the first few posts in order to catch up, since I didn't join the quest right at its beginning, I went back once to reread more carefully which is part of how I caught the bit about our past, but generally I did process everything super well, plus I'm sick, so I wouldn't have caught every hint in the class descriptions.

As for the emperor, I never thought he was invincible despite him matter-of-factly being described as being so, most of the things you describe about him in regards to his weakness in general I never questioned because I had already assumed that either it was just in-universe propaganda or that you were using hyperbolic, flowery language like in say...Warhammer 40K or something.

As for finding out specific information about him, the problem for me was twofold, one I thought we had a lot more time and didn't feel any rush since I thought it was a distant problem for the end of the quest, and two it never would've occurred to me that there would be people who knew ANYTHING about the emperor or had met him or defeated him or would possess the capability to contest him in any meaningful way should his aura of invincibility shatter due to me MASSIVELY overestimating the scope and scale of the setting. I feel like this is a bit of communication problem. I sort of got the impression from what you wrote that the Emperor was a pseudo-God-Emperor trope and that we were in a truly vast sci-fi setting on some random planet, I didn't understand that this planet (or anyone on it) would mean anything in opposing this guy because he seemed to vast for one planet or people on it to matter.

>>5056656
I literally would've guessed none of this despite familiarity with tarot, it seemed like pretty standard but flowery setting stuff, I didn't think of real world inspirations.

>>5056664
Also didn't get this. I meant to mention this earlier, but if you use a slightly fancy or uncommon word, I feel confident in speaking for most people that the most you are gonna get out of them in terms of effort is that they type the word or phrase into google and read to page 2 at most or they search the definition of the word, which is what I did for Mandorla way earlier.

>>5056671
This is very cool, but I also just assumed it was some purple prose or that it had an in-universe metaphysical explanation that would be explained later or would be explained if we had chosen a character with the relevant knowledge.

>>5056673
Yes I was a bit worried about this. It is hard to use the word Emperor without people thinking of 40k lol. I was thinking of Emperor in the tarot card sense and also Emperor-has-no-clothes fable lol.

I am a fan of 40k as well (only the old Dan Abnett / John Blanche era stuff, eg Gaunt and Eisenhorn, Ravenor etc. I do not know any of the new lore lol). In fact one of the inspirations too is that short story Blood Games by Dan Abnett which you may know (it is about a pre Horus Heresy internal plot to kill the Emperor, and it has a really goos twist)

>>5056673
*but generally I DIDN'T process everything super well

>>5056682
No worries. I guess it is my fault in that some of these clues were too obscure. I was also a bit worried about doing too much ultraviolence or erotic stuff lol if that upsets people as I know some people are already stressed / ill etc no need for Lovecraft or Nurgle plague demon or Slaanesh stuff lol. It seemed like you guys were never really into collecting lots of weapons or even just using magic and fighting and dismembering people in the setting lol.

>>5056687
Again, its playing to our strengths. I would love to use those spells to slaughter and face the Emperor after we have learned what each of them actually does.

>>5056679
lol, sorry to disappoint yet again, but I just meant I got the impression of the scope and scale of the setting being similar and just meant I got the vague impression of the Invultuate-Emperor being similar to ol'GEmps in the sense of magic-space-emperor in a sci fi setting seemingly larger than a single system of planets. That's really as far as it goes.

I'm only mildly acquainted with 40K at best, enough to barely consider myself a fan of the lore at a surface level, but in truth I've barely read any of the books even and don't play the Tabletop. So even that reference goes over my head, lmao.

The confusion over scope and scale was the more confusing thing for me, the stuff over comparisons to the God-Emperor from 40K was less relevant, I just didn't know anyone on this planet was gonna have relevant info on the Invultuate-Emperor or that the setting was small enough for anything on the planet to matter to anything other than us and the locals.

>>5056687
Ah, I was just correcting a typo I made in an earlier post.

As for the ultraviolence or erotic stuff, I have no problem with that stuff, my choices not to engage in that stuff had more to do with not considering it appropriate at the time, or not being present at the time of the vote, or as >>5056688 says, it not playing to our strengths as I understood them.

>>5056689
lol I actually blame 40k now for everything. I was trying a bit to emulate the Dan Abnett 40k style with the obscure references because I thought 40k people might catch on to that stuff. For example in the Penitent Dan Abnett 40k novel (the main character is female and I was thinking of her with the Consort) there is a place called Maze Undue = maison dieu in French, ie House of God and that is actually the French variant name for the Tower tarot card. When I read the novel my mind was blown and I thought, I have to invent a setting like this! So you see it is all warhammer 40k's fault, 40k has killed your character lol

>>5056688
So the spells are inspired a bit by Maze Rats, Cypher system rpg and also Invisible Sun (I have not actually played this but know some of the rules vaguely). In Cypher system everything is randomly generated unique single-shot disposable use which I like because I really cannot stand the I cast magic missile x 5 I cast fireball eldritch blast lol etc in
dnd

I was hoping that possessing the three spells would make you all more confident in going out to fight random people lol but it seems like not knowing what they do made everyone risk-averse

>>5056709
I actually do like the setting and the flowery purple prose and stuff, I just think it could've been paced better, and you probably should've had things occur naturally in the beginning of the quest that would've served in lieu of infodumps to explain our past, some of the basic tech and metaphysics of the quest, (out-of-character explanations would've served just as well to explain to us crucial character advancement mechanics, maybe with an in-universe metaphysical explanation) and to clear up things that would lead to misconceptions like the ones I had about the scale of the setting among other things. It is pretty important to get all your players on board with understanding the mechanics and not having less information than our own character ought to have assuming she still possessed all her memories.

And to be fair, we aren't technically dead yet, we don't have to attend the funeral and meet the Invultuate-Emperor. Though if he is so powerful that by his mere presence on the planet we would be unable to avoid him then I suppose, yes, we are dead after all. But, if not, the quest could still continue.

Loathing Mirror
This spell makes people hate, injure and attack themselves. I think it actually exists in real life.

Barbed Spear Of Flies
So remember the description of the Lady Of Sorrows voidship weapon and how it made swarms of fractally replicating weapons out of what looked like black ash (nanomachines?) this is basically it

Drifting Skin Of Songs
cast on self - turns you noncorporeal, physical weapons go through you
cast on enemy - flays them

>>5056715
So, to give you my perspective, one, I wasn't here, at my computer for the majority of the time we possessed spells at all, I was in bed. Two, as you said the way you arranged the magick system made us risk adverse and would've even had I been present earlier. We lose the spell after using it, currently do not know of any way to discover what they do aside from interpretations of their names and straight up using it, they are literally fire and forget weapons, the only other example we have of what was presumably a spell being used that we witnessed was a structure-destroying, vaporize-people-into-ash spell of seemingly grandiose proportions. We also didn't encounter anyone isolated that was hostile and thus had no reason to resort to force other than insanity or curiosity, there was handsome guy who we had no reason to immediately attack, there were the pilgrims who we had no reason to attack, there was the warden and white hair who we had reason to attack but honestly the context of the situation makes it seem kinda hopeless, if there is one warden then there is probably more just behind that door, he is part of an institution after all, and one performing what is essentially traffic control duties on a large procession wouldn't be alone, so if we vaporized him and white hair there'd presumably be more and we'd be screwed. After that everyone was relatively friendly so we had no reason to be aggressive, though I guess insanity would've made a decent excuse.

>>5056712
I mean, it's unique I guess, but the lack of knowledge of our own abilities severely hampers our ability to make informed decisions, obviously. And it makes it kind of meaningless to learn about our spells unless there is an available mechanics by which we can regain, or relearn, or reroll, or re-whatever a spell. If there was a roulette of unknown unique ones offs among some that we had previously known and used then it'd be fine since at least we could balance between using some which we knew are useful and reliable and experimenting. But, the way it worked out was seemingly just making us risk adverse, though I'd say even that is a statement made too soon, it is more an issue of the quest progressing so incredibly quickly that no definitive statement can be made on our behavior because the emperor is arriving so soon.

>>5056732
These are all really helpful points for me to understand, thank you.

The reason I made it so hard to learn what the spells do is because the Consort is untrained in sorcery. If you had chosen the Preceptor he knows more spells by default and actually can cast more and get more without becoming insane etc. The only way for the Consort to replenish her spells or get more is by doing strange occult things like killing and eating a rare white peacock lol.

I think there is a problem with the traits in that some of them just sound completely negative when in actual fact the idea is to acquire a lot of negative traits in and use them in creative ways. For example I kept trying to give you guys the trait violent to enable you to get more combat choices or weapons but maybe the trait sounded negative and you felt it was out of character (I actually think - assassin-consort is a valid archetype and maybe more resonable than witch-consort lol). Basically if my nonviolent clues were too obscure to discover at some point you would have to fight and unfortunately with the character progression pace you would always lose.

By never using magic, maybe the class you should have chosen was Marotte (Jester /rogue/assassin) archetype lol. You could have been an alluring female jester and tried seducing people too...

Also I had a hidden secret ability in mind there which was that the Marotte could never use magic, but also could never be harmed by any magic either, like a null psyker from 40k.

>>5056742
I'm going to sleep now. There was more I wanted to say that I don't have time to type out and stuff I wanted to clarify because I wrote a lot of my feedback in a stream of consciousness verbal diarrhea, but again I don't have time.

I do want to say that I enjoyed your writing a lot and your setting.

I also appreciate the frequency of your updates and your activeness and your encouragement, the frequent updates and activeness are an extreme rarity on this board nowadays. Part of the reason why I was inattentive aside from being sick was the fact that I simply did not expect more than one update a day.

The nature of the magic being hard to learn due to our character choice is understandable, though I personally feel that regardless of a characters expertise you should probably do more to explain the basics of the magic and technology of your setting and just hide the knowledge that would require true expertise, like how someone can google all sorts of basic knowledge, intuit basic concepts easily, etc, but that still doesn't mean they have a Phd or can apply that knowledge. If you have to go OOC to at least get the premise across, personally I'd do so, though ideally you would simply arrange things for the MC to reflect on the knowledge that they already possess in character when it becomes relevant, hopefully early on in the quest if it is a fundamental conceit or to have it succinctly explained to them if the knowledge is accessible in-universe and fundamentally basic in both simplicity and its use to the premise of the quest.

An example that does not involve magic or technology could've been that our Consort started the quest without being a blank-slate or having her memory erased or just being forgetful or whatever was going on with her, if we had advanced knowledge of the politics of the setting, personal knowledge of the Invultuate from being his favourite fuck-toy, and just general lore and social knowledge and human-terrain type stuff our character would've come off as more useful, comparable to the others, and we would've been much more likely to be able to figure out or just flat out know IC the weakness of the Invultuate. Similarly we may not gave known the mechanics of magick but we probably should've at least known "common knowledge" level stuff about what magick can do, imho. That in my opinion is different from knowing how to apply or advance our use of magick.

Finally, to be clear I think we all understood the concept of even "negative" traits sometimes leading to good outcomes or being *just* the right thing you needed to do in that moment whereas an otherwise seemingly more logical choice would've been worse. The Warden taking pity on us when we grappled with him is a good example. But, in regards to our specific character choice (consort) there was simply no way for it to sound plausible for us to physically fight anyone with what we knew about ourselves at that point. Using magic to win is a different story-1/2

>>5056762
-If you'd made it explicit that we were actually say...a person with an actually okay physique of a person who occasionally goes to the gym, has a sport as an occasional hobby and has a good diet rather than the vague impression (though this is an assumption on my part and not really your fault, though it could've still done with clarifying) I got that we were some super young, super hot, nubile teen/young adult useless aristocrat with the body of a supermodel or porn star or something whose only skills were elegance, etiquette, seduction and some knowledge of social norms among the upper class then I'd feel more comfortable at least fighting an average person.

Speaking of our skills, I personally felt it should've been more clear the bounds of what our strengths and weaknesses in attributes actually represented. Like I mentioned earlier I was taken by surprise by things like coercion and negotiating not being covered under charm, it makes us feel kinda useless. Being limited to seduction and "aristocratic" socializing is very limiting, if our attribute cover all or most social skills it would've seemed less limiting or more balanced. As it was I kinda felt like we just had magick, very limited knowledge, no physical skills, and surprisingly limited social skills. Tying this back in with the earlier stuff about our physical status, it just seems like it is implausible to try and do multiple things or fulfill a mixed archetype when we don't have a similarly nuanced starting portfolio of skills. Like, if we had started with a typical hollywood sex-icon body, generally weaker than the average person, but had a good diet, been very subtly muscled, and had an aristocratic skill like...I dunno...fencing in addition to our social skills then I could see us as players finding it acceptable to try and fight someone, since there is nuance there where we could plausibly win a fight through skill or weaponry against a physically stronger opponent. But as it was I didn't understand the nature of our character advancement, in real life you don't gain XP for killing random people, or at least you don't gain exceptional insight that advances you significantly from one isolated fight, and as the mechanics hadn't been made more explicit OOC that we could make the leap from complete weakling to competent in a day if we had fought a bunch of people there was no reason to think we could win a fight except through magic or social hijinks.

Anyways, sorry to ramble and repeat myself. I just wanted to say that the general idea of what you were going for isn't hard to understand, there was just problem in the communication or probably some other aspects I'm too tired to think of. 2/2

>>5056748
Final comment, I promise.

I liked all the character concepts but I wasn't around for the character vote. I probably would've voted for the Consort, the Eschatonomist, the Oneironaut, or the Preceptor. The reason why was my misconception of the scale of the setting, generally I wouldn't pick a character I think isn't going to be able to affect the setting, and as I thought the setting was vast I wouldn't have picked a character that didn't have magic or social skills, because personal prowess means less the vaster the setting, whereas talking good and manipulating the masses or using magick (depending on how strong the settings magick) is simply more powerful. Though like I said, I liked all the concepts, and the Marotte having a null ability would've made the choice more palatable.

So is this quest still running?

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EPILOGUE:JUDGEMENT
(bad outcome ending)
You have failed the quest: Learn the secret weakness of the Invultuate-Emperor
(QM has failed the quest:
make the clues more obvious
explain the trait system properly
escape 40k emperor stereotypes
lol)

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A vast hall of writhing stone. Asterion led you here and mysteriously left. He will watch, with other nobles, from above.

There is a Black Tower in this chamber. What was once an enormous, fractured obelisk formed from a thousand thousand splintered dark fragments, fused into one.

The Black Tower is broken and shattered into two twisted arcs, as if some terrible demon had once stepped through a horrifying wound, an orifice in the middle. It is shaped like a Mandorla.

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The air is trembling and reverberating with whispers and words. The black fragments of the Mandorla are polished and reflecting myriad scenes. Glimpses of lives, lingering. Moments of beauty, intimacy, joy, laughter, trumph.

There are other scenes too. Shame, humiliation, fear. Torture, unbearable agonies. Defeat. The scenes swirl within the ephemeral vortex of black reflections and vanish swifty, as the Mandorla feeds and ceaselessly devours all. Your fate will be among them soon.

An apparition is appearing in the Mandorla. The fissures that separate its dark reflections like veins begin to rupture and scream. It is a Howling Mirror and a Gate Between Worlds.

Asterion has lied to you. The Emperor is not coming. Asterion is not as stupid as he seems, and the Throne Of Stars will reward him and make him even more rich and handsomer than ever.

The Lady Of Sorrows is here. She will be your Executioner. She looks the same as before, and her voice is as patient and quiet as ever. For a moment, your heart leaps with hope - but her face shows no recognition or kindness.

Let me show you how I was made, The Lady Of Sorrows whispers. She drifts towards you.

I will show you what was done to me, so many years ago.

I will take away your choices forever.

Your magic came from the Lady Of Sorrows, and against her your spells will do nothing.

In a way, she is not even really here at all.

(Your Life And Adventure Ends Here)

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...and in case that was too depressing...
^_^

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(good outcome ending:
You have completed the quest: Learn the secret weakness of the Invultuate-Emperor
You have completed the quest: reveal the forgotten defeat of the Throne Of Stars upon Berceuse

Inside the Mandorla, the Howling Mirror, there is a splinter of another world that sickens it. The Howling Mirror cannot feed on hope.

The splinter looks like a small, twisted useless metal fragment. Perhaps it was once part of a weapon, destroyed in shame.

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White Hair is standing by your side. He wanted to see you die and his wish has been granted.

But through the machine-whispers of the Mandorla, White Hair can speak to you, understand you. When you meet him this time, you renounce your war magic and let him live.

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He sees an opportunity in your hand, a small useless metal fragment that will let him prove the story of his greatest battle-triumph to the world. A forgotten battle by a subterranean lake where the Lowborn barbarian mercenary White Hair betrayed, outwitted and defeated the legions of drones and machine knights of the Invultuate-Emperor himself.

With White Hair at your side, you use your magic to show the Howling Mirror the forgotten defeat of the Throne Of Stars.

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The Invultuate Emperor executes preceptor after preceptor of the Imperial Censorate in useless rage at their failure but it is too late. The Howling Mirror makes the factions of Berceuse scream for His blood. Soon, cowering behind broken barricades and the Throne itself, the Emperor will end his own life.

The Throne Of Stars beckons for a new ruler. Who could that be...?

(END)

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SouvarineQM says:
This is the end of the quest everybody. Thank you for playing! Thank you for the detailed analysis, answers, feedback and help!
^_^

My final reveal is...

(you probably guessed it from all the dropped trip codes, why I was a bit scared to use dice, bad formatting and bad vote counting)

this is actually my first ever qst and actually first ever time on 4chan. If you liked it feel free to link to this thread, spread and share the word lol on the archives. We are also the incel autismo coomer board lol so I do not mind or care that much either way lol lol.

I will stay in the thread, happy to answer any questions or take any other feedback or thoughts.

I might also post some unused art I found or was saving and you can play an imagination game guessing who the art represents / unvisited locations or characters etc hehe. The Imperial Censorate will ensure you never, ever discover the truth!

Thank you!
Souvarine
^_^

>3-day fully complete quest
Jesus christ OP, this might be a new record, at least on molasses-paced /qst/. I didn't really vote, but congrats on the completion and I hope you stick around to run more stuff.

>first ever time on 4chan
I could tell from the emoticons :^) Just kidding, welcome newfriend. How'd you get here?

>>5057011
Thank you lol. How could you tell from the emoticons, is there some forbidden edict against using them or something? ^o^

So my route here is that my first ever exposure to rpgs was from the old gamebook era like Fighting Fantasy books and Lone Wolf etc. Obviously led to warhammer fantasy roleplay and I like the older editions better 1e, 2e. I actually have never played dnd though everyone knows the rules vaguely via videogames like Baldurs Gate Icewind Dale etc.

My style of rpg is sort of OSR aesthetics (low magic, mainly humans only) and I really like complex intrigue / faction stuff. If you have played Stars Without Number rpg and the faction turns system that is the inspiration behind the structures of the factions. But I actually do not like using dice that much because you have to justify stupid stuff like random chance makes a wizard get more hp or damage than a barbarian lol. So my ideal style is the OSR aesthetics but with pbta/storygames style narrative resolution.

I have not actually found many people who like to play this way lol. So I decided just to create my own setting and try it here ^_^

>>5057007
Thank you for running! It is truly regrettable that the quest ended prematurely but your effort was immense and your writing was of the highest quality. My critique is that pace was too rapid and the clues were too faint and obscured to piece together without more exposition and time. I do hope that you’ll stick around and attempt another quest soon. I can’t wait to see you combine your style of game and the experience you got from running the first time here in your next one.

>>5057020
Thanks for the kind words and ideas. Your contributions and choices were really great amd helpful!

I did read the qst FAQ guide first lol despite all the dropped tripcodes lol.

I kept the pacing fast because it sort is sort of difficult knowing if people had read the stuff, if the stuff I was writing was too long and being ignored, or if I had written something that upset people or was just too ridiculous.

I am not sure I understand even why qst is driven by vote systems lol. Why not just first choice wins? I guess people really love democracy but on here doesn't the voting make the action slow to a crawl and ruin the drama of the situation?

It was also hard for me to tell how much time to give people. If the scenario is tense and people dithered I wanted to just punish the indecisiveness to show the danger of the situation.

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ALTERNATE and DELETED SCENES
So I think someone here
>>5056287
was speculating if the Maiden Of Flowers was the Beldame and the answer is absolutely not lol. I try to place npcs vaguely realistically and you do mot meet the pope immediately when you walk into a church ^_^

>>5054509
The twist here is that the Beldame and Belsire is actually one slightly perverted person who really likes to go around stealing and collecting clothes - men, women, maybe undergarments... etc. This person has some... identity confusion issues lol. Why do you think the Cathedral had so many costumes from both Highborn and Lowborn social strata to offer you hehe. Also why does the Church Of Envy have two emblems mandorla/grail and odalisque whereas the others have a mostly consistent insignia etc.

Had you survived and quickly overthrown the Invultuate-Emperor, the next step would have been to seize faction control of the Cathedral for yourself by overthrowing the Belsire/Beldame. You could use it to direct your own Crusades for instance by declaring other factions Ugly. I had some ideas for a subplot of using a play to cause a scandal of some sort against the Belsire/Beldame but did not have it fully worked out. I also thought about making White Hair the Ugly disinherited child of the Belsire/Beldame - there was going to be a scene where you could spy on the Belsire/Beldame removing makeup/wig etc and see their real hair colour etc. Sadly did not get there in the end.

Belsire, Beldame I think means grandfather, grandmother in old french. One of the Cathedral of Envy's virtues is Youth. This is intentional.

>>5056781
No worries you are not rambling, just sculpting and refining towards a conclusion and enlightenement ^_^

I think your points about attributes are fair - I assumed everyone would just default look at them the same way as I do but maybe I should have explicitly stated this (I was again worried about metagaming and making it too obvious)

STRENGTH - all physical attributes, including the dnd style strength but also hp, endurance, exertion etc
I thought of it as just "doing warrior things"

INSTINCT - dexterity dnd style but also reflex, reaction speed, sleight of hand, pathfinding, and trickery like lying/deceit, stealth
"doing rogue/assassin thief stuff"

WILL - both wisdom and intelligence combined from dnd, but also giving commands, determination, morale decisiveness. Think of it as "mental strength". You cannot "Charm-intimidate" someone to leap off a cliff but you could mental strength "Will-dominate" and frighten them into doing so. Will is the "strong" magic stat.

CHARM - obviously charisma from dnd but also stuff like presence, social standing, influence, etc. It is like the "mental dexterity". You can only charm-persuade people to do stuff in their best interests. This is the untrained magic stat ie wizards use will witches would use charm.

I think the problem you highlighted is that there were sort of two types of charm at work, obvious seduction-charm like the consort and bargaining charm like the merchant eschatonomist archetype.

So the separate capabilities were not that clear and this is a fair criticism.

>>5056781
How fighting would have worked if you had ever attempted it would be this - if you lost you would get a trait wounded / injured / scarred / disfigured / maimed etc etc. This would get gradually worse if left untreated. It would block off some of your charm approaches eg seduction but maybe not others like flattery etc. Depending on how the fight went and your choices you would get improved Strength (if you remained defiant until the end before passing out) or Instinct (if you distracted / ran away).

Also some of the fighting traits confer advantages e.g. reckless sounds bad - but you can never be frightened etc.

Violent, psychotic, insane sound bad but they mean you resist the sight of weird magic and your morale will not break (you are insane already lol). I did not want to outright tell you this because I was worried it would ruin the game and make all choices far too easy.

>>5057038
Things are just slower paced here, and there are small customs and habits that you would pick up when you've been here for some time.

You should never be afraid of writing too long, walls of texts have never posed a problem on a quest's activity.

I would suggest lurking and participating on one of the many great stories we have here to get a feel on the situation and what suits you. But if you want to keep writing in your own style that's also fine!

>>5057007
Good quest Souvarine!
Shame you had to end it this way. Would love to see what places and images you had planned.

>>5057015
>Regarding emoticons.

If I recall correctly 4chan culture disdains them, preferring reaction images, it is an image board after all. The stereotypical reaction to someone using emoticons would be for a 4chan user to reeeeeeeeeee and call them a redditor or something like that. I personally don't care about the board culture, but generally I follow it to maintain etiquette.

>OSR, Pbta stuff.

Bleh, not my taste personally. I have no problem with narrative-styled games, but generally I find their allergy to dice modifiers larger than low single digits, the success/success at a cost/failure system, etc, etc to be horrible design and I find it actually severely damages the agency of the player.

>Wizard getting more hp or damage than a barbarian
The hp thing almost literally never happens unless you built your character horribly, even then not really. The damage thing can happen at higher levels, though most of the reasons why magic users are stronger than physical characters has more to do with them being flat out more versatile and useful than physical characters in DnD and frankly most systems with a versatile magic system. Part of this is not-great design, but part of it is unavoidable, if one character archetype can do something another cannot then that character has a unique advantage that makes them more useful than another unless that is balanced out. You either have to severely weaken magic users, arguably to the point to where they aren't fun to play, or make physical characters essentially anime characters or magical-with-a-martial-arts-aesthetic.

>>5057038
I'll echo >>5057020 sentiments. This quest was run so blindingly fast that it was faster than most oneshots. It was comparable to a single quest thread back on /tg/ back when we were on there and activity was high and threads only stayed up for like...I can't even remember, like a day or several at most.

I would consider a oneshot to obviously be one thread, though some "oneshots" actually last several, up to 4 or 5 and are really meant to be very short quests. I would consider a short quest to be like...5-15 threads, a medium term one to be maybe 20-50ish threads, and a longform quest to be...however long it lasts, hundreds maybe like some long runners currently are, this standard is largely arbitrary. My point is, your quest was incredibly fast, I expected the arc we took in this quest to take at least like...5 threads or something. Though obviously how long quests last is different between now on qst and back in the day on tg, since threads on this board stay up for a month.

>>5057038
>Vote systems

On /tg/ the activity level was much higher, our board is practically dead right now with only a few new QMs and a few veteran QMs sticking around who don't want to migrate to the coomer-infested hellscape that is anonkun or to what they consider to be the sterilized, too-left-wing Spacebattles or SufficientVelocity forums. 1/?

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>>5057270