So whats next on the IC agenda?

Why not work on Tobia, or Diana? Those two both have a wealth of interesting stories ahead of them. Diana still needs to meet Tauga, after all.

@Lauder Speaking of, Keriss may want to meet Tauga as well. She's currently in charge of making sure Xerxes doesn't tear itself into smithereens while Amartia does an Amartia thing, which, in a surprising turn of events, probably makes her the best agent of Order anywhere nearby.

Also, she's been tasked with investigating arksynth, which is an important clue for Keriss if she wants to sleuth out what happened to Vakarlon.

ALSO

she kinda really really needs someone to teach her how to fight if she wants to go up against Lakshmi.

ed- and also, she can fly. If the investigation doesn't take her away from administration for more than a few days she should be good.

@Antarctic Termite

Sounds like a good adventure story! *turns from computer* MA, WHERE DID YOU PUT MY DETECTIVE HAT?!

Me: *reads posts*

Tauga: *rolls up sleeves, sighing*

MORE PEOPLE DYING AND THINGS GETTING SET ON FIRE FOR THE POOR KID TO CLEAN UP

GOSH

<Snipped quote by Dawnscroll>

Blame this on me and my utter inability to explain or write creation sheets for anything, but this would be fairly difficult, given that Knights are made of minced-up (but still living) Vakarlon. Arksynth is designed for mortal use and experimentation- Once completed, an arksynth construct is surprisingly difficult to force changes into via divine intervention, because what you're tinkering with is effectively another god that chose to become a mortal tool.

I'll get that sheet up with the kinks ironed out in due time.

Fair enough. I'd harp at you for your pile of creation sheets if I wasn't so far behind myself.

As soon as I catch up though....

So what does that mean exactly. Everything made of arksynth needs a lot of might points dropped to affect with Curses and the like?

@Rtron

Keep in mind, those blessings already exist, the Cosmic Knights are not only made of Vakarlon bits, but they have the blessings of Emotion, and Astartian reality bending magic, both of which center around self.

They still need to be trained. Vestec gave them homicidal rages, which is heavily emotion based,but that doesn't mean they can choose when to fly into them. Astartian Magic, while powerful in them, only starts off as even more enhanced speed and strength till they begin flavoring it with their own style of it.

Super Soldiers or no they need time to develope skills and talents. Especially if they're going against a God whose entire portfolio is designed for stripping away free will. Time Lifprasil isn't giving them enough of before marching them into hell.

Time

If only we had some kind of hyperbolic time chamber on Galbar where people could go and have all the time they want. But alas, no such thing

<Snipped quote by LokiLeo789>

Why not work on Tobia, or Diana? Those two both have a wealth of interesting stories ahead of them. Diana still needs to meet Tauga, after all.

I can actually, especially Diana, plenty of story there, with the whole Sinosphere thing going on, but I'm having a hard time getting a feel for her in this whole mess.

@Dawnscroll
Is Amartía capable of manipulating the Realta in some way? Like, adding some twist to them in some way shape or form.

@Kho
Wouldn't the Sinosphere technically make everyone in Xexres a worshipper of sin?

Amartia has driven the entire populace of Xerxes insane with mad orgasmic pleasure from doing sinful shit. He makes this even worse in preparation of an attack because SOMEBODY TIPPED HIM OFF. *Glares at Illunabar*

Eh. He was going to figure it out anyway, it was more of a plot tool to justify why Xerxes isn't defenseless, and Ilunabar's tip wasn't even about this fight in particular. Again, I'm just a bit unhappy with how that one turned out, I feel like the original dialogue in the scrapped version drove the point better, the new one is just so much more blunt.

But anyway, Amartia doing what he did with the heartbeat stuff helped her a lot, even if Amy has yet to realize what he has done.

@Kho
I was just thinking the same thing. But I think the lack of training is the only way to justify the battle in Xerxes lasting more than a second.

@Frettzo
Take your time, no rush. Furthermore, that storyline is currently only holding back Makeda, I can still write Susa and Divas stories.

@Kho
I was just thinking the same thing. But I think the lack of training is the only way to justify the battle in Xerxes lasting more than a second.

That and how it's basically going to be a free for all. Everything that can feel emotions and isn't strong enough to resist (Demi goes, God's, avatars, etc etc) is most likely going to descend into a bloodlust fuelled rage and attack everything.

So what does that mean exactly. Everything made of arksynth needs a lot of might points dropped to affect with Curses and the like?

i have no idea!

Vakarlon's will was for Biotech Gunk 3000^TM to be used and directed by mortal hands. While arksynth does come in 'raw' varieties that can be specialised into anything, such as Cosmic Knights, the finished (cooked?) product is for mortal use and experimentation.

Knights are fused with their suit forever, so they're very much being used and adapted by a mortal mind. Trying to force control of the Knight body means that the arksynth it's made of would no longer be under the control of the mortal mind within, and so goes against the will of Vakarlon.

If the mortal chooses to go over to Logos, though, nothing's stopping them or their biomagical cyborg body.

Beyond this it's a little harder to extrapolate, other than that arksynth, as a concept, resists change- It's designed to change constantly and in many ways, but the ways in which it does so, through mortal experimentation, is set. (Side note that it's the same with Sculptors- They undergo tremendous physical change and erratic mental change in a countless variety of ways, but the way they change, through inspiration, creativity, and then slow metamorphosis, is very consistent).

Blessing a whip made out of arksynth to become a fiery whip made out of arksynth is 100% ok. Blessing arksynth to be easier or harder for mortals to experiment with, or cursing it to no longer respond to mortal will, on the other hand, is probably impossible. Other curses (and maybe blessings!) are kind of a grey area, but they tend to go against mortal wishes, so it might not fly.

This was a rant. I should go to bed.

ed- tl;dr just ask yourself if Vakarlon would approve of this change given that he now exists to serve mortals.

A side note that the origin of the stuff does tend to make it more effective against deities/avatars/demigods than normal materials, but given the choice between this and a Might sword, go for the Might. It'll be far more effective and won't mysteriously stop working for karmic reasons. damn it trickster gods

@Rtron Where do heroes stand in that? Technically no hero that belongs to me will be there (Susa is Lif's and sending Chroma there would be madness) but I will probably be playing Su anyway.

I'd be OK if she felt pride and wander(lust) everything else would feel out of character and worse, bloodlust would outright kill the moral dilemma she would have in the fight (fighting normal humans instead of corrupted people)

Sinosphere

Goddamn China, get out of Galbar.

@LokiLeo789 Did you ever mention how many people live in Xerxes?
And I think I mentioned this in Mk.I; a worshipper is a genuine worshipper. One who truly believes in their heart of hearts in the given god. One who pretends is not truly a worshipper. Those who live in Xerxes have been warped to such an extent that it is difficult to say if they truly believe or whether that's simply the influence of the time and space they occupy. Likewise for any place that exerts any influence on someone's mental faculties and free will. A place like the Valley of Peace actively forces one to become, well, nice. That doesn't mean they immediately become worshippers of Niciel.

Those who enter or live in New Chronos are physically unable to do harm, but they are mentally entirely free (see: Amartia in Chronos; Corruption of the Victors in Chronos) and so their decision to worship Belvast and Illunabar and the Bard and Vowzra and Belruarc are their own (and obviously, also because it's the religion which developed there over an impossibly long period of time).
So, back to what you say, no, simply existing in Xerxes does not make one a worshipper of Sin.

@Rtron Where do heroes stand in that? Technically no hero that belongs to me will be there (Susa is Lif's and sending Chroma there would be madness) but I will probably be playing Su anyway.

I'd be OK if she felt pride and wander(lust) everything else would feel out of character and worse, bloodlust would outright kill the moral dilemma she would have in the fight (fighting normal humans instead of corrupted people)

<Snipped quote>

Goddamn China, get out of Galbar.

Well it all depends on the emotions she'd be feeling. I think. If it was a sinful emotion it'd be pleasurable and likely make her want to do things like it again.

Ask Loki for more sure answers, I'm just spitballing here.

@LokiLeo789 Did you ever mention how many people live in Xerxes?
And I think I mentioned this in Mk.I; a worshipper is a genuine worshipper. One who truly believes in their heart of hearts in the given god. One who pretends is not truly a worshipper. Those who live in Xerxes have been warped to such an extent that it is difficult to say if they truly believe or whether that's simply the influence of the time and space they occupy. Likewise for any place that exerts any influence on someone's mental faculties and free will. A place like the Valley of Peace actively forces one to become, well, nice. That doesn't mean they immediately become worshippers of Niciel.

Those who enter or live in New Chronos are physically unable to do harm, but they are mentally entirely free (see: Amartia in Chronos; Corruption of the Victors in Chronos) and so their decision to worship Belvast and Illunabar and the Bard and Vowzra and Belruarc are their own (and obviously, also because it's the religion which developed there over an impossibly long period of time).
So, back to what you say, no, simply existing in Xerxes does not make one a worshipper of Sin.

That makes sense. Once this whole Destroy Xexres arc is over and done, I'll better be able to sort through the whols Sin Cult idea I have in my head. The plausuable, none vomit inducing ones. Stuff that would make Jvan proud.

@Rtron

Susa is a Hero of Emotion, of whom has been around for quite a while, now, I'm sure she would be equipped with the mental fortitude to withstand Xerxes. Same with Lakshmi, if anything, I think Chroma would have issues with Xerxes.

Also, who's to say I'm not going to train the Cosmic Knights? It would be silly to just give them powers and then throw them at Xerxes, even then, the "Hell" part comes when Lif confronts Logos.

@Double Capybara Its moreso to kinda stick it to Teknall, but I don't need to. Logos's interest in the Hain is slim at best.

As far the Royalty Portfolio. Yikes, hate to break it to you, but I always intended for Logos to branch into that since day one. He literally is the God of Kings. Maybe branch into Democracy?

And I already wrote up her coronation. But genuinely, Royalty/Sovereignty is a portfolio I'm looking to pick up.

In the event of Elysium's coronation and the might usage, because Logos is involved, is this the first actual instance of Divine Mandate?

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divine_right_o..

And if so, does this make her reign more or less Legitimate than someone like say Lipfrasil who more or less crowned himself but has the backing of numerous gods.

I mean, Lifprasil made connections, he worked with other people, and worked for his tiny kingdom at the median of Galbar, he didn't so much crown himself, as he more or less built Alefpria with the express assistance of Ilunabar, and now, J-Girl and Astarte. Somebody just getting the Divine right because Owl-Man seized it, compared to me and a few other players working for it over two turns, and a lot of posts, would make Lif much more legitimate still. Alefpria won't be here forever, though, so don't worry about that much.

@poog the pig Furthermore, the divine mandate makes sense only for mortals in general. A god emperor doesn't need to justify his rule as god's gift, he IS the god.

And even the concept itself is already at play at Vetros, where the rule is seen as a blessing from Zephyrion.

I don't have any objection to Logos taking the port because it makes sense and he built up on that. But be careful, especially with what took the players a handful of posts to build.

@Rtron

Also, who's to say I'm not going to train the Cosmic Knights? It would be silly to just give them powers and then throw them at Xerxes, even then, the "Hell" part comes when Lif confronts Logos.

How long are you going to train them? You wait too long and suddenly it's a far more vicious fight than you expected, drastically increasing your losses. You wait too little and you have to deal with more than a few Cosmic Knights getting subjugated by Logos because, from what I understand, it takes years for Astartian Magic to be developed to its full potential for your average mortals And blessings of emotions only deal with the desire to sin all around Xerxes.

Even with bits of Vakarion floating around in them, if I understand @Antarctic Termite's explanation, if you leave the mortals in control, but loyal to you, you're not going against Vakarion's will that the arksynth be used by mortals.

@Rtron From what I got the loyalty has to be earned and if Logos tried to subjugate (or any other god try to do use mind control, including Lif's own emotional control) the thing would just shut down.

<Snipped quote by Rtron>

If only we had some kind of hyperbolic time chamber on Galbar where people could go and have all the time they want. But alas, no such thing

hehehe shhh, they will know...

On another note... It's alive. I haven't been on for a while due to uni and stuff. Have I missed something?

@Vec

You mean other than the death of everything as we know it?

@Vec

You mean other than the death of everything as we know it?

Yes.