[LP CYOA] Epic

[Baltika9]

A1 Northerners so far have been willing to help despite our most Paranoia *in dealing with the Telas.* it is in our best interest to do a "heart to heart" with the North soon *after the Invasion*

I wonder if we can't just walk up to that old prophet and say "Hey Shulgi, how ya doin'? So, we cool now?"
Edit: come to think of it, that should be the next episode of the Shin'ari Five, with Shulgi as the sixth ranger.

 

[Esquilax]

treave, with the Terasphagos running rampant in Greece, I assume that they're going to be doing a number on the local ecosystem (i.e. chewing it all up for biomass collection). The parts outside of the miasma are already a wasteland, after all. However, Sekhenun and the Gieloth are masters at biotech. Assuming we manage to close the rift successfully, does she have the resources and expertise to be able to restore the land to a habitable state again?

 

[treave]

The easy way out would involve her engineering a new ecosystem that can survive in that environment, which means it certainly won't be normal animals and plants that populate the area. Even then it'd take maybe a couple hundred years considering the area she has to work with. The hard way will require thousands of years, even with her accelerating the process. Recovery is going to be slow either way. The Gieloth are adaptable themselves and have never seen the need to develop terraforming tech.

 

[ScubaV]

You know, I have this curious feeling that closing the rift isn't going to make the miasma go away. It might cut off the source, but I'm suspecting we'll have to deal with the miasma and the creatures within it separately. Perhaps build great a Great Wall of Greece dozens of miles from the edge of the miasma and starve the Terasphagos of biomass?

 

[kazgar]

mmm, that would assume the miasma itself creates the terasphagos, where the common idea seems to be that they're coming through the rift.

Curious.

 

[ScubaV]

Well my thinking is that while the Terasphagos ultimately came from the rift and more can still come through it, there may be either a critical mass of creatures or some sort of queen as Esquilax suggested such that even with the rift closed they can still propagate as long as they can keep collecting biomass.

 

[oscar]

A1. Let's deal with this rift permanently.

 

[treave]

Chapter 6.14: Purple Rift

The incursion went on… and on… and on… until finally, nearly three years later, Terasphagos activity began dropping. Having waited out the worst of it, you went looking for the rift. As you got closer to it, you had to fight off more and more of the Terasphagos. Although their numbers had been greatly reduced, nearer to the rift the miasma was thicker and there were much more of them. It got to the point where you were unable to pitch camp and had to press on until you reached your target.

It was purple.

It was a purple, jagged hole, floating in front of you. You had been here for nearly five hours now, and it still looked weird. You could not see anything on the other side, and trying to go around it only made your head hurt as the hole appeared to turn to follow you.

“It’s no use. I can’t figure out any way to close it.”

Sekhenun, who had sailed over to join the expedition and observe the rift, shook her head and gave up.

“It’s gotten me closer to knowing how to make a portal of my own – basically, don’t do whatever Zeus did – but the principles are entirely different. I’m sorry. Other than getting at least one more piece of Vajra, I don’t think we can do anything about this right now.”

The hole shrieked as it cracked around the edges and began to widen. A Terasphagos clawed its way out, echoing the shriek. You cast an irritated glance at it and blast it with a bolt of lightning from Vajra. The mysterious weapon had been responding to the rift the moment you arrived, but you had restrained it from doing what it wanted to do; you didn’t know what it was going to do, and you weren’t about to let it do anything, if you could help it. It seems like you might have no choice, however…

***

A. You retreat from the rift. No point staying here when you can do nothing about it – at least you’ve identified its position. One day, when you have a way to close it, you can return.

B. You jump into the rift. Zeus and Marduk were at the center of the rift when it appeared, they might not have been thrown far. If you’re fortunate enough you might be able to gather the other two pieces quickly and close the rift that way.

C. Fuck it. You let Vajra do whatever it has been wanting to do.

 

[Baltika9]

B. Isn't this why we sacrificed all that time and men for? No rope.

Can be convinced to go C, though. I'm just getting the nasty feeling if we say "fuck it", the consequences will flow accordingly. Like the Vajra reassembling and being lost in "the space between dimensions"...only to be retrieved by the Masters.

Walking away is right out.

Why do I get the feeling that every choice here sucks?

 

[Azira]

I'll say B or C as well.

I'm one for doing the brave and stupid thing.

B, but can be swayed by sufficiently clever arguments.

 

[Baltika9]

Hmm... the voices, I wonder.
treave, can the Gieloth be, ahem, "seeded" by the Masters?
Edit: also, do Sekhenun and/or Edem know when the first Immortals began appearing?
Edit: Smashing Axe, your bandwagon theory is being proven correct so far.

 

[Smashing Axe]

Agh, god damn it. God damn it! This is going to end up severely fucked, I just know it. Still, I can't think of any other better solution.

B

I can be swayed to C

 

[treave]

Baltika9 : no, no, and you guys didn't seriously think someone would magically tell you how to close the rift the moment you find it, did you?

edit: Well, maybe the Vajra is telling you how, if you will let it.

 

[Azira]

Baltika9 : no, no, and you guys didn't seriously think someone would magically tell you how to close the rift the moment you find it, did you?

edit: Well, maybe the Vajra is telling you how, if you will let it.

Oooh, my troll-sense is tingling.

 

[Baltika9]

While I know how unnecessary my paranoia is regarded, there is another way to do this. Going into parts unknown and unexplored, wherein Ean has a high chance of taking a long, if not everlasting dirtnap, without covering our homebase, that is going to be sucked dry by space squids, doesn't seem too good of an idea.

Before mounting an expedition, we send Artemis on another run to warn the Chinese about the tree and in the meanwhile, we go and parley with the North, preferably with the Shaman, but the ruler will do too. Strike a deal/an alliance, if only temporary, between the two Empires, to both prevent aggression from either side and prepare for an intervention in China, in case the Immortals fail. Because, hey, Ean may be gone a long time. Plus, it'll give Sekhenun time to hopefully figure the Rift out.

Also, anyone ever thought that the one behind the North is Edem's pappy? The timeline matches up, as does Edem's report of "nothing weird going on, nothing weird at all, no sir, Ean, sir" and the secrecy (Last time the two met, the farewell wasn't all that pleasant).

 

[TOME]

We are so screwed. Should have gone to deal with the gieloths first. I'm willing to go with A or C. But for now I'm going to think for a while and listen what the big boys are going to do about this and maybe then join the bandwagon.

 

[Esquilax]

This isn't really a surprise. I'd also like to note that walking away isn't necessarily a bad idea - if past trends are any indication, the Terasphagos will be dormant for a long while now. First, let's look at hints as to what Vajra might want to do:

The fragment of Vajra that you had brought with you thrummed as it sensed the gathering of power, and for a brief moment it appears as if it'll fly right out of your robes and towards the peak.
...
Your piece of Vajra begins to shine brightly, rumbling, and you can sense the other two pieces that Zeus had gathering power within the dark mass that is Marduk and Zeus.
...
You could not see anything on the other side, and trying to go around it only made your head hurt as the hole appeared to turn to follow you.

treave, is our piece resonating the same way it did during the Marduk/Zeus confrontation and when we initially came to Olympus? My initial impression is that we are so close that Vajra again wants to fly off and unite with the other pieces. The rift is clearly responding to Vajra because it's following us.

I'm not so sure about jumping in. It appears to be way easier for the Terasphagos to cross it than it is for people on our side to do the same:

Also, regarding scouting the rift, as mentioned before people have went in, an immortal has gone in, and no one has ever come out again. They have tried tying something to a rope, throwing it in, and pulling it back. Nothing happened, but a few moments later a Terasphagos bounded out and ate the guy who threw the stick. Then they tried tying a guy to a rope, throwing him in, and pulling him back. When he came back out his eyeballs were gone and he was babbling about stars, stars everywhere.

Not sure yet, will think about it some more.

 

[treave]

treave, is our piece resonating the same way it did during the Marduk/Zeus confrontation and when we initially came to Olympus? My initial impression is that we are so close that Vajra again wants to fly off and unite with the other pieces.

No, it's not. The closest description I can give is that it appears to want to 'activate'. Activate what, or activate how, you don't know. Also, the scouting part was what happens when people go into the miasma without the filter. No one's found the rift until now.

As for the North, clearly Shulgi, Nabu and the new Master are chilling out up there while competing in finding new and more inventive ways to troll Ean.

 

[Baltika9]

As for the North, clearly Shulgi, Nabu and the new Master are chilling out up there while competing in finding new and more inventive ways to troll Ean.

Considering that Ean trolled all of them before, rather successfully and capitally, their dinner conversations must be something to see read. hint-hint.

 

[TOME]

treave, so now that we found the rift, what happens when we throw a stick in there? Could we experiment a little before deciding what to do?

 

[treave]

Sekhenun is there, and has been running whatever tests she can think of (including the stick test) for the last five hours, while you and the others are fending off waves of Terasphagos coming in from all sides and the rift itself.

Discovering a breakthrough isn't going to happen in the next couple hours. Unless you are willing to continuously fight at the rift for the next year or so, without feeding, you decide now. Go in or go home, or take a gamble with Vajra.

edit: Sure, you could tie a rope to yourself before proceeding with B.

 

[ScubaV]

Yeah, we could try repeating the tie a stick to a rope, tie Ean/a brave soul to a rope tests.

I'm not sure what to do, but it's got to be B or C. We've only had a few incursions, but their increasing scale suggests an exponential growth in both size and duration. The next one may also be the last as far as Earth is concerned.

 

[Baltika9]

treave: say, what will happen if Ean just pokes his his hand in/ sticks his head to take a peek inside?

 

[treave]

B will happen.

Not saying that B is a bad choice or there's no way back, mind you.

 

[Baltika9]

Can't resist.

B will happen.

So, that gigantic, gaping hole will suck our manly protagonist into it's eternally twisting and writhing insides? My, but purple is Slaanesh's color after all.
Edit: can't think of a better fate for our Ever-Virgin.