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Smashing Axe

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Divinity: Original Sin
I think there's more to him eating our flesh than just spurious ritual, he may be able to exert real influence over us now that he's eaten our flesh. That or he uses it as an intimidation technique to lure us into thinking he can actually control our actions, when in reality his only powers are summoning fire and being a big fat piece of shit blob.

Also...

Shulgi!

That or

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Baltika9

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Ah, so we are a newly seeded Immortal, or this is Ean talking.
When in doubt, follow the voices.
B

Treave, what does the voice sound like? Male, female? Anything at all like Ean or his voices, if it's not too meta. Or Inge, for that matter.

Edit: and the "fuck it" option is back? Now I know we're playing an Immortal.
 

Smashing Axe

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Divinity: Original Sin
Although coming into this situation in the first place wasn't my ideal, now that we're in it I'd prefer to follow through with this honourable redemption stuff you guys have chosen. I'll tentatively vote B.

My only concern is that this voice is actually the big fat piece of shit broadcasting thoughts into our head
 

Baltika9

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My only concern is that this voice is actually the big fat piece of shit broadcasting thoughts into our head

However unpleasant it will be if you are correct, insofar we have not seen anyone demonstrate the ability to talk telepathically in a voice different from theirs.

But, if this is Shulgi... Not totally implausible, given the demonstration.

B is basically the "Do you feel lucky, punk? Well, do ya?" to which I must reply: "Voices, bitch!"

Edit: but, decide for yourselves, bros. It has been scientifically proven that I am the "win big, lose big" addict.

I summon the fell-beast that has the head of a rabbit and the body of... a rabbit! Come, Esquilax!
 

Baltika9

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Or perhaps he is another Immortal that gave into the hunger?

Actually, all this points to an over-fed Gieloth. Minos, perhaps? Or Nabu?

Fact of the matter is, it is not impossible for someone to fake their psychic signals, Sek, Edem and Ean are the prime examples.

Input, bros?
 

Esquilax

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treave, where is this voice coming from us? Is it from within Dio? Also, does Diogenes have any indication as to why Skarfeld was upset that we decided to pluck out our own eye instead of sacrificing Lamplock? I understand if our telepathic abilities might be too weak to really discern his motivations, though. Also, that brief moment when we sensed the power in Inge's chamber before it overcame our senses, was his presence somewhat similar to Zhang's?

Jannik Inge will not be talked down. The time for words was over. Though you still had difficulty concentrating through the pain, you had recovered sufficiently to use your telekinesis again. You grab the axe, pretending to obey, and attack Jannik, attempting to kill him right here.

I'm not so sure about B just yet. Part of this is because of the fact that on paper, with one eye socket, and up against an individual described as being "immeasurably stronger" than Aodh as well the wolf Fenrir, it goes without saying that we're dead meat. "Pretending to obey" won't really work given that it took right about five seconds for Jannik Inge to figure out Dio's true identity - he'll sense our intentions rather quickly. He will know that we plan to kill him pretty much instantly.

However, there's clearly a lot more to these events than meets the eye, the voice is a real wild card. But I have some doubt that it's Ean speaking to us because some of our memories have been shown to be false. On the other hand, Ean probably remembers very little due to his 3,000 year imprisonment, so maybe his memories of past events are all muddled:

"What I want is something pretty simple. Have you heard of the Labyrinth of Knossos?"

You had heard of it in legends, and in your memories you have seen the Emperor - you - rescuing a maiden from a bull-headed giant and slaying it with a slash of your sword. You nod your head. "I thought they were just stories."

First, let's look at the choices by process of elimination:

A1) This'll save our skin. It'll put Inge's guard down so that we can manuever against someone way more powerful than us in the future. Sure, we don't really know what exactly we'll do after we execute Inge's plan, but this will at least give us some options. As I mentioned in my post earlier in this page, it's all about eating shit in the short-term so that you can make moves in the long-term. Bowing our heads meekly and doing Eric Cartman's bidding right now will give Diogenes a lot of options in the future.
A2) His family will make the conclusion that we're working with the cultists and that we're responsible. We're also lacking an eye, and if other Watchers are familiar with this cult's initiation practices, they'll think we've gone turncoat. This one seems really bad.
A3) Might work, but Jannik Inge seems to be one hell of a telepath.
A4) Retarded. It's not like this will stop Inge, the boy has two hands. We're basically a glorified delivery boy due to our high status, I'm sure that he has other means of causing further unrest in Skane.

B) Huge gamble. I'm not opposed to taking gambles, though, if we at least try to talk it over. I am also not sure if this voice isn't simply Cartman attempting to test Dio's loyalty telepathically, and that this isn't an actual authentic voice like Ean, Shulgi and Naram had. This part is definitely cause for concern:

"Thus our bond is established. You are now part of me, Diogenes."
Maybe he can communicate with and control his followers by devouring a piece of them.

C) We're going to fall to the first floor, break our legs, and then the roughly three dozen or so cultists in the building will simply capture us.
 

treave

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Codex 2012
It's just a voice in your mind. Could be a hallucination brought about by the stress. Could be from the outside, could be coming from within, you have no way to tell. As you said, a big gamble.

Also, that brief moment when we sensed the power in Inge's chamber before it overcame our senses, was his presence somewhat similar to Zhang's?

It was almost the same feeling you got from Aodh, except immeasurably stronger.

The presence is similar to you and Aodh's.
 

Baltika9

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I am also not sure if this voice isn't simply Cartman attempting to test Dio's loyalty telepathically, and that this isn't an actual authentic voice like Ean, Shulgi and Naram had. This part is definitely cause for concern:

"Thus our bond is established. You are now part of me, Diogenes."
Maybe he can communicate with and control his followers by devouring a piece of them.

Again, thre is no precedent for anyone to be able to fake their telepathic voice: Sek, Edem and even Nabu, the three most powerful psykers we know, couldn't do it. Then again, hey ever had any reason to.
Damn. Why aren't there more bros discussing this? Is the cult of Andhaira losing it's grip?
 

Esquilax

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Baltika9, there is a precedence for it. Edem's physical voice and his telepathic voice were different from each other:

The old man sighs and scratches his bald head. He walks out in front of Nusku slowly, deliberately, and scans the crowd. The moment his eyes meet yours, you feel a tingle in your mind.

There you are.

Mentally, he sounded young and boyish despite the aged appearance and voice that he had. You wonder how he had found you.

Edem, I presume?

Yeah, of course. You should’ve just gone over and murdered him when I left him in the square. Now we’re all in a bind.

The old man – Edem – speaks up, his physical voice as crotchety as his appearance. “A trade of hostages, for our safety then?”

Not that it really matters. The whole point here is that B is just a huge gamble. Either it turns out that our surprising act of nobility allows part of Ean to resurface and we kick the shit out of Fatass, or we are brutally torn to shreds by Fatass and his wolf.

Edit: I'd like to stress that while B may very well be the winning option, please try not to vote reactively, bros. I can't help but think that a lot of you are willing to gamble based on the fact that gambling on Vajra in Chapter 6 would have been a far better option than jumping into the rift. So you're more willing to take a gamble in a desperate situation that's much different than the one we encountered at the rift. We also voted reactively when we jumped into the rift because of the problems Vajra caused in opening the rift, even though the circumstances when we eventually found it were far different.

Edit 2:

"Thus our bond is established. You are now part of me, Diogenes."

You nod, keeping your head down. "I am all too willing to serve, my Emperor. Now that I am a part of you, whatever I do to help your cause helps my own."

Jannik laughs softly. "Good. Good, that is what I like to hear. Now, to business. I have a task for you, one that you are well suited to do. The parents of my pet here has been very naughty as of late. I want you to take an axe to that well-pedicured hand and bring it back to his mother. That will probably shock them into doing something drastic against my believers... something that will gain me more support." His eyes flashed darkly, his face now cold and calculative. "However, I want you to do it in a way that only the royal family would believe, and not anyone else. It must only be seen as a rumour, not truth - preferably, the royals must be seen as liars grasping at excuses to attack the faithful. I'm sure that is an easy thing to accomplish for someone like you."

Something has occurred to me. We are now "bonded" to Inge, whatever that means. I assume that implies some sort of forced loyalty to him, same as his cultists have. treave, has Ban talked to us about hearing voices or anything strange that he's been experiencing before we went our separate ways?

I've become fairly certain that his whole devouring thing was there so that he could read us better and control us to a greater degree, perhaps it also allowed him to communicate with us telepathically to see if our faith was sincere. Based on that, I think we ought to go along with him in the short-run so that we can turn the tables against him in the future.

A1
 

Baltika9

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Esquilax: right, I thought I missed something. He could also hide and alter his presence. 5.8:
The other Gieloth you sensed earlier had vanished from your senses quite some time ago; you hope it isn’t still around.
Gieloth can manipulate their presence. Sek blended perfectly with humans, Ean could actually fake presences.

You know, the corpulence, decadence and animal/pet fetish really reminds me of Minos.
 

Baltika9

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Oh no, no no nonoGODNO...
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1337338668347.jpg

It is their offspring!
...

There is only ONE response:
261ydea.jpg

Release THE SKYWAY. The Kodex Kool Komissariat expects us to do our patriotic duty. Forward, brothers!
 

Azira

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Codex 2012
Mwahahah! This is precious! Ohyes. So if Skarfeld knew about some kind of telepathic link being established by the consuming of flesh/part of the body, maybe he wanted us to give Inge Lamplocks eyes to keep us from being under Inge's thumb? Oh the irony, if Dio's selflessness landed him in a greater mess. :lol:

I definitely get devourer/gieloth vibe off of Inge. Voting for B seems lulzy and might very well blow up in our face. If the voice is legit though, it might be just the right thing to do.. I'm not quite sure yet what to vote though.
 

Ganymede

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First off, it's pretty clear this fat cunt isn't a shard of Ean, so we can put that theory to bed. Before anyone claims it's his hunger, Ean's hunger was always associated with righteousness and fury, qualities that seem to be lacking here. He could be a Gielroth, but highly eccentric leader of a violent revolt doesn't fit the Gielroth modus operandi. Could always be a barmy tentacle like Minos or Marduk, but if so then we're fucked no matter what. I suspect something else is up...

It was the biggest wolf you had ever seen, dark brown with stripes of silver adorning its body. Its golden eyes shone with a bestial intelligence. You realize that you could read nothing while in this room due to the sheer power overwhelming your telepathic senses.

That almost sounds like the wolf is the source of the blinding power, not fatass. Also:

Inge absentmindedly ruffles Fenrir's soft fur for a while, and then looks back at you. "Ah, so your name is Diogenes, not Ashur."

Definitely sounds like Fenrir is the serious player here. Of course that's not to dismiss lardass' obvious elemental control. Though now that I think about it he's never specified as the source, our telepathy is overwhelmed instantly by "A being of great power from within." Still,

His eyes, though, sparkled with a dark insight that told you that this man was not all he seemed.

John Goodman isn't a pushover. With this being the case I can't help but think B is a fucking retarded option. The only way an effete, half-blind nobleman could survive hacking away at a much more powerful immortal and his fanatical cult and escape intact is by divine intervention. And the moment you start planning for Deus ex Machina is the moment it doesn't show up. I can appreciate that it's not cynical metagaming though, we want Ean back because Dio just doesn't have the chops to carry a story solo (unsympathetic protag + 0 supporting characters or foils = decline).

With all that said, I would vote A1. Anything else other than B is a half-measure. Though if we do go with B I recommend taking a swipe at the wolf instead of Inge. All of a sudden there's all this Norse symblosim floating about, and there sits motherfucking Fenrir? It's no coincidence.
 

Storyfag

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Guys, stop freaking out about Inge eating our eye. The fatass simply shares Ean's hunger and eating other sentients (or parts of them) explains why he's a great deal stronger than we are. I wouldn't presume the act gave him any more control over us than he already had.

Now, as far as voting goes, I like the sound of B. However it's not very Dio-ish. I have, therefore, formulated a cunning plan!

A4 - explain to the fatass, that delivering a false hand to the Royal Family will upset them into attacking the cult, while showing a very much intact Prince to the general public later will discredit the Skanian royalty greatly. Bait and switch 101.
 

Esquilax

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Great post, Ganymede. That's a really interesting interpretation of the events, and you're right that we ought to think more about Fenrir's role here. It's very plausible that this guy is not the real power here - we know that there are plenty of immortals out there that are great shapeshifters, Ean just happens to not be one of them. I find it really interesting that John Goodman only was able to figure out our name after petting Fenrir seemingly absentmindedly. That passage you highlighted seems to imply that it was Fenrir that read our minds and figured out our name and then transmitted that knowledge to Goodman.

You don't have to do it, you know? You can kill him right now and solve this dangerous situation you're in at once.

A strange voice floats into your mind, but you keep your eyes trained on Jannik. As if all your problems weren't enough, you were starting to hallucinate...

However, maybe Fenrir isn't the enemy here. Maybe he's the one talking to us right now and he's looking for just the right moment/distraction courtesy of Dio to finally take Fatass out of the picture for good. Your interpretation of events seems to imply that he's a good telepath, so maybe he's sending us a message right now. Perhaps he couldn't kill Fatass earlier because the opportunity hadn't presented itself before, and now it has with our presence.

Storyfag, functionally, your plan is pretty much the same as A1. It's still equally morally reprehensible (you're still chopping off some poor kid's arm either way, it just happens not to be the rich kid's arm in this case) and it actually makes the cultists look even better than A1 would. He also said that it was important that Prince Dagrun's hand be sent to his family because the Prince's hand has a birthmark that the parents would recognize. The guy even said "Fakes backfire easily. I will not take that risk...", so he won't go for it.
 

Storyfag

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Storyfag, functionally, your plan is pretty much the same as A1. It's still equally morally reprehensible (you're still chopping off some poor kid's arm either way, it just happens not to be the rich kid's arm in this case)

Oh noes. Will our Karma Meter go down? Will we get Renegade Points? We're fucking Diogenes Camna, THE morally reprehensible character here. A veritable crossing of Anthony Sommers and Edmund Blackadder.

and it actually makes the cultists look even better than A1 would.

That is my present intention. We shall see whether it lasts.
 

treave

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Codex 2012
I can appreciate that it's not cynical metagaming though, we want Ean back because Dio just doesn't have the chops to carry a story solo (unsympathetic protag + 0 supporting characters or foils = decline).

This is probably true, though with regards to the named supporting characters it is partially because the plot demands that events go on elsewhere in the world which they need to participate in, and partially because I made the mistake of killing off his family too soon. I must admit the narrative has been unfocused for now, but rest assured things will tighten up as we approach the climax of the chapter and I tie up all the loose ends that are floating about.

This shouldn't end up like the previous chapter did. I hope.

...you're not my alt, are you?
 

TOME

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I'm inclined to listen to the voice(s). It would be a huge gamble, but it took Inge only a couple of seconds to figure Dio out. So I don't think we can wait for a better opportunity, it might never come.

Voting B, because of the meta about voices.
 

Azira

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Dio's certainly extreme enough to start following voices. He just plucked out his own eye, did he not? :roll:
 

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