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[LP CYOA] Epic

Baltika9

Arcane
Joined
Jun 27, 2012
Messages
9,611
Be warned, bros, that I am not sure which will benefit us more: storyfaggotry or meta. Origins are all well and good, but they won't really help us settle the Empire's troubles. Then again, it's story. Story is always good.

As for the vote/question, I side with the unholy alliance of Baltika9 and Esquilax.
That's just cute.
Oh, Sek... where art thou?:(

Edit: just so you know, Esquilax has another option. What is behind Shinar's troubles, how can I solve them?
 

Esquilax

Arcane
Joined
Dec 7, 2010
Messages
4,833
Well, since I brought up the question, I guess I ought to explain my rationale behind it. I believe that learning our own origins (i.e. Dio's childhood memories before he was adopted by Velius Camna) will uncover the reason for the presence of all of these immortals claiming to be Ean. It might reveal why we've been saddled with these fake memories and how our immortality is related to both Ean and to Fenrir. This would grant us general knowledge on the overall situation and allow Dio to get a picture of overall events. Sure, it wouldn't be the "I win" button that specific metaknowledge would provide, but I'm hoping it would give us enough general knowledge to steer the chapter to an outcome that would be most favourable to Dio, Ean, and the Empire. Asking a specific question like "How can I defeat my rivals?" or "How will I acquire Ean's power?" will give us a ton of valuable info and guarantee a favourable outcome for Dio, but it won't really improve the state of the Empire or tell us about what's really going on.

As for my second proposed question, it would be more along the lines of metagaming, while also shedding light on the overall situation a bit as well. Ideally, this would tell us why the Concordiat wanted to access the Labyrinth at Crete (as well as maybe telling us a bit about the undead there too), and it would tell us the cause of the weather issues (though I have a feeling Fenrir might be responsible for that, given his great power). Also, it might reveal Ean's true connection to the various immortals claiming to be him, though likely not as much as my first question would.

If Fenrir really has outgrown all the plotting and schemes, why did it make a bet with Dagrun and influence the outcome?

Fenrir's disdain for Dagrun's scheming wasn't out of some sort of morality, he doesn't like Dagrun's scheming because it's petty and ineffective. So his complaint with the Prince is simply that he ought to get better at the whole plotting and scheming thing. As for why he made the bet and then influenced the outcome, maybe to give Dagrun the illusion of control? Fenrir likes working from the shadows.

treave, is Diogenes quite sure that his Watchers are also unaware of his origins as well? It would suck pretty hard to ask the wolf a question that we can easily find through mundane means.

You knew that these cults were mostly led by people that were similar to you, though your Watchers had insisted that they were parasites off your power and had to be eliminated eventually. These cults were backed by various Watchers, though there were some that operated independently, like the Cult of the Returned Emperor. According to them, your – Ean’s – power had been inherited by these cults somehow, and as the original incarnation of the First Emperor, it was your destiny to defeat the pretenders and retake your throne. To that end, they would kill and manipulate events so as to bring you to power, eventually. You could sense that their goals were probably sincere, but there was still something they were not telling you. You had refrained from questioning them too much after you had found out that your good friend Aodh was possibly a mind reader.

Also, has Diogenes managed to discover anything further about what our Watchers know?
 

Tigranes

Arcane
Joined
Jan 8, 2009
Messages
10,350
Well, I'm at a conference in Disney World, of all places, so have been away. Good to see that we realised the only sensible options were A1 and B, and that our gamble paid off... sort of. Even though it doesn't make sense to me that we've 'outwitted' Dagrun, since the boy ends up with little harm done to his little Skane ruse and we've lost a freaking eye. So, we have to make sure that out of this entire trip North and the loss of an eye, at elast we'll have the reward of Fenrir's wisdom. I mean, they'll just revive Jannik Inge as a puppet, right? So we won't even get any credit for that.

Esquilax's questions make sense to me, though treave could obviously troll us for Q1 - "You were born under ordinary circumstances, and thus neither I nor Ean were involved." Great. Q2 guarantees relevant answers with long-term benefits, and tells us a lot more about what we should do right now as well.

Esquilaxian Q2: What is behind Shinar's troubles, and how is Ean involved?
 

Bloodshifter

Educated
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Jul 7, 2012
Messages
542
Location
Somewhere with dead bears
Only reason I have yet to join in on the debate is because you guys are missing a vital point we have here a open question yet no one has asked the most important question to this CYOA.

What is the constraints and requirements to return/revive *either one* Ean? (9 words 10 if you do both revive and return)

Solving our past is next as well as discovering shugi's reason to assist in our collecive revival is good but if he KNOWS how to bring us back to life *and come on its shugi then he should know at least something failing that.

The status of Ean's Gieloth pals and China's Gialoth tree
 

treave

Arcane
Patron
Joined
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Messages
11,370
Codex 2012
Oh, Sek... where art thou?:(

Why don't you ask Fenrir that? :troll:


treave, is Diogenes quite sure that his Watchers are also unaware of his origins as well? It would suck pretty hard to ask the wolf a question that we can easily find through mundane means.

Also, has Diogenes managed to discover anything further about what our Watchers know?

You guys voted not to know everything the Watchers know, then played it even safer by keeping away from Aodh at every opportunity. :lol: It's not to say that Diogenes is unsure whether his Watchers are aware of his origins - their behaviour indicates they must know at least something, but how much do they really know? You can't determine that until after question time with the wolf is over.

Esquilax's questions make sense to me, though treave could obviously troll us for Q1 - "You were born under ordinary circumstances, and thus neither I nor Ean were involved." Great.

I wouldn't do that. :rpgcodex:
 

Esquilax

Arcane
Joined
Dec 7, 2010
Messages
4,833
We don't even know if Ean's old crew is still alive. They can't support us if they're dead, now can they? There's speculation that Joan in Gallia might be Athena, (given the possibility that Fenrir is Shulgi, it seems plausible) but Aodh is with her.

Esquilax's questions make sense to me, though treave could obviously troll us for Q1 - "You were born under ordinary circumstances, and thus neither I nor Ean were involved." Great. Q2 guarantees relevant answers with long-term benefits, and tells us a lot more about what we should do right now as well.

Esquilaxian Q2: What is behind Shinar's troubles, and how is Ean involved?

Now that you mention it, this does seem like knowledge that someone else like our Watchers or Aodh would be privy to. Piecing together previous updates seems to indicate this somewhat:

“What’s so interesting about me?”

“Everything. Your birthplace is unknown. Your birth parents are unknown. You were adopted by Velius Camna at the age of 10. You graduated with honours from the Imperial Academy, with the highest marks in the subjects of politics and foreign affairs. Despite that, you refused an offer to serve directly with the Imperial Office of Foreign Affairs, instead opting for a posting in your hometown of Aritim, the capital of Etruria. Your reason was this – ‘I wanted to be close to my father and my betrothed.’"
...“Do you remember your birth parents? Do you remember what happened before you were adopted?”

You didn’t, and you do not reply.

“You are the real Ean, and your actions have proven yourself to be smart and ruthless enough to retake your mantle. You are worthy of our aid.”
...
You knew that these cults were mostly led by people that were similar to you, though your Watchers had insisted that they were parasites off your power and had to be eliminated eventually.
...
According to them, your – Ean’s – power had been inherited by these cults somehow, and as the original incarnation of the First Emperor, it was your destiny to defeat the pretenders and retake your throne. To that end, they would kill and manipulate events so as to bring you to power, eventually. You could sense that their goals were probably sincere, but there was still something they were not telling you. You had refrained from questioning them too much after you had found out that your good friend Aodh was possibly a mind reader.

Because this indicates to me that we could probably dredge some of this info from our Watchers. treave, can we "cheat" by using contractions in a sentence? I wonder how much of a grammar Nazi Fenrir is. If that's the case, then the question we should ask is the following:

What's behind Shinar's troubles, how are you and Ean involved?

Or, haha,

What is the sum total of all my rival's knowledge?

This wouldn't grant any knowledge that nobody has, but it would make Diogenes the most knowledgeable person overall. He would have the info that Aodh, the madman, Joan and Dagrun are all aware of, allowing him to have the clearest picture overall. I like this one the best. I'm assuming that everyone has bits and pieces of jigsaw puzzle that is Ean's whereabouts and the Empire's mysterious past, but this would grant us everything that everyone knows. It would be worth losing an for. Fenrir told us that he would grant us knowledge to the best of his ability on whatever we asked him, so this seems fair.

So, I'm voting for

What's behind Shinar's troubles, how are you and Ean involved?
 

treave

Arcane
Patron
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Messages
11,370
Codex 2012
First, you might want to define rivals. Fenrir could be a rival, in a way - a future obstacle to Dio.

Second, since your question is awfully vague (it doesn't refer to what type of knowledge, you might get pages of Joan's Best Recipes), Dio is going to die of hunger before Fenrir finishes talking. :lol:

I mean, I have nothing against giving out info, it's just that that question is going to lead to one hell of an infodump that might take me a couple of weeks to complete. If you guys are patient enough, that's fine with me.
 

Smashing Axe

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Dec 29, 2011
Messages
2,835
Divinity: Original Sin
What must I do to reign supreme over this world?

I think this option has well defined parameters, and although he could still do a literal genie screw-over, I don't think he will. Let's be megalomaniacs, let's seize power and conquer our way to the stars! It's what Dio deserves.
 

a cut of domestic sheep prime

Guest
What is the total knowledge of all of my rivals?
Hmm. We all seem to be focused on getting the most info out of him as possible. Let's not forget about his warning though.
I think I need not warn you about the dangers of knowing too much, though; it is something you have already realized for yourself.
That's part of what I like about "What must I do to triumph against all my rivals?"

It gives us knowledge of what we need to do, but if someone reads our mind, they won't necessarily be helped by it as it is specific to us. If we gain near total knowledge of the situation, we risk empowering our mind reading rivals with knowledge they would have otherwise not had access to...

Still, your question is a pretty good one, E. (Of course, that's assuming he answers it and doesn't just say something along the lines of "I can't tell you everything your rivals know, that's not specific enough!"...) Ah, treave beat me to it...
 

Smashing Axe

Arcane
Patron
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Messages
2,835
Divinity: Original Sin
I think me and you want a similar outcome Lambchop19, I only changed my vote because treave said rivals was too vague a term. To reign supreme over the world we would need to dispatch or deal with our rivals, so it could work. I propose that we vote in favour of either one when the time comes in order to maximise our chance of success.
 

a cut of domestic sheep prime

Guest
Yes it's close to what I want, but it's still not specific enough. After all, one could be the supreme ruler of the world...for a time. And then be killed by an old rival shortly thereafter.

Hey, as long as we're going to get a walkthrough to a specific end...

What about:
What must I do to become the fully restored Ean?
 

Esquilax

Arcane
Joined
Dec 7, 2010
Messages
4,833
Ah, I see. Well, if the second question is too vague and defining Fenrir as a rival would piss him off greatly in the future. I'd rather not anger someone who can kill us with a single thought. Smashing Axe, the problem with your question is, again, it would step on Fenrir's toes. He seems to be the type that wishes to rule from the shadows, and I think we should refrain from digging into any sort of knowledge that would incite his wrath. Also, as Lambchop19 said, that advice might put us on top, but it won't keep us there. It kind of reminds me of how Macbeth could not be harmed by any man born of woman... until Macduff came along and cut his head off. It's also very vague in that reigning supreme over the world would involve a lot of stuff unrelated to Ean and the Empire, such as the Concordiat, who we're pretty ill-equipped to deal with and are irrelevant to our situation at the moment.

Okay, based on this I've flopped my original post to the question to What's behind Shinar's troubles, how are you and Ean involved? I don't think Lambchop's question is bad either. Nevertheless I think this would give us the fullest picture overall I believe. The first potential question I had was regarding our own orig,ins, but I believe that this is something we might gleam from Aodh or perhaps the madman (provided Ban captures him, which seems likely) on account of his crazed insight

However, what would really give us a full picture of the puzzle is all the knowledge that the madman, Joan, Aodh, Jannik and Dagrun have regarding Ean and Shinar's troubles. Maybe somebody can phrase this better but perhaps something like: What do the Pretenders know of Ean and Shinar's troubles? This would ideally provide us with the knowledge that all those claiming the mantle of Ean have regarding information about Ean and why the Empire is at a breaking point. Currently, the people claiming to be Emperor are the Madman, Joan and Jannik, so we would know what they know, unless I'm mistaken.

Nevertheless, I'll stick with my original question at the moment, but I might flop to Lambchop's suggestion if I think about it some more.
 

Baltika9

Arcane
Joined
Jun 27, 2012
Messages
9,611
Bros, I just had a thought: we really ought to discover Dio's origins, and the relation Ean and Fenrir/Shulgi/Master/Giant Ball have to it, once and for all.
For one, it will finally put our debate of the shard theory to rest. Second, it will pretty much tell us what exactly we and the other pretenders are: Immortal, Gieloth child, or shard? It may also grant us insight into Fenrir's motivations.

Finally, I am confident that someone with testicles as big as Dio's can and will solve the Empire's problems without a walkthrough

Although I'll be damned if this:
How can I fully restore Emperor Ean?
doesn't sound attractive. I very well may flop, because once Ean is back, all the pretenders can just get in line and suck it.

P.S.: Am I the only one who thinks the young Prince is into BDSM?
 

Baltika9

Arcane
Joined
Jun 27, 2012
Messages
9,611
Actually, another thought just struck me:
How can I fully restore Emperor Ean?
Something tells me that we are not Ean's shard and that Ean will come in back by himself, eventually. Making Fenrir's answer "You wait." And even if he does tell us, it may take us a while.

Instead, let's try this: How to bring Emperor Ean back as quickly as possible? Which I now vote for.
 

Baltika9

Arcane
Joined
Jun 27, 2012
Messages
9,611
Another variation on Lambchop's idea:Tell me all ways to fully return the original Ean. Which I now vote for.
This is superior, as it will put us in a position to pick the option we want. I'm certain we will be able to keep the Empire together with just Dio's skills.

Edit: fixed the wording.
 

Baltika9

Arcane
Joined
Jun 27, 2012
Messages
9,611
Tally so far, correct me if I counted anythting wrong.:
Second Esquilax-Baltikan Concordiat- What are my origins, how are You and Ean involved?
2- TOME, Stygian Lurker

Esquilaxian II- What's behind Shinar's troubles, how are you and Ean involved?
3- Arpad, Tigranes, Storyfag
Smashing Axian- "What must I do to triumph against all my rivals?"
1- Smashing Axe

Baltikan-Esquilaxian corollary to Earl of Lambchop's II- In what ways can the original Ean be fully restored?
1-Lambchop19

Codexian- What can change the nature of a man?
1- oscar

"The Unholy Alliance of Esquilax and Baltika9"- What have Aodh, Madman* and Dagrun learned since developing powers?
3- Esquilax, newcomer, Baltika9
oscar:
:bro:
 

Arpad

Educated
Joined
Jan 27, 2012
Messages
248
Flop to make it more interesting: What's behind Shinar's troubles, how are you and Ean involved?

Although Baltika9:s question could be interesting too-
 

Tigranes

Arcane
Joined
Jan 8, 2009
Messages
10,350
I thought I was voting for... oh, fine. Flop to What's behind Shinar's troubles, how are you and Ean involved?
 

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