[LP CYOA] Epic

[TOME]

Bandwagon.

 

[Baltika9]

Well, we are passing through enemy lines like the choice said, so I don't think it's strange to run into enemy ships. I think it's a whole lot more plausible that the Indus carrier was searching in our general direction and rushed over as soon as the report came in that we'd been spotted.

Yeah, this particular ship that we've been shaking off our tail chose this exact time to reveal itself, even though it was (as you said) within range all this time. Nothing suspicious there, nope.

While I don't say we trust them completely (she still might try to capture us while we're not neutral ground), I think B is the best and most sensible course we have available right now and it offers too much knowledge of the enemy and the world to pass up.

Considering that she has extreme martial skills, we won't be able to put up much of a fight here. Well, I did worn ya, you will regret this. One does not simply ignore Murphy's Laws.

Edit: unless you're Ean. Which we aren't yet.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

Well, we are passing through enemy lines like the choice said, so I don't think it's strange to run into enemy ships. I think it's a whole lot more plausible that the Indus carrier was searching in our general direction and rushed over as soon as the report came in that we'd been spotted.

Yeah, this particular ship that we've been shaking off our tail chose this exact time to reveal itself, even though it was (as you said) within range all this time. Nothing suspicious there, nope.

While I don't say we trust them completely (she still might try to capture us while we're not neutral ground), I think B is the best and most sensible course we have available right now and it offers too much knowledge of the enemy and the world to pass up.

Considering that she has extreme martial skills, we won't be able to put up much of a fight here. Well, I did worn ya, you will regret this. One does not simply ignore Murphy's Laws.

Hmm. You're right that if she decides to take us in, we're screwed. treave, would it be possible for Senya to take some extreme precautions, given that he probably suspects her to have 3rd hierarch powers? Like an escape route, strapping a bomb to his chest, rigging a nearby airlock to decompress at a moments notice, and setting up security seals that could capture her if she proves hostile and we are able to get out of harm's way in time? edit: Oh, and knockout or poison gas.

 

[Bloodshifter]

C

Kill the Sister now with the Cloak of Cowardness we can tank her shots and blow up her Carrier and her Buddies I will not accept the Cult I haven't earlier and I still won't accept it now.

We are faster then her and can successfully stop her Bullets Launch Destory the Launchers Break anyone who came out find the Bridge and let it taste Laser sword then continue Slicing till we hit something important enough to cause an explosion.

 

[TOME]

Hmm. You're right that if she decides to take us in, we're screwed. treave, would it be possible for Senya to take some extreme precautions, given that he probably suspects her to have 3rd hierarch powers? Like an escape route, strapping a bomb to his chest, rigging a nearby airlock to decompress at a moments notice, and setting up security seals that could capture her if she proves hostile and we are able to get out of harm's way in time? edit: Oh, and knockout or poison gas.

Or like having Jean introduce himself as Senya? If something were to happen, I'm sure we would find a new guy with the same name.

 

[aleam iacis]

B. I wouldn't even vote on this, except not enough people are saying B. I don't mind the protagonist being crazy, dumb, or a douche, but why vote against increasing our harem, against meeting a cool bro, to do something that will increase our cowardice and decrease our reputation? Also we think Wakayama is honorable, so she wouldn't be doing this as some elaborate trap. Even though she's a cultist.

Also I want to know more about the cult.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

Or like having Jean introduce himself as Senya? If something were to happen, I'm sure we would find a new guy with the same name.

Well, I think the fact that he isn't Higashi, and therefore not asain, might give him away.

Still, it'd be pretty funny...
Jean: "Hello there! I'm Senya."
Rei: "Uh, I kind of figured Senya would be Higashi...and younger...and a lot like the guy standing behind you..."
Jean: "Fuuuuuuuuu--!"

 

[Baltika9]

You people don't understand who you're dealing with here, do you?
This has all the trappings of a technocratic cult worshiping a higher being that wants to "ascend." Only the leader has tits.

And do you know what's waiting for us?


This just doesn't sit right with me, too many convenient koinkydinks. And we just spent our last dose of juice.

 

[treave]

Uh, who is Saeko Wakayama's brother?

I'm not going to say whether the arguments are actually correct.

Consider, however, that you are slowed down by the escort. Consider that it was not that you did not run into any enemy ships so far, it was just this three that refused to let you pass. The text doesn't state that these were the only other ships you met, and if it was a point of uncertainty perhaps clarification could have been requested.

Or it could all be a setup, since there are no coincidences in this world and far too many plots.

Certainly nothing is as it seems.

Anyway, if Senya wants to rig lethal traps on the Spirit of Adventure he can do so. Honestly he's not ruthless enough yet. Dio would wait for her to board the freighter for their meeting then shoot the ship and blow it up. Much safer than sortieing alone against a carrier.

 

[Baltika9]

Uh, who is Saeko Wakayama's brother?

I'm assuming Keiko's mistress here is Saeko Wakayama.

When I awake, the first thing I see is the moon, shining brightly in the sky. The ring of solar panels around the world twinkle gently in the night.

“So, you're awake. I'm sure you want answers, Senya.”

Keiko stands over me, dressed in her school uniform. Judging from the breeze and the feel of the grass on my back, I am still naked. She kneels besides me.

“Thanks for the save. I have no doubts about who you are now.”

“Your saviour?”

“No, you're not, but she will definitely want to meet you.”

I consider the wording of her statement. “She... you are referring to your saviour?”

“Clever boy.” grins Keiko mischievously. It looks like she had her 'normal' personality back. When she continues speaking, though, her tone is worshipful. “Our saviour. Our messiah, both mine and yours.”

“You're with the cult.”

“Yes. I belong to the Apostles of Hiranyagarbha. My father happens to be one of the high priests.”

“Is this where you drag me into the cult?”

She shakes her head sadly. “No. If you are ever found, she wants you to meet her of your own free will. She will not compel you.”

“Why would she want to see me?”

“Because you are alike to her. She told me once before that she is searching for the person who has been blessed with the Devi's gift without being an Apostle. That would be her brother.”

“Wait, I do have a sister, but I don't think she's involved in any cults.”

“Yeah, I remember seeing her back when we were classmates, and that is not the person I am speaking of. I don't know anything about what truly happened, but that is what my mistress told me, and I treat her words as gospel.” She closes her eyes and mutters a small chant.

So that's where I'm drawing the assumption that Senya is Saeko's "brother," and I say that with the taunting contempt a Chaos Marine reserves for his "brothers." As for the patrols, I took what was written at face value. My derp.

While I don't say we trust them completely (she still might try to capture us while we're not neutral ground), I think B is the best and most sensible course we have available right now and it offers too much knowledge of the enemy and the world to pass up.

You are neglecting that she may not know as much as you want her to, unless she is Saeko Wakayama or is inducted into the Third Pentarchs (or whatchamacallits), and even if she does, there's nothing to guarantee us that she won't outright tweak the truth a bit so that we trust her and don't learn the real story. There is nothing to guarantee that she is as honorable a person as Ean is. And even then, Ean was kind of a dick himself sometimes.

Honestly, taking this option means we pass up on the chance to arrive earlier at our destination and get to Earth sooner. And if it just so turns out that the escort waiting for us is an ISC (with emphasis on the Corporation) ambush, then it will be much easier for us to fight through them alone than supported by the Scarlet Lightning and a carrier equipped with a nuke. We have THE Princess on board, we cannot afford risks of this magnitude (and before you strike up the whole "but you voted to attack an entire fleet," that's before I knew about the damned thing and before we had our "sister" chasing us across space).

 

[treave]

Might want to check that cult infodump again about their beliefs and the role of the Great Mother, then. I thought it was already blatantly obvious but apparently not so. As for the patrols, it was a point that slipped my mind. Basically, once you take the civilian escort mission it's hard for you to hide your movements, but that was always a given.

 

[Baltika9]

That whole bit about her unlocking memories of the recipients? Yeah, got to that one and it boils down to us being either a Concordiat descendant woken up by Ean's juice (which makes the memories those of the Concordiat's ancestors; unlikely given that this hasn't been possible as far as my knowledge goes), or one of Ean's "successors" created by infusing him with Ean's juice, since Ean is the source of these flowers (making these memories Ean's). Or an Avatar (edit: that's just me wishing for some lulz).
It's just that since Keiko considered us Saeko's "brother" then that's how I figure most of the lower-ranked cultist will view us as well.

 

[treave]

Uh, never mind then. It'll become clear if B wins, as it seems to be going to. Or when something else happens further down the line.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

Baltika9, treave means the whole "god has to be created in this universe" bit:

Spoiler

The Apostles of Hiranyagarbha believe that all life is interconnected and the energy of life flows from one being to another at every moment. To them, even inanimate objects such as rocks contain life energy, though in far lesser quantities than actual organisms. The primary message of their creed is that by diverting this life energy in certain ways, believers will be able to gain health, wisdom and prosperity. The ability to gather life energy is accrued within the souls of the believers, and higher ranking members have more memories of their past reincarnations unlocked by the Great Mother, granting them more power.

Another aspect of their beliefs, albeit a more controversial one carried over from the Tenchishinri, revolves around communion with God, who they refer to as feminine. They believe that God who lives outside the universe has turned Her ears away from the world, and to attract Her attention they must create God within this universe. The Golden Womb refers to the universe as egg and nurturer. By performing rituals to gather life energy, the Great Mother will transform her womb into a suitable receptacle for God and give birth to Her. The resulting child will attain divine transcendence, at the same time both inside and outside the universe. It is prophesized that after an Age of Strife, she will bring salvation to humanity.

The rituals of the Apostles commonly involve the use of Inanna flowers, which they deem to be a compound that allows them to get closer to God. Though the claimed hallucinogenic properties of Inanna flowers have yet to be proven, it has not stopped the Apostles from coming into conflict with the Imperial Shinar Corporation over ownership of the flowers.

Spoiler

Rie Rei Wakayama is probably Saeko Wakayama's daughter. So if we're anyone's brother it's...well, you get the picture.

edit: Of course, any true member of the Cult of the Golden Jar, will recognize the above for the heresy that it is.

 

[Baltika9]

Actually, it's that none of these "siblings" are actually siblings, rather Concordiat descendants/Successors/whatever. Never you mind. But that's not what's important here, what is important is that we're about to screw up all the careful maneuvering in this chapter to keep Kyrie safe for a premature loredump, that is very likely to be biased in the Cult's favor and probably get her ship nuked, instead of waiting a couple of updates and get the real version. Don't do it bros, I'm getting the same vibe that I got when I was saying to go to Ean's tomb and play as Dio and not let him dick everything up. Race ahead of these losers, they have their escort anyways, hit Sun L4 and go home and drop off Kyrie's crazy ass onto her daddy's lap. Then we'll be free to do James Bond shit. At this time, it's too risky.
Right now, we have to be a dick, because there's a lot of assholes to fuck (and fuck over).

 

[Baltika9]

She's not so tough for a God, then. I was expecting something more, well, more.

I'm skeptical as to her being this "God within the Universe." If this really is their messiah, then these guys suck, unless we're the Messiah as well.
Edit: or the Anti-God, which would be pretty cool.

 

[Baltika9]

I expected "divine" children to be more, that's all, hence the skepticism.

Right now, they remind me of a juiced up Ban and Aodh, not even junior Immortal level, that's all, hence why I am not making that particular assumption just yet; although it did cross my mind a couple of times. But playing a God/Anti-God will be rather sweet, if it is true.

And if it is, then meeting her right now is a rather stupid move; getting the Princess to safety will be the smartest move we an make.

Edit: that, and I don't think we are a "natural" being, so to speak.

 

[Baltika9]

natural what? from what we know of senya so far he seems like one of the concordiat gieloth-human hybrids, no?

We don't have access to Concordiat records, so we don't know if the gene-mixing produced medical complications, but it seems to me that Senya's amnesia and general frailty suggest invasive surgery for implants, like the ones done on Ean's Successors. It's the memory losses that make me suspicious; then again, we may be Shulgi's (Edit: or someone else's) trump card against this new "God."
But maybe that's the reason imbibing the elixir doesn't awaken any memories within us. Or something. But maybe I am overthinking it. We'll find out soon, anyway.

 

[treave]

It probably isn't all that straightforward. I'm a fan of overly-convoluted plots within plots. I think so far all the Xanatos Gambits piled up go at least four layers deep, we blew through layer one in the first chapter without really getting much information out of it and we're barely scratching layer number two now, though layer three is about to start to expose itself.

...

 

[treave]

as for your first point...true, true, it could be that, I never thought any of it. in any case, that we are part gieloth to some extent is certain. more than that...i'm not sure it's relevant overall. if this rei calls us brother, the procedures should have been similar. had we chosen the flame path, i imagine treave would have made her ice.

That is right.

Fire and ice... idealism and pragmatism. This little subplot is influenced heavily by just those choices.

 

[Baltika9]

Not that I even care or cared who or what she is, the bitch and her cult are going down one way or the other so no need to bother with them, it's Senya who I always was most curious about. Well, that and what really happened to Ean and Sek.

and since the masters don't even know where we are anymore, we can rule out their interference.

Well, we did give them a piece of the Vajra back. And Saeko apparently communes with some "Goddess" outside the universe.

Another aspect of their beliefs, albeit a more controversial one carried over from the Tenchishinri, revolves around communion with God, who they refer to as feminine.

which is another reason I'm not yet making the connection: I don't see a whole lot of personages Saeko could have contacted besides the Masters or Sek (Ean wouldn't approve of this shit and neither is he female), so that would mean Rei would have to be an Avatar if they are doing what I think they're doing. And if we are like Rei, then we should be one as well. Or some shit.
Edit:

as for your first point...true, true, it could be that, I never thought any of it. in any case, that we are part gieloth to some extent is certain. more than that...i'm not sure it's relevant overall. if this rei calls us brother, the procedures should have been similar. had we chosen the flame path, i imagine treave would have made her ice.

That is right.

Fire and ice... idealism and pragmatism. This little subplot is influenced heavily by just those choices.

You mean "being a pretentious hipster" vs "a normally adjusted, mature person?"

 

[Bloodshifter]

Guys quick question your planning to let our Sister a Fire Power girl near Ice Powered Senya? The only reason we made it out of there in a CF is because of Speed now you want to lock Senya up with someone who is the Equal to a Space Marine in Terminator Armor? Cult Bad. Plotting the Downfall of Sek lead Cult is worse. They want to destory the Flowers of Ean that's basically trampling on our former Bro and you guys want to let them?

 

[treave]

As I've said many times before, meta-knowledge may be misleading even if factual. Believing you already know what is going on behind the scenes (i.e. motivations, masterminds, tentacles and immortals) and taking characters' words/information at face value seems to be why you guys have not picked most of the choices that would get you more information to work with so far.

edit: To be fair, sometimes information comes with a price. Could this be one of those times?

 

[Baltika9]

It probably isn't all that straightforward. I'm a fan of overly-convoluted plots within plots. I think so far all the Xanatos Gambits piled up go at least four layers deep, we blew through layer one in the first chapter without really getting much information out of it and we're barely scratching layer number two now, though layer three is about to start to expose itself.

Looks like I once again got screwed by thinking too small.
That's why I love you, bro.

No homo.

edit: To be fair, sometimes information comes with a price. Could this be one of those times?

Hmm, I think I remember something

Not if it's to set up a dramatic comeback later on after having lost everything you ever cared about.

True. This is a treave LP - you cannot in to having your cake and eating it too.

Oh yes, that's right.
Which is why I'm against meeting her right now. Under any other circumstances, sure, but we have the future Empress on board. Not someone you risk.

 

[aleam iacis]

A cult trying to birth a god within a human reminds me of Silent Hill 3. But we're male, so who cares? Anyway I love info, and so does Senya I think, so let's pay the price and get more pieces of the story. Let's peel this onion like a parfait or something, because it's complex and godlings love to eat complex plots for breakfast. Anyway, sister or not, I'm sure if she is idealistic it should be easy to add her to the harem by acting in an honorable and heroic manner, or at least one which can be rationalized as such.

Also, waiting for someone to board a starship and then firing upon it doesn't always work(though I don't see how it would fail)... Especially if its a betrayal by someone with an inferiority complex who has had serious surgical work done.