[LP CYOA] Epic

[Baltika9]

No, the Masters must die. Look at the name they chose for themselves. Not "guardians" or "saviors", but "Masters". THEY want to become, or at least *control* the observer and they've already spilled the blood of countless trillions to do it.

I don't think they were the ones that called themselves Masters. Ahati called them Jin(=Djinn, Masters grant wishes to the winners, get it?)

“Dog of the Jin,” she snarled. “When Lord Marduk finds out about this, he will reserve a special spot in the dungeon just for you… you…”

Getting a Q&A session and then trolling them in their dimension sounds like a good idea, if risky.

And after we deal with them and steal their secrets, I think we'll be able to bitch-slap the League and Council.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

we got three master-killing capable persons in our team - Senya, Rei and Ean.

We don't know that any of them are "master-killing capable" as none of them have ever killed a real one. Ean killed some sort of reject/immortal-hybrid at great cost to himself, not one of the genuine articles and not in their own space. Rei doesn't have the power to destroy, only to create. Senya could probably kill some of them, given enough time and black holes would probably do the trick too, but we don't know how many of them there are or where they are at all. For all we know, there could be 4 galaxies full of them.

 

[treave]

It's a different kind of awsome

Anyhow, a few more Storyfag's Stupid Questions(tm)(R)(c)

1. I would very much like to know more about the Empire and its culture. How come so damn many Immortals want freedom from the Masters? Did *all* of them subdue their voices like Shulgi did? How is that even possible?
2. I second Baltika's question about the Dunamis' reaction to Ean.

1. Empire culturedump may or may not come, we're a bit past needing to know about that. As for the second part of the question, the Emperor has been ruling over (some of) them for thousands of years. That influenced things somewhat. Furthermore, note that they want to get to the centre of the galaxy to destroy the Masters. What do the Masters want? For the strongest civilization to get to the centre. Their motives are rather irrelevant and not a threat, as long as the monkeys haven't actually found a way to harm the Masters that they know of.

2. All in good time.

As for why there's only two major factions left, it's because these two have either assimilated or conquered the rest.

 

[Baltika9]

We don't know that any of them are "master-killing capable" as none of them have ever killed a real one. Ean killed some sort of reject/immortal-hybrid at great cost to himself, not one of the genuine articles and not in their own space.

I was actually under the impression that the Naram-Master was stronger than a regular one: he already became a God (as opposed to the Masters being god-like beings) and Ean still wiped the floor with him, until Dio stabbed him with the Sekblade.

No, I think we have the capability to destroy them.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

Baltika9, did you miss the part were the fight almost killed him? Every action cost him energy in the form of a body part. By the time he reached Naram-Master, he had one eye and could barely move. Or the part where Ean could very well become an avatar of the Devourer? Granted, the Devourer is currently attached to Marduk, but if Ean were to suddenly start eating Masters, who's to say the devourer wouldn't detach from Marduk and reattach to Ean?

 

[treave]

You were almost done… you know what was left to do, and what was left to do was what you did best – hitting things with a pointy stick. As long as you managed to touch your enemy with Anbar-Shi, you would win. You could eat him. Even in this condition, you would devour him, and his higher forms in dimensions you could not perceive. Your hunger would be tainted and you were not sure if you could stop it, but you could do so nonetheless. Still, how would you get to him? You felt certain if you moved your legs right now they would scatter. You could barely lift your sword. The god, while cautious, could kill you with a glance once he decided to act.

It wasn't anywhere as close as you'd like to think - and Dio's betrayal actually unwittingly paved the way for Ean's victory, not the other way around - but...

I suppose an epic does get mythologized, that's how it goes. Things get remembered as being more awesome than they really were. First Ean was kicking Marduk's ass, and now he's wiping the floor with a Master.

I'm not saying that current Ean is much weaker or a lot stronger than how he was at that battle, but he's definitely still the strongest one on the protagonist team.

 

[Smashing Axe]

AAB
I'm sorry Shulgi... You were always my favourite.

 

[treave]

Current tally, as far as I can tell:

Azira - AAB
Storyfag - ABB
Anabanana - BBA
Jester - BDA
Lambchop19 - BAA
ScubaV - BCC
Kipeci - BCC
Baltika9 - ACC
The Brazilian Slaughter - ABB
TOME - AAB
Smashing Axe - AAB

1. A - 6, B - 5

2. A - 4, B - 3, C - 3, D - 1

3. A - 3, B - 5, C - 3

Voting'll be open for another 12 hours or so.

 

[Tigranes]

Waitwaitwait! Do we have a concrete Jupiter plan? Hm. I assume surrender + Jupiter is not an option because the Star League won't let us? Or would they?

BBA for now just to confound the totals, I'll check back before 12 hours are up.

 

[Baltika9]

I suppose an epic does get mythologized, that's how it goes. Things get remembered as being more awesome than they really were. First Ean was kicking Marduk's ass, and now he's wiping the floor with a Master.

I was actually working off of this

Your branches did not work here, but your body still functioned. As long as you were alive, you could go on. You swipe away a pouncing dog with the mane of a lion, the wind you called shredding it in an instant. You tear apart a fish with a head full of tentacles, blazing fire dancing to your whim. An ox sinks its full set of shark teeth into your left thigh, and you tear its head off with a collar of stone. Your right arm disappears, but you replace it with swarming black tendrils. A hundred replicas burst from the walls around the god’s throne, all of them immortals in their full power, no longer pale imitations. That did not matter to you any longer either. You call upon more tendrils, as many as you need to.

Ten.

Fifty.

One for each replica.

You turn each into the sword that you had carried with you for so long, the weapon that was a part of you, its forging taught to you a long time ago by someone now departed. Every one you create burns away more of you, and your flesh begins to crack. That, too, did not matter to you any longer.

One hundred Anbar-Shis fly true and strike the immortals in the heart, each the embodiment of your hunger and filled with your power. The replicas melt away, vanishing back into the milky white hell they were spawned from.

Now there was nothing in the way between you and the newborn god, and as you stagger up to him, bleeding leaves from your wounds, for the first time he registers your presence. His features change, slowly, into one of bewilderment.

WHY DO YOU STILL-

You throw a sword at him before he can finish.

Even a god ducks. As he does so, your blade smashes through the throne. It shatters into pieces, the white shards indistinguishable from the floor.

YOU DARE-

You throw another sword at him, cutting him off. Even if you wanted to answer him, you couldn’t. Your tongue is already gone. You spit out the leaves that had replaced it.

You certainly are shedding everywhere.

“Oh, shut up.”

There was only one voice left.

You were almost done… you know what was left to do, and what was left to do was what you did best – hitting things with a pointy stick. As long as you managed to touch your enemy with Anbar-Shi, you would win. You could eat him. Even in this condition, you would devour him, and his higher forms in dimensions you could not perceive.

It seemed Ean was in control of the assbeating here, the God was afraid. Sure, it was a tight spot, but he was effective.
And considering that he also devoured said God, I think Eanhas enough juice to stand up to a Master, especially if our crew works in tandem.

But we'll see.

 

[Anabanana]

Waitwaitwait! Do we have a concrete Jupiter plan? Hm. I assume surrender + Jupiter is not an option because the Star League won't let us? Or would they?

BBA for now just to confound the totals, I'll check back before 12 hours are up.

Surrender works with both bomb options.

 

[treave]

It's very clearly stated that he didn't even notice Ean until after Ean had exhausted himself. Also that he could kill with the slightest effort if he felt like it, and Ean expressing a lack of confidence, which you seem to have missed in the last paragraph. It was an impressive showing by Ean, yes, but it's impossible to interpret that scene as 'wiping the floor' or giving out an 'assbeating' or even that the god was 'afraid' at that exact point in time, unless you ignore the context entirely. There's no ifs and buts about this, I'm afraid.

Anyway, this has zero bearing on his current ability, I'm just clearing up a misinterpretation.

As for surrendering with a bomb, I'll describe the type of bomb. The sun will be compressed into a container about 150 km across, Jupiter about 500 meters. The former will have to be its own ship, the latter you can store in an asteroid vessel. You will lie about the bombs, but there may be a choice or two along the way to the portal that decides whether your lie succeeds. There will be options.

 

[Esquilax]

I am against utilizing a Sun nuke except as a bluff; I think that the risks of wiping out the dimension that the Masters reside in is too great and the potential of the multiverse collapsing in on itself makes this a "no fucking way" proposition. I want information on how to avoid the inevitable Ghost Singularity before we resort to something that drastic - we have no idea about what sort of consequences an action like this would bring.

We're at a bit of a Catch-22 when it comes to whichever bomb we choose; utilizing the Sun nuke could backfire horribly on us because we are tampering with things that we are completely ignorant of, while using the Jupiter bomb is unlikely to off all the Masters, so they are more than capable of hitting the universal reset as long as a few of them are still running around in their dimension.

treave, if the Masters don't approve of our actions (i.e. they figure out we have a bomb) and they hit the universal reset, how long will it take for them to restructure the universe? Is it instant, or do we still have time to work before they manage to reset everything?

It's occurred to me that going solo past the defences is something of a desperation move, which seems unnecessary onsidering that we have Ean and aren't at much of a numerical advantage against the Star League once we recover the deserting fleet (though, granted, it's possible or even likely that the Masters could provide aid to the Star League). ~350,000 ships on our side vs 400,000 with the Star League isn't bad odds at all, and I'd much rather go through the gateway with a fleet in tow to back us up. Provided the battle goes well and we have minimal casualties, we would hopefully have enough forces to take the Masters on in their home dimension, while at the same time being able to gather information from them since we haven't decided to nuke their dimension.

As for Ean's power, I always thought it was pretty clear that Naram-Master was far more powerful than anybody:

The god, while cautious, could kill you with a glance once he decided to act.

It's fair to say that the only reason Naram-Master didn't decide to wipe Ean out is because he felt that Ean was beneath his notice.

It's hard to say how Ean would stack up to a Master in their home dimension - I don't know how much of Ean's power Sekhenun managed to restore and whether it'll be enough - but the plus side is that I'm certain that the Masters can't manipulate him in any way. He's been independent since Crete and Anbar-Shi is Gieloth tech, so we've got that going for us.

Voting ACB for now, though I could be persuaded to vote for BCC.

Edit: Fuck it, flopping to BCC

 

[treave]

The reset is not instant, but close enough that you won't have a day or two before everything is wiped. You don't know how that'll affect you, however. Anything that originated from this universe should be gone but you have a link to a higher power, so to speak.

 

[Baltika9]

Thanks for clearing that one up, treave.

I completely agree with Esquilax on the Sun-Nuke topic, too unpredictable, it will screw up our planet (whose survival we gave everything for) and permakill Shulgi. Unacceptable.

It's hard to say how Ean would stack up to a Master in their home dimension - I don't know how much of Ean's power Sekhenun managed to restore and whether it'll be enough - but the plus side is that I'm certain that the Masters can't manipulate him in any way. He's been independent since Crete and Anbar-Shi is Gieloth tech, so we've got that going for us.

And he's also a psychic blank, so we'll be able to take the Masters with an even bigger surprise. They definitely don't know about Ean's return, since his mere existence was jamming their signal for these one thousand years.

I suppose 3C depends on wether or not you think we can make a difference with our super-elite crew, which I think we can.

 

[Storyfag]

Esquilax

Completely agreed on the Sun nuke. I can't fathom why won't you vote for the Jupiter nuke though. It's better to have it and not use it, than to need it and not have it, after all.

 

[Anabanana]

Assuming that no one's changed their vote since treave's count, we're currently standing at:

1. A - 7, B - 6

2. A - 4, B - 4, C - 4, D - 1

3. A - 4, B - 6, C - 3

I think we should have the Jupiter nuke in reserve, even if we decide not to use it, ultimately. Threatening to blow up most of the Masters should hopefully give us more leverage over them.

Ugh. I don't know. Do we want to do the BCC thing, hopefully get a more complete infodump from the friendlier Masters, and then reset when we inevitably get screwed since we don't have fleets or a bomb as backup? Actually, never mind, I want to avoid the ghostpocalypse at all costs. That means we should bring a Jupiter bomb instead of a sun bomb.

 

[Esquilax]

They definitely don't know about Ean's return, since his mere existence was jamming their signal for these one thousand years.

I suppose 3C depends on wether or not you think we can make a difference with our super-elite crew, which I think we can.

Where does it say this? I must have missed it. If this is true, that's a serious advantage and a great case for sneaking in, should we make it past the automated defence system guarding the gateway.

Completely agreed on the Sun nuke. I can't fathom why won't you vote for the Jupiter nuke though. It's better to have it and not use it, than to need it and not have it, after all.

This could be meta-gaming, but I'm a little hesitant to use a trump card that won't work 100% against a race of beings who have retroactively originated from Dio. I've already explained why I think the Sun nuke is a bad idea, but I'm not sold on the Jupiter nuke because it's use as a leverage tool is questionable since the Masters will very likely still survive it and potentially reset the universe. Nevertheless, you're right that this is the flimsiest part of my argument - having an ace up our sleeve like this is useful.

Also, we may have a possible ally amongst the Masters: The Master that Shulgi knew and talked to. She might help us here.

Well, she definitely won't help us if we threaten to wipe them out with a galaxy bomb and they are convinced that we're serious. But nonetheless, great observation; I think it's important to note that much like how Ean quickly realized that not all Gieloth were the same and there were many factions among them, it's likely that not all the Masters have the same goals and motivations, either. Sekhenun and Edem were completely different from Marduk and his lieutenants, so it isn't a stretch to think that there are Masters out there that are far different from Zeus.

Also, I should point out that sneaking in precludes the use of any bombs, and that includes the Jupiter bomb.

 

[Baltika9]

Eh, treave, they can already access our reality, can't they? I thought it was just Earth that was off-limits for a time... Besides, my understanding was that the masters can access anything inside a WORMHOLE. A BLACK HOLE would probably just atomize Varja, wouldn't it?

They can access it in limited ways, mostly via the Star League. They don't have full access, and probably can't as long as Ean and Sekh are around. They could probably retrieve Vajra from a black hole if they manifested themselves fully and rewound time, but that's actually more trouble than it's worth to them.

Basically if you black hole Vajra you can expect it to be gone.

This seems to suggest that Ean and Sek can jam their signal by merely existing, so they do not have total access to our reality yet.

Sure, they know Ean exists, but not his whereabouts. Coupled with his psychic blank status... yeah, you get the picture.

At least, that's what I see there.

 

[Anabanana]

Well, she definitely won't help us if we threaten to wipe them out with a galaxy bomb and they are convinced that we're serious. But nonetheless, great observation; I think it's important to note that much like how Ean quickly realized that not all Gieloth were the same and there were many factions among them, it's likely that not all the Masters have the same goals and motivations, either. Sekhenun and Edem were completely different from Marduk and his lieutenants, so it isn't a stretch to think that there are Masters out there that are far different from Zeus.

Also, I should point out that sneaking in precludes the use of any bombs, and that includes the Jupiter bomb.

Hmmmmm. Good point. You know what, fuck this. GAMBLING IT ALL ON BCC! I'll edit my original post.

 

[Tigranes]

Flop to ABB.

 

[Esquilax]

Won't she? We would't be threatening the Masters with galaxy bombs if we didn't have a pretty good reason. Also, we stopped the Devourer when the only (aparent) price of not doing shit was the destruction of Earth (hardly something now), Selkh/Sekhenun being eaten (or brided to the giant Dragon and Tree-Ean doing horrible things to Senya.*

Yes, one of Ean's greatest lessons is that people are different from each other, and they change. Remember when we ran around screaming "ALL TENTACLES MUST DIE" like a loyal little dog of the Masters? We didn't even know the fuckers, we just saw tentacles, sinister cult and human posession and we thought they were evil and started hacking them up, Conan-style. Then we met Sekhenun, who was impressed with Ean's honour and independance from the Masters. We spent thousands of years and most of Ean's story seeing Shulgi conspiring against us from every shadow, then when we finally meet Shulgi he's our bro and Naram became a bad guy. Now we know the Tentacles are victims as well.

To be fair, Ean knew that there was a lot more to the situation than the voices were telling him as soon as he met Sekhenun. Fucking over Naram's plan to bring forth Ra was the icing on the cake as well. As for the Masters themselves, I believe that we can parley with the gentleman that we were talking with:

"You mean, you found out that I do not exist?"

"Yes, exactly that. I have never seen anything like you."

"How about 'we'?" The man had been referring to I and we throughout the conversation; clearly he was part of a people far more advanced than even the Star League. "Have 'we' seen anything like me?"

He laughs in a polite yet gregarious manner. "No, neither have we. 'We' do not know of your presence in my garden right now. Only I know that."

"It's not nice to keep secrets." I say.

"If you do not really exist in the first place, how can it be a secret?" he winks.

"Point taken. Now, what will you do with this exceptionally lively illusion?" I continue smiling and acting casually. Being able to grab me in the middle of a wormhole means he probably possesses god-like power. I activate my ability surreptitiously. To my surprise, no blue lines appear anywhere within the garden - not on the chairs, or the teacups, or on the gentleman himself. This is not a normal reality I am in.

"We are in a temporary space where the system holds no sway, where It will not observe us." grins the man. There are a lot of teeth in that grin. "Do not bother, non-existent one."

I narrow my eyes.

"What do you want?"

"Well, in all honesty I just wanted to speak with you. You do not qualify for participation in the game, despite the voices that lie dormant inside you. However, your very presence is telling me that the game might no longer be important anyway. You could change everything. If that is so, should I inform the others of this little predicament?" wonders the gentleman out loud. "That is why I wanted to meet you first, so that we could sit down and have a nice cup of tea and introduce ourselves."

"That suits me just fine. I have no objection to non-violent discussion, particularly when it involves superb tea." I shrug. A space where 'It' will not observe us, he says? That means this is probably a pocket dimension of some sort, separated from the regular multiverse, if there can be said to be such a thing. And if it is temporary... Blue flecks begin to float across my vision, with more and more appearing the longer I focus. It seems that he is not wrong. This is only a temporary space.

"That's the spirit, dear boy. Now, we've made our introductions-"

"We haven't exchanged names. That is no proper introduction."

"There's no need to. We know who we are, and that is sufficient. You are an illusion, a shade that should not exist."

"You are... the gods of the Star League. The ones awaiting at the center of the galaxy."

"That we are," nods the gentleman. "We play a great game, one that you can only be a pawn in... but at the same time you are outside of the game board. I am undecided what to do about that. Now, I will return you to your comrades, and you will proceed with your mission as you see fit, but before we part, I have a question to ask. Be truthful with your answer. I will know if you lie. Power or knowledge. Which do you truly desire? Is it power, which you so clearly lack? Or is it knowledge, to cure your ignorance?"

...
There is a slight pause as he stares at me. A slight chuckle escapes his lips; the look in his eyes tells me he had not expected this answer.”You are greedy and ambitious,” he says. “That will be your downfall.”

“An interesting warning. Can you see the future, then, to be so confident of my fall?”

“We control the future. Bear that in mind when you hatch your plots.”

Senya doesn't exist, and it's quite possible that this particular Master is the only one aware of Senya at the moment. Sneaking through seems much more difficult, but would probably put us in a better position from which to seek knowledge. I'm curious what our interactions will be like should we successfully make our way to the other side.

Although it of course goes without saying that we'll have to do some fighting along the way. Our mind pact did involve the promise of ass-kicking.

 

[aleam iacis]

I agree with The Brazilian Slaughter that some Masters might be okay, and maybe we could get along with them despite their immense power, so bomb negotiating after entering the portal and doing a little pillaging might lead to the best ending.

On the other hand, if we destroy the Masters' dimension... is that enough deaths for Senya's inner child idea making a group of super energy beings outside the constraints of the multiverse? Or whatever it was? Maybe they'd be greatful, maybe they'd be pissed, maybe they'd be like Ean and Sekhenun and out of our hair for a few millennia? How many masters are there, anyway?

 

[Baltika9]

So, what's holding you guys back from xCC? It seems like a very flexible option with great potential if we do it right.

True, it's not the safest, but Senya knows how to pull off the impossible, that's all he ever did.

And it's not like we get auto-blasted upon entering the cannon's range; treavr did say we'll have some choices that'll decide how succesful we'll be in navigating them. Senya and Rei are masters at maneuvering, so we're good on that front.

 

[Anabanana]

Oh yeah. Yeah. If the game is no longer important... Masters diplomacy, anybody? I think we can safely forego the bombs in that case... I don't think the Masters will be very inclined to play nice with us if we threaten them.