[LP CYOA] Epic

[Smashing Axe]

ABA

To be expected with Sek, her perspective may change the longer she bonds with her host. Knowing her motivation will of course be useful, but I don't think we can continue without knowing the full history between the Gieloth and the Masters. I chose the first A because they are weak Gieloth and may help us to work up to higher game through feeding, that said they're also the least useful to Marduk.

The second choice I have difficulty choosing between, A will give us more control over the cult and remove somewhat our dependency on Sek, B will give us anonymity and keep Marduk in the dark longer, since he'll likely accept a few looses as a consequence of the persistent Shulgi cult. A also risks Shulgi appearing out of nowhere and whining.

 

[oscar]

ABD

Not too sure what to think about her offer.

Killing the fledglings will be useful for feeding and we'll have numbers and terrain on our side. Dakuri sounds like he can be offed at any time. Mehlu and a hundred trained and armoured men sounds a bit risky.

Tempted to claim to be Shulgi. Though I wonder if the cult to Ean still exists. In any case I do plan for us to retake Sumeria.

 

[Baltika9]

As Sand once said: "Clever girl." Tell her we'll be eating ten Gieloth.
CBD.
The enemy's biggest danger is it's ability to retaliate. The humans, I'm thinking, can be turned against their Spiritual Liege. The young Gieloth are no particular danger, and killing them first will make Marduk rather upset. Family and all. The Indus Gieloth, however, can prove a rather nutritious meal and a rather unpleasant enemy if left unchecked. And am I the only one who thinks Edem, Nabu's son, will be the biggest problem here?

As for the cult: Like it or not, I know I don't, Shulgi is apparently the only Immortal on this planet that can be cooperated with, our current state notwithstanding. Hijacking his cult is not really...endearing. And besides which, if he awakens during our shenanigans(remember, he was Babylonia's king after we fell asleep), and fins out that some asshole is on his throne, and another asshole is pretending to be him and leading his cult, problems will ensue.

And, finally, Sekhenun: we really must know what the hell he/she/it is planning with this whole thing. Is Sekhenun really concerned about mankind? Revenge, ambition? Really unwise to work in a conspiracy whose goals you do not know.

P.S.: treave, you magnificent cock tease, every update leaves me wanting more.
I also have this one question, by itself, I'd like Ean to ask, or at least answered: the he/she/it/hermaphrodite topic. It's driving me nuts.
oscar: Yeah, Ean's cult is still around. They're called the Sons of Marduk. Pretty influential, I hear.

 

[TOME]

ABD

 

[Smashing Axe]

Tempted to claim to be Shulgi. Though I wonder if the cult to Ean still exists. In any case I do plan for us to retake Sumeria.

It exists, it's the prophecy of Marduk, the Gieloth is masquerading as us to our cult and people.

 

[Baltika9]

And after this is all over, I think the first thing we need to do is not take a throne or mold peoples and civilizations, but make another Unbound immortal for Sekhenun to experiment on. If there is a way to end the hunger on us, then we should take it. And if Sekhenun finds a way to end it on her people, well, we'll just secure a whole race's allegiance.
After that I propose we go to Scandinavia to LARP Loki or India and pretend to be Buddha.

 

[ScubaV]

A - Weak and Gieloth. May give us an idea of what feeding on Gieloth does.
C
B - A (relatively) long campaign of assassination is going to benefit more from anonymity than loyalty.
D - I don't like getting ourselves ensnared in a deal like this when the only gain is a single piece of information. If we have the Gieloth hunger curse, we may also have their duty towards deals.

 

[Esquilax]

Shoulda gone with B bros, we could have taken Marduk out from the inside as we did with Sekhenun. I believe a vote for ABA is a bad idea because those lieutenants are fucking nobodies and it would permit Sekhenun to feed three times. We have already fed, so I feel that we're in a better position to take out a target like Mehlu than we otherwise would be.

Also, knowing the grand scheme of the Gieloth-Master war does nothing for us here. I know that it's long overdue, but either 3B or 3C is much better than 3A for our purposes.:

I will reserve the right to feed on humans again, but as a trade, I will feed once for every Gieloth you eat. If you ask for my permission to eat that particular being, I will in turn ask you for permission to do the same. If you do not, then my next meal will be without your permission.”

I'm sensing that if we defeat Marduk or some powerful Gieloth without her permission, she'll probably put a baby on a grill to see if we're going to honour the deal. Unfortunately, I think ScubaV may be right and we could have the Gieloth duty towards deals, so we have to enter into any bargain carefully. I suppose this isn't too bad, considering that Ean was honorable even before he inherited this curse.

I'm going with CAD right now, but I may flop if a different idea occurs to me.

 

[Baltika9]

3C is the right choice here as far as knowing where Sekhenun is morality- and humanity-wise. We already know from treave that Gieloth are "going native", so Sekhenun might, and I stress, might be interested in advancing mankind, and be in the same boat as Ean, or close to it. Then again, she's probably just plotting to take the throne for herself(might be even masking her powers). Expect the worst and you won't be disappointed. In any event, knowing her reasons for getting involved in this is important, as it gives us information about Sekhenun, her plans and our odds of survival.

 

[Kipeci]

ABD

 

[Anabanana]

ABA

To be expected with Sek, her perspective may change the longer she bonds with her host. Knowing her motivation will of course be useful, but I don't think we can continue without knowing the full history between the Gieloth and the Masters. I chose the first A because they are weak Gieloth and may help us to work up to higher game through feeding, that said they're also the least useful to Marduk.

The second choice I have difficulty choosing between, A will give us more control over the cult and remove somewhat our dependency on Sek, B will give us anonymity and keep Marduk in the dark longer, since he'll likely accept a few looses as a consequence of the persistent Shulgi cult. A also risks Shulgi appearing out of nowhere and whining.

This. Switching to BBA. It's time we got the context of this entire conflict.

I think we're better off with anonymity for now. Don't want other immortals swooping in and messing up our game.

EDIT:

VVV
Makes sense. Switching my vote.

 

[Esquilax]

... And this way, we grant Sekhenun three people for our consumption of three Gieloth who aren't worth shit for information that is general and ultimately irrelevant to our immediate circumstances. Seems to me she's getting the far better bargain out of that deal. We're going to get hustled if we vote ABA.

If you want info, fine. But have it be info that can either help us beat Marduk (B) or figure out what Sekhenun's game in all of this is (C).

 

[m4davis]

ABA

 

[Storyfag]

BBA

 

[newcomer]

CAC

treave
Do we have access to Panrath's knowledge?

 

[Stygian Lurker]

ABA

 

[Baltika9]

CBC

treave
Do we have access to Panrath's knowledge?

I second this question.

 

[Esquilax]

Shamash – the top lieutenant of Marduk, and a powerful Gieloth in his own right. He is Marduk’s right hand and the foremost general of his armed forces.
Ahati – a Gieloth general, second to Edem in power. She has a penchant for eating young men, and is feared by most of the populace.
Ramman – another Gieloth general, known for orchestrating the victorious defense of Sumeria when Astarth attacked.
Nusku – a Gieloth more interested in experiments than in conquest. Has figured out a way to give normal humans some form of Gieloth powers.
Mehlu – a Gieloth hailing from the Indus Valley, who has been made a general for participating bravely in the successful defeat of his brethren.
Edem – Nabu’s offspring, come of age recently; every bit as strong in the sorcerous arts as his father was.
Adapa, Balasi, Gamil – Relatively young fledglings who have been given their lieutenant position just because they are members of Marduk’s house.

I would much rather take out Mehlu now, before he's had a chance to join up with one of the others. If we avoid him, we will probably have to face him with one or more other Gieloth at once, which considering how hard-fought Tjaru was, is not something I wish to deal with again if it can be avoided.

I understand it's risky in the short-term, but for this war effort to succeed in the long-term, our first action has to actually mean something. We're well-fed from earlier and we've got the element of surprise - a bold move at this moment would really set the pace for future victories.

Killing the three fledglings is a meaningless gesture and gives Sekhenun way too much leverage. A guy like Mehlu is probably a better meal and would make an actual impact on the enemy. Killing Marduk's kin attracts a shitload of attention from the big man himself, but doesn't get us much in return strategically. Sure, Ean regains some power, but now we've revealed ourselves and we have to deal with a powerful foe that's ready for us. I don't want to go for an easy battle now and end up losing the war because of it.

Remember back in Egypt when we decided to go straight for Sekhenun before anything else? It proved to be one of the better decisions we made.

I understand we're all itching to find out the overall context of this conflict, but we are going to be fighting a war against an opponent that is far stronger than us, and we need info that's actually relevant to our situation. And in my mind, that info has to be either something related to Marduk's plans in Sumeria and his impending conflict with Zeus, or an understanding of Sekhenun's motivations so that we can know where we stand with her.

3A is a bad move, especially in conjunction with going after the three fledglings: it gives Sekhenun a lot of power, and still leaves us in the dark when it comes to her motivations. I thought after Theseus that Ean would be a little savvier.

On this list, I believe that Nusku is very useful and his lack of interest in politics means that he could become an ally of ours. I really want him as a friend. This guy sounds awesome - he may very well lay the foundation for the Adeptus Astartes in the grim darkness of the not-too distant future if we are smart. Return to Egypt as Runi after, create another Anbar-Shi, then develop an army of Space Marines: glorious!

 

[Azira]

CBD

 

[Baltika9]

snip

Exactly what I'm saying.

Bros, if you don't want to listen to me, then listen to him!

 

[CappenVarra]

BBC

 

[Quetzacoatl]

CBC
EDIT: Minor flip flopping.

 

[Esquilax]

Bros, if you don't want to listen to me, then listen to him!

Thanks for the vote of confidence, bro. I believe that ABA is the worst combination possible here. It gives leverage to Sekhenun, brings down a ton of heat on the cultists, no strategic gain, and information that isn't relevant to defeating Marduk. The end result is that we owe Sekhenun three humans, we still don't know what her motives are, and Marduk, along with all of his useful lieutenants will have their crosshairs aimed straight at us because we just blew our cover on a stupid assault that meant nothing.

The plan that CappenVarra has is also solid. If you 1A voters want to devour something to gain more power, why not vote 1B instead? You'd owe Sekhenun nothing and you wouldn't attract any attention if you make the death look like an accident (a piece of cake with telekinesis, all you need to do is push him off a building). It would allow the rebellion to remain a secret as well.

Personally, I don't want to make a deal with Sekhenun because I believe that she is more likely to benefit from it than we are and because it's possible we might have the same Gieloth obligation towards debts that ScubaV mentioned. But if we do make a deal with her, let it actually be for something that would allow us to know about this huge impending war between Zeus and Marduk or to know where we stand with Sekhenun. That's far more important right now.

I think this bears repeating. This is what we had the option of learning back in Egypt when we first met Sekhenun:

You seek to know about the conflict between the Gieloth and your 'masters'. You want to find out the nature of this conflict, your role in it, and all else Sekhenun knows of this war you find yourselves in. She may be no historian, but the voices have been less than forthcoming and she knows far more than you do at this point.

This isn't even her field of expertise. She'd give us an uneducated view of the conflict (which, to be fair is still better than nothing), and in return we would owe her three human lives for the Gieloth in 1A. It's a great deal for her, but not a great deal for us.

 

[Baltika9]

I also urge any 3D voters to flip to something except 3A. We're finally engaging in diplomacy with Sekhenun here and this one deal can lead to many others in the future. Yes, she's twisting our balls here, and she'll come out ahead. That's her savvy, Ean is the less subtle one, so debating this with her will be less then beneficial, especially since we just became her little doggy, or at least that's the impression I'm getting.

Although, I'll still flip to anything that beats 3A. That's just asking for "Theseusing: Act the Second", as much as I'd hate to lose this pportunity to foster trust between Ean and Sekhenun.
I mean, how else are we tapping that ass?

 

[Esquilax]

Baltika9: OK, I flopped to 3C even though I wasn't too keen on making a deal with her to begin with. But hey, if we are going to make a deal, we better make it fucking count. ABA is just really terrible - I can't see why anyone would vote for it. One of the worst parts about asking her information about the Master-Gieloth war is that we already know people who have information on it. I'm sure Naram knows (although it's no doubt biased), Shulgi almost certainly knows. So why ask Sekhenun? Why not ask any of the twelve Gieloth in the Middle East here about it after we take their heads?

I'm sure Sekhenun will become very accommodating with information once we become bros with the Space Marine producing Nusku and she begins to realize that she can be replaced . The best possible plans are the following:

OR