Inactive [LP CYOA] Overlord

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

he method of kidnapping would have been the same.

Priorities would have been different. Killing the prince from a distance in the first few seconds of arriving is a lot easier than fighting our way through all his guards into kidnapping distance. Plus, we had Eliene or whatver her name is within arms reach when we arrived. grab her, maybe another one and we're done. The rest will be demoralized with a dead prince and honor would force them to mount a rescue/vengeance mission before returning home. Well, I suppose itnalso could bring the full wrath of the kingdom down on us too. The main thing is that random hotties are a lot easier to grab than a prince.

On topic:
Bros, what if the tower and the green space are illusions meant to draw us in? What if a teleport is the only answer, just like escaping through that crack behind us was the answer in Epic? Let's REALLY think this through this time.

treave, where are the white humanoid shapes? near the green or the tower?

And screw everyone who is picking C. We aren't even immortal in this LP.

*sigh* I guess this could be our chance to explore the void. The spheres are distant for now and definitely should be avoided. Theories: the cylinder could be some sort of control node? The bit of grass. Hmm. Could it be an area that something has created for us - either to lure us in or to speak with us - similar to the place where the old man master had tea with Ean?

Probably not a good idea to let the prince go anywhere. We don't want another Dio floating around and meeting up with some all powerful observer that just happens to be gullible enough to help him be a pain in our butt later on - though he hardly has Dio's sheer will and cunning.

For now:
A>B>D
B

 

[Esquilax]

The shapes that don’t seem more solid… more real. Those that constantly appear and disappear invariably look like twisted strands of pale white dough wrung through a tornado.

It might just be your imagination, but some of those unstable, flickering shapes seem to be vaguely humanoid at times.
...
By now, the remaining shapes have solidified. There is the domed cylinder… or perhaps it is a tower? There is a flat piece of green that seems to look like a square of earth cut out from the land itself. Then there is a white sphere, still and silent in the distance.

I am obviously speculating here, but the same substance that the sphere is comprised of could be the same as the "dough strands". Perhaps close proximity will stir a reaction since we are a sentient in the In-Between. Then again, if we do cause some sort of an unpleasant reaction and need to calm things down, well, it's time to make Prince Feyton useful!

I think that the green square might be a chunk of real, actual land, from a place not in the In-Between. Considering how we've just stirred shit up just by coming here, in what looks to possibly be some sort of vast, chaotic emptiness where we can't be sure what's real or not, I think examining it may be a good idea.

Regarding the tower:

You look upwards – well, so far as up can have any meaning in this place – and see a strange cylinder, domed at the top, hovering above you. As you wonder how this thing can cast a shadow, and where exactly the light illuminating this void comes from, you begin to notice other shapes emerging fully formed from thin air.

treave, does anything else in this place cast a shadow? It would be very curious if this tower were the only thing that did, though I'm not sure what conclusion that would draw.

Withholding my vote for now, considering Sphere Diplomacy strongly.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

Withholding my vote for now, considering Sphere Diplomacy strongly.

 

[Esquilax]

You either die fighting Sphere Diplomacy, or you live long enough to become a Sphere Diplomat.

... And then you actually die, because Sphere Diplomacy is insanely retarded.

 

[Kipeci]

Treave did promise that pet sphere a while ago...

 

[Baltika9]

I'll just ask the obvious: how long until we meet Ean?

 

[treave]

That reminds me: Is Erd hurt? Is he still wearing the shadow costume, or has that been dispelled and thus he's currently wearing his birthday's suit? We should cast Regeneration before doing anything else, just to be sure.

He's naked. Just hasn't really sunk in yet.

treave, where are the white humanoid shapes? near the green or the tower?

They're not here anymore.

treave, does anything else in this place cast a shadow? It would be very curious if this tower were the only thing that did, though I'm not sure what conclusion that would draw.

Of course they do. They all do. And when you're down here with them, Georgie, you'll cast a shadow too.

 

[Nevill]

He's naked. Just hasn't really sunk in yet.

Perfect. People were begging for an opportunity to go wings out for a while now.

Bros, what if the tower and the green space are illusions meant to draw us in?

I think you are overstating your importance to the Universe. If a sentient will is supposed to change things, then it follows that there is normally no sentient will around here. As such, I doubt it could qualify as a 'trap', though seeing white spheres as an option suggests it could be unpleasant all the same.

And if there is something sentient out there, I think we are better off meeting it than drifting in the void. I doubt teleportation could work when we are outside world's physical boundaries, and it may be unwise to use an escape method that got you into this situation in the first place. But the main point remains that we know absolutely nothing of this place except that it can lead us to parallel worlds and crossovers.

 

[Azira]

This is where you go when you teleport. The place you are in between the "then" and "now".
When you cross the distance from A to B with magic, your essence flows elsewhere for the transit. We've found that elsewhere, the Matrix trainstation.
Here is where we can really fuck things up. Fun, isn't it?

 

[Nevill]

So... do you think that the places we see are the potential destinations the spell could spit us out in, or are they a part of the Matrix?

 

[Azira]

Well. The Wachowski brothers have now both undergone sex-change, so I'm not sure what kind of credence I'd lend to the Matrix terminology, but I'm quite certain that this place is more about wrestling with Erdricks own psyche than anything else.
If the place reacts to sentience, then that same sentience will deeply influence what we encounter. Having the princeling around just throws another unknown into the mix. Add the missing Aria to it and everything could go pear-shaped any moment.

On the plus side, having two other people in here who are slightly less megalomaniacal than Erdrick might improve our odds of leaving the place relatively unscathed.

 

[lightbane]

Perfect. People were begging for an opportunity to go wings out for a while now.

More importantly: Erdrick got to be naked and near Rin without the latter attempting to behead him on the spot. Yay for progress!!* Also, a skin-tight shadow armor, you say?

Spoiler

If the place reacts to sentience, then that same sentience will deeply influence what we encounter. Having the princeling around just throws another unknown into the mix. Add the missing Aria to it and everything could go pear-shaped any moment. On the plus side, having two other people in here who are slightly less megalomaniacal than Erdrick might improve our odds of leaving the place relatively unscathed.

Erd going through a "Silent Hill-esque" experience sounds like it would be both amusing and terryfing in equal parts.

*Even though it is pretty much a really small step forward.

 

[ScubaV]

BB > AB

 

[archaen]

I like the idea of keeping the Prince. He is already completely broken and if we can get him back to our lair can be molded into a puppet with little effort.


We have three consciouses in the void and three choices to choose other than our teleport and I don't think that is a coincidence. I am leaning towards the the green square being the prince as he wants to go home and summoned a section of it. The cylinder is us as we are obsessed with our hyperweapon and the sphere must be Barbatos as a simplified fist. I guess the question is whose psyche we want to explore? I think we choose the sphere as Barbatos has the memories of Valgraaf and those memories may help us get a way out. (Shame on all you metagamers and the ultimate troll by treave if the sphere is the way out)


That leaves me as voting CB


treave can we cast a simple spell to see what magic does like orb of light or darkness?

 

[treave]

Magic seems to work as usual.

 

[Nevill]

We have three consciouses in the void and three choices to choose other than our teleport and I don't think that is a coincidence.

While it may not be a coincidence... what makes you think these are psyche exploration choices and not actual destinations affected by that psyche? Doesn't our Teleport require a memory of the place where we want to be as an anchor?

I mean, you yourself suggested that the greenery may be there because Prince Feyton wants to go home... maybe it's the 'portal' that directs us home, or at least to what is a relatively normal place.

There is always a chance that the white sphere one actually leads to White Spheres.

Still, it is said in the update that at this point 'one choice is as good as the other', so I suspect Kayerts may be right in that there is no definitive 'answer' among them.


Also, I would not dismiss the prince as 'broken'. He is in a state of shock, surely, but if a single kidnapping and a travel to the void could break his mind, I doubt we can get any mileage out of him. Though I am not too sure about naked child-eating angels...

Tally

Kz3r0 CC
Nevill BB>AB
Storyfag AB
Kipeci CA
Baltika9 CB
lightbane BB
Gobblecock Ax
Azira AB
Grimgravy AB
TOME AB
Elfberserker CB
Kayerts AB
Lambchop19 AB>BB>DB
ScubaV BB>AB
archaen CB
wjw CB
Esquilax CB
Jester CB

A - 7 (9)
B - 3 (1)
C - 8

A - 1
B - 15
C - 1
x - 1

 

[Kz3r0]

Flopping to AB to get the update.

 

[wjw]

Flipping to CB, cause i want to believe.

 

[Kipeci]

Who am I kidding, really? I've waited far too long for that pet to give it up now.

Ditch the prince and fly with all haste in a beeline for the sphere. CA

 

[wjw]

That's the spirit. If we dunt get gut at sphere diplomacy, we will never be able to beat treave's CYOA's.

 

[treave]

Practice makes perfect.

 

[Esquilax]

Esquilax, in 2012:

Zapping Marduk with a thunderbolt has made people way too gunshy, so they make stupid decisions that appear safe, but are actually insanely dumb and risky. Sort of like negotiating with an extradimensional being of incredible power on its home plane. Run the fuck away.

I'm the head Sphere Diplomat of this delegation. For all those who want in on the bandwagon, here's your chance.

CB

 

[Esquilax]

In all seriousness though, unlike the entity Ean met, this In Between seems to respond a bit more to Erdrick's meddling. Should we encounter something we cannot defeat, perhaps sacrificing the Prince will yield a reaction in this environment that would work in our favour.

 

[Nevill]

In all seriousness, there is no indication that the path to a place and the place itself are located in the same In Between. As I suggested, these might be destinations a portal could lead to.

Ean was never In Between to begin with.

I do not think any of these choices would spell our doom right away, but when we were told we should be alright if we don't manage to get trapped for the next few millennia, and then the express voter intent is to meet the same spheres* and to conduct the same diplomacy by interacting with them and offering them 'prince' instead of 'play' - as opposed to jumping the first rift in reality we see - I can't advocate for anything but staying the hell away from the one that offers such an opportunity.

BB>AB

* not talking about archaen, though - he has a legit theory that they aren't the same and as such his plan has nothing to do with what the rest of sphere fans are hoping for.

 

[Kz3r0]

treave can we kill the prince straight away to see if one of the three 'places' disappears?