In Progress [LP CYOA] Tower

[Esquilax]

As an aside, despite how fucked up our current predicament is, I'm kinda glad we went with the Knights as opposed to John Bull. With Xu Jing, we went for the psycho teacher already in Zhang Jue, and they were a perfect fit. Given Wrinkly's more stoic, reserved personality, he's more Shaolin monk than charming troll daredevil.

I'm speculating that we're dealing with Knights from the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, based on the Spanish/Italian name and the zealotry of our boy Antonio.

Now, onto current business - let's take a look at what an interrogation here would look like if that's the direction we choose to go. If we stick around, I'm guessing that any smart interrogator (most likely our 'good cop' commander here) will place us and Harold in separate rooms to discern what the fuck just happened. Obviously, Harold will rat us out and put all the blame on us.

And quite frankly - it does not look good. We went along with Harold's idea, we procured a body for him, then we added our own blood into the ritual. We went from being an accomplice, to an active participant in this shit, then we used our power to save ourselves, which outed us to Antonio as a potentially inhuman. If I were Harold, I'd say that our character put him up to it and that he was only following orders. We need a fucking lawyer, guys.

Then there's the question of Rain. She's clearly not human either, and I can't justify leaving them to the tender mercies of these knights.

I hate being inconsistent, and generally when it comes to choices, I think that you're better off riding things out rather than doing a 180 every update. In this case though, my instincts are telling me that unless someone comes in like a deus ex machina to bust us out, we gotta bail.

A1

 

[Non-Edgy Gamer]

They caught us with the Hound's eye Astra.

The what? I'd like to see some evidence of this.

Oops, it got destroyed.

 

[Tigranes]

I want A1 to work like all of you, but do we actually see anything in the update that suggests it wouldn't go absolutely horribly?

 

[Nevill]

Although in the previous case (and I hope any other) I stand by my vote. I thought it was the most consistent with Wrinkly's character so far (not to say the voting polis can't yoink it in another direction over time), and it of course jived with my personal sense of morality.

Punishment for trying to do the right thing is a feature, not a bug.

Now, I am not going to bitch and moan (unless it's at certain people ) but I think this attempts to justify a choice post-factum with a veneer of righteousness (not that I am not fond of it), and it might create a bad pattern where harsh consequences for poor choices are made to look inevitable or even attractive as if they are battle scars. But sometimes you get scarred for putting your limb in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The possibility of Liz being kidnapped was pointed out, multiple times. Wrinkly could have realized the threat, decided that you hang together rather than separately, and chosen to stick with her come hell or high water. It would be a moral choice fully consistent with his character as depicted so far... which means that consistency and morality have nothing at all to do with the result. We made a snap judgement, and didn't get what we wanted out of it. Now we are dealing with the fallout.

And yes, I realize there would have been consequences for going with John Bull; I thought them more palatable so long as the three of us were together.

I am saying that so that the next time Wrinkly is blackmailed, directly or indirectly, we could accept that his "virtue" would be intact even if he accedes.

As an aside, despite how fucked up our current predicament is, I'm kinda glad we went with the Knights as opposed to John Bull. With Xu Jing, we went for the psycho teacher already in Zhang Jue, and they were a perfect fit. Given Wrinkly's more stoic, reserved personality, he's more Shaolin monk than charming troll daredevil.

I'm speculating that we're dealing with Knights from the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, based on the Spanish/Italian name and the zealotry of our boy Antonio.

John Bull never even pretended to want to teach us anything, and even if he did he'd be very different from Zhang Jue. I think it's the Hound who took at least a partial role of a cruel yet laidback mentor, occasionally prodding us to action, making offers we can't refuse, and watching us thrash around with a vague sense of amusement.

Uridimmu Gaiden when? I want to read the doggo adventures in zombieland!

As for the Order... they have their insignia described in no ambiguous terms.

Atop the small hill of corpses sits a pale man carefully wiping blood off his dagger with a handkerchief. He is dressed in a noble’s attire, seemingly unsuited for battle, though what stands out the most about his outfit is the elaborate golden collar around his neck, from which an elaborate insignia of a hanging ram dangles.

You don't have to know them by heart (I certainly didn't), but even casual googling provides this picture:

They are none other than the Cavaliers of the Order of St. Commissar Lambchop united in their hatred against inhumans Libruls.

Spoiler

The man sniffs the air, his nostrils flaring. “Liberals… you stink of them.”
[...]
“I will purge you.” There is no mercy to be found in that voice.
[...]
The man, Antonio, stands up, the dagger dangling in his grip. “Children? They are barely even human, Commissar."

 

[Absinthe]

As an aside, despite how fucked up our current predicament is, I'm kinda glad we went with the Knights as opposed to John Bull. With Xu Jing, we went for the psycho teacher already in Zhang Jue, and they were a perfect fit. Given Wrinkly's more stoic, reserved personality, he's more Shaolin monk than charming troll daredevil.

Eh, John Bull may be crazy but he's no Zhang Jue. Our adventures would've been different. And we wouldn't have lost Liz, like I predicted. Honestly, if John Bull hadn't taken her, she'd've been dead now. That's how bad a B vote was.

I want A1 to work like all of you, but do we actually see anything in the update that suggests it wouldn't go absolutely horribly?

They're both distracted, since they're going to be exchanging a report on what happened, and right now we aren't being guarded just yet. The rest of the knights aren't in position either. That's our opportunity. We also have strong very basis to believe that getting interrogated with Harold would go absolutely horribly for us, since we know these people's opinions on devils and whatnot. So a B vote just means we are going to be very fucked very fast. This is our only opportunity, so we have to take it, especially since they can't kill us anyhow. I feel like most B votes are more about rejecting A votes than comparing A votes to the alternative of B. But part of it is also the principle of the matter, like when we left the Hunter's cabin in the prologue. We can't put afford to lie there and put Rain at risk like this when we have an opportunity to reach for something better.

Doing nothing (voting B) might feel safer than doing something risky, but that doesn't mean it is safer. Here's the situation you gotta confront with a B vote: It's got extremely strong odds of leading to a variety of bad outcomes including us becoming a major criminal responsible for the hospital incident, including the knights determining that we are in league with devils and enacting their judgment (We just saw what they thought of us being a friend of John Bull. Uridimmu, a literal devil, is going to be so much worse.), and including Rain being discovered as an inhuman which will go very badly for her. It is almost certain to cost us Rain one way or another. It is even possible for it to flat-out Bad End the entire CYOA. It's not impossible we'll get executed, considering our body count and the fact that we unleashed a devil on the hospital.

 

[Non-Edgy Gamer]

And we wouldn't have lost Liz, like I predicted.

Did you also predict the voice mimic stuff?

It was clear to me that he needed permission to take people places, and I was right that he did. Everyone agreed that Liz would probably not give it. The mimicry was unforeseen as far as I can remember.

 

[Nevill]

Did you also predict the voice mimic stuff?

Not exactly.

I don't like engaging in "I told you so" contests, and I don't fault anyone for not predicting how it unfolded, but my precise words were:

Also missing from your assessment is the possibility where the team splits. Liz is currently in John Bull's hands -- or rather, at the end of his cane. It is possible that he requires our permission to take us with him, but we don't know his limitations.

There were several possibilities there, from a regular hostage situation, to not requiring consent from undead, to being unconscious and dead counting as an item etc. The problem was that Liz wasn't in our grasp, but his.

In the end it was a different limitation we didn't know about that laid us low.

You acknowledged it as a possibility, and took the chance. It's fine so long as we don't make "the morally right choice" out of it.

 

[Non-Edgy Gamer]

I don't like engaging in "I told you so" contests, and I don't fault anyone for not predicting how it unfolded, but my precise words were:

Still not seeing "he'll mimic our voice!"

To me, it seemed you were brushing off the idea he needed permission and nothing more.

The problem was that Liz wasn't in our grasp, but his.

And yet, he was still asking permission. For all we knew, he was pointing an empty gun barrel at us, so to speak. Had he not mimicked us, he would not have been able to take her.

You acknowledged it as a possibility, and took the chance. It's fine so long as we don't make "the morally right choice" out of it.

Anything is clearly possible. However, I didn't see a logical way for him to do it. Nowhere did I say "sure it's possible he will mimic our voice" and take her. I acknowledged the slim chance that he'd be able to take her anyway.

That said, I also have to say that the idea of him taking all 3 of us still could have been worse potentially.

 

[Absinthe]

And we wouldn't have lost Liz, like I predicted.

Did you also predict the voice mimic stuff?

It was clear to me that he needed permission to take people places, and I was right that he did. Everyone agreed that Liz would probably not give it. The mimicry was unforeseen as far as I can remember.

No, I just predicted either he would take her or the knights would take her and either way we were virtually certain to lose her as a part of our party. I'm fairly certain that if Liz did not go with Bull she would be getting killed just like Bull said she would, so this is actually a better outcome than it was headed to.

Remember, I voted A because it had the lowest odds of splitting the party. Now the party has been split.

 

[Non-Edgy Gamer]

I'm fairly certain that if Liz did not go with Bull she would be getting killed just like Bull said she would, so this is actually a better outcome than it was headed to.

This I actually was wrong about, and I fully agree with you. However, we had no reason to trust that Bull was telling the truth. Had he been trustworthy to me, I would have recommended we go with him.

 

[Absinthe]

Of course not, but we knew we weren't looking at a good option when it came to staying with the knights. John Bull still hasn't become more trustworthy than he was a moment ago, but the knights have definitely proven why they weren't a good pick.

I find it interesting that last vote we were worried about Sphere Diplomacy but now that that B vote is shown to be headed towards some bad places (and already costing us Liz and and the eye) with the potential for getting much worse still, suddenly there's a lot more optimistic thinking to go around.

 

[Non-Edgy Gamer]

Of course not, but we knew we weren't looking at a good option when it came to staying with the knights. John Bull still hasn't become more trustworthy than he was a moment ago, but the knights have definitely proven why they weren't a good pick.

Well, this knight has proven to be a zealot. He clearly wants to kill Rain if he can. Not sure about the others yet.

 

[Absinthe]

Zealot or not, their order clearly does not tolerate inhumans. And we just loosed a devil on the hospital.

 

[BlizzardStockholmSyndrome]

Well, now I feel stupid for chosing the safe option instead of going full retard. We might have been a snack for a cannibal demigod but at least we would have kept our eye of the edgelord +1.

Then again, we have more astras: a map and a shield. As long as someone does the fighting for us, we can be an assistant. I think we are literally a squire in all but name so the odds of getting conscripted like Alexei did with the boys at the village are increasing.

Also, I have a soft spot for Meds (being one myself) so I vote B.

 

[Baltika9]

=== Tally ===

hello friend - A1
Baltika9 - A1
Kipeci - A1
Grimgravy- A1
Absinthe - A1>A2
Esquilax - A1
Tigranes - A1

Nevill - A2

ItsChon - B
ChumBucket - B
Orbit - B
Azira - B
Non-Edgy Gamer - B
Kalarion - B
BlizzardStockholmeSyndrome - B

===

A1 - 7
A2 - 1
B - 7

As for the Order... they have their insignia described in no ambiguous terms.

Atop the small hill of corpses sits a pale man carefully wiping blood off his dagger with a handkerchief. He is dressed in a noble’s attire, seemingly unsuited for battle, though what stands out the most about his outfit is the elaborate golden collar around his neck, from which an elaborate insignia of a hanging ram dangles.

You don't have to know them by heart (I certainly didn't), but even casual googling provides this picture:

They are none other than the Cavaliers of the Order of St. Commissar Lambchop united in their hatred against inhumans Libruls.

Actually. That's an emblem of the Brooks Brothers clothing company.

The plot thickens.

 

[Kipeci]

=== Tally ===

hello friend - A1
Baltika9 - A1
Kipeci - A1
Grimgravy- A1
Absinthe - A1>A2
Esquilax - A1
Tigranes - A1

Nevill - A2

ItsChon - B
ChumBucket - B
Orbit - B
Azira - B
Non-Edgy Gamer - B
Kalarion - B
BlizzardStockholmeSyndrome - B

===

A1 - 7
A2 - 1
B - 7

As for the Order... they have their insignia described in no ambiguous terms.

Atop the small hill of corpses sits a pale man carefully wiping blood off his dagger with a handkerchief. He is dressed in a noble’s attire, seemingly unsuited for battle, though what stands out the most about his outfit is the elaborate golden collar around his neck, from which an elaborate insignia of a hanging ram dangles.

You don't have to know them by heart (I certainly didn't), but even casual googling provides this picture:

They are none other than the Cavaliers of the Order of St. Commissar Lambchop united in their hatred against inhumans Libruls.

Actually. That's an emblem of the Brooks Brothers clothing company.

The plot thickens.

Nah man I’m on for prayer

 

[Orbit]

What I don't like about A (apart from any consequences in case of failure) is the aftermath. So we break away from the knights in the hospital, then what? We have no friends here, no place to go, we will be sought by the knights and whatever law enforcement the city has. And with our charisma we can be assured no is going to help us except maybe some dubious stranger trying to rat us out to the knights for some shekels. Basically, our only chance is to leave the city immediately. But beyond that i can't make out any further goals or opportunities. A looks like a hard reset to me.

Anyone has thoughts on this?

 

[Nevill]

We have no friends here, no place to go, we will be sought by the knights and whatever law enforcement the city has.

Harold is the main suspect. It might take time until he wakes up, and more time to verify his claims without us to corroborate them.

Liz' parents are still in the city. They can either hide us (assuming the hospital records have been destroyed and no one can link them to us), or help us skip town.

That's if the knights are interested in looking for a kid who is at worst an accomplice to a clearly mad scientist.

 

[Baltika9]

A looks like a hard reset to me.

I don't see nothing wrong with that. Not like we're particularly attached to this city beyond Liz, her family and our Rain. I'm not particularly interested in sticking around with the Inquisition on our tail.

 

[hello friend]

What I don't like about A (apart from any consequences in case of failure) is the aftermath. So we break away from the knights in the hospital, then what? We have no friends here, no place to go, we will be sought by the knights and whatever law enforcement the city has. And with our charisma we can be assured no is going to help us except maybe some dubious stranger trying to rat us out to the knights for some shekels. Basically, our only chance is to leave the city immediately. But beyond that i can't make out any further goals or opportunities. A looks like a hard reset to me.

Anyone has thoughts on this?

A-->Rescue Liz somehow

 

[Absinthe]

What I don't like about A (apart from any consequences in case of failure) is the aftermath. So we break away from the knights in the hospital, then what? We have no friends here, no place to go, we will be sought by the knights and whatever law enforcement the city has. And with our charisma we can be assured no is going to help us except maybe some dubious stranger trying to rat us out to the knights for some shekels. Basically, our only chance is to leave the city immediately. But beyond that i can't make out any further goals or opportunities. A looks like a hard reset to me.

Anyone has thoughts on this?

Rescuing Liz, maybe joining up with the Hunters' Association, exploring ruins, exploring the wilds, or just joining some other city or village... they're all options. The future is full of possibilities, but obviously rescuing Liz is in the cards, and so is learning who that fucking knight order we're on the run from is. Strong odds we'll also interact with the Hunter Association or Madame Tlalli in the future.

And Harold blaming us isn't going to take nearly as well if they can't investigate us to corroborate his claims.

We have no friends here, no place to go, we will be sought by the knights and whatever law enforcement the city has.

Harold is the main suspect. It might take time until he wakes up, and more time to verify his claims without us to corroborate them.

Liz' parents are still in the city. They can either hide us (assuming the hospital records have been destroyed and no one can link them to us), or help us skip town.

That's if the knights are interested in looking for a kid who is at worst an accomplice to a clearly mad scientist.

Hiding at Liz's parents' place is a horrible idea. They're going to figure out who we are really fast and figure out our residence too. That's the first place they'll check after the hospital. They don't need hospital records to identify the boy with a burned face who works as an orderly and who Harold is also going to talk about. No. I'd much sooner run to the Hunter Association than that, and I think honestly we'll have to take to the wilds and try to towerspace our way out of this place to escape pursuers if we don't immediately run to a faction for protection. At least our character is good at life in the wilds and we can find some other place as soon as we get out of here.

 

[Baltika9]

What I don't like about A (apart from any consequences in case of failure) is the aftermath. So we break away from the knights in the hospital, then what? We have no friends here, no place to go, we will be sought by the knights and whatever law enforcement the city has. And with our charisma we can be assured no is going to help us except maybe some dubious stranger trying to rat us out to the knights for some shekels. Basically, our only chance is to leave the city immediately. But beyond that i can't make out any further goals or opportunities. A looks like a hard reset to me.

Anyone has thoughts on this?

A-->Rescue Liz somehow

Pretty much, yeah. We got in a bad situation, tried our best to navigate it and now our adopted family is in trouble. Elizabeth is kidnapped, Rain is unconscious, we're one-eyed. We even lost our doggie.

So, uh, now that we've made our arguments and drawn up our lines...
Anyone open to flopping to A1? Let's not go with the crazy people who definitely do not bear us any good will.

Edit: I ain't failed you all yet!

 

[hello friend]

Baltika9 is a good man. You should listen to him.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

B

 

[Absinthe]

So, what makes you B voters so certain Rain will be okay?