In Progress [LP CYOA] Tower

[Kz3r0]

AB

 

[Baltika9]

Monster: dead.
Baby: saved.
Sibling: acquired.
Edgelords: BTFO.

Baltika9, for all the horrible mishaps that have occurred as a result of the YOLO decisionmaking that you are an advocate of, they are just as likely to result in glorious moments like this as they are to result in Sphere Diplomacy. Props!

Indeed, but the last choice was a no-brainer, really. C'mon, are you really going to let a baby (and an obvious plot coupon) die? It just didn't seem to fit with the character. It would fit for any other background, in my opinion, but not for the hunter. And last vote's success is why everyone should follow my lead, embrace the Noblebright and smile at the damn baby, Shinji! It is the right and the correct thing to do, even though I do see the appeal of LARPing Geralt.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

BB.
We shall be the rock upon which the wave breaks.

 

[Azira]

BB>BA

 

[treave]

treave, is the child a boy or a girl?

You didn't check. Is it important?

Also, treave, can we take the moment to fix what the baby's mother said in our memory?

For now I'm inclined to say no because you were injured, distracted by the most beautiful (about to be dead) woman you've ever seen, and also don't have the INT focus to justify such a good memory.

That 8 CON sure helps a lot in not dying though.

 

[Kz3r0]

By the way did we stab Shulgi good here?

 

[Baltika9]

treave, is the child a boy or a girl?

You didn't check. Is it important?

Even though we're probably going to lose our younger sibling soon, I would like to know if I should refer to it as our little brother or sister.

 

[Kipeci]

Esquilax has me convinced.

BA

I don’t think the baby will understand a smile to get much out of it (“Rain” seems to be a fairly happy camper now despite mom having been partially eaten, after all) but I am concerned that if we make a habit of being so incautious our master will take it as a sign of weakness should he notice such display in the future and pick at that relentlessly.

As to the second-choice, we’re crippled and bleeding with a baby on board. No chance of us fleeing without leaving a trail that the Hunter can follow and catch up to with ease, not from his own turf with most all that we know of stealth and woodcraft stemming from a glimmer of his teachings. C is repugnant. A is the best option left, the way I see it- I think an abusive man would not necessarily disregard the leverage this would give over us, and use it as inspiration to work us yet harder.

 

[Absinthe]

For now I'm inclined to say no because you were injured, distracted by the most beautiful (about to be dead) woman you've ever seen, and also don't have the INT focus to justify such a good memory.

I don't think it's a stretch to say that witnessing someone's dying words (especially after trying to save them) would leave a much stronger impression on your memory than normal. We might not be particularly smart but we're not a dumbass either and I think this is well within a normal person's capabilities. I know normally speaking we'll forget the finer details in a day or so, but we can keep going over it in our head while the experience is still fresh, until the details stick. Remembering her last words when we're going to care for her child seems important.

 

[Kipeci]

For now I'm inclined to say no because you were injured, distracted by the most beautiful (about to be dead) woman you've ever seen, and also don't have the INT focus to justify such a good memory.

I don't think it's a stretch to say that witnessing someone's dying words (especially after trying to save them) would leave a much stronger impression on your memory than normal. We might not be particularly smart but we're not a dumbass either and I think this is well within a normal person's capabilities. I know normally speaking we'll forget the finer details in a day or so, but we can keep going over it in our head while the experience is still fresh until it sticks.

Any man who can drive safely while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention it deserves.

We aren’t super smart, but we are wise! This is what the people voted for.

 

[Esquilax]

As to the second-choice, we’re crippled and bleeding with a baby on board. No chance of us fleeing without leaving a trail that the Hunter can follow and catch up to with ease, not from his own turf with most all that we know of stealth and woodcraft stemming from a glimmer of his teachings. C is repugnant. A is the best option left, the way I see it- I think an abusive man would not necessarily disregard the leverage this would give over us, and use it as inspiration to work us yet harder.

Exactly. At first, I was reluctant to stay, because I thought that our master would try to sell the kid anyways, but I don't think he'll do that. He's an abuser - he'll want to keep the kid around to use as psychological leverage. For now, the devil we know is better than the devil we don't know - we don't know how to function in normal civilization with our stunted social skills, and on top of that, we're wounded with a baby to take care of. If it was just the protagonist, high-tailing it out of the forest might be a good idea, but we have the baby to think about now.

 

[Baltika9]

If it was just the protagonist, high-tailing it out of the forest might be a good idea, but we have the baby to think about now.

Like Jing was the YOLOTIGER!, our protagonist is the RESPONSIBILITY FISH! I love it.

He's an abuser - he'll want to keep the kid around to use as psychological leverage.

You know what's really fucked? He hasn't even given us a name. We're just 'boy.'

 

[Absinthe]

We aren’t super smart, but we are wise! This is what the people voted for.

I don't think you need to be super smart to remember when someone was dying before your eyes and handing you a baby. We're not trying to remember some shit that happened last week. We're trying to remember the details of an extremely serious experience that happened within the last few hours because that experience is about to chart the direction of our future (caring for a baby).

 

[Esquilax]

Seems like we took a stat hit from our choice on account of our injured leg. Not that it wasn't worth it:

Stats:
Strength: 5
Dexterity: 6 (5)
Constitution: 8
Wisdom: 7
Intelligence: 5
Charisma: 3

I'm guessing that this injury isn't permanent and that our DEX will be back once we recover (also, the stat hit doesn't take into account that we can't really use that leg). Question is: how long?

You have no idea exactly how old the baby is, but it is looking up at you with clear green eyes. Short blonde locks cover the top of its head, and its ears are just as pointed as the dead woman’s. The last baby you had seen up close was… it would have been before your parents died. Before your younger sister died. How long ago was that? Your memories are vague – you cannot even remember their faces; only that they existed.

treave, how did our master find us and take us in? How did we end up with this guy?

We aren’t super smart, but we are wise! This is what the people voted for.

I don't think you need to be super smart to remember when someone was dying before your eyes and handing you a baby. We're not trying to remember some shit that happened last week. We're trying to remember the details of an extremely serious experience that happened within the last few hours because that experience is about to chart the direction of our future (caring for a baby).

I think it's a moot point, given that she speaks a language that's unknown to us. Maybe a smarter character might be able to suss out similarities in the words that this woman used in her language (Elven?) and our own and deduce more of what she meant, but I think that's about it.

 

[Absinthe]

I think it's a moot point, given that she speaks a language that's unknown to us. Maybe a smarter character might be able to suss out similarities in the words that this woman used in her language (Elven?) and our own and deduce more of what she meant, but I think that's about it.

I think you've been misinterpreting me. I'm not trying to deduce what she meant, at all. I'm simply trying to memorize the last words she said, over and over, so that one day we can find out what she was saying. It'll give us something to strive for and like I said, her last words are going to be really important if we're raising her child.

 

[Kipeci]

We aren’t super smart, but we are wise! This is what the people voted for.

I don't think you need to be super smart to remember when someone was dying before your eyes and handing you a baby. We're not trying to remember some shit that happened last week. We're trying to remember the details of an extremely serious experience that happened within the last few hours because that experience is about to chart the direction of our future (caring for a baby).

It wasn’t a super-serious response with the Einstein quote.

We were half-dead of exhaustion with major injuries, aurally wrecked by the shrieking of that abyssal creature and ccanot understand that language. I imagine she wasn’t enunciating too clearly either, what with bleeding to death and all. We were able to make out something somewhat like Rain since she kept repeating it, but I don’t think it’s reasonable to memorize some foreign sentences in such a case when we have no in-character reason to. Would he even know what a translator was?

 

[ItsChon]

BA I think we will fail considering our abysmal Charisma, but we have to try, and if our pleading does not convince him, we'll kill him in the middle of the night.

 

[Absinthe]

It wasn’t a super-serious response with the Einstein quote.

We were half-dead of exhaustion with major injuries, aurally wrecked by the shrieking of that abyssal creature and ccanot understand that language. I imagine she wasn’t enunciating too clearly either, what with bleeding to death and all. We were able to make out something somewhat like Rain since she kept repeating it, but I don’t think it’s reasonable to memorize some foreign sentences in such a case when we have no in-character reason to. Would he even know what a translator was?

I guess in your book witnessing the last words of the person you tried to save after a life-and-death experience wouldn't be very memorable, but I'll have to differ. And we're not trying to engage in language lessons or anything of the sort. We're trying to memorize sounds. We're a hunter ffs. We should have the basic skill to pay careful attention to sound. Perception is typically wis-based anyway.

BA I think we will fail considering our abysmal Charisma, but we have to try, and if our pleading does not convince him, we'll kill him in the middle of the night.

2A sounds like a terrible idea to me. We saw that our master is a cantankerous bastard of an alcoholic who abuses us and was about to sell the child we saved and his pendant for some money. We only have 3 charisma. I don't think he's going to prove to be the listening type.

 

[Esquilax]

BA I think we will fail considering our abysmal Charisma, but we have to try, and if our pleading does not convince him, we'll kill him in the middle of the night.

I think that any personal charisma or persuasiveness would have no bearing on convincing him to keep the child. He is okay with having the baby around as an excuse to keep fucking with the protagonist's head and abusing them. A more suave, charismatic character might do a better job at appealing to his greed/selfishness, but that's about it.

And consider this: our protagonist was five years old when we came into our master's guardianship. He was most likely just as much of a piece of shit then too - yet he didn't sell our character into slavery either despite the fact that we were not all that much older than this baby. Why is that? If he didn't sell our protagonist into slavery then, he can be convinced into staying his hand now. Especially because I think this guy prefers to have control over us first and foremost.

So we'll give him that - for now.

 

[Kipeci]

It wasn’t a super-serious response with the Einstein quote.

We were half-dead of exhaustion with major injuries, aurally wrecked by the shrieking of that abyssal creature and ccanot understand that language. I imagine she wasn’t enunciating too clearly either, what with bleeding to death and all. We were able to make out something somewhat like Rain since she kept repeating it, but I don’t think it’s reasonable to memorize some foreign sentences in such a case when we have no in-character reason to. Would he even know what a translator was?

I guess in your book witnessing the last words of the person you tried to save after a life-and-death experience wouldn't be very memorable, but I'll have to differ. And we're not trying to engage in language lessons or anything of the sort. We're trying to memorize sounds. We're a hunter ffs. We should have the basic skill to pay careful attention to sound. Perception is typically wis-based anyway.

BA I think we will fail considering our abysmal Charisma, but we have to try, and if our pleading does not convince him, we'll kill him in the middle of the night.

2A sounds like a terrible idea to me. We saw that our master is a cantankerous bastard of an alcoholic who abuses us and was about to sell the child we saved and his pendant for some money. We only have 3 charisma. I don't think he's going to prove to be the listening type.

If someone came up to me and started speaking in Mandarin Chinese I doubt I would be able to do some sort of perfect repeat back even in ideal circumstances, let alone when we’re both severely injured and distracted. Then we were dealing with making a grave and crutches rather than trying to carve it into our hearts.

 

[Nevill]

Why is that?

I would suspect that we wouldn't go for much in the first place.

He hardly has a need for the new kid. But yeah, I can see how he might want to put us even harder in his debt and make us submit even when we could start considering running away if we were on our own.

I don't expect to go far with our lame leg and a baby on our back, but maybe we could plead with someone for protection. We aren't just a burden, we can work! And since our Master steers clear of the village (and keeps us away from it) he might not have the best reputation in there.

 

[Absinthe]

If someone came up to me and started speaking in Mandarin Chinese I doubt I would be able to do some sort of perfect repeat back even in ideal circumstances, let alone when we’re both severely injured and distracted. Then we were dealing with making a grave and crutches rather than trying to carve it into our hearts.

That's because you have poor listening skills and don't understand the difference between random strangers walking up to you and saying random shit and hearing the last words of someone who you just tried to save, who handed you a baby, in terms of how it sticks out in your memory.

I think that any personal charisma or persuasiveness would have no bearing on convincing him to keep the child. He is okay with having the baby around as an excuse to keep fucking with the protagonist's head and abusing them. A more suave, charismatic character might do a better job at appealing to his greed/selfishness, but that's about it. And consider this: our protagonist was five years old when we came into our master's guardianship. He was most likely just as much of a piece of shit then too - yet he didn't sell our character into slavery either despite the fact that we were not all that much older than this baby. Why is that? If he didn't sell our protagonist into slavery then, he can be convinced into staying his hand now. Especially because I think this guy prefers to have control over us first and foremost. So we'll give him that - for now.

Even if circumstances go down the way you hope, it sounds like it would still be better to run off with the child now than subject him/her to that kind of childhood. We can hunt on our own anyway. Also, the child is an exotic good, unlike us. So selling us into slavery is not particularly profitable and likely to alienate the surrounding community. At the very least I wouldn't be surprised if he sells the pendant. I really don't want to bank on our ability to convince him to keep the child to ensure a good end. I'd be surprised if treave honestly didn't give us at least some form of penalty for our low charisma.

 

[Baltika9]

Here is how I see the situation: our hero is faced with a choice between sticking it out with his guardian in an abusive arrangement in the hopes that said abusive guardian will keep the child just for the boy's sake, or trying to run away from a skilled hunter across familiar terrain, while owunded and caring for a child. These are fantastic options, but we must pick one. C isn't an option. I prefer to pick B to A because I don't want our younger sibling to grow up in these conditions, or to be sold on a slave market.

Esquilax's analysis of A seems like it might be close to the truth, in that abusers do absolutely seek out ways to control their victims, but we have no way of knowing if that is how the old man will react. If he's right, and our guardian will keep it just to have leverage on us, then congratulations, we will bringa little baby into our personal hell; if he's wrong, then congratulations, our inaction just got it (or at least it's probably valuable amulet that other elves will use to identify it) sold on the market. Also, I don't think that escaping with the baby later will be easy at all: if our guardian is a manipulative bastard, then he will have the brains to keep the kid with him and not us, and I don't fancy our chances of stealing the kid from him down the line. Lastly, I don't really see why he would want more leverage over us right now. Like Absinthe said:

Also, the child is an exotic good, unlike us. So selling us into slavery is not particularly profitable and likely to alienate the surrounding community. At the very least I wouldn't be surprised if he sells the pendant.

B is not great either, however. We'll be trying to outrun a skilled hunter on his home turf with a bum leg. But I'm more comfortable with our odds of stumbling across an elven patrol from Rivendell, or a town with decent folks who won't let an obvious piece of shit abduct a boy with an adorable baby, than I am with predicting the moods of our abusive guardian. The best way to deal with an abusive relationship is to get out of it.

The bigger issue for me is that no on wants to smile at the baby. Come on, you edgelords, it's adorable and wants affection. Please.

TL;DR: I agree with Absinthe, which was bound to happen sooner or later. Let this be known as the Great Balto-Absinthean Concordat.

aurally wrecked by the shrieking of that abyssal creature

Bro, what the fuck are you talking about?

 

[Esquilax]

You guys have convinced me. Rather than banking on this guy allowing us to keep the baby around purely out of a sense of sadism, we should take matters into our own hands. We don't have any persuasive wordplay to convince him with, and even if he did, I doubt this guy would give a shit - he would probably rather just take the money now.

It's not gonna get easier. I'm on board the YOLO train. Fish-flopping to BB

 

[Absinthe]

I'm still amused you think I had some kind of beef with you, Baltika9. I honestly don't recall any grudges. I do recall giving you a hard time on occasion but that's about all it was.