In Progress [LP CYOA] Tower

[Nevill]

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.

We are heading to the village that is a day's travel away. Not some town, and not Rivendell either.

It's a possibility because our Master will be absent for exactly one day:

“Stay put, boy. I’ll be back tomorrow once I check about a buyer for this little shit. It’s a pretty little thing and those weird pointy ears might go for a higher price.”

So I don't think we are trying to outrun him - we aren't journeying out in the wilds, but with a destination in mind.

My hypothesis is that he'll almost certainly catch up with us in the village, but then it would depend on whether we find anyone to take us in and show him out.

If he catches us before then... well, we are screwed, but at least we have a headstart.

 

[Baltika9]

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

Unlike Jing, Nameless acts out of a sense of responsibility to his wards. I suppose you could even call him a RESPONSIBILITYFISH. Yes, I think that's our new thing.

Now, smile at the damn baby, Shinji! What's next, Arwen tries to give us a kiss and we start hyperventilating because we must always be serious and stoic, and talk with a voice lower than Nolan's Batman?

 

[Nevill]

Come on, you edgelords, it's adorable and wants affection.

Oh, we'll give it plenty of affection. But even our affection comes with dead FISH eyes.

 

[Kipeci]

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?

It becomes a formless shadow, a mass of writhing black tendrils and countless eyes, shrieking cacophonously as if there were dozens if not hundreds of it, screaming all at the same time in jangled, discordant screeches, so loudly that it almost drives you insane. Pain, confusion, and anger not of your own fill your mind.

It was a howler.

I just don’t see why we’d have reason to commit what barely audible foreign murmers we don’t understand to memory in such a traumatic situation. I get Rain because she said that with emphasis to the baby and repeatedly which definitely helps with memory, but there’s no in-character reason to carve what she whispered in our hearts perfectly although we don’t understand it so that we can get it translated if we happen to get to someone we can speak to who also knows Elvish later.

 

[Baltika9]

===Early poll===

==1st choice==
A - 7
B - 10

==2nd choice==
A - 2
B - 13
C - 1
D - 1

Votes

Baltika9 - AB>AA
Kz3r0 - AB
CappenVarra - AD
Life of the Party - AB
Grigravy - AB
Zerafall - AB
baud - AB>BB>CC

oscar - BC>AC
Nevill - BB
Absinthe - BB
Esquilax - BB
ERYFKRAD - BB
Azira - BB>BA
Kipeci - BA
ItsChon - BA
asxetos - BB
Tigranes - BB

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.

I know. I'm just milking it for purposes of rhetoric and lulz now.

Come on, you edgelords, it's adorable and wants affection.

Oh, we'll give it plenty of affection. But even our affection comes with dead FISH eyes.

Nah, I get the 'strong, silent appeal.' And considering that we're about to run off into the woods and hopefully get found by either the Elves or the Dunedain, we're on track to becoming Aragorn. Which means we might actually get to snog with Arwen down the line.

 

[CappenVarra]

A smile, with 3 cha it's likely to scare the baby instead but what the hell
+
D poison old fuckwit's drink

 

[Life of the Party]

AB

Spoiler

 

[asxetos]

BB

Spoiler

 

[Absinthe]

I just don’t see why we’d have reason to commit what barely audible foreign murmers we don’t understand to memory in such a traumatic situation. I get Rain because she said that with emphasis to the baby and repeatedly which definitely helps with memory, but there’s no in-character reason to carve what she whispered in our hearts perfectly although we don’t understand it so that we can get it translated if we happen to get to someone we can speak to who also knows Elvish later.

Are you serious? We're going to raise a kid and you see no reason why we should commit his/her mother's final words as she gave us the child to memory? The reason should be very obvious.

On that note we should probably also try to make sure we'll remember where we buried the mother.

 

[Kipeci]

I just don’t see why we’d have reason to commit what barely audible foreign murmers we don’t understand to memory in such a traumatic situation. I get Rain because she said that with emphasis to the baby and repeatedly which definitely helps with memory, but there’s no in-character reason to carve what she whispered in our hearts perfectly although we don’t understand it so that we can get it translated if we happen to get to someone we can speak to who also knows Elvish later.

Are you serious? We're going to raise a kid and you see no reason why we should commit his/her mother's final words as she gave us the child to memory? The reason should be very obvious.

On that note we should probably also try to make sure we'll remember where we buried the mother.

As a reader, sure. As a character, he’s ten years old and never so much as goes to the local village- pretty sure that elves are entirely new to him, let alone the idea that he could find a person who speaks Elvish to find out what mom said. And he was dealing with massive injuries and attending pain. And she was not speaking incredibly clearly due to exhaustion from her own fatal ones. And he was distracted by her not quite human features. It’s a big ask of him to flawlessly recall each last word of a language he doesn’t know in those circumstances, but he managed the most important one that she kept repeating with emphasis.

 

[Baltika9]

I dunno, I just think it would be cool if we could tell the kid it's mother's last words. I guess we should have went with the 6 INT Archer after all. Except he probably wouldn't have enough END to save the kid in the first place.

 

[Absinthe]

As a reader, sure. As a character, he’s ten years old and never so much as goes to the local village- pretty sure that elves are entirely new to him, let alone the idea that he could find a person who speaks Elvish to find out what mom said.

I'm impressed with your commitment to being dense. The MC doesn't need to know what elves are. A woman handed him a child while speaking words in an unfamiliar language. He is going to raise that child. He would understand that the last words of the person who handed him the child would be important.

And he was dealing with massive injuries and attending pain. And she was not speaking incredibly clearly due to exhaustion from her own fatal ones. And he was distracted by her not quite human features. It’s a big ask of him to flawlessly recall each last word of a language he doesn’t know in those circumstances, but he managed the most important one that she kept repeating with emphasis.

If it's a question of perceptiveness, I'm pretty sure that as a hunter we have a keen ear for sounds regardless of whether or not we understand them, especially since perceptiveness falls under wisdom unless I'm mistaken.

 

[Nevill]

Should have went with Comrade Bull. Wouldn't understand a word of elvish, but would punch puny monster good so the mother wouldn't even be dying in the first place.

Plus he would be the one beating up his Master and not the other way around.

 

[Baltika9]

Should have went with Comrade Bull. Wouldn't understand a word of elvish, but would punch puny monster good so the mother wouldn't even be dying in the first place.

Plus he would be the one beating up his Master and not the other way around.

Yeah, that's what I said we should do. Did anyone listen? No. Now I'm saying that we really should smile at the baby. Is anyone listening? No.


How can you not want to smile at this:

 

[Zerafall]

I don't think there's any way in hell that Nameless would remember the mother's last words. Maybe if he was some ultra genius, but he's average in regards to intelligence. Plus, he's a ten-year old. In a high-stress situation like that where he just came out of a fight with a monster, sustaining considerable bodily harm in the process, it's a miracle that he was coherent enough to even comprehend that the woman was emphasizing her child's name. She was speaking in another language for fuck's sake -- there was just too much going on for Nameless to record the (to him) random Elvish gibberish coming out of her mouth. It sucks that the mother's final words are lost, but there's little we can do about it.

I tell you what we can do, though. We can raise our newly found Imoutou and or Otoutou (forgive the Weebspeak) and do our best to give them a relatively happy childhood; because dammit, we are now the wise, sturdy and stoic responsible big brother Fish that we were always meant to be!

 

[Grimgravy]

Haha! White Knighting for elves! Let's continue down that merry path shall we?

AB

 

[Absinthe]

It does not require being an ultra-genius to remember the details of an extremely serious event that happened barely hours ago, when the events are still fresh in your head. And contrary to your take, Zerafall, there wasn't a whole lot going on at the moment that the woman gave us her final words. The only thing that was distracting us was that we were looking at her. But as a hunter with 7 wis, I'd reckon that perception is a strong suit of ours.

 

[baud]

AB > BB > CC

Smile! (or not)

And looking at the character sheet we're not even getting a karma point for saving a baby from an horrible monster? Shame!

 

[Nevill]

I tell you what we can do, though. We can raise our newly found Imoutou and or Otoutou (forgive the Weebspeak) and do our best to give them a relatively happy childhood; because dammit, we are now the wise, sturdy and stoic responsible big brother Fish that we were always meant to be!

I wonder.

Is "Codex raises a child" a sequel to the much acclaimed "Codex writes a love confession"?
And will we get comparable results?

 

[Zerafall]

It does not require being an ultra-genius to remember the details of an extremely serious event that happened barely hours ago, when the events are still fresh in your head. And contrary to your take, Zerafall, there wasn't a whole lot going on at the moment that the woman gave us her final words. The only thing that was distracting us was that we were looking at her. But as a hunter with 7 wis, I'd reckon that perception/attentiveness is a strong suit of ours.

What do you mean there wasn't a lot of things going on? I'll list out all the crazy shit that just happened that sure as hell was weighing in on Nameless at the time:

1) He just survived extended combat with a monster.
2) He just suffered a severe injury.
3) He's seeing a strange, beautiful woman dying in front of him, all the whilst speaking in moonrunes.

Shit, if I was that kid, I wouldn't be mentally jotting down whatever comes out of that woman's mouth, I'd be bemoaning the future fucking therapy bills! 'Course, I probably would've died to the monster like a little bitch, but you get the point.

Also, I think it'd be less an issue of perceptiveness, and more one of memory. Which, I would guess would fall under Intelligence more than Wisdom.

Look man, this is just my take on the thing. If this doesn't convince you, then I dunno. Let's just agree to disagree, then.

I tell you what we can do, though. We can raise our newly found Imoutou and or Otoutou (forgive the Weebspeak) and do our best to give them a relatively happy childhood; because dammit, we are now the wise, sturdy and stoic responsible big brother Fish that we were always meant to be!

I wonder.

Is "Codex raises a child" a sequel to the much acclaimed "Codex writes a love confession"?
And will we get comparable results?

Do I even want to know?

 

[Life of the Party]

He's a strange, beautiful woman

 

[Absinthe]

I'll have to strongly disagree then. I don't think it's crazy business to think that after all the work he put into saving the woman, he would be focusing his attention on the woman. Maybe you'd be a scatterbrain, but I'd think our MC is made of a bit sterner stuff than that, considering his two strong suits are constitution and wisdom, and we did just vote to grit our teeth and push through with trying to save her.

 

[Baltika9]

Do I even want to know?

You need to know. This is the love confession to Yunzi that the we wrote. Our best work of art.

Good Ending

You take a deep breath, stepping forward as earnestness suffuses every inch of your being. Looking at Yunzi straight in the eye, you block out all else, consigning every other person in this room into irrelevance. Then, you begin your heartfelt speech…

“We have much to talk about and solve between us, but first I want us to complete this together. We're better fighting together than alone. Remember that night against Changfeng? And the fight with the toad demon? The heavens themselves cannot keep us apart it seems. Whatever we do, we always end up together. Now, let's finish this gauntlet as we started it. A pair. Do you trust me? Remember, I did jump off my horse for you. Qilin and Cao'er might refer to you as "third", but you were the one I first proposed to, even if I did not know it at the time. Long ago, I promised you the moon and the stars for your love. I'm still coming up short, but here's a spark to start. Get up Holy Maiden, this race isn't over yet. Either I kiss you, or we find a toad demon. And THEN I kiss you. Because I'm not going to leave you. Not again. Though, in truth, I never did. You've always been with me. In my mind...and in my heart."

You draw out the wolf’s fang amulet, raising up high and allowing it to dangle from your fingers. It wobbles in the musty air of the silent pagoda, a symbol of love that only the two of you would understand.

“Now if you still want to kill me I understand. My life's in your hands... But I think the Abbot would be terribly disappointed... if I kiss the Abbot right now, will he explode? I'd love to find out, but I need your help, because I'm not sure if he's willing. I need you, I need you to help us do this together. I’ve always needed you all these years. I'd have no one else here but you, Yunzi, now let's go kick some ass!"

Yunzi’s eyes are wide in astonishment. She does not say a word. Maybe she is too taken by the grandiose affection of your declaration. You open your mouth again, to elicit a response, but before the next words have left your throat, she makes a sound.

She snickers.

Then, the entire room bursts into laughter.

Everyone is laughing at you. The monks. Qilin. Even Cao’er. Even Guo Fu.

Perhaps it would not have been so bad had you not meant every single word you said.

Your sensitive heart breaks. For once in your life you exposed your raw emotions, bared it out for the world to see, but the moment you do so it ends up being cruelly trampled into the dusty floor like nothing more than dirt. Tears streaming from your eyes, you leap out of the pagoda window, using your qinggong to flee from the site of your humiliation.

Day turns to night, and you lose all count of time before you finally stop, exhausted of breath and of tears. How could they? How could they!?

Your broken heart cannot be mended. You contemplate ending your life. A single thrust to the heart with the Yuchang Sword would do it. You would not even leave a single word of death poetry behind. Gingerly, your fingers trembling, you pull out the valuable blade. It shall soak itself with your heartsblood, binding yet another legend to its name.

You point the tip of the sword at your chest.

All it would take is a single push.

“What is wrong now, my stupid disciple?”

You drop the sword in surprise, looking upwards. Then, you rub your teary eyes in disbelief.

Master Zhang is standing on top of a tree, silhouetted in the silvery moonlight. The wind tosses his long, unkempt hair about even as it scatters the pale petals of the nearby plum blossoms in a mesmerizing dance.

“M-master…”

You tell him everything you have been through. All of the pain and misunderstanding. All of the suffering.

Zhang Jue lets out a barking, gruff laugh. “Do not be a fool, Xu Jing. Even if the world rejects you, I will not.” Stretching out his hand, he says, “The earth is vast and there are always things to see… and things to fight. Come, dear disciple. Our journey is not yet over.”

A warmth in your chest and a blush on your cheeks, you reach out for his hand.


-ZHANG JUE END-

Never underestimate us. Also, the Anti-Grimdark coalition needs just two flops for us to tie with the non-smilers.

 

[Zerafall]

Do I even want to know?

You need to know. This is the love confession to Yunzi that the we wrote. Our best work of art.

Good Ending



-ZHANG JUE END-

Never underestimate us. Also, the Anti-Grimdark coalition needs just two flops for us to tie with the non-smilers.

That was simultaneously the best and worst thing I've ever read. I need to crawl through the entirety of the Legend thread when I have the time, just scraped the story-only posts when I read it the first go-around.

 

[Nevill]

Do I even want to know?

Oh yes. Yes you do.

I assume you've read Legend, yes? There was an arc, the Shaolin Gauntlet, where the Shaolin bros tested us, and we ran it with Yunzi. Somewhere along the road she ran out of Qi, and we faced a choice to either leave her behind, or... donate her some of ours. With a kiss. The latter choice won.

treave was about to write something disastrous where she would take it rather badly, considering all of the shit we put her through, and our... escapades with other women. But he gave us a chance to turn this around and make a confession out of it. Here.

I advise you to read the resulting discussion. All of it. You will not find its like anywhere else besides the darkest corners of Tumblr.

This was the result. Some people (True Believers of the Zhang Jue Appreciation Society) consider it the canon ending to the quest.