STATUS:
@SaltSight Game was Astlibra: Revision. Found it on sale bundled with another game I've been wanting so I gave it a shot and got like, straight indie JRPG of the early 2000s injected into my veins.
3 yrs ago
Current
@SaltSight Game was Astlibra: Revision. Found it on sale bundled with another game I've been wanting so I gave it a shot and got like, straight indie JRPG of the early 2000s injected into my veins.
3
likes
3 yrs ago
Hate that strange ennui that hits after 100%'ing a really, really good game. Good time was had, but man am I glad it can't mess my sleep schedule up anymore.
6
likes
4 yrs ago
Rich people blood sports is how the Oscar's should always have gone. As a hot blooded american man I cant sleep at night without witnessing violence of some kind.
3
likes
5 yrs ago
So true. Anyways, play Lancer!
5 yrs ago
Final Fantasy: Stranger in Paradise is the funniest shit I've ever seen while also not being a bad game. Just crack open some cold ones with the boys, blare Limp Bizket, and Kill Chaos.
Steppe Archer would freeze at the truth and bluntness of the Lizard Fighter's mention of her smell, causing her to react as if she'd actually just gotten jabbed in her side, leaning to the right on one foot off balance, arms raised in the air as she expressed her shock. "I-I mean...People are just scared of the smell of adventure!" she would exclaim, looking actually a bit downtrodden at the idea of her permanently being labeled as "stinky" for her first job.
"Let's all go in together. Might as well, since it isn't like we have anywhere else to be until the quest is all finished up," Steppe Archer would say, offering a fair point. What, were they going to loiter around at the guild hall twiddling their thumbs? They'd all agreed to join up as a party for another quest after, so she didn't see much reason for anyone to sit out the briefing. Regardless of the decision made on who should report, Steppe Archer would be fairly satisfied with the divided pay. Smiling at her paltry sum of coins, she marveled at how heavy hard-earned coin really felt. No wonder she'd heard of many adventurers going broke or into debt after huge payouts. She'd get nervous carrying about a large sum, having never even seen a whole gold piece at one time all her life.
"Patrol time!" the nomad girl would declare, before heading over to the quest board eagerly to see if the quest had been taken up by someone earlier or not. If so then...guess that was it for the night.
How well is Rodias hiding the pain in his eyes upon seeing Salem and being reminded of Dr.Drd? I'm wondering if I should have Salem notice and react to it, or if you wanted Rodias to have masked it perfectly, in which case, I won't.
It was maybe visible for a bit, but he started looking a bit happier the more time spent in the room. He kinda started looking at everyone in a similar way at a point.
At a certain point, even an immortal vampire, or at least half of one could feel as if he was about to have a heart attack. Poised upon his throne and waiting for his various underlings...no, underlings was far too demeaning of a term. His friends' children. That was at this point the only real way he could describe his anxiety at the prospect of looking after the entirety of the guild all by himself. The amount of love and care placed into creating each of them was tantamount to torturous to think about. Even Rodias' own NPC was now sentient, most likely. As such he would have to deeply consider how he would both present himself going forward, and consider the feelings of his subjects.
Would he try and rule over them as some kind of cruel boss? No. He'd had enough of that in his own life. Humming to himself as he waited, he figured that he would try and come across as being considerate yet firm. Understanding of their needs, yet also making sure that they would understand that he was in charge. Maybe he'd even form a union for them to organize complaints and-
...He'd forgotten about her. The NPC that he should have thought to exclude until he was mentally prepared. He always hated going to Chapter VI, which was ironic given that Chuunitrixx was probably now only ever not going to shoot at him, as opposed to the other Lords in that area. Before he could even greet her, Chuunitrixx would eagerly deploy her sentry turrets within the throne room, a simple act that he understood as a means to ensuring his safety but...
She was more than just a little bit extra.
*CRASH*
...It was at this point that he was fairly certain that were he himself in body, he'd likely have jumped out of his chair and made a mad break for the door. After all, the sound of concrete smashing being followed by the click of iron boots across the ground was grounds for anyone versed enough in fiction to start running. But he supposed that now, he himself may be the most unusual person in the entire chateau.
"Good to see you Mamoru and Chuunitrixx. As expected of the final Keeper to arrive first, but I'm amazed at your speed Mamoru, Rodias would say to compliment the both of them. Maybe its because, as an MMO character, his current body had seen more combat than most beings would ever see in their lifetime, but the guns being waved around didn't scare him in the least in the moment. Fear didn't seem like a possible response, but he couldn't help but notice that prior to her entering he had the instinct to clutch at the daggers hidden within his coat pockets. He supposed that was "Rodias'" instincts and not his own.
Mamoru was swiftly joined by the bestial gardener Zouyu, who, seeing that he had failed to get there first slunk his shoulders just a bit. "Crap...I was hoping I'd beat everyone here if I ran up the walls..."
Zouyu's childishness would almost make him cute, if not for the fact that Rodias knew full well that he was little more than a tiger in man's form. This included their ferocity. If he weren't fed regularly and let to roam free, he couldn't help but imagine that Kaldorna would love to keep him within the Hunter's Lodge. He was never intended to fight, which worked out well back when he was a simple AI, but a real living, breathing thing could grow bored. Hungry. Angry.
Going over to Chuunitrixx, but retaining a small bit of distance, Zouyu would curiously eye her. "...Are you ovulating?" he would ask, with all the innocence of a child. A really, really dangerous child. He would then turn to Mamoru and ask the same question, quizzically tilting his head to show his curiosity.
The next to arrive were those who whom were likely the easiest of all to find within their respective areas. Graft had the advantage of a network of information to rapidly pass along the message, and Kaldorna and her hunters were likely the first to notice the change in scenery outside...even before Rodias had. This time there were no surprises as the two who he would regard as the most "mature" of the NPCs his friends had created strode in. He felt a tad bit embarrassed that he didn't immediately recognize Athanar, but he was often too busy trying to make enough gold to make end's meet to keep the guild hall afloat by himself.
He knew that in particular as a knock against his Dhampir racial class, Sun200 had given each of the lower leveled vampires a special dialogue for when they were speaking to Rodias, a bit more dismissive and hostile in interactions due to his half-bloodedness. He supposed there was nothing to do but deal with it now, since he at least retained enough of his own rationale that killing over an insult was wrong. ...At least he hoped so.
At their formal greeting, Rodias would find himself smiling just a tad bit wider, straightening his posture. "I appreciate your coming. I know that you carry many responsibilities, and much as I hate to keep you from them, our current...predicament needs some explanation," the Sable Lord would say, wondering in the back of his mind how he could explain this. It wasn't as if he could easily just say: 'I'm stuck in this body now, and you all have to do as I command!'. He wasn't the Guild's Leader, so right now he needed something to unify them all under...or at least, establish his own competence as a leader. Seeing these two NPCs now come to life reminded him that people with actual leadership skills were lower on the ladder than him...so slipping up badly may mean a rebellion.
Next to arrive was yet more commanders of the Chateau, the ones that would be most problematic to win over with words alone. After all, both commanded a not insignificant number of forces, more offensively oriented than the mostly defense oriented members of the Chapter Keepers. Respect was due to the strong, and these two together could likely overrun most other Chapters with sheer numbers, especially with Vae Dhayer's continual ability to create Undead warriors.
From the time since Mamoru and Zouyu had entered, Rodias' posture had grown more and more serious, contemplative, and yet aloof in a strange way. As if his whatever plan hatching within his mind was sure to succeed. Amongst the key members of Bandersnatch, he had functioned as the Dungeoneer, a position relying strongly on one's ability to prepare for, adapt to, and overcome unknown obstacles. Indeed, the more that Rodias' brain racked over the possibilities, the more he became sure he could make this work.
"Vae Dhayer. Gromgard. Welcome, I'll begin to explain once everyone has gathered," Rodias would say as he stood up for a moment, going over to the center of the ten thrones and extending his ring towards the ground, causing the central gold plate of the floor cut free from the carpet began to rise. An ornate table gilded with ornaments, ten gems housed in the mouths of various animals pointing towards the respective thrones of their occupants. The one facing Rodias in particular was a serpent of some kind with a roughly cut piece of obsidian clutched between its fangs. Once the table emerged, smaller chairs than the thrones would follow, giving the Keepers and other high level npcs a place to sit. A table fit for the entire guild, usually intended to have the ten lords looking on from their thrones to oversee their lower ranking members. "Everyone, feel free to take a seat. I'm afraid we don't have room for your army at the table however, Vae," he would say, pointing out that a battalion of skeletons couldn't really squeeze around the table. They were however free to crowd around the outside of the room.
The next twosome were the keepers of Chapters IV and I respectively, looking rather more lax and pleasant than most of the other Keepers were in their demeanor. That wasn't an insult to the seriousness of the others, it was indeed respectable. But the warmth of joy was something to appreciate. Kath was simple and enjoyed her work, and Salem...
Salem was...
...What was Salem?
Rodias faltered for a moment in his thinking when it came to the little eyeball that possessed that childlike frame. Salem was anything but joyful. Seeing Salem reminded him of a dear friend who, after one day simply...stopped logging in. He had a feeling as to why, but it didn't make Salem less painful to look at. In fact, the sheer isolation hadn't really hit him until just then, in his high of power and his scrambling to find a way to figure this all out. Rodias' heart began to ache, just ever so slightly as he smiled once more, able to fake it just enough to be convincing. "Welcome, Kath Erine and Salem. Feel free to take a seat with the rest of the Chateau inhabitants at the table," Rodias would say, perched once more upon his throne.
...He wished he could have said goodbye properly. To all of them. Maybe, in a way he still could. By promising to look after each of their creations. He didn't know if that would make his friends happy, but right now it was all that he had to hold onto.
The final arrivals were the ones that were the most unusual within the Chateau for a few reasons. Ashara was designed with a Japanese aesthetic in mind, which meant that the only thing coming close to her visual flair was the Chinese inspired Zouyu, and even those similarities stopped at the animalistic bits. She was assigned the roal of being the "Roamer" of the Guild, functioning as a wandering miniboss meant to join in the fight at random intervals to catch people off guard, or pick them off between Chapters. And seeing her kneel, Rodias couldn't help but feel the slightest bit ashamed at seeing a girl kneel before him as if he was something incredibly important. But...he supposed that now he was.
Next came the Vault's strangest treasure from the ceiling, the mixture of races and classes that had Rodias for the longest time wondering whether she was really a character a normal person could come up with in the world of YGGDRASIL Online. Virtually indestructible, incredibly resilent, capable of teleporting wherever she had prepared, needed no weapons, and yet acted like a bubbly happy-go-lucky airhead that wanted to make friends with everyone. He remembered the only time the Vault had ever been invaded and...well...Light made a lot of friends go bye-bye after her fight with them.
Amazing what horror-style sanity drain effects can accomplish an MMO when players were unaccustomed to it. With virtually everyone assembled, Rodias would stand from his throne to walk to the table, pulling a large piece of parchment from one of the drawers and placing it down. Then, using his "Blood Drinker" class, he would draw from an item placed in his bag, a vial of beast's blood that he often kept on him to abuse the class' rather fluid rules on its own mechanics. Bending it towards a quill, he was surprised at how natural it felt to control as he said: "The Third Chapter's Keeper is occupied at the moment, so for now we'll begin."
With virtually everyone assembled, Rodias would stand from his throne to walk to the table, pulling a large piece of parchment from one of the drawers and placing it down. Then, using his "Blood Drinker" class, he would draw from an item placed in his bag, a vial of beast's blood that he often kept on him to abuse the class' rather fluid rules on its own mechanics. Bending it towards a quill, he was surprised at how natural it felt to control as he said: "The Third Chapter's Keeper is occupied at the moment, so for now we'll begin."
"To start with, we are no longer on the same planet we once were. Wherever YGGDRASIL is, it is no longer where we are. Zouyu, I take it you saw the mountains surrounding our happy little home?" he would ask, looking to the beastly gardener who at this point had asked every single woman in the room the question of whether they were ovulating or not. Saluting, he would say: "Y-Yes Mister Rodias! The uh...forest just kinda went away. Now there's just rocks. And I think I saw a people-place down at the foot of it all."
Rodias would nod, having seen as much himself. Kaldorna's hunters had likely seen the same, but he wanted to make certain the others were made aware of this situation before he began. "I won't lie to you all. Wherever the other Sable Lords are, is far from here," he would state, beginning to draw out a rudimentary map of the chateau grounds and the area leading to the spotted human settlement. Circling it, Rodias would say: "Right away, our first priority will be to investigate the people living close by. We're lucky if no night owls have seen the Chateau, but we need to know if these people can be reasoned with. Going off experience, I will have to assume that they're Human, or Humanoid," which, despite being an assumption he couldn't back up, it at least made sense as a baseline for forming a picture in his subject's minds.
"Mhm...so we eat all the humans, and then they can't try and attack us!" Zouyu would say, his line of thinking dangerous. A quick shake of Rodias' head would immediately correct that misunderstanding, further being explained with: "No. Not unless we're certain that's the only way to deal with them. We're currently isolated without support. Without information, all productions within the Chateau will likely stop. Graft needs to know the natural resources to produce anything, and Kaldorna's hunters need beasts to feed their captured ones. Without information, we're stumbling in the dark."
Rodias would pause as he laid out his plans, before standing straight up. "I apologize. It now occurs to me that I'm acting in charge without listening to you all first. I haven't even given you all time to process the...absurdity of it." he would say, walking over to the opaque windows and putting his hand to a panel of it. "These aren't our skies, stars, or moons. But in the same vein, I am not your ruler," the vampire would say, turning about, and looking over all of them. His smile was one of dignity, and, as one knee sunk to meet the floor, a certain immediate feeling would overtake everyone.
Whether it be shock, disgust, or respect, each would see the act of one of their creators, their "Gods" in a sense lower his head, kneel respectfully, and say the words: "Please. Allow me to lead you all to the happiness my comrades intended for you all in their stead. I swear that I won't leave you all. This is my home, now. As it always has been." This show of humility was, in all honesty, the greatest plan that he could think of in order to earn their respect. And it was meant with honesty, as he really did desire to protect each and every treasure left behind by his friends to the bitter end.
Zouyu expressed very clear confusion, scratching at his cheek while nervously looking around at the other Chateau residents. "H-Hey...why's he kneeling? He's stronger than us, so..." he would question, his mind that relied on Strength being an indicator of worth being baffled at the man over twice his strength bowing to everyone.
In a way, this plan was great for weeding out dissent. But that wasn't what was on his mind at that moment. What did come to him was a realization:
Given all the different greetings and all the different approaches, I be guessin' that Tree's next post is gonna be rather massive, if they be intendin' to reply and comment and inner-monologue and every single one of the NPCs actions. :P On the topic of the High Cleric, I'm curious to see what Tree went with for them - since nobody filled that position, it oughta be a Tree-controlled and manufacutered NPC. ^^
Haha yes, very long...
Very, very long.
Very long indeed.
Also yes, I'll be making a High Cleric after the next IC post. I do however appreciate your guys' enthusiasm.
At the question of braiding her hair, Steppe Archer was surprised. Mostly by how ridiculously hard that would be for someone to do. Looking back at her mess of silver hair she started wondering how long it would take someone to braid. Hours? A full day? Either way, that was far too long. Especially right now with all of this job hunting and turning in that needed to be done. Smiling, Steppe Archer would turn to her companion and say: "Ehehe...I don't know how cute it'd be, but you are right. It'd be a lot easier to keep out of the way. But, for now, its fine as it is. I'd cut it, but my tribe has a tradition for women. Its a bit weird, but we never cut our hair before we marry," she would explain, standing up once her hair was sufficiently dried.
The hurried trek to the town would get them in just before it would be shut off to them. Once the question of how to give a report was raised by her scaled friend, Steppe Archer would look back on her failure to complete the rats quest and hang her head a bit. That was...frankly more than a bit embarrassing. Being outclassed by big rodents. Even if she'd spent all her life hunting beasts, there was a very large difference between the terrain of a large plateau and the enclosure of a sewer. Any beast was more fearsome in its own den, she'd been taught but...
Rats? Really? Rats.
Before a look of melancholy overtook her face, the nomad girl would slap her own cheeks with her hands to perk herself back up. Right now, she had a quest success rate of 50%! That was...decent! "Let's go Big Red! You and me can do this! E-Even if the guild ladies look at us funny," she said, having had a bad experience coming back to the guild smelling like raw sewage to report failure and casualty. She was so caught up in wanting to do well she hadn't even confirmed if he liked 'Big Red' as a nickname or not. "Do we all have to go in to report?" Steppe Archer would ask, looking to her more bureaucratically experienced druid friend.
With an elegant dress that leaves fading trails of stardust behind her every step, one would be forgiven for believing Altair belonged to the high-society. This effect is aided by her elven ears and her slender yet glamorous figure, always clad in fine and exquisite silks.
Name: Altair Vega Gender: Female Age: 286 Occupation: Secretary/Administrator of Bandersnatch; Intelligence Officer Residence: Chapter III: Antikythera Mathematikoi Character Focus: AoE DPS/Debuff Caster Personality: With a gentle smile and a cordial tune, Altair is a woman who carries herself with a dignified air yet remains a very easily approachable person who always makes time in her schedule for those that seek her. Favoring listening over speaking, she's a wonderful chatting partner who'll humor any sort of rambling one may have for her ears and keep it all between the two of them if it's needed. Yet, while permissive, Altair always makes a point to draw a line when it comes to bad manners and uncouth behavior; the elven woman prefering that both herself and anyone who she's with handle themselves as proper ladies and gentlemen. To a stranger, this welcoming woman will always appear to be at an arm's distance at least; Altair rarely lets anyone connect too deeply with her.
Despite this, she's known to be permissive with those she's grown acquaintanced with, tolerating the many quirks of the colourful members of Bandersnatch with boundless patience and even doting on some of them at times. The well-being and insterests of her compatriots is placed very highly within her priorities, to the point of sometimes scolding and lecturing those who've misbehaved or failed to take the thoughts and emotions of others in consideration, and she's often the one acting as a mediator between the several NPCs of the guild or voicing their thoughts as a collective should any situation arise.
Notable Equipment:
Veil of the Everlasting Firmament: Worn over her eyes, this piece of fabric seems to be made with a piece of the night itself, as it shows a slowly moving starry sky and nothing else. Aside from granting immunity to gaze effects for as long as it's worn, it is a purely cosmetic item.
Compendium of the Celestial: Taking the shape of a transluscent scroll of parchment, the Compendium allows its user to not only record any spells they know in it, but also lets the user channel several spells at once. As an additional effect, it reduces both mana cost and casting time of spells.
Crystallized Starfall: A glimmring pendant that she wears on her chest, this charm greatly reduces the chances of magical effects interrupting channelings or impeding the wearer's ability to cast spells. It also doubles the amount of projectiles the user's spells create.
"Creator" Information: EPurSiMuove - Not unlike Altair herself, EPur, as he was known by, was a person who played with his cards close to his chest. Unlike Altair, however, this was because he was cold and silent like a gravestone; his method of communications were so concise and brief that a wager was established whether he would ever say more than ten words in a single phrase, since he would hardly give any responses other that neutral agreements. A person that generally went with the flow of what was happening, EPur also had a reputation of laziness and scatterbrained thinking, often failing to take in account several elements in the equation and diving headfirst into trouble, events that resulted in disasters that he'd, by sheer luck or miracle, end up unscathed from. These situations, alongside EPurSiMuove's deadpan and unflappable answers when inquired about what happened, made him into a recurring character in some of the most memorable stories of Bandersnatch.
One late night, whilst commenting on the topics of NPCs and the way they could be used, the user known as Kiss My Axe started talking about how useful Kath had been to him ever since she had been created. Legends speak that this caused a mythical phrase to be uttered before the one who spoke it logged off for some time: "huh, sounds nifty". Almost a month and half later of radio silence; after having looked up guides and tutorials; after experimenting time and time again; and after finally succumbing and paying another player to more or less do the job for him, EPurSiMuove reappeared one day, without any warning, with Altair on tow. Defining the end of that wager that had been previously made, he went on to explain that he wanted an NPC to help him "play the game properly", so he had made Altair to be his personal voice of reason and to remind him to put some order in his inventory. As it turned out, she excelled at this task at such a level that EPur allowed others to ask her for help should they need it, something that escalated to the point of him suggestion Altair to take the administrative functions of the guild so that the rest of them could focus on other things.
Total Level: 55 Class Levels: (B)Sorcerer 15 (B)Sage 10 (H)Seer 10 (H)Arcanist 10 (R)Astral Evoker 5 Race Levels: Starborn 5 Alignment: Neutral Good
Dubbed "the Observatory" by EPurSiMuove after people failed to type the name of the room correctly several times, this room can be best described as a miniature replica of the cosmos: Devoid of anything but small celestial objects roaming about the vast, empty space. Planets and stars of varied sizes travel the expanse of the room with no fixed trajectory, at times colliding with one another and allowing those within the room to witness a miniature extinction-level event. The doors, made of a white, impeccable marble, appear to float in the middle of this nothingness as the entirety of the inner side of the walls has been enchanted to be one large portal connected with itself, allowing the objects that travel from one side to emerge in the opposite end of the room whilst maintaining any momentum and trajectory they have.
The cherry on top of all of this is the fact that, once intruders make their way into the room, the natural gravity of the room is overriden and the enviroment effectively becomes a Zero-G enviroment, turning ranged combat into an impossibility as any projectile that doesn't hit its mark is, potentially, an instance of friendly fire. With the different celestial bodies moving unimpeded in the expanse of this localized cosmos and the confusion of a highly altered movement, the main danger to any party attempting to trespass the Chapter comes from Altair herself, who'll waste no time to unleash barrage after barrage of magical artillery onto the party, taking advantage of the unfamiliar enviroment and possibilities of multi-lateral assault to decimate the enemy.
Rather than using minions, Altair uses a mana well that greatly increases her mana and health regeneration rates alongside several planets enchanted to implode into an ephemeral gravitational well once touched by a hostile party, pulling anything and anyone nearby close together to fall prey to Altair's larger spells. The stars, in turn, are wired to explode in a burst of flame once striken, doing the opposite than the aformentioned planets and pushing people away.
When the Chateau is not being invaded, all this menagerie of astral objects is secluded to the top of the Observatory as to not be a bother, and the room can be used for its true purpose of a resting, leisure and briefing spot: the floor will be covered by a glass-like surface to allow anyone to walk through the room, and any sort of furniture needed can be manifested within here, as long as it's got a mundane purpose. Flat surfaces will be made of solidified space with a visual effect like that of Altair's veil and the texture of smooth stone.
Alright, now that I actually have time to say things...
Overall, I really like her. I've always been a fan of astrologian-type classes. Once you finish adding whatever you feel you need to, I'd be happy to accept her as the Keeper of Chapter 3.
@The Irish Tree Hey, where IS the vault located? Is it located in a chapter itself? Trying to figure out how to word where it is, since I'm assuming the inside will look like some weird mish mash of things that is vaguely wrapped inside an eldritch temple of R'lyeh or something.
It'd be located in its own section. I'd put it below the foyer, in a hidden passage that you'd probably not find easily.
@The Irish Tree I was under the impression that Rodias wouldn't be in the throne room to start with, but instead enter later. If he is, the last part of my post makes no sense and should be amended. Is he currently inside the room everyone's coming to?
Not a Sayan
Lunamaria Hawke
Neziul
