Flipz

"Fate is a real thing, though it is never set in stone...everything has an end, and I, myself, tend to use that definition of the word. Our end is, ultimately, beyond the foresight of any of us...at least if we continue in the manner of half-revealed truths and suppressed secrets. And it will be our end if we continue forth blindly. And as to chance...well, it's clear you know nothing of the truth of Chaos. Even the surest of truths can be overturned by the unexpected, the safest of plans undone by the whims of the unpredictable...that is the truth of Chaos, the meaning of Chaos. To accept that everything is, at best, an educated gamble, and to be able to function even when the odds do not rest in your favor. I am but a novice, but you...you are less than that." "You long to be yourself? I am glad. There are some in this world who, at times, regret their very being, wishing they could be anyone but themselves. Have you never seen a man turn his own blade against himself? It is a terrible sight to behold, and one that may be seen far too often by those who happen to look. It pleases me more than you know that you are not one of those men." "And perhaps you are wise not to share. I, myself, gave my whole history to my companions in the Hall, shortly before we left. It is quite the crushing blow to realize that, not only did they not give a damn about any of it, but some--" Arthur throws a glance at Thothwick in particular "--didn't even bother to listen to more than the first few words." Arthur smiles, and takes the Evoker's hand as they descend into darkness. You, at least, have no expectation of me. You care not whether I am Master of Chaos or crackpot conjurer of a few spells. I hope my heart speaks to you in ways that my words cannot. A bit of Arthur's old strength returns to him in the presence of the Elf, and for a moment his frame is less bent. Arthur bows his head in concentration, drawing forth the memory into his mind. <I was in the Hall--Heroica Hall, that is--when suddenly I was overcome by a vision. I saw...I saw my homeland, and the silhouette of my father, a planewalker who has been missing for many years now, but it suddenly morphed into a hideous creature, with enormous claws and a great armored tail--a Progg. He spoke to me, calling himself The Regret. He...had enormous power, conjuring spires of flame the would take ten Heroes to sustain, and calling forth the spirits of the dead to surround me...a vast army, comprised of my own dead ancestors. He claimed to be a medium, you see, able to speak to the dead quite as clearly as the living, and somehow he knew things...about me...about my homeland...I know not how. But his words...his words struck me, as I will never forget...> Arthur allows the memory to fill his mind, for Vipera to see what had transpired...

Same here, and Hybros too.

Arthur glances at Haldor, somehow sensing contradiction, but is too consumed by his own doubts to put his finger on it. He continues to walk nearby Dyric, glancing occasionally at Alexis.

Then tell him so. To be blunt, I can't roleplay in a vacuum; anyone who's ever been on-stage will tell you that one of the worst feelings in the world is putting yourself out there for your scene partner and them failing to return the energy. I've been deliberately not locking myself in to any one target (i.e. "Arthur walks over to Haldor and says X") whenever I can just because, to be frank, there are TONS of people who could have interesting interactions with my character and with other characters and are missing out (and yes, I'm including NPCs in this). Seriously, we have the most interesting group of character's I've seen for a Quest, period, and yet when we're not in battle everyone just seems to stand around in silence. To put it into numbers, I average about 100-120 posts per 20 pages of a Quest. We're six pages longer than both Quest 38 AND Quest 51, and I have less posts in 53 than I have in either of the others--and when you look at the length of the posts, you'll see the ones in 53 are significantly shorter as well. In fact, post length and post count seem to be down for everybody, and it's bugging me to death. This is the finale of one of the best-written story arcs in Heroica, and it deserves more than we (including me!) are giving it. And with that, I'm off to bed for some rest I've put off for FAR too long.

1.) We're never happy with the stuff we already have, who do you think we are?! 2.) We don't trust you not to throw impossible fights against us, so we have to break the system optimize just to survive. 3.) They get easily six to twelve times the health of the average Hero, and that's not even the main bosses; that's not even taking into account elemental immunities and the ability to dish Free Hits. Plus, all they have to do is sit there and die, and then after the battle come back to life and overwhelm us with their magical QM powers of "because the plot says so". 4.) Zeph, why are your NPCs ignoring meeee?? I've spoken directly to Vipera, and Arthur's saying plenty of things that the other characters could respond to, especially seeing as they're reactions to things the NPCs have said. I realize that I've said out of character that Arthur doesn't particularly like most of the people on the Quest, but that's OOC knowledge, AND I'm making special efforts to try to talk to these people, dammit! I'm lonely enough in real life that I spend the vast majority of my time hitting refresh on Eurobricks and watching Youtube videos, throw me a bone here! EDIT: That...came out a little harsher than I was intending. Sorry. Something about point 3 is hitting a nerve with me for some reason, and it has nothing to do with stats or battles...lemme think about that one and PM you, okay?

Arthur hands the Scarf of Misfortune to Dyric.

"That sounds like a fair plan, here, you can take the rest of my Nostrums." Arthur approaches Atramor, who seemed to be following Zane closely. "Say, Atramor, I've been thinking, we're far better off with you wearing your amulet than my scarf. Mind if I take it back?"

"It seems...that when it all comes down to it, we are simply trusting our fate to chance." "I'd normally relish such uncertainty, but it seems I have lost my ability to ride the waves with confidence." Arthur pops the cork out of a bottle of Nostrum and offers it to Dyric. "Drink? I'd certainly want one after a showdown with the undead." He, meanwhile, pulls a bottle of Mead out of his pack and offers it in Nyx's direction. "Would you care for something as well?"

...aaaand another reminder why Arthur will never be able to go on a Paladin Quest. For a second there, I thought that the NPCs were leaving without us Heroes, and I got a REEEALLY bad feeling about it, but then I realized my mistake.

"Regret...? Master of...Regret?" Arthur's frown grew deeper. <Vipera...I have met with one who calls himself The Regret. He...he is a Progg, a monstrous insect-like creature, born of Ether. One of their great princes was responsible for the death of a Hero some months ago. Vipera...he could contact the dead. He showed me...countless relatives of mine...and he told me...he told me I...I have...a...a...a...a gi...> At this, Arthur falters, still unable to confess the details to the majestic Dragon. Mingled shame, fear, and doubt radiate from him, in both the Spirit Pools and even, to an extent, in the physical realm, visible to the rest of the party. Sensing Vipera's, and indeed, several other party members', attention upon him, he quickly resumes. <Ah, that is to say...he said that the Zeigfrieds might have been able to train m--um...one...who has the gift to sense the Spirit Pools. I...the incident...it troubles me greatly...> Why? It did not stop you from blurting out your entire history in front of Thothwick and Alexis and Cronk and everyone then, back in the Hall... <I...am hesitant to share more, but if you believe that it will aid you and our mission, I will tell you the whole story. You are one of the few here I feel I can fully trust.>

I hated On Stranger Tides. Hopefully this time they'll make the smart choice and put Sparrow back in the "secondary character" slot like he was in the first three movies. (Yes, he's the most prominent character no matter how you look at it, but structurally speaking Elizabeth was the protagonist of the first movie, Will the protagonist of the second, and the third...well, the third movie is sort of a clustermegablock to analyze, so suffice to say it definitely wasn't Jack.) Jack works a LOT better when we don't know what he's thinking or planning, when we (like the protagonist) are struggling to keep up with his insane chain of improvised plans. When he was forced into the protagonist spot in OST, suddenly he couldn't surprise us anymore the way he can as a secondary character. I, personally, would love to see Barbossa and Jack forced to team up again (making Barbossa the protagonist), or else give Gibbs a nice meaty protagonist plot to have to deal with (perhaps someone from his past in the British navy?). Either one would free up Jack to be the Jack we all love, while filling the protagonist spot with a character strong enough to hold our interest.

Are we getting another Sorcerer, perhaps?

"This is Zane. He said he had information that the Gray Wizard would want, so we spared his life. If we don't like his results, we can always just beat the stuffing out of him later." Arthur's stomach continues to do somersaults, and he appears inexplicably ill. Why were these beings troubling him so? Arthur leans against the wall, closing his eyes tightly and clenching his fists as both Zander and Zane happen to glace at him in the same moment. The Sorcerer wavers light-headedly.

Is that really an option? There's one particular shop in Eubric Arthur would gladly skip a battle to shop during. I think I've stated why I gave Arthur his unusual name: his initials spell out AJR7, the name of the one-of-a-kind LEGO Universe minifig I own. (Any minifig I build using that face must use those initials.) Before I settled on using that face, I was going to have a mage by the name of Amarus Zagrene, which, if you look into the etymology, would still be a very appropriate name for Arthur. ...and interestingly...thorugh that Elven name generator, I would be Elrohir Calmcacil...

"What do you mean, Cronk? What happened at the Hovels?" Arthur looks back and forth between Cronk and Alexis.

Monkey Bar.

"Hmm...and what cracks do you see in us, I wonder...?" Just then, Cronk and the others came in. "Alexis! Are you alright? What happened?? Someone figure out how to heal that...person?...before he dies, every resource we can get helps--whether as ally or bargaining chip, we're better off with him alive than dead." As he looks around at the party, he frowns. "Something is just not right here, I can't shake the feeling. Vipera, am I crazy, or do you sense it too? A feeling...like we've strayed from our mission somehow." Arthur glances worriedly at Alexis, as if afraid Wren would burst through the wall and abduct her or some other such nonsense.

Yes, of course, but what I meant was that Elphaba comes in the spring. If Arthur can just roll a few more SHIELDs, he may be getting a bunch of nice gear soon, it's just a matter of timing...

Hmm...is that Hollow Blade (Dagger, WP:6) actually a hollow-blade dagger? I may be willing to do without my Topaz until Spring if that's the case...

...Doc, I don't feel like a third Darths & Droids archive binge this month, care to do the honors? In other news, that's two links in Arthur's latest statement, thank you very much. I'd click the second one first, so you have some nice background music.

Arthur, who had been pacing behind Benneton's desk, suddenly turns and slams both of his palms upon its surface, a stern glare upon his face. "We haven't asked, huh?" He straightens, leans back, and puts his hands upon his hips while grinning widely. "Well, then, why don't you enlighten us? Zane. Jester to the Court of Demons..." Arthur points dramatically . "Who exactly are you?!"

That's still relying on SHIELDs and Special Damages, though; they're just too unreliable to balance upon. Yes, you want to make your enemies beefy enough to handle a few SHIELDs, but relying on them is a different story. I still think that Zee's Ether being 10 or less would have been much better--clearly, the battle would have gone the same way, since they got killed right when the party managed to finish off the non-Soulless enemies but the chance of success would have been a lot closer. More importantly, her Special Damage would have actually been workable, since rolling it at any point would have hurt everyone a lot (and likely Knocked Out almost all of them), but it would also have dealt with the Free Hit problem (i.e. rolling it early would have reduced the number of enemies she could reanimate, while rolling it later would have drained her of Ether and taken out all of the soulless enemies. Either way, though, the Heroes CLEARLY need more SP to live--at this level, a point here and there is just not cutting it. I think it's clear that Pie and I need to look over the party stats and re-allocate all of the party's Artifacts immediately. (And what do you mean about Hoke plowing through the undead, clearly he would have just sat there pouring Enchantments into his stuff without enough Ether to do it. )

Well, also, Hex was doing nothing useful that fight, since there were lots of valid targets...that were already at 0 HP.

Yeah, that bugged me from the start of the fight, too. Zeph, were you originally planning on having 16 undead minions for that fight? Normally I hate to criticize your battles, but I get a bit of a bad taste in my mouth anytime a Special Damage roll is required to win a fight. (Or, actually, relying on any specific roll--dice tend to be fickle and prevent things like that.) I really didn't like it when it happened in the Quest 38 battle, either. Don't get me wrong, Atters, Nyx, and the rest of the party did an amazing job and may have even had a chance for a minute there, but it just feels like the odds of success were a bit too thin. In my mind, both SHIELDs and Special Damages are both "turnabout" rolls that are real game-changers whenever they show up; like a plot twist in a story, rolling either one should be both exciting and unexpected because it's not a normal thing. Both rolls force the other side to really re-evaluate their strategy; in function, Special Damage is (or at least, should be) the main way to end the potential of auto-rolling, whereas a Hero's SHIELD would be the same thing for the enemies if their mechanics were just like the Heroes'. I'm not sure if my words are making sense here, so if anyone can think of a better way to re-state what I'm trying to say here, feel free.

Could try to extract info from Arthur. I'm not saying it'd be easy, but now'd probably be the best time to try.