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grailfinders · 4 years ago

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Fate and Phantasms #34: William Shakespeare

Welcome back to Fate and Phantasms, where today we’re making the most famous playwright ever in D&D. To no one’s surprise, the eloquent bard is an eloquence bard, abusing creatures’ wisdom saves almost as badly as Petruchio abused Katherina.

As always, there’s a spreadsheet for this build over here, and a level-by-level breakdown below the cut!

Race and Background

Shakespeare is definitely Human, but he’s definitely unusual to count as a Variant. This gives him +1 to Charisma and Wisdom, proficiency in Performance, and the Actor feat. This adds one point to Charisma, advantage on deception and performance checks to act (shocking) as a different person, and listening to someone for 1 minute lets you copy their voice. People listening to you can make an insight check against one of your deception checks to try and figure that out.

Shakespeare’s also a Guild Artisan, giving him proficiency in Insight and Persuasion.

Stats

Put your highest score in Charisma; Shakespeare’s one of the most famous writers in existence, of course this is going to be high. Next is Intelligence: the Bard may have invented some 1,700 words and made Julius Caesar look good, neither of which are small feats. Wisdom is third, you can’t write about the human condition if you don’t know the human condition. Fourth is Constitution, you’re healthy enough to survive a couple all-nighters, at least. Last is Dexterity, followed by Strength. Unlike Shakespearicles, Shakespeare is not known for his physical prowess.

Class Levels

1. The Bard is a Bard, giving him proficiency in Deception to fill out the skills needed to be the face of the party, as well as History and Arcana to gain a wider range of subjects for your plays. You also get proficiency in Dexterity and Charisma saving throws. First level bards learn Spellcasting using charisma as your spellcasting ability, and gain Bardic Inspiration, some d6 you can throw at people who aren’t performing at your expectations which come back on long rests.

First level bards learn a bunch of spells, and yours include Friends and Charm Person, to help quarrelsome NPC realize their issues are Much Ado About Nothing; Minor Illusion, the first of many illusions; Disguise Self, in case you have to fill a role here or there; Sleep to keep things quiet during intermission; and Comprehend Languages to make sure everyone’s on the same page when you give them stage directions.

2. Second level bards become a Jack of All Trades, adding half their proficiency bonus to checks that don’t otherwise use it. You also learn a Song (Sonnet) of Rest, adding an extra d6 to healing done over short rests. For this level’s spell, grab Heroism to make some protagonists.

3. Shakespeare gains Expertise in two skills of your choice (here they’re Persuasion and Deception), and also graduates from Theros’ prestigious College of Eloquence. Upon graduation, eloquence bards have a Silver Tongue, meaning they can’t roll lower than a 10 on persuasion and deception checks. Combined with the expertise you also just got, your minimum deception roll is now a 17, which is pretty silly at level 3. Maybe if you told Hamlet to kill his uncle he’d listen, instead of dallying for a full play. You also can throw out Unsettling Words, burning a use of inspiration and a bonus action to roll an inspiration die and subtract that from a creature’s next saving throw. This also would have been a great ability for Andersen, but frankly there’s already enough thematic overlap between the two without sharing a subclass.

For your spell, grab Phantasmal Force. That isn’t a dagger they see before them, but it will do a bit of damage.

4. At fourth level, bards get their first ASI. You’ve written enough about the Seelie court to be Fey Touched, adding 1 to your charisma, as well as giving you a free copy of Misty Step and Command, either of which can be cast for free once per long rest, using charisma as your casting ability. You can then continue casting them with spell slots as normal.

For your other spells, grab Vicious Mockery for what is literally the most offensive spell you’ll get all game, and Enthrall to make sure your audience is paying attention to the fourth soliloquy you jammed into Hamlet.

5. Your Inspiration begins using d8s, and you become a Font of Inspiration, regaining your dice on short rests instead of long ones. For your spell, grab Enemies Abound, turning a well-organized formation into a tragedy waiting to happen.

6. At sixth level, your plays become so enrapturing they become Countercharms, preventing allies from being charmed by people other than you. As an eloquence bard, you also gain the amazing Unfailing Inspiration, meaning if your inspiration die is used and the roll still fails, whoever used it gets to hang onto it. This means your inspiration is now harder to kill than Macbeth, and your party can use inspiration in more daring ways. You also learn Universal Speech, meaning you spend an action to make a number of creatures up to your charisma modifier able to understand you for an hour. It’s one-way, but you’re the one telling them what to do, so that shouldn’t be an issue. You can use this once per long rest, or by burning a spell slot.

For your spell this level, grab Hypnotic Pattern to add some spectacle to your performances.

7. So far your plays have consisted entirely of humanoids. This level’s spell fixes this issue by being Charm Monster, letting you turn any living thing into the star of your show. Or the villain, or even the comic relief-you’re the writer here, not me.

8. Use your next ASI to maximize your Charisma for more inspiration, tougher spell saves, and more people you can make understand you at once. For your spell this level, grab Hallucinatory Terrain to instantly set the stage, as long as your play doesn’t take place in a city. Defeating a lich by making it perform an accurate rendition of Romeo and Juliet would be cool, but we’re not there yet.

9. Your Sonnet of Rest increases to a d8, and you can now Dominate Person, turning one lucky sod into your star performer. Since you’ll basically be taking over a person’s body, the actor feat may come in handy here.

10. At tenth level, your Inspiration dice become d10s and you gain another round of Expertise. This time you’re improving your Performance and History for better and more varied plays. You also learn Magical Secrets, grabbing spells from any class.

Firstly, you learn the Prestidigitation cantrip, because you can’t go wrong with a little stage magic. You also learn to Modify Memory to cover up all that dominating you’re doing and Dream, because nothing’s more Shakespearean than an ominous portent delivered by sleep.

11. Eleventh level bards learn a sixth level spell, and yours is Mass Suggestion. Your plays aren’t just one-person productions, so lets add in some crowd scenes! The spell lasts for 24 hours, so handing out scripts and telling them to literally perform a play isn’t out of the question.

12. You’re not great at not dying, so lets try and fix that as best we can with the remaining ASI. This time, bump up your Dexterity for a better AC.

13. Your Sonnet of Rest becomes a d10, and you learn how to Mislead opponents for dramatic escapes, or if you just want to be mouthy at an enemy without being filled with arrows.

14. You learn another round of Magical Secrets and your plays become so potent they have Infectious Inspiration. When a creature within 60′ of you succeeds on a roll because of your inspiration, you can use your reaction to give another creature (who isn’t you) within 60′ of you inspiration for free. You can make this reaction a number of times equal to your charisma modifier per long rest. To recap: failing a roll doesn’t destroy your inspiration, and succeeding a roll now passes it to someone else.

For your secrets, you can now make a Mental Prison far more literal than in your tragedies. You can also enchant Magic Weapons for other people to use. Fighting things yourself really isn’t your style.

15. Your inspiration is boosted one last time, now using d12. You also learn your first eighth level spell, Dominate Monster. A hydra sleeping peacefully in a swamp? Passe. The real drama is if it’s attacking a town somewhere. With this spell, you can make that happen.

16. Not much happens at this level, but thanks to an ASI your Dexterity goes up again for hopefully less getting hit!

17. Your Sonnet of Rest finally reaches d12 as well, and you could learn a ninth level spell, but instead we’re going for Mirage Arcane. finally, proper stagework!

18. With your last Magical Secrets you learn Globe (heh heh) of Invulnerability to keep yourself safe when people realize you’re behind that “hydra” thing and Control Weather to set the perfect Dramatic Confrontation conditions.

19. Your final ASI is going towards Constitution for more health and better concentration. You’ll need both if there’s an angry mob after you (there should be an angry mob after you).

20. Your capstone ability is Superior Inspiration, giving you even more inspiration to use if you start a fight without any.

Pros: You have very good face skills, and they become very good early on. By the time you’re level 20, you literally can’t roll below a 27 when persuading or deceiving people. Your inspiration also lasts you a long time, and can be used to destroy an enemy’s saving throw against your spells.

Cons: Most of your spells require concentration, and you’re not good at that. Fortunately, most of them are best used out of combat, so picking a spell to use shouldn’t be an issue in the heat of things. Your entire kit is stopped by anything immune to charms though, and that includes a lot of higher end enemies. If you end up fighting one of them, you’ll find your damage dealing capabilities really aren’t there, with your best attack being Vicious Mockery.

That’s just par for the course of being Shakespeare, though. At the end of the day, you’re here to cause problems on purpose and then run away from the consequences.

#fgo #fate grand order #Fate and Phantasms #William Shakespeare #dnd 5e

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chicgeekgirl89 · 4 years ago

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Country Roads, Take Me Home: Chap. 3

Fandom: NCIS LA

Characters: Marty Deeks, Kensi Blye

Read Chapters 1-2 Here

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Not only was there no sex, there was also no sleep. Patrick Dempsey and his friends kept up their ruckus on and off all night long so that Kensi and Deeks both got up in the morning groggy and disgruntled.

Bill and Carol, on the other hand, had apparently enjoyed a perfect night’s sleep because they emerged from their RV with their perpetually cheery smiles and the entire pack of dogs leashed and ready for a hike. “Well good morning lovebirds!” Carol said. “You two don’t look like you got much sleep.” She sent them a suggestive wink.

“It was a little noisy,” Deeks said, rubbing his eyes as he looked at her over his coffee mug.

“Uh oh, did our boys keep you up?” Bill asked with a chuckle. “Sorry about that. They’re all night owls. Carol and I just sleep through it anymore.”

“Yeah well maybe try giving them a melatonin or an Advil PM or something,” Deeks grumbled.

“What are you two up to today?” Carol asked.

“We’re not sure yet,” Kensi said. Her mug was tipping precariously in her hand, coffee threatening to spill over the lip to the ground below.

“Well don’t waste all your time sitting here! Get on out there and enjoy the scenery!” Bill said.

“Have a good day!” Carol gave a little wave as they started their walk, dogs trailing along beside them.

“I hate them,” Deeks growled.

“Me too,” Kensi echoed, staring sleepy daggers at their backs.

It took an hour and a lot of coffee, but both of them finally woke up enough to decide on a hike up the Yosemite Falls trail. Deeks claimed he was feeling landlocked and thought maybe a view of some water would help. “Maybe you should have thought of that before you decided on a road trip to decidedly landlocked states,” Kensi said as they pulled on hiking boots.

“I planned this trip for you, not me! If it were up to me we’d be in Bora Bora right now!”

As far as hikes went it was only moderately strenuous, especially for people who had spent the last three vacations chasing or running from bad guys through a variety of difficult terrains. And the payoff was huge. “Wow,” Deeks said when the falls finally came into view. “All right that’s pretty incredible.”

“Yeah it is,” Kensi said, taking his hand. “Come on, let’s get closer.”

It was early enough in the day that there were only a few groups of people taking in the sights, which meant Kensi and Deeks had a very clear view of the scenery without a lot of selfie sticks and noisy tourists around. The wind changed as they got closer and began blowing spray on them. “Here,” Kensi pulled out her phone. “Let’s take a picture to send to the guys to prove we can go on vacation successfully.”

She wrapped an arm around his shoulders and they smiled brightly while she snapped a few pictures. “One more,” she said, kissing him on the cheek while she snapped away. “That one’s just for me.”

Deeks grinned. “And this one’s just for me.” He kissed her on the lips, lifting her up a bit so her feet left the ground. “Happy we came?”

She nodded, pressing her forehead against his. “For sure.”

They considered pressing on to either Yosemite Peak or Eagle Point, but Kensi was hungry for something other than trail mix so instead they headed back down the mountain intent on an early dinner and maybe a nap to make up for last night’s lost sleep.

“What is that noise?” Kensi asked as they walked back into the campground.

“Sounds like a baseball game,” Deeks said. “Like a full on, major league baseball game.”

“Where is it coming from?”

“Somewhere far away from us I hope.”

It was not coming from far away. It was coming from directly next to their RV where Bill and Carol had somehow managed to hook up a large, flatscreen TV outside their own camper and were watching a baseball so game so loudly it was almost like being there in person.

“Well hey neighbors how was your hike?” Bill asked, muting the sound.

“It was uh, it was good,” Deeks said, eying the television. “What do you have going on here?”

“Oh you know, I can’t be without the game when we’re on the little road trips we take. Go Brewers!”

“Is that Kensi and Marty?” Carol poked her head out. “Oh perfect timing! I was just putting together some of my world famous chocolate chip banana bread. Kensi, come on in and help me.”

“Oh, no that’s okay,” Kensi said, but Carol grabbed her arm and pulled her inside while Kensi shot a desperate look at Deeks over her shoulder.

“Don’t worry babe, I’ll just go make dinner,” Deeks called.

“Oh no, don’t go yet! Come on, have a seat!” Bill patted the camp chair next to him. “You follow baseball son?”

Deeks reluctantly sank into a faded, green camp chair. “Uh, no, no I don’t really,” Deeks said. “Not really a sports guy.”

Bill grunted. “Yeah ‘spose I could have guessed that from the hair.”

Deeks self-consciously touched his curls. “I mean, I get the general idea. Ball. Bat. Bases.”

“Well good. It is America’s pastime after all. Oh, Brewers are back up.”

Bill turned the volume back on and Deeks had to resist the urge to cover his ears as the announcer’s voice blasted through the screen.

Meanwhile inside the camper Kensi was sweating it out with Carol in the tiny kitchen. “Carol, I have to tell you baking’s not really my thing,” Kensi said nervously as she was handed a mixing bowl and spoons.

“Nonsense! Banana bread’s so easy a baby could do it,” Carol said, measuring out some sugar. “Here. You measure out the flour while I get going on these bananas.”

Kensi nervously dumped some flour into the cup. Carol turned around to take it from her and her eyes grew wide. “Oh my. You weren’t kidding about your kitchen skills were you?”

“Yeah De—Marty is more of the chef in our house,” Kensi said as Carol leveled the flour off and added it to her mixture.

“You two are so…non-traditional,” Carol said brightly. “You’d never know from looking at you that your skillset tended more toward the masculine.”

“Well I’m not sure—“ Kensi’s words were drowned out by the sound of the mixer.

“Hand me those eggs would you dear?” Carol yelled.

Kensi handed them over. “So how did you and Martin meet?” Carol asked loudly as she deftly cracked the eggs into the bowl.

Kensi’s danger radar flared up. She and Deeks hadn’t discussed a cover story because they hadn’t anticipated running into anyone on this trip. If she picked one story to tell Carol and Deeks picked another, they were going to be in trouble. Poughkeepsie Ping Pong? America’s Next Top Hang Glider? Dr. Who, Medicine Woman?

“Tennis,” Kensi finally said. “Deeks is an avid tennis player and ended up with some shoulder problems. I was his massage therapist.”

“Well if that isn’t a love story for the books,” Carol said delightedly as she added chocolate chips to the batter. “My Bill and I were high school sweethearts. Took one look at him in his football uniform and that was that.”

“Oh, that’s nice,” Kensi said.

“We’ve taken a little trip every summer since,” Carol said, batter going into pans. “It’s good for couples to keep things fresh. Most important thing in a marriage.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Second most important thing is making sure you please your man. Don’t want him to stray to greener pastures. Not that you have to worry about that yet. You’re young! But your looks will only last for so long. That’s when you have to start getting creative in the bedroom.”

Kensi’s alarm bells ratcheted up several notches. She had to get out of here. Now. “Oh, wow, is that the time?” She pretended to check her phone. “Yikes, so sorry Carol but Marty and I have got to go. Gotta catch the sunset and all that.”

“Oh but you didn’t get to try any banana bread,” Carol said, disappointment clouding her face.

“Rain check,” Kensi told her. “Thanks so much for the offer!”

She burst out of the trailer doors and grabbed Deeks’s arm, yanking him out of the chair. “Ow, hey, what—“

“Babe we’ve got to go now if we’re going to see the sunset, remember?” she said loudly, over the roar of the game.

“Oh right, yeah. Thanks Bill!”

“Anytime!” Bill gave a wave, eyes still glued to the screen as he raised a beer to his lips.

“Kensi, ow, hey loosen the grip, loosen the grip, where are we going?” Deeks asked as she dragged him down the road.

“Anywhere. Anywhere that’s not here,” she said, wrenching his arm as she took a sharp left turn.

“Okay, OW! Hey!” He stopped and pulled his arm away from her. “Easy on the merchandise! You want to tell me what the heck happened in there that has us fleeing on foot?”

“Why does everyone always think we need help with our sex lives?” Kensi cried.

Deeks spluttered, eyes wide. “Uh…what?”

“Carol is in there baking up banana bread and telling me how I need to make sure I ‘please’ you so you don’t go for some sort of young, hot, short skirt wearing, Suzy homemaker!”

“Suzy—what?”

“Deeks,” she looked him in the eye. “Be honest with me. Our sex is good right?”

There was only one right answer and fortunately it also happened to be the truth. “Yes! Yes, Kens, of course it’s good. It’s great! It’s…fantastic.”

“But is it creative?”

“Creative how? Like sometimes we stay up and do it after midnight or like kinky Nell and Eric dressing like elves kind of stuff?”

“I don’t know! I didn’t let her get that far.” Kensi’s eyes widened. “Maybe I should have let her.”

“Babe I really don’t think you need sex advice from Carol. In fact, I really don’t want you to take sex advice from Carol.”

But Kensi had clearly stopped listening. Determination stole over her face and she grabbed Deeks’ hand. “Come on.”

“Where are we going now?”

“To get creative.”

“What about the sunset?”

She raised her eyebrows. “Who says we can’t do both?”

Deeks’ jaw went slack. “Uh…”

Kensi’s creativity included a blanket, a secluded spot, and indeed, a pretty spectacular view of the sunset. “Well,” Deeks said breathlessly, as Kensi ran a hand across his chest. “That wasn’t just creative, that was full on art.”

“Take that Carol,” Kensi said smugly.

Deeks winced. “Yeah, babe, as great as this has been I don’t really want to be thinking about Carol and Bill while we’re making sweet, sweet love.”

“Sorry. You’re right.”

She rolled on top of him, intent on starting round two. “Hey, speaking of Bill and Carol though…”

Kensi stopped kissing him and sat up. “I thought you didn’t want to talk about them.”

“Well you brought them up! I was in their RV yesterday and I didn’t see that giant TV in there.”

“You were distracted by the dogs, right? Maybe you just didn’t see it.”

“It’s a pretty big TV and that’s a pretty small RV. I feel like I would have noticed.”

“Right. So you’re suggesting that Bill and Carol, mom and pop midwestern, baseball watching, banana bread baking, Bill and Carol what? Stole it?”

Deeks shrugged. “Call it detective’s intuition.”

She sent him a bemused look. “If you really had detective’s intuition you would know what I’m thinking about right now.”

With a quick move Deeks flipped them so that she was on her back, a grin on his face. “Is it something like this?”

What he did next made Kensi gasp. “That’s a good start,” she managed.

There was no more talk of Bill and Carol after that.

#NCIS LA #Densi #Country Roads Take Me Home #Marty Deeks #Kensi Blye #Chapter 3 #Densi Summer Vacation #Dr. Who Medicine Woman #I cannot with myself sometimes

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mrbingley · 4 years ago

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Dnd Circus Campaign session six through nine(?) recap:

wow! it’s been a hot minute since an update on the circus campaign here! my bad!

this may be a long one!!! buckle in!

after trying to charm suggestion thorne into getting a clown nose put on him, tallulah the trophy wife regroups with theren the runaway and sinclair the anarchist. tallulah is followed by the children wearing clown noses who are hiding/surveilling in the forest. the oldest tails her. tallulah looks finds an opossum and puts the infant clown nose on it so the clown nose won’t die. she puts a juicy couture bracelet around the opossum’s neck and takes the opossum with her (the opossum has a stat sheet and is now her pet).

the clown nose kid keeps following tallulah. she says she knows he’s there so he comes out from sneaking and is just with her. theren and sinclair see tallulah coming up to them in starbucks with a opossum wearing a juicy couture necklace and a clown nose and a young teenage kid wearing a clown nose. they’re like “?????”.

the starbucks manager comes over to ask them to leave b/c opossums aren’t allowed in the starbucks. they get in a lil verbal scuffle. they leave.

the teenage kid pokes the opossum and the opossum bites him. he won’t go to the hospital b/c his command has been to watch/follow tallulah (a command he got from thorne through the clown nose he’s wearing). tallulah wants to go fight thorne but theren and sinclair are insistent on taking this kid to the hospital b/c he might have rabies now.

they all begrudgingly take this kid to a minute clinic.

on the way, theren and the teenage kid (now given the name chase b/c this minor npc has been dragged into their group) hit it off. they’re both teenagers and feed into each other’s teenage chaos and that results in chase trying to poke the opossum again. tallulah is flabbergasted and scolds him and tell theren to stop talking to chase b/c he’s being a bad influence. they keep talking. it’s cute.

at the clinic, they don’t know what name to write down as the guardian for the medical sheet so sinclair writes down tallulah’s name. tallulah rolls a good perception check and notices and grabs the sheet and crosses her name out and writes sinclair’s. sinclair notices and crosses that out and rewrites tallulah’s and gives it back to the receptionist before tallulah can snatch it in time.

they all sit in the waiting area.

the opossum tears out the stuffing of a chair and burrows inside of it.

they brainstorm what to name the opossum while waiting.

tallulah knows sinclair’s real first name (sinclair goes by her last name). tallulah suggests naming it tiffany to mess with sinclair (b/c that’s sinclair’s first name that she doesn’t like going by).

sinclair is furious and says no. tallulah says fine i’ll name her holly (a breakfast at tiffany’s reference that sinclair doesn’t get). sinclair says she’s calling her josslyn. so the opossum has two names depending on who is taking care of her.

tallulah has to go back with the teenage kid b/c her name is written down as the guardian. the doctor isn’t great. he’d have to kill the opossum to see if it has rabies. tallulah says no. so he can’t do much for the kid. he says he can give him a series of rabies shots to be safe but they’re expensive. tallulah is rich b/c she’s the mayor’s wife so she says fine put it on my card and they leave.

they decide to go find cedbar the fire giant to try to get him to fight on their side against thorne. cedbar is at the coal factory that is being built. tallulah rolls a nat 20 persuasion on cedbar. she explains that thorne tried to control the mayor--the man you support and have deals with--and that thorne is cedbar’s enemy and also you’ll get to see me throw more fire. cedbar agrees. he puts down the coal he was hauling says “i... will kill the thorne” and full on sprints making a beeline for the circus tent. the gang starts chasing after him. cedbar gets their first and starts yelling inside the main circus tent for thorne to come out so he can kill him. thorne comes out with his group of clown nose wearing circus performers behind him.

initiative begins!

cedbar gets a hit on thorne and gets him to 0hp in one (he is... very strong and i did not anticipate them asking him to help them and them rolling a nat 20 to persuade him!!!).

tallulah catapults up onto the tightrope platform with the help of cedbar. the teenage kid follows her (b/c they’ve helped him he gets to roll a wisdom saving throw each time it’s his turn to see if he can overcome the command he’s been given: he’ll either try to help them or keep chasing tallulah).

the tightrope platform has the same symbol as tallulah’s magic camera and the magic wand looking thing she found. she takes her camera out and takes a picture of the tightrope platform. the platform rumbles, shoots down to the floor, then into the floor, then deep deep down into what looks like an old abandoned coal mining tunnel. she sees a vision of mindel the old ringmaster in a mansion with big dark figures around her and some coal dust on her. mindel tells her she’s been captured but she’s okay and she she’s that tallulah has found both of her artifacts and that that is good. tallulah asks her what seesaw’s fortune means (the tapping the nose three times and the right cheek once). mindel rolls well and tells her it is likely directions. go straight three times then turn right. big black figures come into view and take mindel away. the platform tallulah is on rockets back up into the tent where it previously was.

theren and his rainbow dalmation blink dog flank the left (he sends spotty under the bleachers to get to the other side with full protection (a good strategic move that i was v impressed with, this player plays video games and knows how to be smart in combat so that was v cool). theren has no difficult terrain b/c he’s an acrobat so i let him climb ladders and walk tightropes with his normal movement. he gets up a ladder onto a catwalk over the bleachers. gives tallulah bardic inspiration. theren tries to see if any of the performers recognize him, specifically pogo, the tightrope walker who taught him how to tightrope walk and was his mentor. pogo doesn’t seem to have any recognition of him.

sinclair is responsible for josslyn (aka holly). she send josslyn under the right bleachers b/c her full health is 1hp and she’s not good in combat. sinclair makes a beeline for thorne and hides behind cedbar b/c she’s a halfing and he’s a giant.

thorne calls in the clown nose kids in the forest and the mother clown nose (she’s big and has give tentacles her reach is 40ft but the second story stuff (cat walk, tightrope stuff, trapeze swings) is 50 ft and out of range).

a lot of stuff happens some of it very cool some of it very silly some of it tragic but i’m gonna skip over it b/c this would be so terribly long if i didn’t.

the clown nose mother telepathically messages theren b/c she recognizes him and says “help me” (in the borrowed voices of all the ppl she’s controlling; like clipped together cuts of any/every time a person has said those words).

therens pulls the most CLUTCH and beautiful move. he casts silence on the clown nose. the clown nose can’t hear anything in this area and can’t make any noise. this cuts thorne off from being able to communicate with and therefore command the clown nose mother. so he has no control over anyone now.

pogo looks like he has fallen out of a long fog and sees theren up on the catwalk and casts jump on himself to use his entire turn to launch himself right in front of theren. pogo picks him up in a big hug and asks him why he still chooses to have a silly mullet after all this time, it wasn’t in style ten years ago and it still isn’t now. pogo asks if he’s okay and theren says yes are you and pogo says he is now thanks to theren and thanks him for saving him. the player gets emotional and says he’s actually getting a lil misty eyed. it’s all very touching!!! theren gives pogo bardic inspiration.

thorne is knocked to 0hp again (he gets healed and knocked down a couple times throughout this).

tallulah takes the gem necklace from thorne (the gem that allows him to control the mother clown nose). theren sends spotty to take the necklace from her b/c he has a plan but he doesn’t tell her what it is so tallulah doesn’t trust him and she hellish rebukes spotty the dog to stop spotty from leaving. this creates genuine character tension and player tension (i personally loved it but both the actualy players were frustrated with each other over this).

theren reveals his plan is to destroy the gem in hopes it’ll free the clown nose mother of being controlled.

the clown nose leaves the area of silence and messages sinclair “into the tunnels” and sinclair and cedbar leave to go to try to free the copper dragon (who belongs to mindel the original ringmaster) locked in a train carriage. theren follows after.

tallulah tells pogo she’s going to try to destroy the gem (theyre the only ppl left in the tent near the entrance so she just wants to tell someone). pogo nods (he’s mostly mute; only talks to the other circus performers and even then he doesn’t speak much; he talks the most with theren).

tallulah rolls a decent animal handling check and realizes if she breaks the control gem it’ll likely psychically hurt the clown nose mother or her infants or the people wearing clown noses. it doesn’t seem like it’ll be a harmless solution.

now you’re all caught up!!! they’re somewhat out of initiative and combat and want to help save the clown nose mother and get her back to her world that sinclair relays thinks is in the old train tunnel.

#DnD Circus Campaign Tag #J: text #honestly a lot more nuance and stuff happened but i don't want to bore you or make this super long #stuff like:#cedbar climbed a ladder to chase thorne fell off and landed on the clown nose kids and that knocked them all out #la capony the king of clowns starts chasing thorne too once he's free of control b/c he thinks thorne is now responsible for his son's death #seesaw heals the children who got knocked out by cedbar's big body and they leave and go home after hiding in the woods for days #josslyn aka holly never rolls higher than a 10 on her turn (she spends her turn searching for garbage to eat under the bleachers and never #finds any)#tallulah swings from a trapeze swing to get to thorne #sinclair is smacked by the clown nose mother and hurt pretty bad #thorne tries to grapple cedbar with a rope but cedbar has a fire beard anf fire hair so he uses his beard to burn the rope and get free #chase the teenage kid rolls well once on his wisdom saving throw and gives tallulah a thumb up with his bitten hand and asks her what he #should do and she tells him to go home so he goes yes mam and starts to leave.#raffles the beast tamer tries to go get animal reinforcement but is prevented from doing so #toodle loo the strongwoman strength wrestles cedbar b/c theyre both very buff and toodle loo wins #other stuff!!!

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four-loose-screws · 4 years ago

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FE4 Suzuki Novelization Translation (Gen II) - Chapter 2

If you would like to start from the beginning, read a missed part, etc., click here!

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Chapter 2 - Seliph's Army

"We're in danger! A bunch of soldiers are headed this way!" Ulster, a young swordfighter, gasped between words as he ran up to Seliph and the others with him.

"What? Are they really coming here?" His twin sister Larcei, also a swordfighter, asked.

They both had black hair, but otherwise hardly resembled each other. Larcei looked like their mother, Ayra, and Ulster took after their father, Lex.

"It's true! I saw them turn down the road leading into Tirnanog, so I hurried back! They'll be here in ten minutes!"

"How many people are in the group?"

"I saw about ten, but I don't know if that's all of them."

"I wonder why they're here?" Seliph asked nonchalantly.

"It's obvious, isn't it, Seliph? They've come to capture you!" Larcei exclaimed.

"But why?"

"Let's run away! Neither Lord Shanan nor Lord Oifey's knights are here!" Ulster suggested.

"So maybe they came to attack us while everyone is away…"

"How can you be so calm!? If you don't escape soon, then it'll be too late!"

"Alright. Let's get out of here for now."

The three, together with the cleric Lana, left their hidden house, and headed straight for the forest.

Seliph stopped just as they entered the forest, and asked, "Sorry to bother you Ulster, but could you climb one of the trees and see what the soldiers are doing?"

"What are you thinking!? Are you not going to escape?"

"It won't be too late if we start running after we've figured out their motive."

Seliph's voice was still as calm as it had been since the beginning. But this time, his choice of words finally made the others relax.

Ulster found a tree that he could easily climb, made his way to the top, and saw about ten soldiers passing through the entrance to the village.

They were all carrying axes, and part of an axe fighter unit considered thugs even amongst the other Isaachian soldiers.

"They're headed straight for our house!" Ulster explained.

'I knew it.' Seliph thought. 'They've been watching us for a long time, so they must have known Shanan and Oifey are out right now.'

"They didn't find us, so now they're scattering to search the other houses."

'Tirnanog is called a village, but there's only ten houses. They'll figure out pretty fast that we aren't in the village. I wonder what they're planning to do after that?'

"They're gathering the villagers in the town square. The guy that looks like the leader is waving around his axe and threatening them!"

"Do you know if he's serious?"

"I can't tell from here. Ah! A few of the soldiers are lighting torches! I think they're gonna try to burn down the village!"

"Let's go." Seliph said.

"Go? Go where?" Larcei asked.

"Back to the village, of course."

"But there's three times more of them than there are of us, and Lord Oifey should be back soon!"

"Larcei, if people that have nothing to do with this were to get hurt because of me, then I'd probably regret it for my whole life. Even if I succeed in getting my revenge against Arvis. And you don't want to run away anymore either, do you? It's written all over your face! Those guys are animals!"

"So you understood how I really feel? I'm already way past my limit! I can't take it anymore! If Lord Seliph will let me, I'll go back…" Larcei argued.

"Ulster, if Shannan hadn't told you not to, you would probably run right straight back yourself. Now let's go! We don't have any time to waste! Lana, you stay here by yourself."

Lana responded with a strong protest, "No, Lord Seliph, I'm going too!"

She was a member of House Jungby, a family of archers, but was a cleric like her mother, Aideen, and couldn't use bows.

"No you're not! You aren't good at fighting!"

"Yes I am! clerics can fight too! I agree with Larcei. I can't stand to see innocent people suffer any longer! Even if you say I can't go, I will. I have my own way of fighting."

"I understand, and you're right, Lana. This is our fight. Now let's go!"

"Wait for me!" Ulster shouted, still halfway up the tree.

But Seliph could wait no longer, and started running. Larcei followed after him.

The moment Seliph entered the village, he yelled out, "I'm Seliph! Come and get me!"

The Isaachian soldiers all whirled around towards the source of the voice. Once they saw Seliph and confirmed with their own eyes that he was the person they were searching for, they all rushed towards him at once.

But fortunately for Seliph and his friends, the soldiers were scattered around the village, so they wouldn't have to deal with the whole group at once.

Still, their victory did not come easily. The soldiers were used to fighting, and while they had plenty of training under their belt, this was their first real battle.

'Calm down.' Seliph said to himself, and tried to remember what Shanan had taught him. 'When up against an axe fighter, dodge their first attack.'

One of the soldiers ran up to him and swung his axe.

Woosh.

The moment he heard the axe whizz past his ear, Seliph swung upwards, slicing his enemy from side to shoulder, just as he'd practiced in training.

As he felt resistance pull on his sword, he was bathed in a splash of blood, and the scent filled his nose.

"Grrrrraaaaaagh!" Like a beast starving for blood, he screamed and ran towards the next enemy.

His forcefulness made the soldier flinch. The soldier swung down his axe, but Seliph dodged it much easier than the last one.

"Hiiiii-yah!"

The enemy's head flew through the air.

Seliph didn't even bother to see where it landed, instead seeking out his third opponent.

He ran up to the first soldier he saw, and as the man turned around, he swung his sword...

And the fight was over in an instant.

When Seliph regained his senses, the Isaachian soldiers were already all defeated.

'I hope everyone's okay.' He looked around and searched for his friends, praying that they were alright.

He found Larcei first. Then Ulster. Finally, Lana came up from behind him.

Nobody seemed to be hurt, probably because Lana had a healing staff.

'Thank the gods…' With his anxiety gone, his body stopped shaking. He tried to relax his right hand, still holding his sword, but he'd put so much strength into it that it stayed stiff.

A moment later he heard the faint sound of horses galloping in the distance.

'Are they new enemies?' He took a deep breath and assumed a battle stance, but it turned out that he was wrong. It was actually Oifey's calvary unit that appeared from the dust cloud.

Oifey continued forward until he reached Seliph's side, then sighed. "We came back as soon as we heard that the Isaachian soldiers were making a move, however, we were still late. I apologize. But what's most important is that you're safe."

He still had some of his childish features from his time at Sigurd's side, but in ten years, his face had changed greatly, mostly due to the thin mustache now under his nose.

"I'm the one who should be sorry. I started the fight all on my own. But I didn't want the villagers to suffer."

"I understand. I should have been more careful. But since it's come to this, you must prepare yourself to fight. You aren't entirely ready yet, but neither are your enemies. They value making the first move over taking time to train their soldiers to be expert fighters.”

“So, what should we do?"

"We saw a group of Isaachian knights on the way back to the village. We will attack them after they have exited the forest. Then, we will take Ganeishire Castle in one fell swoop. Once that is done, we should first think about creating a solid base of operations.”

"Okay. Let's do as you say."

Among the members of the calvary unit was Lana's older brother, Lester. He was skilled with a bow, a trait he'd probably inherited from his father, Jamke.

He was a bit surprised to see his little sister on the battlefield. "You fought too, Lana!?"

"Yes I did, brother! I was really worried about Lord Seliph."

Her reasoning was completely different from what she'd said before.

She only realized the meaning of her words after she'd spoken them, and it made her cheeks turn bright red.

Lester also seemed to understand, as he didn't say anything more.

Seliph's army (if it could even be called that, as it was an extremely small group of people, made up of only the villagers that said they wanted to fight with him) took no time to rest before leaving the village. They decided to wait for the Isaachian soldiers in front of a basin on the path to Ganeishire Castle. The infantry stood in front of the basin, and the cavalry unit hid in the shade of the forest a short distance away.

“When the enemies exit the forest and enter the basin, the cavalry unit will rush them. Once we’ve cut through their ranks and broken up their formation, the infantry unit will strike. The cavalry will immediately turn back around, and altogether, we'll attack them on both sides."

That was Oifey's strategy.

As the enemies appeared from the road in the forest, Seliph's infantry soldiers spread out in a horizontal line, in plain sight.

There were about fifty people among the enemy's ranks. Most likely because Seliph’s group was so small, they ignored the fact that they were on disadvantaged terrain, and retained their double column formation as they continued to advance.

As Seliph watched the distance between his group and the enemy shrink, Seliph's instincts as a warrior began to take over once again.

He suppressed the urge to attack right away, and made sure to keep his voice calm as he called out to his allies. "Wait until Oifey's calvary attack!"

When all the Isaachian soldiers had entered the basin, the calvary estimated that their enemies could no longer retreat back into the forest, and showed themselves.

The enemies knew that it was the disorder of their formation that caused them to lose their composure.

Oifey's cavalier unit began their attack. Galloping down a gentle slope while assaulting an infantry unit from the side was a formation so perfect for calvary that it was like a dream come true.

"Now! Chaaaaarge!" Seliph yelled, and started running.

"Raaaaaagh!" Everyone shouted, and followed after him.

The power of the cavalry unit's impact was their speed. The infantry's meager resistance had no effect in the face of that impact, and within the blink of an eye, the enemy army was in shambles.

Once Seliph and the infantry assailed them, the enemies were no longer a single unit. They now had to fight on their own, so the difference in numbers was no longer an issue.

Then, Oifey's unit, which had pulled back, charged once more.

Within minutes, the enemies were decimated. Those who ran away were chased after by the calvary.

Seliph raised his blood-soaked sword high in the sky towards the heavens, and shouted as their victory cry, "To Ganeishire!"

Everyone raised their swords, and joined in. "To Ganeishire!"

The liberation army turned in the direction of Ganeishire and started to march.

They would continue to shout from time to time, sounding as if they were all drunk.

"To Ganeishire!"

Along the way, they saved several villages being pillaged by the Isaachian soldiers.

When the villagers expressed their gratitude, the liberation army always gave the same response. "To Ganeishire!"

And when they heard it, the villagers would join in. "To Ganeishire!"

Also, many of the young villagers joined the army.

The closer they got to Ganeishire, the more and more their numbers grew. Their new members were not only villagers, but also people from distant countries wishing to dedicate themselves to Seliph's army.

Among them was Fee, a pegasus knight from Silesse searching for her brother, and Arthur, a mage from Alster who'd run into the army while looking for his sister. They'd both heard rumors about Seliph, but actually just seen that someone was raising an army, and decided to join because it was a liberation army. The army didn't have any other members that could fly in the sky or use magic, so Fee and Arthur’s powers were considered very special.

Ganeishire Castle was guarded by General Harold, who received his orders directly from Danan, the King of Isaach. However, because he'd sent so many soldiers to attack Tirnanog, he didn't have many left. The liberation army surrounded the remaining soldiers at the castle, who were drained of their morale when they saw the great numbers they were up against.

The liberation army started to attack the castle, but only task to give them any trouble was tearing down the castle gate. The moment Oifey's calvary charged, the castle's soldiers surrendered. General Harold was the only one to fight, but he met his end at the tip of Oifey's lance.

Seliph was a bit behind Oifey. He tried to enter the main building, but Lewyn was waiting for him in the entryway.

"It's nice to see you again after such a long time, Seliph."

"Yes, nice to see you too, Lewyn... I mean, King Lewyn of Silesse."

"As I've said in the past, please stop calling me king. Silesse was taken over by the empire, and my mother went down with it, her pride still intact. I live in shame of what happened, but I am now as I was long ago, a stupid bard. I don't know what Oifey's told you, but don't call me a king, or anything of the sort."

"I understand, Lewyn. I’m sorry."

"It's okay to you make a mistake sometimes. Anyway, the many events that we’ve been waiting a long time for have finally begun."

"But it was not by my power. Things just happened this way…"

"Is that really true? Seliph, try looking out over the balcony."

"The balcony? What could possibly be there?"

"You'll know the moment you get there.”

Seliph nodded and climbed the stairs to the balcony.

The garden directly below him was filled with his allies. A number of them noticed him, and shouted, "Seliph! Seliph!"

"They're cheering for you." Lewyn, who had followed behind him, said.

Seliph raised his right hand into the air in response, and everyone cheered some more.

"Seliph!"

"Long live Seliph!"

"Looong live Seliiiiiiiph!"

Each time Seliph raised his arm, they cheered for him. They didn't seem to have a limit, so once he figured he'd been there long enough, he stepped away from the balcony.

"So, what did you think of that?" Lewyn asked with a grin on his face.

"What did I think? I’ve hardly done anything, and they all got that excited!? Shanan is the prince of Isaach, so I think he's the one they should really be cheering for."

"Unfortunately, Shanan went to the Aed Shrine to search for the Isaachian royal family's Divine Blade Balmung. But I want you to try really thinking about why they're cheering for you."

"..."

"This is not a fight against King Danan of Isaach. Nor is it your fight against Arvis."

"..."

"They're rising up against the empire's tyranny. As the one who founded the liberation army and became its central figure, they must have cheered for you because they sensed that you are the one who did all of that work."

"But I'm still so young! The leader of the liberation army should be you, Lewyn. You know a lot more than I do, so I think you are much more qualified."

"That's not true at all. You know too that you are the only one who can do it, don't you? But more important than that right now, is the request I have for you."

"What is it?

Lewyn didn't answer, instead turning around. "Julia, come here."

A young woman appeared in response. She had lavender hair, and gave off a sense of a mysterious beauty.

"I saved her as a child when the city of Belhalla fell. Tragically, she seems to have suffered a horrible shock, and lost all of her memories. Until now, she's been taken care of in a remote region of Silesse, but I was told that the empire somehow found her hiding spot, so I've been taking her everywhere with me.

"I must leave for Leonster soon, and it would be too much trouble to bring her with me, so can I leave her in your care for a while?"

"Yes, of course! I'll protect her in your absence."

"By the way, now that you've raised an army, you can't stop for long. The empire will soon send a huge army out to get you. You should conquer every region of Isaach first. If you do that, then the Aed Desert will provide natural protection."

"But I want you to support me through that. Please stay here and help me.”

"Don't worry. Once you've taken Isaach's main castle, Rivough, I'll come back." Lewyn promised, then stood up and left.

'He's just like the wind.' Seliph thought.

#fire emblem #fe #fe4 #genealogy of the holy war #seliph #neon genesis evangelion #gen ii #nintendo #super nintendo #snes #famicom #super famicom #japan #japanese #translation #localization #light novel #fe4 suzuki novelization translation

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killscreencinema · 5 years ago

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Death Stranding (PS4)

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The first week of quarantine, I lost my job. It wasn’t COVID related, more like “I hated my job and my employers finally realized it” related. So it was actually really good timing that I began this game while unemployed, as virtually delivering packages to people made me at least feel like I still had a job!

Death Stranding, released by Hideo Kojima’s new independent studio in 2019, is set in a bleak, post-Apocalyptic future where the world of the living and the dead have converged in a catastrophic event called, well, the “death stranding”. Dangerous phantoms, called “BTs”, roam the countryside, dragging anyone unlucky enough to encounter them into their world. The only person who can stand up to them is a porter named Sam Bridges (Norman Reedus), who has a unique condition called DOOMS which allows him to sense a BTs presence (who are otherwise invisible to the naked eye). Paired with a child bred to act as a link between the living and dead, called a Bridge Baby, or BB, Sam can even see a BT, making him the only candidate who can possibly bring the world back together by traveling the wastelands of the former United States, delivering packages and connecting the surviving human cities via something called the “chiral network”.

So it’s basically a fucked up, but better, version of that Kevin Costner movie The Postman.

Also, if it seems like my story summary took longer than usual, welcome to the world of Hideo Kojima! I tried my best to explain the story in a brief synopsis, but I still didn’t even scratch the surface of it. For example, I didn’t even mention how Mads Mikkelson intermittently drags Sam to a battlefield-like purgatory so he can steal his BB; or how Sam’s mysterious connection to the BTs makes his bodily fluids deadly to them, so you will often use weaponry made from his piss, blood, and shit to fight them; or how his primary objective is to rescue an enigmatic woman named Amelie, who may or may not be the daughter of the recently deceased President of the United States, from terrorists who want to use Amelie to bring about the extinction of humanity.

This game is bananas, ya’ll... but in the best way.

I started this game with extremely low expectations, as it had been critically lambasted by most of the major gaming sites and YouTubers. From the previews of the game I watched, it just seemed.... weird. I didn’t understand what the hell I was looking at - Norman Reedus with a pod baby strapped to his chest, and a strange flappy doodad on his shoulder, while walking on a tar beach strewn about with dead whales? What the fuck, Hideo? Visually alone the game was such a stark (and I mean *stark*) departure from the Metal Gear games, so when I found out the gameplay was delivering packages, I became convinced that Hideo Kojima had done lost his goddamn mind.

Turns out... and this should hardly come as a surprise... the man is a goddamn genius.

Truly brilliant art always offends and bewilders the senses at first because your mind doesn’t know how to cope with what its experiencing. Watch any given David Lynch movie and you’ll see what I mean. The human mind has trouble processing totally new information that has no frame of reference in memory or cultural awareness, which is why “weird” art initially repulses before it gains a following (and many great artists die in poverty before they are recognized for their genius). Imagine introducing a peasant from the Middle Ages to a helicopter - they’d think it looks absolutely ridiculous, so when you tell them it can fly, just IMAGINE their incredulity.

Anyway, I think that is why initial impressions of Death Stranding were so negative - it was a lot to take in for a lot of gamers used to being spoon fed repackaged versions of the same games but with different titles. Even things that seem at first “original” have recognizable gaming mechanics that ease the player in. I mean a game set in the apocalypse where the core gameplay is centralized on package delivery??? There’s nothing like this! So your reaction is either going to be “This is brilliant” or, like the medieval peasant, “this is ridiculous”.

Mind you, I’m not saying if you don’t like this game, you’re as stupid as a medieval peasant.

I get why people would hate this game - it’s very different than a lot of games out there. Death Stranding is bold and audacious in its storytelling and its gameplay. It takes a lot of risks that most AAA publishers (like Konami for example) would balk at, which is why Kojima had to create his own company to make it.

The gameplay seems simplistic at first - deliver packages from point A to point B. However, it’s a little more complicated than that. For one, the key element of the game is item management and learning not to bite off more than you can chew. Sam can only carry so many boxes, and the more you stack on top of him, the more difficult the journey will be, especially when crossing BT territory or bandits (called MULES) nipping at your heels. You also have to take into account the rocky terrain, river crossings, and weather (oh, did I mention that rain in this game, referred to as “Time Fall”, can rapidly age items and people?). The game is all about carefully choosing equipment you’ll think you will need, whether it be weapons, ladders (for climbing large cliff faces or crossing deep rivers or chasms), sprays for repairing damage to packages, or even a spare pair of boots in case the shoes you’re wearing wear out. So to say that the game is “just delivering packages” greatly diminishes some of the nuance going on here. Yes, there are lots of long stretches of just walking across a landscape to some of the most melancholy music ever assembled on a soundtrack, but I’d argue that having patience for those moments is part of the gameplay.

The game can be frustrating, such as when Sam refuses to climb a ledge you KNOW is climbable, so he just trips and falls over instead. The vehicles that you eventually unlock are some of the most goddamn frustrating vehicles in video game history. At first, I figured it was because I would eventually unlock better modes of conveyance more adequately adapted to crossing rough terrain, but no - they all drive like shit. Just getting the truck to drive up a hill without spinning out and rolling backwards can fray on one’s nerves. It’s hard to discern how much of it is the vehicle and how much might be poor controls.

The story, as alluded to above, is ambitious at best and pretentiously bloated at worst. However, if you’ve played any of the Metal Gear games, you know what you’re signing up for when it comes to high concept, over-indulgent story. I would say that for the most part, Death Stranding’s story is coherent enough to enjoy, although there are long expository cut scenes that convolute the plot more than clear it up. Fortunately, the characters are well developed enough, and are interesting enough, to keep you invested (a storytelling skill that is perhaps Kojima’s saving grace). Also, the more dramatic beats of the story are impactful enough to still resonate, even if you’re not entirely sure what the fuck is going on. It helps to have talent like Norman Reedus, Mads Mikkelson, and Lea Seydoux in the cast, whose performances bring the characters to life. Sam in particular might have been an insufferable loner, were it not for Reedus’ gruff likeability that made him famous from Walking Dead.

If you’ve avoided this game because, like me, you were convinced by bad reviews that it sucks, I would highly suggest that you reconsider. It may not be as fun, or compelling, as a Metal Gear Solid game, but it’s an interesting departure and one worth experiencing.

#death stranding #hideo kojima #norman reedus #mads mikkelsen #guillermo del toro #ps4 #playstation 4 #sony #video game

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mediaeval-muse · 5 years ago

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Book Review

Fortune Favors the Wicked. By Theresa Romain. New York: Zebra Books, 2016.

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Genre: historical romance

Part of a Series? Yes, Royal Rewards #1

Summary: As a lieutenant in the Royal Navy, Benedict Frost had the respect of every man on board—and the adoration of the women in every port. When injury ends his naval career, the silver-tongued libertine can hardly stomach the boredom. Not after everything—and everyone—he’s experienced. Good thing a new adventure has just fallen into his lap…

When courtesan Charlotte Perry learns the Royal Mint is offering a reward for finding a cache of stolen gold coins, she seizes the chance to build a new life for herself. As the treasure hunt begins, she realizes her tenacity is matched only by Benedict’s—and that sometimes adversaries can make the best allies. But when the search for treasure becomes a discovery of pleasure, they’ll be forced to decide if they can sacrifice the lives they’ve always dreamed of for a love they’ve never known…

***Full review under the cut.***

Content Warnings: violence, blood, sexual content, domestic violence

Overview: Another read from Courtney Milan’s recommendations page (I’ve been doing a lot of these lately). To be honest, I didn’t have any strong feelings going into this book; I was expecting some kind of rivals to lovers situation, perhaps some thrilling tale of a courtesan running from a jaded past, and while there was a little of that, I was pleasantly surprised by the direction this story actually took. Rather than being a fierce competition where emotions get in the way of each character’s goals, Fortune Favors the Wicked is more a tale about balancing independence with one’s connection to others. While some might be disappointed by that, I thoroughly enjoyed it, and though there were some things I wished Romain had done to enhance the emotional impact of her story, I think there was enough complexity in this novel to keep me interested in seeing more of Romain’s work.

Writing: Romain’s prose is fairly straight-forward without a lot of embellishments. There’s a nice image here and there, but overall, it’s the kind that can be taken in quickly. There was something about her prose style that gave me the impression of disconnectedness; while she depicts the events in her narrative well and makes her characters complex and compelling, I also got the sense that characters didn’t give into emotion and were overall very restrained. This doesn’t mean that her characters don’t have emotions - Romain notes moments when Charlotte stiffens or grips Benedict’s arm in a certain way, but these moments are breezed through quickly and not much is made of them, suggesting (to me) that the emotional impact of something isn’t as noteworthy as the thing itself.

I do think, however, that Romain did an excellent job of writing the relationship between Charlotte and her 10 year old daughter, Maggie. Maggie believes herself to be the legitimate daughter of Charlotte’s deceased sister, but Charlotte has been posing as Maggie’s aunt in order to give her the best chance of being accepted by society. I found Romain’s depiction of Charlotte’s maternal longing to be very well done; I could sense the restraint that Charlotte felt, as well as the difficulty in trying to connect with her daughter, but not quite knowing how after being absent for most of her life. I think those moments were the strongest emotional scenes in the book, and I appreciated the way Romain depicted Charlotte’s struggle using Benedict as a kind of confidant.

Plot: The main action of this book revolves around a treasure hunt of sorts. A hefty sum of gold coins have been stolen from the Royal Mint, and their presence has been traced to a small town called Strawfield, where Charlotte grew up. A number of hopeful “treasure hunters” have descended upon the town, but Charlotte has an edge in that she knows the people and the terrain. At the same time, Charlotte tries to keep her Strawfield life and her London life separate. Being in Strawfield means that she puts a lot of people at risk; a former client has become embittered because Charlotte has left him, so to force her back into his power, he threatens to expose her life as a courtesan to the entire town - a scandal that is sure to affect her parents (who make a meager living as a vicar and translator of ancient Greek) and her daughter, Maggie.

Meanwhile, Benedict has also arrived in Strawfield in search of the treasure, in part motivated by the promise of an adventure, but also by his desire to provide for his sister. As a former sailor, he only receives half a salary and a small pension, so he doesn’t have much to offer in terms of supporting his family. Making things more pressing, his sister is weeks away from turning 21, the age at which her aunt and uncle are to turn her out of their home and cease providing for her (according to an agreement Benedict made with them after the death of his parents).

I really liked the way these plots paralleled one another. Both Benedict and Charlotte were motivated by their care for others - Benedict by his sister, Charlotte by her daughter - and I think this kind of selfless love made for an interesting contrast with the more selfish desires of seeking adventure. I also liked that Benedict struggled with being absent from his sister’s life just as Charlotte struggled with being absent from her daughter’s life - it gave the two characters something in common, other than their passion for one another. At the same time, I also liked the way Charlotte’s status as a kind of object/treasure in the eyes of her clients (she’s called “La Perle” by those who know her as a courtesan - a name that reflects such objectification and is a literal treasure) paralleled the treasure hunt. A former client is literally tracking her down the way Charlotte tracks down the Royal Mint coins, and I appreciated the subtle symbolism that Romain put into these plot lines.

I do wish, however, that a sense of urgency was infused into these narrative threads. Because of Romain’s prose style, I didn’t get the sense that much was at stake for these characters, even though the circumstances themselves certainly put a lot of people at risk.

Characters: The summary of this book is a little misleading; though the hero does in fact have an “injury” and is loathe to stay confined in one place, and the heroine is looking to build a “new life for herself,” the characters are so much more complex than that.

Benedict, our hero, is likable in that he’s not as self-indulgent as the summary would suggest. Though he does fear being confined by a metaphorical “cage,” he isn’t a slave to his impulses, and he frequently prioritizes the thoughts and feelings of others above his own. He accepts Charlotte for who she is and does not think less of her for being a courtesan, and he even tries to help her connect with Maggie and avoid her former client, though there is nothing that would incentivize him to do so. I was relieved that he wasn’t written as a stereotypical gruff loner or womanizing jerk - I’ve become more intolerant of those archetypes lately, and was pleasantly surprised that Benedict was written as a good human being from the start. Moreover, Benedict is not just “inured” - he’s blind and navigates the world using a cane. At first, I was a bit worried that Benedict’s blindness would be fetishized or that he would be portrayed as having some extra-sensory abilities to overcome his disability, but to my surprise, his blindness was never used as some kind of erotic component in intimate scenes, and though Benedict does have some uncanny listening skills, I don’t think they were super-human.

Charlotte was also a compelling protagonist in that she was constantly thinking of the well-being of others without diminishing her own self-worth in the process. She never apologizes for being a courtesan and making her own way in the world, she only regrets that her lifestyle would bring hardship on her family due to society’s prejudices. I liked that she was able to take control of a situation and make things work to her advantage, and though she had some real emotional pain from being separated from her daughter, she never seemed to be bogged down by self-esteem issues or worthlessness.

The supporting characters were also well-written in their complexity. Maggie is a solitary child whose social awkwardness is balanced by her sweet relationship with the family dog. Charlotte’s father, a vicar, frequently has to confront his mistakes regarding his treatment of his daughter, and Charlotte’s mother, a translator of ancient Greek, is flawed in her single-minded obsession with the classics. I even felt that Selwyn, Charlotte’s former lover and father to Maggie, was complex in that he was self-interested without being cruel, contrasting nicely with the cruelty of Charlotte’s former client, Randolph, who was determined to control her no matter the cost.

Romance: Despite the characters on their own being compelling and interesting, I could not see the relationship between Charlotte and Benedict as more than a close friendship. This book is marketed as a “game of seduction,” but there’s very little seducing, with emphasis instead being placed on mutual admiration and respect. Benedict is very kind and supportive of Charlotte, and Charlotte seems to admire the way Benedict has made his own way in the world as a blind man. While I liked that their relationship was based on something more than just appearance or lust, there was also very little passion, and I felt that we had to be told that the characters were falling for one another, rather than being shown it. The characters didn’t seem to be very emotionally vulnerable with each other, nor did I get the sense that they enriched each other’s emotional lives for the better. Benedict’s feelings of anxiety over being “caged” are barely present in the novel, so it doesn’t interfere with his relationship with Charlotte until close to the end; moreover, not much was made of the fact that Benedict would lose his pension/salary if he marries, since being a Naval Knight requires him to live at Windsor Castle and remain single. I would have liked to see more pressure put on these barriers to their romance, but even more than that, I would have liked to see the characters help one another overcome their flaws or challenge each other to grow. While there was a little of that in the way Benedict helped Charlotte with Maggie, I think Romain’s reluctance to more completely indulge in the emotional aspects of her story (as well as her seeming reluctance to make the sex scenes truly passionate) prevented me from seeing sparks between our two leads.

Recommendations: I would recommend this book if you’re interested in historical romance (especially early 19th century/post-Napoleonic era), treasure hunts, mother-daughter relationships, and disabled protagonists.

#book reviews

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puttingfingerstokeys · 5 years ago

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Nanowrimo day 17 Featuring Dante from the Devil May Cry(tm) series, and Vergil Dark fantasy, horror, demon...shit? Devil May Cry, violence, hell stuff, implied nonconsensual stuff Unfinished and unedited

“Ya think we did the right thing, Verg’? Leavin’ the kid behind like that, I mean…” Dante wasn’t the kind of man who doubted himself often. His decisions were, in general, ironclad. At the very least, he was an individual of particularly steely character and was more than content to live with his mistakes. He was even content to live with others’ mistakes.

“Yes,” came the short, sharp response. To Vergil, there was no other option. Hell was not a place for a young man with a family. He did not know the girl, but he understood that Nero was very fond of her. Leaving Kyrie behind would have devastated her. Humans are fragile creatures, he mused coldly, forgetting conveniently, at least for the moment, the he was half human himself. It was easy to forget that here in this dark place of discordant energy.

It was a plane of lightless eternity, stretching out in all directions. Walking one way often yielded other terrain, but nothing remotely resembling something alive. Pools of blood stood stagnant where a puddle might have been in the human world. Blood rained from the sky above, which looked at times like the vaulted ceiling of a massive cave and other times resembled a vast expanse of void.

As lonely as it was, they were always being watched. Once the Qliphoth had been destroyed, the demonic attacks had all but subsided and the brothers found themselves hunting the beasts for sport. They ran at the very sound of the twins’ voices. It was becoming monotonous.

“Just ‘yes’? No monologue?”

“Did you want one?” Vergil’s patience was perpetually wearing thin. Dante knew this damn well and prodded every chance he got. He loved getting a rise out of Vergil, seeing the color appear on sharp cheekbones and the set of his handsome jaw. It meant the guy was alive and that he could feel. That he had always been able to did not escape Dante; it was not for himself that he did this. Vergil needed to know and remember that he, too, was a half-breed, more than capable of feeling loss and love and everything that came with being a living, breathing being.

Despite what he had done, Dante had long since forgiven him, regardless of whether or not the man had asked. Dante knew he never would and so was not waiting for it. He had simply resolved in his mind to let it all go, to toss it aside like so much chaff that simply did not matter in the grand grinding wheel of their lives. He was just glad to be with Vergil.

“Okay fine,” Dante conceded, shrugging and lifting his arms to arch his back and stretch as they walked the lonely, empty plains of the demon world.

The ease of his concession had Vergil on edge almost instantly. Dante never gave up like that. There had to be something more to it. He was always playing games. Each movement was part of an elaborate dance step that only Dante himself seemed to know and he was not sharing. Vergil never would have admitted to anyone but himself (and even that admission was skeletal) that his brother had always enraptured and fascinated him.

“You’re giving up…?” Vergil was poking the hornet’s nest now, but his own incessant curiosity would not allow him to leave well enough alone. They were alike in this, yet another fact he would never admit to anyone, and it chafed him something fierce. That he could not control it only served to further irk Vergil.

“Yup,” responded Dante, popping the final letter for extra emphasis. “You clearly don’t wanna elaborate, so who am I to prod?”

You always prod! Vergil’s mind screamed. Through sheer force of his not inconsiderably willpower, Vergil managed not to say a word and grunted instead, nodding minutely as if utterly uninterested in Dante’s lack of interest. This, too, was part of the game. How long could each brother hold out? Who would emerge victorious? Everything was a contest between the two of them. Everything.

Overhead, the “sky” or whatever it was, rumbled with a hollow, metallic sort of intonation. The blood rain was incoming. Vergil disliked the feeling of it on his skin and clothes and immediately scanned the area with a practiced eye for some clue to the direction of a cave or even a feeble outcropping underneath which they could take shelter. A tug on his elbow alerted him that Dante had caught sight of such a place and indeed, when Vergil turned his attention, Dante was already jogging that way.

The rumble resounded again, sounding more like a growl than any kind of storm. Vergil ducked into the cave opening just as the first red, stinking droplets began to fall. He grimaced and crouched near the entrance, watching it fall across the seemingly uninhabited landscape. This was nothing like he remembered it, but then, maybe it was because he was with Dante. The demon world had a tendency to shift, depending on the mental state (and physical state) of its occupants. Perhaps he was seeing this version because he was not actually dead. The theories were endless, but right now, he had neither the desire nor the equipment to test them. Instead of bothering with it, therefore, Vergil settled back, propping Yamato on his shoulder and turning his attention to Dante, who was similarly enraptured with the strange scenery.

The cave itself was supremely dark, though not terribly deep. Given the demons’ fear of them, it was unlikely to be occupied. That was all the better for anything that might have wanted to live here, because Dante and Vergil would have made quick work of it.

“Last time I was here, it was a whole lot hotter,” Dante said, as if speaking only to himself. Vergil’s brow rose.

“You were here?”

“Well, if here is the demon world or whatever… and if it’s the same one every time, though I’m really kinda startin’ to doubt that right about now…. Then yeah, I was. It was probably twenty years ago, though.”

Vergil wondered how someone like Dante ended up here. They had made war upon each other in a nexus-like half-plane, essentially within the hellgate bridge created by the Temen-ni-Gru around thirty years prior. Between then and now, Vergil had spent all of his time here, save the last month or so. He, therefore, should have been the authority on the demon world and its denizens and manifestations. He was not.

“I barely remember it, honestly,” Dante added after a moment, in a tone that suggested not only did he remember it vividly, but it plagued him whenever he closed his eyes, haunted his nightmares, and infected his waking world when he wasn’t otherwise occupied. Vergil did not press. He was the last person to judge based on that.

“You followed something in, I’ll assume,” Vergil supplied. This coaxing manner was rather in the same vein as Dante’s prodding. It had a similar result, in general, anyway. When he saw Dante nod, he knew he had struck some kind of chord. “A demon, or…”

“I don’t know what it was, Vergil,” the response was sharp, harder than Dante had intended and he withdrew a moment with a mumbled few words that sounded like “it doesn’t matter”. Vergil laughed through his nose, the sound muted by the rain outside. Nothing Dante had experienced in this horrid place could have possibly held a candle to the torments Vergil had suffered. That was a matter of time spent here, rather than opinion. But Vergil was not about to play pain olympics with something that clearly distressed his brother. Any other time, he might have mocked and jeered, in his way, but right now, that felt… wrong.

“You’ve gone willingly into the demon world twice,” Vergil pointed out. The Temen-ni-Gru had not been fully submerged, as it were, and whatever Dante had found during his battle with Mundus had been similarly positioned, a sort of Hell Lite. Mundus had been trying to push through, in all fairness, so Dante had not been forced to immerse himself. That was fortunate, because the area where the demon king Mundus held court was far worse than wherever the Qliphoth’s branches had been positioned. This place was a paradise, all things considered.

“So have you,” Dante pointed out, his tone softening from the defensive, choked timbre it had taken on when Vergil tried coaxing a story or two out of him. That he was so reticent to share said all that was needed on the subject of how much it had affected him. Dante’s fearless, indomitable spirit had shone through just about everything life had thrown at him. Clearly this was just a step farther than he was able to push himself. Everyone has their limits, Vergil reasoned, I guess he does, too.

It was a strange thought, considering his insufferable twin was… well, insufferable, incorrigible, and constantly ready, willing, and able to dog Vergil’s every movement. He guessed that, in a way, he had invited this attention upon himself, given his propensity for causing havoc, not least of which had been his mad grab for power, planting the Qliphoth and siccing it on a city full of strangers. He did not think of them as innocents, however; even now, they were merely faceless nobodies. Dante would not change his mind on that, either.

Point of fact, it had been finding out he had a son which had called a halt upon his machinations. Vergil had suspected nothing. It had been V, whose humanity had shown him the life that Dante had built and the impact he was having on the world, carrying on Sparda’s legacy of protection for the humans, who had planted that seed of doubt and hesitance in his heart. Dante had driven the final nail into that particular coffin by telling Vergil who Nero really was.

“You really get around,” Dante jested, chuckling and watching the blood rain fall outside. It was forming puddles already, sticky, coagulated things which stunk something fierce. He thought he would become accustomed to the smell eventually, but he never did. Blood stank, plain and simple.

“Did I?” Vergil’s tone warned Dante not to push, that he knew what the man was doing. Dante figured it was tit for tat and if Vergil was going to tease at his time in the demon world, it was only fair he should do the same of Vergil’s most sensitive subject. Of course, it was really only a guess which led Dante to conclude that this was such a sore spot, but if he knew Vergil at all (and he absolutely did) he was about to hit the proverbial nail on the head… repeatedly.

“Sure,” Dante reasoned casually. “I mean sometime between playing Gilver and stuffing a giant tower in the middle of my city, right?”

He was referring, of course, to Vergil’s time on Fortuna which had somehow produced Nero. Dante was curious about this, as he suspected, was Nero. The kid, however, had not had time to ask his father about it and Dante suspected that, rough as Nero was, he was too tactful and maybe a little too stubborn to simply bring it up.

“I acquired knowledge of the occult and the book which Arkham carried that detailed the formulae and necessary items to raise Temen-ni-Gru,” said Vergil, his voice taking on a clinical coldness. He was shutting down, Dante could sense that much. He reached out and patted his brother’s thigh from his position across the small cave.

“Hey, dude, relax… Like I said, we were all young, once, right?” This, he meant with sincerity, his way of raising a white flag. Curiosity was pushing at him, but his adoration for Vergil was winning out. Dante was simply glad to have the man back after all these years. When it did come to blows, he wanted it to be for a better reason.

Vergil’s gaze was sharp for a moment before he closed his eyes and turned his head to face the cave entrance. Hollow thunder resounded overhead and the world flashed with whatever passed for lightning in the realm of demons. Only when his sight was completely diverted did he open his eyes, a faraway look in them Dante could not see, but which might have broken his heart.

“I don’t remember it.”

“You don’t… what?” Suddenly, the hand on Vergil’s thigh was tight. Dante’s mind had immediately leapt to the worst set of circumstances. He released his grasp only when Vergil’s gaze returned to him and he finally saw that look of melancholy. Dante drew back and crossed his arms, as if to protect himself.

“Did I stutter?”

“No, but… Listen I…” There was a prime opportunity for a reference to Vergil’s lack of alcohol tolerance, but Dante wasn’t even going to attempt that. It felt wrong. One accidental drunk night did not sound like Vergil.

“There are gaps,” he said, “in my mind… things that weren’t convenient for me to know. Mundus removed them.” The delivery was simple, and all the worse for that simplicity. Vergil did not dress anything up, did not elaborate. He merely stated fact. “Our childhood has been… edited. I assume whatever happened on Fortuna was, as well, because there was no… woman.”

#CC #CW #Devil May Cry #Dante #Vergil #the idea was to continue into vergil explaining how Nero happened #might continue this one somemplace

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javid-shamash · 5 years ago

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alright, so here’s my ideas so far! this is in no way final and i am greatly open to suggestions! beware for vague/not-so-vague tome spoilers below

instead of the terrain of magical expertise being a video game, it is instead the metaverse! its sorta like persona 3, where the shadows all exist in one place rather than palaces like in p5. in this au, having a persona is a lot more common in recent years, and it’s unknown why. while its still a secret to the general public, a fair amount of people venture through the terrain to deal w/ shadows. realizing your persona is also not limited to just teens in this au, with young adults also able to do so. so far, here are the personas and confidants ive figured out, but as said above, please feel free to leave me suggestions for changing personas/arcana and the personas of other characters! if you want to ask why i chose to give a certain character their arcana/persona, please ask! Fool - Alpha - Heracles - Lightning Magician - Saturndiva High Priestess - Gamesoft - Morgaine (Arthurian Lore) - Psychokinesis, Healer Empress - Kindarspirit Emperor - Bitshrum Hierophant - Neomutant Lovers - Whyti Chariot - Rubirules Justice - Asterob Hermit - Doubling/Skeight Wheel of Fortune - Demonking Strength - Flamegirl - Jane Eyre - Fire, Physical Hanged Man - Kirbopher - Winston (1984) - Nuclear, Passives Death - Archy Temperance - Zetto - Maximón - Bless/Curse Devil - Execk Tower - Rockoon Star - Nylocke - Don Quixote - Ice Moon - Kizuna - Chang'e - Wind, Gun Sun - Webmaster Judgment - The Forbidden Power

#tome persona au #tome #terrain of magical expertise #persona #long post #tome spoilers #terrain of magical expertise spoilers

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crusherthedoctor · 6 years ago

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Sonic & Tails: Beyond the Stars - Chapter 3

Chapter 3: A Drop of Life or Death

"Just keep following me, guys!" Sonic called out to his pursuing friends as he breezed along the ocean with his amazing namesake. Who needs a boat when you're the fastest thing alive? He directed his attention towards what appeared to be a tranquil beachside area, which courtesy of its boardwalks, and its white, pristine sands, he couldn't help but be reminded of his favourite relaxing spot in Station Square.

"Where are we headed to?" Amy asked quickly, as she continued to hold onto Cream while the latter flew in the air.

"The local coastal resort is not too far from here," Lutrudis replied, while she did the same with Tails. "Being such a destination, it's naturally a popular spot in Viridonia. If Dr. Eggman is the kind of character I've been led to believe, it's possible he may be sabotaging the place for... whatever selfish reason."

"Maybe he's forcing everyone to worship him..." Cream pondered out loud fearfully.

"If he's not busy worshipping himself," Amy added with a bit of sass, having known the evil scientist's self-aggrandizing habits for some time now.

"Eggman makes me feel older..." Tails muttered somewhat absent-mindedly.

"Did you guys say coastal resort?" the sea-walking Sonic questioned, with a notable drip of dread in his voice. "There won't be too many unavoidable pits of water around, will there?"

"...Aren't you running on water right now?" Tails pointed out, trying hard to hide his amused tone.

"Not the same thing!" Sonic denied defensively, as he dashed off to their destination. The remaining four exchanged glances with each other, before picking up the speed themselves. Unbeknownest to them however, the blue droid from before was spying on the group once again. High above their own heights, he rubbed his hands in glee, in tune with the siren atop his cranium.

"Heh heh heh..." he giggled, betrayed by his unthreatening voice and nervous pitch.

---

Coastline Resort Zone

CR Act 1: Shining Shore

Lutrudis' Badnik Logs: Crabmeat - “Yet another 'classic' in the doctor's repertoire of mischievous metal myrmidons. Not only do they use those great big pincers to pinch you in the backside, like any crab with a short fuse, they also fire pellets from afar. Better turn them into Crabscrap before they cause you grief.”

Gameblow - “Based on the older model known as Game Game (darling name, I must say), these innocuous looking turtles spin their shells like a deadly frisbee. Regular frisbees are bad enough, but at least they only hurt your neck rather than, y'know, potentially slice it.”

Aquis - “Despite being based on seahorses, these ones never touch a single drop of water, instead opting to swim through the air... as well as rain down bullets on you. Not very advertiser friendly.”

Sweep - “Can you run on water? So can these pests, unfortunately. Trimming along the deep blue with surprising grace, they like to insert their spiked noses into your person... I trust it goes without saying that this would hurt quite a bit.”

At the risk of disappointing Sonic greatly, welcome to your first water zone in Viridonia. There may have been the odd watery area in the previous zones, but this will be the first one to really make use of your swimming skills... or non-swimming skills. Well, it may not suit the Blue Blur's tastes, but you're not gonna stop Eggman otherwise, right?

Anyway, you won't have to fret too much about inescapable underwater sections for the time being, as this act takes place at the lovely beach by the sea. If you expect this to simply be a textbook Emerald Coast however (you know, like Wave Ocean), you've got another thing coming. True, there's elements of those stages here and there - the palm trees filled with juicy coconuts, the wooden boardwalks leading off into the ocean, the occasional flashy yacht floating along to make you feel dissatisfied with your own life choices - but even a quick glance will reveal the beautifully decorated plaza, the higher cliffs teeming with stunning waterfalls, and the tall torches complimenting the gradually darkening sky, as it's close to reaching sunset by this point.

You can even stop by the tourist centers if you want to, of which their residents will be happy to provide you with interesting facts about the place... when they're not grumbling about rival tourist destinations, that is.

"I heard that Apotos once got corrupted by a dark force, causing its residents to act out and commit heinous acts of evil... Now between you and me, would they have went through all that suffering if they came here...?"

"You know the worst thing about that Dr. Robotnik? His vacation planning make no sense! Who puts a theme park in space? Was it his plan all along to kill everyone through lack of oxygen?"

"Soleanna? More like SoleanNAH... Look, I don't get visitors often..."

By this point, you'll have noticed that Lutrudis isn't the only one tagging along with Sonic and Tails this time around. Amy and Cream are tagging along too, and like Miss Hadeer, they'll try their best to help out here and there, as well as provide banter that doesn't get repetitive or redundant. You can't rely on them too much though, or else this would be far too easy. The Crabmeats and Gameblows still put their focus on you when attacking, though the Aquis seahorses will prove to be the most obnoxious of the set due to their tendency to hang around in the air. Suffice to say, Tails can get rid of them a lot quicker, unless you're really good with Sonic's momentum.

By the time you reach the home stretch, represented by an impressively sized lighthouse, an orca whale will pop out of the water. Luckily, despite your initial reservations, this one is friendly to blue hedgehogs, as it happily allows you to run along its back... But once you jump off its back, and leap high into the air, another orca will suddenly jump out to try and eat you. After narrowly avoiding the hostile orca's vacumn of a mouth, you're quick to notice that it's been equipped with highly advanced armor... and it appears to be acting against its own will, as you also notice the blue robot hovering down with a remote control...

Amy: What's going on!?

Sonic: Wait, that's-!

Gunner: Heh heh heh...

As the first orca wisely flees the scene of the crime, you're forced to run away from the clutches of the second, mechanized orca. As tense as orca chases were in the past, they didn't fire lasers and bombs at you. Poor Cream in particular is frightened beyond belief, but you've made it out of these situations before. Unfortunately, the actual terrain is a lot more complicated than past incidents of this sort as well, as you must traverse through piers, caves, AND cliffs to escape the jaws of the beast.

Eventually however, the ray of the lighthouse will shine upon the mecha orca, and with its temporary distraction, it'll crash into the nearest cliff, Monstro-style. Don't worry, it's not dead. But it did get rid of the armor encasing it, thus freeing it of its operator's control.

Gunner: Ohhhhh nooooo...

As the robot rather pathetically crushes its remote in anger, before flying away, you can finally complete the stage by freeing the critters from the end capsule. But in the distance, you can hear a lot of splashing, and a lot of children in particular yelling out gleefully. Or could one of those be a manchild...?

---

"Who was THAT weirdo?" Amy wondered as she squeezed the last drop of water out of her quills. "Eggman's newest hunk of junk?"

"Is the poor whale okay...?" Cream worried to herself. Lutrudis was quick to nod in reassurance, and gave her the A-OK hand signal for good measure. Amy also nodded sympathetically as she rubbed her little friend's head in affection.

"That wasn't a new guy," Sonic muttered, still soaked from head to toe, and not too pleased about it if his slumped body language was of any indication. "That was a Heavy."

"A what?"

"A Heavy, Amy. A Hard-Boiled Heavy to be precise. Me and Tails tangled with them long ago... I didn't think I'd ever see them again, but here we are."

"Them?" Cream asked nervously. "How many of them are there...?"

"Five," Tails answered bluntly. "They were tougher than they looked too," he added dejectedly.

"Drat," Amy cursed out loud, complete with a fist in her palm. "And I guess Eggman didn't decide to only rebuild one of them? Now we have a whole GROUP of jerks to watch out for."

"There's five of us though, right...?" Lutrudis gestured with her left hand. "Surely they're not much different from the doctor's other robots."

"Well actually," Sonic scratched his ear as he looked to his side awkwardly. "These robots were enhanced by a really weird jewel."

"Oh... of course..." Lutrudis trailed off, before quickly regaining her confident burst. "Well you still beat them once before. We can handle them... At least, you guys can... Myself, well..."

Before Sonic could argue with what he perceived as an error in her statement, Lutrudis cleared the last set of bushes that revealed the source of all the excited noise: a hustling, bustling water park. The vaguely ancient architecture suggested that it was formerly a set of aquatic ruins, but with the addition of industrial gizmos and doodads in the modern age, it was now a colorful array of seaside adrenaline. Dazzling fountains were dotted all over, and it truly caught the group's attention.

"Wow, this place looks cool!" Tails beamed with youthful glee. His tails couldn't help but twirl around in excitement. "We should hang out here for real when this is over! What do you think, Sonic?"

He was quick to notice the look of subdued resignation on his lifelong buddy's face. Evidently, the blue hedgehog had wearily accepted that he was about to get very wet once again.

"Oh man..." Sonic sighed, as Lutrudis put a sympathetic hand on his shoulder.

---

CR Act 2: Crazy Rapids

Lutrudis' Badnik Logs: Lobstrike - “These lobsters practically become heat-seeking missiles the moment they spot an enemy. Fortunately, while they're certainly fast, they can't turn around once they fire at you. Can't say I was fond of the taste of lobsters anyway.”

Scuba Pawn - "The most clever thing about these Pawns is that they're sea green. Slightly less clever is their tendency to throw their floatie rings like boomerangs, as well as launch a torpedo if you're under the sea. The doctor's compulsive need to mix deadly and daft would be almost admirable if it weren't for his equally compulsive need to conquer the world through it."

Returning Enemies: Crabmeat Gameblow Aquis Sweep

Doesn't this place look amazingly fun? Not if you're aquaphobic. Good thing no one on the team is, or else this would be very awkward.

Being a water park, you have a plentiful amount of gimmicks to experiment with. Water slides, water whirligigs, giant bubbles for you to substitute for temporary platforms, and even jacuzzi hot tubs that launch you up in the air with their overwhelming heat. Everything's coming up wet around here! The hybrid of marble ruins and wacky equipment certainly makes for a memorable scene, but don't get too distracted, lest you get bumped off by a Scuba Pawn.

Speaking of which, does no one here realise the gravity of the robots' presence? One lanky zebra in khaki shorts seems to have a unique take on them...

"Yoooo! Digging these mascots, dude! So full of life, know what I mean dawg?"

As you attempt to avoid shutting down emotionally upon hearing the word "dawg", let's discuss the swimming in this adventure at last. As Sonic, you naturally can't swim, but as Tails, you can count on that cute little doggy paddle of yours to help you go places. Compared to the old days however, Tails can now swim a lot faster, making underwater sections a lot more bearable than they would be otherwise. Of course, Tails will still tire out if you doggy paddle for too long, and regardless of who you're playing as, failure to obtain oxygen in time will result in a certain memorable countdown... followed by death.

That's not to say that you can't complete underwater stages with Sonic. The level design is always laid out in a way that ensures he can still make it through as well. But basically, you're better off with using Tails in these type of stages, unless you have something to prove.

And what would a place called Crazy Rapids be if it didn't have any rapids? There's a whole bunch of them, and you gotta watch your step, as the current during these sections is way too speedy for you to swim through without getting washed away. Like the honey in the Hornet's Nest though, you won't die if you get caught in it. You'll simply be momentarily inconvenienced... which is nonetheless a big deal when there's Lobstrikes willing to take advantage of your situation.

After all the slides, the rapids, and the trips in and out of the water, you'll eventually find yourself running along a straight path that takes you to the park's information center... But right before you enter it, you're suddenly bombarded with missiles. Once you dodge them for a brief period, the source of the missiles will hover down and reveal itself... a familiar helicopter, with a familiar passenger. With a push of a button on its control panel, the copter dispatches the rotors in exchange for a round underside, and the vehicle slams down onto the floor behind you with a mighty crash, breaking the floor apart instantly. With the contraption now taking the form of a boat, you must run for your life as an old friend tries valiantly to earn himself some much desired payback...

BOSS: Heavy Gunner

On one hand, this is kind of like your original fight with the police-themed Heavy, in that you're keeping up the pace against his vehicle of choice, and he's firing an onslaught of missiles everywhere he goes.

On the other hand, everything else is completely different.

For starters, Gunner's boat is always behind you, and its chipping away at the ground you're cruising along. Falling into the water here won't technically count as an instant death, but you'll be a sitting duck for the balloon-sized bombs that he sends down your way, so try to avoid that fate as best as you can. Should you stay above the ocean however, Gunner will opt for continuing his missile assault with his trusty yet blocky bazooka.

Now, Gunner's missiles have different colours, just like your past encounter with him. But this time, he fires red and green, not blue. Red missiles go straight for you, while green missiles arch upwards, loop around once, and then crash down onto the floor ahead of you, thus risking a watery trap for your character. The cybernetic sail on the front of the boat prevents offensive measures from the front, and neither type of missile can be deflected back, for it is proven that a robot can learn from his mistakes. So what do you do?

Wait for a green missile. Then, when it loops around and is close to ground level, grab onto it. Keep holding on until the missile is at the highest it can go, and right before it crashes down to the ground...

Gunner: Uhhhhh ohhhhh...

...let go of the missile and slam yourself down onto the boat with all your might. Gunner's subsequent arm flailing and eyeball popping will indicate that he did not account for this maneuver, and his boat will notably sink ever so slightly.

Three more rounds of this is all it takes. But be warned, for in an effort to prevent you from pulling that stunt again, the pattern of the green missiles will grow increasingly erratic after each hit, culminating with some truly fast zig-zag sweeping. As well as that, he'll also start firing missiles while you're up high in an attempt to make you lose focus. But speed is your middle name, so you've got this in the bag. After four strikes, the boat will finally give way and sink altogether, but not before Gunner ejects from his craft and jets away. This won't be the last you see of him, but you've foiled him for now. Let's just hope his buddies follow the same destiny...

---

"Y-you'll pay for t-this..." Gunner muttered timidly, as he used his jetpack to fly off to an unspecified destination.

"Sorry cop, but you ain't taking me in," Sonic quipped. "Wasn't fun being in jail the first time around..." He and his friends carried on running through the path, only to stop by an isolated building hidden away by trees and bushes. Upon taking a step inside...

"Look, Mr. Sonic!" Cream clasped her hands happily.

"Huh?" Sonic turned around after making sure Gunner was gone, and to his own surprise, occupying the lobby area was a whole bunch of Chao, of different colours and shapes, all playing around without a care in the world. Some of them were enjoying the pool, others were sliding down minature slides and throwing balls with each other, content with the other's company.

"A Chao Garden...?" the hero wondered.

"Yep," Lutrudis answered, hands on hips. "You didn't think we'd have any of our own here?" she asked with a teasing smile.

Sonic said nothing, too caught up with watching the little Chao. Amy and Cream wasted no time in petting and playing with the nearest Chao they could find, and even Cheese greeted himself to them through their own unique language.

"Chao!"

"Chao Chao!"

"Chao Chao?"

"Chao! <3"

As they got along with each other, Tails turned to Lutrudis. "Do you come here often?"

She nodded wistfully. "I love Chao." She rested one arm on her hand. "They're such beautiful little creatures... And so calming to one's senses. I've considered having one of my own, actually."

"Why haven't you got one?" Sonic questioned, as he crossed his arms.

"I'm not sure if I would make a good parent figure for them..." the horse rubbed her arm, while looking aside. "I don't really have the experience for that... and I doubt that'll change anytime soon..."

"Well, I think you'd be great with a Chao," Sonic gently nudged Lutrudis with a wink.

"Yeah!" Tails agreed. "You've treated the rest of us fine, right? You're nowhere close to having the inhospitality of someone like-"

"Guys, watch out!" Lutrudis suddenly called out to Amy and Cream, after having briefly glanced up at the transparent glass roof. Before they could react however, said glass roof suddenly exploded in a shower of broken shards, which threatened to cause serious damage to everyone within the lobby. Thinking fast, Sonic used his speed to get most of the Chao out of harm's way, and his four friends followed suit to the best of their own abilities. While the damage had been done to the surrounding area, the Chao were understandably in a state of panicked frenzy.

Sonic looked around to make sure his friends were okay, and he was subsequently relieved to see that Lutrudis had successfully herded all the Chao to a safe corner of the room, and was currently attempting to calm the poor things down. Before he could do anything else though, he immediately sensed another's presence. He didn't need to guess who it was. He could already hear the culprit's voice in his head before it even came out, as he had arguably heard it more times throughout his young life than even his own. Yet sure enough, out it came.

"Well, well, well... Sonic, my old pal. Long time no see, eh?"

The hedgehog looked up with distaste, and there he was, floating above in his signature hovercraft. The man who had caused so much trouble over the years. The man who saw himself as an emperor. The man who had a lifetime score to settle with people a quarter of his age. His two lackeys of questionable usefulness, Orbot and Cubot, were alongside him, as expected.

"Hey, what's all this commotion?" A burly duck in a suit and tie had walked into the scene, not at all happy with the carnage he had just heard, and certainly not with all the collateral damage. "Do you KNOW how long this will take to clean u-"

The duck immediately froze upon seeing the notorious scientist. He stood there in silence for a few long seconds, as his life flashed before his very eyes. The doctor simply turned to him, awaiting the expected reaction. Cubot was at least friendly enough to wave at him.

"R-R-Robotnik..." he stammered. "Gotta go...!" He promptly bolted out of the room, having cared very much about his own mortality.

"Oh, please, come back!" Eggman called out sarcastically. "I'm only here for a chat!"

"What are you doing here, Eggman?" Sonic asked with apprehension, ready as ever to put up his dukes if necessary. Tails and Amy were likewise quick to prepare themselves.

"What am I doing here?" Eggman pointed at himself with artificial innocence, as if he were hurt by the remark. "Surely the real question is what are you doing here. Must you always be like this, Sonic? Always following me wherever I go?"

"I think you've got that the other way around, doc," Sonic muttered, unimpressed with the man's fooling around.

"Just tell us your stupid plan already!" Amy complained, gripping firmly on her hammer. "Like you always do!"

"Now now, that's not how you greet yours truly," the doctor slowly waved a finger at the temperamental pink hedgehog. "I was just in the mood to visit the Chao that I hold so dear to my heart!"

"Because he wants to kidnap them," Orbot helpfully added. Eggman wordlessly glared at him.

"Kidnap the Chao...?" Cream contemplated with horror and revulsion. She immediately held Cheese tightly to her chest. "Why would you do such a thing!?"

"Yeah, why would you do that?" Tails questioned in a more quizzical tone. "What do you need Chao for? You're always after stuff like the Chaos Emeralds, and you've never cared about Chao at all until now..."

"Ah... I don't think I'll be telling that," Eggman leaned back and chuckled deviously. A grin started to appear on his face. "You see, things are a little different this time-"

"Don't you say that every time?" asked Cubot.

He got smacked in the face for his troubles.

"Things are a little different this time," Eggman repeated, looking in Cubot's direction in annoyance while doing so, before turning back to face the heroes. "If I explained everything right now, I'm afraid none of you would understand any of it! You'd have to reach MY level to get it." He smugly tapped his bald head, clearly alluding to the genius he prided himself so much on. "So if it's all the same with you, I think I'll be taking these girls and boys with me now."

Sonic was ready to thoroughly jeer at Eggman's amazing optimism in expecting to do as he pleased without his say in the matter. But before he could do so, another voice spoke out for him.

"You're not taking any of them."

Eggman looked confused as he wondered who had dared to say No to someone of his self-appointed stature. He quickly turned his Egg Mobile around, and saw Lutrudis standing in front of every last Chao. Her arms were outstretched, fully indicating that he would have to go through her to get them. The Chao were all terrified.

"Oh, right, you," the doctor commented. He stroked his right whisker. "I almost forgot about you. You're the new one, aren't you? The newest friend."

"~Ooooooh, friend!~" Orbot overdramatically clasped his hands joyfully.

"~Friend!~" Cubot added, and did the same in response.

"You're not taking these Chao," Lutrudis reiterated firmly, unflattered by the mockery directed at her.

"Surely you know who I am...?" Eggman asked.

"Yes, I do."

"Then you also know what I'm capable of...?

"Yes."

"And you know full well what I could do to you right here, right now...?"

"...Yes."

There was an audible hint of anxiousness in the horse's voice. This was her first face-to-face encounter with the most dangerous criminal in the world. She knew that he could mess her up in unimaginable ways, most likely with the push of a button. There was palpable fear on her face... Yet she remained where she was, not budging for a second. Even if it resulted in misfortune for herself, she refused to hand over the Chao.

"Then why do you dare to oppose me...?"

"Knock it off, Eggman," Sonic commanded fiercely. His hand began to curl into a fist, and his ears were straight up. His spines also sharpened a tiny bit.

"Why do you dare to oppose me...?" Eggman repeated, with added emphasis. His face was now inches away from the horse's own. "What's your story, hero?"

Lutrudis simply glared, despite the fear in her eyes. "No one owes anything to a rotten madman like you."

"...Madman...?" Eggman sneered venomously at her. Orbot and Cubot both shook their heads in fearful unison, explaining to Lutrudis non-verbally that saying such a thing to their master's face would not end well for anybody.

"Hey, egghead!" Sonic called out impatiently, tapping his foot. "We're still here, you know! You think WE'RE gonna let you take them?"

Eggman turned to Sonic with irritation. "Right, okay, let's get one thing sorted out about this 'egghead' business...!"

While the doctor was distracted, Lutrudis noticed that Cream wasn't too far from where she was. With a whisper, she called Cream over, to which the rabbit obliged. Kneeling down slowly so as to prevent her leg bones from straining, Lutrudis whispered in Cream's ear for a few seconds. When she finished, Cream nodded without a word, and she in turn called Amy over with a whisper of her own. Amy briefly looked to make sure that Eggman wasn't paying attention to her...

"If you absolutely HAVE to make these puns, why not go for something more original? More refined?"

...before tip-toeing over rather daintily to her two friends. After Cream whispered to Amy in her ear, the hedgehog nodded too. Eggman still didn't notice...

"Is this really the best you can think of, hedgehog? Have all those years of getting in my way gotten in YOUR way of coming up with something clever?"

As quickly as she could, Amy grabbed every last Chao, which turned out to be complicated given there were at least a dozen of them. But, not to be underestimated, she had them all in her mighty grasp... or at least, they were grasping her. This was then followed by Cream picking Amy up, and flying her out of the scene, taking the Chao along with them.

"...And that's why you need to come up with more original insults! 'Egghead' is so bottom of the barrel! Now then, the Chao..."

Eggman turned once again in Lutrudis' direction, only to notice her smiling with her hands behind her back, looking as innocent as can be. He also noticed that the Chao had all mysteriously vanished.

"Huh...?"

"Ha! Nice one, Trudy! Catch you later, egghead!" Sonic promptly dashed off further into the building.

"Better luck next time!" Tails added playfully, as he too followed Sonic's course of action.

After seeing them leave, Eggman stared at Lutrudis with confusion, who simply saluted at him with a smirk.

"See ya."

And with that, she ran off to follow her friends. As he watched her run off - but not before noticing she ran in a weirdly stilted way - Eggman simply floated in his craft in silence. He crossed his arms in thought.

"Oh dear, looks like you got tricked," Orbot thought out loud.

"Aw, you'll get 'em next time, boss," Cubot reassured. "Unless you lose next time, and the time after that... and the time after that..."

"I don't know why we're treating this as a loss," Eggman simply said, backed up by his surprising degree of calm nonchalance. "I'm still one step ahead, and maybe a few steps more..." He continued looking to where Lutrudis once was, as he gave his moustache another stroke. "Clever girl, that one. But she won't feel clever for long... Ho ho ho ho..."

"Hey, I heard a lot of noise earlier, what happ-" The pelican that entered the room turned tail and ran out as quickly as he came in. "Oh god, Robotnik's here! I'm too young to die!"

Eggman merely glanced at where the pelican was, and shrugged to himself.

---

"Where did they take them?" Sonic questioned as he kept jogging.

"To my castle," Lutrudis replied, trying her absolute best to keep up with him. "It should keep them safe, at least for now."

"You think they'll be alright with the Chao?" Tails asked in concern.

"Dude, Cream's oldest friend is a Chao. They've got this." Sonic looked around the hallway they were running through. It was rather fancy, with dark reds and silvers complimenting the mood, as well as a black and white checkered floor. "So uh, where are we actually going?"

"This takes us to the aquarium," Lutrudis informed him, while attempting not to sound like she was already out of breath. "I don't know what use Eggman would have for it, but his robots have been everywhere else so far, so..."

"Ahem, excuse me," a polar bear with a beard stepped in the way of their path to the entrance of the aquarium. "I'm afraid this area is reserved for celebrities only."

"What? But..." Sonic didn't often like to flaunt his world saviour status, but given the potential stakes at hand, it was evident that he didn't have much of a choice here. "But I'm Sonic the Hedgehog!"

"Oh yeah?" The gruff polar bear raised an eyebrow. "What's your proof?"

The hero stared at him in silence for a few painful seconds.

"...I'm Sonic the Hedgehog...?"

The bear shrugged. "Can't argue with that. You may enter."

The three friends simply looked at each other, each of them as baffled as the other. They soon made their way through the entrance in a single file, and once they were out of the bear's sight, Tails turned to Lutrudis with one ear lowered.

"Not to be mean, but that guy wasn't very good at his job, was he?"

"Apparently not," Lutrudis lightly brushed her ponytail aside to scratch the back of her head. "I don't recall anything about this place only accepting celebrities... Still, considering the circumstances, we should be grateful for his ineptitude."

"I just hope we don't need to make too many dips here," Sonic added, though his weary tone confirmed that deep down, he already accepted the reality.

Meanwhile, the bear looked behind him to check that they were gone, and upon confirmation, he smiled deviously to himself. All of a sudden, a puff of smoke had engulfed him, complete with a few dramatic sparkles, and when the dust settled, in his place was a droid much like Gunner, only this one wore yellow and a top hat... it seemed to be unable to stop moving its hands around.

"Hmm hmm...!" the robot chortled in a feminine tone, before disappearing in another puff of smoke.

---

CR Act 3: Aquarium Gallery

Lutrudis' Badnik Logs: Blastoid - “The good news is that they stay put. The bad news is that they're often placed in a rather intrusive fashion. Little do they know however that with the help of a certain shield, their projectiles can hardly put up a fight in the slightest.”

Shelly - "Looks like a bog standard seashell, right? Wrong: they may look all pretty and divine, but the moment you go near it, they'll clamp down on you like a deranged bear trap. Doesn't necessarily motivate me to sell seashells on the seashore..."

Returning Enemies: Crabmeat Aquis Sweep

This is the friendliest and the deadliest aquarium you've seen yet. There are fishies of all shapes and sizes (and colours) here, but as it turns out, some of the normally docile fish have been forcibly turned into mindless killing machines, just like the orca from earlier. You can leave them be if you want to, but freeing them of their armored shells will net you more points, and also make you feel good about yourself.

Tails: Why did Eggman do this to these poor fish?

Sonic: I don't know Tails, but I'm not standing for it.

Lutrudis: Perhaps they're being used to guard something from us...

Blastoids make an appearance in this stage, and they're the same as ever, right down to being rendered inefficient if you have a Water Shield, as you can simply deflect their projectiles away. However, they can still pose a threat, as they're fond of sitting atop glass roofs that - should their pellets make contact - will break a piece off, potentially sending you into the water below with a mechanized fish for company.

As you progress through the stage, you'll notice a change of environment. The red and silver halls filled with glass tanks and statues will gradually get phased out in favor of beautiful turquoise caverns, with the ripples of the water reflecting on the cavern walls. Speaking of the water, that too takes up a mildly turquoise hue, as do the stunning waterfalls found all around. Giant seashells rest easy, with funky patterns... just make sure you don't get them mixed up with Shellies. You can even see a little bit of sunset poke through the holes in the wall. Is this even part of the aquarium? Who cares.

What you should care about is a new force of nature at work: cybernetic sharks, with metal teeth and glowing red eyes. They're huge, they're fast, and you can't hurt them at all. You can only evade them, as starting a fight with one will cause them to eat you without a second thought, thus making you die instantly. Don't you just hate it when an enemy is inexplicably invincible?

But as long as you avoid the robo sharks, you'll make it out in one piece. The end of the stage takes you outside the caves, showing off the sunset in all its rich glory. The purple and red contrast beautifully with the briny blue sea, but you're also quick to notice what looks like a dam. It looks... rather old, actually...

---

“Tch, there sure aren't a shortage of weird buildings around here,” Sonic mused as he examined the rusty dam beyond him. It didn't look to be of Eggman's design, but it certainly gave off a creepy atmosphere all the same. Despite that, for all its decay, it was still sturdy enough to keep the nearby water under control. The sunset shined brightly upon the dam.

Tails noticed that the park they were in not too long ago was now a short distance away from where they were at the moment, having spotted it far away from the dam. Those caverns they came through must have been more expansive than they realised.

“Do you think Eggman plans to do anything with this?” the young fox asked. His eyes glanced left and right, as if to seek out the evil scientist.

“I can think of some ideas, but I'd rather not blurt them out in case he's... listening,” Lutrudis answered lightly.

“Good idea,” Sonic added, having also glanced all around for Eggman's possible whereabouts. “He always appears at the worst times, like back pain.”

“I know the feeling,” Lutrudis joked, as she stretched her arms.

The three of them went further down the path to the dam. The size of the structure impressed them even more the closer they got, and though a relic of an older time it may have been, they couldn't help but marvel at the effort of construction that went into it. For all their attempts to locate him however, the doctor himself was in fact standing at the very top of the dam. He was on his own, and he looked down at the curious adventurers. He kept watching.

They looked at the entrance with wariness. It appeared to be empty inside, but they knew better than to think they would be so lucky. Sonic turned to his two comrades.

“Well...?” he motioned towards the gate.

His friends simply nodded. Lutrudis had her bow in her hand in preparation for an unexpected attack. As they went inside one by one, Eggman took one of his hands off the nearby railing, and pulled out a communication device from his pocket. He put it right up to his ear.

“Now,” he commanded.

---

CR Act 4: Hydro Plant

Lutrudis' Badnik Logs: Drisame - “Watch out for that hammerhead! They hide in walls before leaping out to ambush you, and they also love to shove you into other hazards. If you get them facing upwards though, you can actually stand on them like it's no big deal. I don't think that was an intended feature on the doctor's part...”

Inkbrink - “These elongated squids can poke you with their sharpened noggins. They can also soak you in toxic black sludge, and if you're REALLY unlucky, that monitor of yours will temporarily get covered in the gunk as well, thus blinding your vision for a brief period. (Incidentally, what exactly is that monitor for...?)”

Returning Enemies: Crabmeat Gameblow Lobstrike Blastoid

It's quiet here. Possibly a little too quiet, if one were to be cliche. Well at least you're given a chance to breathe. Though the inside of this old dam is a tad dreary and full of shadows, you don't have to deal with too much at first. There aren't even that many enemies. For now, use the conveyor belts to go even faster, which still work perfectly fine despite their age. You can even stop to look at the occasional bit of graffiti, which includes inspiring quotes like:

Stand Up 2 The Pain + Turmoil

Toot Toot Sonic Warrior

All Hail Shadow

For The Mania

justice for kidd

One of them is tragically spelled incorrectly:

Make belif reborn

Anyway, as you go further down, it gets darker, but not to the point where you can't see anything. There's the occasional robot hiding around, mainly Drisames, but hardly anything for you to worry about. The sunset once again seeps through the few windows here, but don't get too enraptured. It might feel like a maze, but Lutrudis tends to go the right way, so just follow her if you're as clueless as a grey hedgehog during his debut.

It's subtle at first, but you might begin to notice that the area is growing slowly more high tech. The near-withered bricks and stones are gradually exchanged for silver metal, some of which is shiny enough to show a reflection. It dawns on you that this is the heart of the plant, and what's keeping it functioning despite appearing to have seen better days from an outsider's point of view. This is where the enemies ramp up in presence... along with underwater dives, to Sonic's misfortune. He even expresses envy when Lutrudis shows herself to be highly skilled at swimming by comparison.

Sonic: I really gotta learn how to swim sometime...

Lutrudis: I can teach you if you'd like... y'know, when this is over.

Of course, this wouldn't be a problem if you picked Tails, since he can swim. But you can still make it with the blue one. Just be sure to keep grabbing those bubbles for air regardless of who you're playing as. Inkbrinks and Lobstrikes can be troublesome in the tunnel sections here, but if you get an Inkbrink's sludge on you, it'll disappear after five seconds... better hope you don't run into another one during that time. There'll be no S Rank for you anytime soon if that keeps happening.

As you get closer to the end, you can spot a very complex, towered structure in the distance, full of bright green lights that contrast with the blue and silver all around. Some of Eggman's minions seem to be making an attempt to break it down, but you're not having any of that. Beat them up, and you'll hear the doctor himself chime in:

Eggman: You bothered to come all the way down here? I expected nothing less from you fools... but at least this will be entertaining to watch now! DROWN them, Crabgrind!

Right on cue, a crab mecha of intimidating stature bursts out of the ground like a possessed drill. It immediately starts drilling away at the structure, and it doesn't take long for the heroes to realise what the intention is:

Tails: Wait a minute... this is the heart of the dam... he's trying to cause a flood from the inside!

Sonic: And it'll seep through to the outside... we gotta end this fast!

BOSS: Crabgrind

Don't let the name fool you, it looks nothing like a Crabmeat. It's more like a hermit crab in design, if the shell had a bunch of spikes all over. Mix that in with a couple of drill pincers, and you've got a formidable beast. At least it's slow... right...?

This is NOT a timed fight in the traditional sense, despite the current urgent situation, but you'll want to do it as quickly as you can anyway, because the longer you keep at it, the longer Crabgrind will get to drill through the structure, and the more water will fill the arena, which will of course reduce your speed a little. There will be air bubbles if it gets to that point, but... try not to let it get to that point, okay?

As for the fight itself, Crabgrind may be focused on the structure, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have time to spare for you. As it does its work, it'll fire the spikes off its shell like pointy missiles in an attempt to keep you away from its job. Due to the size of the spikes, they're actually rather tough to avoid, especially if you're avoiding them underwater. It's not impossible, though. A well timed spin dash is enough to do the trick. If you try getting closer to the shelled monster, it'll use one of its pincers with the intention of drilling through your fleshy body. This is fortunately not shown in realistic detail. You can knock the pincer back to prevent the attack, but that won't damage it. What's the secret?

Like the Paindozer, Lutrudis is your key. In the brief period that Crabgrind's spikes are detached from its shell before gaining a new set of them, you can spot some fragile-looking wiring through the holes. Lutrudis will try to shoot an arrow through one of those holes, but Crabgrind will in turn try to attack her if she does so... unless you've got it distracted. Reflect its pincer a couple of times, and that'll be enough time for Lutrudis to fire an arrow through a hole without issue. Upon getting an arrow lodged inside, Crabgrind will start spinning around in a frenzy to try and get it out, while firing its spikes more erratically all the while, before clumsily falling on its side... revealing a weakpoint on its underside. Give that a whack to damage the mecha.

This carries on initially, with not much variation bar the expected longer periods of attacking, and ramping up the defensiveness... After six hits however, things take a dramatic turn...

Eggman: Hmm, this is getting a little boring now... Time for Plan B, Crabgrind! Ha ha HA!

Without warning, Crabgrind will cease attacking the structure... and instead lunge straight for you and Lutrudis, knocking you into a conveniently placed chute where you're constantly sliding along the current. You may be reminded of certain adventures from an earlier period, but now is not the time to dwell on the past, for Crabgrind will now use its shell to poke through the water and shank you. You can tell where it'll appear by spotting the bubbles that briefly pop beforehand. Even then, this demented game of Reverse Whack a Mole can be hectic. Keep your nerves under control, and you'll be smooth sailing.

Again, Lutrudis is your key. After several rounds of it popping in and out, Lutrudis will use all her strength to straight up grab one of its pincers with enough grip to actually slow it down temporarily, to the point where she's now surfing along the water with her feet. An impressive display, but not an easy one for her...

Lutrudis: Quickly...! I can't hold on for long... not with these bones...!

While she's grabbing one pincer, Crabgrind will go multi-purpose again and launch the other one at you in confused rage. Dodge the drill, notice the exposed point in the now empty pincer, and give it mayhem. This will take that pincer out of commission for good, though it will still hang there and limp along. Repeat this procedure with the other pincer, and then - with both pincers rendered unusable - Crabgrind will lose its mind and fire all of its spikes everywhere, without even bothering to aim at you. You don't even need to wait for an arrow at this point. Wait for a hole in the shell, jump through and attack his core, and watch as the once fearsome crustacean slowly sinks one last time. Tragic... if it weren't a mindlessly evil machine.

---

"Okay, that's the crab down, but now what!?" Tails asked in fright as they continued getting swept away along the tunneled river. The current was too fast to handle, even for Sonic.

"Relax!" Sonic grinned sheepishly, clearly hoping this wouldn't kill him. "What life or death situation haven't we gotten out of? We made it out of the fake emerald ordeal in one-"

"Look out!" Lutrudis pointed with wide eyes.

"Oh sh-"

A barrier had appeared at the end of the tunnel, which sent them flying over it, and through to outside civilization... represented in this case by more sea. Sonic was especially unlucky to have banged his head on the barrier, which knocked him out hard. His unconcious body began to sink in the sea, as Tails and Lutrudis came to their senses.

"Sonic!" Tails panicked. He and Lutrudis immediately swam below to grab him, but their own fatigue from their experience proved to be an issue. Thinking quickly, Lutrudis snapped her fingers. She motioned for Tails to grab her from behind, which he did. She pulled out her whip, closed one eye to aim as best as she could, and launched the whip in the drowning hedgehog's direction.

As luck would have it, the whip latched onto Sonic's leg. Lutrudis turned her head to Tails and nodded. Tails nodded himself in response. Using their combined strength, they pulled, and pulled, and pulled... and they pulled just a little bit too much, for Sonic's body was suddenly sent flying out of the water and into the air. Their eyes bulged in disbelief upon witnessing this, and Lutrudis pointed up frantically. Getting the message, Tails shot out of the water like a turbo submarine.

Meanwhile, Sonic was beginning to regain consciousness.

"Huh...?"

He was quick to notice he was falling back down to the sea.

"AHHH!"

Mercifully though, Sonic's initial panic came to a halt as Tails grabbed him. Sonic looked left and right in puzzlement, then looked up to see Tails' relieved face. He looked at his foxy friend for a second, then gave him a sheepish thumbs up.

"Is he alright?" Lutrudis called out to Tails from below.

"He's fine," Tails answered. "Just a little dazed."

"Yeah..." Sonic muttered in agreement, as Tails hovered down to pick up Lutrudis. The horse grabbed onto the hedgehog's legs, and they began to fly away together.

"What happened...?" Sonic wondered.

"You, uh, nearly drowned," Tails awkwardly explained.

"Oh... well it's a good thing I didn't. Thanks, guys." Sonic then thought to himself for a moment, then looked down at Lutrudis with a lighthearted smirk. "I don't suppose there was any mouth to mouth?"

"Oh no, no, not at all," she shook her head lightly. She looked down for a moment, and then looked back up. She smirked as well. "But I could give you that, if you want..."

Sonic paused abruptly. He looked like a deer in the headlights.

Lutrudis laughed. "I'm kidding," she gently teased him, to which the blue one chuckled somewhat bashfully. "Let's head back to the castle. Amy and Cream may be good with Chao, but there was still a lot of them. We better help them out."

"Right!" Tails obeyed. As they began their journey back, Sonic couldn't help but look down at Lutrudis once again. This time around, his expression was that of warm amusement.

Less amusing was who was spying on them from afar... Eggman watched them fly away in the comfort of his Egg Mobile. Despite witnessing the miserable defeat of his minion, he appeared to be in a good mood. He floated away in a different direction, smiling fiendishly to himself all the while.

---

Back to Chapter 2-3 Interlude...

To Chapter 4...

#Sonic & Tails: Beyond the Stars #Crusher's Fanfiction #Sonic the Hedgehog #Fanfiction

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scriptstructure · 6 years ago

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My story takes place in a fantasy world and there’s a lot of world building that doesn’t directly impact my story but I want it to be there nevertheless to get a feel that you understand the terrain/climate, culture, basic laws, or even referencing popular culture etc as if it was earth. Like inserting a coconut tree, on earth we know what kind of climate it grows in, how coconuts are eaten and its taste, cultural or religious significance, about coconuts falling on people, etc etc. All of it gives readers certain expectations and ideas. Now, let’s say there’s an cozat tree in my story. We know.. NOTHING. Yes, I can describe what it looks like. But it looks 2 dimensional and just for aesthetic purposes as everything else is a blank unless I build more on it so I can justify more on why it is in my story and how my characters respond to it. But the biggest problem is struggling which ones can actually be put in the middle of plot or on a separate paragraph. Thanks.

Well, we can start off with [THIS] post about using ‘telling details’ to establish the setting and character.

When you’re introducing elements of a secondary world that don’t exist in the real world, you most often begin by simply having them exist in the context of the world, as the characters move through it. Depending on the importance of the thing you’re introducing, the kinds of characters you have, and the sort of story you’re writing, things may get explained outright, or they may be left as suggestions or insinuations for the reader to figure out on their own.

You’re right in saying that it doesn’t really matter too much what a particular secondary world element looks like ... unless its looks are significant to its role in the world. If there is a flower that is prized for its amazing beauty, then describing how it is beautiful can tell us a lot about what the culture we’re creating values in terms of aesthetics.

Depending on the role that the thing you’re describing plays in the story, there are different approaches that you can take to introducing these elements. I can go through a few examples:

In The Lord of the Rings, the plant athelas, or kingsfoil comes up a few times, it’s a plant with healing properties connected to the men of the west, and it is associated with the king. It’s first introduced when Aragorn, disguised as Strider, finds some athelas leaves to use in treating Frodo’s wound at Weathertop.

'These leaves,' he said, 'I have walked far to find; for this plant does not grow in the bare hills; but in the thickets away south of the Road I found it in the dark by the scent of its leaves.' He crushed a leaf in his fingers, and it gave out a sweet and pungent fragrance. 'It is fortunate that I could find it, for it is a healing plant that the Men of the West brought to Middle-earth. Athelas they named it, and it grows now sparsely and only near places where they dwelt or camped of old; and it is not known in the North, except to some of those who wander in the Wild. It has great virtues, but over such a wound as this its healing powers may be small.'( LoTR Book1, Chapter 12)

In Tolkien’s writing, the characters often explain things to one another, especially if it is some kind of historical or local knowledge that the other characters may not know, in introducing athelas, several minor plots begin; later in the story after they fight the troll under the mountain, Sam’s wounds are treated with the dried leaves that Aragorn had collected here, and later still in the series, there is a prophesy that a true king using athelas to heal the sick would predict the end of the greatest evil in Mordor.

The plant is significant because it has special properties, ties to history, and connections to prophesy. It is also something that can be found growing wild, if one knows where to look.

In The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, a plant that plays a significant role in the story is the Nightlock plant. Katniss is familiar with this plant from her father teaching her to live off the land, he told her:

"Not these, Katniss. Never these. They're nightlock. You'll be dead before they reach your stomach."

In the arena, she gathers nightlock berries, and another combatant, believing that Katniss was picking them to eat, steals them and drops dead very quickly. Later, Katniss uses a handful of nightlock berries to force the game organisers to let Peeta live.

Like the other invented elements of the novel, the nightlock berries are introduced as a side note, and then become more important as more uses for them are found by the protagonist. There are many other plants, animals, and unusual skills that Katniss uses during the story as well, and her familiarity with survival methods illustrate a lot about her character and the world that she lives in.

As with any other element of worldbuilding, introducing invented fauna and flora should be given weight according to the importance that it seems to carry at the time. If a character feels that a plant is important, describe it, if it is simply background, then give the reader suggestions as to what it resembles, and what role it might play in the world.

eg:

The protective thicket of cozat trees swayed in the savaging wind, their strong, dense-leaved boughs deadening the worst of the storm, so that the village was an oasis of calm.

Protagonist leaned against the sturdy trunk of a cozat tree, and closed her eyes against the hot midday air. A breeze, too high up to touch her heated cheeks shook the fronds of the tree and a couple of nuts clattered to the ground around her feet.

As the village burned, Protagonist fought back tears, she hitched up the skirts of her ceremonial robe, with the wide branches of the cozat tree her mother had embroidered around the edge, and ran into the woods. Hopefully if she could get to the tree she would be safe, the protectors of the village would have to hear her prayers from that sacred grove, wouldn’t they?

Think about the parts of the invented element that are most significant to the characters that deal with it, and incorporate those experiences into the broader sensory experience of the world they live in.

I hope that helps!

#writing #secondary world #worldbuilding #world building #telling details #submission

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jlhynde-insanitybrilliance · 6 years ago

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Free! Headcannon: ‘Rin’s American Friend’ (a.k.a don’t give a paintball gun to an american.)

A/N: This is what it’s like to play paintball w/ a trigger-happy-gun-loving-American. Style 5 + Ai, Momo, & Sousuke.

(Note: I’m using Jane Doe instead of s/o b/c I feel like the use of s/o takes readers out of the story & also it’s what unidentified bodies are called in the morgue.)

Rin Matsuoka:

Rin is 1000% done w/ this sh*t. (=_=)

He knew this was a bad idea. He knew it! But that didn’t stop the others from plowing right on ahead.

The second one of the guys suggested paintball her eyes started to sparkle & a scary smile stretched across her face. It was the kind of smile Rin had only seen when she was about to deliver a well-deserved-can-of-whoop-a**. & he just knew this was a bad idea.

But no one listened to him. Not a single one of his friends headed his suggestion “like hey maybe it’s not the best idea to give a paintball gun to a gun-loving American...” & now they were all reaping the consequences.

(more under the cut...)

Jane Doe was a monster on the course. It wouldn’t have been half as bad if Jane was just a trigger-happy-moron who had never fired a gun in her life & had terrible aim. But no. Rin knew that Jane used to shoot skeet w/ her dad on the weekends (probably still does.) & that meant that her aim was on point.

That didn’t make her any less of a doofus, though. She was just a idiot w/ excellent aim. Throughout the game she kept laughing maniacally like one of those old James Bond Villains & shouting out lines from American action flicks. But she kept mixing them up so none of it made any sense.

“Say hello to...THE CHIMICHANGAS!!!” “YIPPIE KAY-YAY...YA FILTHY ANIMALS!!!” “Who ordered the whoop-ass fajitas?!” “Merry Christmas MOTHERF***!!!”

“IT’S NOT CHRISTMAS, JANE!”

~Oh, lord give him patience. How did he get such an idiot for a friend?~

It was fortunate for him that he had wound up on the same team as Jane b/c he sure as hell didn’t want to trade places w/ Sousuke right now.

(Sousuke had been pinned down for the last 5 min while Jane fired like a ba-sh*t-llion of paint balls at the tree he was shielding himself w/.)

But just b/c Rin was on the same team didn’t mean he wasn’t the victim of friendly-fire.

“F*ck. Jane, I’m on your team!”

“Sorry, Rin!”

He was basically trying to stay out of her way & not get hit w/ anymore stray paint balls. But that didn’t stop him from shouting out at her when she did or said something particularly moronic.

“Look north, Makoto!”

“You’re standing east, Dumba**!”

Haruka Nanase:

Worst.teammate.ever. He was like zero help in this situation.

Like Rin, he had been lucky w/ the odd number of players & got stuck on the same team as Jane. But he hadn’t lifted a finger to help Rin take down the other teams.

You know how you have those people who just sit on the sidelines w/ a lawn chair & a bowl of popcorn & watch the world burn? Well that’s Haru in this mess. Except he’s not sitting on a lawn chair, he’s crouching behind a wooden wall, & he’s not eating popcorn, he’s munching on dried pineapple slices that Jane had given him.

He probably just didn’t want to get slaughtered when he stepped out from behind that wall. So he stays back & guards the fort.

~“What fort? That’s a wall, Haru! Get out here and help me!!!” Rin yells at him from the other side of the course.~

He spends the majority of the game watching Jane. Images of that kiss still running through his mind. He may have started to develop a little bit of a crush...

BUT SHE’S TOTALLY INSANE!!!!

Haru is a little scared of her to be honest. & w/ good reason as she just eliminated Rei while taking a flying leap off a 9 foot wall.

But then she stops & blows him a kiss... ~ <3

~“Gross! Jane, stop flirting with my friends!”~

(Rin is beyond disgusted by her PDA towards Haru.)

Sousuke Yamazaki:

~“Someone help me!!!! F*ck!!!”~

He’s in some serious trouble. Like he is 100 miles up sh*t creek without a canoe. Where the hell is Makoto?!

Sousuke was on the team w/ Iwatobi’s swim captain, but he couldn’t find the other boy after the first wave of paint balls. Which means he’s on his own trying to pull a John McClane & not get shot. But he’s battling against the freaking Terminator.

If he wasn’t so panicked right now, he’d probably be impressed by how accurate Jane’s aim was. B/c dang does that girl knows how to shoot! She’d be totally boss at the shooter games at the summer festivals.

But right now Sousuke’s huddled behind a tree after Jane got the upper hand in their standoff. Maybe he should just surrender...

~“I’ll take no survivors! Mhuhahahahaha!!!”~

Or not. (-_-)

Rei Ryugazaki:

He was taken out within the first minute of the game. He had wanted to devise a plan that would take into account the physical terrain of the course along w/ the wind speed & wind’s direction...

But while he was calculating all the math. Jane had been able to sneak up on him.

He still didn’t know where Ai-chan-san went though. Maybe if he had been there Rei would’ve been able to put the plan into motion, however the white-haired boy was strangely missing (hiding).

Later Rei was beyond grateful that he was the first to be eliminated b/c it was after that that Jane became this force to be reckoned w/. & like everyone else she scared him sh*tless.

He spent the rest of the game sitting w/ Haru-sempai & eating dried pineapple.

Makoto Tachibana & Aiichirou Nitori:

(o-o) !

(O_O) !!

\(>u<)/ !!! “SAVE US FROM THE SCARY AMERICAN!!!!!”

These two guys were immediately regretting every life decision that led to this moment. Had they known this is what Rin was talking about when he said it was a bad idea, they would’ve never had agreed to play.

The second the paint balls started flying they both hit the the ground & army-crawled to where they thought would be safest.

It just so happened that they both thought the safest place was behind a monstrous old tire. But the tire wasn’t big enough to hide them both.

“I was here first. You move.”

They played a round of rock-paper-scissors to who decide who would get to keep the spot. ~they both played paper~

Then a paint ball came whizzing past & Makoto barely managed to tackle Nitori out of the way before hit him. It was then decided that safest option would be to get to where Rei and Haru were at.

(That spot seemed to have become the designated safety zone.)

~“Look north, Makoto!”~

OH SH*T!!!

“Nitori-kun run, I’ll distract her while you make a break for it!”

“Sempai...”

“Go now! Hurry!”

~“I won’t forget your sacrifice, Sempai!!!” Nitori cried as he made a mad dash across the open field.~

Nitori ran like his life depended on it & ducked behind some barrels. Heavy footsteps started to approach from his right. This was it --he adjusted the gun in his hands & took a deep breath. 1. 2. 3...

“Wait, Nitori-kun...!”

Makoto tried to stop him before the younger boy unleashed a wave of paint balls. But Nitori had already pressed his fingers down on the trigger & was firing paint balls every which way as he screamed at the top of his lungs.

(This was the end to Makoto & Rin. The latter of which got hit by one of the stray paint balls.)

Jane shot Nitori seconds later.

Nagisa Hazuki & Momotarou Mikoshiba:

These two idiots had started this mess.

It was their idea to go to a paintball arena. It was them who convinced the others not to listen to Rin. They were to blame.

Not that they honestly cared, though. These two were having the time of their lives as they reenacted the last stand of Alamo. If they were going to go down they were going to go down fighting.

Amazingly enough they weren’t picked off within the first 10 minutes like everyone else. But instead retreated to tower-like structure to wait while Jane picked off everyone else on the field.

What ensues is pure chaos & hilarity for the others watching from the safety zone. Nagisa & Momo are just as trigger happy as Jane. But their aim wasn’t nearly as good.

So their brilliant idea? That’s to charge out at the same time & fire a cr*pload of paint balls in her general direction while yelling at the top of their lungs.

Jane of course fires two shots & hits both of them, but not before Momo trips on his shoelace, thus knocking down Nagisa & Nagisa’s gun accidentally discharges & that last paint ball hits Jane square in the chest.

The way things worked out all three were eliminated at the same time leaving only Haru the only one unscathed.

~“But he didn’t even do anything!” Rin sulks.~

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dndeed · 6 years ago

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Critical Role Miniature Rollout: C2E45

With Andrew Harshman

A review of the minis used on Critical Role.

Talk about a stressful episode. A dungeon crawl in the truest sense.

Check below deck for stowaways and crawl to the finish line, it’s time for Critical Role Miniature Rollout Campaign 2 Episode 45!

The Characters

Twiggy SteamForged Games Twiggy Figure Official Twiggy Art by Ari @ornerine

Sadly, per usual, we are deprived of a clear, in-focus view of a new PC miniature. I have searched the internet in vain for a better photo of the Twiggy mini. Fortunately, even at odd and blurry angles, this figure looks brilliant. The vivid sculpt and whimsical pose recreates the art very well and properly captures the spirit of this wonderfully played character. In a funny way, the pose almost looks a little threatening. With a little imagination one could see it as less of a cutesy twirl and more of a strutting, arms stretched out “Are you not entertained?!” intimidation stance. In any case, it’s excellent. Nice work Ari and Steamforged.

The List

Campaign Coins DEVEN RUE COMPASS ROSE

Dwarven Forge Dungeon of Doom

Dwarven Forge Dungeon of Doom Vaulted Diagonal Walls

Dwarven Forge Diagonal Wall Pack

Dwarven Forge Dungeon Floors

Dwarven Forge Ladders

Dwarven Forge Medieval Furniture Set

Dwarven Forge Dungeon of Doom Vaulted Corner Door with Narrow Ancient Door

Dwarven Forge Vaulted Dungeon Elevation

Dwarven Forge Chamber of Sorrows Pile of Skulls

Dwarven Forge Small Treasure Pile

Dwarven Forge Plinth Arch

Dwarven Forge Dungeon of Doom Fancy Table

Deadly Foes Dressing: Candelabra

Tiny Furniture Dark Magister reading corner

Tiny Furniture Dark Magister workplace

Tiny Furniture Librarian reading corner

Tiny Furniture Librarian's bookshelves

Tiny Furniture Beast hunter reading corner

Tiny Furniture Beast hunter bookshelves

Tiny Furniture Bedroom set v.2

Legendary Realms Bookcase

D&D Icons of the Realms Tomb and Traps Case Incentive

Deadly Foes Dressing: Candelabra

Kingmaker Dungeon Dressing: Raised Dais

Axe N Shield Single Flyer Risers - Clear Mithril

Steamforged Games Critical Role Miniatures

Prototype Steamforged Games Critical Role Miniatures

Waterdeep Dragon Heist #004a City Guard

Waterdeep Dragon Heist #004b City Guard

Tyranny of Dragons #041 Blue Dragon

Harbinger #69 Large Fire Elemental

Blood War #27 Living Flaming Sphere

Desert of Desolation #32 Rot Scarab Swarm

Elemental Evil #024 Earth Genasi Fighter (Invisible)

Rage of Demons #051 Human Wizard (Invisible)

Monster Menagerie #021 Bryn Lightfingers (Invisible)

Monster Menagerie #024 Illydia Maethellyn (Invisible)

The Terrain

Heirloom Sphere: Secret Study Dwarven Forge Dungeon Floors, Dwarven Forge Diagonal Wall Pack, Dwarven Forge Ladders, Dwarven Forge Dungeon of Doom Fancy Table, Dwarven Forge Vaulted Dungeon Elevation, Dwarven Forge Medieval Furniture Set, Deadly Foes Dressing: Candelabra, Tiny Furniture Dark Magister reading corner, Tiny Furniture Dark Magister workplace, Tiny Furniture Librarian reading corner, Tiny Furniture Librarian's bookshelves, Tiny Furniture Beast hunter reading corner, Tiny Furniture Beast hunter bookshelves, Legendary Realms Bookcase

This is approaching full sized TV set production value. Mighty impressive! The Secret Study is easily the most expensive collection of room contents in Campaign 2. Excluding the Dwarven Forge that makes up the actual room structure, the components within are pricier than any other C2 space. Easily a couple hundred dollars (assuming they were ordered prepainted). Man that’s a lot of qualifiers.

The bulk of the terrain pieces are from Tiny Furniture. They recently did some updates to their site, so if you cannot find an item from the links above, check their Etsy page. They produce top quality stuff and their paint jobs are excellent. I recently saw a collection of Tiny Furniture items in-person and they were very handsome.

Heirloom Sphere: Nexus Dwarven Forge Dungeon of Doom, Dwarven Forge Dungeon of Doom Vaulted Diagonal Walls, Dwarven Forge Plinth Arch, Dwarven Forge Dungeon of Doom Vaulted Corner Door with Narrow Ancient Door, Dwarven Forge Chamber of Sorrows Pile of Skulls, D&D Icons of the Realms Tomb and Traps Case Incentive, Dwarven Forge Small Treasure Pile, Kingmaker Dungeon Dressing: Raised Dais

Transportation Sphere Altar D&D Icons of the Realms Tomb and Traps Case Incentive

This model works really well for this purpose. Not originally a teleportation device, this piece is actually a sarcophagus. And not just any sarcophagus, Acererak’s sarcophagus. Or at least that’s the suggestion as it is from the Tomb of Annihilation minis series. It’s a cool figure, worthy of the Tomb of Annihilation/Horrors name.

Dragon Treasure Hoard Dwarven Forge Small Treasure Pile

I guess blue dragons aren’t really known for their organizational skills, this hoard is a mess. Coins, bones, goblets, chests, and tomes all thrown into a heap. Nary a single coin rolled. Sloppy. For all these reasons, I really like this sculpt. It’s got so much variety in the objects making up the model. The colors are great and there’s even a big shiny gem inlaid in the main plastic cast.

Teleportation Landing Kingmaker Dressing: Raised Dais

[80′s synth line plays] Raised Dais, Raised Dais, oh, oh, oh Raised Dais. That joke was a real stretch, but the use of this mini certainly was not. Yet another wonderfully useful bit of terrain from the Pathfinder Miniature Battles series. The paint is maybe a little flat, but everything else is solid. I’m impressed with the scale of this figure. It’s large and looks great on the battle mat.

The Monsters

The Guardian Dragon Tyranny of Dragons #041 Blue Dragon

So this is exactly the problem with this miniature. Confusion about whether it is flying or not as was expressed by the CR cast during combat. That and the ridiculous aftermarket price, unreliable removable flight stand, and exceptionally plain paint job. Look at that sloppy line of white that runs across each row of teeth and overall lack of shading. Older prepainted blue dragons though not as readily available and long out of retail spaces are significantly more impressive.

In terms of practicality, this is a good miniature choice for this encounter though. I still see retail stores with Tyranny of Dragons booster packs which may contain this model. It’s understandable and entirely acceptable that this miniature was used as opposed to some old and less common out of print mini. What is good about this dragon is the pose. It’s unique and it’s interesting. The blue dragon has the appearance of hovering in a most intimidating fashion. “Intimidating hover” sounds like it should be impossible, but they managed it in this sculpt.

First Fire Elemental Blood War #27 Living Flaming Sphere Mini images in this section sourced from minisgallery.com

Cast in translucent plastic and topped with two layers of paint this flaming sphere looks properly fiery. Dandy spell effect figure here. Also, it looks vaguely Street Fighter hadouken-like, so extra points for that.

Actual Fire Elemental Harbinger #69 Large Fire Elemental

This monster is a little simple looking. The pose is pretty relaxed, bordering on boring. I think it would have benefited from also being made of translucent plastic, but this was in the first DDM miniatures set, so they weren’t doing anything that fancy yet. Despite it’s rudimentary nature, I like this elemental very much. The height and jack-o'-lantern type face really work for me.

The Terrain/Monsters

Mimic Tiny Furniture Bedroom set v.2

Handsome wardrobe, Molly would have loved this. Based on his clothing, I’m pretty sure blood hunters have favored enemy wardrobes. Quality furniture piece a nice armoire for sure.

The Spells

Invisible Party Members Elemental Evil #024 Earth Genasi Fighter (Invisible), Rage of Demons #051 Human Wizard (Invisible), Monster Menagerie #021 Bryn Lightfingers (Invisible), Monster Menagerie #024 Illydia Maethellyn (Invisible)

Now I’ve been known to complain about invisible miniatures and I still stand by my opinion that from a production perspective they are wholly uninspired and lazy. They’d be much better served in a nonrandom spell pack. But I must admit I was wrong about their usefulness at the table. Matthew Mercer has used them to great effect as seen (har har har) in this combat.

Closing Remarks

A high standard was set in 2018 for Critical Role miniatures, but it’s nothing 2019 can’t handle. I’m confident 2019 will be even more impressive.

#criticalroleminiaturerollout

#criticalroleminiaturerollout #projectalpha #criticalrole #critical role #crspoilers

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ciathyzareposts · 6 years ago

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Dark Stone Ritual: Won! (with Summary and Rating)

The Game Master gives us some useless experience points at the end of Dark Stone Ritual.

Magic Tower I: Dark Stone Ritual

Germany

Motelsoft (developer and publisher)

Released in 1992 for Atari ST

Date Started: 9 April 2019

Date Finished: 12 May 2019

Total Hours: 29 Difficulty: Easy (2/5) Final Rating: (to come later) Ranking at time of posting: (to come later)

Summary:

The prolific but amateurish Motelsoft levels up in this entry, with mechanics heavily inspired by Might and Magic III and IV. A pre-defined party (you had to pay extra for a character editor) explores a large world in a somewhat linear manner, piecing together clues, solving puzzles, and ultimately defeating the tyrant Xoon. Top-down outdoor exploration contrasts with first-person town and dungeon exploration. Unfortunately, the combats are too easy, the puzzles too simple, and the story too threadbare to make effective use of the character classes, skills system, variety of spells, and variety of equipment that the game largely copies from Might and Magic. A better game engine than a game.

****

Dark Stone Ritual ended up being larger and longer than I expected. When you begin playing, the game does such a good job confining the world that it seems smaller than it is. Hemmed in by impassable terrain, water, and walls, the party must slowly acquire passwords and items necessary to make incremental progress around the world’s major areas. Eventually, the party finds some teleporters that make navigation easier, as does the “Townportal” and “Caveportal” spells.

Unlocking the “Swimming” ability was the last obstacle to open-world exploration.

As you slowly acquire the skills necessary to navigate in forests and swamps, climb mountains, and swim, the full world opens up to you, and you can explore every square for the items and clues necessary to reach the end of the game.

A bit of the final game map.

Ritual is far more linear than I expected at the beginning. Most of what I thought were “side-quests” turned out to be steps along the main quest, all funneling into one or two key items or pieces of information. For example, to win the game you must first find the Dark Stone, which is in the dungeon of Lunos. To pass a certain point in Lunos, at least one of your party members must be a member of the Dark Stone Sect, which you can join by visiting a hut on section of land to the southwest. To get to this area, you have to use a teleporter in a section of land to the southeast, which in turn requires using a teleporter in a small compound on the starting continent. To enter this compound, you have to find a password (RUHE) by interpreting four messages in the dungeon Zappos. To enter the dungeon Zappos, you need an invitation, and that’s as far as I can trace it back because I forgot where I got the invitation. But you get the idea.

Combat remained easy throughout the game, which discouraged spell experimentation (rarely did spells do more damage than a physical attack) and trivialized all the time I spent analyzing inventory. Only thrice did I have to fine-tune my attacks in “strategic” combat, and neither gave me any trouble once I made that decision.

“Strategic” combat lets you position characters and aim your attacks at a particular foe.

The nature of enemy encounters was odd throughout. You find enemies at fixed locations on the overland map and very rarely at fixed locations in dungeons. There is also a fixed number of enemies wandering each town map. Some dungeons have no combats, and those that do never have more than one or two. This paucity of combat makes the dungeons feel rather empty, and the very light navigation puzzles (a few switches, hidden doors, teleporters, and pits that you have to cast “Jump” to get over) don’t do much to fill them.

Exploring a dungeon. An encounter lies ahead.

Nothing really evolves in the way of a “story,” just a succession of NPCs and enemies that you meet and defeat on the way to the final confrontation with Xoon. Because of these weaknesses, I ended up liking the game less towards the end than towards the beginning. In my first entry on Ritual, I was clearly impressed by the mechanics. I still am, to some degree, but the developers made a somewhat boring, basic game with those mechanics. A lot of it feels unfinished–in particular, more than half the skills are unused, and the dungeons and towns are filled with locked doors that can never be unlocked. Nonetheless, it is an improvement from Sandor and Seven Horror’s, and thus bodes well for the many Motelsoft titles we will encounter in the future.

A few things that I otherwise didn’t get a chance to cover along the way:

An arena appears in two locations in the overworld. When you enter, you can tell the game how many enemies you want to face and at what levels. I didn’t really experiment with it, but it’s an alternate source of experience if you somehow need it. The concept is of course lifted from Might and Magic.

In what I think is an original element, a few dungeon entrances (including the last) required entering a pattern of green, red, and blue gems on some kind of plate. You have to find the correct patterns in other places.

Arranging stones on the door of the final dungeon.

There was one door with a combination lock for which I never found the combination. Fortunately, reader Buck reached the same point before me and figured out the answer from the game’s code.

While I’m on unsolvable puzzles, at least three times I was asked to choose from among five symbols. Choosing the wrong one killed the selected character. A tavern tale had warned me that choosing the right symbol would kill the selected character, too, if it was a man. I had to figure out the answers from save-scumming. I have no idea where I was supposed to get them.

Do those symbols mean something?

There’s a useful “return to entrance” button while in dungeons. If your selected character has a high enough “Pathfinding” skill, you’ll return swiftly to the exit stairs. I wish every game had this.

There are fountains all over the world map that raise attributes, hit points, resistances, and spell points, but no combat is tough enough to require them. The final island has about six.

Okay, I guess they’re not so much “fountains” as “offers of wine.” But they’re direct analogues to Might and Magic’s fountains.

The game culminated on a small compound on a northern island. A guardian demanded a password. What she really wanted was a pass phrase, compiled from five words given by residents in little huts in exchange for certain rare stones. The stones, in turn, came from other residents to whom I brought “stone plates” found scattered about the island. The full phrase, for posterity’s sake, is BRENUM BRANUM KANUM LUZE LEI. (Thanks again to Buck for helping with this.)

Does that look like a “word” to you?

This allowed me access to Xoon’s dungeon, which is called “Dark Stone Verlies.” I verified later that the “Caveportal” spell will take you there if you just know the name, meaning that a second-time player could skip a lot of stuff and just warp to the endgame.

The game reminds me that I must emerge with Xoon’s head.

The dungeon is the only one that has multiple levels (three) and the only one that doesn’t remember your progress if you leave and return. There was only one combat, early in the first level, with a guardian of Xoon’s named Morok (I’m sure that name was in previous Motelsoft titles). It was one of the battles that I had to fight in “strategic” mode to win. In “strategic” mode, you can position your characters around individual enemies and target them, ensuring that you can reduce their numbers faster. (“Quick” combat targets enemies randomly.) You also get more attacks per round. Between the advantages of strategic combat and the “Full Heal” spell that I’d recently acquired, the battle was quite easy.

“Quick” combat was the wrong choice for this final battle.

The dungeon’s second level is one of the largest in the game, full of secret doors, teleporters, traps, and a bunch of pits to jump. Eventually, you find your way to the third level and the mystifyingly anti-climactic encounter with Xoon, if it is Xoon. I’m not sure I haven’t mistranslated or misunderstood something. The climax begins with a black-faced man, flanked by two women, saying: “Ihr wollt meinen kopf, ich weiss. Nun gut wenn ihr unbedingt haben müsst. Ha ha ha. Dann sollt ihr Xoons kopf auch bekommen.”

Nice shoepolish, Jolson.

The scene then dissolves away, the party is teleported back near to the entrance, and in their inventory is Xoon’s head.

I translate his text as, “You want my head, I know. Well, if you have to have it, you should also get Xoon’s head,” suggesting that he himself is not Xoon. It’s worth noting that the game uses the same portrait for the master of the Dark Stone sect earlier in the game (although it also re-uses a lot of portraits). I wondered if joining the Dark Stone sect and finding the Dark Stone itself are optional, and that doing so leads to an “easy” ending where the master kills Xoon for you. This is partly suggested by an item in the game’s hint file that says, “If you have the Dark Stone, the rest is a children’s game!” I tested this theory by loading a saved game from before I had the Dark Stone and using “Caveportal” to go directly to the dungeon. (I had to buff with fountains to win the first-level battle.) But no, the same thing happens even if you don’t have the Dark Stone.

A previous appearance by the same character.

Whatever the case, the game ends when you return Xoon’s head to the Game Master back in the dungeon Glorys. The Game master expresses astonishment that you managed to kill Xoon, who was supposed to have nine lives, and then suggests you save your game for Part 2.

In a GIMLET, the game earns:

1 point for the game world. Ritual comes with no backstory, and while the continent and its features are visually interesting, there’s nothing in the way of lore or culture to be found here.

3 points for character creation and development. Without the separate character editor, the game unfortunately has no creation process. But the characters are quite well detailed in attributes and skills, and development is satisfying enough for a few levels, until the game becomes too easy. In the end, the character sheet is more complex than necessary given the limited game content.

My final paladin character.

1 point for NPC interaction. The little dudes in huts are more like “encounters” or “quests” than NPCs.

3 points for encounter and foes. Monsters are probably the weakest part of the game. Most of them are unnamed. They’re distinguished only icon and number of hit points. Because they lack significant special attacks or defenses, there’s little need to explore the game’s variety of spells. Non-combat encounters are a bit more interesting, with a couple of challenging puzzles, although nothing that approaches Dungeon Master in complexity. I liked the option to search for enemies in already-cleared towns and caves.

3 points for magic and combat. I give some credit for the two combat modes, and “strategic” combat offers some real positioning tactics. I didn’t bother to explore more than half a dozen magic spells, particularly since there are no mass-damage spells and the individual-damage spells do less damage than a physical attack.

Buying spells in the last town. I never found out what half of these spells do and never cast half of the rest.

5 points for equipment. Ritual adopted Might and Magic‘s complexity with inventory, where items can have multiple bonuses and features and there are usable items to sub for many spells. Again, though, combat was too easy to bother exploring most of these features, and I largely decided which weapons and armor to keep based on cost.

This helm effectively increases my level by 1.

3 points for economy. There are lots of things to buy–training, skill acquisition and building, weapons and armor, and healing among them. It’s just too easy to acquire enough money for the entire game within the first few hours.

The game provides absurd amounts of gold at regular intervals.

3 points for quests. The game has a main quest, if a little light, and a few side quests that impart extra valuables and skills.

The party solves a side quest to return a ring, only to find that the quest giver was divorced in the meantime.

2 points for graphics, sound, and interface. The graphics are fine, but there is no sound at all. The mouse part of the interface works well, but unfortunately the mouse part is the only part, which I don’t find remotely forgivable.

3 points for gameplay. It has a little nonlinearity at the beginning, and the total number of hours was good for its content. Unfortunately, it was too easy and has no replayability.

That gives us a final score of 27. Motelsoft is making better, more complex games in 1992, and letting itself be influenced by the right titles from bigger developers, but it still lacks a certain sense of balance and polish. Despite the promised sequel, it doesn’t look like there was ever a Magic Tower II. We’ll see them again this year with Arcana unless I happen to pick up Projekt Terra (1991) or Sandor II (1991) on my “old” list first.

Let’s see if I can finish up Star Control II this week, too. If not, the next 1992 game is a Macintosh title called Darkwood. Looking at a couple of screenshots, I’m pretty sure I’ve played this before. If it’s the one I’m thinking of, it won’t be more than a single entry.

source http://reposts.ciathyza.com/dark-stone-ritual-won-with-summary-and-rating/

#retro games #dos games #retro #crpg #adventure #amiga #oldcomputers #8bit #16bit #blog #repost

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