Am drunk, no updates for today.
Don't drink and quest, kids!

That's bullshit. Drinking and questing improves BOTH.

Currently starting update binge, probly the next three hours.

If anyone's on and paying attention, say somethin so I can has motivations.

On!

Aight, done for the night, be back tomorrow for more.

I think we should work on increasing our Understanding as much as possible. We want to be able to make up spells that are a bit borderline if they'll do what we say or something else entirely, and still have them work. We have a fairly limited repertoire of symbols, and finding new ones is not always easy. Thus it increases the versatility of what we can do. It also will allow simpler runes to do more, which could matter in time-sensitive cases.

Control is a neat trick, but if we've always got our marker, it will only rarely be useful. It's important, but it's not more important than other stats.

Synchronicity sounds important, but if it's just a power boost, we don't really need it too much. And it's hard to learn. So we can avoid dealing with it for now, in favor of other things.

And Awareness and Spark are both very high, we don't need to worry about improving them.

Crux makes good points as always, anyone have any diverging opinions?

Also, no update today due to prolonged game of Arkham Horror, it's 3am and I'm beat.
Fuckin Hastur.

>>341458
No, no diverging opinion. I espoused much the same logic when we were determining Tiffany's current abilities earlier (>>/quest/282146). If you've got all the power in the world but can't aim it for shit, you're worthless.

>>341459
Yeah I probably would have said it then if I was reading Tiffany at that point, but I was letting it build up a few updates so I could get back into it again.
And I didn't actually read much arguments in the threads.
But I also think it's good that we've got such a high level in one of the areas of power; substantially exceeding the normal maximum allows us to assume a sort of an almost messianic role at some point. Which is probably bad for Tiffany, really, (especially if you consider what happened to the real life Messiah) but it's likely to be fun from a narrative point of view.

>>341461
Eh... I think it's more likely that she'll end up with almost everyone suspicious of her forever. With unheard-of levels of magical power tossed atop a greater daemon and an infamous lineage, it seems like a quick formula for a long-lasting dark reputation within the clan. That will likely only grow if she does manage to successfully learn the contents of the Tome of Unspeakable Necromantic Knowledge (TM).

She might get a certain level of acclaim for turning her impressive skills on well-known enemies of the clan, but it certainly won't be enough to make most of them actually like her, let alone think of her as a savior of any sort. Besides, as she's the prophesied "darkchild" I'd guess that the council already thinks that she's not destined for a particularly positive role in things to come.

>>341462
>Eh... I think it's more likely that she'll end up with almost everyone suspicious of her forever.
Yes, that's part of what I meant. The big part, in fact.

>>/quest/285614
What the fuck are you talking about?
Alexander has done some stuff like that, but we've got a better idea of how to protect ourselves now, and we don't plan to meet him directly any time soon. We've encountered hostility here, but nothing like what you describe.
It seems unlikely to me that we could be obligated to free the Cimmerian, but Nahkh does horrible unhappy things with the story sometimes, so I guess we have to allow for that sort of thing.
Even then, it would not be beneficial for us to die rather than allowing someone else to die.

Posting this here, since this hasn't been explicitly stated anywhere.


[04:18] <Shiitake> ...wait, can the Cimmeran harm things that are not human? Like... zombies? Undead? Other demons?
[04:18] <Nahkh> yes
[04:18] <Shiitake> Niiiice
[04:19] <Nahkh> and humans if given permission to kill
[04:19] <Shiitake> So basically he'd be unable to attack Alexander himself and anyone he's mind controlling but his minions are free game
[04:19] <Nahkh> hold it
[04:19] <Seven01a19> So, useless
[04:19] <Nahkh> there's some confusion here:
[04:19] <Nahkh> without permission, he can harm any nonhuman things
[04:20] <Nahkh> with permission, he can harm specific human beings
[04:20] <Nahkh> independantly:
[04:20] <Shiitake> Right, and the permission thing is further restricted by the shackles
[04:20] <Nahkh> he's restricted to the human body, limiting his powers
[04:20] <Shiitake> and he can't hurt humans while limited
[04:20] <Nahkh> he could be released from the body temporarily
[04:20] <Nahkh> unless he's wearing the shackles
[04:21] <Shiitake> Or... wait, will he trigger the shackles if he's left in his human body and given permission to harm someone?
[04:21] <Nahkh> nope
[04:21] <Shiitake> Or only if he's unleashed?
[04:21] <Nahkh> only if he's unleashed
[04:21] <Shiitake> Oh so... he can still help but not OVERWHELMINGLY spo
[04:21] <Nahkh> yes
[04:21] <Shiitake> Alright that helps a lot

If this isn't an in-quest required question, I was wondering something. Grandpa used a strong spark as his reason why Tiffany had to run away before the big betrayal. When he said that, he heavily implied that her spark would grow as she got older. Was that bit true? Do sparks grow with maturity?

The Cimmerian 2011/03/13(Sun)18:45 No. 33265 ID: c44286
File 130006712936.png - (99.66KB , 600x800 , cimmerian paperdoll.png )

Hey guys, help me pick up some new threads. And post em here.

Anonymous 2011/03/13(Sun)18:52 No. 33266 ID: 07416a
File 130006756633.jpg - (96.88KB , 281x399 , wessler9.jpg )

>>343065
Classy. Classic.

Anonymous 2011/03/13(Sun)18:56 No. 33267 ID: f6360f
File 130006779155.png - (116.48KB , 666x800 , cimmdoll.png )

>>343065

The Cimmerian 2011/03/13(Sun)18:58 No. 33269 ID: c44286
File 130006788470.png - (91.00KB , 600x800 , REAL paperdoll.png )

Haha I can't believe you fell for that.
Now THIS is the real me.

TMIoverload 2011/03/13(Sun)19:16 No. 33273 ID: 9b0a68
File 130006901786.jpg - (16.69KB , 175x397 , image619sm.jpg )

Also, make sure to get a bitchin' hat to go with it.

The Cimmerian 2011/03/14(Mon)04:26 No. 33343 ID: c44286
File 130010198628.png - (154.68KB , 600x800 , hey guys.png )

Yeah I know you're all blinded by envy, but I srsly, threads. Not that I couldn't go without personally, but I've got shit that needs doing. Having to fight off the honeys all the time would slow me down.

People complained I was being confusing so here goes:

The italics in the quest sometimes have impersonal narration, and on some occasions they are direct thoughts of the person who's name is on the "name" field on the post. Will look into maybe using bold instead of italics for direct thoughts in the future.

Coalescence hasn't been previously mentioned, ask the cimmerian about it or something. Or I thought people would. I'm just confused now.

>>343317
>Coalescence
The Cimmerian knows what it is, so does Imanye, and Joyce just head about it and maybe/probably knows what it means. That makes us probably the only ones there out of the loop. Talking about it, or not talking about it, or just deciding whether to talk about it or not is rather awkward.

Of course the demon isn't at all likely to make a mistake based on our ignorance, but still...

>>343143
Cimmerian would look pretty awesome done up Matrix style. Fuck the haters who keep harshin' on the black groove, it works for him. And he definitely needs mirrored glasses. Maybe he can badger Tiffany into enchanting them to do something cool later, or just infuse them with daemon-magic on his lonesome.

>>343339
Nobody looks awesome "done up Matrix style". Even fucking Neo didn't. It's a look that's only popular with nerds who don't understand the basic fundaments of dressing themselves. Everyone else knows better.

>>343360
Keanu has problems looking awesome regardless. Don't mock his disability.

Anyway, I wasn't aware that the look was popular at all amongst any demographic- was just a random suggestion proposed as a whim struck me. Yet as you have failed to produce a superior alternative, it stands in spite of your conviction of its stupidity- might I suggest that you propose a look which does, in fact, conform to "the basic fundaments of dressing" so that all who gaze upon it might be enlightened?

I'm still for dressing him up as a stereotypical fifties gangster. Black and white pinstripe suit with a fedora. Not only is it awesome, but it's the only thing I can think of, aside from a troll costume, that suits his personality.

Cruxador 2011/05/18(Wed)17:22 No. 36887 ID: f5fe2f
File 130576452858.png - (88.31KB , 600x800 , cimmerian_penis.png )

Oh hey this quest updated! Hopefully it will continue to do so for a while this time.

I drew a rockstar outfit for the Cimmerian. Charcoal always looks good.

in terms of finding a master to apprentice to... how about one of the council members?
That sounds like it will have all kinds of awesome, hilarious, and terrible implication.

>faggotry in the thread
Somebody being mad doesn't automatically necessitate poetry.

I was half-tempted to put in the lyrics for Don't Copy that Floppy.

maybe... maybe go on the offensive? Lash out and try to consume it? It is after all inside tiffany, she has the "home field advantage" so to speak.
When the reaper himself entered her domain she had power over it.

Or maybe focus on a better magical rune... the last one we tried apparently was anti scrying. Not useful here. Maybe some sort of entrapment circle?

Hello everypony, just writing to let you know Tiffany'll be back on track once I get my laptop sorted out. I'm on Chicago time now, visiting my girlfriend's parents for the next six weeks. I've got my tablet with me, so once I get my comp sorted out I can actually start updating again. More than once a day even.

See ya all in a few days.
XOXO
Nahkh

So, guys. Options.

My coma spell was only mildly effective- it's bought us time, but that's all; I was hoping that we'd be able to keep it asleep inside us until we could find a better solution. Unfortunately, with only Tiffany's willpower and concentration holding the runes in place, they'll vanish and it will consume her all too easily, so we need a permanent solution.

I don't think that we can effectively tame it- it's a personality fragment of a daemon, which makes it pretty crazy and unlikely to have any more depth than the need to kill and consume. And we don't have any kind of significant experience using sheer willpower-based magic to manage things- in fact, every time we try that we effectively fall flat on our face. Anything relying upon nothing more than our will would be suicidally overconfident. A runic solution which disposes of it permanently is the only realistic option, I think, and we have several potential tools available which might accomplish that.

My greatest concern is that the creature is literally part of Tiffany; depending upon the accuracy of the Cimmerian's mixing water metaphor it might be distributed throughout her soul. That would mean that she can't harm it very effectively without also harming herself.

If they are already part of the same soul, then utilizing the Labyrinth of Hak'keth to dispose of the creature could draw on Tiffany's own power and destroy her- because the nasty will have control over her same haftsusha. And once completed, the Labyrinth is unstoppable, making it a poor choice.

That leaves us with Al-Asmari. It's rather bold- even reckless- but I suspect that we could summon up a Soul Eater into the circle with the nasty, daemon-tainted portion of our own soul. Once it eats the demon, we use Al-Asmari to banish it; without a soul anchor the daemon will hopefully be gone for good. The risk in this plan is the chance that the Soul Eater will get loose and eat more than we want it to, or be able to successfully resist Al-Asmari when all that's maintaining the runes is our sheer willpower. It was hard enough to cast in the first place, let alone cast like this. Furthermore, the Soul Eater might not be able to be summoned into whatever internal mental/spiritual realm we're in now, which could be a problem.

If we're willing to gamble that we don't need to sever our soul first, or that Al-Asmari will work on the daemon fragment raw, then we could also skip the soul eater bit and skip right to Al-Asmari, gambling that we won't be closely attached to the daemon and therefore unable to banish it (or able to banish it, but with severe side effects). That's by far the safer route, but honestly I think it's less likely to work.


Anyway. Going to suggest using Al-Asmari in-quest in a bit, failing any strong opinions or brilliant ideas by others in here. There's a certain level of stupidity being posted that needs counteracting.

>>347549
NOPE. That sounds like a TERRIBLE idea. A severing-our-link-to-the-cimmerian idea.

>>347550
Our link to the Cimmerian is based upon his having part of our soul, not our having part of his. Otherwise our link with Mulder wouldn't work- after all, we certainly don't have any of his soul since he doesn't have one. And the Cimmerian was quite clear that the Coalescence traded bits of their souls but was a one-time event; "The floodgates are closed, and the waters are separated once more" was how he put it.

So I really don't think we need to worry about that.

Cruxador 2011/06/12(Sun)00:41 No. 37755 ID: f5fe2f
File 130786447240.png - (131.91KB , 1500x900 , purge_from_mind.png )

As much as it seems like a waste of a potentially valuable resource, this thing is harming us, and since we can't even hold it back without continuous effort, we need a quick solution. The only conclusive thing we have the rune knowledge to do is destroy it. For that purpose I present the accompanying diagram. It uses our grandfather's rune, which we know to be effective. Only difference, in stead of targeting an outside force, it targets an inside force. The hook is bound with an enemy to prevent this spell from damaging the portion of our mind that the thing is already engaged with. And I excised some needless portions describing the way that the spell interacts with outside elements.

That said, I really don't want to unleash this kind of destructive potential inside our own fucking mind unless there's no other option.

Anonymous 2011/06/12(Sun)01:18 No. 37756 ID: 40cb26
File 130786667175.png - (32.78KB , 311x326 , untitled.png )

There is another, quite simpler option. Couldn't say if it would work in this case but it certainly couldn't hurt.

Banish!

>>347556
Brilliant. It is a demon, isn't it?

>>347555
That is the Labyrinth of Hak'keth. We know the principles upon which it works, and as I observed they are potentially very dangerous for Tiffany to rely upon here- the daemon fragment either doesn't have a haftsusha or will be using hers, which would result in a fast and horrifying suicide if she tries to use it. That spell can only be relied upon when targeting enemy mages.

>>347556
That would be Al-Asmari's Atonement, as I suggested. It has the weakness that if the daemon fragment is attached to us we might banish ourselves, but it is probably our safest bet at this point.

isn't the Labyrinth of Hak'keth self sustaining? it produces an attack against the thing inside the circle, every time it defends it steals that power to attack it even more times... and from unexpected angles.

wouldn't that subdue it permanently? maybe even destroy it eventually allowing its remains to be slowly absorbed?

I am against summing a soul eater into tiffany's soul. I am also against feeding it the cimmerian fragment since that might make it into something even more dangerous (it "levels up" from absorbing said power)...

The best thing to do, I think, is to MODIFY it... the problem with it right now is that its uncontrolled rage, hate, and hunger. if tiffany can mellow it out she could then absorb it or tame it.

So how can we go about modifying it?

PS. I don't think it has been mnetioned, but the strongest binding runes we know are the ones we saw holding the immortal skeleton thing, the one that wanted to follow the bone king.

yes but all these runes are in her head. if she stops focusing on them for a MOMENT they will fall apart and lose all power. so we need something that only needs to work for as short amount of time as we can to get rid of it.

>>347736
You sound as though you could benefit from revisiting the earlier part of the quest.

Hak'keth destroys utterly. It's probably more dangerous than a soul eater.
Also I'm pretty sure Tiffany's mind, as the area that the soul eater would be summoned into, is distinct from the soul that the soul eater bites. I doubt it would be more dangerous than summoning it near our body was. Of course, that was still pretty dangerous.

>So how can we go about modifying it?
I posted a friendship rune thing in the thread. That's the only thing we've got that deals with such things. But I doubt we could modify the demon in any lasting way.

>>347743
friendship rune ahoy!
pump it full of power 6/5 finesse 1/5 friendship. At the very least it would make tearing it apart and absorbing it less harmful to the eater.

>>347767
>At the very least it would make tearing it apart and absorbing it less harmful to the eater.
The problem with our current methods of destroying it are not that it would harm us upon being destroyed, but rather, that we might accidentally harm ourselves. Also we currently have no way to absorb it. If you can figure out a way, go for it, but as far as I'm aware we have no way to reference ourselves in the spell.

>>347792
When we bound the cimmerian he absorbed part of us and became more like us, he developed some mannerisms more akin to that of a young human girl.
We on the other hand got this... we already are "absorbing" it but instead of melding it is too powerful and too "evil" and is eating us from the inside so to speak. My theory is that once it is "friendlied" it should be as simple as dropping the circle holding it and letting the merging occur naturally. Even if it doesn't, it will be inside us and not pose an immediate threat, allowing us to properly research ways to deal with it, maybe get assistance.
This is what I meant.

It's back! Awesome

Yeah we're back at it like it's 1939.

>>357343
Fuck yeah! Let's get some BATTLE OF BRITAIN up in this bitch!

Also, welcome back.

Well, Tiffany is breaking herself so she can bend new rules, and most likely won't recognize what she sees.

Anyway, glad the quest it back. One of my favorites of all the quests I've read. Easily in the top three.

I'd say it's my all time favorite serious quest.

It can't really be compared to silly quests, because what makes a silly quest good differs substantially from what makes a serious quest good.

Also looks like we're all set up to transcend humanity.

I wonder what would happen if we ate the Cimmerian? Not that I expect that to ever be possible.

>>/quest/374886
>but the safe bet is on telling him what happened.
No it's fucking not. "Oh yeah, we just ate a demon"? Fuck that. Even if "just" we say there was a demon in our head, Owen's gonna want to take a close look at us, and then he'll figure out we ate the thing.

>There's a very, very good chance that he knows exactly what just happened.
Yeah, but if he doesn't it's better we don't tell him. And the chance that he doesn't isn't huge, he's almost certainly not aware of the Cimmerian's interaction with us if the Cimmerian didn't intentionally allow Owen to find out, which doesn't seem like something he'd do. And in general these people are less than supremely competent, so it's possible that he didn't discover anything. Even if he's entirely aware of what happened, there's no reason that we need to indicate that we're aware, or that we made decisions in our full right mind. Hence, mentioning a bad dream would be the ideal if we say anything at all.

>If he does or does not know, then telling him will cause him to trust Tiffany
I don't think Inquisitors tend to trust demon-eaters. Or anyone, for that matter.

>She's 12; they can't rightly argue with that.
Yes they fucking can. I don't know if you noticed, but they don't tend to take a very "lol, kids will be kids" view on Tiffany's exploits. Everything's a big fucking deal to them.

>If we don't tell him and he knows then he's going to mistrust Tiffany in the future and go over everything with a fine-toothed comb.
So then we reveal our dream.
>We're on thin ice here already, and getting outed here wouldn't help.
Yeah, neither will making our ice thinner by telling him we just ate a fucking demon.

>If we don't tell him and he doesn't know then nothing happens until somebody checks for demonic presence.
"Why do you detect as demonic?"
"I dunno. Maybe something to do with how I'm shackled to the Cimmerian?"
BAM. We've done enough demon fuckery that they know about already for some shit to be expected. Hell, there would probably already be a substantial demonic taint on us just from the coalescence.

>>357407
This is a good plan, let's stick with it.

Just wanted to let you guys now, taking Christmas eve off. Just too beat to pick up a stylus. (Yeah we celebrate decemberween on the 24th here)

In lieu of an update I want to ask my readers some questions:

-What aspects of the quest are the most appealing to you?
-What keeps you coming back?
-Where would you like to see the quest go from here?

You can answer any or all of the questions. Indulge an old hands curiosity.
In return I'll answer your questions. As a rule of thumb don't ask for major spoilers. Something was touched on but went unexplained? Metaphysics being confusing? What was that bartenders name back in Adeleine?

Anyway, I wish you all a delightful Yuletide.
-Nahkh

>-What aspects of the quest are the most appealing to you?
I like to use magic. I also like the emphasis on power and growth in that manner, and that we essentially are a "bad guy" type of a character, but with motivations that are nonetheless human. And that we still have an overarching force (our family) that we need to watch out for and respect. Not a lot of quests manage to keep a presence like that in existence and relevant, although to be fair I can't think of another that's tries.

>-What keeps you coming back?
I dunno, I guess that stuff I just said. But also the story and setting are just plain good.

>-Where would you like to see the quest go from here?
Acquire more spells, more ability and resources of sorts other than pure raw power. The apprenticeship thing should happen, in other words. More stuff that isn't a huge deal should happen too, so far everything is big and important (Grampa tried to kill you! Now he wants to become king of the dead! Here's an ancient demon of great power!) and that's good to get the quest started off, but some low-key stuff would be fine for a bit too. I'd like to go through the comparatively mundane stuff of seeing our dad in the hospital, alleviating suspicion enough that we don't have permanent inquisitorial escort, getting our apprenticeship, and doing some general hunter stuff without worrying about the impending "everything is fucked" situation too much. We could probably fill a thread or two with things like that, perhaps with small timeskips (weeks at most) here and there. I feel like the storyline needs some less huge bits so that the really big stuff hits harder, as was the case early on when we suddenly found out about Gramp's betrayal. In addition, I feel that Tiffany's been in a state of "everything's fucked" long enough; she needs to establish a sort of a grounding lifestyle.
Of course, this is contingent on you being around and updating as consistently as you did then; if you only do a few updates and then are gone again as has happened occasionally, this long-term of a thing isn't really viable.

>>357419
Mostly, it's just fantastically written. Idunnno.

>>357423
Thank you for the kind words.

>>357420
Thanks for the answer. Will def keep that in mind.
Also, >>357407 is some wise words bro.


I feel I should explain why I haven't been updating for six months.

But I can't.

There's no single reason why I haven't been updating.
I guess the biggest factor was that I felt the story had become stuck, sort of bogged down by unplanned sidetracks that were preventing me from moving forward with the main story. And the longer I waited the harder it became to get back on top of things. Reading old threads, updating my notes, trying to remember how characters looked and how they spoke, and after all that getting things rolling again, processing all the piled up sidetracks. And I've had some really stressful stuff that's been piling up in real life so I've been more worn out than usual.
Guess you could call it writers burnout.
Anyway, the time off allowed me to recharge my batteries and remember how much I've missed doing this. I've come close to restarting a few times, but the final push was me getting my new tablet. I'm happy to be on the saddle again, and all that piled up stuff doesn't feel like such and insurmountable obstacle anymore.
Authoring quests, in particular this one, has been one of the most satisfying creative experiences in my life. I don't want to stop. I might need brakes every now and again, but I really love doing this. I doubt we'll see me quitting for good.

Hope you'll stick around,
-Nahkh

>>357419
>-What aspects of the quest are the most appealing to you?
The story of the inevitable and tragic descent into darkness appeals to me and Tiffany has good characterization. Mostly in our ability to watch Tiffany's mind; seeing her thought patterns gradually change as she is molded by her actions and the events around her is probably the best part of the quest.

The magic system is also fun, but frustrating, particularly since we've been taught fuck-all and are thus stuck working largely on conjecture and guesswork. It's enough to make one wish that we'd had a longer apprenticeship under Alexander, mind control or no; he likely taught us more than we've learned since from everything combined.

>-What keeps you coming back?
Aside from the above, nostalgia counts for a hell of a lot. I fucking loved the first two or three threads, and even though since then I haven't been quite as enthused there's still the lingering spark there.

>-Where would you like to see the quest go from here?
Forward, preferably in a fairly predictable fashion for once. Every time it seems like we're finally starting to really get rolling we get yanked aside by sudden, unexpected events which are interesting but ultimately ensnarl us in another unexpected subplot and force us to chuck out basically all plans for the future since they're now completely obsolete. While that lends a sense of empathy for Tiffany's own total loss of control over her own life, it's also annoying as hell- and it's teaching us as players and Tiffany as a person that long-term planning is useless and short-term gains and rapid action should always be prioritized if we want to ever actually accomplish anything.

>>357478
>The magic system is also fun, but frustrating, particularly since we've been taught fuck-all and are thus stuck working largely on conjecture and guesswork.
I feel that that's a positive aspect of the situation. If we could do anything trivially, things would get too easy.

>It's enough to make one wish that we'd had a longer apprenticeship under Alexander, mind control or no; he likely taught us more than we've learned since from everything combined.
We should learn more under our upcoming apprenticeship. But we don't need a super in-depth knowledge of everything. We could use a broader base of magical knowledge, and more tricks up our sleeve will be a substantial asset, but you can really do a lot with simple pieces.

I agree with the "no sudden changes" notion, that's sort of what I was going for when I said Tiffany needs a grounding lifestyle, but you said it better than I did. I do think small things that aren't predictable should be good, but they should fit within a consistent framework. Seems to me that being a hunter apprentice is the optimal framework for that.

Duly noted. I've noticed the lack of stability in the quest, and have been hoping to establish some kind of regular lifestyle. What that will be depends entirely on who you guys choose to apprentice under.
The constant yanking around has been a symptom of me struggling with the feeling of being stuck with the quest, unable to keep things going forward. I'll keep that in check.

Of course, as it stands the quest could be summed up as
This is the story all about how
my life got flipped, turned upside down


So anyway, I'll take this opportunity to explain some things about artifacts, since the topic came up on IRC.

Enchanted objects are divided into two categories based on how they are powered.

Talismans are objects with a spell cast on it. The casting is a one-time event and the object is infused with magic. Over time the magic will fade and lose effectiveness. Talismans range in complexity from simple ad-hoc creations to highly complex ones that are reimbued time and time again. An example of a simple talisman is Tiffany's anti-scrying amulet. An example of a complex talisman is the wardstone in the Adeleine safehouse.

Artifacts are objects with a spirit bound inside it, powering the magic. Artifacts are inherently more powerful than talismans. The complexity of the artifact is directly proportional to how cooperative the spirit in question is. The creation of artifacts is a time-consuming process that is prone to error, and is best left to people who truly know what they are doing. The most difficult part of creating artifacts is defining the desired effect. If you use a spell A to describe the desired effect B, something of the A can very easily leak into B. The methods used by master artificiers to avoid this are carefully guarded secrets.
The most sophisticated artifacts feed the spirit with the users power, essentially allowing them to function indefinitely. Artifacts have even been known to grow in power as they age and are kept in use. An example of an artifact is Thomas' lance.

>>357510
Well, then it seems like the most obvious way to easily create an artifact is to bind the soul of an ostensibly willing sentient which understands the goal into the object in question.

I'd expect that was one of the first ways of creating artifacts, and all others are attempts to duplicate that without engaging in long-forbidden acts.
Such as, for example, preventing the dead from passing on to the afterlife.

I think Artifacts are well beyond our current capabilities. And there's nothing like that that we really need either. I mean, a potent weapon would be a good thing to have, but we really don't need a weapon more potent than the Labyrinth of Hak'keth. We just need to be able to deploy that power in a versatile and safe manner.

Now, this seems as good a time as any to discuss the goals Seven posted in the thread.

>Since they have some many-to-one scrying eyes for the inquisitors lets design some one-to-may broadcasting glasses for people.
>These would be useful for things like large sigils and coordinated rituals. If we wanted to, for example, have three hundred people show up, lay down a 3km wide sigil, and preform a ritual to empower it all within a one-hour window then we would need a one-to-many system to keep the chanters synchronized.
I don't see much potential gain in this endeavor.

>Mid-Long, lets design a ritual that attempts to scry everywhere within a circle and darkens where the scrying fails. Then put that on a pair of glasses.
Sounds like a good way to detect scrying blocks. Scrying reversal and detection would probably be useful there, but I'm not sure how we'd use them.

>Short-Mid, lets come up with a proposal for a new way for Inquisitors to work. One that gives them more privacy while also yielding better security. Also, keeping the ghostly aid but giving it an off switch. (This is easy. They will dismiss it out of hand.)
There's no real reason we should want to do that, and any attempt to modify the functioning of a group that watches over us will be seen as extremely suspicious.

>Get a laptop. Make it undetectable to others. Research how to magically download the library onto it so we can have a searchable database of all the magic. This will include the forbidden archives once the Cimmerian wants to make that happen.
Bind Seeing, the Hook, and the Cradle inside a Blade. Attach that to a Touch. Inscribe this all on the back of the laptop. That may well be enough that anything we touch the laptop to will be copied into the memory. It would be more likely with more Understanding dots, or if someone can think of a way to explicitly represent the computer's memory. I don't know about doing it remotely; I don't think it's possible with what we know now.

>Become goddess-queen of man. Fix everything.
A good goal. We'll have to figure out the steps to achieve it as more information becomes available. For now, our only leads in this direction are studying magic, eating demons, and achieving excellence in all things.

>>357516
>I don't see much potential gain in this endeavor.
Besides taking down grampa from no less than 1.5km away?
We can create a sigil as a number of interlocking sections and have unskilled labor assemble it on-site - with the family's resources that's within the realm of possibility, and I'm pretty sure we could even talk the Rothwalds into helping back it since they'd love a front row seat at the largest and most ambitious magic project in hundreds of years.
However, in order to empower it we would need lots of people coordinating their efforts, and that means we would need a way of keeping everybody in sych.

>Sounds like a good way to detect scrying blocks. Scrying reversal and detection would probably be useful there, but I'm not sure how we'd use them.

Tiffany has already used the hell out of Hide+Absolute, and so far it seems to be incredibly effective for something so simple.
Powerful+Effective+Simple means it's almost certainly in wide use, and being able to see where things are hidden gives us a great starting point for developing countermeasures and counter-countermeasures.
Ideally we'd be playing this game three or so layers deeper than anybody else, but research takes a lot of time.

>There's no real reason we should want to do that, and any attempt to modify the functioning of a group that watches over us will be seen as extremely suspicious.
I didn't say modify, I said draft a proposal for an entirely new system. One which accomplishes all the same tasks as well as or better than the existing system, but with few or none of the flaws.
It would be rejected out of hand, but the idea would spread among dissatisfied members and underscore the problems.
At that point Tiffany sits back and watches how it plays out. Disrupting the status quo is highly unlikely, but it would let us see first-hand how the Kinsley family suppresses information and dissent. That information is valuable.

>I don't know about doing it remotely; I don't think it's possible with what we know now.

That's why it's a mid/long term goal.
Well, no, the reason it's a long-term goal is because we have no idea how magic and technology interact, nor how rituals behave under such conditions.
We could try doing that ritual on Tiff's hand and see if she can memorize a mundane book, and we could try it on a piece of paper to see if Kinsley library books can be magically copied, but there are too many variables to try this immediately.

>For now, our only leads in this direction are studying magic, eating demons, and achieving excellence in all things.

Eating demons is a bad thing. Tiff was told it made her stronger, but we have no idea how. Or even if.
What did Tiff lose when she ate that demon? What did she gain? What's the RoI?
Since our suggestions can nullify most behavioral changes, there's a near-certainty that one of the side effects is us losing control of her.

Sorry, was out of town for a couple of days. In retrospect I probably should have said something. Oh well.

Also, I approve of this back-and-forth weighing-of-plans. Keep up the good work.

>>357601
Well, it works out fine for me, since I was out of town too. Still am, but I'm in a place with proper wireless for the moment.

>>357559
>take down Gramps with a giant sigil
That's a decent eventual plan I suppose. So far we don't have nearly the respect from the family to pull it off.
>magic glasses
Could just use a radio system. No point in wasting magic.

>Scrying block detection
Sorry, I meant I'm not sure how we'd use those runes to get that effect. I can see the utility of a spell like that, I just don't know how to make it happen.

>I didn't say modify, I said draft a proposal for an entirely new system.
You suggested using a different method to deal with a problem which is currently dealt with through an existing process, ergo you suggest a modification to the approach. But that's a semantic point and largely irrelevant.
Rocking the boat isn't a bad idea, and seeing how information flows is a good one, but being seen to rock the boat is bad.

>That's why it's a mid/long term goal.
A partial success now is better than leaving the whole thing until later, as long as it doesn't impede later success, and I find that very unlikely in this case.

>Well, no, the reason it's a long-term goal is because we have no idea how magic and technology interact, nor how rituals behave under such conditions.
Nothing suggests technology is mystical or counter-mystical in any way. The only way to find out is to search existing documentation or experiment.
>We could try doing that ritual on Tiff's hand and see if she can memorize a mundane book,
Let's not use our own mind as a subject for experimentation. That could have substantial negative repercussions.

>and we could try it on a piece of paper to see if Kinsley library books can be magically copied,
That sounds like a better idea.

>Since our suggestions can nullify most behavioral changes, there's a near-certainty that one of the side effects is us losing control of her.
Unlikely. We've never had absolute control. Even if our control was decreased to the level that we had over Cheelop (the most independent protagonist I can think of offhand) that would be fine.
But honestly I reckon Nahkh is probably able to make that change happen in a more fulfilling way than "too many demons, Tiffany doesn't listen any more".

I must admit, I made a mistake in chapter seven. I left out a something about the definition of synchronicity.

Here's the original passage:

Synchronicity measures the degree to which you can synchronize your Haftsusha with your Tuaftia. It essentially allows you access to extra reserves of power. This is the hardest to actually learn, Balian is the only one to ever get five on the test on that. Duncan suspects master Cain would rank even higher, if he would take the test.

It should've included:

People with high synchronicity are also more able to synchronize their spellcasting with other people, either to cast a larger spell cooperatively or to counter the other's casting. That's not what the test was meant for, but it is a correlation we've discovered.


Sorry for that. I'll update that to the wiki.

Note about latest update (613)
You don't need to just be either for or against calling Martin, you can also suggest alternative things for Tiff to do. Some things come to mind such as looking for her dad, talking to the Cimmerian to learn how to heal dad or to learn more about the recent demonification etc.

Also, HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!

>Unlikely to walk again.
Fuck. That's rather sobering.

>>/quest/376791
>You are looking at this from an assumption of innocence perspective; [etc]
You are correct that we should not assume our innocence will be considered default. But you then go on to suggest texting just as I did, so I think I may have missed your point, or you may have missed mine.

>Owen would have a hard time saying no since that is a completely reasonable request
Ordinarily this would be true, but considering that Dad has been mauled by a powerful demon we summoned, revealing information about how we're doing also reveals weakness that could be exploited.

>>357690
I honestly have no clue what I was responding to. Maybe there was a deleted post or something?
I dunno, sorry about that.

>Dad has been mauled by a powerful demon
I was thinking more along the lines of "There was an accident and Dad broke his leg really badly."
If we wanted to earn bonus points with him we could throw in "For being so fussy about things they're pretty bad at keeping things clean."

I'd like to have Owen approve the message before we sent it, since that would cover basically everything. Getting him to do that is easy, since Tiff can just say Martin's not good at English and she wants Owen to check the spelling "and stuff" for her.

>>357672
He's a doctor, not a magic doctor. A day or two of research into healing magic and we'll be good to go.
What's Tiff's power rating now, 7/5? Find some healing rituals and have somebody check her work while casting and she can fix basically anything.

Which reminds me; we need to retake the test to find out how things changed. We can say it's because Cimmy might have changed things.

>>357753
>I was thinking more along the lines of "There was an accident and Dad broke his leg really badly."
I don't think we want to give even that much information. Also, there's likely damage way beyond just "broken" if Dad won't be able to walk; even a pulverized knee would allow walking with a brace, although there'd be a limp, he wouldn't be able to run, and stairs would be difficult.
>If we wanted to earn bonus points with him we could throw in "For being so fussy about things they're pretty bad at keeping things clean."
I see no reason why that would be advantageous in any way.

>>357754
We haven't seen any magic dealing with living bodies yet, healing could be decidedly non-trivial. We should certainly look into it, but from an OOC perspective I actually think it's positive to have grievous physical injury as a thing that can't be easily dealt with.
Also, if fixing Dad was as simple as casting a Cure spell on him, he wouldn't have been taken to the hospital in the first place.

I don't see much point in taking the test already. We only ate a small demon and are already very powerful. It's unlikely we've changed enough to register and there's potential to arouse suspicion in asking for another test so soon, even with an excuse.

Well, been a week since the last update. I reckon that means we're gonna wait months until the next one again.

>>357884
Hush you.

Busted my wrist at work on monday. Haven't been able to hold a stylus in my hand.

Update incoming.

>>357891
Ouch, you have my well wishes then. Was it broken or just sprained?

Just sprained. Forearm's still a bit swollen, and it's pinching some nerve. It's like my hand's fallen asleep for days. Can't make a tight fist, but can pick stuff up now at least. It'll be fine, don't worry.

A brief update:
Still healing up hand, hopping on pain killers and wrist braces.
Will probably be slightly less high by the weekend, and hopefully I'll have the brace off by then. In other words, Tiffany will resume on Friday.

Two fridays have come and gone. How's your arm doing?

Ahem. Sorry for the delay. Back now.

>>360298
Do you have any planned update schedule that you're going to shoot for this time around?

I'm trying to return to the old one update per day because of my timezone.
If I have spare time in my hands at any point I might update several times a day.
I'll strive not to have consecutive days of not updating, so at worst I'll try to keep it above an update every two days.

>>360323
It's like my birthday comes every day!

Urgh, sorry for the absence. Back again.

>>56176
I'm afraid we're quite used to it at this point.

... Point.
At least I keep coming back.

From suggestions it looks like the personality remains split with both halves extant, but the calculating one is dominant since it's the one making the decision and will likely govern the use of the emotional facet.

Right, chapter over.

However, suggestions are still appreciated (on this thread though).
We've got a lot of balls in the air, feel free to give your opinion on what the next chapter should focus on.

>>56266
I would like to see Tiffany actually become a proper apprentice, or at least have the opportunity to focus on it, in the next chapter. Then the rest of it can be spent developing the master-apprentice relationship and Tiffany's feelings on it, as well as how her daemonic powers and the Cimmerian influence the whole thing, possibly through the use of some minor plot points.

>>56266
Mom, particularly.
I want to learn more about her.
She's a classy lady.

Allow me to offer a more welcoming welcome than you received before. I'm glad to see this quest up and going!

Anyways, future suggestions? Alright...

I wanna name the The Cimmerian. Even if he dislikes it. Especially if he dislikes it. Because "The Cimmerian" is such a title.

More Mulder. Because Mulder is the shit.

I'd like to use the phone number and reach out to our Rothwald buddy. As glad as I was to stop having to puzzle out his accent, it would be nice to make sure he wasn't killed in the American fiasco. Show that even if we didn't go with him, we appreciate his help, and don't want him dead. After all, we *may* want to try uniting the magic families at some point, and it'd be good to have someone friendly to start with.

I've been looking forward to our next run in with the Reaper, now that we know more of how things actually work. Almost certainly not something we want to do on purpose, or soon, but it'll be interesting when we get to it nonetheless.

Aside from that, hopefully enough breathing room to do some diplomacy, and work things out with some of the people around us before the next magical disaster happens (of course, what's the fun in things being easy?)

Just a quick fyi, I'm likely to be away from home until sunday, this is a scheduled outtake and not me riding away to the sunset (like usual).

SEE? I CAME BACK!

>>56420

WELCOME BACK.

Let the magical teacher dating sim commence.

Such a handsome...
goatee

>>56445
Wait, if Tiffany's PHYS strength is maxxed out, what the heck is her magical strength like?

>>56445

Yes, good.
(After the Pigeon dating sim, no old man courting a little girl necromancer is going to traumatize me).

>>56450
What about "My Girlfriend's The President"?

>>56420
I am pleased, and hope such violations of precedent will continue.

Hey guys.

When I start writing an update, I usually make a list of things that need to be addressed. These are derived from your suggestions and things I'm planning behind the scenes. But when I start to actually write it, sometimes the dialogue flows naturally into a completely different direction. I realize it's entirely within my power to take the quest there, but I wanted to ask if you prefer a more naturally evolving story or should I strive to follow my plans and your suggestions?
I'm just curious about your preferences, s'all.

-the big N

>>60219
I think we can deal with a little bit of deviation. As long as we usually have the opportunity to address things that were missed that we think are important I see no complaints being raised. Obviously, stuff just happens sometimes. We can't control everything in the real world, even ourselves, and Tiffany shouldn't be able to either... yet.