Hyena of Ice

I don't understand pre-algebra very well (the parenthesis, etc) could someone possibly give that formula in an idiot-friendly, math symbol-free form, please?

Is it ever mentioned how/why exactly Agents and Guardians acquire the appearance that they do? The Guardian PC shown on the item menu has glowing green eyes (despite that this is not normal for shapers?) and the agents, of course, have always had oddly tinged skin (which I seriously doubt is just camo makeup or something like that)

The Girdle of Nimbleness in G2 is sold by a merchant in the Awakened library (forgot the name of that place)

There are definitely bats in the Geneforge world as well, as you can hear what is clearly supposed to be bat sounds in one of the BG tracks (in G2 I think the crystal cavern uses this, and in G3 the kentia mines do) Not to be confused with the similar one that is mostly just water drops.

BTW, for possible fic-related info, does anyone have any idea how long baton thorns are? (it's obvious that they're large enough to cause internal injuries, but I have no idea beyond that) Edit: nevermind. Now that I think about it, they're probably meant to be similar to bullets. Written out extremely little (some writer's block) and I'm also doing a write-up of their equipment and spells. Edit: Some of the writer's block taken care of, but I can't get the opening scene done until I do another playthrough to Ambush Bridge, and right now I'm still clearing the Kentia mines.

It was like part dragon part bird. It was more bird than drayk, but... I'll have to think if I can fully remember what it looked like. It had feathers, but they were razor-sharp and scale like (kinda spear/spade/lance shaped), like what you see on some heraldric symbols. It had blue and red feathers. It... had a beak, but also fangs. I can no longer remember what made it dragon-like to be honest as it's been too long now and I didn't dwell on those details enough. It had a breath weapon, but I think it was a sonic screech (sounds like mental barrier would be a must) It had bird-like wings and tail plumes which were actually prehensile and tentacle like O_o ) The feathers were red and blue (IIRC blue body, red wings and tail/tentacles) It also had a medium-length neck (but not waterfowl-length)

The thought has certainly crossed my mind-- and posting it here (I probably wouldn't get further than Esther and Greta setting off to the Drayk-bird's cave though)

^^Heh. Oh, I forgot to mention a piece of pure gold here: Earlier when I mentioned that the alchemist needed mine and Greta's help to administer the medicine for some reason-- I vaguely remember that for some reason it involved pulling him out of bed (I picked him up by the underside of the arms while Greta picked him up by the ankles.) The thing is, he might have been naked (I specifically remember that he was lying in bed shirtless under the blankets) LOL, talk about awkward. I don't think Alwan would be particularly happy to learn about that. I wonder if Greta would have teased him about it later, ha ha!.

G1 absolutely. Don't be discouraged by the UI-- be a TRUE RPGamer. Besides that, IIRC there's some basic info in G1 that isn't in the others, such as the purpose of Ornks in the first region which goes to explain an important element about the setting.

Bear with me because I can't remember everything 100%, also my dreams tend to be disorganized with poor continuity... though what I can recall of this one is straightforward enough, though like all my dreams, randomly switched between me playing the game, live-action roleplaying the game with friends, and actually BEING the protagonist in the game world. At any rate, in my dream, something happened to Alwan (I don't remember for certain but I think he got exposed to a rare disease or toxin) and he ended up in a coma, dying (I remember that he had a high fever, but again don't remember the details) So I (Ester and Greta) had to fight this drayk-bird like thing to acquire the ingredients for the medicine he needed. That battle was a <b>HUGE</b> pain in the ass. From what I recall, the medicine was some sort of fungus that fed on a sulfur-based mineral deposit, (though seems like it was also a sulfur and beeswax-like substance produced by the Drayk-bird) and the only way to defeat the monster was by preparing a spell or missle weapon from the medicine itself. To make matters worse, it takes at least a full round to make the weapon, and worse than that, the drayk-bird thing eats the medicine (there's a lot of it, but it's not in infinite quality, so there's potential for a game-stopper) ADDING TO THAT, it gets two attacks per friggin' round, and it can also eat your prepared weapon. It takes 7 consecutive hits to kill, and it regenerates by a lot. It also hits hard, so every 3 rounds I had to heal myself (wasn't going after Greta very much, and she was pretty useless) For some reason grabbing the medicine and running wasn't an option (I think maybe the room closed on us or something) I don't remember the last 1/3rd of the battle, but she shaper needed to make the medicine administered it to Alwan (and for some reason needed assistance from both Ester and Greta), but he'd need a long time to recover. For some reason I left Greta behind to watch Alwan and fill him in when he wakes up about what happened (and stay constantly by his bedside.) while I went after the men who did this to him (apparently they were part of a crime syndicate unrelated to the rebels O_o ) Yeah, that's great-- I'm sure Greta is the first thing Alwan will want to wake up to, LOL. Not to mention that Esther is absent. I'm honestly surprised to have a dream that makes sense for once (there is some disjointed continuity and weirdness during the Drayk-bird battle that I haven't mentioned and only vaguely remember, and like all my dreams, it randomly switched between playing a video game, to roleplaying with friends, to being the protagonist IN the videogame) Awesome dream, though. I thought I'd NEVER beat that drayk-bird though. Though Esther going after the a-holes who poisoned/diseased Alwan alone doesn't make much sense. I do remember really wanting to be there when Alwan awoke from his coma, but for some reason absolutely HAD to go after the perps-- maybe they were heading to a seaworthy ship or something, who knows (come to think of it, it does seem like I vaguely remember something like that, and planning to intercept them at a city pier-- something which of course DOESN'T make sense. Also, for some reason the pier was in a Harmony Isle-like climate even though the dream definitely took place on Dhonal Isle.) As for the event where Alwan was poisoned/diseased, I don't recall my dream covering it, but my party coming across them doing something organized-crimey would make the most sense-- (that or accosting them with "I know who you are") Then they attack, and Alwan is the one who is hit, and either Esther/Greta immediately drag Alwan off to seek help, or the criminals decide to run while we're distracted (former seems more likely) I remember when deciding to hunt them down, that I wasn't very confident that I could defeat them on my own-- there were three of them after all. I remember some feelings of helplessness about the situation. Sadly, the dream ended with Alwan meanwhile slowly regaining consciousness, obviously a bit confused about the situation, and then noticing Greta in the room (but ended before he could react, even as far as facial expression, to noticing that it was Greta standing next to him... damn.) Oh, and feel free to ask me any questions about additional details (there's one or two minor things I didn't bother to mention)

Your point about Kryryk-- he is not isolated. He is constantly spied upon by Rahul and probably Agatha as well, we know this from Sharon in G2. I think the main flaw of G3 is that it fails in depicting its primary theme-- that you're forced to choose a side in a war. It doesn't feel like a war. Not even on Dhonal Isle, since 1. the number of soldiers and rogues in any region is very small (increasing the size would be a pain in the ass of course, akin to the cryoa in the Besieged Camp) 2. They're not necessary in order to clear the area (and frankly, why would you even want to? Less experience for you) Outside of that, you do everything yourself aside from when you're forced to perform fetch quests in order to reach the next island. It would also feel more realistic if there were more human highwaymen on Dhonal Isle, often teamed up with the rebel servilles. We only see that one mage in the pass. We see colonies of human outlaws on both Greenwood and Harmony Isles-- we even see a human rebel or two on Gull Island. Yet we only see two on the entirety of Dhonal Isle? That environment if ripe for the stereotypical highwaymen lurking in the untamed wilderness-- of course there are plenty of thieves and soldiers of fortune who would leap at the opportunity to exploit the lawless situation to make a buck. Instead they're almost universally dead by the time you find them. Seems that plenty of these types could be bribed by rebel servilles, right? Instead all we see are mages and rogue shapers being bribed by Litalia directly.

Let's start with Geneforge 3 (I know, we could write a whole book about the dialogue) One thing that stands out as really bad, is that Rahul will have you killed right then and there if you lie or admit to your crimes to his face. Yet, when you go to assassinate him, he merely imprisons you. The hell? He also reacts inconsistently when you lie vs. admit. When you admit your crimes, he is completely floored by this information. Yet, if you lie to him, he tells you that he knows exactly what you did via his spies. I also would have liked an option to tell Litalia that she is no different than the jerk supervising her when she was an apprentice-- that her murder of the students was no different than the murder of the servilles, and that she used the exact same justification as the shapers do when killing intelligent/rebellious servilles. Then, when she becomes angered and insists that it's different because the students were all shaper monsters-in-the-making, retort with "Isn't that what you were at one point? How do you know that none of them would have joined your side if given a chance?"

That is only half correct. I recently re-played that part. You are correct that he was unaware that she was using canisters. However he was WELL aware of the illegal activity taking place in the warrens, as he mentions "strange creations" at the warrens before he left. If the player can tell that Rotghoroths are illegal with a cursory glance, alone, then someone like Khyryk sure as hell can as well. Hmm, you do have a point there. The shapers have full authority to assassinate or execute someone extrajudicially who is an immediate threat. Agatha could become another Litalia at any moment. I mean, to shoot your argument down, Rahul has no problem killing you with his own hand right then and there if you so much as mention your actions after turning rebel, even if you show no signs of violence or hostility. He only imprisons you during that assassination quest at the end of the game. Hmm. This actually looks like poor design. Why does he kill you outright if you lie or confess to him about your rebel activities, while he merely imprisons you when you try to assassinate him? And why is he so utterly flabbergasted if you confess your crime to him, yet if you lie, he tells you that he already knows exactly what you did?

Maybe on paper. In reality however, the takers view the cultists as fanatics, and the average civilian is afraid of them. In both titles, you can get a quest to eradicate the cultists. OTOH, it's also worth mentioning that the Takers are the most diverse of the three Serville sects in G1 and 2. The Awakened and Obeyers are fairly homogenous, while the takers run the whole gamut on views, with the base being that the only way to ensure Serville freedom is by fighting for it. Nonetheless, I never got the impression that the Takers liked or worked with the cultists in the first two titles-- In G1, it seemed more like the cultists were forced upon them, while in G2 they were barely tolerated so long as they kept to themselves (which they hadn't been doing lately) The pervading view is that the cultists are scary and crazy. In G3 they seem a bit less crazy and better tolerated by the rebels, which makes no sense, because even G3 makes it clear that they hate all humans, so how can they work with Akhari knowing that a human is his first in command, let alone live in Stonespire where humans still dwell. All three titles are clear that in order to gain magical powers, they must (in addition to self-denial and self-flagellation) nurture and focus on a hatred that is all consuming, and their goal, at least from my understanding, is not only the destruction of shapers, but also the genocide of humans. I simply cannot reconcile the idea that they would work for creations willing to accept, work with, and coexist with humans. Sorry, that doesn't cut it. The game itself states "Rahul has some explaining to do" when you read Agatha's notes. Remember what I said in my previous post about the Agent spies? There's no way that Rahul wouldn't know that Agatha was breaking the rules prior to the rebellion-- and make no mistake-- Agatha was engaged in these activities for some time prior to the attack on the school. On top of that, you have the option to go back to Rahul and report to him what you have discovered, and his response is "my orders have not changed". (granted, this dialogue was made to be vague so that it would encompass more than just Agatha's misdeeds) Finally, the Shaper ending, from what I hear, makes clear that Rahul has no intention of ever prosecuting Agatha, even though it is well within his authority to do so, seeing as these crimes were committed on HIS islands, and even if he doesn't have the authority to try her for her crimes, he can easily brand her as a threat due to her current power + canister obsession and send a team to assassinate or just plain slaughter her. The fact remains however, that Rahul is still willing to work with her despite her instability and obsession for more canisters, thus running the risk that she becomes another Litalia.

Jeff's pick was indeed a bit different-- partly the lack of options mentioned above, but also being pigeonholed into one side or the other (which we all hate), in addition, the recurring theme from G1 and 2 where no side is all that great-- though in this game it's far worse. The Rebels are now like Takers x10 as far as motives-- some just want to survive, and then you have ones who run the entire gamut between good and evil. With the rebels in G3 it's far more diverse, with a stronger predominance for evil than earlier titles. Just off my head, this is the first time that the cultists are allied with anyone-- they were hated in G1 and 2-- and in fact the Takers understandably want you to wipe them out in the first two titles. In G3 you are forced to work with these revilers if you want to side with the rebels. Actually, this may well be an example of poor writing-- it makes no sense to me that the cultists would join the rebellion knowing that Litalia is its 2nd in command, let alone that the rebellion includes humans. OTOH, the cultists seem less crazy in G3, some of them much less so. The most fanatical thing I ever see is the way that they treat semi-sapient servilles. But really, the overall theme here, as I've mentioned before, is that in their war/etc. efforts, both sides have become precisely what they despise in the other. I would have loved the option, BTW, to point out to Litalia that she did to the students precisely what her master forced her to do to those independent servilles. Then, when she rebuts with "it's not comparable! They were little genocidal maniacs in the making!" I respond with "wasn't that what you once were? How do you know that none of them would have become allies?" Even if it only served to piss her off, it would have been well worth it. Then there's the danger all those rogues pose to the very people Litalia is supposedly fighting for. Icy End culminates the display of the Rebels' hypocrisy, where you see that the Drayks take too much after the shapers-- despite the romanticized freedom this freedom that, the servilles have no choice in whether or not to obey the drayks, and those who do not contibute to the war effort are killed or exiled (or so it is implied) -- unfortunately, this was also the case in G2. And once again, we see chained up subsapient and non-sapient creations. On the shaper side, things don't look much better. You have an us-vs-them mentality towards outsiders, and shaper society is set up in a way that only council members have any say over laws etc-- e.g. nobody outside of the council can file charges against a higher up or even against the government itself, and everyone is expected to be little yes-men bareft of independent thought. Outsiders get second-class citizenship status, despite all the romanticism and "they owe us" mentality from the shapers. Outsiders also lack the legal rights or representation allowed to shapers. Hell, shapers on the lower rungs of the social ladder, too. Shapers have the right to violate basic rights of whoever they wish, esp. outsiders-- full right to barge into their homes, demand being given their goods/belongings for free/without compensation, etc. And the higher-ups have full right to send spies to trespass upon and even break and enter into another person's property. Add to that the fact that shapers are guilty of wholescale genocide. One of the most damning, we have shaper Agatha, and Rahul's complatency-- even approval of her crimes-- which encompass some of the most sacred of all shaper laws! This is where the shapers have become just like what they despise in their enemies. You'll note in my postings that I am much more critical, and harsher to the shapers. You're damn right I am! The rebels/outsiders are ignorant and untrained. They don't understand the danger of using canisters/strange substances, they don't know the history of shaping and thus why unapproved use of shaper secrets is dangerous. Shapers, however, know better. That is why Agatha's actions are so unforgivable (this applies to Litalia as well-- she may have rebelled shortly after graduation, but even an apprentice knows why sharing shaper secrets, direct contact with unknown essence, or creating fertile creations is bad) Also, many of the rebels are laity, while shapers are the academia and government of the land-- thus I hold them to higher standards.

I've only played up to 3, but my vote is Agent. I played a shaper in 1 and sucked atr it-- granted, I didn't know what I was doing. A lot of it is personal preference-- I like to be the spellslinger AND dextrous character in games, and my style of gameplay in general also caters to such a character-- (my preferred weapons are bows/projectiles and polearms-- man it would be cool if we had more than just swords and knives...) I found creations to simply be too much of an investment, and the Guardian just doesn't appeal to me or my style of gameplay (love Alwan, though)

He refuses because as he said, it won't accomplish anything. His entire outburst etc. is because his people are in danger from the rogues. His arrest, or even death, will not change their predicament. If Lankan is imprisoned or dies, then that's one less able-bodied rebel gatherer to protect the group. Also, one cannot take his behavior once he gets the canister, since it does the same thing to him that it did to Agatha-- and she is a senior shaper with lots of shaper training! In contrast, Lankan has a volatile temper and no training for self-discipline. And why should he trust you to take care of the rogues? You're a shaper, like Diwiyana. That said, he may well harbor some homicidal fantasies towards the shapers. Or at least towards Diwiyana.

I don't find it inconsistent or poorly written at all. Regarding Lankan: 1. First and foremost, Litalia offers him a solution to a problem that he is desperate to have solved, by whatever means necessary. 2. He doesn't understand why Litalia released monsters that she wanted him to defeat. He says he thought it was just a weird shaper thing. If you confront him about it, he admits that he hates siding with her, knowing this, but has no other choice. 3. He sides with Litalia because she hangs a carrot on a stick in front of him. E.g. he is desperate, and unlike Diwiyana, Litalia offers him a solution to his problem. So be blindly trusts her, because he feels he has no other choice. There is nothing wrong with any of this portrayal. She goes through character development, down a dark path. Initially she is unsure about what side to be on, but is dead-opposed to Litalia's creation-sowing. Later, she comes to agree with half of Litalia's goal (helping rebels), but deplores the slaughter of innocents on either side. Later however, she becomes seduced by the prospect of power without the shapers, and by Litalia's words. Gradually, she has less and less problem with killing innocents on the shaper side, to the point of becoming indifferent towards it if it will help the rebels achieve freedom. Finally when you meet Litalia at the entrance to Benerii-Eos, she tearfully agrees entirely with Litalia that the shapers must be slaughtered. Compare this final conclusion with her behavior on Harmony Isle, where she is consistently in agreement with Alwan that the rogues must be destroyed, and shows only a trace of doubt about whether or not Litalia is heinous. IIRC he does ask you to destroy the rogues/awakening stone if you're alignment is pro-rebel. Also, there is no flaw in the writing or excess in his reaction to the canister breaking. Remember back to Diwiyana's and Khyryk's notes. They feel an innate attraction to and temptation to use the canister. One could argue that in Khyryk's case it is not innate, but in Diwiyana's, he has no idea what they will do to him, yet feels tempted to use them-- this is despite knowing fully well what dipping one's hand in mystery essence could do to a person. Bear in mind that these are full-fledged shapers. Lankan seems similarly drawn to the green canister, which seems to react with him when in the room. However, Lankan possesses neither the knowledge nor intense self-discipline that shapers possess. Combine this with his naturally volatile temper, and obviously he won't be able to restrain himself.

How do I make towels and pillows (but NOT anything else in that category) stackable? (kinda want to make boards stackable too-- just a pet peeve of mine) Also, how would I give Alwan levels of Parry?

^^Maybe they're related to crickets (which are closely related to cockroaches). It would give them more resilience, and allow the shapers to feed them with trash (IIRC some species of crickets are scavengers)

I thought luck was also supposed to increase item/money drop rates. And in G2, increase the likelihood/amount of goodies you find on bodies/containers/etc. (for example, it seems like that one corpse in the Crystal Caves in G2 doesn't always have the Carnelian Gloves on it) Though whether it does or not, I've definitely noticed in G3 that the item drops by monsters are determined the first time you load up/enter the scene (which in some cases means you can farm for rare items if you have the patience-- e.g. rotgoroth fangs, or if you want money, platinum rings from the deformed trolls the first time you kill them) This is not the case for the crystals in the pillars in the Kentia Mines. You can actually cheat and save the game, then reload if you don't get the best crystal every time I have no idea if luck affects how often you get the better crystals. I usually devote 10 ranks to luck, and 10 or 11 to mechanics-- and I invest as early as possible. And unless I only get 1-8 exp for it, I ALWAYS use the living tools, since you can get up to 40 exp for lockpicking, whereas you don't get anything for using the unlock spell. Oh, and I also try to avoid getting the keys to unlock the doors for this same reason. (I also devote about 9 or 10 to leadership) Of course, the downside to all of that is that I have fewer points to spend on combat and magic skills or attributes.

That's okay I forgot to add, regarding horses-- We see wagons all over the place in GF2 and 3 (or is it just 3?), so there has to be SOME sort of riding beast to pull them (note I have yet to play GF 4 or 5, so I don't know if it's shown in those) Though I'm guessing they probably have something with more horsepower than well- a horse. Maybe an ass or horse sized-variety of roamer? I mean, they're designed like the carts we see IRL, so I doubt they just have a couple servilles on either handle pulling the thing...

I'm entirely certain of this. And it would be a nightmare for programmer and player alike if those animals are characters with a combat turn and everything. Unfortunately, that's not the reality in the Geneforge series. Irresponsible (and sometimes rogue) shapers are to blame for giant rats and that fungal disease that Kentian dude had in G3 are all prime examples. And, maybe I'm wrong, but it kinda sounds like the giant rats are difficult if not impossible to eradicate, and thus would be present even when the rebels aren't creating rogues. Considering how good and diverse the human immune system is, and how most pathogens IRL are rather species-specific, one can only imagine what other horrors the shapers have released that only affect certain animals or plants. In addition, their experiments with agriculture resulted in super-fast growing and spreading crops that eventually devastate soil quality (which by the sound of it were eradicated), and those gnarled, useless trees in the southern part of the continent in G2 that IIRC are difficult to cut with an axe and tend to densely overgrow pathways and the like quickly.

I imagine any signs of a budding relationship would have to start up on Harmony Isle (it seems like you're just getting to know each other the entire time on Greenwood Isle) You'd want it to be fairly progressed by the end of Dhonal Isle which will make things the most interesting when you leave for Gull Island. Unless this is changed in the remake (and I certainly hope it's not!), it definitely wouldn't depend on which faction you lean towards since those two have already been given character traits to explain away why they would still travel with you when you voice support of the opposite side (Greta is amicable towards you even if you commit horrible atrocities against the rebels/servilles-- and she states she enjoys travelling with you even if you are pro-Shaper, while Alwan is in complete denial unless you do something bad enough to shatter it)