Dantius

Yeah, but you have to enter combat. Not kill, but fight. Pacifist would imply never striking a blow.

Well, in G5, you need to kill either Talis-Eye or the Dark Golem to progress. In G4, Monarch needs to be 86'd. In G3, you need to eliminate the Creator on the firs isle to get the boat, IIRC. That leaves G2 and G1. G2 requires you to kill Easss to get a non-Taker ending, and to kill Rhakkus to get the Taker ending. I think it would only be possible in G1. I would try the Taker-help-Trajkov ending, so neither of the endgame bosses would be killed. You could probably make it through the zones with difficulty, but it would be doable, if only on Easy. (runs off to try it)

No, wait, I lied. I have a doctor's appointment at 6 CST for an hour or so. If I'm lucky, I'll be an hour late.

So, Eph, would you care to tell us precisly which of Chamulsep's dastardly lieutenants actually inhabited the Blood Marsh?

Might be a bit late. Weekdays are like that.

Originally Posted By: THURYL CHANGED HIS NAME!!! Under specific circumstances, they're easier to keep alive than regular thahds. They are great for taking down Unbound, as they have immense magic resistance. A moderately powerful Lifecrafter could manage to take down a roving unbound before completing Mera.

Originally Posted By: 12899 Screw Jeff, BoA is the second-best game he's made. The first is two boards up. FYT

Are you going to post the items that each character has, or no?

Originally Posted By: I need no introduction i spent new years a a party, and then got home and stayed up till 7am. have a good 2010 and enjoy your last 2 years of life. I have no intention of dying within the next two years, regardless of whatever Artemis may think about my age.

Originally Posted By: The Mystic you want apathy and lack of caring in a democracy? Visit the U.S. in early November--or even better, during a primary election. ...because having barely half of eligible voters show up and vote couldn't possibly be apathy, right?

Originally Posted By: Sarachim Originally Posted By: Dantius Originally Posted By: Ephesos 2. Don't interrupt the game. what about making snarky comments about how long it takes to get out of town? Keep them to a tasteful minimum. Not that it matters to you, since you can only spectate for the party that doesn't have town-leaving issues. no, I can spectate to for a party that manages to take 18 damage from people that do 1-2 damage per hit, while we only take 8 damage from a wraith from beyond the grave with glowing eyes that gets two attacks per turn that each do 4 damage, and that our attacks appear to have no effect on.

Originally Posted By: Ephesos 2. Don't interrupt the game. what about making snarky comments about how long it takes to get out of town?

Dantius sat in his inner sanctum. Before him, the two rarest books in all of Terrestia lay. He had saved them from the conflagration in the library of Quessa Uss. The first book even he didn't know how the Drakons obtained. Somehow, they had gotten hold of Alwan's personal journal. Truly, the memoir of the greatest military genius of the past millennium was a fantastic find. The entries were encoded, but that was no problem for Dantius. He had recognized that letters covering each page were gibberish, and served only to obscure the true text. Indeed, Dantius was busy smearing water all over the pages, a muddy mess of ink all over his hands. Finally, he finished. The book was now blank. Carefully casting a spell, the pages slipped loose of their binding and fanned out, in an aura all around him. Ever so carefully, he levitated them into a bucked of pinkish solution, carefully insuring that each page was fully immersed. Then, he levitated each page to rest over an incensed brazier, to allow the pages to dry. Sure enough, writing began to appear on the dried pages. Casting a cantrip to automate the process, in no time at all, Dantius wound up with a neat pile of crisp, warm sheets in front of him. Carefully casting another spell, two pens emerged from behind his chair. One began to trace the letters on the page, and another transcribed them into a heavy book, bound in maroon leather. Quietly sitting while the transcribing process took place, Dantius removed the second book. It could barely be called such. The initial pages nearly crumbled at his touch- to be expected, since they were nearing 250 years old! He carefully read the name inscribed at the top of each page, in impeccable handwriting. "Darian". Nothing more, and nothing less. Strange, that the greatest mind since Danette chose to not use her title. Most Serviles certainly did. Ah, well. Some levels of eccentricity could be tolerated from geniuses. Carefully lafting each page from their place in the folio, he began to immerse himself in the world of the Serviles. ... Hours later, Dantius emerged from the chamber, mind reeling. Alwan's journal had been as expected, of course. Brilliant insights, but concerned with killing people. Or Drakons. Or Eyebeasts. Or Serviles. Hardly interesting! Dantius could kill people well enough already. But Darian's... wow. She clearly was the most important and critical figure in the Early rebellion phase. Such a pity she had been marginalized by Easss, the veneration of whom took second only to Ghaldring. She deserved all the credit, much like Litalia, traitor and manipulator she was, deserved most of the credit for Ghaldring's success. After a walk for nearly a half hour, Dantius found himself entering the Forbidden Record. This was the brain of his Empire- the penalty for entering without his specific permission was instant death. Carefully pushing aside a shelf of dry texts on Shaping any apprentice knew, Dantius opened a small wooden door, and descended down a twisting staircase. Finally, he emerged into a small, pristine, and well-lit chamber. Bookshelves ringed it. Carefully, Dantius put his two manuscripts into their proper places. This secret library was his pride and joy. In it, he had collected the compiled works and journals of nearly every Shaper, Servile, and Drakon that had influenced history during the war. He had Zakary, Barzhal, Pinner, Ellrah, Syros, Rahul, Akhari Blaze, now Darian, Greta, now Alwan, Rawal, Monarch, Astoria, Shema, and even some untranslated manuscripts from Drakons. And yet there were still holes. He lacked the works of Litalia, moldering in an unknown cave somewhere in Okanavo. He was devoid of the literature from Tuldaric or any of the Taker Triad. None of his works were produced by Khyryk. Maddeningly, he knew the location of Taygen's work on bacteriology in Kayar's Spire, but could not access it without fighting his way clear across the continent. Ghaldring's journal (if he even kept one) was sealed behind a mile of rubble in his tomb in Drypeak Valley. And, most importantly, the three pedestals in the center of the room lay bare. He lacked any of the work of Definel, Corata, and most importantly, Danette. He had no doubt that the manuscripts he was searching for were too well hidden to be found by the Shapers- Danette was more careful than that. However, the location of Sucia had died with the last Servile to leave it- an unknown Blade who lived out his life in Deretron, dying shortly after the release of the Unbound. However, he had a new lead. This 'Overlord' may have come from Sucia. He would be the lead that Dantius needed to complete his bizarre shrine to the god of knowledge. He would provide all the answers. ... However, right now, the Overlord was posing to be more of a problem than a solution. Dantius now stood in a small meeting room off of his chambers. All three of his chief Generals were present. "Action must be taken!" Kalinninn cried "We cannot merely sit back and wait as this madman takes control of the entirety of the Mera-Tev! "Why not?" retorted Nihsun. "The vast majority is an inhospitable marsh. The tiny fraction that is arable farmland is located at the base of the Whitespires, which we are powerless to stop him developing. The fraction located by Kaz and the lake, the only area accessibly to us without major campaigning, which we are in no state fit to do, is too torn by war to be able to produce anything. We are literally helpless to stop him?" "I don't think you understand" intoned Revak. "This "Overlord" is not interested in ruling. He would gladly let the people starve and die if he could get another canister from them. It's like Monarch or Samman all over again." "All over again? Nonsense. At least those two had some vestiges of sanity. This one's completely insane. Do we have the precise data on the number of canisters used?" spoke Dantius "Well, anylisis from the poor light and bad reception of the shade in the Whitespires indicated that he has been consistantly utilizing canisters for at least three centuries at a rate of approximately once per month, as indicated by the backglow, and then picked up to a rate of several per day in the last few months. This puts him at a total canister use in excess of 10000." said Farak-Eye, specialist on all things Geneforge or Canister related. Dantius's jaw dropped "10000? You're sure?" "That number, is, of course, the lower end of the estimate. It could be as high as 12000 canisters. Of course, he would present a unique opportunity to study. However, based on prior experiments, we can extrapolate the effect that this would have. First, of course, is the complete inability to communicate outside of his creations. He probably can no longer speak Terrestian, especially considering his prolonged isolation. Second, he will be unpredictable to an extent never before seen. He would totally lack empathy or emotions beyond the ability to seek more and more canisters. Extreme insanity is to be predicted. This is of course, a plus for us, as any tactics beyond "full frontal assault" are probably lost on him. Thirldy, and perhaps most interestingly, the use of canisters has modified him to the point where he no longer resembles any species currently extant. Dantius, did you bring the journal I requested?" "Yes". Dantius withdrew a slim grey volume from his cloak. "This is the journal of one of the Shapers sent by the Empire to purify Sucia two hundred years ago. Listen to these entries" "3-13-2075. Sent to investigate runs in NW of island for Shaper remains. Large temple to the west contains essence residue. Will send force to investigate. 4-23-2075. Entered ruin from the east. Made contact with a creature living immediately outside the ruins. Creature is horribly deformed. Claims that she was reShaped centuries ago, and this gave her immortality. I chose not to argue with the thing. Questioned on the temple. She stated that a Shaper named Gottech took up residence inside nearly 5 years ago. Shaper was killed by the Instigator nearly three months ago. I thanked, and left. 27-13-2075. Force of Guardians captured the creature living in ruins I had previously communicated with. She was analyzed and dissected. She was right- her internal anatomy bears no resemblance to any known species. Heavy traces of essence, backdated to nearly 2100 years ago. Incredible find. Remains being sent to the mainland for analysis. Creature "Heustess" will greatly benefit Shaping." "That is where it ends. It demonstrates that the creature, shaped so heavily, actually mutated into a new species." "Now. The third prediction that we made is that such excessive canister usage would literally alter the very fabric of such a being. We suspect that this "Overlord" no longer carries out most human biological processes, and has mutated himself to feed off of the energies of the canisters. He lived essentially in suspended animation for centuries, consuming very little of his food, but, with the explosion of canisters coming from his conquest, he now needs a constant supply of canisters in order to survive" "Fascinating" reflected Dantius "If we can separate him from his supply of canisters, then he will die?" "Actually, there is a more interesting suggestion. If we can persuade him to use a Geneforge, he should die. It would attempt to reshape him too much and too quickly, killing him" "Fascinating. Hoist by his own petard?" said Dantius "Yes." replied Farak. "Of course, we would need to find a Geneforge, and then modify it to alter human genes, and then we would have to somehow convince him to use it." "Well, that shouldn't be too hard. Just leave a trail of canisters on the ground leading to one, and have a big sign saying "Moare Powwar" pointing to the Geneforge." retorted Dantius. "Right. I'll get my best men on it" shot back Farak. "Anyways, there are seven Geneforges in existence recently." He began curling eyestalks, the Gazer equivalent of counting on fingers. "One. The Drakons maintained one at Quessa-Uss, which we now hold. Easy to control, we own it already. Two. One was maintained at Gazaki-Uss, destroyed with the Conclave. Three. One was maintained at the Isle of Spears, destroyed by the Overlord. Four. One under construction by the United Confederacy. For serviles. It may or may not be completed. Five. One located at the Citadel, destroyed by the arrogant fool Spddin. And, finally, six and seven: one possessed by the New Takers, for drakon modification, and seven the same; for human modification. That means that the four currently active, we have one for Drakons, in our control, one for Serviles, outside our control, one for Drakons, outside out control, and, most promisingly, one for Humans, outside our control." "So, at a stroke, we could eliminate the two greatest threats currently: the Overlord, and Jarakhiss." hissed Revak "Agreed. We have exhausted ourselves conquering. We currently have one hundred Gazers in each of our conquered provinces, two hundred plus a multitude of creations at the fortress, and one legion of 200 troops, our only currently mobile one, at Quessa-Uss. They are the quick response squad, able to mobilize from their central location to deal with any problem within our domains in days. Our only expeditionary force is currently the army of recruits under training in the Fens and Burwood. We have a measly 600 of them, and a mere 90 fully trained." Dantius read off a small note slipped to him during the meeting. "So, I propose this strategy: We play the Overlord off the New Takers by leaving clues pointing to Jarakhiss' citadel, then, we insure a stalemate between the Shapers and the Doctor/Serviles by aiding or harming each side. Finally, we send cells of the trained Lifecrafters to infiltrate each of the separate factions, and continue our policy of espionage via Fareye, Scrying, and various Shades. All in favor?" voiced Dantius. The room thundered with choruses of "Aye!'s" from the Eyes.

Originally Posted By: Lord Safey My favorite moment was the power rush of useing the geneforge in geneforge 1 and then ending it gave were your rage unlocks its true power. This. There are no other total powergamer endings in the series- you always end up subordinate to someone else.

No, the canon ending is the unaligned nocanister one where both Gottesch and Trajkov are killed. Everyone on the island is killed, but (here's where the retconning starts) two of the dozens of Shapers sent to sterilize the Isle stole the secrets and escaped. All it is is adding information- nowhere is there a contradiction.

Nope, fine by me. What time on Friday? 6 CST works the best, and that was when the last one was, so can we assume the same time?

Nooo, he should buy the game if he wants to create new monsters. Then, he will actually have enemies to fight against.

Originally Posted By: To Sleep —Alorael, who imagines that Mr. Holmes's cocaine habit gets cleaned up for most adaptations. It's not the sort of thing one often finds in a hero. I though it was an opium habit, not a cocaine habit.

Originally Posted By: Thuryl Usually how these things work is that somebody puts a note up on the psych department noticeboard offering $35 to anyone who wants to help participate in a study. Small sample sizes are the norm in this kind of research, unfortunately. I note a excess of capital letters. Really Thuryl, of all the topics to be serious in, you had to pick this one?

Originally Posted By: Thuryl i would like to state for the record that the ruination of this particular thread was not in any way my fault Originally Posted By: Cower in Error P.S. This is quite possibly the worst thread ever. the melon sex topic I... Well... The... You know what, I don't even want to know.

I personally love how it went from erudite criticism of the character depth in Jeff games to facepalms , fails, and grammar Nazism. It is the Internet, after all.

My preferred study is the one where they found that the correlation between the political leanings of a state and the amount consumed- 9 out of the top 10 consumer voted for McCain, and 8 out of the top 10 smallest consumers voted for Obama. So much for family values.

Originally Posted By: RCCCL If anyone here is a fan of Sir Author Conan Doyle's books, the Holmes in this movie is more of an action oriented person than the pure intellectual from the stories/older movies and shows You might be thinking of Mycroft Holmes, who sits around smoking opium and outclassing Holmes in every way, like weight an intellect. Actually just those two ways.

PM him. He should reply, if only to roll over and mumble something about another post before Thanksgiving December Christmas New Year's.

You can get an Unstable Thahd from a canister in Foundry Core West, too.