Tracer Bullet

The problem with G4 is that everybody who was anybody was bonkers, and anybody who was everybody else was, well, everybody else. There's a problem with this sentence, I just know it....

Oh yeah, whatever happened to the cultists? They were cool, for monomaniacs.

Unfortunately, my experience is limited to Geneforge. Budget constraints, you see.

No one is taking into account the other proposed definition for "Uss"

Issss-Ta discusses linguistics, briefly, in Icy End.

The following was more often told by the detractors of the Shapers than the supporters, and is set in the same year as the abandonment of Sucia. Once upon a time.... When the Shaper empire was still expanding, that is.... There were three friends. No. Strike that. They were colleagues, nothing more. Most of their relationship consisted of attempts to outdo each other--but we'll get there. They were Shaper Akedva, Guardian Lankin, and Agent Ytheld. (duh) They received orders to capture a hill fort, and were happy to comply. They gathered up a score or so of willing outsiders, and headed off east. They arrived at the objective at noon, and found it to be, not just a puny motte and bailey, but a full-fledged stone castle. Their hearts sank at the sight, but each knew that here was the ultimate chance to forever outshine the others. Guardian Lankin rounded up ten men, and marched up to the gate. Half an hour of Shaping, half an hour of waiting, and the gate lay in ruins, while one man pulled splinters out of the furry paws of a trio of battle betas. Then Lankin Charged in. He led his small company from the front, disemboweling his foes with the steely point of a glittering broadsword. But he left his men far behind, and was surrounded and subdued. By then it was late afternoon. Akedva took what wa left of the men, and went up to the gates. they were still in ruins, but this time, the men in the gatehouse had the good sense to drop the portcullis. It was a wood portcullis, and after a wash of flame and a respite, the portcullis was no more. Then he and his party entered the courtyard. They charged in, and Akedva was careful to lead from the back, and heal his allies, and prevent them from being disemboweled with the steely points of glittering broadswords. But that had its drawbacks, too. He was ambushed from behind and before he could do anything about it, he had a knife blade at his throat and was ordered to come quietly. By then it was late night. Ytheld waited a good long time, but finally headed up the hill herself. Due to the lack of a gate, the arch was full of soldiers, standing practically shoulder to shoulder. She smirked at the sight and went around back to the postern door, whence she picked a brace of locks, bribed a pair of sentries, and made her way down to the cesspit. She rigged the entire castle to blow up at a single command, and made her way up to the feast hall, where the lord of the castle was celebrating his victory. In the hour that followed, Ytheld extorted the lives of her--colleagues--,a respectable sum of money, and the lord's allegiance to the Shapers. Moral: invest in Mechanics and Leadership.

Speeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeedy.

Hmmm. It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.

And Calvin the Bold commends you on the third person usage.

Thank you. I'll be sure never to play Avernum III without first drinking a cup or so of coffee, from which I usually abstain.

Are you sure of that? I mean, have you ever really pushed your time limit?

Oh yeah, I forgot. There are the oozebeasts in later games. I'm guessing Zakary or one of the others encountered the rogue ornks, defiled their temple, and then realized that their design, if altered could actually be used in combat.... Any concurrences?

I rank them thus: 1st: Geneforge 2nd: G2 3rd: G5 4th: G4 5th: G3 Any concurrences?

As for Daze/Charm, I've never seen their value. I never use them. At least, not yet. Even when I was an Agent, briefly, I relied on Heust Blade, Xander, Huge Roamer, and my lonely Drakon. I was just a healer. Until I got the Emerald Chestguard, which relieved me of the annoying -20% hit chance. Then I could really join the fight again. I also learned an invaluable lesson during that time. The AI is utterly, undeniably, unequivocally, indubitably, completely, etc., etc., STUPID! Any solutions?

Good try. However, five of the Council are Shapers, one is an Agent, and one is the Guardian . It was originally three of each. I don't see how such a change could have taken place. You would have to kill off all three Guardians from the Council in part IV to make room for Alwan, then two Agents, then two more Shapers would have to be promoted. To much change for three years. As for "Uss," it becomes apparent that a replay of G2 and G3 would do you good.

Well, in Zork III, there was an earthquake at move three hundred, and I've always been minimalist about game time since.

Actually I just realized you can fix several story quirks by adding thirty-five or so years between G2 and G3. It would explain why Litalia says she was an apprentice, going into the Drypeak mountains for field work, when she is an elderly woman in G5. As for insanity, never fight a land war in Asia. But second, and only slightly less well-known...

As aforementioned, you must be lost to find what can't be found. And if you are a rebel, you are very lost indeed. Is the area you speak of the prison?

Up until now, I've always played Geneforge blitzkreig: get in, get on with it, get it over with, and get out. Parts III to V, where they kept a calendar, I was always careful to keep my track under one hundred twenty days. As a consequence, I never entered the Inner Crypt, Gazak-Uss, The Monastery of Tears, The Pit of the Fiend, The Dera Vault, Bennhold's Keep, What's-his-face's Isle, and many others. Given what I've heard about the value of the backstage canvassing for these epic plays, it seems I must retry, this time with an eye to thoroughness. Okay, computer--from the top! I'm foundering off Sucia Island, tum te tum... If anyone has opinions on which sects will get me into the most areas in each game, please share. Keep in mind I never cheat. Or break my word, or leave a sect. I'm on the docks...catch you all later, I've got some homework to do!

If you're looking for my sanity, look for Doc Brown and ask if he'll ferry you to '97. Then go to Tennessee, and look in a hospital bassinet in Nashville. See my signature.

Geez, do ya have ta jump on me fer a typo? "lived"

You guys all stink! Where's the fun if you can have it all in an instant! I, personally, consider myself pious by gaming standards. No cheats, I actually chose the sides I sympathized with, and I kept my word, even to game characters. I treat it like real life. (That means minimizing my death count)

1. I find it hard to believe that Issss-Ta finally submitted to the Shaping involved in becoming a drakon. She looked good as a drayk. 2. Does anyone remember the name of that Awakened researcher from the Magus Complex? 3. Did anyone find a way to kill the possessed rotghroth in the Demonic Depot? 4. Did anyone ever find a drayk named Akkat on Sucia? 5. Did anyone fill up the bracelet of stones on Greenwood Isle? 6. I once, in the Lethia Pass, I think it was, anyway, it was the one with the Plated Artila and the Gazer...Anyhow, I went up there with a kyshakk and four alphas, and staged a heavy-duty fifty-seven round shootout. I had to break formation when the patchworks got out, though. Can anyone else claim better? I would have succeeded if not for a shortage of essence pods. 7. I, too, battled the Ornk Lord of Geneforge I. What the heck was that all about? What I like best about Geneforge I was the exceptional depth of the background. None of the other games come close.

Monarch had three years since the end of part IV. Implications had it that "Guardian Asher" had liver six or seven decades back.

Time 1. Sucia Island was abandoned two centuries. 2. Approx. thirty years between I and II 3. Approx. five years between II and III 4. Seven years between III and IV 5. Three years between IV and V 6. This all makes sense, until you consider that it was said the Shapers held dominion two millenia, and their oldest surviving fortresses, boast of two centuries. Something is seriously wrong here. Maybe the old ones were the first to go in the chaos. 7. The real quirk comes when you consider the ages of the recurring characters. Ghaldring was incubating in part II, and is "elderly" fifteen years later--despite the lifespans of drayks?! Locations and the Esoteric 1. Whatever happened to Terrestia being the "lesser of two continents" 2. I was under the impression that the Council was formed of three Agents, three Shapers, and three Guardians. 3. The "Bound One" of Geneforge II was a demon imprisoned in a stone casing, like a golem. It was made In Taker lands by Barzahl's researchers, and enslaved a random man named Asher. How does this compare with the "Dark Golem" of part V, which was created in Kratoa-Kel by a "Guardian Asher." Huh? 4.I may look like a sucker for saying this, but I never got into the caves under the Monastery of Tears. Help. 5.Gazak-Uss was a hell. A dump where they locked up the uncontrollable fiends of nightmare and weird chemistry. How does this translate into Gazaki-Uss? 6. This brings me to a really obscure but annoying point. Issss-Ta, as of Icy End, claims "Eo" to mean "new" Shouldn't it be "Gazak-Eo"? 7. Issss-Ta, as of Zhass-Uss, claims "Uss" to mean "taken". So the names of part II sound OK. Then, later, the suffix "Uss" means "fortress." 8. Also, assuming "Uss" to still mean "taken," Khima-Uss makes sense. But why then "Quessa-Uss"? It goes the other way, too. If "Uss" means "fortress" Khima-Uss should still be "Khima" Madmen of mark 1. Phariton. He was one of the mutinous cleanup crew sent to Sucia Island. If you ask me, (you don't) he is a main candidate for Shaper Monarch--as well as our beloved Avatar Amnesia, as I call him. 2. Geneforge III PC is also the prime candidate for Shaper Monarch, given the way Khyryk (why can no one spell his name?!), Alwan, Greta and Litalia all have a greater-than-normal contempt and disgust for him. 3. Monarch, of course. Not likely he is our part V PC, but it's a possibility, especially if you spare his life. He says he will go west. 4. The Last, The Greatest, The Most Patently Obvious, our much-esteemed befuddled foundry-worker! Any ideas?