A Practical Guide to Evil

[The Glyphstone]

Spoiler: Book V

Show

Except she clearly doesn't know what's going on. So why not head to Callow, and see what intelligence her allies have for her instead of beating up random peasants for rumors?

Spoiler

Show

I'm assuming she expected to be able to reach the Observatory, based on context. Her plan was to appear in Procer, and get intel from Callow, but the Observatory is silent or out of reach. During the weeks it would take to Gate-walk to Callow, find out what is going on, and Gate-Walk back, anything could happen, so she's falling back on her Black-given instincts and surfing the chaos instead.

That's my take on it, anyways.

[DaedalusMkV]

Spoiler: Book V

Show

Except she clearly doesn't know what's going on. So why not head to Callow, and see what intelligence her allies have for her instead of beating up random peasants for rumors?

Spoiler: Book V

Show

As Glyphstone said, she seemed to be expecting to be able to contact Callow via scrying after arriving in Procer. The fact that she can't messed up her plans at least enough to get a reaction out of her, if not enough to get her to seriously reconsider her course of action.

As for whether returning to her main power base and source of intelligence before jumping into action would be the better choice... Well, quite possibly it would be. But 'jump headlong into a half-understood situation and try to muddle through to the best of my ability because there's no time for sitting around, damn it' is very, very in character for Cat. The fact that her goals of rescuing the remaining Legions in Procer and potentially the Black Knight as well are very much time-sensitive do add a bit of realism to the whole thing, though. Even the best troops in the world under a legendary general aren't going to last forever trapped behind enemy lines and outnumbered ten to one. Taking an extra few weeks to gather intelligence before acting is likely to take the opportunity away entirely.

[lord_khaine]

Well (4 letter word), the Hierarch is really, really scary.
More so than i initially though.

[Forum Explorer]

Well (4 letter word), the Hierarch is really, really scary.
More so than i initially though.

Spoiler: Chapter 5

Show

A man setting out to end the tyranny of the Powers Above and Below. He's picked a side and that side is Humanity. I think I have a new favorite character.

Best part is, he's not wrong. The Powers Above are tyrants who brutally force humanity into line, who will do anything to win. The Powers Below are monsters who twist and corrupt, setting up situations where you are damned no matter what you do. Humanity really is better off without either of them. No more Heroes, no more Villains. There will still be atrocities, but at least they'll be owned by people in service to people, rather then alien beings out to settle a bet.

[tyckspoon]

Spoiler: Chapter 5

Show

A man setting out to end the tyranny of the Powers Above and Below. He's picked a side and that side is Humanity. I think I have a new favorite character.

Best part is, he's not wrong. The Powers Above are tyrants who brutally force humanity into line, who will do anything to win. The Powers Below are monsters who twist and corrupt, setting up situations where you are damned no matter what you do. Humanity really is better off without either of them. No more Heroes, no more Villains. There will still be atrocities, but at least they'll be owned by people in service to people, rather then alien beings out to settle a bet.

Spoiler

Show

Sure, he's not entirely wrong, but I'd be a lot happier about this if his concept of 'Rule by The People' wasn't the insane direct mob rule of Bellerophon's laws. Honestly I'm not sure how they manage to have an even semi-functioning state with what's been depicted of how their society works - it seems like every kind of leader must live in constant fear of the moment when the secret police decide he's insufficiently devoted to the ideals of The People and explode his head, which seems like it's counterproductive to actually doing much of anything. Best I can come up with is half of it is lies - the kanenas are nowhere near as all-knowing or omnipresent as they told Anaxares, and although nobody gets a chance to develop much expertise in a particular field most of the leaders of Bellerophon are actually mostly left alone to try to muddle through. The indoctrination they grow up in and the fear of having somebody watching them who will execute them for any Wrongthink is probably considered to be enough to trust that most people will try to act in accordance with the Will of The People For the Good of Glorious Bellerophon. (capitalized wrong words, indicating Treasonous Influence By Foreign Tyrants. Author was exploded shortly after posting.)

[Tvtyrant]

Spoiler

Show

This new chapter reminded me of playing Bioshock Infinite and running into the Vox Populi. Taking freedom and democracy to a whole new level here people.

[druid91]

Spoiler

Show

Sure, he's not entirely wrong, but I'd be a lot happier about this if his concept of 'Rule by The People' wasn't the insane direct mob rule of Bellerophon's laws. Honestly I'm not sure how they manage to have an even semi-functioning state with what's been depicted of how their society works - it seems like every kind of leader must live in constant fear of the moment when the secret police decide he's insufficiently devoted to the ideals of The People and explode his head, which seems like it's counterproductive to actually doing much of anything. Best I can come up with is half of it is lies - the kanenas are nowhere near as all-knowing or omnipresent as they told Anaxares, and although nobody gets a chance to develop much expertise in a particular field most of the leaders of Bellerophon are actually mostly left alone to try to muddle through. The indoctrination they grow up in and the fear of having somebody watching them who will execute them for any Wrongthink is probably considered to be enough to trust that most people will try to act in accordance with the Will of The People For the Good of Glorious Bellerophon. (capitalized wrong words, indicating Treasonous Influence By Foreign Tyrants. Author was exploded shortly after posting.)

Spoiler

Show

To be fair though, judging by the other diplomats before Anaxares became the Hierarch the Kanenas really ARE that omnipresent, since they made a sport out of leading Bellerophon's representatives into some kind of wrong think to try to get their heads to explode.

[tyckspoon]

Spoiler

Show

To be fair though, judging by the other diplomats before Anaxares became the Hierarch the Kanenas really ARE that omnipresent, since they made a sport out of leading Bellerophon's representatives into some kind of wrong think to try to get their heads to explode.

Spoiler: Bellerophon madness and kanenas

Show

Theoretically, if the kanenas have limited resources, they would want them monitoring those most at risk for being Led Astray by the Poisonous Words of Treasonous Foreign Potentates. So people elected or (I want to say Anaxares mentioned the diplomats actually come from a particular caste raised for this function, which is part of why they're easier to explode - they have an enchanted item in their body that the kanenas just have to trigger) raised for things that require more contact with people outside of Bellerophon such as diplomats and trade representatives probably *do* have near-constant monitoring, while people who are safely surrounded by other Bellerophons are assumed to not need it.

..can you imagine how frustrating it must be to try to strike a deal with a Bellerophon (Bellerophan? Bellerophanite?) merchant? "The People have Voted To Sell precisely 100 units of The People's Wool. The People will accept as payment Not More or Less Than 125 Barrels of Salted Pork in exchange." Want to haggle? Got a surplus of salted pork right now and you'd actually like to give them a better deal? They have to go back and have another vote taken, so that they don't accidentally misinterpret or violate The Will of The People's Marketplace.. the designated traders may nominally authority to haggle and make that kind of deal, but if you're convinced somebody is in your head watching for you to misstep.. well, better safe than head exploded.

[Aotrs Commander]

Spoiler: Chapter 5

Show

A man setting out to end the tyranny of the Powers Above and Below. He's picked a side and that side is Humanity. I think I have a new favorite character.

Best part is, he's not wrong. The Powers Above are tyrants who brutally force humanity into line, who will do anything to win. The Powers Below are monsters who twist and corrupt, setting up situations where you are damned no matter what you do. Humanity really is better off without either of them. No more Heroes, no more Villains. There will still be atrocities, but at least they'll be owned by people in service to people, rather then alien beings out to settle a bet.

Spoiler

Show

The tyranny of the divine of the tyranny of the nebulous "The People" isn't really much of an improvement, if any, in my opinion. You are still a tool to be used for different ends, but little else. Bellerophon's particular brand of stupid and insanity is not something that the worlds needs anymore than it needs Above or Below.

While Hierarch's campaign against the gods is amusing in that its about time someone did, ultimately, he would set up a tyranny just as complete. A different Story, but one that is little better.

Fortunately, I rather suspect that Cat will eventually literally of metaphorically slip a knife between his ribs whe he's out-lived his usefulness.



And, come to that, if there's anyone that can truly manage to needed Anaraxes at this point, it's Cat.

[Forum Explorer]

Spoiler

Show

The tyranny of the divine of the tyranny of the nebulous "The People" isn't really much of an improvement, if any, in my opinion. You are still a tool to be used for different ends, but little else. Bellerophon's particular brand of stupid and insanity is not something that the worlds needs anymore than it needs Above or Below.

While Hierarch's campaign against the gods is amusing in that its about time someone did, ultimately, he would set up a tyranny just as complete. A different Story, but one that is little better.

Fortunately, I rather suspect that Cat will eventually literally of metaphorically slip a knife between his ribs whe he's out-lived his usefulness.



And, come to that, if there's anyone that can truly manage to needed Anaraxes at this point, it's Cat.

Spoiler: Chapter 5

Show

It's better, because it isn't an actively manevolent force. In fact, it doesn't physically exist at all. It's just an idea. Not like Angels and Demons who actively screw everything over in horrible ways. Or the fantastic damage that Named can cause. Just going to baseline humans would be an improvement.

Besides, I don't know how Bellaphon's paticular brand of insanity is self sustaining. Logically, which I know might not apply, the end result of Anaraxes actions would basically be an expansion of the Free Cities. Even more logically, when Anaraxes is out of the picture, his effects should fade, and the people (not The People) will appoint a new leader naturally. Humans always do, Bellaphron not withstanding.

[The Glyphstone]

Spoiler: Bellerophon

Show

If I remember right, it's specifically an enchanted boulder implanted into the diplomats and other high-risk People, specifically with a shrinking spell. All the kamenas do is end the shrinking effect, causing the boulder to instantly grow to full size inside the person's body. So not so much 'head explodes', more 'ludicrous gibs'.

[lord_khaine]

Bellerophon really should not be self substaining.
Or well, i guess they can be as a farming society, that is locally able to produce everything they actually need.
Then i see them working, barely.

The danger lies in that its not certain the Hierarch would age naturally.
And im not certain how easy it would be to kill him either.
I wonder how vulnerable he is to a arrow in the eye when inside his own domain.

[Aotrs Commander]

Spoiler: Chapter 5

Show

It's better, because it isn't an actively manevolent force.

Spoiler

Show

They literally murder you by exploding your head for badwrong thoughts.

You don't get much more actively malevolent and tyrannical than that.

Bellerophon isn't an enlightened democracy of the sort Earth doesn't have (and likely never will), it's a shrieking, often literal mob-rule of the worst sort.



I suspect the only reason it even exists is in the power of its own Story.



I was amused by Anaraxes right up to the point he was using mind-rape and at this point, he's no better than the Contritiion Angel. After thisd last chapoter? Now I want him and all with him to more than die, as much as I do them.

[lord_khaine]

Spoiler: chapter 6

Show

Well.. im moderatly certain its not wrong thoughs that makes your head explode.
Only wrong words. But yes, As i think someone explained? Its like a serpent devourering its own tail.
Bellerophon is more or less caught in its own chain. Where if possible i suspect people have even less actual freedom than those slave soldier guys.
Its both funny, hilarious and tragic at the same time.

Though regarding The Hierarch. Then im uncertain about how actively he is actually doing it.
It did seem to eb with his concentration. But its possible he isnt actively aware of what he is doing.

[Forum Explorer]

Spoiler

Show

They literally murder you by exploding your head for badwrong thoughts.

You don't get much more actively malevolent and tyrannical than that.

Bellerophon isn't an enlightened democracy of the sort Earth doesn't have (and likely never will), it's a shrieking, often literal mob-rule of the worst sort.



I suspect the only reason it even exists is in the power of its own Story.



I was amused by Anaraxes right up to the point he was using mind-rape and at this point, he's no better than the Contritiion Angel. After thisd last chapoter? Now I want him and all with him to more than die, as much as I do them.

Spoiler

Show

That's Bellaphron, not 'The People'. I don't think Anaraxes is going to be maintaining Bellaphron's beliefs beyond setting the trials/revolutions.

Even if he wanted to, I don't think he's capable of it. I think after he leaves, the people will come to their senses and have to find new leaders for themselves.

Bellaphron is weird. Maybe it will end up falling apart if Anaraxes succeeds and breaks the tyranny of the story. That would be pretty hilariously ironic.

My assumption is that it's temporary. Which does put him better then a Contrition Angel, though that's a low bar to set. What do you think the Aspect is called? Trial? Accuse maybe? Revolt? Vote, I heard suggested. It'd give us an idea of the Aspect's scope.

Oh, to be clear though, I'm not in any way suggesting that Anaraxes is a good person or his methods are acceptable. I just admire the particular insanity that is trying to judge all creation.

[Aotrs Commander]

Spoiler

Show

Oh, to be clear though, I'm not in any way suggesting that Anaraxes is a good person or his methods are acceptable. I just admire the particular insanity that is trying to judge all creation.

That I can at least agree on - after all, it's not as if it's not something I do myself.

[lord_khaine]

I do love the Tyrant. At times it feels as if he is just an actor who had been told "by the way, your character is quite mad"
That gives the vibe of a frightfully sane person acting like he is mad. Or like its all just a roleplay.

[Calemyr]

I do love the Tyrant. At times it feels as if he is just an actor who had been told "by the way, your character is quite mad"
That gives the vibe of a frightfully sane person acting like he is mad. Or like its all just a roleplay.

Agreed. If you start with the Bard's comments, the Tyrant is trying to make himself unstoppable by running so many plans that at any given moment he's got one plan or another at stage 1 because Creation decrees that nobody can interrupt the first stage of a villain's plan. We're starting at almost Black Knight levels of rules-lawyering. Then add in TVTropes TimeSink.org, which points out that he seems to mix so many brands of crazy together that it's impossible to tell what exactly his real agenda is. For example, making profanity and drunkenness capital offenses... is this just another flight of whimsy or a push for genuine societal reform that would result in mass riots if it hadn't slipped through the cracks amidst all the other "random" actions he's taken? You could argue that this almost takes him to Dead King levels, but that's a very high bar to clear. Either way, however, he's delightfully unpredictable and a blast to follow and speculate on.

By the way, does anyone have a head-canon touchstone for what the Tyrant (or anyone else) looks like?
Mine is Prince Zanac from the anime Overlord. Give him one red eye and he's what I see in my head when I read his lines.

[The Glyphstone]

Oh, this is the excellent old-school Cat we missed. The Duchess of Moonless Night would never have even come up with exploding zombie goats, let alone something this bonkers.

[lord_khaine]

Yeah.. i do like exploding scalpel Cat more than gate-hammer cat. It was fun for a brief visit though.
And i also liked Robbers perspective on why he and the other goblings follow and more or less secretly worship Cat.

[Bowerbird]

By the way, does anyone have a head-canon touchstone for what the Tyrant (or anyone else) looks like?
Mine is Prince Zanac from the anime Overlord. Give him one red eye and he's what I see in my head when I read his lines.

I dunno, I always imagine Tyrant as being gaunt and unhealthy. Personally the only touchstone I have is that whenever I read the Black Knight's dialogue, in my head he sounds like Nathanos Blightcaller from World of Warcraft.

[Calemyr]

I dunno, I always imagine Tyrant as being gaunt and unhealthy. Personally the only touchstone I have is that whenever I read the Black Knight's dialogue, in my head he sounds like Nathanos Blightcaller from World of Warcraft.

Yeah, soon as I said it, canon announced he was darker skinned and brown haired. So it doesn't work anymore, though I do still think Zanac has a good level of ambiguity to his appearance... Is he a self-serving manipulative weasel or a well-meaning royal? Is it too much to ask for both? I have yet to see any evidence that my other touchstone, Akua, isn't very much like Vivienne from Dragon Age Inquisition or Hexxat from Balur's Gate II Enhanced Edition.

But I have to say, that was a good interlude. Cat stealing the general's wine, the Mighty's internal monologue about how Cat's become a religious figure among the drow and therefore logically can't be human, and Robber's unsettlingly heartwarming sentiment that the return Cat-brand chaos felt like "coming home". The day the Lesser Footrest dies will be a sad one indeed. Oh, and Cat's mental shut down at how her actions with the Dead King have been perceived and played out in her absence - that was priceless, far more so since we didn't get to see her inner monologue at it.

Also, I have to admit getting chills when Robber informed her that goblins are volunteering to join the Callow Army. That is... how do I put it? Terrifying doesn't do it justice. That's gotta be used as intimidation propaganda: "Our queen is so crazy awesome that goblins volunteer to follow her."

[Forum Explorer]

Spoiler: Interlude: Beheld 1&2

Show

I absolutely love these interludes where we see ordinary people watching Cat. Abigail is hilarious, and I love her career path (all hail the Cityburner!). But Edgar's PoV was awesome. I love how he's just like 'yeah, Cat's a tyrant, but sometimes you need a hard ruler. It's not like we haven't had them under the old regime. Maybe one day, I'll need to rebel, but first **** Procer and the horse they rode in on.'

Also love that he's fine with greenskins and feels they should get their revenge on the Tower together.

Oh, and the fact that goblins volunteer to fight for her, because she's that crazy. And how the Drow actually like how she's just casually a jerk. It's nice to see that Cat is actually pretty popular with her troops.

[lord_khaine]

Abigails carrer path has been hilarious to watch. I guess in part because of why she joined.
And how she is now utterly out of her depth.

Else, at first i though the ending another example of what sort of moron they had in charge of leading the dominion army.
It seemed a textbook example of why you should not gift rank to nobles. I mean, one of the most feared villains shows up on the edge of the battlefield.
And your first impulse is to try and zerg rush her with normal infantry.

But at the same time, its not like he had anything else to rush her with. And you dont leave a Villain time to run around unopposed either.
That she were busy summoning gray demons were a logical assumption. It was unfortunately just also wrong.

[Forum Explorer]

Abigails carrer path has been hilarious to watch. I guess in part because of why she joined.
And how she is now utterly out of her depth.

Else, at first i though the ending another example of what sort of moron they had in charge of leading the dominion army.
It seemed a textbook example of why you should not gift rank to nobles. I mean, one of the most feared villains shows up on the edge of the battlefield.
And your first impulse is to try and zerg rush her with normal infantry.

But at the same time, its not like he had anything else to rush her with. And you dont leave a Villain time to run around unopposed either.
That she were busy summoning gray demons were a logical assumption. It was unfortunately just also wrong.

Dude made an error, but yeah, it wasn't that massive of one. It's just when you still a villain standing in the open, inviting you to take your best shot? It's probably a trap. If she's chanting or on the move, yeah, rush her as hard as possible. But just standing there? At that point, you need to shift gears and think 'oh crap, she's already completed her evil plan, I need to be prepared for some serious ****.' Not necessarily retreat, but attack with even more caution then he did. Which credit to him, he did attack with some caution, rather then ordering an all out charge.

His biggest flaw was assuming she had made a mistake. He couldn't comprehend what she was doing, and so defaulted to 'she must be crazy cause she's a villain.' And that was just stupid on his part.

[Caerulea]

I've decided to try to make banners and stuff for the people in the story. I started with Foundling (of course). Let me know what you think. https://drive.google.com/drive/folde...DU?usp=sharing

Spoiler: Embed

Show

[Iruka]

Things are moving!

Where? Dunno, I have a hard time remembering the names of the principates and princes. Not only are there too many, they keep dying and being replaced all the time!

[tyckspoon]

Things are moving!

Where? Dunno, I have a hard time remembering the names of the principates and princes. Not only are there too many, they keep dying and being replaced all the time!

I'm pretty sure the specifics of them aren't meant to matter for most of the random princes - the takeaways are: at least some of the rest of the leadership of the Principates are getting a hard lesson in why the Lycaonese are the way they are, as well as coming around to Catherine's view that the squabbling between all the other nations is a waste and they need to be conserving resources and coming together to contain the Dead King.. and: a significant fraction of the current political leadership is present in this army, which has some implications regarding previous foreshadowing - there was a mention of a battle referred to as something like the 'Grave of Princes' in one of the chapter header blurbs and there's Catherine's unfulfilled promise to Larat to present him 'seven and one' crowns in trade for his fealty and the service of the Wild Hunt. So this may be leading to the battle that pays that off, as well as potentially reshaping the political climate of the Principates if a significant number of the current players get themselves killed.

[lord_khaine]

It was a really lovely depiction of PTSD in the survivors.
Gives a much better idea of where the name Hidden Horror comes from. And just why it is so bad news.
It was also nice to be given an explanation of why the forces of men are still squabling among themselves when Sauron is on the freaking warpath.

The ending was also nice, i liked the "oh crud" moment, when the noble we were following realised that The Grey Pilgrim were down here waiting for them.
It is really interesting to see now, if he will be more reasonable now Cat isnt immortal, and there is a potential ruler of Callow that isnt named.

[Calemyr]

And now things get even better. Zombie the Third has woken up from its lethargy and taken flight. The Black Queen is on the scene... Or near enough that all plans and stratagems are now moot.

Still gotta love the goblins, who cheerfully point out that a perk of serving in Cat's army is constantly getting screwed over in new and inventive ways. With, of course, the unspoken rider of getting to witness the ridiculous ways Cat finds to turn things around.