PREQUEL suggestion box (thread 6)

[DanielChico]

I guess the magical effect of the perfume does not include lack of dreams. At least the magic perfume does not cause hangovers. Or does it?

It seems that you will spend the night naked in the gutter knowing that will disappoint Quill-Weave and you'll face the monstrous king if you stay sober. It seems that it is time to drink.
Think about it: you're too far from the house of Quill-Weave to wake up in her bed. What would be the worst thing that could happen at this point? Drink.

[contemptibleComedian]

Yes, let us find some delicious drank. For Sigrid of course. Now we just need to pop into someone else's winery, maybe that jerk kajiit's tavern or the count's. Absolutely the best for Sigrid! Surely there is nothing wrong in stealing for Sigrid!

[guildenstern]

A letter to the author: It's been great so far but you can't keep doing this, up until now we've seen Katia rise up only to have everything fall apart and her sent back to square one crying and felt bad for her and wanted to read more to see her overcome this obstacle, but this can't keep happening; we as readers are now invested and want to see some of her accomplishments stick, otherwise we'll just start to get frustrated with her and the story because nothing she does or we suggest is really going to change anything and then readers might stop reading prequel out of frustration, so please let Katia have a few victories and not take them away please... or maybe it's just me if anyone else agrees with me please speak up.

[tronn]

Yup, starting all those fires accomplished nothing, just as I said. Now on to more sensible plans:
>Katia: Knock on the door, offer to take Eepy to walkies
>never let go

Seriously speaking, it's high time for her to embrace her Khajit ancestry and start a life of crime. Only careers available to her now are either cat-burglary or cheapest exotic prostitute in Kvatch, and let's face it, excelling at whoring yourself simply isn't good for self-esteem. Sure, thievery isn't glamorous or even legal, but at least you get to set your own work hours. She should check out that orphanage first, they usually have shit security. Also, steal a book from Hirtel, odds are he won't even notice one is missing. She can then later on re-write his letter from memory, mission accomplished.

As for your current predicament:
>Be Stephene
>Offer that poor bastard a place to stay for the night, it's the least you can do.

[tronn]

A letter to the author: It's been great so far but you can't keep doing this, up until now we've seen Katia rise up only to have everything fall apart and her sent back to square one crying and felt bad for her and wanted to read more to see her overcome this obstacle, but this can't keep happening; we as readers are now invested and want to see some of her accomplishments stick, otherwise we'll just start to get frustrated with her and the story because nothing she does or we suggest is really going to change anything and then readers might stop reading prequel out of frustration, so please let Katia have a few victories and not take them away please... or maybe it's just me if anyone else agrees with me please speak up.

Please don't use 'we' when you meant to write 'I'.
I think it's okay to have downers again and again, since the theme of this story is 'two steps forwards, one step back'. I want to see Katia achieve her happy ending, I really do, but I also want horrible things happening to her for no reason on a regular basis. It just makes her successes ever more delightful.
Think about the story so far: In the beginning she was completely useless dumb Khajit slut without a single coin in her name, and now she's a mage with friends in two cities, knows adventuring and all kinds of other stuff and has had valuable life lessons. I'd call that progress.

[K'helt]

Katia : Are a few nice compliments really the same value of all your possessions you painstakingly worked for and the 2nd chance Quill-Weave gave you?
Please, let's come to the conclusion that you are currently blinded by Sigrid's charm,
and rejecting this idea without putting any thought into it would only prove it.

[Galloglasses]

Please don't use 'we' when you meant to write 'I'.
I think it's okay to have downers again and again, since the theme of this story is 'two steps forwards, one step back'. I want to see Katia achieve her happy ending, I really do, but I also want horrible things happening to her for no reason on a regular basis. It just makes her successes ever more delightful.
Think about the story so far: In the beginning she was completely useless dumb Khajit slut without a single coin in her name, and now she's a mage with friends in two cities, knows adventuring and all kinds of other stuff and has had valuable life lessons. I'd call that progress.

What success? she is basically back to square one, literally less then that even. If this was a story that was two steps forward one step back, yeah, you'd be right, but its not, its one step forward two steps back, and thats just aggravating.

[K'helt]

What success? she is basically back to square one, literally less then that even. If this was a story that was two steps forward one step back, yeah, you'd be right, but its not, its one step forward two steps back, and thats just aggravating.

Not really, I agree with Tronn, and it is Two steps Forward and One step back, you state things without putting any fact to it.

In the beginning, she didn't know any magic, she knows Two Spells now.
She didn't have any friends in the beginning, yet she now has Quill-weave and somewhat Nah o.o

[Ineverus]

For when the effect wears off or it's been long enough that she isn't QUITE this enthralled, if the thing never really does wear off:

Katia:

show spoiler

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YOU ARE THE DUMBEST KHAJIIT IN THE HISTORY OF NIRN. WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU. THIS IS THE THIRD TIME YOU'VE SCREWED EVERYTHING UP. THAT'LL PROBABLY BE A LITERAL STATEMENT IN JUST A FEW MOMENTS AS WELL. YOU DO NOT DESERVE TO STAY IN KVATCH, YOU ARE GOING TO END UP MAKING THE WHOLE TOWN DUMBER. OH LOOK AT ME, I'M KATIA MANAGAN AND I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO ABILITY WHATSOEVER TO BE CAREFUL! YOUR ONLY HOPE NOW IS TO MEET ASOTIL AND MARCH ON BACK TO ANVIL IN SHAME, THEN GET ON YOUR KNEES AND BEG QUILL WEAVE FOR FORGIVENESS. EVEN THOUGH THE CHANCES SHE'D FORGIVE YOU FOR SCREWING UP AGAIN ARE NEXT TO NONEXISTENT, IT'S THE ONLY CHOICE YOU HAVE BECAUSE YOU HAVE NOTHING AT ALL.

Actually, wait... let me take all that back for a moment. You still have the amulet. Maybe... you could sell it! But BEFORE YOU DO, you need to find a way to control that fire on your own. Think about it: does that bitch Sigrid need an amulet to control her power? No. Then why do you? Why not go try to control the magic yourself rather than rely on the amulet? If you manage to do this, you could sell it. Think about it. How much would an ordinary, pretty amulet be worth? Probably way more than that entire bit of "loot" you sold to Tavia earlier today. And what about an enchanted pretty amulet? Now we're talking! You could easily buy a cheap pair of clothes and still have a good amount of coin. I'd bet you could quite easily buy that book from Hirtel as well. You should remember to ask him to write a new letter for Q.W. as well, since your lack of caution caused you to lose it. But, if all goes well, you'll be able to get the message back to QW, get her a new book as well, get new (BUT MAKE SURE THEY'RE NOT TOO EXPENSIVE) clothes, and still have some money left over. Come on now. Even you should be able to see that this is a brilliant idea! Just make sure you don't go back to Sigrid, or else then you'll have nothing again, except this time you'll also have nothing to pick yourself up again. This is your chance for redemption!

Also, second command for before the effect is gone:
Katia: Remember all that blood under the door in the guild? What a mess! I'm sure Sigrid, in all her perfection and beauty, must hate having such a gory scene stinking up the wonderful Kvatch mages guild, run by the wonderful Sigrid! I think she would be utterly flattered if you told the guards about it and requested that they clean it up. It's the least you could do for such a brilliant woman. Make sure to give the guards a vivid description of it, that way they'll be completely prepared for it, get everything they need and so they'll clean it up as quick as possible! You can start repaying Sigrid for being such an amazing friend right now!

[Bibliophael]

Whatever the poison was, it is unlikely to have scrambled the Khajiit's brains so badly as to convince her that losing all of her clothes and possessions, in addition to Quill-Weave's book, was a positive experience. I would theorize that it was a hallucinogen designed to stimulate feelings of affection and good-will toward the applicant, and that once it is removed from the subject, the subject will regain her senses. In most cases, perhaps, the subject may retain a lingering fondness of the applicant, as she associates memories of goodwill and comfort with the applicant's presence. This is, however, dependent on the assumption that the applicant did not manipulate the subject into doing anything particularly insane, stupid or unacceptable. If the applicant abused the subject's trust to the degree we have just witnessed, it is natural that when reason returns to the subject she will experience a considerable emotional backlash against the applicant.

In other words, our Khajiit has every reason to despise Sigrid, now.

That said, she needs to be careful. She witnessed Sigrid's application of the poison. She knows that breathing around the alchemist is dangerous. If she is to return, she needs to be on her guard.

[tronn]

She didn't have any friends in the beginning, yet she now has Quill-weave and somewhat Nah o.o

And Sigrid too!

[Bulldogg6404]

>Katia: You should go tell Asotil all about the nice lady who you donated your clothes and other belongings to. I'm sure a man of justice like him would be happy to donate as well, and definitely will compliment her choice of perfume.

[unthought]

>Katia: Check your inventory, unless you also gave that mental construct to Sigrid.

[tronn]

Whatever the poison was...

The potion didn't have any effect on the khajit - it just boosted Sigrid's personality stat so ridiculously high that she could ask even clothes off someone's back. While the potion itself will eventually wear off, Katia's opinion of Sigrid won't unless she does something to change Katia's mind.

That said, she needs to be careful. She witnessed Sigrid's application of the poison. She knows that breathing around the alchemist is dangerous. If she is to return, she needs to be on her guard.

...so she should stop breathing around her?

[Soadreqm]

>Katia: You should go tell Asotil all about the nice lady who you donated your clothes and other belongings to. I'm sure a man of justice like him would be happy to donate as well, and definitely will compliment her choice of perfume.

He's already met Sigrid. He praised her as the most beautiful woman ever, and lamented that though she always obeyed the law, "there was something dark and manipulative [below the surface]".

Yeah, I guess it's pretty likely that Katia won't be shrugging off the effects any time soon.

[Pajaul]

Just because we donated most of our material possessions doesn't mean we lost everything and are back to square one. We are not naked, we've got our amulet and our underclothes. Our generosity may have been a bit much though... but it was for a good cause, the Mages Guild! It is a pity we can't join this particular chapter but we did our part. And maybe we'll be able to do more in the future. But, for now, to the problem at hand. We need some shelter for the night, maybe getting some new clothing, we won't have to worry about food for a while but in the intern- There is no reason for Nah to come after us, we have no enemies in Kvatch, we are pretty safe inside the walls. So we're safe. We need some shelter, we should head to the church. It's always open, it's pretty out of the weather there, we can regroup our thoughts and consider what to do next and maybe get some sleep. After we get some sleep- we should head out to do a bit more alchemy gathering. It's unlikely anything we find right outside the walls will be of any exotic interest to Sigrid and we won't be much help to her or the guild if we don't build up our own funds a bit first, so, tomorrow we'll gather some ingredients to sell for a few gold. That should land us enough for clothing and maybe a meal. We can do this in the early hours before the shops open and while we are out gathering within sight of Kvatch we should also be on the lookout for a good solid looking stick for the free lessons from that redguard we met in the park. As long as the weight is about the same it should serve as a good practice stave, or better yet, we could perhaps ask our guard friend to borrow a weapon for practice as we borrowed his bow arrows. Since we won't be losing the weapon we won't have to pay to replace it, just return it! As for clothes we should buy simple useable clothing. Pants, shirt, and such. Robes are nice, but we'll need some clothing to practice in and do some hiking. Robes will get caught in the underbrush and they would drag us down if we need to swim, so some good serviceable clothing would be better. SO to recap.

We'll head to the church to rest before dawn; at first light we'll head outside to gather ingredients around the walls and be on the look out for a suitable practice stave, once we sell our ingredients, we'll buy useable clothing and ask our guard friend if we may borrow an iron practice weapon for some training, seek the redguard and learn what we can. Return the weapon. Then we can once more attempt to handle our other quests, The Shop Imps, The Slaughter Well, and The Dance Competition.

As for QW's Letter, mmm, that was an oversight on our part. If we have a bit of coin left to donate we could head back to the guild and tell Sig we have some coin for her and mention the mistakenly donated letter, after all, in our generosity we forgot it among the other stuff. Unless she thinks it will benefit the guild, there should be no reason for her to keep it- if she does we'll simply have to tell Hirtel Sigrid needed it for the guild, we're sure he'll understand and appreciate how useful his letter is to her. Sigrid is so wonderful after all. Then we'll see if he writes another or go from there.

[Scowling Dragon]

I agree with the crowd thats tired of the sucking.

Now look, I don't mind Katia suffering bad luck but this was just dues-ex machina. She is almost literally back to square 1. Maybe square 1.2 but thats just annoying. Its to the point where it doesn't make any sense. Why the hell does she need her clothes? I mean, this is just petty.
If the author does this thing one more time I will throw down the story in frustration. I cannot invest in a character if at any point in time the author will just decide "Strip her down again".

> Kitten with the glowy stone. Come to Katia.

[Catbread]

I think a lot of people are jumping to conclusions a little too quickly. Who knows what's going to happen next? It's not clear just yet.
There's a lot of opportunity for something unexpected to happen.

That, and everyone knew it wold be a bad idea to go to that mages guild. There were loads and loads of clues that Sigrid was not a good person to be around.
And then Katia went there and talked to Sigrid, and bad things happened. Surely no one is too surprised?
The question now is, what happens next? There's no way Katia is going to just give up.

Plus, anyone who's actually read the whole thing knows that this is the first really bad thing that's happened to Katia in a while, which is different from the earlier bits where bad things would happen to her every ten minutes. Compared to that, this is only a minor setback! Chill, guys!

[tronn]

We'll head to the church to rest before dawn; at first light we'll head outside to gather ingredients around the walls and be on the look out for a suitable practice stave, once we sell our ingredients, we'll buy useable clothing and ask our guard friend if we may borrow an iron practice weapon for some training, seek the redguard and learn what we can. Return the weapon. Then we can once more attempt to handle our other quests, The Shop Imps, The Slaughter Well, and The Dance Competition.

These are good suggestions, and such positive attitude is needed in situations like these. However, first things first. Since it is embarrassing to traipse around half-naked, acquiring clothes is a priority number one. Since Katia doesn't have any money she should borrow clothes from somewhere convenient (perhaps laundry that someone has forgotten overnight?), and return them later when she can. In fact, she needs quite a lot of equipment for her tasks and simplest way would be to borrow it all, since it's a really big hassle to convince people loan you things. It's not theft as long as you mean to eventually return it, right?

[Vissia]

>potion wear off
>katia realize what just happened

[Kayito]

I love that bit where EXACTLY WHAT I SAID WAS GOING TO HAPPEN, HAPPENED. So now after the effects wear off, she won't even be able to proudly say she's unofficially in the guild, she lost all of QW's stuff, and she's pretty much fucked for getting it back.

If she at least had kept the amulet on, Sigrid wouldn't have known about that until it was too late... And if she was a bit more "eager" to donate, we could've had a warm place to sleep, ice cream, and MAGIC BOOKS TO READ.

... *sighs*


Well at this point, there's no good way to end Katia's day, since every opportunity was snubbed, so here goes...


>Be the captain of the guard.

Captain> Notice a nude khajiit standing around suspiciously outside of the mages guild. Apprehend her. Recognize her as that cultist that was talking to you earlier. Question the Khajiit. When Katia tells how she just 'volunteered' everything she owned, right down to her clothes, piece together that Sigrid must be a cultist (Or at very least, she's been tricked into joining the evil cultists!) and they are using some kind of evil influence over the entire city! What else could explain why there are not one, but TWO new cultists showing up in the same day!

Captain> Carefully begin to enact daring plan to break the city out of the cult's evil control. Do not be hasty or foolish, or listen to any subconscious voices that act against your natural fear of cults. If you're going to take this evil cult down, you're going to have to do it carefully, who knows what they may have done to the guild! (Also, if he respects Sigrid from past dealings: Poor Sigrid must've been tricked into joining, so it's especially important to be careful dealing with this strange cult now, because you must rescue Sigrid without letting her know about the scary evil danger she's put herself in!)

Captain> Although, first things first. Arrest the nude khajiit, take her to prison, and lock her up for the night... Public Nudity isn't a terribly bad crime, but she's a scary cultist and you don't want her on the streets at night...

Prison> Have a few old ill-maintained basic magic tomes, and a forgotten set of (admittedly dirty and poor looking) clothes in the lost and found bin.

Captain> Let Katia take things from the lost and found bin before locking her up.

Captain> Head to secret underground anti-cultist command center to tell them what has happened, populated with power rangers, the former Kvatch Mage's Guild members who were kicked out by Sigrid, and a Chuck Norris look alike. (... okay, at least the ex-mages guilders, who have been in hiding since Sigrid took over.)

[contemptibleComedian]

I think we should be able to ask Hirtel for another copy of the letter if we explain that Sigrid worked her magic on her. Or we could just knock on the door for the letters and your journal, they're worthless.
Hell that was a quest item, how'd you get it out of your inventory?

[Pajaul]

These are good suggestions, and such positive attitude is needed in situations like these. However, first things first. Since it is embarrassing to traipse around half-naked, acquiring clothes is a priority number one. Since Katia doesn't have any money she should borrow clothes from somewhere convenient (perhaps laundry that someone has forgotten overnight?), and return them later when she can. In fact, she needs quite a lot of equipment for her tasks and simplest way would be to borrow it all, since it's a really big hassle to convince people loan you things. It's not theft as long as you mean to eventually return it, right?

Naw, in Oblivion one can run around completely naked and no one bat's and eye unless you have your weapon drawn. (heh heh weapon drawn) so we should be good, besides anyone who asks we can simply tell them we over generously donated to the guild. They'll understand, Sigrid is awesome, and we helped Sigrid. However if we're caught stealing, that's a mark on us, and a bounty we don't have. We planned to stay out of jail this go around. We DO still have on our leather underclothes, everything is well covered. But yeah, rest first, then worry about getting money to buy clothes. Unless... you know.. the church just so happens to have a few they could lend us...



As a side note, people are putting a lot of stock into material possessions. My favorite part of oblivion was the fact that I could literally strip down and sell EVERYTHING at any time and pretty much build up from there at any time. The game is lousy with giving you everything you need. There are free clothes everywhere, repair hammers, food, and even coin- need armor and weapons? There are bandits everywhere, and ruins, and old forts. Kill one, in self defense, and you have all their stuff. It's not even hard, a few fireballs while you run from them and you have their things. But aside form that as a story perspective, you're giving up awfully easy. Remember, Katia started with nothing but she has gained so much since that first boat trip.

ONE, she has friends. QW, Asotil, and dare I say, Nah. They are not the greatest of friends but there ARE good people out there who have helped us.
TWO, she has found a passion- magic, we ARE a mage, we know TWO spells AND we know a bit about alchemy, these two factors alone will prevent us from EVER having to sleep for money again. There are ingredients EVERYWHERE. and the more we practice our magic, the better we'll get at it. even if we did nothing all day but eat ingredients, sleep, and practice magic we'll be a pretty damn good mage with or without the guild.
THREE, if you recall waaaay back at the start, "Your mind is filled with cunning plans and heroic maneuvers. A brave person wouldn’t be afraid to stand her ground. A skilled person would find a way to turn this situation to her advantage. Unfortunately, you are neither of these things." I have, slowly in the intern to work hard for these goals. We HAVE become more skilled and I'd say we've become pretty damn brave. We climbed down a dark, damp well WITH SLAUGHTERFISH, with NO armor, and NO practical skill in a weapon. If that isn't brave, I don't know what is. WE achieved that people. YOU may not see it, but I damn well pushed and pushed for it.and WE DID IT. Could you do that? It was very brave. The previous Katia wouldn't even consider it. We've fought imps and explored ruins too. DO NOT SHRUG OFF THESE ACCOMPLISHMENTS.

Granted I was saving some of them for a SHTF moment, but I think it's good to remind everyone here just how far we HAVE come in at least SOME small way. We are NOT on square one. We are simply disarmed. We have two spells, friends, a lively hood in the making that includes perpetual food and drink, and we have the courage to face our challenges NO MATTER MANY TIMES THEY KNOCK US DOWN. We've eaten with royalty, we've sought the unknown, and even faced almost certain death, ill prepared and survived. We've even tangled with a vampire for Talos's sake! Step back, look at what we've done and NOW tell me we have nothing.

We've a fighting chance people, so don't give up, don't lament the hardship life throws at you. God damnit, stand proud, we're still alive and we HAVE a future!Raise your heads! Grip your fists, they may knock us down, again, and again, they may laugh, they may spit and scorn us, we may be damned, cursed, and covered in scars by the end, but we will still be standing. We're Katia Fucking Managan, we can do this. Believe not in me who believes in her, but believe in the her that believes in herself!

[Scowling Dragon]

Plus, anyone who's actually read the whole thing knows that this is the first really bad thing that's happened to Katia in a while, which is different from the earlier bits where bad things would happen to her every ten minutes. Compared to that, this is only a minor setback! Chill, guys!

Its not that which bugs me, its that it happens whenever. There where clues Sigrid was bad but there where also clues that she wasn't. That it was all a misunderstanding.

This bugs me on four levels:

This has happened before:
This has happened over and over again. Katia trips, Dimiti says the wrong thing, Something bad happens.

This could happen again:
That at any point in time, something random happens and were in suck town again. It makes it difficult to care about anything as it could be taken away at any moment.

This felt like a waste of time:
Katias first attempt at investigation the dungeon, Dimitris plot, and this sigrid plot have all been a waste of time. She could have just walked into there, sigrid takes her stuff and now everythings over. But no, all she got, the time with the book dude, and all those things she has achieved are now pointless. Now look, the plots moved forward, but it has at the expense of the past.

The randomness of the happening:
These never feel like anything maneuverable or avoidable. When something bad happens in HomeStuck it has stuff that leads up to it and reasons. These are always random strikes of luck.

"Yay things are going great!" Katia Trips: Back to square 1
"Yay, dimitris wiggling out of this one" He says one wrong word: He dies. Pointless
"Yay, turns out we where wrong. Sigrids just a bit flakey." Nope: Back to square 1

If there is 1 thing I hate in comics is when things get repetitive.

[Asthanius]

Katia, think carefully about what just happened. You walked into the Mage's Guild, unsure what was going to happen. Then you met Sigrid and almost immediately had dinner with her, next to the strange mural. After dinner, you were promised ice cream and then gave Sigrid everything except your underwear, amulet, and possibly your lockpick. And now you're outside. Without ice cream. Even though there was obviously enough ice cream for you to have a little bit. Doesn't this seem a little strange? I mean, you promised Quillweave that you would do something very important to her, and you ended up giving everything to a woman you just met. It doesn't matter how persuasive or nice she was. Maybe you're too trusting.