+iny ©at people

>hey grind, why don't you send your TCP to intercept Fernando, they can give her the down-low on this whole shebang, give her a perspective that isn't frog-crimes biased. then she can decide whether or not to go full rouge or to come back home.

This would likely solve her doubts, and get her home (or not) faster, with minimal chance of something going horribly wrong. I agree with this course of action, if Grind is amicable.

This is a tough one, we only have our tcps at our disposal, and maybe the help of the other gods. We can't exactly tie fernando up with christmas lights and drag her back.

Hey Grind, maybe you could prove to fernando that the world is dangerous to tcps if you made a million ice gnomes.

I got nothing.

FROG-CRIMES: By the way, who’s the 4th player in the session right now? Do you know anything about them?
GRIND: Her name is Marzu
GRIND: I haven’t formally met her yet but I know she’s a lesser deity created by the late Velvet
GRIND: Her contact in the communicator was unusable until a moment ago so I believe this is her first session as well
FROG-CRIMES: Hm… okay.
FROG-CRIMES: So uh… can you maybe tell us what the mechanics of forming Alliances is?
GRIND: It’s pretty simple
GRIND: You and another player agree to form an alliance and you use the module on your Compass to do so
GRIND: The only purpose it serves is to further a diplomatic victory. If every player in a session joins the same alliance then the session can be completed without conflict

You focus your vision on where Fernando is in the maze, and try to communicate with her. You tell her, in general terms, that you’ve spoken with another deity named Grind, and that it’s inconvenient for everyone if she stays out here for too long.

She tells you she doesn’t really care, she’s not done yet.

FROG-CRIMES: … Our TCP doesn’t seem to want to listen to us.
FROG-CRIMES: What should we do?
GRIND: … Making her go rogue would be the fastest option but it would put you at a permanent disadvantage
FROG-CRIMES: So, if she goes rogue, we can’t convince her to come back to us later?
GRIND: Technically you could but it’s incredibly difficult
GRIND: And once a TCP turns “rogue” there’s no way to officially put them back under any players control
FROG-CRIMES: … Honestly, we probably can’t regain her trust even when she’s not rogue.
FROG-CRIMES: Maybe you could help? Could you send your TCP out to intercept her in the maze and talk to her?
FROG-CRIMES: Give her a new perspective, help her decide whether to go home or go rogue?
GRIND: I would but you just told me you put something dangerous in the maze
FROG-CRIMES: Uh, right. Well, what if we just directed her to your planet?

Grind seems to hesitate strongly.

GRIND: I’ll have my TCP meet yours directly outside of my planet
FROG-CRIMES: Alright.
FROG-CRIMES: Actually, is there a way to just transfer ownership of our TCPs to you?
GRIND: Not really. The closest thing you could do is have me convince her to stay at my base when she goes rogue
GRIND: What type is she?
FROG-CRIMES: She’s a Fern-type.
GRIND: ...I see
GRIND: Well if she decides to stay with me then I won’t turn her away
FROG-CRIMES: Alright.

Well then we'll just. Send her that way to talk to Grind's TCP I guess.
I'm going to strongly. Strongly advocate against just throwing her away but it seems quite a few of us are content with giving up.

Well then we'll just. Send her that way to talk to Grind's TCP I guess.
I'm going to strongly. Strongly advocate against just throwing her away but it seems quite a few of us are content with giving up.

I agree. She is our responsibility. Until such a time as she becomes a hazard to our agenda, she should not be given up on.

Between ourselves, Macaron, Grind, and Marzu, there are no clear troublemakers aside from our own anarchic voices.

It appears as though a peaceful solution to this 'game' might be possible. In which case the worries we forced upon Fernando may not be as severe as we believed.

Should a problematic player join, that may change. But for now perhaps we - perhaps I - could benefit from being a little... softer.

@Fernando: Hello. I am the voice that advocated for 'soldiers'. I apologize for being overbearing. It seems a militant stance may not be entirely necessary yet. Grind is sending one of his TCPs to meet you near his planet. Perhaps we can all be friends, after all.

We're incapable of creating anything while fernando is still our tcp and off our planet.

real trust is built by giving someone the choice to do what they feel is best for themselves. we should tell fernando that if they don't feel like staying with us, they always have the option of going rogue or joining grind, who seems levelheaded enough and said they would accept them.

Though of course we would like it best if they stayed, and we would try to be more considerate and less rash from now on.

And that they should shout out to us the words "oli-oli-oxenfree if they feel like they are in danger or want to instantly come home, because we are making a retrieval drone that does just that but is only activated by their voice saying that. Don't say that phrase unless you want to get retrieved.

>CREATE: fernando retrieval drone that is activated by fernando's voice alone saying "oli-oli-oxenfree"

seconded

jeez parenting is hard. I care allot about Fernando, like unreasonably much for what should be a game, and I feel like I've made some lasting positive impacts on these TCPs. They could even eventually come live with us! the idea warms my heart.

side-note: can WE do sweet skate tricks? like we have a body now, can't we conjure up a skateboard in whatever realm we are in and do sweet tricks?

That makes me think of Frog-Crimes trying to persuade Fernando to come back by being all "look, we're cool now" and talking in outdated slang and dressing up weird and all that.

I'm not saying we should do that, just that it's an amusing mental image.

-snip-

seconded

thirded

Between ourselves, Macaron, Grind, and Marzu, there are no clear troublemakers aside from our own anarchic voices.

It appears as though a peaceful solution to this 'game' might be possible. In which case the worries we forced upon Fernando may not be as severe as we believed.

I agree with this sentiment as well and feel like we should be honest with Fernando and let them know that we may have overreacted a slight amount.

>While this is all going on, instruct cats back at base to rest and have fun while we deal with God business.

We're incapable of creating anything while fernando is still our tcp and off our planet.

oh yeah

"Never mind that last part about the rescue thing because we can't make a magic rescue drone while you're out there. be safe fernie"

Maybe we can with the frog mail carrier.

Hey Grind, what happens to the cats when the game ends?

We're incapable of creating anything while fernando is still our tcp and off our planet.

oh yeah

"Never mind that last part about the rescue thing because we can't make a magic rescue drone while you're out there. be safe fernie"

Maybe we can with the frog mail carrier.

Yes, that could work. If she needs a pick-up we should send the frog mailman to collect the 'package'. He has his little flying saucer.

If we really want a drone like that, we can have Windy and Fennel make it with their engineering skills probably

You talk to Fernando a bit more. You tell her you’re sorry, you admit you may have overreacted. You tell her that she doesn’t have to come back home, she has the option to go rogue and live at Grind’s base, if she can find it. And if she does, she can visit Windy and Fennel if she likes.

She thinks for a second, and it’s subtle, but your vision of her gets fuzzier and her speech seems to get quieter. She tells you she’s considering it.

You tell her that Grind will have his TCP waiting outside of his base to meet her, and she should talk to them. She agrees to do that.




You switch viewpoints for a moment to check on Windy and Fennel; it seems they’ve just been busying themselves by reading the various books you left them with.
You quickly tell them to continue having fun however they can at home, while you’re figuring things out. They cheerfully tell you they will.

FROG-CRIMES: Hey, Grind. What happens to the cats when the game ends?
GRIND: Depends
GRIND: TCPs on the winning team get the choice to leave the game and live in the physical world with their deity
GRIND: The other choice being to stay in a separate peaceful perma-session that Wax keeps. A TCP Paradise if you will
GRIND: However I am sure you’re asking how Rogue TCPs relate to this
GRIND: Rogues by default go to Paradise. You’d have to make a strong admin appeal to let a Rogue have the choice to join you in the physical plane
FROG-CRIMES: ...alright then.




Suddenly, your attention gets drawn back to Fernando, as she asks you in a quiet rustle what the thing on the other side of the platform is.

Do the TCPs who perish also receive this choice?

(added an extra panel and event to last update so there's something more clear to suggest on; graham your suggestion is still counted dont worry)

Hmm, it appears to be some form of Ice gnome? Honestly I don't know as I did not know that any sort of beast could possibly be found on this spire, one of such beasts that I was not aware of being an Ice gnome which I had no prior input on placing in this place.

Ice gnome.

>It seems to be something frozen. Frozen things don't like fire, so make sure you can reach for your torch quickly in case it turns out to be unfriendly.

it's probably just another cat

it's probably just another cat

It does seem to be a little cat-like. We should be careful not to melt someone's popsicle tcp out of paranoia.

@Fernando: It is either a wild monster or Grind's TCP. Maintain distance and attempt communication before determining course of action... is what I would advise.

>assail it with BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES

>Speak. Communicate. Descant. Talk. Chat. Converse. Exchange words.