+iny ©at people

> CREATE MAGIC MAGNET

In order to speed up the puzzle process, you give the TCPs a new tool to use. Tubes takes it and uses it on the pile of keys, and it pulls a unique key out of the pile.

(Tubes’s health has gone from GREAT to GOOD as a result of magic item use. The Magic Magnet has 2 uses left.)

Fennel quickly tries the pumpkin key, and the padlock clicks and falls off, the double doors swinging open…




The TCPs rejoice- this room is packed with treasure! They first open the three bigger chests, retrieving: a “dracula” costume, a “witch” costume, and a “ghost” costume. The smaller chest opens up to reveal a small hoard of golden candy replicas.

Your TCPs excitedly change into their new outfits, stuffing their old clothes and the candy treasure into their bags, and taking a plastic treat bucket of candy each, as they get ready to leave the Fungeon.





> CREATE AIRSHIP

On their way out, you convey to them that there is something important they must help you with. You tell them that they can’t be friends with every other TCP in this world, and you’re being forced to pick someone to fight. They express quiet concern about this… and moreso when you explain that, unless you can force a third option, the TCPs will either end up fighting Tasty, or their previous friend Fernando, who now goes by Prophet.

Tubes isn’t sure why the other two TCPs are upset by this, and asks what you want them to do. You explain that you need them to visit each other team in the world so far; to talk to the other TCPs, decide who they get along with, and collect other useful information. Windy and Fennel warm up to this idea a bit as you detail: the deities caring for the other TCPs in this world don’t all like each other, but it may be possible to convince at least one of them to change their mind. Ideally, we could get all of them to ally for the sake of removing the necessity of TCP combat, but you’re not sure if that’s possible.

Fennel, for once, speaks up, asking why you don’t talk to the other deities about this more yourself, since your TCPs can’t talk to the deities directly. You tell them that you already tried, but you can try again, you just feel like you need backup from your cats.

For the purpose speeding up the process of getting to the other planets, you’re providing an airship for them to ride.

Windy asks if there’s anything else they’ll need on their trip. Tubes asks who’s going to pilot the airship.

FROG-CRIMES: Hey Grind, us again
FROG-CRIMES: We need to discuss some things.
GRIND: Alright
FROG-CRIMES: So, you won’t ally with Rein, or anyone else who’s on the same team as Rein.
GRIND: Correct. Where are you going with this
FROG-CRIMES: As a god of Justice, we think this is unfair to the TCPs. They didn’t ask to be a part of this, so we feel we should put aside our differences for the sake of our TCPs safety.
GRIND: I also hold domain over Justice. And I am far. Far older than you
GRIND: I am not going to ally with Rein. I am never going to work with them. I have my reasons and I don't owe you a damn thing
GRIND: It is unfair to the TCPs. But allying with someone who is inevitably going to hurt them far more than this would be even less fair
GRIND: I will not endanger my charges. I will not subject them to its presence and I would hope you do the same
GRIND: I cannot control you and I will not try to. But if you're going to try to sway me on this
GRIND: You're better staying the hell out of my way.
FROG-CRIMES: u-um
FROG-CRIMES: okay okay okay, sorry, hold on. We want to ally with you, we just… really don’t want our TCPs to fight.
FROG-CRIMES: What if we did something different? What if we could win the game peacefully without allying Rein?
FROG-CRIMES: We could set up a contest, like, a sports competition for the TCPs-
GRIND: Stop
GRIND: Just stop
GRIND: You cannot circumvent the win condition and attempting to do so is only going to make Wax enter the game
GRIND: Focus on what you already know instead of making it more complicated
GRIND: You are giving me a terrible headache and I already regret this conversation
GRIND: So just. Stop

> Stop.

> We were already told what we need to do, we can't just "ask" for people to toss away their morals for our sake, definitely when we do not understand the full situation. We must have evidence to back up our claims that we feel their morals are unfair. We don't have evidence yet. Lets go with our check out the TCP plan.

> Windy can drive the ship.

Woah now.
Gotta press Grind on "is inevitably going to hurt them far more than this". What's that supposed to mean? What's Rein going to do?
Sounds like there's more to Grind's dislike of Rein than just the Spit thing, maybe.

One thought I'm having, and this is probably a little too risky to actually try, is that it might not matter if Grind actually wants a peaceful end. All that matters is if Grind's TCPs want a peaceful end, and it's not entirely impossible that they're easier to convince.

Just floating that out there, though, I might be forgetting something.

> We're sorry. It seems we're getting too big for our britches, or rather, lack thereof.
> We were just trying to find some alternative to any violence, however.
> We should have deferred to you other, older gods first.
> As large as our pool of knowledge is, we are quite uninformed on a lot about your world and it's customs.

Create
> Various animal plushies to gift to the other TCPs (Especially Frogs!)
> A random magic item

I agree that Windy should lead.

Before departing, CREATE a guardian to leave behind for the event that another team launches an attack of oppurtunity in the TCPs' absence. Shape of a two-headed amphibian of some description, incorporating both our domain of AMPHIBIANS as well as our motif of HYDRAS. One head tells truth, the other falsehoods.

one head tells truth, the other tells lies, and the third head speaks only in poetry — as we all know, a poet is a liar who tells the truth.

Wheat = yes.
Of course, we really do need to know what Grind's full beef is with Rein. If there's more to the story, maybe it turns out we want to fight against Rein after all.

If we're going to leave a guardian behind, I demand it to be have a bellhop outfit. I suggest we also put a gate to keep away TCPs, as well as something the guardian can guard. I'm not too hot with the "one head that lies, and the other tells the truth" gimmick, but eh, I'm not too cool either to shoot it down altogether. I don't exactly have an alternative. Maybe "one head always tells a pun, and the other always rhymes."

I agree that Windy should fly the airship, but do any of them even know how?
>Teach all: Airship Piloting
It would be good for them all to know how to pilot the airship in case that a horrible accident occurs and they need to leave.

"Allying with Rein doesn't necessarily mean you agree with him. It doesn't have to mean you forgive him, either. But this isn't a case of winning team versus losing team. It's several cases of several layers of loss, and we will be damned if we end up losing everything we've ever done in this world, LITERALLY, because of a problem YOU have with someone else. Whatever your beef is with Rein, that's your thing, not ours, and whether or not this can be resolved without violence shouldn't hang on your own personal conflict, especially if we end up having to fight our little Fern."

Inquire what he means about what will happen to the TCPs. We are not aware of what Rein would do with them afterwards, so please inform us if this is something questionable. We may be able to sway Macaron and make this a 4v1 if there's proof of Rein's active wrongdoing, thereby minimizing casualties.

You're right. We should stay out of your way. To that point, could your fight be 1 v 1, with the other two players staying out of your way too?

Then after you two have gone at each other, the three of us will ally with whoever wins. This way, the session ends with a lot fewer dead cats than if things were 3 v 2.


[<only if grind doesn't initially agree:>
Plus if the battle's all your own, you get to avoid the moral dodginess of two powerful gods strongarming ignorant bystanders (Rinzu and I being complete newcomers, and Macaron being pretty inexperienced too) into picking sides on your pre-existing feud.]

Sound good or no? If you agree, I'll ask how the other players feel about it.

I agree with this course of action. They have personal differences with no proof on either side, so they shouldn't be getting other people involved.

We should stop arguing through preachy moral high grounds and condescension. There are assumptions that this is a personal difference without proof, yet Grind seems utterly certain that he has proof of Rein's wrongdoing. One might consider asking questions before giving orders.

We're working on limited information here, so please help us out. Let's assume that you have good reason to believe that Rein is a terrible person, which it sounds like you do, that still doesn't necessarily preclude allying with it. There's tangible harm in not allying with Rein, in that a bunch of innocent cats will have to die, so what tangible harm does allying with Rein do to outweigh that? I'm not asking to chastise you or anything, as I said, we're working with limited information here, I genuinely want to know.

I agree with Wheat's suggestion.

i'm drunk b ut i just wanna say, wheat's suggestion is good but it'll go over like a lead balloon with grind as-is. we're essetnially proposed grind agree to not fight and we pinky swear us and all our friends won't either. he's not trusting enough, especially of us, and also in general

i'm drunk b ut i just wanna say, wheat's suggestion is good but it'll go over like a lead balloon with grind as-is. we're essetnially proposed grind agree to not fight and we pinky swear us and all our friends won't either. he's not trusting enough, especially of us, and also in general

This.

We have zero political capital to spend here. We have zero influence. We need to stop behaving like we are the authority in control here, or it will be made readily apparent that we are not, and the choice of allegiance will be made for us by the enemies we make rather than the allies we make.

Perhaps an alteration to the plan then:

We ally with everyone BUT Rein and Grind. The three-player group thus formed would be guaranteed a victory since only Rein and Grind are truly interested in fighting, and neither one would be able to win a 3v1.

We can't realistically win the whole game in this one singular dialogue.

Any sort of threat or 'play' towards Grind is going to make this worse for now. I like plans that involve asking more questions, not plans that involve trying to persuade/out-maneuver Grind in a way that cinches us a win-- because it really seems like that's just going to fall on its face, just like most of our plans.

I'm relatively alright with Wheat's first suggestion, but the annendum should be nixed, I feel. Accusing Grind of being 'morally dodgy' is a great way to get hung up on again.

Let's stay out of alliances involving Grind or Rein, so our TCPs don't have to go against their friends. I know that may mean we're left alone, but it's the right thing to do.

Let's stay out of alliances involving Grind or Rein, so our TCPs don't have to go against their friends. I know that may mean we're left alone, but it's the right thing to do.

That would just make us everyone's enemy. We might be able to get away with not allying with either until one is eliminated, but that sounds like the kind of thing that would piss Grind off, and on a meta level it would probably be too easy a solution to work.

The only achievable way the TCPs do not have to fight their friends is a 4v1 against Rein. That way Tasty and Prophet are both on their side.

The only achievable way the TCPs do not have to fight their friends is a 4v1 against Rein. That way Tasty and Prophet are both on their side.

I still don't want to fight anyone. Especially since Rein is cool.

FROG-CRIMES: Okay, we’re sorry. Our curiosity is getting the better of us, and our heads are getting a bit too big.
FROG-CRIMES: We just want there to be as little violence as possible, because we don’t want to risk being unable to manifest our physical form, and… we still really don’t see how allying Rein equates to agreeing with its policies outside of the game?
FROG-CRIMES: Um, more importantly… what did you mean by Rein “inevitably hurting” its TCPs?
GRIND: That’s not information I can afford to give you
GRIND: You can choose to trust me or not. That’s your decision
GRIND: All I can tell you is that allying with Rein in any capacity will get you hurt. And possibly others
FROG-CRIMES: Well, if we don’t have concrete evidence that we can’t trust Rein, then who do we pick to ally?
FROG-CRIMES: In fact, why don’t we just let you 1v1 rein and we’ll ally whoever wins that round? Less casualties that way.
GRIND: Less casualties for YOU. A 1v1 fight would result in more TCPs being downed on each team than a 4v1
GRIND: You’re making things more complicated than they have to be. Again. Please just play the game like everyone else does
FROG-CRIMES: Ugh, fine. Well, we hope you don’t mind, we’re planning on sending our TCPs on another trip through the game world.
FROG-CRIMES: They would like to visit Prophet, so we most likely will be making a diplomatic visit to your base. Are you fine with that?
GRIND: Sure. I suppose I don’t have a choice anyway
GRIND: I cannot make this any more clear though. If you ally Rein I won’t let your TCPs near my base
GRIND: So don’t try anything

-CALL END-

Well, at least for now, you have two bases on your list of locations to go to. Better tell your TCPs this.




> TEACH PILOTING - ALL
> CREATE PLUSHIE PILE

Your cats are investigating the new ship you’ve made for them. Windy and Fennel seem a little intimidated by the size of it, though it really doesn’t have all that much storage space. You call for their attention, and they settle down to listen to you.

You tell them that it’s becoming more and more clear that they may end up in a combat situation in the future. With who, you’re still not certain, but they need to know some names, because they are about to go on a short diplomatic journey.

Macaron is friendly, and is the deity watching over Tasty. Macaron doesn’t seem to dislike any of the other deities, and is currently allied with a deity named Rein.
Grind is serious and not very compassionate, and really hates Rein. Grind is also taking care of Prophet - Windy and Fennel sit up a bit, and Fennel tells you that it actually got to talk to Prophet a minute ago, through the TCP Communicators! She hasn’t said much yet, but she’s okay, and she’d really like to show Windy and Fennel her new home.
Marzu is someone we haven’t talked to much, but we could probably get along with. She’s going to ally Grind, and doesn’t seem to like Rein very much.
And finally, Rein is very calm and serene, and has offered us guidance as a deity. Grind keeps telling us we shouldn’t trust it, but refuses to explain why.

You give the TCPs a few minutes to mull this over. Indeed, they can piece together that the two teams opposing each other each have a TCP that they care about. They’re not sure what to do, but you tell them that convincing other TCPs to go rogue is an option, and they start to form some plans. Tubes, in particular, has opened up a notepad app on his laptop to write down everything you’ve said, and what options they have.

As they sit and think and write, though, Fennel suddenly thinks of something and asks you a question:

If you send them to talk to every other TCP in this world, and they all become friends, won’t that just make things more complicated? It’s already complicated enough that they have two friends on different teams...

(Send your TCPs on another ADVENTURE now? y/n)

> Ask the TCPs what they think they should do. In the end, it will affect them more than us when they go to battle.
> Either way, they should at least be allowed to see Prophet.