The Ur-Quan Masters Discussion Forum

Trolly Bazoo and Whoop Dee Doo! You were having such a wonderful dream, and now you’ve been rudely awakened by an alarm! It sings a merry tune, calling all Pkunk to their stations. The lovely Fury you serve on must be under attack by some enemy force. As a secondary gunner, you really should get out of your comfortable nest and head down to your station. But your dream was so delightful! Surely combat could wait for another day! What a question to ponder! Should you close your gentle bird eyes and remain in your warm nest or should you head off to meet your delightful comrades and sing the songs of combat?

1.   I must wake and sing with my fellows!
2.   Here is nice and warm and safe, I’ll go back to sleep!

I shall put my voice towards the second alternative

[2]

Our crew has training deficiencies across multiple areas. I have no idea what we're doing away from the safety of the homeworld fleet and we definitely can't take on an Ilwrath Avenger alone. The captain will probably realize this and order a full retreat. Go back to sleep.

Hallelujah! Option 2! Tomorrow is another day.

Edit: removed OOC stuff.

In another life, another time, I would have chosen option one.
But, alas, the stars have determined that in this life I should choose two.

[1] - In my ophinion Pkunks are more eager , than apathetic .

Later, I'd like to know if choosing 2 would merely delay us or kill us or actually lead on to something else interesting.. but for now, let's take 1.

Choice #1 seems like a Spathi move and since the Pkunk are a religious sort, not responding to a call of duty could bring dire repercussions not found under another race's chain of command. If the Fury is destroyed it wouldn't matter either way. But not manning the post might have an unexpected result. Hmm I guess I think 2 would be the better choice, but only slightly.

You decide to go back to sleep. It’s warm and comfy in your bed and the others will understand that you just need some happy sleep. Unfortunately, while the others may understand the lack of a secondary gunner leaves the ship in quite a pickle. The enemy rips it apart and you’re awakened from your sleep by cold hard vacuum. As your blood boils, you die.

You blink and look around you. You’re in a big hall, so big that you can hardly see the roof. There are fellow Pkunk everywhere. In front of you three old Pkunk perch on a bench, looking at you with friendly, yet serious, smiles.

“Welcome to the tribunal, new soul.” the middle one says. “You must be confused. Let us explain what is going on here”.

Then abruptly he burps, shakes his feathers and disappears. Another, even older Pkunk appears in his stead.

“What now, what now? Who’s this young rascal then?” The other Pkunk quickly bend in and whisper something in his ears. He peers at you and hoots in delight.

“That must have been confusing eh! Old Brakky got reincarnated, and I was just killed in combat! This is the Pkunk tribunal. When a new soul enters the Pkunk realm we try to determine how Pkunk it really is. And we’re quite good at it! All we need is to look at four choices, and we can tell if you’re a Pkunk or not. If you aren’t, we’ll send you on to wherever you belong, since we’re wise and old and practically never make mistakes.”

The other birds lean in again, whispering some further instructions.

“Whoop de doo! So you were asleep eh? That’s your first choice! And now you’re dead! Tell me, are you pleased with that decision?”

You ponder the question. Sleeping was nice, but boiling blood wasn’t that hot.

1.   Yes, combat is not really my thing but I do love sleeping!
2.   No, I should have gotten out of bed.

Always trust your instincts. Even in the afterlife I'd still choose sleeping.

Yes, I like sleeping. We should be sleeping now, why aren't we sleeping?

[2]

That was quite an interesting experience. Sleeping definitely paid off. But on to new experiences! Time to get out of bed.

[2]

No, sleeping in was a bad idea, but I am only saying that to avoid permadeath!

I knew being a slacker was not the Pkunk way... #2.

I wasn't in favor of sleeping, but if that's what was chosen, I'll stand by it. No need to be waffle-y.

1, with the caveat (of course not representable within this context) that I stand by the choice I made that time; but if I am returned to a new ship in the middle of combat, I expect to already be fully awake and will remain so. So,  if this answer would be taken to mean that I intend to repeat the same choice in these different circumstances (which I would not), then I'll go with 2.

Maybe we are still sleeping and all of this is just a dream...not the most pleasant one, but still just a dream. So keep sleeping until it gets better! I love sleeping!

While sleeping was good at the time, and certainly led to several new experiences both physical and spiritual, there is some room for regret and remorse for this course of action. After all, who will preen the mates and feed grubs to the young of the others formerly aboard the Fury?

Option 2.

2 it seems altho 1 might be fun as well

Number 2 sounds like the best option.

You tell the tribunal that you aren’t pleased with what you’ve done. You should have been more responsible and not let your fellow Pkunk down like that. They hoot a bit, and send you on to a new life.

This time you grow up to work in a factory. The Pkunk don’t need factories of course, but they beleive that hard work can be good for the soul. So some are kept around as places where errant Pkunk can work and learn whatever lessons they believe they need to learn. You work diligently, and attempt to keep your fellow workers amused with happy songs and pretty poems. After a while you’re called up to the factory managers office. He explains that you’ve done a wonderful job and that he’ll give you a choice. You can either continue working on the floor, singing happily and dancing around, or you can have his spot as a manager and learns something new and exciting.

   1. I want to stay on the floor with my happy friends and sing!
   2. Something new and exciting? What a treat this is!

New experiences are always welcome additions to our soul's journey down the path of enlightenment. Let's try something new!

Option 2.

A promotion already? Yay :D Make it #2 of course! I just hope he won't promote us to "excrement expediter manager" or something similar (who knows what factory we're in?) :P

Yeah, let's take the manager job. If nothing else, it would help prevent karma overflow. ;)

#2 will only lead to death and suffering.
#1.

To the manager's office! 2

The bliss of middle management is underrated.. #2    I just hope this isn't a lesson in humility...

I can be manager and spread the joy even further!

You decide to take the manager up on his offer. Organizing can be fun and with you in charge this place can only get better! To begin with, it is a lot of fun. You dance merrily around, organizing happy events for your subordinates and have loads of happy slides and pretty flowers installed to give the place a better feel. After a while, you get a note from upper management. While they appreciate your efforts. Pkunk factories are supposed to be a place where you work for the good of your soul. You’re turning yours into a merry go round, which isn’t the point. So now you have a choice. Either make your factory more efficient and profitable, or get transferred to a farm where you’ll be in charge of keeping the plants alive.

1.   Alrighty then, let’s make some money!
2.   Plants? I love plants!

Give up on my dream of making everywhere happy and peaceful, simply for the sake of cold hard cash? Never! Option 2 please.

Plants. Trying out different things is the deal, and making this factory profitable would definitely involve a lot of sameness.

Lets go and hug trees!  :D

[2]

Go buy a farm.

Plants... *shrug*.... Why not?  #2

nimber 2 please...

Plants sound like a lovely option.

I like money :) #1

Being irresponcible got us dead the first time around , so I'd say shape up and get your place productive !

We are explicitly being given the option. It's not irresponsible.

Number 2.

I'm going to go against the flow and say number 1.

You happily decide to leave the factory and leave for the farm. You love it there. The gentle sun, the rich scent of earth, the green splendour of it all makes it feel like home. You still have fun of course, but it is a richer, more fulfilling fun than that of an ordinary Pkunk. You spend the rest of your life at the farm, lovingly tending to the plants and showering them in affection. After a few years, you can no longer stand to harvest anything, but are content to just watch the beautiful plants grow. You die of old age on your porch, surrounded by the greenery you love so dearly.

You blink and look around you. You’re back in the big hall, with the three old Pkunk perched on a bench in front of you.
 
“Welcome back to the tribunal!” the middle one says. “Looks like you died again!”.

Then abruptly he burps, shakes his feathers and disappears. Another, even older Pkunk appears in his stead. It seems that this is pretty standard procedure at the tribunal.

“What now, what now? Who’s this young rascal then?” again, the other Pkunk quickly bend in and whisper something in his ears. He peers at you and hoots in delight.

“Whoop de doo! Farming is close to your heart eh? That’s your fourth choice! And now you’re dead! We’ll have to think a bit on this!”

The elders stick their heads together and whisper excitedly. Finally, the left one turns and speaks to you.

“You're not much of a fighter, but a diligent worker. You love peace and plants for more than most of us. You can’t be a Pkunk. When you open your eyes you’ll be among your own, where you belong!”

As you open your mouth to protest, the hall fades, away. The last thing you see are happy Pkunk waving to you and promising to write. Then everything is black. As you open your eyes, things are different. Green sunlight bathes your sensitive face as you turn your head towards it. Your body is slender and frail, yet connected to so many others. You realise that you are a Supox shoot. As your memories of your old life fades, you feel satisfied and happy.

Play again Y/N?

Y!  :D

Y

y

Y

N. Game over is game over.

Load game?  :)

Supox doesn't have a reincarnation button ;).

Yeah, let's go again. And thanx Luki.