The Shivering Isles looked even more chaotic than usual as a result of the game selected for Mehrunus Dagon's challenge. After the fracas of Hermaeus' challenge, it was decided that the challenger had to agree to a game after hearing the rules, or the challenged had to pick a new game. After the third selected game, however, the challenger had to agree to one of the offered games, as long as they were significantly different. Upon hearing the rules of the first game Discord offered, however, Dagon had agreed to it immediately. The notion of a game in which a single word could create or destroy with impunity appealed to Dagon immensely.
The game was Materialization Shiritori. The basic rules were simple: each player said a word that began with the last letter of the previous player's word. If the thing thus stated existed, it was temporarily shunted into zero-sum until the end of the game. If it did not exist, it was brought into existence. Each player had exactly one minute to come up with their word, or they forfeited. The game ended when one player proved unable to speak a valid word within the time limit. Repeat words were forbidden...though repeat items or concepts were allowed if a different word or variant of the word were utilized. In addition, multi-word descriptions of items described in two or more words were allowed, as long as it described a single thing.
Given the nature of Daedra, certain additional rules were created. First, they could not use each other's names or their dominions as words, and thus directly erase their opponent for the required time period. Second, a specific language alphabet was agreed upon in advance that they used, and words were only valid if they could be written in that alphabet. Third, no outside assistance. Of course, Discord still proved to have an advantage over Dagon since he seemed to have knowledge of things that did not exist within Aurbis' sphere. The hydrogen bomb that was his first usage, for example. Dagon still had no idea what that was.
"Fur," Discord offered calmly as it came to his turn again, and fur vanished from his Savior's Hide, from his own hide, and every creature and garment in the area.
Dagon glanced around, trying to come up with something...and spotted one of the creatures summoned. "Rhino!" he barked out, and a nearby rhinoceros vanished.
Discord clicked his tongue chidingly. "I'm not sure if that should count as outside interference or not," he offered thoughtfully. "After all, it's only because Jyggorath called it a rhino when I summoned it that you knew the word."
"He's obviously on your side!" Dagon barked back.
"Point," Discord concluded. "Old bag!"
Namira vanished into zero-sum, causing Sanguine to burst into laughter and give Discord a high five.
"For some reason, I feel immensely pleased with myself," Meridia observed idly.
Dagon searched his brain for a word to use. "...Granola!" he shouted out desperately.
As granola began to rain from the sky, Discord shook his head sadly. "And now you lose."
"What do you mean?" Dagon demanded angrily.
"Because I can use a valid word that I can exist without, but you can't," he allowed simply. As Dagon's eyes widened in shock and fear, Discord barked out, "AURBIS!"
When reality returned a minute later with the end of the game, Discord accepted Mehrunus Dagon's sincere - if disgruntled - oath of fealty.
Discord stared across the table at Mephala as she glared at him in hatred. "So...that's the game you've chosen to accept?"
Mephala snarled angrily, but subsided. "Yes...of the three you've suggested, that's one I will...accept."
Discord chuckled. "Alright. As agreed, you have one hour to succeed." As he spoke, Vaermina moved up to stand beside him. "See if you can show me something Vaermina hasn't."
Mephala chuckled darkly. "Shouldn't be too hard-"
"I asked Sanguine for pointers on how to keep things fresh," Vaermina interrupted, enjoying the sight of Mephala paling.
"Time's started, Mephala," Discord spoke up. "You reign over lies, sex, murder, secrets, and plots. Surely you can be creative." His eyes narrowed. "What are you waiting for? Seduce me!"
One humiliating hour later, Mephala had regretfully sworn fealty to Discord, and Vaermina gave Sanguine a Hood of Dreamweave which would let him peer into mortals' dreams to observe their most debaucherous fantasies as payment for his tutelage.
Molag Bal stared at the board in disbelief. It had been going so well. Discord had offered a game that was all about conquest, which seemed right up Bal's alley. The cards and dice had seemed constantly in his favor, and he'd conquered most of the board before too long, with Discord letting him roam free. It seemed it was all coming to an end as Discord seemed trapped in one corner of the board, gaining a pittance of forces each turn as Bal amassed a seemingly unstoppable horde.
Then Discord had begun flipping that coin each time he rolled his dice. Molag Bal then watched in disbelief as his troops were eaten away to nothing, leaving him - after his overconfidence - with only one troop in each territory. Discord had then let him build again the next turn, only to meet the same fate. And the next. And the next.
And then Discord had moved. Dividing his forces, he swept from his corner across the entire board, devouring the world chunk by chunk until Bal's last troop was wiped out, leaving him beaten. "It's...it's impossible..." he groaned disbelievingly.
Discord chuckled softly. "What did you expect...from a game called Risk?"
Not surprised to see a No game No life reference there. My partner and I loved that episode. Might watch it again soon
7851704
OMG, thank Celest- no Faust that somepony understood that reference they should make video game based off of that idea btw, am I right?
7851725 Haha don't know how it would work as a game but if someone was able to put it together it would definitely be entertaining
7851729
It would be anime style Mario Party.
Seriously, that'd be how it worked. In vs mode, you'd pick from canon characters to play as, go around the board, and play minigames as each 'challenge'. In story mode, you'd play as 'Blank' going around the board against whoever the opponent was, playing the minigames to get ahead...with the 'minigames' themed after the games played in 'No Game No Life'.
7851735 That sounds awesome. Never played Mario Party so don't have anything to base it on, but it sounds like a videogame you'd play whilst getting drunk with friends
I saw,a reference to Expiration Date.
Ooo you used one of my favorite no game no life games
Ah, Risk. Last time I pulled that out I started off taking the whole of Australia and quietly building up... Ended up with well over 300 troops within a few turns and took the entire map in one go. That game is seriously broken if you know how to play it.
Ah, yes. RISK. I have actually seen an upset like the one described here. Only once, mind, but I have seen it.
Risk...
What a fantastic game
7851840
Funny. That's exactly what Discord just did.
Too bad Dagon didn't word his plan properly.
A pity Mephala didn't try for a bucket of chicken wings, would have worked.
Guess Bal didn't weigh his Risk and reward properly enough.
But on a serious note, I played against AI so many times on the PS2 I remembered one of my favourite quotes: "We hate it! We hate it! If this were a real board, we would flip it!"
Ah, Australia. How I love thee...for thy seeming insignificance and sheer defensibility!
I'll just leave this here.
Now Dagon, do you swear fealty to Discord?
Yes my master
7848488 I swear, you want to let the dogs out! He hasn't made the kibble trap and the farmer has ended his party too soon. How do you expect him to turnip the beet?
Crap, I assumed the farmer's gender. Take a swig and roll a Legend 27.
Why did I think Risk was Monopoly?
7851935
Because it ends about the same. One person is left in an existential crisis concerning the nature of victory at the cost of friendship, and all the sane people left to go play something less violent. Like DOOM!
the last line, OH SNAPPLE!
7851902 TRUE THAT!
So that's where the still heart and broken mind went. Which leaves us wondering where Discord's own heart and mind went.
"Materialization Shiritori". Huh, funny, I was just rewatching No Game No Life the other day. That was... a very fun game against Dagon.
Anyone here ever watch Undergrads? That's where I first heard of the game Risk
Molag Bal should've kamikaze'd...
7851921
But then you'd have to get the nasal pies out, and that would activate Discord's tree aura.
7851735 Interesting idea, but how would you take Blank's tendency to manipulate the rules in their favor into account? For example, the chess game that wins them the crown
Another enjoyable chapter. Good job.
I followed the link and now I can't get Discord's head actually turning into Spy's when he says that line, accent and all, out of my head... not that that's necessarily a bad thing...
7852371
By designing the minigames such that there are two ways to win.
By the expected rules.
And by the unexpected rules.
Discord got Australia, didn't he????? And Molag Bal got into a land war in Asia during Winter. Does going up against Discord count as going up against a Sicilian when Death is on the line???
7852486 That's perfectly in character for Discord.
I can't even take this seriously anymore. He literally unmade reality...
Sounds fair.
Which will be his undoing.
Wow, that, that's one hell of a game.
Screwing with the rules. Smart.
Damn.
DAMN. Well, if there's one thing Discord can do, it's be VERY sneaky.
And from someone who is VERY much a Magnificent Bastard?
7852712 u were taking it seriously to start with? well theres ur problem!
7852712 He owes our world a few of his wins.
7852328 That avoids his trap card but what about his Alucard?
I suggest a tactical retreat to Discord's mother's house and make the three Queens regret their decision. When he thinks we done that, our Spy recovers the Sleeper Agents to infiltrate the palace as dancers. The assassination will go well if they follow the routine and not one become a Left Shark.
That was fun, may I have another? Looking forward to more.
Keep up the great work. Deus tecum.
The bit with Aubris being shunted out of the current existence was quite ingenious. Transcendence has its advantages.
That seducing part. I knew what it was even without clicking at the link. Great job
So, so far it all seems as easy wins for Discord. Too easy. Come on, there has to be someone who gives him a proper challenge!
Which will in turn make it even more amusing. After all, the best victories are those we have to work really hard to achieve.
Ahh.... Risk.. soooo meny memorys... of watching my enemys CRY in horror as I mowed them down!
7853836
However, there is the possibility that the Fat King is cheating on his left hand. If that is the case, we'd need the hubris, and I don't think we have enough energy cards left for that. We might have a spare bannanapple, but either way, it's just too risky.
7855026
I haven't yet seen any evidence that Baby Discord had any life experience from Equestria. For all we have been shown, the Discord we know may have been raised by Sheogorath. Is there anywhere in this story that clarifies it one way or the other as to whether this is a de-aged Discord from Equestria, or if Discord's adventures in Equestria are still in his future?
7855054 Judging based on every other displaced story, it's ALWAYS a de-aged version of the character from Equestria who eventually makes it back there. Whether he's yet to have had any adventures in Equestria or if he's from the Twilight Sparkle era is yet to be seen- personally I'd love to see the former because that would really change how things end up (Likely end up with King Discord uniting the world and messing with it but everyone loves him anyways) but the latter could be nice too... Least til Fluttershy sees him with the Savior's Hide. Either way, memory loss is also a thing, so if he IS from the Twilight era, then he won't remember til later, unless he already has and hasn't given any indication.
7852371 ah, no game - no life, one of the funniest animes ever.
I sensed the no game no life referance. Respect.
7854839 Crap! Does he have tokens? Does he have crickets? We need to get rid of the cake! The gingers are coming!
7854651 Perchance did you happen to own australia when you did?
Ah yes, Risk. I just played that game with my brother and dad today. I destroyed 10 of my brother's units with one of mine defending my spot. Then he kicked our butts.
I bet discord camped in Australia... the cheap bastard.
Ah, RISK... one of the few times me and Dad could compete on equal footing.
Love the NGNL reference too, though I'd win that game easily... use "words" as the answer. Since all answers use words, the opponent can't respond!
8183682
You can use concepts as long as it can be spelled in the language. O can be a binary 0, it can be the symbol for output or off, it can be a mathematical variable, and it isn't a word. Of course, that's dependant on a deadric prince knowing one of those and the previous turn ending in O. Mora would probably know what a variable was, but pretty much everything else couldn't happen. It would also end the game, because the concept of O, which also happens to be the first and last letter of the concept of O, could disappear. Because words ends with S, you could just use an onomatopoeia that started with S. Sssssssss isn't a word in the English language, but is the sound a snake makes, and can be spelled in the alphabet, which would count for concepts. I mean, you could also just say "game" and win. Alternatively, saying words could cause speech bubbles to appear instead of getting rid of the concept of words. Physical words weren't in existence, and then they were. Same thing could happen for O, or game. Instead of getting rid of the concept you were actually thinking of, it could create or vanish a different concept or object that went by the same name. By trying to get rid of the letter O and cheese the game, you get rid of orgasms because a slang term is O. Words and the Bo Burnham song stops existing. Game and any type of skill with the opposite sex disappears. In all cases though, the game could continue. If you were trying to get rid of wolves, but wolves had already been said, and you said the scientific name for domesticated dogs, dogs would appear instead of the wolves disappearing. Which means it isn't based on what you're thinking of, just what you said. I figure whatever rules over the game and resolves the effects would try to avoid cheesy things that make response impossible, because the main goal is to stump your opponent, not necessarily make it physically impossible for them to answer. Things that make response difficult? Sure. But there's gotta be at least one possible solution, otherwise it ruins the game.