Thread "Suppose the goddess Fortuna/Tyche gave you a notebook..." in forum "Comic Talk and General Discussion *"

Posted at 9:12PM, Dec. 14, 2009

But instead of bringing death to anyone whose name you write in the notebook you bring them good fortune. And you do this with the realization that there may be a price to pay; anyone who doesn't appreciate the blessings they get and/or becomes arrogant and haughty because of it, or if you write your own name into the notebook or make an attempt to destroy it an entity named Nemesis shows up to make the offenders pay… in a rather bloody and messy way…

Would you use the notebook to bestow those blessings of good fortune to those who you think are worthy? Or would you use it to lead your enemies to their doom?

note: the blessings recieved would be random, but they would all be good for those who recieve them… And the notebook would only work for you since the goddess herself gave it to you, and anyone else who attempts to use it will end up meeting Nemesis…

Posted at 10:12PM, Dec. 14, 2009

Sounds like a variation of the Death Note.

I don't know, the chance someone becomes ungrateful or takes something good for granted is pretty high, in my experience, so knowing that they'd be irrationally slaughtered seems a terrible risk to put upon someone. Or myself. I couldn't tell by what was written.

Posted at 2:12AM, Dec. 15, 2009

A blessing with the caveat that people have to be all 'worthy' about it isn't much of a blessing. I'd pass.

Posted at 2:12AM, Dec. 15, 2009

A blessing with the caveat that people have to be all 'worthy' about it isn't much of a blessing. I'd pass.

Well, you do decide if they're worthy of a blessing or not. It's not as if you were given any limit on who you think is worthy or not. :)

Posted at 4:12AM, Dec. 15, 2009

There's a difference about being worthy before you receive it, and remaining worthy afterward. :] It's like earning it versus paying for it. And it's not about worth in MY eyes, it's about worth in the goddess's eyes. Holding the nominator responsible for the future actions of a recipient is a pretty shit thing for anyone to do and she sounds like a crummy goddess I wouldn't want to be involved with. If someone's going to give a blessing then they should be willing to let the recipient progress from that as they wish. A true blessing shouldn't have strings attached, in my opinion. So- I wouldn't use the notebook. :]

Posted at 5:12AM, Dec. 15, 2009

Holding the nominator responsible for the future actions of a recipient

I think Lonnehart may have miss-worded the start of his post to make this seem to be the case, but his question "Or would you use it to lead your enemies to their doom?" leads me to believe that if a recipient shows themselves as "unworthy", then THEY'RE the ones that pay, not the nominator.

The nominator only pays if they try and destroy the book or write their own name in it.
I may be mistaken…

It does seem like a poison chalice to me though, you're right. Not from the nominator's perspective though, but for those they nominate:
In fiction, quite often characters haven't got many dimensions. In this sort of scenario they could go on and be "worthy" or "unworthy" and live happily of badly ever after. In REAL life, it's likely that EVERYONE you nominated would turn out to be unworthy in some way and so by blessing them you'd ultimately be sentencing them all to a horrible death, no matter who they were.

If you didn't ignore the book and put it away somewhere you'd be an amoral monster.
The only really "good" thing about the situation would be that you'd have interesting "proof" of the existence of a divine entity, or something like it. That knowledge would be far more important than anything to do with the book. ^___^

Posted at 2:12PM, Dec. 15, 2009

she sounds like a crummy goddess I wouldn't want to be involved with.

You hit the nail on the head right there. Tyche is the Goddess of Fate/Fortune, but she's very irresponsible and tosses out blessings like nobody's business. Her alternate dark side, Nemesis is the goddess of vengeance and punishment. So you and your friends would probably be safe not using the notebook in the first place. :)

The nominator only pays if they try and destroy the book or write their own name in it.
I may be mistaken…

No you're not. Destroying something that belongs to or was made by a diety would pretty much insult them. And writing your own name into the book would reveal your greed and/or selfishness.

Oh… and did a little rewording in the first post. The nominated person is the one who pays for their own unworthiness, not the person who owns the notebook. Of course, if the owner of the notebook attempts to destroy or write their name in it they'll pay as well.