"I greet you. I am Lord Malvolio of the Green Flame, sovereign lord of the region of space you know as Sector sixteen thirty four and the ruler of its people."
Dul's eyes narrow slightly. "I didn't think that Green Lanterns were allowed to rule entire Sectors."
They aren't even allowed to rule
planets (edit: At least, becoming ruler
after they gain a ring.) Still, play your cards right, Dul, and you might be able to make a
good impression on the big man.
"I am not beholden to the Guardians of Oa. Nay, indeed, their agents are dispatched to act against me and dispute my will and rightful rule."
Ah…
Well, it's
understandable. He's a rogue Spectrum-wielder who's laid claim to an entire Sector as his domain. I can't see the Guardians taking that
lightly.
"You're not a part of the Green Lantern Corps."
"Indeed I am not."
I can practically hear the wheels of 'how can Thanagar profit from this' turning in her head...
"When you say 'act against me', do you mean that Green Lanterns are attacking your empire right now?"
"No, worry not. Priest confronted me ere I sojourned from mine place of imprisonment, but I dispatched him swiftly."
Oh, that doesn't sound good. And one more 'crime' for the Guardians to hold against him, too...
"'Dispatched' as in dead, or..?"
"He lives, disarmed and isolated. The love I bore him as mine tutor is such that e'en now, slaying him would not sit well with me. As for the rest, they have scouted mine domains and been instructed to leave by mine fleets. Matters have not yet escalated."
...
Yet. I have the feeling the bobbleheads will somehow fuck this up. Probably send a Honour Guard-led taskforce in to bust heads and 'restore order'... And
not tell them precisely what they'll be facing, unless Hal Jordan's involved. I suspect he'd at least brief any colleagues on matters.
"But you think that they will?"
"I will to in a position of power ere they do or not."
...Sometimes, his archaic speech gets
real hard to understand. Though I suspect this has a typo in it or something... At any rate, I
think he means 'I would, if I were they.'
"Fair enough. Any other questions for our host?"
"Are you recruiting?"
Looking to change colours, Dul? I know it's you. Onik wouldn't abandon his chosen path so easily, and Xor is too loyal to jump ship.
Lantern Dul barely waited for me to finish talking before asking the question. I frown, my eyes darting to Malvolio's hands. No second ring, but there's no reason why it wouldn't be somewhere else on his person. I can't imagine that he'd have sent it back to Oa, though I suppose that it's not beyond the realm of possibility that he let it go under the assumption that it would select someone in the Sector who was already loyal to him.
"I will anoint those amongst my men who I judge capable and worthy."
Presumably in much the same way Mogo does for the Green Lantern Corps...
"So don't bother posting advertisements in the Thanagarian Empire because they're never going to get it."
"No, but Thanagar would be happy to trade for the services of Lanterns."
It could be a trip, I don't think Thanagar is
particularly close to Malvolio's holdings?
"And I may treat with ambassadors and I may in the fullness of time make such strategic alliances as are convenient to me. But such is not our purpose here."
"It's no secret that I can make personal lanterns. Lord Malvolio-" I gesture to his… I'm not sure what it qualifies as. Secondary Green Central Power Battery? Coterie Lantern? "-has rather surpassed my efforts to date, and neither of us have successfully made a ring. Since these are both learnable skills, that's what we'll be studying today."
Though I doubt the students will be attempting any
practical exercises just yet...
"The creation of this Great Lantern took many weeks of dedicated effort. I am curious to observe your efforts."
I doff my armour and sit cross-legged on the floor, my eyes nearly closed but my empathic vision turned up all the way. Malvolio's presence is near-blinding, but I've gotten a better feel for the others during our time here and can easily… See where their desires integrate with mine.
Ah, things are about to get trippy, eh? I wonder what this looks like from the
outside?
I also note that Lantern Xor as sat down and is studying me as carefully as he can. Yes, he's probably closest to be able to understand this.
"Almost every being has within them some contact with each of the lights. The network of strands which build up their nature, their desires. To make a lantern you must first learn to perceive them not as a series of strands but as the interface, the point at which the raw stuff of desire diffuses one way and the specificality of desire diffuses the other."
It'll probably be much easier with
Enlightenment, since it gives him a much clearer picture of the emotional links.
I don't look at anyone else. I'm simply going to use my own, and my conscious connection to the Honden as what I manifest. I hold out my hands, the faint wire frame outline of a lantern appearing and the point already 'tied' to the orange light glowing just a little brighter. The point just above the core is at once a solid position in the lantern's structure and my desire to avoid nullity. A part of the handle my desire for camaraderie. And on and on until the structure is essentially solid, shimmering as not completely 'real', but still there in a way a normal construct is not.
Though it's likely not as fast as he's perceiving it to be here...
I managed that last time, though far more haphazardly than I'm doing now. But the bit I completely messed up is the bit that comes next; using the structure I've build to link the structure to the light itself, to the Honden itself.
From the incredibly specific to the non-specific. From me to all. And back again. The complexity of the individual and the vastness of the Honden.
And now to spark the
flame within the lantern...
It's shining, shimmering, being at once in the material universe and outside it as the points marked by my manifested desires alter the laws of reality just enough to make that possible. I take a few moments to look oat it as it becomes self-sustaining and then fade back into the room.
Ring, time?
It's amazing how quickly time can pass when you're focused on something...
10th September 2012
15:29 GMT
Hm. Reasonable.
About three and a half hours. I take it that was
quick for him. Not doubt a Maltusian could do it a bit
faster, but their detail work is probably a little weaker. The joy of hand-crafting single pieces versus more mass-produced copies...
Xor's eyes are glowing while Onik is staring with an expression which… That's religious ecstasy, isn't it? Dul is ignoring it in favour of watching Lord Malvolio. I can't tell what he's thinking, but I do get a small respectful nod as I emerge more fully from my trance.
The personal lantern… Looks good. Better than my first effort, at least. I take my current personal lantern out of subspace and set them side by side on the deck.
I am impressed they sat quietly through all that. Then again, given each's interest in the process...
Ring, how did I do?
No faults detected.
Ah. Well, Hinon's the expert and I'll have to have her give it a once-over, but I think I can be reasonably pleased with that.
Not bad. Better than the first one we saw you make as a demonstration for the rookies way back when.
Xor blinks, shaking his head.
"Illustres, I could not understand what you did."
Definitely looks like
Enlightenment plays a strong part in matters, then. Xor is damn good, but if
he couldn't follow...
"Lantern Dul?"
"My ring could see what you were doing with the construct power, but I couldn't get anything else."
Not surprising, she's never struck me as that concerned with the
deeper esoterica of Spectrum usage.
"I see. Lantern Onik?"
"You made a personal lantern."
Hmm... What's that high-pitched squealing I can hear? Nearly ultrasonic...
"Y-es, that-."
"You made a personal lantern you made a personal lantern you made a…"
...Never mind, just Onik
vibrating with joy as he fanboys...
"Lord Malvolio?"
"For how long have you wielded a ring?"
Feeling a sudden surge of
inadequacy, milord?
"A little over two years."
"I required decades of instruction afore I could do so much."
"Bonding with the Ophidian gave me perspective that most mortals lack. So for the rest of you, here's what I did."
Heh. On the other hand, Malvolio, you had to work out the lantern from scratch and studying your own. OL has the advantage on knowing the specs for them, or at least fobbing that part off on his Ring's processors... Like working out a LEGO build from pictures versus building from a clear instruction manual.
