Silverias
Know what you're doing yet?
- Joined
- Apr 9, 2016
- Messages
- 244
- Likes received
- 2,788
As far as I remember, the subject doesn't come up again.
Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
As far as I remember, the subject doesn't come up again.
Because they're a couple of miles away, which is why the 1st Recon sniper missed his first shot. And the psychological aspect.
Several reasons. Firstly, that would take longer. Secondly, he's trying to be a team player. Getting NCR soldiers used to working with psychics is an objective in itself. Thirdly, he doesn't actually know how high he'd have to lift someone to have the desired effect.
rather noticeable difference between this and my previous visit to Qward is that if you walk down the street just behind a Weaponer everyone gets out of the way really fast, pressing themselves against walls and even throwing themselves off an overpass at one point.
I'm reminded of Chantinelle's affirmation of the idea that demons don't care where their power comes from. She wanted power, I want to build and Kalmin wants to destroy everything. There's no… Objective way of determining which is 'best' or morally correct. Other than identifying one as self-defeating, I suppose. I know that, and yet I don't see any particular problem with my desires coming from that.
'Why' finds no answer, but who cares?
"I'm afraid that I underestimated your devotion to destruction. I thought that you might be a brutal realist rather than a genuine omni-nihilist."
Those Thunderers don't have Kalmin's protection against my empathic abilities, though given precisely how empathic I appear to be at the moment I make an effort not to look too closely.
I raise my left hand and point my ring at Kalmin for a moment, then lower it.
Pretty sure Paul could see all emotions ever since his first enlightenment? Orange best, but he was definitely capable of perceiving the entire spectrum.Can Paul see other emotions now, or did he lose that ability after his new enlightenment?
Pretty sure Paul could see all emotions ever since his first enlightenment? Orange best, but he was definitely capable of perceiving the entire spectrum.
Paragon's big oops moment."I believe that you have failed to comprehend the definition of 'everything'."
If I could bow my head, I would. Yes, that's on me.
And I'm suddenly reminded of the Mongo scene from Blazing Saddles, where he casually trots down the street as the people of Rock Ridge flee in terror. "Unholy Shit, It's11th July 2012
06:03 GMT
A rather noticeable difference between this and my previous visit to Qward is that if you walk down the street just behind a Weaponer everyone gets out of the way really fast, pressing themselves against walls and even throwing themselves off an overpass at one point.
I suspect to 'True Q'ardajin', those on the surface are little more than annoyances to be tolerated before their eventual annihilation. Having occasional use but largely ignored."Are we heading somewhere in particular, or just making our presence felt?"
We're not in the same surface city I visited last time. I'm not completely certain what the difference-.
Yeah, sending a clear message. And that message is "Your ass is grass, Varnathon.""Weaponer Kalmin, what a-."
Kalmin twists his right hand, a pale qwa bolt appearing in his grip. He aims it at the floating robotic head and hurls it, striking true and erasing the robot.
...Or he could just be mildly vexed. Dual purposes for the win.
Plus it helps you let off some steam on something worthless? Not that your anger is so weak as to be quenched by so small an act of destruction? Probably fun, though."Yes, but it could probably tell people what you want more efficiently than just stomping around and scaring aliens."
"I didn't become a Weaponer so that I could indulge the idiocy of others." He resumes his stomping through the city. "Besides, destroying one with qwa energy will get Varnathon's attention faster than mere words."
So, he's a bit of a shut-in even by Weaponer standards? Why am I not surprised?"Alright." This armour isn't really designed for walking around, but I suppose that doing so lends credence to the pretence that I'm a robot. The integrated sensors mean that I don't have to look around so see what's going on around me. "Are we heading directly to a tunnel, or are you planning on blowing up some more robots?"
"I'd quite like to talk to the local Thunderer garrison. It has been…" He looks around, clearly not impressed. "Some time since I left my workshop. This is new to me."
Ah. It's all just so far beneath his notice, eh? He has bigger concerns to worry about."It can't have been that long. Sinestro's only-."
"When I said that I didn't care about it, I meant that I didn't care about it. I came up here once or twice in my youth and never bothered to return. The tribute serves a purpose of course, but it's not the aim of our civilisation."
What, all that is? Surely there's something you don't want to destroy?"And what is?"
"Destruction. The annihilation of all that is and can be, for the glory of the Anti-Monitor."
Indeed. Will you only be happy when the entire universe is a smoking cinder collapsing into a Big Crunch?
Well, you can't say Kalmin has ever been subtle..."After you've destroyed everything. What goal are you working towards by doing that?"
"I believe that you have failed to comprehend the definition of 'everything'."
If I could bow my head, I would. Yes, that's on me.
Which makes them working together quite the odd couple. The man who wants to make a better world, and the Q'ardajin who wants to blow it up..."So there's no greater aim than 'everything: destroyed'?"
"No. Why are you surprised? I've been very clear about my motives."
Because then where would he keep his stuff? Especially the things he can't keep in subspace (which we've seen is unreliable...)"I suppose that it's just such an alien idea to me. And you're shielding your psyche against the techniques I'd use to understand things like that."
"Why do you not want to destroy things?"
Hardly. But they do have a say in the biologically-driven aspects of his personality (no arguments about what parts that may be, now.)"Ah, ultimately? My desire to build is the product of evolutionary processes which have given rise to pro-social instincts due to the fact that those generally led to groups surviving and passing on their genes. But your desires can't be derived from the inverse; evolution might give things an instinct to destroy themselves in specific circumstances, but if anyone with a particular trait followed through then there's no way that it would get passed down."
"And that's it? You're just a product of your ancestors' circumstances?"
Huh. And I take it that sentiment is common amongst the worshippers of the Anti-Monitor. After all, what matters where you came from, if your purpose is to destroy it?"Not entirely. I'm aware of them, so I can reflect on them and create a moral theory based on my intuitions. But if you want to know where it all comes from, that's where. Q'ardajin are clearly social animals. At some point you must have started wanting to destroy things, so there must have been a point before that where you didn't."
"Qward's interior is barren and desolate, the product of Erdammeru's wrath. We have no history before the Anti-Monitor brought us here. I couldn't tell you about our evolutionary history even if I wanted to."
At least you still have a moral compass, unlike some of your alternates. But it's a thing to keep an eye on, to be aware of as you proceed.Huh. If… The Anti-Monitor's actions resulted in… Something like the Crisis happening in the eighties or nineties… And Qward survived… Then it's quite possible that their past no longer exists. What would something like that do to a species' instincts? Or did he just change them?
I'm reminded of Chantinelle's affirmation of the idea that demons don't care where their power comes from. She wanted power, I want to build and Kalmin wants to destroy everything. There's no… Objective way of determining which is 'best' or morally correct. Other than identifying one as self-defeating, I suppose. I know that, and yet I don't see any particular problem with my desires coming from that.
I'm sure Kalmin is looking forwards to it. The ultimate test of OL's creativeness versus his desire to destroy.'Why' finds no answer, but who cares?
"You realise-?"
"That one day, if we both live long enough, we will try to kill one another?" He smiles faintly. "How is it that you did not realise that from the first?"
Well, knowing this, I doubt there's any likelihood of that in future."I'm afraid that I underestimated your devotion to destruction. I thought that you might be a brutal realist rather than a genuine omni-nihilist."
"I would advise against underestimating me."
Even if you don't agree with him, there's a certain measure of purity to Kalmin. In some ways, he's a good man. In the sense he doesn't want power over you, he won't monologue as you lay dying, he'll just kill you and move on."But given your ideology, I'm struggling to understand why you made Sinestro his ring in the first place. If you were just taking a commission, I'd understand, but-."
"Sinestro declared his intention to destroy the Green Lantern Corps. Having led them for years, he understood them better than we do. He seemed well-placed to make good on his vow, and the Green Lantern Corps are our enemies. I love destruction, but that doesn't mean that I must be personally present at every act of destruction. I don't need to carry destruction out with my own hands. I build the weapons which cause destruction."
In other words, stay on his good side, or he'll start working out ways to kill you. Like he's going to do to Varnathon..."And you're working with us because the war between us and the Reach will devastate vast areas of space."
"That's nice, yes." He smiles faintly. "But it's not the only reason. I am… Obliged to you. You got me out of my rut. Convinced me that I could make myself useful to the Anti-Monitor again. There are logical reason unrelated to morals for honouring debts, and we q'ardajin… Generally repay things. Though don't bet your life on it."
Yeah, that plaza just screams killing ground. I bet a large swathe of it is laden with boobytraps too.Ahead of us I can just about see the fortification guarding the passageway to the inner part of the planet. Around it is a wide open plaza and atop it are a variety of sentry guns and patrolling Thunderers. Above it… Yes, there's the faint shimmer of an energy shield to protect it against orbital strikes. I didn't get to see much of the outside of the last one I visited due to being a captive, but what I'm seeing matches the intelligence files I've had access to.
"I'll bear that in mind."
Ah, connoisseurs of killing. They take pride in a particularly clean kill, or an impressive death, I'll bet.Those Thunderers don't have Kalmin's protection against my empathic abilities, though given precisely how empathic I appear to be at the moment I make an effort not to look too closely. Their drive for destruction matches with what he says his is, though rather than regarding their role as the making of tools they've got martial pride. They do want to carry out destruction in person, but…
And they die again and again, as is their place. How satisfying.
Probably a very un-Q'ardajin desire for money. Or maybe he thinks that distributing their weapons into the larger world will increase the amount of destruction in the universe. Like the Reach war.I raise my left hand and point my ring at Kalmin for a moment, then lower it. Yes, some are Dark Kantians like Kalmin, but others are just arseholes. They destroy and kill because they enjoy it, violent hedonists rather than Anti-Monitor loyalists.
I wonder what I'll see when we confront Varnathon?
Clerics, cultists, or whatever name you may use for them are a satisfying bundle of tropes indeed!Is it odd that I can respect Kalmins motivation and even like him because of it?
I mean, the actually goal is nuts to me, but I enjoy his spiritual purity.
Other villains act because of base instincts or because they don't care about others, he does because of an overarching ideal.
Somehow being evil is more palatable than being merely nasty.
Which makes them working together quite the odd couple. The man who wants to make a better world, and the Q'ardajin who wants to blow it up...
At least you still have a moral compass, unlike some of your alternates. But it's a thing to
A crisis of faith from that would be hilarious. "My god only wants to destroy part of everything? "Either that or Kalmin thinks the Anti-Monitor wants to destroy everything but is wrong.
Thank you, corrected.
A crisis of faith from that would be hilarious. "My god only wants to destroy part of everything? "
Also, he's the son of Perpetua, and his original task was to prevent other multiverses from noticing the DC multiverse, since his mother went rogue and decided to create a universe in a way that the Source didn't want her to, and the reason why he caused the first Crisis was to prevent the multiverse from being destroyed, since that would have caused his mother to die, and the Crises caused cracks in the Source Wall (behind which she was imprisoned), which would eventually allow her to escape.A crisis of faith from that would be hilarious. "My god only wants to destroy part of everything? "
Qwardians hope to achieve omnidestruction.That's a fascinating insight into Kalmin's mind, there. And now I understand why he has no real desire to make more Blue Lantern stuff. What use is hope to destroy, to kill, when he could spend his time refining weapons for ever-greater efficiency? I'll bet he thinks of Compassion and Love the same way. Or maybe he feels them in his own way: killing swiftly and painlessly to spare pointless suffering.
[Sniffs suspiciously]Also, he's the son of Perpetua, and his original task was to prevent other multiverses from noticing the DC multiverse, since his mother went rogue and decided to create a universe in a way that the Source didn't want her to, and the reason why he caused the first Crisis was to prevent the multiverse from being destroyed, since that would have caused his mother to die, and the Crises caused cracks in the Source Wall (behind which she was imprisoned), which would eventually allow her to escape.
i suppose paul has not thought that, this might be a trap kalmin is leading him into?11th July 2012
06:03 GMT
I wonder what I'll see when we confront Varnathon?
i suppose paul has not thought that, this might be a trap kalmin is leading him into?
i agree. i hope its a civil duel to the death though.He probably hasn't, but the odds of that would be near zero. Unless the trap comes after Varnathon is destroyed. Remember, Kalmin is very prideful, and the very notion of Varnathon giving qwa-matter to outsides triggers him to a level that probably matches his desire to destroy everything.
I'm more concerned that Paul's going to have to destroy Kalmin if there's a chance of Paul fulfilling his mission of getting them to stop worshipping the Anti-Monitor. We all like Kalmin, and want to see him stay part of Team Paul, but his ultimate goal wouldn't allow that to happen.
Nose must be off, this is Rebirth.
Giving a shit a coat of paint doesn't stop it being shit.
That depends on whether he hacked Paul's ring and found out about the Anti-Monitor encounter or not.I suppose paul has not thought that, this might be a trap kalmin is leading him into?
Either that or Kalmin thinks the Anti-Monitor wants to destroy everything but is wrong.
I'm interested about what you'll see when you look at Varthoom.