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With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)

Interesting that whatever John's done to keep him off Paul's radar isn't working on Jade. I wonder, was it because she was off planet when he cast the spell, or is the working on Paul only? Would be funny if GC got caught out by coincidence, since controlling that's supposed to be his main deal.
If John did anything to Paragon it's probably through a backdoor in Paragon's tattoo's.
 
If John did anything to Paragon it's probably through a backdoor in Paragon's tattoo's.
I've heard that John can be quite the ass in his regular adventures. If I had to guess, his actions have likely led to the horrifying death of more than one child, likely with extenuating circumstances, but still. His allies also seem to commonly get the short end of the stick, often with the cause being John himself. But is that a thing he does? Get paid a bunch by his rich friend to do a job, like design magic anti detection tattoos, and design them in such a way that John could later manipulate that friend if he so chooses? That seems to go a bit beyond John just constantly getting himself into rough situations, into him just being kind of malicious.
 
I've heard that John can be quite the ass in his regular adventures. If I had to guess, his actions have likely led to the horrifying death of more than one child, likely with extenuating circumstances, but still. His allies also seem to commonly get the short end of the stick, often with the cause being John himself. But is that a thing he does? Get paid a bunch by his rich friend to do a job, like design magic anti detection tattoos, and design them in such a way that John could later manipulate that friend if he so chooses? That seems to go a bit beyond John just constantly getting himself into rough situations, into him just being kind of malicious.
It might not be an intentional back door. When Paul was in Hell, Satanus took advantage of that fact to turn Paul into a demon using the tattoos. Constantine is definitely cunning enough to use that weakness for his own purposes. Hopefully Paul will get that looked at in the future.
 
It's not a bug. It's a feature. But honestly, anyone attacking Paul through that avenue is fair game. If Paul didn't want to absorb harmful magic into his soul, he should have thought about that before getting magic absorbing tattoos. As long as Constantine didn't slip in any actual intentional backdoors, I see it as being fine enough.
 
It's not a bug. It's a feature. But honestly, anyone attacking Paul through that avenue is fair game. If Paul didn't want to absorb harmful magic into his soul, he should have thought about that before getting magic absorbing tattoos. As long as Constantine didn't slip in any actual intentional backdoors, I see it as being fine enough.
I just remembered. When Paul was meeting the children of Rhea, he had to fight someone who tried to control him via his tattoos. He retaliated by consuming whatever it was. Maybe the tattoos aren't such a vulnerability anymore?
 
I have to ask what that dig was at Americans, then. Is there some post-Sheeda initiative going on that wasn't mentioned? I can only imagine the deadly pathogens they left behind.
Pretty sure if asked, it will be how the first Polio vaccination in the 50's was oral and not accepted in the US(Took 11 years for a widely used one to reach the US, 1961.).
 
Pretty sure if asked, it will be how the first Polio vaccination in the 50's was oral and not accepted in the US(Took 11 years for a widely used one to reach the US, 1961.).

Or even earlier.

There were Americans who formed anti-vax movements against the smallpox vaccine in the 1800s, and in 1905 a case about a vaccine mandate made it to the supreme court. Which the state won, by the by.
 
Warhighway
3rd Jahrdrung 2512
Morning


"Of course… You are welcome."

Marco Lupo holds his arms out to the sides, indicating the garden of his father's villa.

"It is simply that we usually get a little more notice before so notable a guest visits us."

I nod. "I.. know, and I'm sorry. My learning on the subject of international affairs has been fairly narrow, and while I knew that your father was a highly capable Tilean general, I… Somehow missed the fact that he actually ruled a city in addition to commanding armies."

"My father's fame must have spread wide indeed for that to be true."

"Indeed. Where I am from, the only Tilean considered to be his equal was Borgio the Besieger, and… Well…"

"My father was never bested by a toasting fork."

I shrug. "No man can be on guard at every moment of every day. But it does detract a little from tales of Borgio's military prowess."

"Yes. I have also heard stories of a strange orange wizard who could strike daemons down with impunity. I had assumed that they were… The ramblings of drunkards, and yet… Here you are."

"Drunkards do ramble. In my case…" I shake my head. "I am not a wizard. Any man may use an enchanted artefact, or even wear mundane armour of such solid construction that he can survive powerful attacks."

"I have heard that in Araby the most skilled magicians bind daemons to carpets which allow them to fly."

I nod. "Yes, it's… Because they're so far from the polar gates, the winds of magic flow weakly there. Their wizards must become proficient in slowly drawing upon the winds and infusing objects with power, or in carefully binding spirits to their service."

"And such men also made-" He gestures to my left hand with his right. "-the ring which you wear?"

"Oh gosh no. This was made by a species who are contemporaries of the Old Ones. I couldn't even begin to explain how it was made. It is able to permanently turn daemons into something that is enslaved to me and technically no longer a daemon. Do you want to see one?"

"I…" He glances at the plain clothed men with the rapiers lurking near at hand. "Think that I will live without."

"Wise." I shrug. "Bringing to bear the level of strength that is needed to physically harm the more powerful sort of daemons is still fairly difficult. Lesser daemons are far easier."

"And… I heard a story about you tricking a dwarf smith with a fake sword?"

"No, I don't think I did that? What sort of fake would trick a dwarf?"

"Supposedly, it bent when he tested it."

"Oh! No, that wasn't a fake sword, that was-. There isn't much a human can teach a dwarf master smith about metallurgy, so I thought I'd make him a curiosity that he couldn't replicate."

"A sword that bends?"

"Anyone can make a sword that bends. A copper sword will bend. I made a sword that can be bent and then spring back into shape."

Mr. Lupo looks puzzled. "If you are not a wizard..?"

"The secret is the element carbon." I generate a construct… Representation of a carbon atom. "Roughly half of wood is composed of carbon, and about twelve percent of a human. It's a very versatile material. These-" I point at the outer electron shell. "-let it attach to a wide variety of other materials in a variety of ways. If we arrange it as a lattice, we-"

I add more carbon atoms and pull out the view until the individual atoms are invisible.

"-get-"

I dismiss the construct and fabricate a diamond to replace it, reaching out with my right hand to catch it and then offering it to Mr. Lupo. He takes it and considers it very carefully.

"-a diamond."

"A.. diamond."

"But if we arrange it in layers…" I generate a new construct image. "We get a substance called graphite, and we use it in pencils. You see how each carbon atom has the same number of bonds?"

"So how does it differ-?"

I pull the image out again but this time fabricate a pencil, which he catches, having palmed the diamond.

"We use them for training children to write before we let them loose on pens."

"I am sure that your maids appreciate it." He looks closely at the sharpened tip, then scratches at it with his thumb nail and examines the material that has been scraped free. "And this is the same.. 'element' that the diamond is made from?"

"Yes. The diamond has a strong and rigid structure, while the layers of graphite can slide away from one another almost freely. But there are other forms of carbon structure as well, and it turns out that if you make tubes of carbon and incorporate it into the metal, you get-"

I fabricate an example in the form of a traditional Tilean duelling sword.

"-something like this."

I then attach a clamp construct to each end and bend it into a hoop. I then remove the clamp from the bade end and we both watch as the sword straightens itself. I then offer it to him.

"Master Thurgun found it amusing, but elects to hide it from his apprentices lest it give them inappropriate ideas. Please, keep it, the pencil and the diamond. An apology for disrupting your day."

He takes the sword and checks the edge and… Heh, he checks that it's actually made of metal.

"Thank you. A fascinating demonstration. I.. am curious. What was it that you wanted to speak with my father about that brought you so far?"

"I know that your father greatly reveres the most ancient traditions of your city, for example that he rigorously trains himself physically when a weaker man of his station might allow himself to go to seed. I was hopeful that his reverence might extend to my area of interest."

"He used to make my brothers and I join him when he trained as an oarsman." Marco smiles. "It left us with an abiding hatred of all boats, though I owe my life to the training of his wrestling master. Do you want to test yourself rowing against him? He's very good."

"Ah, no. My home country was once conquered by a city much like yours. They left us with a rich legacy of civic monuments, but the most useful was their roads. Rather than… Do what modern Tileans appear to which is have mercenaries standing around demanding money with menaces, they used soldiers not actively fighting the nation's enemies to build roads so high in quality that it was sixteen hundred years before we could surpass them. And many of their roads were around to see themselves being surpassed. I need to build a big road network. A very big road network of very big roads, such as would allow an army to march from one end of the Reikland Empire to the other at the best possible speed. The greatest architect in the world is currently engaged in building a rather large canal for me, but your father was the man I thought of first for roads."

"I do not think that my father would want to help someone invade the Empire-."

"No no no." I shake my head. "The Emperor has signed off on it, and he's leaning on the Electors to do the same. They all grudgingly accept that it's in everyone's interest that it happens. I wanted your father to have input at the planning stage so that we end up with a well planned network rather than a mess."

"Well, that is different, but…" He shakes his head. "My father has not to my knowledge shown interest in building roads himself."

"Ah, rats. I'm sorry to have wasted-."

"My brother Gaius on the other hand has been greatly involved in the building and maintenance of our city and its territory. I would be happy to give you a favourable introduction."

I smile broadly. "That would be excellent. Thank you."
 
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3rd Jahrdrung 2512

"The secret is the element carbon." I generate a construct… Representation of a carbon atom. Roughly have of wood is composed of carbon, and about twelve percent of a human. It's a very versatile material. These-"
I think the date needs emboldening? But the second bit should be half.
 
It's solid warpstone, so it generates a constant supply of power once he's near enough to start disintegrating chunks of it.

Eh... without something like the Ophidian backing the effort, it probably would become a variant of an EOL #22 situation: "No matter how tempted I am with the prospect of unlimited power, I will not consume any energy field bigger than my head."

Even if he's trying to destroy/remove from play said power source, it would likely burn out the ring if he tried to use it that way.

Plus, having to deal with any 'native wildlife' objecting to the procedure would be distracting to say the least.
 
3rd Jahrdrung 2512
Morning

"Of course… You are welcome."

Marco Lupo holds his arms out to the sides, indicating the garden of his father's villa.
Ah, Warhammer Paul (What did we call him again? Ah, yes... 'Paol') turning his attention to the nation of Tilea. The Old World's equivalent to Italy, and known for its fiercely capable mercenary companies, many of whom had peculiar quirks, like Lorenzo there, who fought in the fashion of an ancient legionnaire...

"It is simply that we usually get a little more notice before so notable a guest visits us."

I nod. "I.. know, and I'm sorry. My learning on the subject of international affairs has been fairly narrow, and while I knew that your father was a highly capable Tilean general, I… Somehow missed the fact that he actually ruled a city in addition to commanding armies."
Ah, the Warhammer world's Rome. Not nearly so successful as ours, but that comes down more to the greater lethality of the Warhammer world, where a quick death can be a mercy compared to what some things can do to you...

"My father's fame must have spread wide indeed for that to be true."

"Indeed. Where I am from, the only Tilean considered to be his equal was Borgio the Besieger, and… Well…"
As the trivia entry of the Wiki page linked says, a pastiche of Cesare Borgia. Not nearly so powerful politically thanks to lacking a family member of religious note... Instead, like so many great figures of the Warhammer universe, he's a martial warlord. Hardly a let-down, though.

"My father was never bested by a toasting fork."

I shrug. "No man can be on guard at every moment of every day. But it does detract a little from tales of Borgio's military prowess."
Probably doing his thinking with his little head... Which are not generally known for any thought other than "Hot lady!" x3 (Or "Hot fellow!" If you swing that way.)

"Yes. I have also hear stories of a strange orange wizard who could strike daemons down with impunity. I had assumed that they were… The ramblings of drunkards, and yet… Here you are."

"Drunkards do ramble. In my case…" I shake my head. "I am not a wizard. Any man may use an enchanted artefact, or even wear mundane armour of such solid construction that he can survive powerful attacks."
I heard he can eat coal and shit thunder. I can't imagine the tall tales spreading about him by now, given that it's been a couple of years in universe since his arrival?

"I have heard that in Araby the most skilled magicians bind daemons to carpets which allow them to fly."

I nod. "Yes, it's… Because they're so far from the polar gates, the winds of magic flow weakly there. Their wizards must become proficient in slowing drawing upon the winds and infusing objects with power, or in carefully binding spirits to their service."
One downside being, if you take it into a more northerly direction, you have to watch the daemon inside doesn't start trying to eat your ass? :p

"And such men also made-" He gestures to my left hand with his right. "-the ring which you wear?"

"Oh gosh no. This was made by a species who are contemporaries of the Old Ones. I couldn't even begin to explain how it was made. It is able to permanently turn daemons into something that is enslaved to me and technically no longer a daemon. Do you want to see one?"
...Can we not? Old-style daemonettes without their glamour are... Not pleasant.

"I…" He glances at the plain clothed men with the rapiers lurking near at hand. "Think that I will live without."

"Wise." I shrug. "Bringing to bear the level of strength that is needed to physically harm the more powerful sort of daemons is still fairly difficult. Lesser daemons are far easier."
And Marco won't have missed the implied threat in that statement: "If I felt like it, I could set a daemon lose and kill every living thing in this building." Not that Paol would have done so (without good reason) but Marco might assume that.

"And… I heard a story about you tricking a dwarf smith with a fake sword?"

"No, I don't think I did that? What sort of fake would trick a dwarf?"
...Did you introduce the Dawi to more modern material concepts? Because modern metallurgy... Whew. Bit spicy for the traditionalist Dwarves.

"Supposedly, it bent when he tested it."

"Oh! No, that wasn't a fake sword, that was-. There isn't much a human can teach a dwarf master smith about metallurgy, so I thought I'd make him a curiosity that he couldn't replicate."
Well, not without considerable development in the field. No doubt he's burning his scalp thinking hard about how to manage it...

"A sword that bends?"

"Anyone can make a sword that bends. A copper sword will bend. I made a sword that can be bent and then spring back into shape."
Ooh, fancy. Something like spring steel, I assume.

Mr. Lupo looks puzzled. "If you are not a wizard..?"

"The secret is the element carbon." I generate a construct… Representation of a carbon atom. Roughly have of wood is composed of carbon, and about twelve percent of a human. It's a very versatile material. These-" I point at the outer electron shell. "-let it attach to a wide variety of other materials in a variety of ways. If we arrange it as a lattice, we-"
Heh. Might be a bit beyond a fellow whose world has barely progressed beyond 'Air, Earth, Fire and Water' as elements, nor "Fire, Metal, Life, Death, Light, Shadow, Beasts and Celestials' as magical classifications.

I add more carbon atoms and pull out the view until the individual atoms are invisible.

"-get-"

I dismiss the construct and fabricate a diamond to replace it, reaching out with my right hand to catch it and then offering it to Mr. Lupo. He takes it and considers it very carefully.
Depending on how big it is, that could be worth a lot of money.

"-a diamond."

"A.. diamond."
An absolutely almost pure diamond. That's a cut above most gems you'd handle, lad.

"But if we arrange it in layers…" I generate a new construct image. "We get a substance called graphite, and we use it in pencils. You see how each carbon atom has the same number of bonds?"

"So how does it differ-?"
For one thing, pencils aren't really a thing yet. Most schoolchildren, if they're lucky, would have a slate and a stick of chalk. Or simply use a quill pen and ink.

I pull the image out again but this time fabricate a pencil, which he catches, having palmed the diamond.

"We use them for training children to write before we let them lose on pens."
Of course Paol's territory has been working on education. And don't think we didn't notice that, you shifty Tilean git. :cool:

"I am sure that your maids appreciate it." He looks closely at the sharpened tip, then scratches at it with his thumb nail and examines the material that has been scraped free. "And this is the same.. 'element' that the diamond is made from?"

"Yes. The diamond has a strong and rigid structure, while the layers of graphite can slide away from one another almost freely. But there are other forms of carbon structure as well, and it turns out that if you make tubes of carbon and incorporate it into the metal, you get-"
...Some ludicrously strong materials that we've barely begun to be able to recreate with modern technology...

I fabricate an example in the form of a traditional Tilean duelling sword.

"-something like this."
And if there are any guards in the area, they'd likely be going for their blades right now. That is an even less veiled threat right there.

I then attach a clamp construct to each end and bend it into a hoop. I then remove the clamp from the bade end and we both watch as the sword straightens itself. I then offer it to him.

"Master Thurgun found it amusing, but elects to hide it from his apprentices lest it give them inappropriate ideas. Please, keep it, the pencil and the diamond. An apology for disrupting your day."
...Oh, that's nice. I suspect that sword is going to become a beloved Lupo family heirloom in the generations to come. And that reaction is so perfectly Dwarven of the Smith. "Hmph. Fancy-pants new ideas. Don't hold with 'em."

He takes the sword and checks the edge and… Heh, he checks that it's actually made of metal.

"Thank you. A fascinating demonstration. I.. am curious. What was it that you wanted to speak with my father about that brought you so far?"
...And now I'm picturing him biting it, just to be sure. More likely he's just tapping it.

"I know that your father greatly reveres the most ancient traditions of your city, for example that he rigorously trains himself physically when a weaker man of his station might allow himself to go to seed. I was hopeful that his reverence might extend to my area of interest."

"He used to make my brothers and I join him when he trained as an oarsman." Marco smiles. "It left us with an abiding hatred of all boats, though I owe my life to the training of his wrestling master. Do you want to test yourself rowing against him? He's very good."
I rather suspect Paol has a quite large and unfair advantage...

"Ah, no. My home country was once conquered by a city much like yours. They left us with a rich legacy of civic monuments, but the most useful was their roads. Rather than… Do what modern Tileans appear to which is have mercenaries standing around demanding money with menaces, they used soldiers not actively fighting the nation's enemies to build roads so high in quality that it was sixteen hundred years before we could surpass them. And many of their roads were around to see themselves being surpassed. I need to build a big road network. A very big road network of very big roads, such as would allow an army to march from one end of the Reikland Empire to the other at the best possible speed. The greatest architect in the world is currently engaged in building a rather large canal for me, but your father was the man I though of first for roads."
Let me guess. This canal is somewhere in the region of Araby, and intended to connect the Great Ocean (The Atlantic of the old World) to the Sea of Dread (Equivalent to the Indian Ocean...) At least he has no shortage of manpower...

"I do not think that my father would want to help someone invade the Empire-."

"No no no." I shake my head. "The Emperor has signed off on it, and he's leaning on the Electors to do the same. They all grudgingly accept that it's in everyone's interest that it happens. I wanted your father to have input at the planning stage so that we end up with a well planning network rather than a mess."
Like, having a consistent right-of-way across all the lands? Seriously, some European countries used to drive on the Left side, others on the Right...

"Well, that is different, but…" He shakes his head. "My father has not to my knowledge show interest in building roads himself."

"Ah, rats. I'm sorry to have wasted-."
Hold on, Paol. Consider how many sons the man has, at least one must have some interest in infrastructure.

"My brother Gaius on the other hand has been greatly involved in the building and maintenance of our city and its territory. I would be happy to give you a favourable introduction."

I smile broadly. "That would be excellent. Thank you."
See? I'm sure the two of you will get along just fine.

Well, ask and ye shall receive, eh, folks? I'm guessing Paol here is trying to lay the groundwork for uniting the nations of the Old World into a proper league that can defend themselves against aggression from Greenskins, Chaos armies or Skaven hordes. And what better place to start than infrastructure. A pity trains are a little beyond their technology right now.
 
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The datestamp isn't bolded.
Missing a quotation mark to signify this Paul speaking again.
'heard'
'slowly'
'half of'
'planned'
Thank you, corrected.
An absolutely pure diamond.
Ah, no. I asked my chemistry teacher about that back in A-Level. While carbon can for a lattice, there needs to be a different atom on the edge in order to 'stop' the lattice. Usually hydrogen. This means that even a diamond that's as pure as it can be isn't completely pure carbon.
Of course Paol's territory has been working on education.
He was talking about Britain. The lack of good paper-making facilities means that slate works better for his Bretonnians.
 
Did... Paol randomly go to the ruler of Luchini just because the town is a Rome expy and irl Romans were known for road building?

The Dwarves built the Dwarf Roads throughout what is now the Empire and those have lasted for even longer than our Roman roads in Europe. They carved them straight through mountains (at High Pass for instance) in the good old days. Sure, they don't have the manpower to do anything like that anymore. But they might still have the know how.

Or did he already ask and they're not sharing?
 
Did... Paol randomly go to the ruler of Luchini just because the town is a Rome expy and irl Romans were known for road building?
Tilea has surprisingly good roads, considering that it's pre-unification Italy.
The Dwarves built the Dwarf Roads throughout what is now the Empire and those have lasted for even longer than our Roman roads in Europe. They carved them straight through mountains (at High Pass for instance) in the good old days. Sure, they don't have the manpower to do anything like that anymore. But they might still have the know how.

Or did he already ask and they're not sharing?
Dwarfs to make amazing everything. But they do it very slowly, and there literally aren't enough dwarfs in the world to make an Empire-wide road network within a reasonable time frame. The issue is not the difficulty of building a road through a relatively flat area of land, it's protecting the build crew and later protecting the road. And the fact that there's little effective difference between an amazing dwarf road and a good quality human road.
 
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Dwarfs to make amazing everything. But they do it very slowly, and there literally aren't enough dwarfs in the world to make an Empire-wide road network within a reasonable time frame. The issue is not the difficulty of building a road through a relatively flat area of land, it's protecting the build crew and later protecting the road. And the fact that there's little effective difference between an amazing dwarf road and a good quality human road.
That's a very interesting observation. I really would not have thought of that myself.
 
And the fact that there's little effective difference between an amazing dwarf road and a good quality human road.
Yea... That's just wrong...

Dwarf roads will last a thousand years without any effective maintenance... With a human road you will be lucky to get five before it's overgrown to a level of uselessness...

Which means the roads will require maintenance, and maintenance costs money and time.

Basically put, you're sacrificing long term profits for a small short term advantage.
 
Yea... That's just wrong...

Dwarf roads will last a thousand years without any effective maintenance... With a human road you will be lucky to get five before it's overgrown to a level of uselessness...

Which means the roads will require maintenance, and maintenance costs money and time.

Basically put, you're sacrificing long term profits for a small short term advantage.
Did you miss the part where he said that there weren't enough dwarfs alive to carry out this project in a timely manner?

Sure, dwarf roads are fantastic marvels of masonry and engineering that'll last forever... But the Empire don't have forever to make em.
 
Did you miss the part where he said that there weren't enough dwarfs alive to carry out this project in a timely manner?

Sure, dwarf roads are fantastic marvels of masonry and engineering that'll last forever... But the Empire don't have forever to make em.
It's Paul who wants it made, the Emperor is just going along with it for reasons...

Or Paul's lying about that...
 
Did you miss the part where he said that there weren't enough dwarfs alive to carry out this project in a timely manner?

Sure, dwarf roads are fantastic marvels of masonry and engineering that'll last forever... But the Empire don't have forever to make em.

Let this be a reminder of why we don't engage with Vaermina. Honestly, we should all know better by now :p
 

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