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

Chojin Patriarch · Dec 6, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
1st January 2013
21:22 GMT

New Othrys has an interesting mix of styles.

The weapon and shield emplacements might as well have just been ripped off the Ascendants' warships. I see the classical New God tron lines combined with materials… Materials that are easier to produce when you're a technologically primitive but magically powerful civilisation. I wonder if that's something Grayven shared with them or something that they developed based on his guidance? Or something Rhea showed them how to make?

Rhea did not seem the magitechnologically inclined type. But perhaps one of the New Titans had a gift for it. Magical knowledge hacks can step over quite a few developmental hurdles... Though the infrastructure can take time to catch up.

The 'God Buildings' are much the same, but the rest of the city… Reminds me of Themyscira City. Primitive materials used to make something that was planned out far better than a naturally occurring primitive city would be. Wide thoroughfares paved with stone or brick because they can't make tarmac or an equivalent, or can't make it in sufficient quantities or can't make it here. Anti-gravity floaters serve as cranes for the building works while animal-drawn carts are used to move raw materials. Even under the guidance of well-intentioned incarnate gods, it would have taken several generations to make a noticeable change to the lives of the natives using novel technology; even a relatively sparsely populated planet like this just has too many people on it, and too many logistics systems that can be snarled up if you rush things.

Yep. Especially if some of the people are reluctant to fall in line, and launch ill-advised rebellions.

"How are the locals taking all of this?"

I hear Athyns exhale. "One group of alien gods are much the same as another. Our beliefs and theirs are similar enough that nothing… New needed to be added to the doctrine we were promulgating."

Just a few details adjusted to compensate, eh? I suppose when you're making it up as you can go, it's easy to pivot to match a changing situation.

"'Ours' and 'theirs' in the context being..?"

"The followers of the gods and the followers of Sparta."

And the locals are probably just smiling, nodding and praying that the strange sky people don't get angry about it.

"What does your theology look like at the moment?"

"We have demonised Sparta, and accepted the other descendants of Rhea as equivalent to me. With the gods… Not presently available to lead us, we have taken more prominent roles."

So the Ascendants are stepping in as... Demigods? Archangels? Bodhisattva? Logical enough.

"'No presently available'?"

Ahead of me, the warship I've been following docks with the upper level of the central tower. It clearly isn't a shipyard, and as far as I can tell they aren't bothering to construct ships on the planet's surface.

Yes, building space-dedicated vessels on a planet's surface is a bit silly...

If nothing else, you end up having to fight the gravity well just to make orbit... So either you're really desperate (like us humans,) or you're so advanced you can give gravity the middle finger (Why, hello, Krypton's Golden Age.)

"This world is thick with magic. And even in death, Rhea's remains will strengthen that link."

"You're going to try resurrecting them using the seeds?"

Somehow, I think this might be a bit more complicated than 'turn them off and back on.'

"Not… Precisely. I heard what you and Melinoë said concerning the nature of divine magic. That they-"

Ah.

...It's not the New Titans they plan to use the Seeds on, then.

"-would-."

"You're going to dump the seeds in the local thaumosphere."

Heh. I wonder if it has sockets for upgrade gems already, or if they have to carve them in?

"Yes. The process will be guided by members of the Ascendancy. The aim is to allow their consciousnesses to expand and draw power while still remaining coherent."

"Yes… I mean, in theory that could work. The local thaumosphere is relatively blank, so you could just imprint them on it-. In fact, that should allow you to draw more power into Minosyss."

Though I expect the Titans would be a little less powerful than they used to be. Which is probably a bonus for the Ascendants. Easier to maintain control.

"I didn't know that."

"N.E.M.O. has a number of magicians in its employ who could assist your study, even without an alliance."

And outside Earth, magicians are tricky to track down, you know...

"No party to the war who knew they were here would believe that."

"Then I should be able to find people no a party to the conflict who could help."

Though if it gets out that he helped provide them, there'd probably still be a suspicion of NEMO collusion...

"If the Reach have been fighting Grayven, do you think that they have learned to detect boom tubes?"

"Um. Within their own territory? Probably. They give off plenty of gravitational waves that can be detected. Here?"

Even if they didn't have dedicated sensors for it before, they almost certainly do now. Repurposed systems at first, then bespoke creations...

I have the ring open a map of the region inside my mind.

"I… Doubt it, unless they've got equipment specifically designed to pick it up pointed this way that we haven't detected. On the other hand, I didn't know about their system bottling technique."

It'll be interesting to see how they managed that, yes. I doubt we'll learn on-screen, but it would be nice...

"If the thaumosphere comes alive, we will be able to defend this world from any force that Grayven or the Reach will be able to spare. And we will be able to improve this world far more easily than we can now."

"As… Far as I can work out… Even if you don't get exactly what you want, using the seeds in that way should improve your position."

Though what it will do to the psyches of the locals could be a matter for study... The seeds contain quite a bit of thaumaturgical energy, yes? And it's about to be poured into a shallow pool...

"Are you willing to review our work?"

"I am, but I'm not a practitioner. I can't do much more than confirm that it could work."

And to some degree, that would be guessing, I suspect.

"What of the Ophidian?"

"I… Think we'd be able to tell whether it was likely to work in more detail, but the Ophidian has a strong presence herself. We might throw things off just by being there."

To follow up on the 'shallow pool' analogy, having him around might be like dumping a big block of orange-flavoured powdered drink mix in the middle...

"Or you might make it stronger."

A-ah…

Certainly a bit more... Covetous?

"You're really getting to the limit of what I'm competent to comment on. I think that could happen, but I also think it would cause the entire thaumosphere to become Ophidian-flavoured. And Grayven will almost certainly be able to feel that. His flagship's main gun makes an excellent ground-strike weapon."

"Still, I would like you to give me your opinion."

While it might not be a true planet-buster, it can still wreck shop...

"Alright, I'll do what I can. Where do you want me?"

"Go to the ship."

Ah, they were talking remotely? About time they met face-to-face, then.

I fly across the city and up towards the top of the tower. Gunships and a group of Ascendants in raiment that resembles New God armour fly around or wait in the air to respond to any threat as…

Thiva leads the way out of the ship, Ascendant pallbearers carrying a stone sarcophagus in solemn precession. The… Sarcophagus-.

I expect this is the most heavily-guarded place on the planet right now...

I blink as it seems to expand in my vision, becoming… More. We feel the universe bend around-.

A pallbearer blocks my vision for a moment and I turn away. I think I can see where the stuff about gods building worlds from the remains of titans comes from. I take a moment to obscure my vision and follow on behind the convoy on foot at a respectful pace, shifting from my armour to my formal robes.

Artificially boosting a thaumosphere…

Since even a dead god contains vast amounts of power.

That has potential. I'm sure that there are plenty of pantheons on Earth who wouldn't mind the option to go their own way. If we assigned one to Earth planetoid in the system, it could really help with colonising the Sol system. Not sure what it would do for other places. Unless we could find other titan corpses? Keeping the truly malevolent ones in Tartarus doesn't seem like a sensible long term plan to me, and Zeus isn't in charge to require their use as batteries any longer. Then there's whatever was happening with that Mother Star. I still don't really understand what it was trying to show me. Does it have enough presence to serve a similar purpose?

Those are plans for decades from now, OL. Focus on the now, and be mindful of maybes. You'll still be around to see it, if it's even possible.

We pass through a protective ward around the tower's exterior and then inside into the building proper. The corridor is wide and relatively long, and a cautious scan shows some very heavy duty shield generators in compartments around the walls. Personally, I'd have been inclined to build the vital equipment closer to ground level, but I suppose there might be a New God-related reason for this-.

This design.

Probably something related to 'letting all see the tomb of the mother of all.' or the like. And the tower is probably not plain stone, but something far more resilient.

Similar stone sarcophaguses are arrayed around the room in a circle, with a central space reserved for Rhea herself. The seeds are placed on pedestals around that bier, with Athyns himself ready to officiate as her sarcophagus is respectfully lowered into place.

We immediately feel the pull as the room becomes more real.

No doubt the sarcophagi hold the mortal forms of the New Titans... Or at least symbolise the first generation of Titans...

I have the feeling things are about to get a little trippy tomorrow. Thankfully OL doesn't get overloaded any more. Let's hope he doesn't give the whole affair a slightly tangy spice, though. As for the possibility of metaphysically transplanting deities like you might a tree... It's definitely something for his experts to look into, though I suspect it's not going to produce any useful results anytime soon.

BR549 · Dec 6, 2022

That is not dead what can eternal lie.

Hi Rhea!

transhumansage · Dec 6, 2022

Artemisnemo said:
Seriously? There was like, three episodes about a chunk of Anti-life being unleashed upon the world and how everything was going down the drain.

how is earth still around? i thought people were completely defenseless against the brain washing power of the antilife unless you had a newgod soul.... infact, how did anybody survive it in canon, i havent read final crisis.

also i look back on the amount of stuff i have to catch up on and i just feel... disheartened.

Rafin · Dec 6, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
If we assigned one to Earth planetoid in the system

I think there's a word missing somewhere here.

Rafin · Dec 6, 2022

transhumansage said:
how is earth still around? i thought people were completely defenseless against the brain washing power of the antilife unless you had a newgod soul.... infact, how did anybody survive it in canon, i havent read final crisis.

also i look back on the amount of stuff i have to catch up on and i just feel... disheartened.

They are not completely defenseless. Most people seem to just be clinically depressed right now. Except without ups and downs. Just permanent lows all around.

Mr Zoat · Dec 6, 2022

Darko said:
"Not presently"
"no party to"
"one to every Earth"

Thank you, corrected.

Darko · Dec 6, 2022

Chojin Patriarch said:
Rhea did not seem the magitechnologically inclined type. But perhaps one of the New Titans had a gift for it.

Their leader was a god of intelligence.

Chojin Patriarch said:
Though I expect the Titans would be a little less powerful than they used to be. Which is probably a bonus for the Ascendants. Easier to maintain control.

If anything they may potentially be more powerful.

The New Titans we saw were just avatars and they didn't seem fully aware of their greater power, but this may show it to them.

draconomial · Dec 6, 2022

I'll trade you a cow for those magic beans

Artemisnemo · Dec 6, 2022

transhumansage said:
how is earth still around? i thought people were completely defenseless against the brain washing power of the antilife unless you had a newgod soul.... infact, how did anybody survive it in canon, i havent read final crisis.

also i look back on the amount of stuff i have to catch up on and i just feel... disheartened.

I'm not gonna explain the plot. If it's disheartening to do something. I suggest doing something you enjoy instead.

transhumansage · Dec 6, 2022

Rafin said:
They are not completely defenseless. Most people seem to just be clinically depressed right now. Except without ups and downs. Just permanent lows all around.

wish paul knew the Life equation. would probably solve that problem in a bit.

Mr Zoat does Paul know about the miracle machine? could he commission some one to make one, or even make one powered by the orange light?

KingOuma · Dec 7, 2022

Ugh, finally reached the latest chapter. Took a whole month but i read it from start to finish!

OL really is stretched, going from one problem to the next. But I'm actually interested to see what they come up with Rhea's body.

Thanks for the chapter!

Mr Zoat · Dec 7, 2022

1st January 2013
21:26 GMT

My eyes immediately move to Athyns, to see if he felt that as well. From the slightly ragged breath I just saw him take, it appears that the answer is yes. And for a moment I have a flashback to the Reaper mission in Mass Effect 2.

'A god - a real god - is a verb. Not some old man with magic powers. It's a force. It warps reality just by being there. It doesn't have to want to. It doesn't have to think about it. It just does.'

I don't think that's true, but it never occurred to me to see if the water that once made up Oceanus's body has any anomalous properties. So many fascinating topics, so little time.

"Everyone else felt that, right?"

Athyns has himself back under control, but the other Ascendants are… Small twitches, tensing facial muscles and clenching fists. I don't know their species well, but that looks like physical displacement activity for dealing with stress. For a moment Thiva looks like she's going to respond, then she looks at Athyns for permission.

He nods. "We did. The shape of the world changed."

"I don't know Karrakan society well. How much contact did you have with Rhea's material remains?"

Because in the normal run of things… I mean, if she were a normal woman, Rhea's soul would be in Karrakan's thaumosphere. Unless the place was thaumically dead, in which case it would stay put until it got here. But if her body incarnating made it a manifestation of her soul… Does she just stay… Recumbent? Unalive?

We need to find some minor gods no one will miss.

"I visited them in her temple, once. Thiva?"

"Sparta closed the inner part of the temple off when she took over. This is.. the closest I've come."

She looks around, but none of the other Ascendants appear to have had any contact either. I try scanning through the sarcophagus, but my scan is defeated. Don't know if it was by the sarcophagus itself or by Rhea's magic.

"Okay, I just need to do something before we go any further." I fly back through the entrance. "Back in a minute."

Back into the sky, and up I go. Transitioning somewhere like this -particularly when we're going to mess around with the local thaumosphere- wouldn't be a good idea. But I can fly bloody quick when properly motivated. And as I go I begin using my rings to fabricate a suspended animation pod, manoeuvring thrusters and a new adult clone body for myself. Okay, out of the atmosphere, and looking at my own inanimate face like this stopped being strange after the second time. Add a beacon so that no one flies into it, and my spare ring in case I need to go into action right away. Make sure that it's got the velocity to stay in orbit for at least a few days… Yes, good.

And I fly down, barely bothering to consider my surroundings other than to make sure that I don't cause destructive shockwaves. Back into the building…

"Sorry about that."

Athyns dismisses some sort of holographic display.

"Does your species have an urge to reproduce before going into danger?"

"Ah… More aggressive personality types tend to also be assertive in social situations-. Oh, no, that was just me putting a backup body at minimum safe distance. In the event of my physical destruction there's a good chance that I'll be able to transfer my soul into it." I shrug. "Just in case."

"Can anyone do that?"

"It was a pure chance thing when I did it the first time, and for obvious reasons I haven't practiced. It rather depends on me being drawn to the replacement body rather than the planet's thaumosphere." I frown. "I think there's an Apokoliptian called Baron Bedlam who does something similar, though he can animate a lot more bodies at once than I can."

I nod at the sarcophagus.

"Was that feeling in line with your predictions?"

"We knew that something would happen. We didn't know quite what it would feel like. Still, this was proof of concept."

"You..? Wait, did Sparta explain how any of this worked to anyone?"

Thiva looks down. "Enough to use it or repair it. I don't think that she knew much more herself. She directed us to learn as much as we could and share what we learned, but there… She didn't intend to build anything like this. She just wanted the seeds for herself, to… Prove that she was the most favoured daughter of Rhea."

Our eyes flicker as we try to determine if there was any major… Damage? To the local thaumosphere. We can't see anything, but in our duality we are aware of how limited our facility in that field is. There is something disquieting to that idea, a disquiet we do not feel as the Ophidian or as the Illustres. Should we not possess all capacities? Are we not a universal titan, unlimited to mere planetary thaumospheres as we exist in the orange light?

"Okay, so what's next?"

Athyns gestures to the Ascendants around the room, and they move to take their positions sitting in a meditative posture between the Titans and their seeds. Thiva takes the role of Phoebe, while Athyns himself moves closer to the sarcophagus. I suppose that except possibly Sparta herself he's the oldest and most powerful, so that makes sense.

Tron lines glow and shimmer faintly as whatever magic they're using starts working, and it's like the floor has dropped out from under us, a falling sensation in the pit of our stomachs.

But-. But off-putting as it is, nothing appears to be going wrong. Other… Than the Ascendants corresponding to Hyperion and Theia developing a plasma corona. Huh. And as I look, the others develop coronas themed after their titans as well. Makes sense, though I don't know if that's coming from the seeds or from the corpses-.

I feel a moment of disquiet. I can understand Athyns not really wanting to try resurrecting them, but it… They weren't all narcissists. Arrogant, yes, but they were actual gods surrounded by mortals. They were objectively superior to most of them. But if they were successful in resurrecting some, those would inevitably want to resurrect the rest, and… That would almost certainly lead to another fight. This isn't a terrible compromise.

Athyns lays his hands on the sarcophagus.

"Grandmother."

We feel-. Yes, the whole room, it's becoming… The arcane aspect is being intensified in the purely material world, causing a sort of hyper-reality as the thing and the idea of the thing become one, but it's all around-.

My eyes shoot to the ceiling as we feel something alien to the system appear.

"Athyns, I-."

"I felt it too. We cannot be interrupted in our work. I feel… We can do this. It will be difficult-."

"Who has government authority to speak when you're not there?"

"Talk is free. Pontico has seniority on New Chronus."

"Right. I'll try getting rid of them. Let me know the moment you're finished."

I walk out of the chamber, careful not to step on the tron lines. As I go, normal reality begins intruding, and the disquiet I felt when it started is nothing to what it feels to leave it.

"Illustres to Pontico. Who have we got?"

_The_Bomb · Dec 7, 2022

"Does your species have an urge to reproduce before going into danger?"

Hahahahaahah

Lazurman · Dec 7, 2022

The answer to that question is yes, by the way.

Silveraith · Dec 7, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
I try scanning through the sarcophagus, but my scan if defeated.

Is.

transhumansage · Dec 7, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
We need to find some minor gods no one will miss.

i dont understand this part? does he want to use the minor gods to make her resurrection faster?

Chojin Patriarch · Dec 7, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
1st January 2013
21:26 GMT

My eyes immediately move to Athyns, to see if he felt that as well. From the slightly ragged breath I just saw him take, it appears that the answer is yes. And for a moment I have a flashback to the Reaper mission in Mass Effect 2.

'A god - a real god - is a verb. Not some old man with magic powers. It's a force. It warps reality just by being there. It doesn't have to want to. It doesn't have to think about it. It just does.'

As I noted yesterday: Even a dead god still holds power. And that power is now pouring out into the local thaumosphere. I wonder if any of them are feeling a chill wind blowing upon them right now...

I don't think that's true, but it never occurred to me to see if the water that once made up Oceanus's body has any anomalous properties. So many fascinating topics, so little time.

"Everyone else felt that, right?"

If they didn't, then they probably shouldn't have been here in the first place, if a ritual was taking place...

Athyns has himself back under control, but the other Ascendants are… Small twitches, tensing facial muscles and clenching fists. I don't know their species well, but that looks like physical displacement activity for dealing with stress. For a moment Thiva looks like she's going to respond, then she looks at Athyns for permission.

He nods. "We did. The shape of the world changed."

But for the better, or the worse? Is the world more comfortable... Or does it feel like a scratchy woollen jumper?

"I don't know Karrakan society well. How much contact did you have with Rhea's material remains?"

Because in the normal run of things… I mean, if she were a normal woman, Rhea's soul would be in Karrakan's thaumosphere. Unless the place was thaumically dead, in which case if would stay put until it got here. But if her body incarnating made it a manifestation of her soul… Does she just stay… Recumbent? Unalive?

And isn't that the most terrifying thing to imagine? Plenty of stories have leaned on that phobic button...

We need to find some minor gods no one will miss.

"I visited them in her temple, once. Thiva?"

Whoa there, OL. Let's leave the edge to Grayven, yeah? He's more chūnibyō than you ever could be...
(edit: dangit, my fumble-fingers, sometimes...)

"Sparta closed the inner part of the temple off when she took over. This is.. the closest I've come."

She looks around, but none of the other Ascendants appear to have had any contact either. I try scanning through the sarcophagus, but my scan if defeated. Don't know if it was by the sarcophagus itself or by Rhea's magic.

...Or possibly a mix of both. It's likely that the scarcophagus is built to channel her power. So if some part of her consciousness is still present...

"Okay, I just need to do something before we go any further." I fly back through the entrance. "Back in a minute."

Back into the sky, and up I go. Transitioning somewhere like this -particularly when we're going to mess around with the local thaumosphere- wouldn't be a good idea. But I can fly bloody quick when properly motivated. And as I go I begin using my rings to fabricate a suspended animation pod, manoeuvring thrusters and a new adult clone body for myself. Okay, out of the atmosphere, and looking at my own inanimate face like this stopped being strange after the second time. Add a beacon so that no one flies into it, and my spare ring in case I need to go into action right away. Make sure that it's got the velocity to stay in orbit for at least a few days… Yes, good.

Heh. The in-story equivalent of hitting the quick-save button.

And I fly down, barely bothering to consider my surroundings other than to make sure that I don't cause destructive shockwaves. Back into the building…

"Sorry about that."

I wonder what they'd make of that. A pre-battle ritual, most likely.

Athyns dismisses some sort of holographic display.

"Does your species have an urge to reproduce before going into danger?"

I mean, so many stories do feature the doomed hero making love to their love interest the night before a decisive final battle.

And because of Narrative Causality, said love interest usually ends up pregnant from it.

"Ah… More aggressive personality types tend to also be assertive in social situations-. Oh, no, that was just me putting a backup body at minimum safe distance. In the event of my physical destruction there's a good chance that I'll be able to transfer my soul into it." I shrug. "Just in case."

"Can anyone do that?"

Wouldn't that be an amusing rumour to get spread about humans?

'They just won't stay dead!'

'I burnt his body to ash myself! How is he still running around?'

"It was a pure chance thing when I did it the first time, and for obvious reasons I haven't practiced. It rather depends on me being drawn to the replacement body rather than the planet's thaumosphere." I frown. "I think there's an Apokoliptian called Baron Bedlam who does something similar, though he can animate a lot more bodies at once than I can."

I nod at the sarcophagus.

To be fair, New God technology is bullshit weird. A divine AI-soul-thing that can pilot multiple robot bodies is hardly anything unusual...

"Was that feeling in line with your predictions?"

"We knew that something would happen. We didn't know quite what it would feel like. Still, this was proof of concept."

Let's just hope the pool is big enough to hold all the energy you're about to pour into it, then. Because I don't want to imagine it breaking, or you drowning.

"You..? Wait, did Sparta explain how any of this worked to anyone?"

Thiva looks down. "Enough to use it or repair it. I don't think that she knew much more herself. She directed us to learn as much as we could and share what we learned, but there… She didn't intend to build anything like this. She just wanted the seeds for herself, to… Prove that she was the most favoured daughter of Rhea."

Sadly, such petty goals drive many villains. Because no-one is the bad guy of their own story. Even those that admit they're the bad guy in someone else's story.

Our eyes flicker as we try to determine if there was any major… Damage? To the local thaumosphere. We can't see anything, but in our duality we are aware of how limited our facility in that field is. There is something disquieting to that idea, a disquiet we do not feel as the Ophidian or as the Illustres. Should we not possess all capacities? Are we not a universal titan, unlimited to mere planetary thaumospheres as we exist in the orange light?

"Okay, so what's next?"

I can't help but imagine those about him feeling something akin to a snake's tongue flick across them...

Athyns gestures to the Ascendants around the room, and they move to take their positions sitting in a meditative posture between the Titans and their seeds. Thiva takes the role Phoebe, while Athyns himself moves closer to the sarcophagus. I suppose that except possibly Sparta herself he's the oldest and most powerful, so that makes sense.

Tron lines glow and shimmer faintly as whatever magic they're using starts working, and it's like the floor has dropped out from under us, a falling sensation in the pit of our stomachs.

And this is the moment the Inception horns come into the soundtrack. BA-WOOOM...

But-. But off-putting as it is, nothing appears to be going wrong. Other… Than the Ascendants corresponding to Hyperion and Theia developing a plasma corona. Huh. And as I look, the others develop coronas themed after their titans as well. Makes sense, though I don't know if that's coming from the seeds or from the corpses-.

I feel a moment of disquiet. I can understand Athyns not really wanting to try resurrecting them, but it… They weren't all narcissists. Arrogant, yes, but they were actual gods surrounded by mortals. They were objectively superior to most of them. But if they were successful in resurrecting some, those would inevitably want to resurrect the rest, and… That would almost certainly lead to another fight. This isn't a terrible compromise.

And if they can sort it out right, they can revive them and slowly let them prove themselves worthy of taking up their intended mantles.

Athyns lays his hands on the sarcophagus.

"Grandmother."

Not quite necrourgy, but I do get that feel from this stuff...

We feel-. Yes, the whole room, it's becoming… The arcane aspect is being intensified is the purely material world, causing a sort of hyper-reality as the thing and the idea of the thing become one, but it's all around-.

My eyes shoot to the ceiling as we feel something alien to the system appear.

Here's Graaaayven!

"Athyns, I-."

"I felt it too. We cannot be interrupted in our work. I feel… We can do this. It will be difficult-."

So, keep Big Gray away from the planet, so that his metaphysical weight doesn't leave its mark on the thaumosphere. Big ask.

"Who has government authority to speak when you're not there?"

"Talk is free. Pontico has seniority on New Chronus."

Ah, cultural differences...

"Right. I'll try getting rid of them. Let me know the moment you're finished."

I walk out of the chamber, careful not to step on the tron lines. As I go, normal reality begins intruding, and the disquiet I felt when it started is nothing to what it feels to leave it.

"Illustres to Pontico. Who have we got?"

Fascinating experience, I bet. But not one you want to experience too often...

Well, this is going to be pleasant. OL playing bouncer for the Ascendants while they retune their planet's magical landscape. Hopefully, Grayven doesn't feel like swinging his Big Conquest Ego while the delicate work is underway. Sadly, I get the feeling diplomacy won't be sufficient, and it'll result in rolling for initiative soon enough.

...in which case if would stay put until it got here.

...in which case it would stay put until it got here.

Handlewithcare · Dec 7, 2022

Attenborough: "And here we see an Orange Illustres undergo spontaneous mitosis as it feels danger approaching. The bud will remain in orbit...safe...as the OL goes to play with Titan-god magic. Nature...truly is beautiful"

Stsword · Dec 7, 2022

transhumansage said:
i dont understand this part? does he want to use the minor gods to make her resurrection faster?

No, he'd rather risk the process going horribly wrong or horribly right on expendable people so the process can be adjusted as necessary to make it safe for the important people.

Vaermina · Dec 7, 2022

transhumansage said:
i dont understand this part? does he want to use the minor gods to make her resurrection faster?

No, going by the black text, he wants to murder minor gods and use their remains for experimentation.

BR549 · Dec 7, 2022

transhumansage said:
i dont understand this part? does he want to use the minor gods to make her resurrection faster?

OL wants to do SCIENCE! to find out what actually happens when a god dies, since he's realised (1) he currently is clueless about it and (2) people he cares about would benefit from that knowledge.

Which is reasonable as far as it goes, however the fact this line is in black is rather...concerning.

Ngamer11 · Dec 7, 2022

BR549 said:
OL wants to do SCIENCE! to find out what actually happens when a god dies, since he's realised (1) he currently is clueless about it and (2) people he cares about would benefit from that knowledge.

Which is reasonable as far as it goes, however the fact this line is in black is rather...concerning.

Maybe he's thinking of destroying and using gods he finds abhorrent?

Vaermina · Dec 7, 2022

Ngamer11 said:
Maybe he's thinking of destroying and using gods he finds abhorrent?

Given how messed up in the head LePaul is, that is not a measuring stick that should ever be used for judgement.

Someguy Somewhere · Dec 7, 2022

Or maybe it's a tickle of the ol' Anti-life rattling around that he thought he was immune to. His soul does tend to suck up random energies. Or a more Natural reaction to wanting to murder the hell out of the New Gods behind the attack on earth and have an excuse to be nasty to their immortal remains.

Mr Zoat · Dec 7, 2022

Silveraith said:
Is.

Thank you, corrected.

transhumansage said:
i dont understand this part? does he want to use the minor gods to make her resurrection faster?

No. He was wondering about breaking up gods for parts.

Chojin Patriarch said:
As I noted yesterday: Even a dead god still holds power. And that power is now pouring out into the local thaumosphere. I wonder if any of them are feeling a chill wind blowing upon them right now...

Technically, no. Rather, it's strengthening the bond between the local physical reality, the local thaumosphere and the underlying metaphysical fabric of the universe. The result is that the power of the local thaumosphere is increasing, but it's not directly coming from the bodies.

Whoa there, OL. Let's leave the edge to Grayven, yeah? He's more Chiinubyou Chūnibyō than you ever could be...

"I'm just a guy who's a chūnibyō for fun."

"I'm not a chūnibyō. I'm just written this way."

...in which case it would stay put until it got here.

Thank you, corrected.

Darko · Dec 7, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
We need to find some minor gods no one will miss

Oh, shit, this does not look good.

Mr Zoat said:
the role Phoebe

"role of Phoebe"

CTrees · Dec 7, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
We need to find some minor gods no one will miss.

Try India? They've got a couple different types, and many of them are antagonistic to basically everyone. Plus, with the current antilife infection on Earth, odds are no one will care if a couple Asuras disappear.

Mr Zoat said:
We can't see anything, but in our duality we are aware of how limited our facility in that field is.

Didn't OL turn some high end magician into a construct during the most recent Belle Rev visit? Hard to remember exactly who, because I'm pretty sure OL used their government name, not their cape name. Point is, they have ways of getting that capability, even if they don't possess it inherently.

Lord Ernest · Dec 7, 2022

CTrees said:
Didn't OL turn some high end magician into a construct during the most recent Belle Rev visit?

Actually, I think it was Satanus. And it was an instance where the Illustres was using his made up and false, although actually legal, Earth name of Collin Thornton. Instead of his real, more well known demon name, which is Satanus (or Saturnus, as was once mentioned, I think?).

And I didn't understand why, had to google who Collin was during that episode to remember. Supervillains I get if he calls them by their actual name; the demon with the obvious demon name that has been known by the demon name for more time than by the made up, normal sounding human name should totally be called by the demon name.

Darko · Dec 7, 2022

CTrees said:
Try India? They've got a couple different types, and many of them are antagonistic to basically everyone. Plus, with the current antilife infection on Earth, odds are no one will care if a couple Asuras disappear

There are also Zeus and Ares.

Mr Zoat · Dec 7, 2022

Darko said:
"role of Phoebe"

Thank you, corrected.

CTrees said:
Didn't OL turn some high end magician into a construct during the most recent Belle Rev visit? Hard to remember exactly who, because I'm pretty sure OL used their government name, not their cape name. Point is, they have ways of getting that capability, even if they don't possess it inherently.

The SI doesn't actually like using that ability, because it's really in-your-face that you just super-murdered someone.

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