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

Reader mode
Mr Zoat said:
"Our spheres decay without something to bind us to the material world. Or if we can use titanic levels of power to sustain them. I don't have that power, and neither do they.
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Interesting. I suppose this means that a whole bunch of archaic deities are dead or at loose ends. I wonder if some afterlives have a whole bunch of old refugee deities in them, or if those deities generally prefer to just stick around in their decaying homes until they collapse (if they do collapse).

The way questions were being asked in this one made me feel like Cernunnos is an NPC in an RPG whose dialogue tree is being explored. Still enjoyed the exposition, though.
 
Duke Long said:
Interesting. I suppose this means that a whole bunch of archaic deities are dead or at loose ends. I wonder if some afterlives have a whole bunch of old refugee deities in them, or if those deities generally prefer to just stick around in their decaying homes until they collapse (if they do collapse).

The way questions were being asked in this one made me feel like Cernunnos is an NPC in an RPG whose dialogue tree is being explored. Still enjoyed the exposition, though.
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I totally agree. I would imagine that most old deities just stay in their old decaying realms, as a matter of useless pride, or have evacuated to the material realm, abandoning part or most of their power in exchange for just hanging around and survival. At least if we go by Hellblazer.

I surmise that without the material connection of belief and worship, no matter how slight, their divine realms can't maintain their separation from the dream and eventually collapse into it or get absorbed by it.
 
Ngamer11 said:
I'm not sure what the correct word should be. Maybe 'see' or 'use'?
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Darko said:
"They look"
"Cats were"
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Thank you, corrected.
Tzeentch said:
Ah yes, Queen Khalida. I'm surprised one of the newly re-fleshed Liche Priests hasn't been assigned to Paul as his tutor/"nanny" to keep an eye on him and ensure the Queen's future consort understands the particulars of Nehekharan Law, etiquette and ceremony.
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They don't want to undergo the process until it's perfected. And doesn't involve him at a vital stage. Khalida is an early adopter and at some point the flesh she's wearing will start looking dead again.

As for tutoring him, they all said 'not it'.
GhostKing 666 said:
Wait, is Cernunnos saying that a henge network suppresses violent geological activity(earthquaks and volcanoes)?! I mean, I was all for developing a new leyline network, since to me concentrating and directing ambient magic to any location people could want sounds like a useful piece of infrastructure in a time where magic is becoming more mainstream and yet not everyone can become an archwizard with oodles of power at their own command no matter where they are.

But if they also make geologically unstable areas less active... well the current Anti-Life apocalypse takes priority but afterwards that will be a very useful thing to know for pretty much anyone living on a fault line. Indonesia, Chile, Japan, California, Ethiopia, several nations located on the Mediterranean, lots of places would be very interested in making their own henge networks.

Also proves Mercury wrong yet again which is always a plus.
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Well...

People don't like it when their homes get flooded. The usual response is 'build more flood defences'. A better response is 'don't build your houses on flood plains, because they flood'.
Azure Mirage said:
We have had like a whole generation of people doing artwork of this stuff. Second Life itself would make more than a few gods blush. This quote tickles me like a feather.
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He's joking. He has cloven legs and antlers.
 
Mr Zoat said:
Well...

People don't like it when their homes get flooded. The usual response is 'build more flood defences'. A better response is 'don't build your houses on flood plains, because they flood'.
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People already live in all those places though. And forcibly evacuating everyone forever is rarely the correct response.
 
Tzeentch said:
They would defy the will of Queen Khalida and deny themselves the chance to be recorded in history as mentor to the savior of Nehekhara?
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But he's a heathen. I mean, if the Queen wants to bed a heathan that's her lookout, but actually respecting him?
What is WRONG with these people?
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Being dead for hundreds of years using incomplete rituals.
 
Mr Zoat said:
But he's a heathen. I mean, if the Queen wants to bed a heathan that's her lookout, but actually respecting him?

Being dead for hundreds of years using incomplete rituals.
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Fair enough. Once they improve upon Paol's work, (possivly by balancing out/connecting the Akhu, the whole Soul in Nehekharan Lore, with the flesh he provides), restoring themselves to life, they're going to feel a little awkward once they've regained the ability to properly THINK.

On a completely different note, I wonder if any of the Liche Priests will see this as an opportunity for experimentation in achieving TRUE immortality, making the attempt at creating a "Sahu", (a thaumic construct that is created/inhabited by spirits, daemons and djinn when physically manifesting), and connecting it to the body and soul.
 
Mr Zoat said:
Did they live in those places before they became flood plains?
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Pretty much. People will live anywhere they can and want to, no matter if it's a good idea or not. There are people living on islands off the coast of Florida, that are only a foot or so above sea level. They can't even get insurance because no insurance agency is dumb enough to take them, yet there are still people building several thousand-dollar homes there, and not even on stilts at that but right on ground level on the coast.

Right now, there are hundreds of millions of people, living in geologically active areas, and have been living there for hundreds or even thousands of years. We are talking California, Japan, Indonesia, Chile, Ethiopia, Italy, the entire eastern coast of the Mediterranean from Greece to Egypt, and more here. If you told the governments of those locations that all they need to do to reduce(not even stop but just reduce) the frequency and severity of local earthquakes and even volcanic eruptions, is build a network of stone henges(plus properly activate them with the right rituals), and could prove that it works, they'd do it in a heartbeat because that would save on billions of dollars in damages and who knows how many deaths.

Not every country that has to deal with earthquakes has the money to afford to build earthquake resistant buildings(just look at the 2023 Turkey-Syria quake), but they can all afford henge networks and even the wealthier places would want a network up.

Plus, Paul has caused a magic revival, and a network that can concentrate and channel to ambient magic to wherever you want it, to be used in rituals or power the construction of magi-tech, can only be helpful when it comes to integrating magic with the economy(because as I said, not everyone can be an archwizard who can wield that type of power no matter where they are so creating locations that count as artificial "high magic" areas for magically trained but underpowered people would be useful).

Two birds, one stone.
 
Mr Zoat said:
People don't like it when their homes get flooded. The usual response is 'build more flood defences'. A better response is 'don't build your houses on flood plains, because they flood'.
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Most of this worlds older cities were built next to rivers and civilization grew up on flood plains because that's where the good farmland was. Doesn't really excuse people building suburbs on a flood plain, but by this point it's a habit. Also, ironically? Building more flood defenses tends to make things worse when a really bad flood that can beat those defenses comes along.
 
Wait Time (part 14)
  • Threadmarks
    • 17th February 2013
    14:44 GMT

    Cernunnos stands in front of the statue, me on his left and Kon on his right.

    "So how does it work?"

    "You step into the portal that is a part of the statue." Cernunnos smirks at him. "Can't you see it?"

    "Do we need to see it?"

    "I can take you through without you doing so, but then you wouldn't know how to leave without me. And exposure to the primal world on the other end might not be safe if you cannot manage this simple feat of arcane control."

    I narrow my eyes slightly as I unfocus on my meat-body and allow it to fade into the background a little. Like this I can see it plainly: the hole in the statue translating one state to another. At the far end will be a marker representing this side, the two twisting things around to make themselves into a bridge.

    "Oh? A demi-god, are you?"

    "Demi-embodiment would be more accurate. Do I just..? Shift through it?"

    "We almost certainly perceive it differently. Do whatever makes sense to you."

    "Ah..?" Kon's kneeling down to get a closer look at the statue. "Little help?"

    "Kon, you've used Helios's power before."

    "I glow. And that's something he does. I don't need to understand anything to do it."

    "But you feel something when you pray and the power activates, right?"

    "Ah… I think so?"

    "Okay. Close your eyes and… Try and feel that feeling right now. Feel the power Helios gave you inside you, feel how it's connected to you."

    He glances at me uncertainly, but closes his eyes and concentrates anyway. The faint corona of sunlight radiating from his body intensifies slightly.

    "I dunno."

    "Alright. How about when we went to the sun to ask him for a favour?"

    "I wasn't really focusing on what if felt like. I was just hoping it wasn't going to feel like being on fire."

    "Okay, well, just try feeling the light around you. Did Angelika cover that when she was teaching you kryptonian martial arts?"

    "Yeah, I just hadn't applied it to…" He breathes in slowly, eyes closed. Then something… Shifts in the air around him, the air glowing brighter as he opens his white-glowing eyes. "I think I got it."

    The interior of his mouth glows white as he says it.

    "Okay, now how about the statue? Can you-?"

    "Huh. It's like a… Three D funhouse mirror. The lights getting reflected and.. kinda… Twisted around."

    "Can you get through?"

    "I think so."

    "Are you both ready?"

    I raise my eyebrows at Kon, who nods. I nod in reply. "Yep. Who wants to go first?"

    "It should be me. You may need a steadying hand when you reach Bast's city."

    I hold out my right hand to the statue, and he-.

    He strides forward without.. going anywhere. It's a little like he's running into a gale force wind, but he's getting smaller and… Not? Space isn't bending around him but that's the best comparison I can think of. Then he throws.. a spear at the statue, but he flies with it into the portal.

    Kon and I stare at the statue for a moment. Then he raises his right fist and wiggles it up and down once, twice, and-.

    My paper covers his rock.

    "So does that mean I get to pick..?"

    "You can go first. I.. might need a while."

    I push further into the incorporeal, body vanishing as I become a snake of orange light. Light vanishes from my perception and is replaced by layers of drives and impulses based around the objects which I perceive in relief. But not the statue, that's it's own thing and… Not? Regardless, my own desire squirms me forward and through and…

    And I'm buoyed along by my own desire following the trail of the elves desires and the desires of the many many people who have travelled this route before. A little surprising how many people have used it before.

    And then I'm through, and…

    Oh my.

    Okay, so there's a night sky. It's a little short on stars and I think there are people up there, or impressions of people of something. I can see tiny whiffs of orange but that doesn't appear to… It's only a tight network crowding everything out immediately around me. Like I define that space, but for everything further away that's just one part of what it is. Like I can't define other people's thing but my thing defines my local area.

    "What do you think, Lantern?"

    There's a circle of wolves and deer running around a forest and horns and hunting…

    I… I don't think I was ready for this.

    I look away and there are statues, Egyptian statues-. Kahndaqi statues. Most of them are weathered and damaged, but… In a few places it's like an ultra-modern veneer in metal or terracotta has been added over the top. I can't see anyone-. Or anything that could be a person other than Cernunnos. And I'm very glad for that.

    "I prefer the material plane."

    "There are parts that are a little less raw. This is supposed to turn aside those who don't belong."

    "Elves can cope with this?"

    "They can pretend really hard. They didn't see what you're seeing."

    "Can you track things here?"

    "Can't you?"

    I look, and in my immediate vicinity I can see the material desires that belonged to them leaving a trail across the still sand. No wind here, I notice. The trail ends when it gets too far away from me, so I'm going to have to follow every step.

    "Yes. Should we expect company?"

    "Your friend should be through in a moment. Bast herself will not come to see us, not in her domain. One of the few-."

    Then the sun comes through the gateway, and I can't see anything else.
     
    Last edited:
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    • Mr Zoat said:
    And exposure to the primal world on the other might not be safe if you cannot manage this simple feat of arcane control."
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    'other end'?

    Mr Zoat said:
    I look away and there are statues, Egyptian statues-. Khandaqi statues.
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    'Kahndaqi'?

    Nice to see an exploration of his spiritual abilities.
    When he sees people in the sky, was he actually not seeing people and he was instead fooled momentarily by the faint desires that surround him, or are there actually people in the sky? I'm not quite sure what the intended reading was.
     
    Damn, another quasi-LSD trip here. Been a while since we have seen one of those. That episode where Teth Adom got free is still one of the best trips I've had and I was just a passanger.

    I'm hoping that we get to see some cameos from Adom's patrons though, would be interesting. And is this indicative of how some divine realms that are closer to collapsing into the Dream are? Or is it just that some realms are more abstract by nature or design than in other pantheons?
     
    We've established before that when people borrow powers (e.g. Hercules, Zeus), those are not available to the supplier. Therefore, when Kon does the light thing, Helios might lose the ability temporarily (unless being a Titan changes that?), which means Themiscyra just had a brief eclipse? Also, if Kon tried that on Earth, would there be a risk of Anti-Life jumping in and following the power trail back through John's defences around Themyscira?
     
    Mr Zoat said:
    17th February 2013
    14:24 GMT

    Cernunnos stands in front of the statue, me on his left and Kon on his right.

    "So how does it work?"
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    Yes, that might be a rather important question to have answered. Especially if you're in OL's arcane-dysfunctional soles.And doubly so if you want to be able to leave on your own, since Cernunnos might be a little too mercurial to trust with that.

    "You step into the portal that is a part of the statue." Cernunnos smirks at him. "Can't you see it?"

    "Do we need to see it?"
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    Or at least have it made visible to the less mystically inclined.

    "I can take you through without you doing so, but then you wouldn't know how to leave without me. And exposure to the primal world on the other might not be safe if you cannot manage this simple feat of arcane control."

    I narrow my eyes slightly as I unfocus on my meat-body and allow it to fade into the background a little. Like this I can see it plainly: the hole in the statue translating one state to another. At the far end will be a marker representing this side, the two twisting things around to make themselves into a bridge.
    Click to expand...
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    Ah, this is always fun, when he turns into a psuedo-construct. ...Almost like the process of becoming a Construct Lantern proper, but he isn't bound to that state.

    "Oh? A demi-god, are you?"

    "Demi-embodiment would be more accurate. Do I just..? Shift through it?"
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    I don't know, some places would worship things like the Embodiments as primal deities. And may well do even now.

    "We almost certainly perceive it differently. Do whatever makes sense to you."

    "Ah..?" Kon's kneeling down to get a closer look at the statue. "Little help?"
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    Ah, right. It might be a little trickier for him. OL could tether and tow him, but...

    "Kon, you've used Helios's power before."

    "I glow. And that's something he does. I don't need to understand anything to do it."
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    ...Learning to manage it himself might be a good idea.

    "But you feel something when you pray and the power activates, right?"

    "Ah… I think so?"
    Click to expand...
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    Don't think, feel. They're not called mystical arts for no reason. :p

    "Okay. Close your eyes and… Try and feel that feeling right now. Feel the power Helios gave you inside you, feel how it's connected to you."

    He glances at me uncertainly, but closes his eyes and concentrates anyway. The faint corona of sunlight radiating from his body intensifies slightly.
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    Impressive that the blessing works, regardless of the metaphorical trace-route it must be following from Olympus to here.

    "I dunno."

    "Alright. How about when we went to the sun to ask him for a favour?"
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    ...I don't think a solar plasma eye-beam torrent is quite what's needed here. :p

    "I wasn't really focusing on what if felt like. I was just hoping it wasn't going to feel like being on fire."

    "Okay, well, just try feeling the light around you. Did Angelika cover that when we was teaching you kryptonian martial arts?"
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    Okay, see, that's a better tack to take. Torquasm-related stuff is pretty much mystical cheat codes for Kryptonians.

    "Yeah, I just hadn't applied it to…" He breathes in slowly, eyes closed. Then something… Shifts in the air around him, the air glowing brighter as he opens his white-glowing eyes. "I think I got it."

    The interior of his mouth glows white as he says it.
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    Yeah, I'd say he does.

    "Okay, now how about the statue? Can you-?"

    "Huh. It's like a… Three D funhouse mirror. The lights getting reflected and.. kinda… Twisted around."
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    Just be careful when you step through that you don't get twisted about.

    "Can you get through?"

    "I think so."
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    Not the best answer, but they don't really have the time to waste turning that into 'pretty sure'.

    "Are you both ready?"

    I raise my eyebrows at Kon, who nods. I nod in reply. "Yep. Who wants to go first?"
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    In other words, who gets to catch the rookies as they leap through? :p

    "It should be me. You may need a steadying hand when you reach the Bast's city."

    I hold out my right hand to the statue, and he-.
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    And he does have more experience, so it's less likely he'll have difficulty with it.

    He strides forward without.. going anywhere. It's a little like he's running into a gale force wind, but he's getting smaller and… Not? Space isn't bending around him but that's the best comparison I can think of. Then he throws.. a spear at the statue, but he flies with it into the portal.

    Kon and I stare at the statue for a moment. Then he raises his right fist and wiggles it up and down once, twice, and-.
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    Not quite throwing a post and then leaping onto it, but...

    My paper covers his rock.

    "So does that mean I get to pick..?"
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    Ah, the old ways of deciding marching order.

    "You can go first. I.. might need a while."

    I push further into the incorporeal, body vanishing as I become a snake of orange light. Light vanishes from my perception and is replaced by layers of drives and impulses based around the objects which I perceive in relief. But not the statue, that's it's own thing and… Not? Regardless, my own desire squirms me forward and through and…
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    And Kon suddenly feels a little embarrassed without knowing why. x3

    And I'm buoyed along by my own desire following the trail of the elves desires and the desires of the many many people who have travelled this route before. A little surprising how many people have used it before.

    And then I'm through, and…
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    I wonder how many of those desires have a distinctly feline shape?

    Oh my.

    Okay, so there's a night sky. It's a little short on stars and I think there are people up there, or impressions of people of something. I can see tiny whiffs of orange but that doesn't appear to… It's only a tight network crowding everything out immediately around me. Like I define that space, but for everything further away that's just one part of what it is. Like I can't define other people's thing but my thing defines my local area.
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    Not entirely unreasonable. In ancient Egyptian mythology, the night sky is the body of Nut, And it's not unreasonable that some other deities would be lurking about up there.

    "What do you think, Lantern?"

    There's a circle of wolves and deer running around a forest and horns and hunting…
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    So that would be Cernunnos' 'thing' in this realm: A Wild Hunt on the ride.

    I… I don't think I was ready for this.

    I look away and there are statues, Egyptian statues-. Khandaqi statues. Most of them are weathered and damaged, but… In a few places it's like an ultra-modern veneer in metal or terracotta has been added over the top. I can't see anyone-. Or anything that could be a person other than Cernunnos. And I'm very glad for that.
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    I'm betting that's symbolic of their perception by modern Kahndaqis. Some old gods would seem more relevant than others. War, money, safety...

    "I prefer the material plane."

    "There are parts that are a little less raw. This is supposed to turn aside those who don't belong."
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    And I suspect it would do that job admirably for most people...

    "Elves can cope with this?"

    "They can pretend really hard. They didn't see what you're seeing."
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    Impressive ability to cat illusions over themselves, in other words. I suppose Glamour cuts both ways.

    "Can you track things here?"

    "Can't you?"
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    Well, OL doesn't know the scents, for one things.

    I look, and in my immediate vicinity I can see the material desires that belonged to them leaving a trail across the still sand. No wind here, I notice. The trail ends when it gets too far away from me, so I'm going to have to follow every step.

    "Yes. Should we expect company?"
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    I expect their arrival hasn't gone unnoticed. Just a matter of whether anyone would care.

    "Your friend should be through in a moment. Bast herself will not come to see us, not in her domain. One of the few-."

    Then the sun comes through the gateway, and I can't see anything else.
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    ...Yeah, I think Kon might be popular with the cats. :D

    Hopefully Kon can turn down his sunshine while he's here, or OL will have to wear sunglasses for the duration. :D Nor is it going to be easy sneaking around. I wonder if it would get the attention of one of the many sun gods of the Kemetic pantheon. Which may not necessarily be a good thing. Wonder if they'll bump into Adom's sponsors while they're here?
     
    Signaller said:
    We've established before that when people borrow powers (e.g. Hercules, Zeus), those are not available to the supplier.
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    Have we? From what I recall Zeus didn't say that he lost his lightning or power from Captain Marvel using it, nor has Adom expressed a similar situation for his Patrons. Captain Marvel and his friends lost the lightning when Zeus lost it, but when they are borrowing power the patrons don't seem to necessarily lose it.
     
    Marvel said "Better that I have it [the demi-god strength] then he [Herakles] does, right?". Paul expressed interest and Marvel asked him to pretend he never said that (Shazaam gave express orders that Paul is not allowed to study the spells used in the transformation).
    I'll admit, I too don't think Zeus actually depowered himself when Marvel and co changed. Fueled as he was by basically everyone bound in Tartarus, he had the raw power to spare. Even as no longer king, the worry was that he could no longer share his power while banished, not that he didn't have enough. Also that Herakles is being punished, where-ever he is, but Zeus and Susanoo both do it voluntarily (even if Zeus was drunk).
     
    But Captain Marvel didn't lose his lightning because Zeus wasn't sharing it, Heph basically exiled Zeus to the material realm and blocked his power, so Zeus couldn't share what he didn't have at the time and, while he seemed to automate the process, he didn't seem to care when it happened.

    I don't see, for example, the Demon Lords that made Sabbac, accepting to create that deal if they were losing a significant part of their power while doing so.

    Adom, meanwhile, actively consults with his patrons and when he uses the Wisdom he's essentially googling or consulting stuff with his god.

    Herakles I don't know about. We don't know his status, I don't recall if we have been told were he is, if he's still a demigod or full on god since the myth says he ascended, nothing. And Shazam has a weird combination of patrons anyway.
     
    People mentioned the what-if of Teekl being there. I'd like the mentioning the what-if of some of the cats freaking because Paul's a spirit snakes and naturally cats freak out around snakes. Remember how they get startled around cucumbers? Think they're snakes.
     
    Mr Zoat said:

    Then the sun comes through the gateway, and I can't see anything else.
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    Again, I'd like to note that Kryptonians with magic sunlight powers are ridiculously OP.

    I've played around with the idea of a isekai summoning fic where the MC gets the "disappointing" ability of daylight.... but they're kryptonian.
     
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