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

[Sojiko]

Ah, but it wasn't Insane in the Brain by Cypress Hill. It was Insane in the Brain by Richard Cheese.

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OH! Well, that's much better. I was confused why Grayven would set that as his ring tone. Richard Cheese is a much better fit for his style.

 

[Darko]

Dear god, I can just imagine the voice. I can't even describe it, but I can hear the haughty tone. Something... Something akin to Majel Barret-Roddenberry as Lwaxana Troi. Yesssss...

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Now I can't stop imagining Paul getting sexually harassed by her.

Or maybe Alan, while Paul is relegated to the task of romancing her daughter or carrying her luggage.

Wow, okay, not planning on doing things by halves, huh?

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Nope.

An interesting insight into Bleez. I wonder how much of that is from her comics characterisation

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I think this us purely Zoat.

In the comics the most we saw of her before Red Lantern was her being haughty and snobbish.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Dear god, I can just imagine the voice. I can't even describe it, but I can hear the haughty tone. Something... Something akin to Majel Barret-Roddenberry as Lwaxana Troi. Yesssss...

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Not exactly. Lwaxana generally spoke from a position of confidence. Bleez's mother doesn't feel like that.

An interesting insight into Bleez. I wonder how much of that is from her comics characterisation? I mean, in the comics, she's a Red Lantern, so subtlety in her desires is even less of a thing than it would be for an Orange. Still, it's good to see she's more than the pampered princess playing at pop-star prestige. I'm kind of rooting for her success now.

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In the comics, she says that she feels trapped and that no one knows the real her, but we're never really given any idea of what the real her is. As a result she ends up sounding like a spoiled brat who doesn't like the fact that she finally has an actual duty to perform.

...portion of the mountain into multiple streams who converge...

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Thank you, corrected.

 

[Old Knife]

Well if she's got high Ideals and actually cares about the entire planet, getting her entire planet butchered by the Sinestro Corps would be a plausible trigger for RAGE>
.... Now to see where this rabbit hole goes.

 

[012345]

The government will never let me do any of it if I've got a power ring."

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One would think that person with Power Ring is deciding what government is allowed to do? Like Paul isnt ruling Earth because its a wierd place having Justice League actualy capable of oposing him and him not wanting to rule that mess.

 

[Doccer]

Until the end of my holiday, anyway.

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Dun Dun Duuuuuun!

 

[hance1986]

One would think that person with Power Ring is deciding what government is allowed to do? Like Paul isnt ruling Earth because its a wierd place having Justice League actualy capable of oposing him and him not wanting to rule that mess.

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I think it's more about people with power rings being compromised working for outside forces like the Guardians or Controllers usually. Thanagar is a space empire. They probably have tech and tactics to deal with a rogue ring bearer. They just haven't had to deal with one. Paul us probably their most consistent contact with a power ring. Maybe Thanagarian high command wargamed fighting him, but given Paul is a peaceful visitor they're trying Bleez with a sexy friendly face.

 

[Ngamer11]

I think it's more about people with power rings being compromised working for outside forces like the Guardians or Controllers usually. Thanagar is a space empire. They probably have tech and tactics to deal with a rogue ring bearer. They just haven't had to deal with one. Paul us probably their most consistent contact with a power ring. Maybe Thanagarian high command wargamed fighting him, but given Paul is a peaceful visitor they're trying Bleez with a sexy friendly face.

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That almost makes me wish that Paul will have to fight the Thanagarian Empire in the future, and then demonstrates more high level Emotional Spectrum manipulation abilities.

 

[WereDragon]

Jade smiles faintly. "What is it you want to do?"

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"No work."

She blinks in confusion. "'Posing'?" She checks her stance, then sags. "Uhr, I've been doing that so long it's just automatic now." … "I'm pressing my boobs together with my upper arms, aren't I?"

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An oddly relaxed exampled of 'Damn you muscle memory!'

-and yes I know that you know that I know-

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Always good to have clear communication.

Until the end of my holiday, anyway.

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That ended the moment you started hacking the monitoring systems and talking about what people Want.

 

[Darko]

One would think that person with Power Ring is deciding what government is allowed to do? Like Paul isnt ruling Earth because its a wierd place having Justice League actualy capable of oposing him and him not wanting to rule that mess.

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I think it's more about people with power rings being compromised working for outside forces like the Guardians or Controllers usually. Thanagar is a space empire. They probably have tech and tactics to deal with a rogue ring bearer. They just haven't had to deal with one. Paul us probably their most consistent contact with a power ring. Maybe Thanagarian high command wargamed fighting him, but given Paul is a peaceful visitor they're trying Bleez with a sexy friendly face.

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Yeah, the Thanagarians probably have anti-Lantern tech that they can use.

I also think Paul once mentioned that they apparently hire pirates to fight Lanterns to see their capabilities, and that Paul's fight with those cultists was some kind of test, so wargames did kinda happen.

 

[quietwhile]

Slavery generally sucks for the individuals involved, but it can be beneficial for a people of the long term.

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I disagree. The dehumanization implicit in slavery damages a society and both sides of the whip in irreparable ways. It might be good for building infrastructure I guess? If for some reason you care only for that metric. But beneficial for a people in general? That's way too much imperialist bullshit for my taste, it sounds like someone typed this from another century.

 

[PDV]

One would think that person with Power Ring is deciding what government is allowed to do? Like Paul isn't ruling Earth because it's a weird place having Justice League actually capable of opposing him and him not wanting to rule that mess.

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To paraphrase Dalinar Kholin, ring-bearers can't hold ground. A smart, practiced Orange Lantern could fight off a strong navy, probably, but the minute their back is turned or they have to attack somewhere else, the territory will get snapped up again. And Thanagar has definitely wargamed 'fight a Green Lantern' extensively and probably has specifically wargamed 'fight Paul' since the Seven Devil cult incident.

 

[Coda]

That's why I learned to perform at all; so regular Thanagarians would have a positive image of me.

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The semicolon should either be a comma or a colon.

I disagree. The dehumanization implicit in slavery damages a society and both sides of the whip in irreparable ways. It might be good for building infrastructure I guess? If for some reason you care only for that metric. But beneficial for a people in general? That's way too much imperialist bullshit for my taste, it sounds like someone typed this from another century.

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It highly depends on what metric you're evaluating, what cultural mores you're assuming, and what the rest of the contemporary society is like. It also highly depends on the nature of the slavery -- historically in many cultures it was actually BETTER to be a slave than to be a pauper. If commoners are already being dehumanized, then being the property of a rich person might give you more protections, because a noble might think nothing of killing a peasant because it was convenient but they would think twice about damaging the possessions of another noble. And since a slave is an investment, a wise master would strive to protect that investment, making sure the slave is well-fed and well-rested, as a hungry, exhausted slave isn't as useful.

It should be telling that some people would choose to sell themselves into slavery.

That's not to say that slavery is good. The kind of horrors that modern society sees in slavery stem from the use of slavery as a form of industrialization, with slaves that are replaceable commodities instead of expensive assets. When it's more efficient to buy dozens of slaves and throw out the ones that aren't good enough, that drives an increase in capturing people to sell as slaves, which makes it easier to buy more slaves, which makes those terrible practices more efficient... That's the vicious spiral that industrialized, imperialist slavery caused. And of course it would be better if the societies that practiced non-industrial slavery would instead provide the same kind of welfare for their servants without restricting their freedoms or treating them as property. But it isn't automatically the unalloyed, unmitigable evil that modern society makes it out to be.

 

[Mr Zoat]

The semicolon should either be a comma or a colon.

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Thank you, corrected.

 

[Radix]

The semicolon should either be a comma or a colon.


It highly depends on what metric you're evaluating, what cultural mores you're assuming, and what the rest of the contemporary society is like. It also highly depends on the nature of the slavery -- historically in many cultures it was actually BETTER to be a slave than to be a pauper. If commoners are already being dehumanized, then being the property of a rich person might give you more protections, because a noble might think nothing of killing a peasant because it was convenient but they would think twice about damaging the possessions of another noble. And since a slave is an investment, a wise master would strive to protect that investment, making sure the slave is well-fed and well-rested, as a hungry, exhausted slave isn't as useful.

It should be telling that some people would choose to sell themselves into slavery.

That's not to say that slavery is good. The kind of horrors that modern society sees in slavery stem from the use of slavery as a form of industrialization, with slaves that are replaceable commodities instead of expensive assets. When it's more efficient to buy dozens of slaves and throw out the ones that aren't good enough, that drives an increase in capturing people to sell as slaves, which makes it easier to buy more slaves, which makes those terrible practices more efficient... That's the vicious spiral that industrialized, imperialist slavery caused. And of course it would be better if the societies that practiced non-industrial slavery would instead provide the same kind of welfare for their servants without restricting their freedoms or treating them as property. But it isn't automatically the unalloyed, unmitigable evil that modern society makes it out to be.

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Describing it as them "choosing" to sell themselves into slavery is a bit inaccurate imo. Being forced by circumstances is hardly a real choice.

 

[Michael Vonica]

Describing it as them "choosing" to sell themselves into slavery is a bit inaccurate imo. Being forced by circumstances is hardly a real choice.

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I'm sure there there were choices. It was probably something along the lines of letting them and their family starve to death, risking it with banditry, or going into slavery. Or maybe come up with a one in a million clever scheme. None of those were good choices, but they were all real options.

 

[quietwhile]

Describing it as them "choosing" to sell themselves into slavery is a bit inaccurate imo. Being forced by circumstances is hardly a real choice.

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Quite. Also, those were all (fringe) individual examples which I intentionally didn't comment on because Mr Zoat started by admitting that individually at least slavery isn't generally a good thing (altho he went on to like the reply so idk).

I was specifically talking about the idea that being enslaved was good to a people, which is so ludicrous I was half expecting someone to point out to me that I had misunderstood.

Edit: right color for hope.

 

[KyleDaScourge]

So, working my way through a reread of the story, and I've got a question concerning Hades...

What does he get out of accepting the alien dead into his realm? Judging by how we're told hell works, and the way that he has to hook shades into titan magic to bring them up to full awareness... It seems like this is decidedly not one of those settings where a soul is potentially a source of unlimited energy which arcane lifeforms desire, in fact it sounds like each shade is a net-drain on resources given that they need external energy to be self aware.

So he's doing a lot of work (judging billions of souls, reactivating the full bureaucracy of death, etc) and spending a lot of power (even if it's not strictly speaking his power) for...?

 

[Ngamer11]

So, working my way through a reread of the story, and I've got a question concerning Hades...

What does he get out of accepting the alien dead into his realm? Judging by how we're told hell works, and the way that he has to hook shades into titan magic to bring them up to full awareness... It seems like this is decidedly not one of those settings where a soul is potentially a source of unlimited energy which arcane lifeforms desire, in fact it sounds like each shade is a net-drain on resources given that they need external energy to be self aware.

So he's doing a lot of work (judging billions of souls, reactivating the full bureaucracy of death, etc) and spending a lot of power (even if it's not strictly speaking his power) for...?

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He seems to take pride in his work, so the opportunity to induct more dead to his realm pleases him.

 

[Mr Zoat]

22nd Jahrdrung 2512
Midday

Gaius Gracchus Lupo gulps as he begins to take in the scale of the work being undertaken before him in the blazing Nehekharan heat.

Literal legions of Lybaras's skeleton labourers dig at the dead soil under the direction of whip-armed Necrotects, a handful of Tomb Princes standing watch to ensure that their queen's will is being properly made manifest. Huge animated statues pick up the largest buried stones and haul them out of the way, while merely large statues work at the ground at the front of the digging corridor with huge picks.

Gaius looks towards the sea, just visible through the shimmering heat, where the artificial bay is lapped by sea water. Skeletons and constructs have no need to breathe and as such are perfectly quiescent when asked to dig under water. Then he turns and gazes inland, where he can just about see tiny shapes moving as they work under the personal direction of Chief Necrotect Ramhotep the Visionary to bore a hole through the World's Edge Mountains.

"We considered cutting through from the Sour Sea through the Marshes of Madness to the Black Gulf. It would be a shorter route, but there are a lot of Orcs in the area and draining the Marsh would be a pain. And the Gulf isn't easily navigable. But taking it from the Gulf of Fear to the Ash River and onto the Great Mortis River, we can create a passage directly into the Great Ocean."

"Do you.. have a.. map?"

He doesn't look at me, but rather keeps staring.

"I can do better than that." I take a globe out of subspace and spin it around so that the portion displaying Nehekhara is facing him. "See here?"

"How far is it?"

"About fifteen hundred miles in total. The bit we're digging now is about five hundred, and it won't be all that deep or wide to start with. In the end we want it to be navigable by galleons, but to start with it will just be open to barges."

He looks at the globe.

Then he looks at the work.

Then at the mountains.

Then at the globe.

"This is a little larger than the road between Luccini and Verezzo."

"Yes, but given your reaction, you're a good deal more mentally stable than the person doing this."

"I can't imagine the mind that could conceive of a work like this."

"Um, thank you?"

His eyes widen. "You designed this?"

"No, just the conception. The design of the canal is the work of Necrotect Ramhotep."

"He is one of the undead."

"Yes indeed. And not.. really one of the sane ones. Though High Queen Khalida says that he was the same when he was alive."

"But… How..?"

"Sentient Undead range from glorified automatons to beings who have essentially the same mental processes as the living. Sophont Tomb Kings and Queens sometimes fixate on the patterns of the lives they lived when they were alive, and those ones are not easy to deal with. Others aren't much different from living sovereigns. High Queen Khalida is aware of herself sufficiently well to grasp opportunities like this. Ah, but it's probably not something you should try without knowing your target very well first."

Gaius nods, tracing the route across the globe. "If this is successful, Luccini would be the first port that a ship would reach in the Old World."

"Unless the captain felt like trying to head directly for Los Cabos, certainly."

"They would have to contend with the pirates of Sartosa, though I suppose no more than they do so presently."

"I believe that it may be necessary to deal with Sartosa. Once the canal has finished and the shipping routes change."

He spins the globe anticlockwise, viewing the world to the west of Nehekhara.

"This is Ind and Cathay?" I nod. "This will make passage far easier and swifter. And avoid having to deal with the elves at the Fortress of Dawn. You are not at all concerned about what they will do about their sudden drop in revenue?"

"The wonderful thing about dealing with the undead: raiding their settlements doesn't really do much. There's not a lot there to burn, and even if you smash every skeleton to pieces all it means is a little extra work for the Liche Priests." I shrug. "Should it prove necessary, I'll discuss the subject diplomatically above the level of whatever prince is running the place. I'd be astonished if elven vessels didn't end up using this canal as well."

"Queen Khalida's city is Lybaras?" I nod. "Near the western entrance. This will make her a very rich woman. Assuming that she cares for such things."

"She very much does. She also hopes that engaging with the wider world will aid in the mental recovery of her contemporaries. Or at least attract the foreign expertise that might be required to fix their problems."

"They… Seem to be managing well enough."

"Their priest told them that they would rise as golden demigods, and Nagash the Black made them rise as wizened corpses. They want to upgrade."

Gaius looks directly at me, and he appears to have calmed down a little.

"Is that possible?"

"Nothing is possible until someone does it. Who would have believed that a man could fly by strapping bed sheets to his back and flapping them with his legs before Daddallo did it?"

"I have seen him do it and I am not certain that I believe it." He nods. "But I understand what you mean. I cannot deny that the undead here are clearly working towards this goal, so I suppose that it does not matter whether it is ultimately possible or not so long as they believe that it is."

"So are you prepared to accept my commission?"

"I would feel somewhat foolish if I saw all of this and still did not accept. You do not mind if I inform my father about the additional shipping we can expect?"

"If it was a problem, I wouldn't have told you. Once we establish a working relationship, I will naturally be sharing more information with Luccini. A few years should be enough time for the construction of a few new docks, shouldn't it?"

"Yes, though I think -for the good of the city- it will need to be managed by someone else while I occupy myself with teaching Reikland peasants how to lay paving stones."

"Not just Reikland. The network is-."

"Yes, yes. But this is the Emperor's commission first. The peasants who I teach will be the foremen when the work expands into other Provinces. Reiklanders are not unfond of prestige. I will need to look at where stone can be quarried, and what carters might be hired…"

I nod. "I believe that the Emperor has scribes who can lay their hands on that information. You've seen enough, then?"

He nods slowly, once more looking over the diggings. "I believe that I will take what I have seen here to my grave."

"Would you like to meet the Queen before we leave?"

"Will she meet with me?"

"Probably. You're socially the equivalent of one of their princes, though I'm afraid that we're both barbarians in their eyes. Allow me to check. Back shortly."

I fly at speed, passing over the immense project area to the observation point where High Queen Khalida waits with her court. Where they've been waiting for weeks, unmoving, acting only when something actually requires their attention.

Prince Ahmose stares at me for a moment as I appear, then returns to his 'at rest' pose. High Queen Khalida on the other hand actually rises to greet me as I bow.

"Ambassador. Your archeotech has accepted the commission."

"Indeed, majesty. If you are willing, he would like to meet you before travelling to the Reikland to begin his work."

She walks closer, stopping within arm's reach in a way that is causing a slightly uncomfortable shift in the stance of her guards. They know her will but they don't adapt well to change.

"I am. First, however, you have a duty here." She reaches up and pulls off her restored mask, revealing the living but unfeeling flesh behind it, enchanted eyes gazing into mine.

"And I would hate to be delinquent." I lean forward to kiss her. "Khali."

 

[Mr Zoat]

So, working my way through a reread of the story, and I've got a question concerning Hades...

What does he get out of accepting the alien dead into his realm? Judging by how we're told hell works, and the way that he has to hook shades into titan magic to bring them up to full awareness... It seems like this is decidedly not one of those settings where a soul is potentially a source of unlimited energy which arcane lifeforms desire, in fact it sounds like each shade is a net-drain on resources given that they need external energy to be self aware.

So he's doing a lot of work (judging billions of souls, reactivating the full bureaucracy of death, etc) and spending a lot of power (even if it's not strictly speaking his power) for...?

Click to shrink...

He seems to take pride in his work, so the opportunity to induct more dead to his realm pleases him.

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Basically. It also adds variety, and is a sign that other people think that he's doing a good job.

 

[Darko]

be astonished of elven vessels didn't end up using this canal as well."

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'if elven'

 

[ungodlyone]

"And I would hate to be delinquent." I lean forward to kiss her. "Khali."

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I know next to nothing about the non 40k warhammer, but this inspires a great deal of worry.

 

[Someguy Somewhere]

So...I guess that political marriage thing happened after all.....

The coming comments should be fun.

 

[Doccer]

"And I would hate to be delinquent." I lean forward to kiss her. "Khali."

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Guess she has a thing for barbarians.

 

[KyleDaScourge]

I know next to nothing about the non 40k warhammer, but this inspires a great deal of worry.

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Hmmm... his first meeting with Khalida featured using the ring to transmute a living body around one of her handmaidens as a demonstration of a potential route to eventual golden demigodhood. The actual result was a mindless skeleton with a living but essentially brain-dead body. Then he asked to marry Khalida, who has apparently accepted and gotten herself a similar flesh body since that time.

 

[NameOrdane]

"And I would hate to be delinquent." I lean forward to kiss her. "Khali."

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Hmm, no Violet yet. Guess it's gonna take more time for that relationship to deepen.

 

[DrThoth]

Hmm, no Violet yet. Guess it's gonna take more time for that relationship to deepen.

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I didn't notice that, thanks for pointing it out. Actually I don't think Fantasy Paul's had any violet with Aranei either, but can't say for sure. (out of curiosity, does anyone remember the first time Paragon-Jade had violet speech for Paul?)

Then he asked to marry Khalida, who has apparently accepted and gotten herself a similar flesh body since that time.

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IIRC, Word of Zoat indicated that he was actually just enquiring if she was available to marry for general diplomatic purposes rather than the specific goal of marrying her himself, though of course the framing of that both in-universe (with Paul's romantic denseness) and out-of-universe (ending the chapter with that question) does strongly give the impression that he was asking for himself.

I'm interested in the social statuses of Aranei and Khalida in Paul's life, in multiple ways; how he views them in relation to himself, how they view each other in relation to him, and what any outside party (who knows about them) thinks of the dynamic. The closest polyamorous relationship we got (that wasn't a Mercy dream) was Mandated Paul with Jade and Jade, and there he wanted them to be in relationships with each other as well. Being enmeshed Warhammer politics and general changes due to the setting and simple passage of time might mean that Fantasy Paul is fine if his prospective partners aren't in relationships with each other, but presumably he'd be open to them having additional partners of their own.

I'd guess Khalida would view Aranei as a royal concubine-equivalent, while Aranei would be competitive but also conditioned to accept the idea of Paul (a strong warlord in her eyes) having multiple partners, and wouldn't rock the boat because Khalida is politically (and personally?) more powerful than her- she'd view Paul's apparently equal treatment of both of them as the oddity, if anything. Admittedly this is based on superficial impressions and speculation on the nature of Ancient Nehekharan and Druchii social norms and how Paul would deal with the situation.

I suppose there's no Paul who actually ended up in the Avatar: the Last Airbender universe and wasn't just future-Paragon, but I'd assume if there was one, he'd get together with Azula and internally reform the Fire Nation or whatever. I don't typically think of With This Ring as wish fulfillment the way that SI-stories are stereotyped to be, but at this point the list of all the prominent fictional women the Pauls have been with is getting pretty long. Kind of want to see them all hanging out at a multiversal meetup or something.

 

[Chojin Patriarch]

22nd Jahrdrung 2512
Midday

Gaius Gracchus Lupo gulps as he begins to take in the scale of the work being undertaken before him in the blazing Nehekharan heat.

Literal legions of Lybaras's skeleton labourers dig at the dead soil under the direction of whip-armed Necrotects, a handful of Tomb Princes standing watch to ensure that their queen's will is being properly made manifest. Huge animated statues pick up the largest buried stones and haul them out of the way, while merely large statues work at the ground at the front of the digging corridor with huge picks.

Click to shrink...

Yes, manpower is not an issue, when your 'men' are unthinking, unfeeling automata who feel no tiredness or boredom. The only significant issue will be remembering to tell them to stop digging. Otherwise, they may well dig a canal all the way to the Imperial City of Cathay.

Spoiler: Commentary spoilered for length

Gaius looks towards the sea, just visible through the shimmering heat, where the artificial bay is lapped by sea water. Skeletons and constructs have no need to breathe and as such are perfectly quiescent when asked to dig under water. Then he turns and gazes inland, where he can just about see tiny shapes moving as they work under the personal direction of Chief Necrotect Ramhotep the Visionary to bore a hole through the World's Edge Mountains.

Click to shrink...

And if any Skaven or Goblins happen to take issue with that, there's a big orange boot ready to step on them...

"We considered cutting through from the Sour Sea through the Marshes of Madness to the Black Gulf. It would be a shorter route, but there are a lot of Orcs in the area and draining the Marsh would be a pain. And the Gulf isn't easily navigable. But taking it from the Gulf of Fear to the Ash River and onto the Great Mortis River, we can create a passage directly into the Great Ocean."

"Do you.. have a.. map?"

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Yes, it is quite the project. Well deserving of the term Titanic.

He doesn't look at me, but rather keeps staring.

"I can do better than that." I take a globe out of subspace and spin it around so that the portion displaying Nehekhara is facing him. "See here?"

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A sight rare to any upon the world. The joy of medieval levels of technology. It means medieval levels of cartography.

"How far is it?"

"About fifteen hundred miles in total. The bit we're digging now is about five hundred, and it won't be all that deep or wide to start with. In the end we want it to be navigable by galleons, but to start with it will just be open to barges."

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For reference, that's wider then the entire Empire (Which covers most of the Europe equivalent.) In our world, that's the distance from Miami, Florida to New Hampshire.

He looks at the globe.

Then he looks at the work.

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Yes, that is as far as you think it is.

Then at the mountains.

Then at the globe.

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Amazing how far you can see in a nice, flat land like Nehekhara.

"This is a little larger than the road between Luccini and Verezzo."

"Yes, but given your reaction, you're a good deal more mentally stable than the person doing this."

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A Tomb King? A Sigmarite Flagellant is saner than him. But at least they can be directed, I hope.

"I can't imagine the mind that could conceive of a work like this."

"Um, thank you?"

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To be fair, Paol probably conceived of it while observing from near-orbital altitudes.

His eyes widen. "You designed this?"

"No, just the conception. The design of the canal is the work of Necrotect Ramhotep."

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...So, expect plenty of Nehekharan statuary, which may or may not also serve as security guards?

"He is one of the undead."

"Yes indeed. And not.. really one of the sane ones. Though High Queen Khalida says that he was the same when he was alive."

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...That is not all that reassuring. It just means that now he can actually produce some of his madder designs.

"But… How..?"

"Sentient Undead range from glorified automatons to beings who have essentially the same mental processes as the living. Sophont Tomb Kings and Queens sometimes fixate on the patterns of the lives they lived when they were alive, and those ones are not easy to deal with. Others aren't much different from living sovereigns. High Queen Khalida is aware of herself sufficiently well to grasp opportunities like this. Ah, but it's probably not something you should try without knowing your target very well first."

Click to shrink...

Indeed. If you're lucky, you'll merely be killed quickly. If they really don't like you, then the flesh-eating beetles get involved.

Gaius nods, tracing the route across the globe. "If this is successful, Luccini would be the first port that a ship would reach in the Old World."

"Unless the captain felt like trying to head directly for Los Cabos, certainly."

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That would be in Estalia, their version of the Iberian Peninsula. That is, Spain and Portugal. Largely ignored in the stories of the setting outside of its interactions with Bretonnia.

"They would have to contend with the pirates of Sartosa, though I suppose no more than they do so presently."

"I believe that it may be necessary to deal with Sartosa. Once the canal has finished and the shipping routes change."

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For reference, that's basically Sicily in terms of geographical placement.

He spins the globe anticlockwise, viewing the world to the west of Nehekhara.

"This is Ind and Cathay?" I nod. "This will make passage far easier and swifter. And avoid having to deal with the elves at the Fortress of Dawn. You are not at all concerned about what they will do about their sudden drop in revenue?"

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Elves are dicks, yes. This is common knowledge throughout the Old World. No doubt they demand a payment for safe passage past the equivalent of the Cape of Good Hope.

"The wonderful thing about dealing with the undead: raiding their settlements doesn't really do much. There's not a lot there to burn, and even if you smash every skeleton to pieces all it means is a little extra work for the Liche Priests." I shrug. "Should it prove necessary, I'll discuss the subject diplomatically above the level of whatever prince is running the place. I'd be astonished of elven vessels didn't end up using this canal as well."

"Queen Khalida's city is Lybaras?" I nod. "Near the western entrance. This will make her a very rich woman. Assuming that she cares for such things."

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It's good to see friends get ahead.

"She very much does. She also hopes that engaging with the wider world will aid in the mental recovery of her contemporaries. Or at least attract the foreign expertise that might be required to fix their problems."

"They… Seem to be managing well enough."

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As long as it doesn't get the attention of Nagash, Lord of Undeath. You know, the person who got the ancient rulers of Khemri into this state.

"Their priest told them that they would rise as golden demigods, and Nagash the Black made them rise as wizened corpses. They want to upgrade."

Gaius looks directly at me, and he appears to have calmed down a little.

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Yes, dealing with this sort of thing isn't good for the sanity of mere mortal men...

"Is that possible?"

"Nothing is possible until someone does it. Who would have believed that a man could fly by strapping bed sheets to his back and flapping them with his legs before Daddallo did it?"

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And yes, they actually existed in the tabletop game. You can see the mad models at the bottom of that wiki entry. Usually used as disposable flanking skirmishers by most players, since they were fast cavalry with flight...

"I have seen him do it and I am not certain that I believe it." He nods. "But I understand what you mean. I cannot deny that the undead here are clearly working towards this goal, so I suppose that it does not matter whether it is ultimately possible or not so long as they believe that it is."

"So are you prepared to accept my commission?"

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Think about it, Gaius. Your name will be remembered for as long as men keep histories...

"I would feel somewhat foolish if I saw all of this and still did not accept. You do not mind if I inform my father about the additional shipping we can expect?"

"If it was a problem, I wouldn't have told you. Once we establish a working relationship, I will naturally be sharing more information with Luccini. A few years should be enough time for the construction of a few new docks, shouldn't it?"

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And there's going to be quite a few merchant guilds in the region with coin-shaped eyes and big grins once they hear about this.

"Yes, though I think -for the good of the city- it will need to be managed by someone else while I occupy myself with teaching Reikland peasants how to lay paving stones."

"Not just Reikland. The network is-."

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Consider Reikland the test-bed. Your prototyping station.

"Yes, yes. But this is the Emperor's commission first. The peasants who I teach will be the foremen when the work expands into other Provinces. Reiklanders are not unfond of prestige. I will need to look at where stone can be quarried, and what carters might be hired…"

I nod. "I believe that the Emperor has scribes who can lay their hands on that information. You've seen enough, then?"

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He's certainly got the Imperials pegged well.

He nods slowly, once more looking over the diggings. "I believe that I will take what I have seen here to my grave."

"Would you like to meet the Queen before we leave?"

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Heh. So many ways to take that statement of Gaius'.

"Will she meet with me?"

"Probably. You're socially the equivalent of one of their princes, though I'm afraid that we're both barbarians in their eyes. Allow me to check. Back shortly."

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So, best behaviour, then.

I fly at speed, passing over the immense project area to the observation point where High Queen Khalida waits with her court. Where they've been waiting for weeks, unmoving, acting only when something actually requires their attention.

Prince Ahmose stares at me for a moment as I appear, then returns to his 'at rest' pose. High Queen Khalida on the other hand actually rise to greet me as I bow.

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Oh, my! Now that's quite the response. She's likely greet the Emperor of the Reiksland while remaining seated...

"Ambassador. Your archeotech has accepted the commission."

"Indeed, majesty. If you are willing, he would like to meet you before travelling to the Reikland to begin his work."

She walks closer, stopping within arms reach in a way that is causing a slightly uncomfortable shift in the stance of her guards. They know her will but they don't adapt well to change.

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Heh. I'll bet they don't. Hard to rewire patterns of necromantic energies that have run in their course for millennia...

"I am. First, however, you have a duty here." She reaches up and pulls off her restored mask, revealing the living but unfeeling flesh behind it, enchanted eyes gazing into mine.

"And I would hate to be delinquent." I lean forward to kiss her. "Khali."

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...And there's the Grim Dark. Now I see why she rose to meet him as an equal.

Well, then. The largest engineering project in the entire Old World (The Great Old One's polar gates don't count!) has begun. And yet another Paul has a reformed bad girl for a love interest. At least the flesh is living (and presumably kept that way by occasional treatments by Paol's ring...) And I rather imagine more than a few Powers are having fits at all this.

---

...actually rise to greet me as I bow.

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...actually rises to greet me as I bow.

 

[Ngamer11]

..And there's the Grim Dark. Now I see why she rose to meet him as an equal.

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How exactly is Paol being in a relationship with the High Queen an example of Grim Dark? I ask because I don't really know Warhammer lore.