Carrnage
Human
- Location
- New Zealand
I wouldnt underestimate a character we havent seen the full capabilities of.
I wouldnt underestimate a character we havent seen the full capabilities of.
However, I still don't see full godmode Indrajit being defeated so...easily.
"Ah." Jiayi looks back at the road. Then he glances at you again. "So not just any rakshasa but prince of the lot of them, eh? Quite the pedigree to have in our little band! Shape up you two, we've royalty in the car."
hey! had to shoot is a gross exaggeration! the closest thing to hostile we did was when we started ignoring the vampires when they started to bow to us!
That means he's either a Marauder, or possibly a deep cover Nephandi agent.
If he's a Marauder... that makes sense. A Marauder is someone who used overly flashy magic in public and did it WAY too many times, which both makes them immune to the rules of the setting... and also makes them completely and utterly insane, even by Mage standards. If Nathan's somehow hiding his insanity, or if his insanity is made manifest in his fashion choices, that would make sense.
The other possibility is that he's a Nephandi. A Nephandi is a malevolent sociopath who was once voluntarily soul f#$%ed to the point of madness by an eldritch abomination. They're pure evil, and they're hidden everywhere. This option makes much more sense, but it's also so much creepier.
*Come to think of it, where the fuck is the Paradox? That's like, the most fundamental element of being a mage, but I haven't seen any hint of it thus far. It's like Meghanda seems to have absolutely nothing of the usual trappings of a Mage.
Although, you guys are really overrating Indrajit's legend. When all legends are true, how can you say yours really makes you invincible? I mean, the Void Engineers break into heaven-like subdimensions and plasma cannon fucking angels for fuck's sake. Just because you think and look like you're a literal deity doesn't mean you are. It just means you've got a massive case of hubris, which you may or may not have the firepower to back up.
The strongest mages literally don't exist; they became so powerful that they escaped space time for something cooler. Since every Mage we see here is still on Earth, do you think that any of them are at that level?
That's nWoD. oWod the strongest Mages eventually left earth for their personal Horizon realms which meant they eventually became evil space ghosts post-99.
Huh....You guys know he was pretty clearly talking to the vampires right? The ones who were dressed in the servant-garb. The ones he gestured at. The ones who gave him mouth and he chomped and then was like "well whatever that's good enough".
Like, all else aside he wasn't talking to Odette in that line.![]()
man jiayi is such a dad. such a weird...well Big Daddy looking motherfucker
Tbh though given how old he seems to be it's probably straight up a matter of "well the city block didn't explode and everyone seems to have all their bits attached so it couldn't have been that bad".
It's not a gross exaggerating tbh, it's a straight up lie. Or, at least, an oblique enough truth that it hits most of the high points of what happened while ignored the fact that Odette and Meghanada/Indrajit sat down and had a pretty polite chat until Odette started shooting him in the fact.
But so it goes.
I think it's worth remembering that we're sharing living space with a number of old Mages, two different people who deal in procuring information, and whatever the fuck the Dame Commander is (besides "strong"). It's unlikely that Meghanada hit on anything they don't already know so whatever it is it's not bad enough to have a Shoot On Sight policy going from the higher ups. But that doesn't necessarily mean it's something the Knights would tell us about. And given the fact that they're employing a cannibal demon from outer fucking space without much in the way of compunction there's a pretty broad area for how bad it could be.
On the flipside the language could just be Indrajit being flowery and more indicate that Nathan has a lot of latent trauma beneath the edgelord stuff.
But judging Nathan by what we know: he's standoffish but not necessarily hostile, probably isn't socialized super-well, has Something going on with his physiology, and his powers trend towards Vulgar effects, high end combat stuff, and speed (it took him like 90 seconds to clear the way to the nest and while we held the other waves off he popped off to murk the head vamps). Indrajit also learned that the dude is lonely as fuck and isn't interested in wealth and status so much as just having a friend.
Which is sorta adorable and sad.
Rakshasa are shapeshifters and illusionists so it's entirely plausible that Meghanada/Indrajit can use their alien biology as a focus and offwrite Paradox costs on things that fall in that purview. I mean lets look at what Indrajit did: he shapeshifted into a more combat appropriate form, he cast an illusion of a sunny day real enough that the vampires shortcircuited, he did a mind-scan thing that keyed off entirely of "what people want", and he, uh, ate people and poked around their memories a bit Mercer-style.
That's pretty much all in line with established rakshasa territory save the last bit (and even that had a sort of IC logic train of "Rakshasa are tricksters and deceivers and language made for lying so I can use this nommed vampire brain to teach myself English," 'cause while he learned the language just fine and got flashes of emotion he still needed to ask Odette questions and check the brain to confirm). Plus it's not exactly like Meghanada was hurting for Prime energy to offset 'dox costs.
Meghanada's dad was straight up "if you go rogue and fully militarize we'll have to drop the highest end countermeasure the Australian Union has on your face and hope really fucking hard it's enough".
So, y'know. Maybe not invincible but the Union would have rather kept him in the very darkest, deepest hole they had on hand than risk him going free. And it took a pretty bullshit VA working with some other bullshit people to get him out.
...You guys know he was pretty clearly talking to the vampires right? The ones who were dressed in the servant-garb. The ones he gestured at. The ones who gave him mouth and he chomped and then was like "well whatever that's good enough".
Like, all else aside he wasn't talking to Odette in that line.
That's nWoD. oWod the strongest Mages eventually left earth for their personal Horizon realms which meant they eventually became evil space ghosts post-99.
*Come to think of it, where the fuck is the Paradox? That's like, the most fundamental element of being a mage, but I haven't seen any hint of it thus far. It's like Meghanda seems to have absolutely nothing of the usual trappings of a Mage.
Exemplar is a double-cost background which mitigates paradox. Upon purchase, choose who or what your character is an Exemplar of (for example Exemplar: The Terminator, or Exemplar: Vampires). Each dot of Exemplar can mitigate either 1 point of permanent Paradox or 1 point of temporary Paradox gained per scene, as long as the effect would make sense for the legend in question.
So... all ascended Mages became Threat Null post-99?
What the hell HAPPENED in 99?
Because anything that can do that could destroy the multiverse.
I'm starting to think that we're "exempt" from Paradox in a way because most of our freaky Blacklight superpower antics are Static Magic which comes from being a reincarnated Indian demon prince. Its just that whenever we start trying to use Dynamic Magic like we did against the Black Spiral Dancer that we get hit with the Paradox stick. Of course this probably means that we have more permanent Paradox points then an Etherite Cyborg with a built in atomic jetpack but hey, that just means we have to go dunk ourselves in the Pulse and scream in agony as its all turned into Agg damage.This is all assuming we don't get a massive bitchslap from Paradox in the first place for trying to do something so utterly against Consensus (if we're a Mage). Paradox. I keep forgetting how important in it is to this discussion, but it really is.
Don't forget we also have a convenient source of prime if we really need it.
well if your in a fight to the death anyways it's not like eating someone makes them more dead than ripping there head off.
Hmm, anyone else thinking Indrajit manifesting might simply be a Paradox induced Past Life takeover? Same powers as Meg, but just expressed differently.
You'd never say it where Ms. Jenkins could hear 'cause it'd be rude, but nothing's better than Mum's cooking.
As a side note I'm sorta curious...I don't think Ms. Jenkins is Dad's new wifey or whatever and she doesn't seem quite like, just a family friend? She cooks for us. She gave us some pepto or whatever when we ate ourselves sick. She drives us around. She might be a live-in nanny or something.
Old and bony like a stick insect in a skin suit, with that musty smell of old people about him. Wrapped in loose yellow-orange from the waist down and over his right shoulder, a string of beads hanging from his neck. His white beard is thick and bushy, the rest of his long hair split between falling naturally down his back and wrapped up in a sort of bun on top of his head. There's a weird red mark on his forehead. All in all he's the worst Santa Claus ever.
It's a wedding. And it's not at all like the weddings you see on TV and in movies. Those are boring, practically monochrome. Everyone wears the exact same suit. Everyone behaves themselves in an orderly fashion. Not so with a Hindu wedding. Possibly exacerbated by there being just so many people. The minute you get into the temple it's like walking into a wall of noise and colour. None of you dressed for the occasion, not really. You feel drab and out of place. You shrink behind Dad and Ms. Jenkins.
Dad whispers to you both when the ceremony starts - once the bride is far enough down the aisle to be out of earshot of course. Pointing out the bride's richly-decorated sari and the groom's equally eyecatching sherwani. He reassures the two of you that it's okay to have no idea what's going on. Everything's being said in Sanskrit, the language of holy ceremonies.
Time for the reception. The tables are supposed to be separated by gender, you think. Or by family. Or by no logical structure at all.
You say "cool" and silently judge him for liking fifth gen best.
"Isn't it obvious? She's basically white. That'll get her far, at least that's what my Mum says about that stuff. I seen her put on cream every morning to whiten herself up. Pretty crazy, huh?"
"So what's up, mate?" Dad asks. "Bit of a tummy upset?"
"Am I really your son?" you ask.
No sniggering fuckbrains calling her a faggot for having a girl's name.
You tell him how you like your tea - fairly weak, half milk, two sugars. He just makes it that way without being a fuckhead about your preference, which is definitely nice. Not only that, it actually tastes the way you like it, too.
"Try the school counsellor." You look at him. He shrugs. "They're not top-of-the-line but they're there for a reason, y'know? If nothing else, he can help make school a bit easier while you try to sort things out. I think you should at least try it, for what it's worth."
You just silently put up with Lakshmi talking about just how much all the aunties adored her and how there's a million grandsons that want to meet her. You just silently put up with a lot until you get back to school.
You check the front. Printed in cramped little text is the nature of your repast. BBQ beef.
Name's David Baker or something. Dave-o to his friends, of course. His idea of leadership is encouraging mockery, and he never helps out with the actual heavy lifting. Blonde and blue-eyed, perhaps a carrier for the superior Aryan asshole genes. You steel yourself and try to speak as evenly as possible.
Of not fitting in right. After all Hindus are, what, 1% of the population? Statistically speaking you're a unicorn. It's always just seemed easer to keep it under wraps. Safer. Maybe just paranoia but- shit you've been quiet too long, say something.
He raises his eyebrows and leans back a little. "That right? Yeah you guys like, worship cows or some shit?"
"They aren't worshipped but they're sacred," you explain evenly. "Traditionally they're seen as motherly, part of the family-"
"So your mum's sacred too, then?"
CRUNCH
Dad's trying not to be too angry at you. He believes your story about David provoking you. He just doesn't let that excuse you. For the next three days, whenever he gets home you have to sit through lectures about thinking before you act, learning patience and temperance. It all goes in one ear and right out the other. Perhaps more accurately it just hits the barrier.
There's an hour-long Chapel every Thursday after lunch, and a Bible Studies class period on Fridays. You don't make a big deal about it. Why should you make a big deal about it?
You tell him the truth. He heats up a sausage roll and hands it to you with a Coke, free of charge, on the way out. You smile weakly and thank him.
You slowly peel the lid off the yoghurt and lick the excess off the underside.
"Lakshmi didn't say she'd be inviting any boys," she ventures.
"Meghanada." A strong hand on your chin, squeezing tight. Lifting your head. "Look at me." You look.
Your name is an earth-shaking roar.
Cold, pitiless eyes burning scarlet. This close you can see how fake they are. You can see the 'lens' of humanity over the whirring, spinning, manyfaceted optics set in Rob's sockets. You can see the ticking clockwork inside him. He's not human. Maybe he was never human. He's a killing machine and he slaughtered those people like animals. And he's your only hope.
"Your dad is coming," he says. "Listen to me. Your dad is coming. Ms. Jenkins and I got the alert out. All we have to do is hold out and the Convention will be here. You and your sister are going to live, no matter what Ms. Jenkins and I have to give. Do you understand me?"
[ ] You refuse to be bullied by these snarling, slavering beasts. Rabid dogs are not to be feared. They are to be put down. This fear is useless, child
I dunno if this is just a coincidence but most of the people I've met take their chai with about a fistful of sugar and basically drown it in milk. It's actually a serious health issue.
I try to be kinda silent and detached between updates (shitposting aside) because when I don't I tend to fuck things up raw, but I just wanted to say I really appreciated this. I tried my best to mix Meg's childhood up from my own experiences and as much research into Hinduism as I could to make something that felt properly real, and it's pretty heartening to read a reaction like this. Thank you.
I try to be kinda silent and detached between updates (shitposting aside) because when I don't I tend to fuck things up raw, but I just wanted to say I really appreciated this. I tried my best to mix Meg's childhood up from my own experiences and as much research into Hinduism as I could to make something that felt properly real, and it's pretty heartening to read a reaction like this. Thank you.