Actually it should say: "How did he make a straight cut with a mace?"
With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Twelve)
- Thread starter Mr Zoat
- Start date
- Status
Possible typo, unless things are different in DC, or he was just being imprecise in his nomenclature:
Technically Gaea isn't a Titan; she came before the Titans.
Hullevow (part 11)
- Location
- Hampden Park
3rd March
08:09 GMT
"…not complaining, but it would have been nice to have another data point."
I stop at the top of the ridge which leads down to Hurlers Stone Circles and turn around to look back at my companions. Beryl's been mildly disappointed by the fact that we all had undisturbed nights' rests. Undisturbed by nightmares anyway; Tula wasn't the only Atlantean who had difficulty adapting their sleep pattern to GMT. That combined with the fact that Atlantean poison resistance appears to include caffeine means that they aren't exactly bright-eyed and bushy tailed… Or whatever the equivalent Atlantean expression is.
Rob comes up alongside me, guidebook in hand. "Three stone circles. The northern one has thirty stones arranged in a circle, the one in the middle's got twenty eight and the southern one's got nine."
I take a look at the patterns of lichen growing on them. "They don't all look the same age. Was the site added to?"
"Sort of." He shrugs with his right shoulder. "When English Heritage got hold of the site they decided to add back in stones that got worn away or nicked. Only about half of them are original. But that doesn't matter as far as the magic's concerned. They're all, like, plumbed in or whatever."
The rest of the party catches up and takes a look at the arrangement. Garth nods. "I can feel the energy flow. It is a shame that no one from Atlantis has ever studied how they work."
Kaldur smiles at him. "We will likely have to study them in detail in order to determine whether or not they are playing a role in creating the nightmares. You could submit an edited version to the University of Tritonis' Archaeological Institute."
"Tritonis? They would probably find it interesting, but they are the last people who would send a team to the surface world."
"Why's that?"
"Tritonis is isolationist. They don't even like other Atlanteans that much. You remember the Purists who followed Ocean Master?" I nod. "Pure… Ism? Started with the old Tritonian royal family. They actually fought a civil war over the issue just after the Sinking."
Tula nods. "The King of Atlantis supported his vassal King Shalako, but by the time the army of Poseidonis arrived he had already lost. The new ruler took that as a sign that Poseidonis could not be trusted."
Kaldur leads the way down the slope and Beryl sidles up to Garth. "Tritonis? Is that where you're from?"
Tula winces, but Garth himself doesn't really react. "No, I am… I was born in a small settlement near Shayeris. They would be even less interested than the Tritonians."
"Why's that?"
"Their prejudices and superstitions are even more intense. When I was a baby my mother and I were sent into exile because my eyes are the wrong color."
"Oh. Um, sorry."
He shakes his head. "Poseidonis is my home. Someone at the Institute of Arcane Study might be interested."
"I've got a proposal going through to have someone come and take a look at the T-." Um. I glance at Rob.
He notices. "The Tower." He looks uncomfortable. "I guess… I mean, there are people we really need to put in there. Might as well find out how it works."
We reach ground level and head in the direction of the northern circle.
"Did you..? Speak to your dad..?"
Rob nods. "He's going to talk to Uncle Julian on Saturday. He took that Constantine bloke's mobile number."
"Are the stones local?"
"Huh?" Rob looks around to where Beryl is staring at one of the newer stones.
"The stones. Are they local?"
"Um." He gets the guidebook out again. "'…restored using the same type of stone used in the original formation.' So probably not."
Well done Beryl. "Not exactly a small job, carting stones that big around."
"And not cheap, either. Dad tried getting heritage lottery funding for it once. If you try moving a normal lorry on ground like this carrying great chunks of granite it'll just sink most of the year."
I raise my eyebrows at Kaldur. "Worth looking into?"
He nods. "Beryl, once we have finished our preliminary investigation, return to our accommodations and try to discover the source of the new stones."
"Shouldn't be too hard."
I look around. Off-season in a place that had chemical weapons people in it a few weeks ago. No visitors are around and I can't see any locals. "How do you want to go about this?"
Tula steps up to the closest stone and holds out her hands. As an Atlantean the cold of spring isn't a problem for her, but she, Garth and Kaldur are all wearing long sleeves both as part of their cover and to obscure their tattoos. "We should examine the stones for recent changes first. If it were something easy to detect then Captain Cornwall would have done so."
Garth nods. "We can leave off the astral projection until later. To be honest, I hope that we will not have to do it at all."
Beryl looks at him with interest. "Why's that?"
"Interfering with powerful magics you do not understand is not a good idea. Even just observing can carry risks, particularly if a malevolent being is using them at the same time." He looks at Kaldur. "Kaldur?"
"I agree. You may proceed."
"I assumed that you were joining in?"
Kaldur looks a little embarrassed. "My studies have been somewhat.. light, on theoretical thaumaturgy of late. I am uncertain as to how much assistance I could provide."
"It would not hurt to have an extra pair of eyes."
Kaldur holds Garth's gaze for a moment, then nods. "Very well."
Garth and Kaldur join Tula at the first stone and after a moment's hesitation Rob approaches it as well. There's a very slight glow in the eyes of the Atlanteans as they consider the monolith.
Beryl looks at me. "So, what do we do?"
"You're on lookout duty for the moment." I fish the pouch containing the rings out of my coat. "I'm going to give the stones a scan and see if I can get anything useful about their mundane properties."
"I could start looking them up."
"Sorry, but that holographic computer is too expensive to credibly be in the hands of a group of students and it's visually distinctive. If someone looked in your direction…" She nods. "I'm going to be trying not to glow much myself." I take another quick look around and slide my right forefinger into the pouch, gently touching the inside of one of the rings.
Scan.
"There's a pattern of compressed earth over that way which suggests they were brought it from that direction and then the ruts were filled in. The new stones… Actually are Cornish, though they're not from the same place as the old ones. No arcane symbols I recognised on any of them, other than the circle itself." I remove my finger and rehide the pouch. "That was useful. Looks like we're both on lookout duty."
08:09 GMT
"…not complaining, but it would have been nice to have another data point."
I stop at the top of the ridge which leads down to Hurlers Stone Circles and turn around to look back at my companions. Beryl's been mildly disappointed by the fact that we all had undisturbed nights' rests. Undisturbed by nightmares anyway; Tula wasn't the only Atlantean who had difficulty adapting their sleep pattern to GMT. That combined with the fact that Atlantean poison resistance appears to include caffeine means that they aren't exactly bright-eyed and bushy tailed… Or whatever the equivalent Atlantean expression is.
Rob comes up alongside me, guidebook in hand. "Three stone circles. The northern one has thirty stones arranged in a circle, the one in the middle's got twenty eight and the southern one's got nine."
I take a look at the patterns of lichen growing on them. "They don't all look the same age. Was the site added to?"
"Sort of." He shrugs with his right shoulder. "When English Heritage got hold of the site they decided to add back in stones that got worn away or nicked. Only about half of them are original. But that doesn't matter as far as the magic's concerned. They're all, like, plumbed in or whatever."
The rest of the party catches up and takes a look at the arrangement. Garth nods. "I can feel the energy flow. It is a shame that no one from Atlantis has ever studied how they work."
Kaldur smiles at him. "We will likely have to study them in detail in order to determine whether or not they are playing a role in creating the nightmares. You could submit an edited version to the University of Tritonis' Archaeological Institute."
"Tritonis? They would probably find it interesting, but they are the last people who would send a team to the surface world."
"Why's that?"
"Tritonis is isolationist. They don't even like other Atlanteans that much. You remember the Purists who followed Ocean Master?" I nod. "Pure… Ism? Started with the old Tritonian royal family. They actually fought a civil war over the issue just after the Sinking."
Tula nods. "The King of Atlantis supported his vassal King Shalako, but by the time the army of Poseidonis arrived he had already lost. The new ruler took that as a sign that Poseidonis could not be trusted."
Kaldur leads the way down the slope and Beryl sidles up to Garth. "Tritonis? Is that where you're from?"
Tula winces, but Garth himself doesn't really react. "No, I am… I was born in a small settlement near Shayeris. They would be even less interested than the Tritonians."
"Why's that?"
"Their prejudices and superstitions are even more intense. When I was a baby my mother and I were sent into exile because my eyes are the wrong color."
"Oh. Um, sorry."
He shakes his head. "Poseidonis is my home. Someone at the Institute of Arcane Study might be interested."
"I've got a proposal going through to have someone come and take a look at the T-." Um. I glance at Rob.
He notices. "The Tower." He looks uncomfortable. "I guess… I mean, there are people we really need to put in there. Might as well find out how it works."
We reach ground level and head in the direction of the northern circle.
"Did you..? Speak to your dad..?"
Rob nods. "He's going to talk to Uncle Julian on Saturday. He took that Constantine bloke's mobile number."
"Are the stones local?"
"Huh?" Rob looks around to where Beryl is staring at one of the newer stones.
"The stones. Are they local?"
"Um." He gets the guidebook out again. "'…restored using the same type of stone used in the original formation.' So probably not."
Well done Beryl. "Not exactly a small job, carting stones that big around."
"And not cheap, either. Dad tried getting heritage lottery funding for it once. If you try moving a normal lorry on ground like this carrying great chunks of granite it'll just sink most of the year."
I raise my eyebrows at Kaldur. "Worth looking into?"
He nods. "Beryl, once we have finished our preliminary investigation, return to our accommodations and try to discover the source of the new stones."
"Shouldn't be too hard."
I look around. Off-season in a place that had chemical weapons people in it a few weeks ago. No visitors are around and I can't see any locals. "How do you want to go about this?"
Tula steps up to the closest stone and holds out her hands. As an Atlantean the cold of spring isn't a problem for her, but she, Garth and Kaldur are all wearing long sleeves both as part of their cover and to obscure their tattoos. "We should examine the stones for recent changes first. If it were something easy to detect then Captain Cornwall would have done so."
Garth nods. "We can leave off the astral projection until later. To be honest, I hope that we will not have to do it at all."
Beryl looks at him with interest. "Why's that?"
"Interfering with powerful magics you do not understand is not a good idea. Even just observing can carry risks, particularly if a malevolent being is using them at the same time." He looks at Kaldur. "Kaldur?"
"I agree. You may proceed."
"I assumed that you were joining in?"
Kaldur looks a little embarrassed. "My studies have been somewhat.. light, on theoretical thaumaturgy of late. I am uncertain as to how much assistance I could provide."
"It would not hurt to have an extra pair of eyes."
Kaldur holds Garth's gaze for a moment, then nods. "Very well."
Garth and Kaldur join Tula at the first stone and after a moment's hesitation Rob approaches it as well. There's a very slight glow in the eyes of the Atlanteans as they consider the monolith.
Beryl looks at me. "So, what do we do?"
"You're on lookout duty for the moment." I fish the pouch containing the rings out of my coat. "I'm going to give the stones a scan and see if I can get anything useful about their mundane properties."
"I could start looking them up."
"Sorry, but that holographic computer is too expensive to credibly be in the hands of a group of students and it's visually distinctive. If someone looked in your direction…" She nods. "I'm going to be trying not to glow much myself." I take another quick look around and slide my right forefinger into the pouch, gently touching the inside of one of the rings.
Scan.
"There's a pattern of compressed earth over that way which suggests they were brought it from that direction and then the ruts were filled in. The new stones… Actually are Cornish, though they're not from the same place as the old ones. No arcane symbols I recognised on any of them, other than the circle itself." I remove my finger and rehide the pouch. "That was useful. Looks like we're both on lookout duty."
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BlackLantern2814
Hello darkness my old friend.
- Location
- Earth
Maltus and founding the Orange corps, and dealing with other corps.
How about NO?
Nice update
Finally some action stuff. 
Cornuthaum
Be kind to each other.
- Location
- Austria
- Pronouns
- He/Him
This very much reminds me of a Mage: the Awakening game session, where the Mages slowly circle around the preoblem, closing in on it, and yes, getting their eleven foot collapsible pole to poke the strange artefacts with to see what happens. Investigation, then action.
Can't be all hype, all the time.
Can't be all hype, all the time.
LapisLantern
Rage, Rage and cause the drowning of the light
- Location
- SPAAAAAAAACE!
I'm pretty sure Atlantian poison immunity only extends to aquatic toxins.
They make him too recognizable between orange eyes and potentially glowing.
Oh I am slain!
Wynaut?
- Location
- Tatooine
Meanwhile, the English Heritage webmaster wonders about the unusual spike of interest in the Hurlers Stone Circles.
Ganurath
Literal Enthusiast
- Location
- A Valid Location
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Sunglasses are weird in England, since that would require that the sun show up at some point, and that's the only convenient way to hide orange eyes.
Cornuthaum
Be kind to each other.
- Location
- Austria
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Well, if they were in full shadowrun mode, the Infiltrator (Beryl?) would be planting cameras and microphones, the hacker (Beryl or OL2814A) would be using their Agents to the max to gather info, the mage (Rob & The Atlanteans) would be Assensing the target and prep spirit summonings, and ...
Well, they likely wouldn't be there in person posing as anonymous schoolchildren is what I'm saying. Still, the current team effort rates about 6 out of 10 on the don't-get-geeked scale
It's actually fascinating to see some kinda-sorta detective work towards magic again, like a Dresden novel. Although much like for Harry Dresden, this will all end in a massive battle scene. Or heartbreak. One of the two.
Looking at that link:
I don't know how much that matches Earth-16 continuity, but if the ancient Atlanteans there did have advanced technology that was since lost in favor of magic it would explain why they've never been able to duplicate the "spell" that created the "Purebloods"; there never was one.
Cornuthaum
Be kind to each other.
- Location
- Austria
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Looking back at some of the Grayven parts from the Beast incident, no. Kaldur's atlantian phenotype was described by Grayven as a more angular, less well-rounded version of Ari'ahn's (Atlantean master sorceror) Pureblood spell.
- Location
- Oblivion
Well that's a good trick.
Actually it would be nothing special from the guy who considered severing his own optic nerves a reasonable defense against Johnny Sorrow.
Ganurath
Literal Enthusiast
- Location
- A Valid Location
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Eh, it's not like he gouged out his own eyeballs.
Unlike some people.
Jamie Roberts
Hávamál 127
- Location
- N/A
- Pronouns
- she/her
Is it wrong that whenever I see or hear this sort of thing I'm immediately feeling defensive? I can't remember off the top of my head what you might be referring to, but I'm feeling the overwhelming urge to insist that you aren't referring to me. Is that normal?
Angle
Release Candidate Enby
- Location
- Colorado, USA
- Pronouns
- They/Them/Theirs/Comrade
Yes, but she isn't sure which of those things we know about.You know what you did.
BlackLantern2814
Hello darkness my old friend.
- Location
- Earth
Aww, don't worry Jamie we still love you no matter what you did.
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Ganurath
Literal Enthusiast
- Location
- A Valid Location
- Pronouns
- He/Him
It's normal for villains of the puppy kicking variety. If it helps, I wasn't referring to you.
- Location
- The Library
Hmmmm... I wonder if the duration of exposure has any effect on the likelihood of the nightmares. A very gradual magical radiation over the span of twelve or more years, wearing away at you mental defenses or maybe, if it's not radiation, it could be actively trying to forge lasting connections... A cry for help, maybe?
How many months does he have to go, at this point? He's, what, halfway through?
I know he could leave whenever he wanted to, but of course he won't because he's Paul. He's the guy who merged with the Ophidian and became the almighty Cake Guy. The almighty Cake Guy wouldn't go back on his word.
Anyways, definitely looking forward to that myself.
How many months does he have to go, at this point? He's, what, halfway through?
I know he could leave whenever he wanted to, but of course he won't because he's Paul. He's the guy who merged with the Ophidian and became the almighty Cake Guy. The almighty Cake Guy wouldn't go back on his word.
Anyways, definitely looking forward to that myself.
- Location
- United Kingdom
Couple of spelling issues, from this and the previous snip.
I'm not quite sure which you're going for, but this should either read, "we all had an undisturbed night's rest." or "we all had undisturbed nights' rests." I'm leaning toward the former, but it is, of course, your choice.
And from the previous snip (since you seem to have missed it when I brought it up yesterday):
Either of these could be explained away by your personal vernacular, but I would have thought that the sentence ought to read "Thank you, I look forward to it."
I'm not quite sure which you're going for, but this should either read, "we all had an undisturbed night's rest." or "we all had undisturbed nights' rests." I'm leaning toward the former, but it is, of course, your choice.
And from the previous snip (since you seem to have missed it when I brought it up yesterday):
Either of these could be explained away by your personal vernacular, but I would have thought that the sentence ought to read "Thank you, I look forward to it."
- Location
- Hampden Park
Two thirds. Four months left, assuming that he leaves immediately.
- Status