- Location
- Canada
Ah, Star Wars Empire at War... hit me right in the nostalgia.
With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Twelve)
- Thread starter Mr Zoat
- Start date
- Status
Ah, Star Wars Empire at War... hit me right in the nostalgia.
- Location
- USA
There comes a day when every young man or woman must have the painful realization that they are not, in fact, Grand Admiral Thrawn. Today was Grayven's.
- Location
- Ashtabula
I...don't get it. I know of the character...but I don't get it.
Not fond of the Faunus I see.
He is famous for figuring out how people think by looking at their art work.
ThrawnCA
Carbon-based biped
- Location
- Australia
And then using that insight to enter their psychological blind spots and crush them.
Evil M. Lurker
What Lurks at Midnight
- Location
- The City, USA
And (in Legends) was ironically undone by way of his own psychological blind spot.
- Location
- La Garenne Colombes - France
Ahahahahahahhahahahahahahhhahahhaaaaaaah...
Okay, that was good. (aaand I'm so ninja'd)
- Location
- Hampden Park
Thank you, corrected.
- Location
- Argentina
*Sadly, it turns out that I'm not Grand Admiral Thrawn.*
A power ring in Star Wars would be ridiculously overpowered, as long as the charge lasts.
After that well, depends on how well you used the ring.
A power ring in Star Wars would be ridiculously overpowered, as long as the charge lasts.
After that well, depends on how well you used the ring.
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- Location
- Ashtabula
Thank you.
Kind of a weird ability...guess he picked climbs ladders faster.
Well...lazer sword him in the face then.
- Location
- USA
Even better, not going to spoil it though.
He'd look at artwork people owned and liked, and from there he could make a good guess at how they made decisions. He would know how his enemies and allies would respond to an attack at whatever planet by essentially making metaphors comparing the way the painter thought to the strategic field.
One of my favorite star wars villain because he could out think force precognition on a strategic level. In the old EU the empire was an incredibly racist institution, and he got near the top as an alien based on ability alone.
He wasn't evil for the lulz, but he was hyper competent and dead set against the new republic based on his own moral principles.
Sith lords are cool an all, but other than the big two, they tend to be lackluster as villains.
- Location
- Ashtabula
Something about this angers me far more than it probably should.
Oh yeah, the blue guy. Man I've seen a lot of yaoi of him. Took me a minute to remember it.
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- Location
- Earth
To be fair, a power ring would be ridiculously overpowered in most stories.
- Location
- Somewhere out there
I know who the character is, but it wasn't until @lefthandturnsign's post that I understood what it meant.
more like loser alliance amirite
- Location
- Hampden Park
- Location
- La Garenne Colombes - France
Eh, he's a cool villain, but he's pretty overrated. His only defining characteristics are "Likes art" and "Wins all the time"; he's not exactly three-dimensional. He's mostly popular in contrast to all the racist/incompetent/stupid evil villains of the Empire.
Empiricist2
Let's play doctor!
- Location
- Baton Rouge
Isn't the practice of making glass by floating it on molten metal a relatively recent advancement, compared to ancient Greece? So the glass they had would have been blown glass, which is both expensive and not fit for making windows, as it wouldn't be flat.
Is this including the various gods? There's a Greek goddess of magic, right? Or is she simply better than them as well?
1. As said above, power rings are overpowered in most settings. Including this one.
2. A decent engineer is overpowered in Star Wars. You know those supersoldier Jedi and Sith people, with their ability to deflect plasma weapon fire with a sword? Make a gun that fires three shots in a triangle, and geometrically they can't block all of them with what is essentially a line. Or use the Battlefront 2 method and fire rockets at their feet.
In addition, the Galactic Empire, as well as the Rebellion, had exposed bridges for all their important ships, the exploitation of which was shown in Episode 6.
A power ring would make galactic domination quicker, but it's a sure thing either way so long as you put in 40 hours a week for a year or so.
- Location
- La Garenne Colombes - France
Yes to the other points, no to that one. As Kanan showed us, they can just send the rockets back at you (partly because people in star wars only have very slow video-game-type rocket launchers).
- Location
- Somewhere out there
Slightly spherical blown glass was used for windows before the modern float glass technique was invented. You'd spin the blown glass to broaden it out into a plate and then you'd cut out the flattest part of it to use it for a window.
You don't get LARGE windows this way, and they're slightly concave, but it works.
EDIT: Another old technique (I don't know if it's pre-C.E. or not) is to pour molten glass into a metal (usually iron) frame and then polish the everliving crap out of it after it cools. This is RIDICULOUSLY labor intensive, but it doesn't require any technology more sophisticated than a furnace.
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- Location
- Earth Prime
"Who are you?"
"What do you want?"
"Why do you keep touching me?"
- Location
- texas
Hecate. Who in one iteration of Circe's comic book origin has been possessing Circe since Hades kicked her to the curb for Persephone.
Well goddess of witchcraft. Greeks didn't really think of magic as one thing.
Orpheus was seen as a great magic user because his music was just that good.
Likewise, Pythagoras was seen as being so good at math that he could teleport and be in more than one place at a time.
Or the healer who got killed for resurrecting the dead.
The greeks didn't so much see magic as a skill but a skill level.
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Prince Charon
Just zis guy, you know?
Clearly, she doesn't believe in overdressing.
Huh. Clea and Zara have very similar fashion sense.
Rapprochement (part 6)
- Location
- Hampden Park
2nd September
15:41 GMT +2
Circe lounges languidly on the chaise longue while I maintain a more upright position in the solidly-built chair opposite her. Impressive work; it doesn't look like anything special but it manages to bear my weight without complaint. I must get the name of her…
What's the word for someone who makes chairs?
Chairbler.
Right, thanks. A man who looks like he's now part Goose places two amphorae -one of wine and another of water- on the table between us with two clay cups.
"One quarter."
Circe doesn't look at her servant as she gives the order, and he in turn doesn't look at her as he pours a mix of one part wine to three parts water into the cups before standing and backing away. Once he's far enough away that she no longer considers him to be intruding, she reaches out and picks up her cup. I'm underselling it there, it's a beautifully decorated piece and its presence probably means that I'm being treated as an honoured guest. I mirror her action, picking up my own cup and raising it slightly to her in a silent toast. That earns me a small smile as she raises hers to her lips to drink. I do the same. It tastes… Like wine, only weaker. It's probably an excellent wine but I'm afraid that it's rather wasted on someone like me.
A slight motion of her left hand and the floor extrudes a tendril of stone for her within convenient arm's reach for her to set her cup upon. "I'm puzzled by your enquiry."
I lower my cup. "It's a straightforward enough question. The better I understand what it is that you want to get out of a working relationship, the better able I am to arrange things to ensure that happens." I wiggle the cup around slightly in my right hand. "I realise.. that… For people like us, a request for that sort of personal information from someone you barely know… Sets off all sorts of alarms. I assume that this room is warded?"
"Naturally."
"Then let me go first. I seek allies because at some point -not soon, probably not for years- I'm going to have to fight my father. He's the Apokoliptian God of Tyranny and he's every bit as powerful as his name implies. A little over two months ago he rendered me catatonic for two weeks simply by speaking two words to me. I need to become stronger, to have access to better weapons, technologies, magics… So, I need Earth and its people to become stronger, and that is what I am trying to arrange. Admiration?" I shake my head. "I don't need it. Direct control over others?" I shrug. "As long as I can get the things I want I don't much care what else is happening. But what is it that you want? Legions of admirers? Wealth? Political power?"
She smiles. "Those are pleasant enough."
"Then we'll see about ensuring that you get them. But what do you want most of all?"
"Are those not enough?"
"I was a student of Princess Diana's."
"Oh please." She looks away, rolling her eyes. "I don't obsess over the girl."
"No, I…" I shake my head again and put my cup down on the table. "I mean to say that I've read her mission reports. Including the ones concerning your earliest confrontations. I… Believe that there was mention of a prophecy..?"
Circe's smile fades slightly and her eyes harden. This is the point at which things could go badly wrong, depending on how much umbrage she decides to take. "What do you know?"
"I know little. Supposedly, Hecate gave you… At least a portion of your powers, with the proviso that under certain conditions they would be revoked. I understand that you came to believe that Diana might be capable of fulfilling-."
"Her and… Thousands of others over the centuries." Her face tightens and she snatches up her cup, taking a drink. "Do you have any inkling as to why I made that accursed pact in the first place?"
"I'm well aware of the allure of power. Particularly power as.. immediate as the arcane variety."
"Hah!" There's no humour in her pronouncement as she downs the rest of her cup before returning it to its pedestal with a degree of force. "I had wondered if you might know the truth of it, given how you boasted of slaying two Lords of Chaos."
"In point of fact, I only killed one myself. One of my allies killed the other while I served as a distraction."
She looks at me with piercing curiosity, trying to decipher my expression for any trace of deceit. After a moment or two she relaxes slightly, perhaps finding in my favour. "When I was a young woman, recently inducted in the mysteries of Hecate's cult, I met a third. You most likely saw a painting of him outside; close-cropped curly blonde hair, heroically proportioned chest, cloven feet?" The grape-feeder. I nod. "My skill with magic was slight, but my beauty was enough to draw the eye of a being who styled himself as Oggar, the Earth's Mightiest Immortal."
I nod. "I think I've heard of him. Didn't he used to work with Shazam?"
Circe nods. "Yes. He tried to impress me with his magical feats, and failed utterly. Seeing what power magic could bring, all I could think was that one day such power would be mine though my own efforts. Finally, he offered me a gift to prove his power beyond doubt. I knew that the leaders of Hecate's cult were strong in magic, but bowed and wizened of body. Why not have the best of all things? So I asked for immortality. He waved his arms, claimed to have given it to me and asked me to reconsider. I refused again." She shrugs. "I was immortal. What was he going to do?"
"I think I see where this is going."
"Do you know what a woman looks like at two hundred years of age? Three hundred? One who knows of no magic by which she may rejuvenate herself? How swollen and arthritic her joints, how dull her eyes, how clouded her mind, how racked with pain and confusion her every moment?"
"No. But I can imagine."
"I begged Hecate for relief, even death. And for her own reasons, she-" Circe indicates her body with a wave of her right hand. "-gave me this. A portion of her own soul for power, arcane knowledge far in advance of any other in Greece… Divinity."
"Generous of her."
"And the certain knowledge that at any moment it could all be snatched away in an instant with no warning. Have you heard the phrase 'those whom the gods wish to destroy they first make mad'?" I nod. "It worked. Homer thought that I was exiled here. I wasn't. How could a mere king exile me? I simply grew too paranoid to stand other people."
I glance aside. "Apart from..?"
She follows my eyes to the Gooseman. "Oh, they're hardly 'people'. Why do you think I change them?"
"Okay." I sit back, looking thoughtful. "And that's why you picked fights with Diana?"
"Yes." Her eyes move off me for a moment. "Mostly."
I wave the qualifier off. "Don't worry, I know how it goes." Sounds simple enough to fix. Rejuvenation I can do. Though… "Can you choose to end your pact with Hecate yourself?"
She frowns. "Probably. Yes. But why would I? I have no more desire to become a feeble undying cripple now than I did thousands of years ago."
"You fear this outcome? You fear it greatly?"
"Yes."
I raise my left hand slightly, displaying the Sinestro ring's sigil. "This is a power ring. Its energies are strengthened by fear. If you could undo your pact, I believe that I could use it to restore your youth. Not permanently, you would begin to age again-."
"You could restore a woman thousands of years old to youth? You'll forgive me if I'm sceptical."
"This ring isn't magic, it's technological. Ontological inertia has no effect. Altering your current divinity-infused form is.. awkward. But were you to reassume the form of a mortal woman, it becomes feasible."
"And my power?"
"That power you derive from Hecate would be gone. However-" I tap Mother Box. "-it is within my power to alter the structures of your soul to allow for unlimited growth. I have tested the method, and it works quite well. You would be able to attain godhood through your own labours somewhat more easily than most mortal mages, though clearly you would be weaker in the interim. The important thing-" I lean forwards. "-is that you would no longer be beholden to the prophecy." "Grasp the power that lies before you!"
"That…" Her eyes flick down as she considers the offer. "Would be a great boon. And in return you would want my participation in your.. group?"
"No. A little of your time today, a few minor pieces of arcane assistance, and for you to hear my full spiel when all of those I wish to invite are assembled. I have no desire to trap you in a compact that no longer suits you."
"And if I say no?"
"That of course remains your prerogative. The offer would stay open indefinitely. A 'no' now could become a 'yes' later, once you have more information. While a fit of childish pique from me could alienate you permanently, which is contrary to my interests."
"I.. am.. interested. But putting myself into your power and trusting to your good intentions-."
"I gain nothing from harming you."
"I think…" She looks pensive for a moment, then reaches a firm decision. "I will accompany you and agree to help you in small ways, while I gain a better understanding of your character. Then, perhaps, I will accept your aid."
I smile. "That, Circe, suits me perfectly." I rise to my feet and extend my right hand to her. "Shall we?"
15:41 GMT +2
Circe lounges languidly on the chaise longue while I maintain a more upright position in the solidly-built chair opposite her. Impressive work; it doesn't look like anything special but it manages to bear my weight without complaint. I must get the name of her…
What's the word for someone who makes chairs?
Chairbler.
Right, thanks. A man who looks like he's now part Goose places two amphorae -one of wine and another of water- on the table between us with two clay cups.
"One quarter."
Circe doesn't look at her servant as she gives the order, and he in turn doesn't look at her as he pours a mix of one part wine to three parts water into the cups before standing and backing away. Once he's far enough away that she no longer considers him to be intruding, she reaches out and picks up her cup. I'm underselling it there, it's a beautifully decorated piece and its presence probably means that I'm being treated as an honoured guest. I mirror her action, picking up my own cup and raising it slightly to her in a silent toast. That earns me a small smile as she raises hers to her lips to drink. I do the same. It tastes… Like wine, only weaker. It's probably an excellent wine but I'm afraid that it's rather wasted on someone like me.
A slight motion of her left hand and the floor extrudes a tendril of stone for her within convenient arm's reach for her to set her cup upon. "I'm puzzled by your enquiry."
I lower my cup. "It's a straightforward enough question. The better I understand what it is that you want to get out of a working relationship, the better able I am to arrange things to ensure that happens." I wiggle the cup around slightly in my right hand. "I realise.. that… For people like us, a request for that sort of personal information from someone you barely know… Sets off all sorts of alarms. I assume that this room is warded?"
"Naturally."
"Then let me go first. I seek allies because at some point -not soon, probably not for years- I'm going to have to fight my father. He's the Apokoliptian God of Tyranny and he's every bit as powerful as his name implies. A little over two months ago he rendered me catatonic for two weeks simply by speaking two words to me. I need to become stronger, to have access to better weapons, technologies, magics… So, I need Earth and its people to become stronger, and that is what I am trying to arrange. Admiration?" I shake my head. "I don't need it. Direct control over others?" I shrug. "As long as I can get the things I want I don't much care what else is happening. But what is it that you want? Legions of admirers? Wealth? Political power?"
She smiles. "Those are pleasant enough."
"Then we'll see about ensuring that you get them. But what do you want most of all?"
"Are those not enough?"
"I was a student of Princess Diana's."
"Oh please." She looks away, rolling her eyes. "I don't obsess over the girl."
"No, I…" I shake my head again and put my cup down on the table. "I mean to say that I've read her mission reports. Including the ones concerning your earliest confrontations. I… Believe that there was mention of a prophecy..?"
Circe's smile fades slightly and her eyes harden. This is the point at which things could go badly wrong, depending on how much umbrage she decides to take. "What do you know?"
"I know little. Supposedly, Hecate gave you… At least a portion of your powers, with the proviso that under certain conditions they would be revoked. I understand that you came to believe that Diana might be capable of fulfilling-."
"Her and… Thousands of others over the centuries." Her face tightens and she snatches up her cup, taking a drink. "Do you have any inkling as to why I made that accursed pact in the first place?"
"I'm well aware of the allure of power. Particularly power as.. immediate as the arcane variety."
"Hah!" There's no humour in her pronouncement as she downs the rest of her cup before returning it to its pedestal with a degree of force. "I had wondered if you might know the truth of it, given how you boasted of slaying two Lords of Chaos."
"In point of fact, I only killed one myself. One of my allies killed the other while I served as a distraction."
She looks at me with piercing curiosity, trying to decipher my expression for any trace of deceit. After a moment or two she relaxes slightly, perhaps finding in my favour. "When I was a young woman, recently inducted in the mysteries of Hecate's cult, I met a third. You most likely saw a painting of him outside; close-cropped curly blonde hair, heroically proportioned chest, cloven feet?" The grape-feeder. I nod. "My skill with magic was slight, but my beauty was enough to draw the eye of a being who styled himself as Oggar, the Earth's Mightiest Immortal."
I nod. "I think I've heard of him. Didn't he used to work with Shazam?"
Circe nods. "Yes. He tried to impress me with his magical feats, and failed utterly. Seeing what power magic could bring, all I could think was that one day such power would be mine though my own efforts. Finally, he offered me a gift to prove his power beyond doubt. I knew that the leaders of Hecate's cult were strong in magic, but bowed and wizened of body. Why not have the best of all things? So I asked for immortality. He waved his arms, claimed to have given it to me and asked me to reconsider. I refused again." She shrugs. "I was immortal. What was he going to do?"
"I think I see where this is going."
"Do you know what a woman looks like at two hundred years of age? Three hundred? One who knows of no magic by which she may rejuvenate herself? How swollen and arthritic her joints, how dull her eyes, how clouded her mind, how racked with pain and confusion her every moment?"
"No. But I can imagine."
"I begged Hecate for relief, even death. And for her own reasons, she-" Circe indicates her body with a wave of her right hand. "-gave me this. A portion of her own soul for power, arcane knowledge far in advance of any other in Greece… Divinity."
"Generous of her."
"And the certain knowledge that at any moment it could all be snatched away in an instant with no warning. Have you heard the phrase 'those whom the gods wish to destroy they first make mad'?" I nod. "It worked. Homer thought that I was exiled here. I wasn't. How could a mere king exile me? I simply grew too paranoid to stand other people."
I glance aside. "Apart from..?"
She follows my eyes to the Gooseman. "Oh, they're hardly 'people'. Why do you think I change them?"
"Okay." I sit back, looking thoughtful. "And that's why you picked fights with Diana?"
"Yes." Her eyes move off me for a moment. "Mostly."
I wave the qualifier off. "Don't worry, I know how it goes." Sounds simple enough to fix. Rejuvenation I can do. Though… "Can you choose to end your pact with Hecate yourself?"
She frowns. "Probably. Yes. But why would I? I have no more desire to become a feeble undying cripple now than I did thousands of years ago."
"You fear this outcome? You fear it greatly?"
"Yes."
I raise my left hand slightly, displaying the Sinestro ring's sigil. "This is a power ring. Its energies are strengthened by fear. If you could undo your pact, I believe that I could use it to restore your youth. Not permanently, you would begin to age again-."
"You could restore a woman thousands of years old to youth? You'll forgive me if I'm sceptical."
"This ring isn't magic, it's technological. Ontological inertia has no effect. Altering your current divinity-infused form is.. awkward. But were you to reassume the form of a mortal woman, it becomes feasible."
"And my power?"
"That power you derive from Hecate would be gone. However-" I tap Mother Box. "-it is within my power to alter the structures of your soul to allow for unlimited growth. I have tested the method, and it works quite well. You would be able to attain godhood through your own labours somewhat more easily than most mortal mages, though clearly you would be weaker in the interim. The important thing-" I lean forwards. "-is that you would no longer be beholden to the prophecy." "Grasp the power that lies before you!"
"That…" Her eyes flick down as she considers the offer. "Would be a great boon. And in return you would want my participation in your.. group?"
"No. A little of your time today, a few minor pieces of arcane assistance, and for you to hear my full spiel when all of those I wish to invite are assembled. I have no desire to trap you in a compact that no longer suits you."
"And if I say no?"
"That of course remains your prerogative. The offer would stay open indefinitely. A 'no' now could become a 'yes' later, once you have more information. While a fit of childish pique from me could alienate you permanently, which is contrary to my interests."
"I.. am.. interested. But putting myself into your power and trusting to your good intentions-."
"I gain nothing from harming you."
"I think…" She looks pensive for a moment, then reaches a firm decision. "I will accompany you and agree to help you in small ways, while I gain a better understanding of your character. Then, perhaps, I will accept your aid."
I smile. "That, Circe, suits me perfectly." I rise to my feet and extend my right hand to her. "Shall we?"
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- Location
- Hampden Park
- Status