So Since we have Moon for one last turn what do people want to do with him? I say we put him on some sort of Venom testing because it'd probably get his trait to kick in.
I'd prefer the Sharp Venom testing because it can't be failed.
Lex Sedet In Vertice: A Supervillain in the DCU CK2 quest
- Thread starter King crimson
- Start date
- Superhero
I'd prefer the Sharp Venom testing because it can't be failed.
Sirrocco
Pedantic
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Or, you know, Gingko Fruit.
I'm pretty sure that Gingko is both less well-exploited by others and more overall powerful than splicing. In particular, I believe it combos pretty solidly with Bone Growth, as long as you do it after rather than before. Splicing... probably not so much.
The New Gods Interlude: Kanto Kills Kanto
King crimson
Confusion Will Be My Epitaph
- Location
- Los Angeles
So I don't know how well I succeeded in the comedy but I tried to make it amusing with how over the top it is. I have some regrets about this but I'm glad I tried my hand at it. This is intended to be a farce of sorts, where Kanto killing Kanto is framed as ridiculous and pointless but it's all played somewhat straight despite its ridiculousness. I also played around with Zalgo text for Darkseid's POV. I don't think I'll use it a lot (it's really hard to read) but I do think it's fun for little moments and I enjoyed playing with it.
I do think the ending is what cements this as a comedic piece even if for the most part the story is played relatively seriously, though I'd appreciate some feedback on it. I initially considered trying to make this more overtly comedic but the subject matter I felt kind of worked best with a more dark tone.
Also one last thing but there are a number of terms and names that get thrown around without too much clarification. As such there's a bit of a barrier to entry with this piece as certain things (like the implications of Metron referring to "Uxas") so if anything is unclear, feel free to ask me and I'll give a little bit of context.
With all that being said I hope you guys enjoy this interlude. I don't think it's perfect, but I had a lot of fun making it.
The New Gods Interlude: Kanto Kills Kanto
Illuthin
There had been many Kantos over the years. It was not a fact hidden from the lowlies on Apokolips. Every Kanto was better than the one that came before them, but at the same time the position of Kanto, of being Darkseid's master assassin, invited risk as others could slay you to take the position if they were smart and skilled enough at it.
Even at Granny's orphanage, lowlies who paid attention would be able to know of Kanto. The twelfth Kanto had visited there every so often and helped Granny pit children against one another to see who might some day be able to become the next Kanto. Illuthin looked back fondly on those days. True it wasn't easy to find artistry in the bludgeoning and strangling of his fellow lowlies but he managed it well enough.
There were some lowlies who didn't quite manage to grasp that on Apokolips you lived and died for Darkseid and attempting to get around that got you beaten and bludgeoned and eventually killed. They were of more use dead than alive so they died. Most of the squeamish sort had been filtered out by now but somehow Scott Free was still alive so it wasn't a perfect system. Illuthin did not envy those who had to report to Granny that they'd failed to catch Scott Free. They'd get to choose between the hounds and the fire pits. There was no artistry in that, unless you were trying to compose a symphony of screams but frankly most lowlies didn't last long enough to get more than a jingle out in such scenarios.
Kanto had avoided drawing Granny's attention. The cookies and praise had been tempting at first but everyone knew that Granny's favorites got the worst beatings if they missed a step. No Illuthin had decided on impressing the twelfth Kanto. He'd practiced on his fellows and gotten quite talented in the use of blades and poisons. He'd managed to make a show out of it and he was preparing to work with the twelfth Kanto. There was someone who knew how to make killing into an art form. One wouldn't think of an axe as a particularly artistic implement but the large swathes of red had an artistic element with their precision in implementation. Illuthin wanted to be Kanto.
Of course then his opportunity was taken by the individual who would become the thirteenth Kanto. Oh how Illuthin hated that blasted and bedeviled riot-shovel of a bastard. He'd stolen Illuthin's kill and now he was trapped executing and slaying other orphans. There was only so many years you could kill others in the orphanage before the work became stale and uninteresting. Illuthin was an artist, he needed inspiration!
As such Illuthin donned his purple and gold attire and set out to prove himself great enough to be the fourteenth Kanto. He would be remembered for his skills and talents.
The first part of Illuthin's plan had been to steal from the thirteenth Kanto's armory. While weapons weren't hard to find, Illuthin wanted to prove a point and once he figured it out he'd make a statement out of it declaring his superiority. He'd waited and planned and plotted and then when he thought he knew when and where the thirteenth Kanto would show up and with a powerful sky-burner, he'd turned the entire area into smoldering dust. It wasn't as elegant as a blade through the throat, but Illuthin would settle for erasing the blasted oaf from existence.
Only Illuthin had failed, not due to any mistakes in his part or due to some skill or talent from the thirteenth Kanto, but rather because the thirteenth Kanto had decided to sleep in that day, all Illuthin had succeeded in accomplishing was killing some hapless lowlies. It was infuriating and it meant that Illuthin was forced to flee Apokolips.
Oh woe be to Illuthin, this was entirely beneath him and yet he was forced into it regardless. Still as Illuthin fled from Apokolips, he swore that someday he would kill the thirteenth Kanto, no matter how many bystanders and non-combatants he had to kill first.
Metron
It wasn't often that someone managed to actually find Metron. He much preferred it that way. The pursuit of knowledge was best left untainted by worldly ambitions and trivial concerns. Others might condemn him as cold and callous but Metron knew he was as far beyond them as they were from bugs. And he wasn't truly neutral in the grand scheme of things, sure he'd barter and make deals with Apokolips, but Uxas's ambitions needed to remain thoroughly unfulfilled. He'd never personally step in to intercede, but a small push here and there and the right knowledge conveyed to the right individual at the right time ensured that the universe kept moving forwards and Metron was able to study and learn in peace.
Metron preferred the current state of affairs and as such he was irked when someone managed to find him. Metron quickly looked into who this person might be, before deciding on his next move. Illuthin was the child of two lowlies, conscripted into Granny Goodness's orphanage because he had a talent in killing others when they weren't expecting it. The orphanage forged him into a talented killer but his own ambitions and ego had resulted in him attempting to kill the latest Kanto and then fleeing when that failed. As such he had sought out Metron to try and ask for help in succeeding in his plans. Metron pondered what to do next.
A web of possible futures sprawled out before him as Metron considered what to do. As countless variables were defined, determined and then inserted, Metron ended up concluding that more data was necessary. Besides this too was an opportunity. He sent Illuthin off to collect information from a few different worlds, worlds dangerous enough that even a New God could be killed on them if he did not handle himself with care. Metron pointedly avoided picking anything even remotely related to the life or anti-life equations as the more information on them was uncovered, the more destabilized peace would become until a side would need to be chosen.
Regardless if Illuthin died he would cease to be a problem and if Illuthin survived then Metron would have gained more knowledge in exchange for having done nothing himself. And so he sent off Illuthin and returned to his previous research. Decades rolled by and Metron had practically forgotten about Illuthin. The would be assassin had returned and given Metron his information. The emotional spectrum was an oddity for sure, but it was comfortable having a little more knowledge on how it worked and how an entity managed to manifest itself across every universe. A trivial pursuit but an interesting one nonetheless.
Still now Metron had to determine what exactly to tell Illuthin. With the additional time however, Metron had calculated exactly what best to do. Illuthin was undoubtedly more skilled than the current Kanto, but he could also be nudged into being far more discriminatory. It would be best for Illuthin to become Kanto as while on paper it would make Apokolips stronger, his proclivities would result in less overall activity from them. As such Metron sought to seal Illuthin's weakness while also burying a hint of self-doubt in the soon to be fourteenth Kanto's mind.
"Challenge him to a duel and the thirteenth Kanto will drink before the fight" Metron revealed, setting into motion exactly what he needed to happen.
The Thirteenth Kanto
Kanto hated doing his job. Smashing pretentious little ants was fun at times but being told what to do and who to kill was annoying. The need for subtlty was annoying. He just crushed anything that got in his way. It might've made him unpopular but he popped the last Kanto's head like a grape, he earned his position. The rest could all burn in the firepits for what he cared.
Some poncy little shit dressed in purple and gold with a ridiculous hat had challenged him to a duel. Kanto would kill him. He'd make an example out of him and then kill anyone who supported him. This them all dead he'd be free to laze about and feast, save for when Darkseid commanded him to kill and even then so long as he got the job done, he could be slow. They'd all meet the Black Racer sooner or later and Kanto was in no hurry to follow in his predecessors footsteps.
As such Kanto had feasted and reveled the night before, using the duel as an excuse. The lowlies knew not to anger him and so he was kept satisfied and entertained for the entire night, plied with cosmic vintages, the flesh of exotic beasts, and the nubile forms of various slaves. Being Kanto was difficult work but being above all those beneath him made it worthwhile.
Today was meant to be a message. He was tempted to just bombard the chosen battleground from afar but Virman would not lend him any of his usual tools and Granny Goodness wanted to watch, to make this a lesson for the children at the orphanage. Personally Kanto felt they'd be blooded enough that watching him kill another weakling wouldn't be much of a lesson, but he knew better than to question Granny. And so today was meant to be a show.
The worthless smug little prick seemed to think so as well with how he was galivanting about with his little knife, spouting off some nonsense about showing him what a real killer was like. A real killer killed, that was all there was to it. To proclaim assassination as an art was foolishness. Kanto readied his weapon and prepared for the fight.
He fired an energy blast from his club but the little gold and purple pest nimbly danced out of the way. Kanto's head spun. Apparently the drinks he'd imbibed had been stronger than expected. As his vision swam and he saw three of the worthless little maggot lunge towards him, Kanto was as ready as he could be.
He roared taking the blow but swinging a backhand in the hopes of flattening him. The pest ducked under the blow and stabbed him thrice in the chest, each blow a mere pinprick, but galling in that he had been wounded first. Then the maggot leapt back and took a bow. Kanto would not be made a mockery! He had killed for this position and he would kill as many people as he had to in order to ensure there were no more Kantos.
He rushed forwards and swung his club down, smiting the earth where the vermin had once stood but the little rat had moved out of the way again, before once more wounding him. Kanto's chest burned but he ignored the pain. He would kill this little brat and everyone would know who he was once more!
Again and again he rushed to smash his opponent and every time his opponent danced past him. His foe had started taking time to gloat and show off and make a mockery of him. Kanto would've exploited this countless times, and yet his body was sluggish and weak. Something had gone terribly wrong.
Upon being nicked yet again it slowly dawned on Kanto what had happened. He had been poisoned. Kanto turned to look at the spectators to the fight, hoping to see if he could end this farce of a duel and just retreat before annihilating his foe when he wasn't suffering from poison. But as he turned he saw Granny sitting and watching with a smile on her face and her words once more moved through his mind, this time their meaning was clear. He was meant to be the lesson.
Kanto let out a primal scream as everything came together. This was an attempt to punish him for not going above and beyond in the service of Darkseid and for enjoying the finer things in life. Well Kanto was still the greatest assassin in all of existence and whatever the hideous old bitch thought, he was nobody's lesson. He was Kanto!
He worked past the pain and surged forwards, finally managing to get ahold of the pompous purple and gold prick and wrapped his hands around the upstarts throat. Everyone would watch and see that he was the only Kanto they would ever need, there would not be a fourteenth. He would survive and he would thrive. Kanto smiled the smile of a rage-filled beast as he took in the little fop's dying gasps. The show was over.
He looked out at the crowd that had gathered to watch the fight. Granny was still smiling, pleased as punch and everyone seemed to be waiting for the kill. It'd take a moment but it would come. Then Kanto continued to survey the crowd, to see who might be displeased at this outcome and found the lord of Apokolips himself, Darkseid, staring down at him. Gazing into those pitiless red orbs reminded Kanto of what failure meant. Failing Darkseid meant death.
And in that self same incident a sword pierced through his heart and killed him. His grip weakened as he died and the life left his body.
The fourteenth Kanto
He had done it. If anyone asked what had occurred than naturally Kanto would let them know that it was all part of an elaborate performance. He intentionally got strangled so that he could make a show of overcoming the odds. After all prior to that point he had so easily been beating the previous Kanto. No one but him and Metron would ever know that he'd needed to poison the previous Kanto to kill him.
Still he was now Kanto. The dream was complete and finally he could give some artistry to murder. Was a mural of blood too tacky? Kanto wanted to commemorate his victory boldly and proudly. Of course now the real games began. His new peers were all taking him in with new eyes. Virman Vundabar looked irked but Kanto didn't mind angering the warmonger. DeSaad's face was hidden in shadow but the old bat was difficult to gauge on the best of days. Granny was smiling kindly but that was either very good or very bad depending on the context, as it either meant you'd get to whip a failure or you'd be whipped for failure.
And high above them all, Darkseid glowered down at the assembled gods of Apokolips. Well Kanto wasn't going to leave his greatest patron waiting.
"I have killed Kanto" He boldly declared, raising his sword aloft. He let the moment linger before planting the sword in the ground and dropping to one knee "Thus I am the fourteenth Kanto and will loyally serve you as the greatest assassin in all of creation"
There was a breathless moment when all might come to naught, if Darkseid decided he should die. Still dying for Darkseid was a privilege and an honor and if his death brought about the end of the Kantos, then Kanto was satsfied with an artistic statement like that. Even oblivion could be beautiful if framed right.
"R̶̡̬̟͓̻̽̌͊͆̇̋͘̚̕i̴̗̻͌s̵̳̥̜͑́̈́͗̿̒̂̂̀̉̀̿̄͋ē̸̪͕̘͚͍̯͍̰̽͗̈́̽̈́̍̅̀͌͋̂̈̍ ̸̧̨͎̹͖͕͚̰̹͈̻̦̣́̉̆͘͜Ķ̸͍̞͍̫̥̹͍͙͚̳̠̻̫͐̾͋͐͒̃̈́͗͌͒͌͝ȧ̷͇͋͆͂͂͛̈́̒̓̀̀n̸̩̘̩͈̘̫͙͍͙͔̦͇̆͛̐t̷̪̲̺͓͕͙̞̖̼̠̳͑̉́̉̅̔̒͌̎ö̵̠͖̥͚̖͉̼̫́̊̈́̑̃̉͛͗͘̕͘͝,̶̨̛̪̤̯̣̝̙̠̝͇͙̥̻̭͇̌̈͒̑ ̷͕͕̫̹̮̦̬̈́̇̊͛̓́a̷̜̗̳͕̺̾̍̎͛̈͆̑̿͌̄͘͜͝n̵̯̻̈́̃̂͘d̷̘̺̣͍͂ ̷̢̡̫̬̤̮͖̫̣̓͋͋͗̽̂̎͑͗̃̕͜͝ͅs̴̢͕͇̠̗̞͔̰͑̃͆́́͋̚̕e̸̢̻̞̫̎̑̈́́͒́̈͋̑͐̇͑̅͘͝r̷̢̡̖̗̘͇͉͔̺̜̩̻̆͜v̷͕̤̫̮̰̠͖̯̋e̸̛̫̟͛͐ ̵̧̬̺̬͙̰̊̓̋͛m̴̡̢̘̯̼̠̝̟̠̒̇͂̈͋̾̐͒́̿͑͝ȇ̶͙̙̦̩̯͙̟͚̪͆̓̈͑͑ͅͅ ̶̡̢̻͖̟͈̟̤͕̾͋͌͒́̃̇͐̄̈́̽͘͜͝ŵ̴̞͖̹͓̤̗͚̻̯̹̽̅́̔̽ͅe̷̡̢̳͔̳̜͕̭̓̇l̶̨̫̪̮̔̓͋͌̆̾̓͗̏͒̑̍̕͜͝͝l̶̨̨͍̫̝͕̻͖̞̳̰̋̀͗̑͂̆̀̈̋̓̈́̕,̶͓̰̀͌̀́̓̅͑̀̚ ̴̧͍̤̙̳̼̭̞͔͎̩̮͗̀̔͜͝f̴̛̥̱͖̗̗͖̭̔̈́̓̓̆̿̅̽̈́̕͜ơ̵̢̫̻̟̥̫̮͇̭̪̩̣̟̼̠̎̀̄̿͊̽̇r̷͈̯̫̜̗̙͇̖̲͉͖̂̑̊̑̓͂̃̌̉̕͝ ̵͓̠̞̥͓̘̱̙͖̙͈̱͍̈̎͋͆̄̚͜͝͝͝ͅy̵̥̺̰͕̹̻͙̓̿o̷̧̲͎͔͌͆̇͗̅́͝ů̶͔̣͎̩̻̰̱͈̲͎̿͂̈͑͌͌͒̀̐̒̕͘͜͠ṛ̵̢̻̬̼͙͎͈̘̘͇̘̞̞̣̿͒̔̿̐̾̄̓̆̏̒͝͝ ̶̭̰̼̓̀͂̂̓͑͊̊̂͗̚͠͠͝͝p̵̰͈̣͉͕̈͜ͅr̶̛̛̝̾̄͛̃̍͂̓̊̏̄̿̋̆ͅe̷̝̙̯̥̭̊d̷̡̜̣͉̦͔̜̋̀͂̇̍ḛ̵̢͔͔̬̹͚͐̆͜ç̴͙̯̟͖̙͔̘̏̀̒̈́̎̀̎͌̆̇̈́͌̀̆̚͜e̵̛̛͈̥͎͚̯̼̹̯̬̫͔̬͑̑͊̾̿́̀̆͠s̸̨̯̯̭̟̹̖̺͈̈́̊̑̋͒̌͠͝ͅs̴̲̼͗͋̽͂̈́́̔̚o̵̧̜͉͕̘̳͇̻͇̭̦̜̓͐̆͋̈́̈͘͠ͅr̵̳͉̔̄̅͋ ̸̡̤͉̭̥̭̯͔̖̱͙͔̲́̆͋̆̆͒̄͜ȟ̷̟̣̩̞̽̉̄̾̉͒̄̑͂͘̕͝ͅͅâ̵̛̪̪̰̜͖͓̳̜͕͑̇̄͑̒̐͌̂̏̄͘͜͠ͅͅś̷̢̯͓̠̤̣̣̙̠͍̺̮͓̍͜ ̵͚͔̱͖̙̟͐͌̿͌͛͂̾͛́̊̓̇͠͝f̶̯̱̗̞͙̆̿̑̉̈́̐̃͛̍̓͘ȧ̸̛̲̜̞̎̀̄̏͐̊͛͊͆̕͠͝l̶̟̫̠̻̻̘̯̰̹̓̌̆̚l̶̤͇̽̿̅̽̒͠ě̷͍̱͈̀̍̾̋̔̏̆̈͛̎̿n̸̡̲̙̼͎̮̣̬̹̣̦͇͐͆̆͗̂̓̏͋̕̕ͅ ̵̛̝̻̩̻̻͕̒̏̑̌̈́̅̋̃̀̍̇̍̽́s̸̡͕͓͚͙̟̼̦̬̲̭͇̗̰̀̈́͋̒͛̊̇̔̂͊̾̚̕ͅh̷̨̦̭̟̼̠͙̃̃͑̃̊̽́͊̕ơ̴̡̦̮̞̲̺̘̦̤̲̱̈̒̎̉̐͗r̷̪̱͈̫̒͑́̌̍̈́́̒͋͒̎t̶̡̢̝̮̰͙̩̤̮̠͈̀̈̔̐̏͝ ̷̢̧̛̯̝̗̝͍̗̱̮͓̺͓͉́̀̀̈́͒̿̀̉͠͝o̷̡͆̿͒́̑͛̅͆̇͌̊͛͠f̵̧̳̪̯͓̬͉̞̪͙͎̄̉̾̚͜ ̷̠͖̥̭͔͒͠m̷̪̹̭̟̐̉̎̋́͠͠y̴̢͙͇̠̱̞̻̗͍̜̱̤͙̞͗̀̉̒̔͗͂̉͊̐͛̎̕ ̵̣̑̓̍d̶̢̛̦̅̊͋̆̓̈́͐̈́̓ę̵̧̧̙͕͈͙̖̤̬̰̭̤̇̽̔̒͂ş̷̛̲̼̹͂͋̇̆̑̕i̴̡̡̧̛̙͔̺̻͖̽̀g̵̡̞̣͓̠͉̫̥͎̥͋͜ņ̵̛̜̣̙̮̦͎̫̙̪͂͋́͆͆̀̃̅̀̿̚͠ "
Thus the lord of Apokolips proclaimed for all to know. And Kanto took his right full place as the fourteenth of his name.
Darkseid
̵̛͇̜̮͍̖̍̌͌̉̈́̈́̀̆̐̽̌͐̋̃H̶̛͇̬́͆͂̋̑̈̋͊̓̚͘͝͠ố̵̡͍̮̭̪̓͌̍́́̃̉͌̄͝w̷̭̣̝̼͕̩̱̹̖̄͗͊̇̅̌̄͑̿̏ͅ ̵̡̢̰̠̤͓̝͕̩̽̓̑̇̓̉̈́̿͐̒͝͝ḿ̸̧̤͙͉̹̳̲̘̉̂͋̔͆̿̑͐a̴̢̧̡͙̫͕̥̞͓̥̣͖̻̣̒͠n̴̡̳̟͖̆̾̉ͅy̷̧̛͔̯̤͑̋ ̷̥͍̤͎͖̫̝̻͖͕̺͔̲̌͛̾̉̽̈̆̊̂̓̉͆́͝ͅK̴̞̩͛̈̓̈́̾̎̑̔ą̵̢̣̠̦̗͇̣͍̜͈̩̖̔̇̀̾̑̓̀̐̔n̸̛͇̜̬̤̏̀̊̈́͛͗̑̅͋t̷̢͖̪̟͚̣̤͔̟͕͖̪̾ͅo̴̧̍̀͋'̶̯͔̦͓͇͔̙̰̻̽̽̈͛̔̃̂̀̀̐͛̚͘͘ͅͅs̴̡̥͇̙̱̜̭̩̫̻̥͖̻̩͑́̉̀̀̈͌͌͘͠͠ ̵̮̓̇̃̊̀͛̓̉̃̕̕͜h̶̨̞̤͕̘̫̹͈̦̖̙͉̬̮́̊̿́͜á̴̡̘͕̖͇͖̯̝̐d̸̛̲̻͈̥̹͍̳̅͌̓̀̓͐͐̽͘ͅ ̵͖̱̖̰͍̤̭̫͔̩̇̏̏̀̍͑̂ĭ̶̛̹̫̱̞̝̪͎͚̥̠̫̓́̃̈̔̓̏̑̿̊͛͝t̶̖̬̩̫̗̪͕͈̱̍̍̀̿̿̽̍͊̃͋̊͝ ̸̡͒̀̉̀͐̽͒̌ę̸̝̗̹͔͉̲̫̅͐̏͐̚͜v̶̞͖̬̠̯͝ẹ̶̘̣͚̜͇̯̐̈̽͘ͅn̶͖͎̥̞̱͔̐̀̀̌̓͌̄̃̓͠ ̶̨̪̗͈͖͙̃̑̚b̴̧̘͇̳͆e̶̡͉̻̘̬̯̘͂͌́̍ě̵̡͉̖͍̯͉͇̳̜̫̝͐̄̀͐̉͌͑ͅn̵̢̧̞̻̹͍̪̒͌̈́͒̋̿̅̕ ̵̯̪̥̫̟͕̼̟̀̉̓͒̇̎̾̅̔͗̑̈́͝͠͝ͅn̶̳̪̄̋̔͗̊̈́̑̋̈́͠o̵̡̡̨̙̙͓̟̟̯͍͉͗̒w̷͎̳̽̐͊̆̈́̍͘͠͝,̴̨̨̡͎̼̳̞̩̥̘͖̣̀͆͆͝ͅ ̵̢̡̨̞͇̤̜̳͍̞̙͔͆̎̓̈̂̋͊̐̐̎̈́͋͘̚͘͜͜f̷̲͎̰̯̟̂̉͊̋͑ͅö̴̰̹̜̣͉̫́̋̂ͅù̸̡̨̧̧̨̮̤̗͈͍̈́̓̉̌́̈́̾̂̕̚͝͠͠r̸̡̠͈̖̲̻̪͕͈̰̪̅̄́̎̒͑t̷̫̙͕̟̰̻͕͊̽͐̚ě̸͚̱͍͛͗̄̀̐͑̿̆͂͝ę̶͙̾́̎͂͝ņ̸̛͇̣̩͇̩͆̏̂̍͐͐?̸̨̨̝̬̫͖̉̓̓̈́̓̏ͅ ̷̻͔̗̬͙̥̝͍̈́̓͂̓̅̅̍̐̌̋̌ͅD̵̡̧̠̹͔̖̫͓̠͖̞̥̀̿̏̓͛̐͛̑̈́̍̄̕͝͝͠a̷̧̧̝͕̻͎̜̼̥̦͍̱̙̓̓̋͂̋̓͜͝͝ͅŗ̸̧͙̟̠̠͉́̇̈́̂̑̒͂͊̓͘̕k̷̲̳̼̬̓̓́̿͂͑̔̊͒̾̎̀͝s̵̨̮̞͙̼̀́̔̃͂̅̋̽́̽ȩ̵̛̫̜̬̺̥̹̖̮̬͚̦̺̼͂̈́̋̓͋ͅi̷͔̬͌d̴̛͈̬̓̊͂́̅̑̎̊̕͘͜ ̴̢͎̠̙̄͋͌́́͆̌̄̾͜t̶̡̡̛͚͉̞̿́̍̃̾͠͠į̸̞̬̻͗͐̽̌̇͝r̸̢͎̘͍̜̪̯̹̖̮̺̗̓̐̈̑͑͌̑̉̔ȩ̴͍͍̠̤͖͙̫̈́͛͘ḑ̵̡̧̡̘̜͕̤̦̲̱̩͆̒ ̸̢͕͖̩̝̠͓̌̓̄̀́̉̆̊̾̄̓̆̀͊̕o̵̬̼̝͇̳̠̭͙̓f̴̧̲̄̋̊̾̿͒̈́̉͝ ̸̨̍̂̿̽͋̅̽̏̐̅̆̀̿̚h̸̳͎̬̋͋a̶̩̩͓̟͍̩̝͕̜͕͆̀̐̆́̀͑̾̔v̶̬͇̹̯̔̏̾̌̐͆̽͛̈́͘ì̴̼̻͆̏̋̽̋͒̽͂̈́̈́͠͠n̷̢̻͍͖͇̮̰̖̯̲̜̦͋̒́̚͜g̸͉͔̗̹̝̦̅̾̐͒̽̊̏͠ ̶̢̙̥̩̩̼͒͂̈͜ͅͅţ̸͕͕͎̩̤̺̦͚͆ò̵̤̮̦̦̺͇̙̰̞̜̬͖̐̋̂́̍̄͜ ̵̨͉͔͖̻̩̙̾̄̅̍̓̐̎̄̚͠r̸͈͓͍̖̹͎̖͖͖̮͖̱̤͂̀͑̇͐́̄̉͠͝ę̷̭͚̯̞̝̭̤̦̦̝̠͛͛ͅp̵̨̨̮͖̠͈͕̩̳̺͖̜̺̘̘̈́͊͆̈̇̅̌̍̉́̆̄̕l̶̨̙̦̭͎͐̐̐͋͜á̴̢̯̦͚̱̙̯̀c̶̩̱͌́̇͜͝ẽ̸͔̫͎̺̜̮̪̭̲́͑͊̕͝ ̵̖̗̅͆́͘̕h̷̛͖͑̀̐̈́͑̓͂̓͐̾̕̕͠͝i̸͎̥͎͍̘͊͆ś̸͇̤̟͂̿̓͆ ̶̡̧̜̮̮͉̣̺͇̱͈̥͊̓c̸̢̧̨̫̯̟͓̩̭̦̭̺̎̈́h̶̡̺̺͉̥̖̰̳͓̣̮̙̔̎ͅi̵̢̪̮̣̥̬̳̫̳͌̌͗̒ḛ̸͉̜̩̲̟͖͒́͋̃̽͌̍͑͆͂̇͝ͅͅf̷̧̪̟̙͉̻͎͚̦̪͉̺̹̗͙͑́̋̚͠ ̴̡͚͇̜̲̼̮̜̹͆̌̅͋̈́͌͗̅̀͠͝ͅả̴͕̾̋̽̆̋̃̀̎̅̑͝s̸̩̜̠̥͈̲̠̻̒̒͗̅̇̀̄̔̌s̶̛̯͖̪͍͎̩̩̯͉̥̾͑̓̄͆͝ͅâ̸̳͇̘̑̿̆̋̾̂̈́̋̄́͐̆̕s̶̨̝̭͒̐̀͑́̃̂͐̓͆s̴̢̰̲̯̖̦̗̟̥̝̞̙̞̃̇͂̓̈̕͝͝ĭ̴̘̤̓̅͗̓̓̏͗͊͋̈́́̈͝n̸̨͚̜̖̭̳̼̣̪̥̆͆̈́̿̍͠.̵͕̈́͂̔̂̓̏̄̌̇͝͝͠͠ ̶̖̬̭̮̪̘͎̼̭̩̇̅̉̀̆̈́̀͗̓̑̚͜͝H̶̢̲̜͖́̓̈́́͗͋͝ȍ̶̖̩̩͉͙͇̊̅̍̓͗̆̈̾̔͋̎p̵̥̬̦͖̜͓͋̓̎̍̀̇̚̕͜͜͝ͅͅe̶̗̲͓̋̉̄̒̆́̈́̀͒̈̍͛ͅf̴̤͙̮̼͂̇̀̊̏͜ų̶̡̛̛͕̙̲̜̗̯̱͉̯̀̎̇̃̒̅͝l̸͈̹̞̫͔̟̣̳͎̦͔͆͂͑͐̓͋̀͝ḷ̴̳̃̃̎̅̒́̾̃͜ỷ̶̙̭̪̈͑͑̄̏ ̵̡̨̝̠̜̰̹̫̙̼̈́̈́̾̂̇̓͛͝ț̵̩͚̀̍͑̒̂̌̔̕͠ĥ̶̢̝͈̱͓̗̥͂͂̈́̐́̀̿̽͐į̴̼̬̖̮̣̳̰͔̞̳̘̐̽̓̍̀̄̊͗́s̵̬̼̀̍̚ ̴̥͇̥̩̜̲́͆̏̀̆̎̑̄̽̎̕͘͜͠o̶̢̳̣͔̖̤̻̻̥͑̈̀̀̆̄͂͑̏͒̉͐͝͝n̶̛̛̪̱̤͐̉͗̾͗̋̈̾̑͜͝è̷͙̤̈́̈́͋́̓̎͊̾ ̵̣̜̉̂̍̋̉̄͛̾̌̒̋w̷̛͕͉̻͔̞͙̺͕̜̱͉͚̿̃̆̎͛̎̈́͌͂̏̿͘͝͠ơ̷̧̭̇͌̊̈́̅̾͝͠ǘ̴̺̤̬͎̩̈́̐̚͘͝l̸̞͋̀̋̊̅͗́͛͘͠d̶̛͓̟̻̯͎͈̀̉̉̿̍͐͘ ̴̟̐͋̔͐ḻ̶̨͍͖͔͍͔͛͗͛̑̀̆̀͑͛̕à̶̮̗̲̓͂͐̿̆͋̑̚s̴̢̩̫̮̗̰̻̲̖̺̄̔͊̚t̸̨̡͙̬̖͚̜̲͖͍̦̣͒ ̶̛̲̪͍̝̦̬̼̹̈̎̍̎͆̆̈́̈́̀̈́̌̚a̶̡̨̰̮̖̥̝̩̙͓͕͐̄̚ͅͅ ̶̛͇̻͉̠̗͉̫̟̠̙͈̼̍͊͋l̶̡̨̘͉̻͈̞̩̲̤̺̪̘̯͒̀̋̎̓̃̂̓̈̎̏̍̈́͜i̸͖̗̦̦̣̫̐̆̔̄̓̈́͊̀͌̉̈́͝ṯ̷̨͍͇͍̤͇̹͓͙̳̜̭̮̈̌̑͗̃̈̆̓̇͂̈́̕̚t̴̨̤̟̃̊̓̔͌̃̊̆͊͆l̵̢̟̜͚͙͉̱̗͈̖̜̄́̈̕͝ȅ̵͔̥͉̅̏́͗͒͗̓͌͒̈́͝ ̸͚̳͈̲̱͚͈̫̬͍̮͈̹͖̌̓̈́͂̈́͂͂̉̒͛̑̅́̉̕͜l̴̨̨̡̰͕̞͓͓̞̟̪̳̥͍͇̒́̅̃͊́͐͘͝o̴̹̐́̂͂͂̍͒̀̋̓̋̓͝ṋ̷̩̰̙̝̣̹̙̺̋̎̍̀̀͒̽̒̀ͅģ̷̨̨̻̯̻̲̥͈͖̺̗̮́̈́̀̒̌̑͗̈́͐̀̄͐̅e̴͔̖̦͕͐͐̈́̉͐͒͘r̷̡̛̦̳̝͚͔̉.̸̢̨̧̛̩̺̪͓̥̝̦̻͐̂̔̉̕͠
I do think the ending is what cements this as a comedic piece even if for the most part the story is played relatively seriously, though I'd appreciate some feedback on it. I initially considered trying to make this more overtly comedic but the subject matter I felt kind of worked best with a more dark tone.
Also one last thing but there are a number of terms and names that get thrown around without too much clarification. As such there's a bit of a barrier to entry with this piece as certain things (like the implications of Metron referring to "Uxas") so if anything is unclear, feel free to ask me and I'll give a little bit of context.
With all that being said I hope you guys enjoy this interlude. I don't think it's perfect, but I had a lot of fun making it.
The New Gods Interlude: Kanto Kills Kanto
Illuthin
There had been many Kantos over the years. It was not a fact hidden from the lowlies on Apokolips. Every Kanto was better than the one that came before them, but at the same time the position of Kanto, of being Darkseid's master assassin, invited risk as others could slay you to take the position if they were smart and skilled enough at it.
Even at Granny's orphanage, lowlies who paid attention would be able to know of Kanto. The twelfth Kanto had visited there every so often and helped Granny pit children against one another to see who might some day be able to become the next Kanto. Illuthin looked back fondly on those days. True it wasn't easy to find artistry in the bludgeoning and strangling of his fellow lowlies but he managed it well enough.
There were some lowlies who didn't quite manage to grasp that on Apokolips you lived and died for Darkseid and attempting to get around that got you beaten and bludgeoned and eventually killed. They were of more use dead than alive so they died. Most of the squeamish sort had been filtered out by now but somehow Scott Free was still alive so it wasn't a perfect system. Illuthin did not envy those who had to report to Granny that they'd failed to catch Scott Free. They'd get to choose between the hounds and the fire pits. There was no artistry in that, unless you were trying to compose a symphony of screams but frankly most lowlies didn't last long enough to get more than a jingle out in such scenarios.
Kanto had avoided drawing Granny's attention. The cookies and praise had been tempting at first but everyone knew that Granny's favorites got the worst beatings if they missed a step. No Illuthin had decided on impressing the twelfth Kanto. He'd practiced on his fellows and gotten quite talented in the use of blades and poisons. He'd managed to make a show out of it and he was preparing to work with the twelfth Kanto. There was someone who knew how to make killing into an art form. One wouldn't think of an axe as a particularly artistic implement but the large swathes of red had an artistic element with their precision in implementation. Illuthin wanted to be Kanto.
Of course then his opportunity was taken by the individual who would become the thirteenth Kanto. Oh how Illuthin hated that blasted and bedeviled riot-shovel of a bastard. He'd stolen Illuthin's kill and now he was trapped executing and slaying other orphans. There was only so many years you could kill others in the orphanage before the work became stale and uninteresting. Illuthin was an artist, he needed inspiration!
As such Illuthin donned his purple and gold attire and set out to prove himself great enough to be the fourteenth Kanto. He would be remembered for his skills and talents.
The first part of Illuthin's plan had been to steal from the thirteenth Kanto's armory. While weapons weren't hard to find, Illuthin wanted to prove a point and once he figured it out he'd make a statement out of it declaring his superiority. He'd waited and planned and plotted and then when he thought he knew when and where the thirteenth Kanto would show up and with a powerful sky-burner, he'd turned the entire area into smoldering dust. It wasn't as elegant as a blade through the throat, but Illuthin would settle for erasing the blasted oaf from existence.
Only Illuthin had failed, not due to any mistakes in his part or due to some skill or talent from the thirteenth Kanto, but rather because the thirteenth Kanto had decided to sleep in that day, all Illuthin had succeeded in accomplishing was killing some hapless lowlies. It was infuriating and it meant that Illuthin was forced to flee Apokolips.
Oh woe be to Illuthin, this was entirely beneath him and yet he was forced into it regardless. Still as Illuthin fled from Apokolips, he swore that someday he would kill the thirteenth Kanto, no matter how many bystanders and non-combatants he had to kill first.
Metron
It wasn't often that someone managed to actually find Metron. He much preferred it that way. The pursuit of knowledge was best left untainted by worldly ambitions and trivial concerns. Others might condemn him as cold and callous but Metron knew he was as far beyond them as they were from bugs. And he wasn't truly neutral in the grand scheme of things, sure he'd barter and make deals with Apokolips, but Uxas's ambitions needed to remain thoroughly unfulfilled. He'd never personally step in to intercede, but a small push here and there and the right knowledge conveyed to the right individual at the right time ensured that the universe kept moving forwards and Metron was able to study and learn in peace.
Metron preferred the current state of affairs and as such he was irked when someone managed to find him. Metron quickly looked into who this person might be, before deciding on his next move. Illuthin was the child of two lowlies, conscripted into Granny Goodness's orphanage because he had a talent in killing others when they weren't expecting it. The orphanage forged him into a talented killer but his own ambitions and ego had resulted in him attempting to kill the latest Kanto and then fleeing when that failed. As such he had sought out Metron to try and ask for help in succeeding in his plans. Metron pondered what to do next.
A web of possible futures sprawled out before him as Metron considered what to do. As countless variables were defined, determined and then inserted, Metron ended up concluding that more data was necessary. Besides this too was an opportunity. He sent Illuthin off to collect information from a few different worlds, worlds dangerous enough that even a New God could be killed on them if he did not handle himself with care. Metron pointedly avoided picking anything even remotely related to the life or anti-life equations as the more information on them was uncovered, the more destabilized peace would become until a side would need to be chosen.
Regardless if Illuthin died he would cease to be a problem and if Illuthin survived then Metron would have gained more knowledge in exchange for having done nothing himself. And so he sent off Illuthin and returned to his previous research. Decades rolled by and Metron had practically forgotten about Illuthin. The would be assassin had returned and given Metron his information. The emotional spectrum was an oddity for sure, but it was comfortable having a little more knowledge on how it worked and how an entity managed to manifest itself across every universe. A trivial pursuit but an interesting one nonetheless.
Still now Metron had to determine what exactly to tell Illuthin. With the additional time however, Metron had calculated exactly what best to do. Illuthin was undoubtedly more skilled than the current Kanto, but he could also be nudged into being far more discriminatory. It would be best for Illuthin to become Kanto as while on paper it would make Apokolips stronger, his proclivities would result in less overall activity from them. As such Metron sought to seal Illuthin's weakness while also burying a hint of self-doubt in the soon to be fourteenth Kanto's mind.
"Challenge him to a duel and the thirteenth Kanto will drink before the fight" Metron revealed, setting into motion exactly what he needed to happen.
The Thirteenth Kanto
Kanto hated doing his job. Smashing pretentious little ants was fun at times but being told what to do and who to kill was annoying. The need for subtlty was annoying. He just crushed anything that got in his way. It might've made him unpopular but he popped the last Kanto's head like a grape, he earned his position. The rest could all burn in the firepits for what he cared.
Some poncy little shit dressed in purple and gold with a ridiculous hat had challenged him to a duel. Kanto would kill him. He'd make an example out of him and then kill anyone who supported him. This them all dead he'd be free to laze about and feast, save for when Darkseid commanded him to kill and even then so long as he got the job done, he could be slow. They'd all meet the Black Racer sooner or later and Kanto was in no hurry to follow in his predecessors footsteps.
As such Kanto had feasted and reveled the night before, using the duel as an excuse. The lowlies knew not to anger him and so he was kept satisfied and entertained for the entire night, plied with cosmic vintages, the flesh of exotic beasts, and the nubile forms of various slaves. Being Kanto was difficult work but being above all those beneath him made it worthwhile.
Today was meant to be a message. He was tempted to just bombard the chosen battleground from afar but Virman would not lend him any of his usual tools and Granny Goodness wanted to watch, to make this a lesson for the children at the orphanage. Personally Kanto felt they'd be blooded enough that watching him kill another weakling wouldn't be much of a lesson, but he knew better than to question Granny. And so today was meant to be a show.
The worthless smug little prick seemed to think so as well with how he was galivanting about with his little knife, spouting off some nonsense about showing him what a real killer was like. A real killer killed, that was all there was to it. To proclaim assassination as an art was foolishness. Kanto readied his weapon and prepared for the fight.
He fired an energy blast from his club but the little gold and purple pest nimbly danced out of the way. Kanto's head spun. Apparently the drinks he'd imbibed had been stronger than expected. As his vision swam and he saw three of the worthless little maggot lunge towards him, Kanto was as ready as he could be.
He roared taking the blow but swinging a backhand in the hopes of flattening him. The pest ducked under the blow and stabbed him thrice in the chest, each blow a mere pinprick, but galling in that he had been wounded first. Then the maggot leapt back and took a bow. Kanto would not be made a mockery! He had killed for this position and he would kill as many people as he had to in order to ensure there were no more Kantos.
He rushed forwards and swung his club down, smiting the earth where the vermin had once stood but the little rat had moved out of the way again, before once more wounding him. Kanto's chest burned but he ignored the pain. He would kill this little brat and everyone would know who he was once more!
Again and again he rushed to smash his opponent and every time his opponent danced past him. His foe had started taking time to gloat and show off and make a mockery of him. Kanto would've exploited this countless times, and yet his body was sluggish and weak. Something had gone terribly wrong.
Upon being nicked yet again it slowly dawned on Kanto what had happened. He had been poisoned. Kanto turned to look at the spectators to the fight, hoping to see if he could end this farce of a duel and just retreat before annihilating his foe when he wasn't suffering from poison. But as he turned he saw Granny sitting and watching with a smile on her face and her words once more moved through his mind, this time their meaning was clear. He was meant to be the lesson.
Kanto let out a primal scream as everything came together. This was an attempt to punish him for not going above and beyond in the service of Darkseid and for enjoying the finer things in life. Well Kanto was still the greatest assassin in all of existence and whatever the hideous old bitch thought, he was nobody's lesson. He was Kanto!
He worked past the pain and surged forwards, finally managing to get ahold of the pompous purple and gold prick and wrapped his hands around the upstarts throat. Everyone would watch and see that he was the only Kanto they would ever need, there would not be a fourteenth. He would survive and he would thrive. Kanto smiled the smile of a rage-filled beast as he took in the little fop's dying gasps. The show was over.
He looked out at the crowd that had gathered to watch the fight. Granny was still smiling, pleased as punch and everyone seemed to be waiting for the kill. It'd take a moment but it would come. Then Kanto continued to survey the crowd, to see who might be displeased at this outcome and found the lord of Apokolips himself, Darkseid, staring down at him. Gazing into those pitiless red orbs reminded Kanto of what failure meant. Failing Darkseid meant death.
And in that self same incident a sword pierced through his heart and killed him. His grip weakened as he died and the life left his body.
The fourteenth Kanto
He had done it. If anyone asked what had occurred than naturally Kanto would let them know that it was all part of an elaborate performance. He intentionally got strangled so that he could make a show of overcoming the odds. After all prior to that point he had so easily been beating the previous Kanto. No one but him and Metron would ever know that he'd needed to poison the previous Kanto to kill him.
Still he was now Kanto. The dream was complete and finally he could give some artistry to murder. Was a mural of blood too tacky? Kanto wanted to commemorate his victory boldly and proudly. Of course now the real games began. His new peers were all taking him in with new eyes. Virman Vundabar looked irked but Kanto didn't mind angering the warmonger. DeSaad's face was hidden in shadow but the old bat was difficult to gauge on the best of days. Granny was smiling kindly but that was either very good or very bad depending on the context, as it either meant you'd get to whip a failure or you'd be whipped for failure.
And high above them all, Darkseid glowered down at the assembled gods of Apokolips. Well Kanto wasn't going to leave his greatest patron waiting.
"I have killed Kanto" He boldly declared, raising his sword aloft. He let the moment linger before planting the sword in the ground and dropping to one knee "Thus I am the fourteenth Kanto and will loyally serve you as the greatest assassin in all of creation"
There was a breathless moment when all might come to naught, if Darkseid decided he should die. Still dying for Darkseid was a privilege and an honor and if his death brought about the end of the Kantos, then Kanto was satsfied with an artistic statement like that. Even oblivion could be beautiful if framed right.
"R̶̡̬̟͓̻̽̌͊͆̇̋͘̚̕i̴̗̻͌s̵̳̥̜͑́̈́͗̿̒̂̂̀̉̀̿̄͋ē̸̪͕̘͚͍̯͍̰̽͗̈́̽̈́̍̅̀͌͋̂̈̍ ̸̧̨͎̹͖͕͚̰̹͈̻̦̣́̉̆͘͜Ķ̸͍̞͍̫̥̹͍͙͚̳̠̻̫͐̾͋͐͒̃̈́͗͌͒͌͝ȧ̷͇͋͆͂͂͛̈́̒̓̀̀n̸̩̘̩͈̘̫͙͍͙͔̦͇̆͛̐t̷̪̲̺͓͕͙̞̖̼̠̳͑̉́̉̅̔̒͌̎ö̵̠͖̥͚̖͉̼̫́̊̈́̑̃̉͛͗͘̕͘͝,̶̨̛̪̤̯̣̝̙̠̝͇͙̥̻̭͇̌̈͒̑ ̷͕͕̫̹̮̦̬̈́̇̊͛̓́a̷̜̗̳͕̺̾̍̎͛̈͆̑̿͌̄͘͜͝n̵̯̻̈́̃̂͘d̷̘̺̣͍͂ ̷̢̡̫̬̤̮͖̫̣̓͋͋͗̽̂̎͑͗̃̕͜͝ͅs̴̢͕͇̠̗̞͔̰͑̃͆́́͋̚̕e̸̢̻̞̫̎̑̈́́͒́̈͋̑͐̇͑̅͘͝r̷̢̡̖̗̘͇͉͔̺̜̩̻̆͜v̷͕̤̫̮̰̠͖̯̋e̸̛̫̟͛͐ ̵̧̬̺̬͙̰̊̓̋͛m̴̡̢̘̯̼̠̝̟̠̒̇͂̈͋̾̐͒́̿͑͝ȇ̶͙̙̦̩̯͙̟͚̪͆̓̈͑͑ͅͅ ̶̡̢̻͖̟͈̟̤͕̾͋͌͒́̃̇͐̄̈́̽͘͜͝ŵ̴̞͖̹͓̤̗͚̻̯̹̽̅́̔̽ͅe̷̡̢̳͔̳̜͕̭̓̇l̶̨̫̪̮̔̓͋͌̆̾̓͗̏͒̑̍̕͜͝͝l̶̨̨͍̫̝͕̻͖̞̳̰̋̀͗̑͂̆̀̈̋̓̈́̕,̶͓̰̀͌̀́̓̅͑̀̚ ̴̧͍̤̙̳̼̭̞͔͎̩̮͗̀̔͜͝f̴̛̥̱͖̗̗͖̭̔̈́̓̓̆̿̅̽̈́̕͜ơ̵̢̫̻̟̥̫̮͇̭̪̩̣̟̼̠̎̀̄̿͊̽̇r̷͈̯̫̜̗̙͇̖̲͉͖̂̑̊̑̓͂̃̌̉̕͝ ̵͓̠̞̥͓̘̱̙͖̙͈̱͍̈̎͋͆̄̚͜͝͝͝ͅy̵̥̺̰͕̹̻͙̓̿o̷̧̲͎͔͌͆̇͗̅́͝ů̶͔̣͎̩̻̰̱͈̲͎̿͂̈͑͌͌͒̀̐̒̕͘͜͠ṛ̵̢̻̬̼͙͎͈̘̘͇̘̞̞̣̿͒̔̿̐̾̄̓̆̏̒͝͝ ̶̭̰̼̓̀͂̂̓͑͊̊̂͗̚͠͠͝͝p̵̰͈̣͉͕̈͜ͅr̶̛̛̝̾̄͛̃̍͂̓̊̏̄̿̋̆ͅe̷̝̙̯̥̭̊d̷̡̜̣͉̦͔̜̋̀͂̇̍ḛ̵̢͔͔̬̹͚͐̆͜ç̴͙̯̟͖̙͔̘̏̀̒̈́̎̀̎͌̆̇̈́͌̀̆̚͜e̵̛̛͈̥͎͚̯̼̹̯̬̫͔̬͑̑͊̾̿́̀̆͠s̸̨̯̯̭̟̹̖̺͈̈́̊̑̋͒̌͠͝ͅs̴̲̼͗͋̽͂̈́́̔̚o̵̧̜͉͕̘̳͇̻͇̭̦̜̓͐̆͋̈́̈͘͠ͅr̵̳͉̔̄̅͋ ̸̡̤͉̭̥̭̯͔̖̱͙͔̲́̆͋̆̆͒̄͜ȟ̷̟̣̩̞̽̉̄̾̉͒̄̑͂͘̕͝ͅͅâ̵̛̪̪̰̜͖͓̳̜͕͑̇̄͑̒̐͌̂̏̄͘͜͠ͅͅś̷̢̯͓̠̤̣̣̙̠͍̺̮͓̍͜ ̵͚͔̱͖̙̟͐͌̿͌͛͂̾͛́̊̓̇͠͝f̶̯̱̗̞͙̆̿̑̉̈́̐̃͛̍̓͘ȧ̸̛̲̜̞̎̀̄̏͐̊͛͊͆̕͠͝l̶̟̫̠̻̻̘̯̰̹̓̌̆̚l̶̤͇̽̿̅̽̒͠ě̷͍̱͈̀̍̾̋̔̏̆̈͛̎̿n̸̡̲̙̼͎̮̣̬̹̣̦͇͐͆̆͗̂̓̏͋̕̕ͅ ̵̛̝̻̩̻̻͕̒̏̑̌̈́̅̋̃̀̍̇̍̽́s̸̡͕͓͚͙̟̼̦̬̲̭͇̗̰̀̈́͋̒͛̊̇̔̂͊̾̚̕ͅh̷̨̦̭̟̼̠͙̃̃͑̃̊̽́͊̕ơ̴̡̦̮̞̲̺̘̦̤̲̱̈̒̎̉̐͗r̷̪̱͈̫̒͑́̌̍̈́́̒͋͒̎t̶̡̢̝̮̰͙̩̤̮̠͈̀̈̔̐̏͝ ̷̢̧̛̯̝̗̝͍̗̱̮͓̺͓͉́̀̀̈́͒̿̀̉͠͝o̷̡͆̿͒́̑͛̅͆̇͌̊͛͠f̵̧̳̪̯͓̬͉̞̪͙͎̄̉̾̚͜ ̷̠͖̥̭͔͒͠m̷̪̹̭̟̐̉̎̋́͠͠y̴̢͙͇̠̱̞̻̗͍̜̱̤͙̞͗̀̉̒̔͗͂̉͊̐͛̎̕ ̵̣̑̓̍d̶̢̛̦̅̊͋̆̓̈́͐̈́̓ę̵̧̧̙͕͈͙̖̤̬̰̭̤̇̽̔̒͂ş̷̛̲̼̹͂͋̇̆̑̕i̴̡̡̧̛̙͔̺̻͖̽̀g̵̡̞̣͓̠͉̫̥͎̥͋͜ņ̵̛̜̣̙̮̦͎̫̙̪͂͋́͆͆̀̃̅̀̿̚͠ "
Thus the lord of Apokolips proclaimed for all to know. And Kanto took his right full place as the fourteenth of his name.
Darkseid
̵̛͇̜̮͍̖̍̌͌̉̈́̈́̀̆̐̽̌͐̋̃H̶̛͇̬́͆͂̋̑̈̋͊̓̚͘͝͠ố̵̡͍̮̭̪̓͌̍́́̃̉͌̄͝w̷̭̣̝̼͕̩̱̹̖̄͗͊̇̅̌̄͑̿̏ͅ ̵̡̢̰̠̤͓̝͕̩̽̓̑̇̓̉̈́̿͐̒͝͝ḿ̸̧̤͙͉̹̳̲̘̉̂͋̔͆̿̑͐a̴̢̧̡͙̫͕̥̞͓̥̣͖̻̣̒͠n̴̡̳̟͖̆̾̉ͅy̷̧̛͔̯̤͑̋ ̷̥͍̤͎͖̫̝̻͖͕̺͔̲̌͛̾̉̽̈̆̊̂̓̉͆́͝ͅK̴̞̩͛̈̓̈́̾̎̑̔ą̵̢̣̠̦̗͇̣͍̜͈̩̖̔̇̀̾̑̓̀̐̔n̸̛͇̜̬̤̏̀̊̈́͛͗̑̅͋t̷̢͖̪̟͚̣̤͔̟͕͖̪̾ͅo̴̧̍̀͋'̶̯͔̦͓͇͔̙̰̻̽̽̈͛̔̃̂̀̀̐͛̚͘͘ͅͅs̴̡̥͇̙̱̜̭̩̫̻̥͖̻̩͑́̉̀̀̈͌͌͘͠͠ ̵̮̓̇̃̊̀͛̓̉̃̕̕͜h̶̨̞̤͕̘̫̹͈̦̖̙͉̬̮́̊̿́͜á̴̡̘͕̖͇͖̯̝̐d̸̛̲̻͈̥̹͍̳̅͌̓̀̓͐͐̽͘ͅ ̵͖̱̖̰͍̤̭̫͔̩̇̏̏̀̍͑̂ĭ̶̛̹̫̱̞̝̪͎͚̥̠̫̓́̃̈̔̓̏̑̿̊͛͝t̶̖̬̩̫̗̪͕͈̱̍̍̀̿̿̽̍͊̃͋̊͝ ̸̡͒̀̉̀͐̽͒̌ę̸̝̗̹͔͉̲̫̅͐̏͐̚͜v̶̞͖̬̠̯͝ẹ̶̘̣͚̜͇̯̐̈̽͘ͅn̶͖͎̥̞̱͔̐̀̀̌̓͌̄̃̓͠ ̶̨̪̗͈͖͙̃̑̚b̴̧̘͇̳͆e̶̡͉̻̘̬̯̘͂͌́̍ě̵̡͉̖͍̯͉͇̳̜̫̝͐̄̀͐̉͌͑ͅn̵̢̧̞̻̹͍̪̒͌̈́͒̋̿̅̕ ̵̯̪̥̫̟͕̼̟̀̉̓͒̇̎̾̅̔͗̑̈́͝͠͝ͅn̶̳̪̄̋̔͗̊̈́̑̋̈́͠o̵̡̡̨̙̙͓̟̟̯͍͉͗̒w̷͎̳̽̐͊̆̈́̍͘͠͝,̴̨̨̡͎̼̳̞̩̥̘͖̣̀͆͆͝ͅ ̵̢̡̨̞͇̤̜̳͍̞̙͔͆̎̓̈̂̋͊̐̐̎̈́͋͘̚͘͜͜f̷̲͎̰̯̟̂̉͊̋͑ͅö̴̰̹̜̣͉̫́̋̂ͅù̸̡̨̧̧̨̮̤̗͈͍̈́̓̉̌́̈́̾̂̕̚͝͠͠r̸̡̠͈̖̲̻̪͕͈̰̪̅̄́̎̒͑t̷̫̙͕̟̰̻͕͊̽͐̚ě̸͚̱͍͛͗̄̀̐͑̿̆͂͝ę̶͙̾́̎͂͝ņ̸̛͇̣̩͇̩͆̏̂̍͐͐?̸̨̨̝̬̫͖̉̓̓̈́̓̏ͅ ̷̻͔̗̬͙̥̝͍̈́̓͂̓̅̅̍̐̌̋̌ͅD̵̡̧̠̹͔̖̫͓̠͖̞̥̀̿̏̓͛̐͛̑̈́̍̄̕͝͝͠a̷̧̧̝͕̻͎̜̼̥̦͍̱̙̓̓̋͂̋̓͜͝͝ͅŗ̸̧͙̟̠̠͉́̇̈́̂̑̒͂͊̓͘̕k̷̲̳̼̬̓̓́̿͂͑̔̊͒̾̎̀͝s̵̨̮̞͙̼̀́̔̃͂̅̋̽́̽ȩ̵̛̫̜̬̺̥̹̖̮̬͚̦̺̼͂̈́̋̓͋ͅi̷͔̬͌d̴̛͈̬̓̊͂́̅̑̎̊̕͘͜ ̴̢͎̠̙̄͋͌́́͆̌̄̾͜t̶̡̡̛͚͉̞̿́̍̃̾͠͠į̸̞̬̻͗͐̽̌̇͝r̸̢͎̘͍̜̪̯̹̖̮̺̗̓̐̈̑͑͌̑̉̔ȩ̴͍͍̠̤͖͙̫̈́͛͘ḑ̵̡̧̡̘̜͕̤̦̲̱̩͆̒ ̸̢͕͖̩̝̠͓̌̓̄̀́̉̆̊̾̄̓̆̀͊̕o̵̬̼̝͇̳̠̭͙̓f̴̧̲̄̋̊̾̿͒̈́̉͝ ̸̨̍̂̿̽͋̅̽̏̐̅̆̀̿̚h̸̳͎̬̋͋a̶̩̩͓̟͍̩̝͕̜͕͆̀̐̆́̀͑̾̔v̶̬͇̹̯̔̏̾̌̐͆̽͛̈́͘ì̴̼̻͆̏̋̽̋͒̽͂̈́̈́͠͠n̷̢̻͍͖͇̮̰̖̯̲̜̦͋̒́̚͜g̸͉͔̗̹̝̦̅̾̐͒̽̊̏͠ ̶̢̙̥̩̩̼͒͂̈͜ͅͅţ̸͕͕͎̩̤̺̦͚͆ò̵̤̮̦̦̺͇̙̰̞̜̬͖̐̋̂́̍̄͜ ̵̨͉͔͖̻̩̙̾̄̅̍̓̐̎̄̚͠r̸͈͓͍̖̹͎̖͖͖̮͖̱̤͂̀͑̇͐́̄̉͠͝ę̷̭͚̯̞̝̭̤̦̦̝̠͛͛ͅp̵̨̨̮͖̠͈͕̩̳̺͖̜̺̘̘̈́͊͆̈̇̅̌̍̉́̆̄̕l̶̨̙̦̭͎͐̐̐͋͜á̴̢̯̦͚̱̙̯̀c̶̩̱͌́̇͜͝ẽ̸͔̫͎̺̜̮̪̭̲́͑͊̕͝ ̵̖̗̅͆́͘̕h̷̛͖͑̀̐̈́͑̓͂̓͐̾̕̕͠͝i̸͎̥͎͍̘͊͆ś̸͇̤̟͂̿̓͆ ̶̡̧̜̮̮͉̣̺͇̱͈̥͊̓c̸̢̧̨̫̯̟͓̩̭̦̭̺̎̈́h̶̡̺̺͉̥̖̰̳͓̣̮̙̔̎ͅi̵̢̪̮̣̥̬̳̫̳͌̌͗̒ḛ̸͉̜̩̲̟͖͒́͋̃̽͌̍͑͆͂̇͝ͅͅf̷̧̪̟̙͉̻͎͚̦̪͉̺̹̗͙͑́̋̚͠ ̴̡͚͇̜̲̼̮̜̹͆̌̅͋̈́͌͗̅̀͠͝ͅả̴͕̾̋̽̆̋̃̀̎̅̑͝s̸̩̜̠̥͈̲̠̻̒̒͗̅̇̀̄̔̌s̶̛̯͖̪͍͎̩̩̯͉̥̾͑̓̄͆͝ͅâ̸̳͇̘̑̿̆̋̾̂̈́̋̄́͐̆̕s̶̨̝̭͒̐̀͑́̃̂͐̓͆s̴̢̰̲̯̖̦̗̟̥̝̞̙̞̃̇͂̓̈̕͝͝ĭ̴̘̤̓̅͗̓̓̏͗͊͋̈́́̈͝n̸̨͚̜̖̭̳̼̣̪̥̆͆̈́̿̍͠.̵͕̈́͂̔̂̓̏̄̌̇͝͝͠͠ ̶̖̬̭̮̪̘͎̼̭̩̇̅̉̀̆̈́̀͗̓̑̚͜͝H̶̢̲̜͖́̓̈́́͗͋͝ȍ̶̖̩̩͉͙͇̊̅̍̓͗̆̈̾̔͋̎p̵̥̬̦͖̜͓͋̓̎̍̀̇̚̕͜͜͝ͅͅe̶̗̲͓̋̉̄̒̆́̈́̀͒̈̍͛ͅf̴̤͙̮̼͂̇̀̊̏͜ų̶̡̛̛͕̙̲̜̗̯̱͉̯̀̎̇̃̒̅͝l̸͈̹̞̫͔̟̣̳͎̦͔͆͂͑͐̓͋̀͝ḷ̴̳̃̃̎̅̒́̾̃͜ỷ̶̙̭̪̈͑͑̄̏ ̵̡̨̝̠̜̰̹̫̙̼̈́̈́̾̂̇̓͛͝ț̵̩͚̀̍͑̒̂̌̔̕͠ĥ̶̢̝͈̱͓̗̥͂͂̈́̐́̀̿̽͐į̴̼̬̖̮̣̳̰͔̞̳̘̐̽̓̍̀̄̊͗́s̵̬̼̀̍̚ ̴̥͇̥̩̜̲́͆̏̀̆̎̑̄̽̎̕͘͜͠o̶̢̳̣͔̖̤̻̻̥͑̈̀̀̆̄͂͑̏͒̉͐͝͝n̶̛̛̪̱̤͐̉͗̾͗̋̈̾̑͜͝è̷͙̤̈́̈́͋́̓̎͊̾ ̵̣̜̉̂̍̋̉̄͛̾̌̒̋w̷̛͕͉̻͔̞͙̺͕̜̱͉͚̿̃̆̎͛̎̈́͌͂̏̿͘͝͠ơ̷̧̭̇͌̊̈́̅̾͝͠ǘ̴̺̤̬͎̩̈́̐̚͘͝l̸̞͋̀̋̊̅͗́͛͘͠d̶̛͓̟̻̯͎͈̀̉̉̿̍͐͘ ̴̟̐͋̔͐ḻ̶̨͍͖͔͍͔͛͗͛̑̀̆̀͑͛̕à̶̮̗̲̓͂͐̿̆͋̑̚s̴̢̩̫̮̗̰̻̲̖̺̄̔͊̚t̸̨̡͙̬̖͚̜̲͖͍̦̣͒ ̶̛̲̪͍̝̦̬̼̹̈̎̍̎͆̆̈́̈́̀̈́̌̚a̶̡̨̰̮̖̥̝̩̙͓͕͐̄̚ͅͅ ̶̛͇̻͉̠̗͉̫̟̠̙͈̼̍͊͋l̶̡̨̘͉̻͈̞̩̲̤̺̪̘̯͒̀̋̎̓̃̂̓̈̎̏̍̈́͜i̸͖̗̦̦̣̫̐̆̔̄̓̈́͊̀͌̉̈́͝ṯ̷̨͍͇͍̤͇̹͓͙̳̜̭̮̈̌̑͗̃̈̆̓̇͂̈́̕̚t̴̨̤̟̃̊̓̔͌̃̊̆͊͆l̵̢̟̜͚͙͉̱̗͈̖̜̄́̈̕͝ȅ̵͔̥͉̅̏́͗͒͗̓͌͒̈́͝ ̸͚̳͈̲̱͚͈̫̬͍̮͈̹͖̌̓̈́͂̈́͂͂̉̒͛̑̅́̉̕͜l̴̨̨̡̰͕̞͓͓̞̟̪̳̥͍͇̒́̅̃͊́͐͘͝o̴̹̐́̂͂͂̍͒̀̋̓̋̓͝ṋ̷̩̰̙̝̣̹̙̺̋̎̍̀̀͒̽̒̀ͅģ̷̨̨̻̯̻̲̥͈͖̺̗̮́̈́̀̒̌̑͗̈́͐̀̄͐̅e̴͔̖̦͕͐͐̈́̉͐͒͘r̷̡̛̦̳̝͚͔̉.̸̢̨̧̛̩̺̪͓̥̝̦̻͐̂̔̉̕͠
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- Pronouns
- Reader
Since we're very much speculating on the plausible impact of numerous less strait forward actions that have rewards tables which can shift meaningfully based on who's assigned to the action in question, pure facts are a bit hard to establish and only get us so far.
I'll still switch to saying it's a common sense follow up regardless. One that draws further attention to the team and encourages interest by heroes abroad.
No, I am not an expert on dc magic lore, but her magic is fundamentally different from rebecca's demonology based type, and she's a far more learned and versatile occultist than Rebecca overall. Different magic is essentially an entirely different mindset. It's not an arbitrary difference. It would be downright odd for Mina not to have some notable application of magic when it comes to preparing for trigon in comparison to the undeniably inferior to her Rebecca.
Your ignoring the aspect of fighting with something. Over simplifying Carol's ability to use her powers in combat to knowing something allowing her to automatically leverage it in a fight without difficulty, despite never putting it into practice. That isn't how fighting works.
You do a lot of simplifying things into numbers and and coops and largely ignore the narrative and specialization aspects.
The action says specifically it's customizing equipment. All of our Security is trained to the same rigerous standards by Katherine, which means there all qualified for exo-suit use. We have several thousand more exosuits than security members. If there customizing tech, it doesn't make sense to not do so with the latest advancements in various fields of science we have advanced recently, including lasers. We've taken the action before and it doesn't ignore relevant tech advances within the company. That would require base incompetence on the parts of our engineers.
I'm taking learn about kryptonite for the express purpose of making Carol someone who can target Kryptonean leadership that may prove competent enough to survive a deployment of ODIN. If not for that, the action would be far, far down my list of priorities, even with blue kryptonite. It's not a meaningful factor.
Not everything is numbers, and that doesn't particularly matter if I'm not planning to vote for the action this turn and intend to encourage others to not do so as well.
I have a strategy. To lean heavily on fight crime actions to deny superman glory, get leslie her own show narratively influenced by her personal hatred of superman rather than Sam's mirror trait and manner of handling media outlets.
By the way, where do we stand on the push propaganda action through our news outlets being worthwhile? Asking the thread in general. I don't think we'll be able to get a good team on it, but the DC is low, and it might synergize well with the combination of fighting crime, leslie's show no matter who we put on it.
It's a vague investigation mission. I can't provide data until we take it or eve succeeds on her own enough to come up in a results 3 update. But we have a good team and if eve isn't wildly incorrect about her odds we're likely to make worthwhile progress. If it doesn't pass we can always put the heroes elsewhere.
I originally had her on a learn about action with a high likelihood to improve her abilities. She's worth improving but not everything is a we can give this hero immediate priority. Mari is also worth improving, as are a dozen other hero units with potential traits and such in the works, but the complex approval and plan mechanics don't always allow that.
been focusing disinctly more on these kinds of actions since brainiac but it's never going to be an every hero worth our time can get the attention they need this turn situation. Chill out.
But whatever. If rene therapy passes instead of rations we can use it on Catherine.
What loggistics? We aren't planning to be a source of major traffic between the nations so much as a convenient way for the occasional covert agents to lose tales by hopping from one tower to the next or transport small packages without needing to rely on conventional travel methods.
Getting the towers up in the appropriate G7 member nations ahead of whatever turn we we have another swing at building more transit stations is pretty critical to our intentions to become a hub of cooperative espionage in a new cold war, yes. We have 3 towers left to build I think? England, france, and, hmm germany?
When we see the new actions and finalize a lot of the planning I'll gauge interest in the raven special actions and adjust my approval vote in response to feedback.
Your focused on numbers, and I'm focused on a strategy and character narrative impact, which has been working well for us these past 4 turns. The latter most is not something to dismiss, especially in terms of big actions. Just look at Cassandra's success last turn. She was nudged towards space combat because her teacher was an alien princess.
There is more to things than just math, which is why I've spent several turns having Caitlyn take actions related to learning about technology used in Odin. Her being in the team is the most important factor, more than any total bonus. I can afford to lose lex as long as I keep her and provide her with a good team, especially if I bring him in on the actual engineering part, which he's irreplaceable for as our undeniable best engineer.
Not every action is a major hero team priority. We are planning to patch up some minor issues in a fully functional growth serum, unlike bone serum, where we were trying to make up for years of effort poisoned by moon to create a medical miracle. Honestly it's a pretty good bonus given what we are aiming for.
That said, I'm open to alternatives. This was me responding to interest expressed in working on Enoch's research. We could put him on learn about Genetics instead, or possibly another learn about action relative to his skills.
Yes, balancing the voters varried clashing interests in a way that nudges the turns approval vote phase into something manageable in the hero phase is frequently a problem when it comes to planning.
Also, someone else came up with this idea, and several regular active posters expressed interest, and I was eventually convinced of it's value. It was never actually my idea. The thread throws me curve balls on occassion and I work them into my playbook as best I can. The results through turns 30-32 speak for themselves.
My issue is the amount being changed, without explanation or justication, with a high chance of something going wrong, leaving us with possible multiple job vote fixes to try and thread the needle on if they don't pan out. I'm actually being fairly indulgent by only saying you should cut down on there overall number rather than just saying let's do this after we have expanded Lexcorp and taken more time to see how things shift with our planned out firings and structural adjustments.
Umm. No. I focus on a balancing of critical actions, long term plans and ongoing strategy, and voter interest, and then put together the teams from there based on a mix of coops, talents applicable to rewards tables, and what makes for a good passing spread.
Lana on the auto kitchen for instance isn't the ideal move but it's a stick it to wayne board of directors action so I need a hero and Lana will suffice even if her primary contribution will be managing the teams and organizing the kitchens to be aesthetically pleasing, and better heroes are needed on higher difficulty actions.
Some of the teams do run into the issue of needing a certain hero on them as part of the strategy. The strategy for Odin for instance really needs lex leading the engineer team for the stewardship action turn 34, but I need him to lead a team with Carol for the learn about kryptonite action as the only way to get an strong team with her with current heroes.
I also can't just put together only the strongest teams without the overall turn suffering. I put together a lot of strong teams, but not only the strongest possible. I tend to leave a few heroes entirely free just incase an unually popular clash of actions forces unexpected adjustment.
It's complex but it's accomplished several meaningful results. Like, Krank toys got through and Lana was put on as a balance option, and that spiralled out of control a little, but you can't argue the results haven't been worthwhile.
Who's on the action structures the outcome, and the location. One of our previous actions had Carol and Roxy focusing on crime in the mid west rather than Metropolis. While theee could be some issues, I feel like it's worth the effort to keep the pressure on superman.
Unfortunately, moon's psychosis makes him have very regrettable narrative effect on Learning actions. It's the reason why we stopped putting him with Karl, and the reason why our medical Bone serum needs an entirely separate list of dcs for using it on someone. It's part of the reason we want him gone. Given his interest in cooking, I might put him on the auto kitchens and put lana elsewhere.
Hmm. It'll receive less of a bonus than his growth serum but I am open to swapping Enoch and Arthur to this, or learn about genetics, which will receive the same bonus.
Sirrocco
Pedantic
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Would you believe that I actually forgot about the growth serum? I'm thinking growth serum first, then Gingko.
...though I'm a bit worried about putting Villain on it. We know that everything he touches is likely going to be touched by his criminal scheming in some fashion. Do we really want him to have villainous minions who've been juiced up on growth serum and/or him selling incomplete-but-still-powerful versions on the black market?
Most of the venom actions are just injecting various amounts of venom and another drug* into animals and him writing down what happens. We're not having him try to "improve" anything. I think the worse that'd happen is he tortures a bunch of lab rats more then he needs too but we'd still get the info.
*As said preferably Sharp in my opinion.
- Pronouns
- Reader
He'll be selling under powered versions that can be used without our labs equipment and different enough that it can't be traced back to him. If this were a combat version of bone serum I might care, but it's not so I don't. Enoch's research has been around for decades so if anyone does something shady with it, we can attribute it to someone getting there hands on a sample of the original at some point in the last few decades, which will be supported by our version being superior.
Gingko is a no go though. We'll put a Pamela lead team on it next turn instead.
If it passes I'll put him on it in my plan.
King crimson
Confusion Will Be My Epitaph
- Location
- Los Angeles
So I realized that while there is a bit of a barrier to some of the stuff going on in the New Gods Interlude, I figured it might be best to proactively clarify some stuff that pops up in the omake proactively and give some context here as well as informing people about some little cameos.
Generally they have it the worst off out of anyone on Apokolips.
In other words what's being said here is "we all die sooner or later" more or less.
For those who are curious, the text here says "Rise Kanto and serve me well for your predecessor has fallen short of my design"
Similarly, what's written here is "How many Kantos had it even been now, fourteen? Darkseid tired of having to replace his chief assassin. Hopefully this one would last a little longer."
So "lowlies" seems like a pretty self-explanatory term to me but I figure it might be worth clarifying. Lowlies are more or less the dregs of Apokoliptian society. They're kind of like the worker caste of sorts, below even the parademons who are at least soldiers. If you've ever seen the people dressed in rags on Apokolips those are the lowlies.
Generally they have it the worst off out of anyone on Apokolips.
Scott Free is Mister Miracle and is the child of Highfather (the head honcho of New Genesis) who was given to Darkseid as part of a trade for peace. He's generally a pretty big deal in the greater New Gods cosmology but here he's relegated to a background cameo due to his youth.
So "riot-shovels" are a thing (I added the hyphen from how it is normally spelled). They're like a deranged blend of a tractor and a woodchipper. These huge vehicles are basically used by Darkseid's troops to quell rebellions by driving into them and mangling/massacring everyone who might be rebelling.
This is an original creation and less of a reference but it's more or less a bomb that can ignite the air around it causing it to "burn the sky" (though it's not strong enough ignite entire atmospheres).
So this is meant to be pretty telling on Metron's part. What he's doing here is referring to Darkseid with his original birth name that he no longer uses. Metron knew Darkseid before he became/named himself Darkseid and in addition to hinting at some of Metron's thoughts about Darkseid, also is meant to refer to that history.
The Black Racer is the god of death for the New Gods and is a psychopomp of sorts, ferrying them and the relevant figures who interact with them to their own version of the afterlife.
In other words what's being said here is "we all die sooner or later" more or less.
"Virman" here refers to "Virman Vundabar" who is a member of Darkseid's elites and is actually one of Darkseid's better generals. As such he generally has a lot of control over advanced weaponry/vehicles and can lend it to other elites if need be.
For those who are curious, the text here says "Rise Kanto and serve me well for your predecessor has fallen short of my design"
Similarly, what's written here is "How many Kantos had it even been now, fourteen? Darkseid tired of having to replace his chief assassin. Hopefully this one would last a little longer."
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It is interesting to see how well Metron manages this whole thing.
He's most famous as an inventor but this makes it clear that he's just as capable a schemer, he just doesn't often see the need.
King crimson
Confusion Will Be My Epitaph
- Location
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Not commenting on the thing as a whole, I just found this funny, even if you were an expert on DC magic lore it wouldn't be the most helpful thing in the world because I pretty conspicuously threw out a pretty solid chunk of it because I personally don't like it (homo magi are not a real thing in this quest).
I'm glad to hear you found this take on Metron interesting, I think he's actually my favorite New God to work with/write.
Edit: I consider Metron to be one of the most dangerous of the New Gods. There's the whole "Batman with prep time" meme that I think is silly and shouldn't be taken seriously and becomes problematic when people take it seriously. Metron is actually that dangerous if you give him prep time considering his capabilities allow him to do a really solid impression of Laplace's demon. Metron just generally does not want to fight or enter combat since it doesn't interest him.
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A better crime-fighting roll is objectively superior. I can make opposite narratives to yours and they'd be equally valid.
More magic users are advantageous, but Mina doesn't hold a unique edge. Your argument that a drastically reduced rewards table (less than half) is preferable is difficult to defend.
You haven't answered my question. Why couldn't she maintain one specific field if she can use others in a fight?
DO ou expect this action to upgrade specific equipment? Better interface offers broader benefits like scalability, and aligns better since we're still integrating other weapons.
Carol's Kryptonian advantage is not unique. Prioritizing her at this cost is absurd.
Leslie is both uniquely suited for tech work and gets stronger from it. Plus, she gives 3x more points there.
The part with Leslie's show seems arbitrary.
You're guessing, and prioritizing convenience over preparing Eve for the invasion.
Rene can do this alone, but Catherine needs help.
Did Eiling agree to this?
Assumptions about Raven hinder your ability to optimize around child actions, which are chosen later.
Lex is better than Pamela and Karl and rolls better.
You claim narrative impact outweighs hundreds of points but provide no evidence. Starfire nudged Cassandra to space combat, but the high roll was the key factor. The claim about the last four turns isn't yours either. For turn 32, Nobody134 proposed the plan, and your deviation with Barbara backfired. Maybe PM him for his perspective?
While non-mathematical factors and shifting reward tables matter, saying they overcome large, multi-action numerical gaps is difficult.
I thought the priority was improvements. Why prioritize Brown's unlimited research over Cassandra's limited child actions? What's the value of each?
Votes should shift as drawbacks become clearer, not remain static with a shrug.
Why 'high chance'? What justifications do you want?
Much of this strategy is flawed. For example, the auto-kitchen creates an additional, unnecessary front against Wayne, requiring an inefficient, long-term investment.
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It's had great results so far. Plans are panning out, actions that have long been on our agenda are being taken and succeeding at as intended, superman's popularity is down, ect.
Where doing this as a one time stick it to Wayne thing. It's not about eternally beating them in auto-kitchen production, it's about going after their sources of profit the way they targeted ours to push them into rash actions while making it look like we are fighting things by out competing them. A lot of voters have expressed interest in doing multiple actions to act against them and this is one of the easier to do.
No, but it's giving him wonderkin technology that the Russians don't have to more easily and efficient conduct his cold war. It's not an advantage he's liable to pass on.
The high chance because your aiming to do a lot of them all at once. There is always a chance that something can go wrong with a change and going through a bunch of them at once always magnifies to risk.
Justifications like why are we making Felicity CTO of Lexcorp? Her passion is computers and she's not an ambitious individual. I doubt she's much interested in the new position.
So I just want to take it slow, limit the impact of job changes by taking them piecemeal.
When we have a super big quest like this what is the way to catch up quickly? I wanted to do a smiley here but I don't like the smilies on this website 
Adrian XXIV
Average User, from Poland
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When we have a super big quest like this what is the way to catch up quickly? I wanted to do a smiley here but I don't like the smilies on this website
There is "Reader Mode" that removes every post that isn't in Main Threadmark. (So, no comments and non-canon content)
This way you will be only left with "Turn content" and canonical Interludes
Hey @King crimson when do we have to do the power armor deal with Austria?
Wayne's profits largely come from the medical sector, with kitchen appliances being a smaller income source. If Wayne retaliates, people may feel compelled to respond, leading to conflicts in both pharmaceuticals and appliances.
A Diplomacy action allows us to strike without retaliation and support Lois for a compound effect. While I'm willing to compromise on this action, it doesn't seem strategically sound.
Would Eiling want to rely on civilian networks? Would G7 nations accept Lexcorp surveillance? Speaking with Eiling first could help reduce building costs in G7 countries, or spare grief down the line.
Job change risks should be evaluated individually. I Removed Oswald's promotion since he's focused on TV. Felicity got a coop boost with Lex previously, and her current work is managerial and not technical. I think she'll be happy with a promotion to CTO. We can confirm with @King crimson.
I'm trying to be reasonable and I value your input, but I believe decisions like Kryptonite and the Dichotomy in Raven's actions significantly undermine things. I tried to incorporate some of your suggestions into my plan:
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It's a bit more sound than the pouch Jace(wayne's metahuman doctor) that people are also in favor of. Our actions are decided by approval vote, and this is an action people had expressed some interest before wayne that has simply become more interesting since there actions against us. I have to at least plan for the possibility it passes.
I'm all for the diplomacy action, though might be that it's more of an intrigue action instead to collect proof first. Whatever the case we can always push propaganda through our news outlet to poor oil on the fire if we don't have a good diplomacy action for this.
I think he'll stomach a civilian teleportation network over more vulnerable conventional methods of travel, particularly one held by a long term ally.
Better indirect lexcorp surveillance than the risk of interception or observation by their enemies.
Sure. not sure if we'll fit it in this turn but it's definitely something we can do now that we have the network.
This is the existing action for fighting crime. Also, Nathan + Marcus is +82. Do we want to pick a specific location? It might allow us to better lower tower dc in that area.
Because it's his formula, Karl should contribute to this action.
Much like Pamela was able to assist in her action here.
That said, we still only get one shot at this and we really want it to go as well as possible. We should give it a double down, and consider adding enoch to the action.
Since Lucy is free, we can assign her to debuting Cassandra(coop 1.6) and take zoology learning special action at a later date. This aligns better with cassandra's desires as outlined in recent actions, and we can take zoology next turn when we aren't putting Karl through a life changing procedure. Emily can do her own action to educate Cassandra on something else, or we could add her to emmylou's special action.
This gives us a better chance of getting a truly spectacular result for using the new bone serum on Karl. Again, we get one shot on this. Best to make the most of it.
Edit: also, we managed to do significant damage to superman's reputation last turn through crush all criminals. I'm not sure it would be wise to leave him without competition this turn. Thoughts?
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Adrian XXIV
Average User, from Poland
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Like, we are "infuriating Superman Negaverse" through whole quest. It's not like his reputation will do complete 180°, just because we have "more important stuff to do" than bunch of random purse-snatchers.
King Crimsons said that Karls in a better headspace right now and is less eager to "reinvent" himself. So even if we want to give him the formula we can probably hold off a turn or two or improve it before we do so.
King crimson
Confusion Will Be My Epitaph
- Location
- Los Angeles
It ultimately depends on how deep down the rabbit hole you want to go and your own personal preferences. I'm going to mostly be giving advice for this quest specifically, though some of this can be more broadly applied.When we have a super big quest like this what is the way to catch up quickly? I wanted to do a smiley here but I don't like the smilies on this website
Personally I'd click on reader mode to catch up on the main threadmarks and skip every entry with "vote" in the title. That should broadly catch you up to the narrative of the quest (though there is some stuff in sidestories that can flesh things out). Also if you want some further fleshing out of the characters, you can read both the "Character information" and "Other encountered characters" informational pages to get a sense of things.
If you want to get a solid sense of the mechanics of the game, I'd read through the informational threadmarks "A brief update on cooperation mechanics", "On omakes write-ins and exp", "World News", "Traits", "DC's of building new LexCorp locations in various branches" and "list of post-humanist..." and check out the last complete turn to see how things generally go mechanically and make it easier to jump in. Alternatively you can just wing it, but there will be a bit of learning curve.
The rest of the informational threadmarks are good for catching you up on a lot of lore and worldbuilding stuff, but they're generally speaking less important than the threadmarks I singled out for how the quest functions.
Additionally, another option is to just ask me directly. I like to think I'm generally pretty good about answering questions and explaining things to people. Not all QMs like doing this sort of thing, but I generally don't mind it. I might not always respond immediately but I generally get around to it. You can directly ping someone by doing an @ and then their username. For example you'll regularly see people trying to get my attention by writing @King crimson (and in fact I'm going to respond to some of that stuff now in this same post).
So I looked and realized I did not list a time to get the power armor deal done for you guys. My notes say two years/8 turns max. I personally think that's plenty of time to get it done.
Are you asking if Felicity would mind becoming LexCorp's CTO? I'll confirm just this once that Felicity wouldn't mind the increased position. I'm a little wary about opening the floodgates for people to start asking me about every little position change and title shift, but I'm comfortable answering a few things provided it's a yes-no question and you're not playing twenty questions with me (if someone lists thirty titles for a single character I'm not answering that).
Thanks. I didn't want us to accidently not do an obligation. I'd still like to work on it in the next couple of turns* but it's less of an a immediate priority.
*And avoid waiting until the last second.
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It's still worth discussing seriously whether we want to run damage control.
Another point worth bringing up is whether we want to do something about the cult of blood. We could target an area we know there doing shady stuff and make it look like we caught them by chance, or go after kobra instead.
I'd rather focus on the Cult of Blood to reinforce to Raven that we're doing stuff about the whole Trigon thing. And if we're going to hit them intentionally I'd rather go heavy on them.
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We can look at our options this turn and decide if we'd rather wait for a double down to be available or just more heroes to take a fight abroad and hit them from two angles.
King crimson
Confusion Will Be My Epitaph
- Location
- Los Angeles
So I have finished updating the bone growth serum opinions/options in the "post humanist enhancements" informational post. Feel free to check that out. The name of that iteration of the formula will probably be eventually changed but for now this feels good enough.
Schedule for today is to finish up the informational post on presidential candidates and then to get the next turn started by Wednesday.
Schedule for today is to finish up the informational post on presidential candidates and then to get the next turn started by Wednesday.