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Lex Sedet In Vertice: A Supervillain in the DCU CK2 quest
- Thread starter King crimson
- Start date
- Superhero
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
They just... come to me, I guess. The history posts are pretty easy because I'm broadly familiar with the history of the region, so writing Metropolis and the Luthors into it isn't so hard. When I get a chance I can use bits of history I know like Henry Shreve's activities on the Mississippi to add versimilitude.
The specific events surrounding Lucius Luthor's assassination (which are going to write a Luthor's name into world history in letters of fire for the first time, just you wait) have been gelling in my head for a few weeks. The broad outlines came to me while I was blitzing the history posts, but I decided to slow down and cover them because they make a compelling narrative.
I'm only bumping Lex's Stewardship (and then Diplomacy) up by a few points. I'll stop when they hit 31. The increase is much less dramatic than in his Learning, which has risen by 11 points since quest start, whereas his Diplomacy and Stewardship have only risen by 5 and 3 points, respectively.
With that said, I have no intention of putting XP into Lex's Martial stat. Lex Luthor isn't a Martial villain in my opinion.
Because I don't want those interludes that badly? And because delayed gratification is a pain in the ass so I don't like the idea of having to write 14 chapters to accumulate enough XP to buy a Klarion interlude?
You forgot Lobo.
Lobo is on record regarding this issue.
Detonate the man's noggin and he'll not only regrow it, he'll have a prepared one-liner for how pissed off he is.
"NO ONE SPLATTERS THE MAIN BRAIN!"
- Location
- College Station, Texas
Not only that, he's also the Biblical Cain.
- Location
- barking
yeah here a list of Vandal Savages names
Blackbeard, Cain, Dr. Curtis Knox, Genghis Khan, General Savage. Jack the Ripper. Jon Savage. Julius Caesar, Marshal Sauvage, Mr. DeWitt, Khafre Kr'ull, Licinius, Death Masque The Greatest of the Caesars ,The Most Brutal of the Khans Vandar, the Killer Varney, Sack Head Chief. So in conclusion if their is a horrible human being in history Vandal Savage is somehow involved.
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- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
Not so sure about that one, since I've seen the Biblical Cain over in Sandman.
Honestly, some of those men were different enough in personality and style, and with origins well enough attested to, that I really can't imagine all of them being the same guy. Caesar and Ghengis Khan in particular.
I think Mr. Savage is just trying to take credit for dead men's achievements.
Yeah.
I mean, for crying out loud, someone managed to imprison Dream of the Endless for seventy years, and it would have lasted longer if Alex Burgess hadn't gotten careless with the wards. You can seal away almost anything if you put your mind to it, have the right tools, and pick an opportune moment.
It's just not, in any sense of the word, simple when you're dealing with the more esoteric powers out there.
The thing is, just being ageless wouldn't make it feasible to survive for thousands of years, especially for a guy who keeps getting involved in dangerous professions like warfare and medieval politics. If someone really competent tried to kill him, even once per century, and had even a 1 in 100 chance of success, he'd have less than one chance in seven of making it to 20,000 years old, let alone 50,000.
So I think @King crimson is right, in that Vandal Savage needs a pretty impressive healing factor or some other advantage to have lived as long as he has. Good enough that people can honestly believe they've killed him, and have him survive.
- Location
- barking
while that does make sense how do we tell the truth from the lies. I mean in this quest it would take 4200 exp to find out how he influenced the worldNot so sure about that one, since I've seen the Biblical Cain over in Sandman.
Honestly, some of those men were different enough in personality and style, and with origins well enough attested to, that I really can't imagine all of them being the same guy. Caesar and Ghengis Khan in particular.
I think Mr. Savage is just trying to take credit for dead men's achievements.
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King crimson
Confusion Will Be My Epitaph
- Location
- Los Angeles
You ignore his outright contradictory claims (Vandal has claimed to be Julius Ceaser and to have orchestrated his assassination) and check to see what matches up best with who Vandal is compared to these individuals (Cain for example doesn't match up because he was a Cro-Magnon who lived with a tribe of people And had no siblings and there is an entity called Cain who matches up better). Basically you've got to do some research to figure out what is true and what is a lie.
Alternatively you could purchase the Omakes about Vandal Savage throughout history and you'd get out of character confirmation from me as to what Mr. Savage may or may not have done.
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
Look for characters whose ancestry is NOT well attested, for starters.
Julius Caesar was a member of a prominent Roman clan and his involvement in Roman history was attested from a very young age (he was, for example, high priest of Jupiter at like 14 or something). Vandal Savage would either have had to somehow:
1) Infiltrate an existing Roman family and establish the pretense that he was their son, so well that Rome's tight-knit aristocracy would accept that pretense and not even enemies who wanted Caesar dead would question it, OR
2) Kill and replace Julius Caesar without a trace at some later date when he was already active, requiring a powerset he doesn't really have, OR
3) Somehow massively falsify all Roman historical records- and the Romans were pretty OCD about chronicling things involving family, lineage, and political affairs.
So Vandal Savage would have a hard time standing in for Caesar.
...
By contrast, by all accounts, Ghenghis Khan grew up as a hardscrabble marginal nomad raised by a single mom on the run from a strong enemy clan, and won his way into increasingly powerful rank and status through sheer force of will, merit, and charisma, establishing himself as a warrior and leader of men under an established king and then letting his powerbase snowball from there.
To occupy this role, Savage could have easily convinced a small number of people to vouch for him and faked his way into power and success, starting from early on. Or he could have simply arranged to fake a few oral histories after almost everyone who directly remembered the details was dead- or terrified of offending the Khan.
It is quite plausible that Vandal Savage was Ghenghis Khan.
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
Oh, @King crimson , I'd like to spend 500 XP on the first of the "End of the JSA" interludes.
If I may be permitted to indulge in a bit of headcanon, there's a connection there.
Nessie McCoy settled down and married one of the Luthor's New York stockbrokers a few years later. Fellow named Dodds. No daughters, which under ordinary circumstances would have been the end of the lineage's second sight and prophetic dreams.
But then, shards of Dream landing on your great-grandson are the kind of thing that blow open gateways that would ordinarily remain closed.
If I may be permitted to indulge in a bit of headcanon, there's a connection there.
Nessie McCoy settled down and married one of the Luthor's New York stockbrokers a few years later. Fellow named Dodds. No daughters, which under ordinary circumstances would have been the end of the lineage's second sight and prophetic dreams.
But then, shards of Dream landing on your great-grandson are the kind of thing that blow open gateways that would ordinarily remain closed.
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King crimson
Confusion Will Be My Epitaph
- Location
- Los Angeles
Thank you all for being patient. The update will come today.
Wesley Dodds never became a member of the JSA. However he was a colleague of Charles McNider who was a member of the JSA. Furthermore Wesley Dodds became a member of the DEO not the JSA. With that in mind do you want me to start with the background of Wesley Dodds or do you want me to do the proper narrative buildup and start with the origins of the JSA? Either or is fine for me.
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
Well, there's a connection, however tenuous, which is good enough for me. Either way I'm sure he made his Civil War era great-grandma proud.
I'd like to go with the JSA interlude you had planned for the JSA sequence, since that is what was on offer and I know the price of it.
If you're interested in offering an interlude or interlude sequence on Wesley Dodds, known to canon as the Sandman, I for one would be curious to know its pricing and might be interested later- but not this time, I'll stick to what I had planned.
Interlude: Eyes in the Dark
King crimson
Confusion Will Be My Epitaph
- Location
- Los Angeles
And lo and behold I got to use the words lo and behold. Also here is the wining vote from last time.
[ ] Offer to provide the DOMA with advanced technology and technical support, such as upgraded weapons better suited to countering metahuman threats. In exchange, you will need access to such of DOMA's own data on paranormal/metahuman events as may be helpful to the task of developing such technology, including but not limited to Woodrue's remains.
-[ ] Also offer to build the first metahuman prison based on the data and information shared by the two of you
Rather simplistic but it does work. I'd like to note that soon you guys will be able to start running for president if you are into that. Also as things come to a close hero units will be harder to recruit en masse. This was a very interesting turn of events and now you get to learn of the entity that rolled a critical failure when observing you (although you still don't know what that entity is). I'm very interested to see who people think this entity is. Also you will get a little peek into what Avruskin and Ignition are planning. Any ways though without further ado here is the update.
Interlude: Eyes in the Dark
Diana Prince
"Let me be clear" Luthor intoned "I have no interest in agreeing to some nebulous terms that I am sure were worded to leave your organization as free as possible. While I am amenable to a deal I need some specific assurances"
"Alright" Diana calmly responded. "What do you want?"
"Firstly LexCorp requires that the DOMA forward it any data on paranormal events in order to properly deal with them" Luthor began. Diana didn't have any problems with this. The terms of the deal were still workable.
"Secondly LexCorp will not through its political and societal weight behind the DOMA but it will provide them with technology" Luthor continued. This was a bit more concerning. Having Luthor fully in her corner would have enabled the DOMA to flourish and be ready to go fully public much faster. Still there was no sense in rushing things and pushing too hard, too fast. She could still work with this deal.
"Anymore conditions?" Diana asked.
"I would like to receive the data you have on doctor Woodrue. As you already know I have succeeded in creating a similar enhanced being like the madman and I would like to develop countermeasures for him." Luthor calmly stated. "Furthermore I would like for your organization to begin looking into Intergang as they have backing from aliens which falls neatly under your purview".
This information was a surprise. While the bit about the plant meta was known to Diana she wasn't expecting Luthor to have gotten involved with aliens as well. The fact that extraterrestrials had managed to work through proxies on earth with Intergang proved that there needed to start being some operational changes as well.
"All of this is acceptable to me" Diana stated.
"Then you've got a deal" Luthor replied.
The two calmly chatted a bit with Luthor informing her of his progress with magic as well as an offer to build a prison to contain metahumans. Diana had no real interest in constructing a prison as that either fell under Amanda's purview or was already being built by others. She was interested in potentially building a school/training facility and she was sure with Luthor's unusual wards the man would likely not be too opposed to getting involved with the idea. Still that plan was for later once the DOMA actually got up and running.
Diana left the building satisfied. Sure she didn't leave with everything she wanted but she got enough to succeed and ensure that she could carry out the mission she was given.
Rebecca Carstairs
Rebecca was not a master magician. Sure she was certainly powerful and she had supernatural strength in spades but she wasn't skilled in the subtler arts of magic. She was getting better and time with Jinx had certainly improved her warding skills but she still wasn't the greatest at things like scrying. Thus when she felt the presence of something other directing itself onto LexCorp Rebecca became very nervous.
Rebecca had dealt with demons, necromancers and some shady mages in the past but whatever entity was looking at LexCorp it was far beyond anything she had ever dealt with. This thing wasn't completely incomprehensible but the sheer amount of strength radiating from it terrified her. It wasn't actively malicious like a demon would be but it was certainly powerful and dangerous. The only reason Rebecca had even noticed was that Jinx complained to her a lot about feeling as though she was being watched even when no one was in the room. Rebecca then checked to see what was going on and realized someone was scrying LexCorp. The entity barely bothered to hide itself from her choosing instead to focus on Lex and his guest. Then about a week after the visit from the DEO agent occurred the presence vanished.
Rebecca hurried to tell Luthor what was going on. LexCorp had caught the attention of something inhuman with vast amounts of power. They needed to be ready for whatever had decided to start watching them.
Avruskin
Avruskin was not a fan of theatrics. Ignition's current assignment was almost painful in that regard. Having his comrade work with those disgusting leeches in Intergang made him churn with rage. Still it was all worth it for the mission.
Russia had not caught on to what his forces in Polkolistan had been planning and dear sweet Faora had finally gotten the logistics in order. The American's were clueless about what their old enemies were up to but their hatred, rage and anger was easy to predict. In fact Avruskin was planning on it. Ignition's little stunt with Fort Knox had been a good way to get the ball rolling on that end.
No one knew that Ignition was working for a higher purpose. His comrade had been meticulous in covering his tracks. While he was worried that LexCorp would get involved and potentially aid Russia, the Russian governments own paranoia and mistrust practically ensured that the company would let them burn.
Ignition had called earlier that day and told him that the final pieces were coming into play. He was willing to sacrifice himself for the greater good. After all to reach checkmate one often had to sacrifice a few pawns. Avruskin would commend Ignition for rising above and beyond the call of duty in that regard. The stage was set. In a years time Russia would burn and Polkolistan would be lead by Avruskin into its glorious future. It was almost a shame that no one besides Ignition and Faora would see what a masterpiece this plan truly was.
Avruskin was getting ever closer to his endgame and the world would never be the same again. Ignition was ready to play his part and soon the play Avruskin had put on for the world would reach its beautiful brutal end.
[ ] Offer to provide the DOMA with advanced technology and technical support, such as upgraded weapons better suited to countering metahuman threats. In exchange, you will need access to such of DOMA's own data on paranormal/metahuman events as may be helpful to the task of developing such technology, including but not limited to Woodrue's remains.
-[ ] Also offer to build the first metahuman prison based on the data and information shared by the two of you
Rather simplistic but it does work. I'd like to note that soon you guys will be able to start running for president if you are into that. Also as things come to a close hero units will be harder to recruit en masse. This was a very interesting turn of events and now you get to learn of the entity that rolled a critical failure when observing you (although you still don't know what that entity is). I'm very interested to see who people think this entity is. Also you will get a little peek into what Avruskin and Ignition are planning. Any ways though without further ado here is the update.
Interlude: Eyes in the Dark
Diana Prince
"Let me be clear" Luthor intoned "I have no interest in agreeing to some nebulous terms that I am sure were worded to leave your organization as free as possible. While I am amenable to a deal I need some specific assurances"
"Alright" Diana calmly responded. "What do you want?"
"Firstly LexCorp requires that the DOMA forward it any data on paranormal events in order to properly deal with them" Luthor began. Diana didn't have any problems with this. The terms of the deal were still workable.
"Secondly LexCorp will not through its political and societal weight behind the DOMA but it will provide them with technology" Luthor continued. This was a bit more concerning. Having Luthor fully in her corner would have enabled the DOMA to flourish and be ready to go fully public much faster. Still there was no sense in rushing things and pushing too hard, too fast. She could still work with this deal.
"Anymore conditions?" Diana asked.
"I would like to receive the data you have on doctor Woodrue. As you already know I have succeeded in creating a similar enhanced being like the madman and I would like to develop countermeasures for him." Luthor calmly stated. "Furthermore I would like for your organization to begin looking into Intergang as they have backing from aliens which falls neatly under your purview".
This information was a surprise. While the bit about the plant meta was known to Diana she wasn't expecting Luthor to have gotten involved with aliens as well. The fact that extraterrestrials had managed to work through proxies on earth with Intergang proved that there needed to start being some operational changes as well.
"All of this is acceptable to me" Diana stated.
"Then you've got a deal" Luthor replied.
The two calmly chatted a bit with Luthor informing her of his progress with magic as well as an offer to build a prison to contain metahumans. Diana had no real interest in constructing a prison as that either fell under Amanda's purview or was already being built by others. She was interested in potentially building a school/training facility and she was sure with Luthor's unusual wards the man would likely not be too opposed to getting involved with the idea. Still that plan was for later once the DOMA actually got up and running.
Diana left the building satisfied. Sure she didn't leave with everything she wanted but she got enough to succeed and ensure that she could carry out the mission she was given.
Rebecca Carstairs
Rebecca was not a master magician. Sure she was certainly powerful and she had supernatural strength in spades but she wasn't skilled in the subtler arts of magic. She was getting better and time with Jinx had certainly improved her warding skills but she still wasn't the greatest at things like scrying. Thus when she felt the presence of something other directing itself onto LexCorp Rebecca became very nervous.
Rebecca had dealt with demons, necromancers and some shady mages in the past but whatever entity was looking at LexCorp it was far beyond anything she had ever dealt with. This thing wasn't completely incomprehensible but the sheer amount of strength radiating from it terrified her. It wasn't actively malicious like a demon would be but it was certainly powerful and dangerous. The only reason Rebecca had even noticed was that Jinx complained to her a lot about feeling as though she was being watched even when no one was in the room. Rebecca then checked to see what was going on and realized someone was scrying LexCorp. The entity barely bothered to hide itself from her choosing instead to focus on Lex and his guest. Then about a week after the visit from the DEO agent occurred the presence vanished.
Rebecca hurried to tell Luthor what was going on. LexCorp had caught the attention of something inhuman with vast amounts of power. They needed to be ready for whatever had decided to start watching them.
Avruskin
Avruskin was not a fan of theatrics. Ignition's current assignment was almost painful in that regard. Having his comrade work with those disgusting leeches in Intergang made him churn with rage. Still it was all worth it for the mission.
Russia had not caught on to what his forces in Polkolistan had been planning and dear sweet Faora had finally gotten the logistics in order. The American's were clueless about what their old enemies were up to but their hatred, rage and anger was easy to predict. In fact Avruskin was planning on it. Ignition's little stunt with Fort Knox had been a good way to get the ball rolling on that end.
No one knew that Ignition was working for a higher purpose. His comrade had been meticulous in covering his tracks. While he was worried that LexCorp would get involved and potentially aid Russia, the Russian governments own paranoia and mistrust practically ensured that the company would let them burn.
Ignition had called earlier that day and told him that the final pieces were coming into play. He was willing to sacrifice himself for the greater good. After all to reach checkmate one often had to sacrifice a few pawns. Avruskin would commend Ignition for rising above and beyond the call of duty in that regard. The stage was set. In a years time Russia would burn and Polkolistan would be lead by Avruskin into its glorious future. It was almost a shame that no one besides Ignition and Faora would see what a masterpiece this plan truly was.
Avruskin was getting ever closer to his endgame and the world would never be the same again. Ignition was ready to play his part and soon the play Avruskin had put on for the world would reach its beautiful brutal end.
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King crimson
Confusion Will Be My Epitaph
- Location
- Los Angeles
Alright. Expect to see the interlude you've purchased up tomorrow at the earliest and on Thursday at the latest. I'll probably include a Wesley Dodds interlude to the list of purchasable interludes.Well, there's a connection, however tenuous, which is good enough for me. Either way I'm sure he made his Civil War era great-grandma proud.
I'd like to go with the JSA interlude you had planned for the JSA sequence, since that is what was on offer and I know the price of it.
If you're interested in offering an interlude or interlude sequence on Wesley Dodds, known to canon as the Sandman, I for one would be curious to know its pricing and might be interested later- but not this time, I'll stick to what I had planned.
- Location
- California
>Who this?
>Check Wikipedia
>Sees
>Called General Zod in honor of a "Soul who contacted him also named General Zod."
>Russian Cosmonaut
>Knows Superman
>Hates Him
>Tries to have him killed
>Might become Luthor's enemy in this timeline
What a world!
Olympians because of Diana.
- Location
- Sol system, milky way galaxy
Could it be an agent of the green?
One of the Greek gods. That's what Amazonians worship ya? I imagine it's one of the gods keeping tabs on Diana
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
Pretty sure the Green doesn't feel magical to Rebecca?
Maybe we can cut a deal with Avruskin. I wouldn't have minded that.
As others noted, an Olympian god would be a plausible answer. So would any other supernatural being with an interest in Diana. From the sound of it, they only started paying attention to us when Diana visited us, which indicates a correlation. I don't know if someone like Circe would have the sheer weight of power that this is implied to.
Oh damn. It looks like Ignition is going to attempt a suicide mission intended to piss off America with Russia completely if not cause WWIII.
Maybe he's going to assassinate the president?
On the plus side, Pamela did ferret out the connection this turn. On the other hand, do we want to step in? Will we have time to if we do?
Maybe he's going to assassinate the president?
On the plus side, Pamela did ferret out the connection this turn. On the other hand, do we want to step in? Will we have time to if we do?
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fictionfan
Please sir, may I have some Meows?
- Location
- Tempe, AZ
Hope that it isn't one of the Endless.
- Location
- Home
Maybe a New God considering it's Intergang.
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
If the New Gods practice magic that's alarmingly plausible.
If one of the Endless were taking an interest in us, it's relatively likely to be something personal to them, and something we can simply surrender to avoid further problems. By contrast, a Greek god is more likely to decide they want long term control over us, or revenge upon us.
Probably not. But even so... that might actually be almost a best-case scenario for us (provided it isn't Delirium). The Endless are very, very tolerant of mortal activity, because they cannot possibly be threatened by it under all but the most outlandish circumstances. Theirs is the security of being far too powerful to need to worry.
If one of the Endless were taking an interest in us, it's relatively likely to be something personal to them, and something we can simply surrender to avoid further problems. By contrast, a Greek god is more likely to decide they want long term control over us, or revenge upon us.
- Location
- USA
We really need to put our magic warding up of the tower next turn.