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One Foot - Another Multiverse SI

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It's funny. I'm sitting here and watching The Force Awakens. I'm roughly 30 minutes in and all i can think is God Damnit, Poe!
 
Ars, is there any chance that your name is based on Ars Goetia?
 
Yo,

So you might have noticed that I'm a little behind. I've been helping my sister pack up for camp, and I've found myself working on a lot of stuff at home -- for example: getting the air conditioning fixed, cleaning the house and bathrooms, putting Bob's stuff up on Craigslist, and donating whatever we can't sell so there's less shit in the house in general.

I'll have some updates up tomorrow. For tonight, I'll leave you guys with a spoiler.

-x-

Now what?

-x-

...Damn it, that's actually a spoiler. Like, the whole chapter's ruined, but I don't have enough time to edit this incredibly in-depth spoiler. Oh woe is me, I have destroyed everything forever! On that note, who wants to design the coins of the Kingdom of Compass?

There's already some description of what metals are going into the coins, but no description on what the coins look like -- not really. So if you want to submit any pictures for that, feel free to! :D

Having said all that, I'll be heading off for now. See you all tomorrow! :)
 
Ars Poetica said:
I actually named myself after the Ars Poetica. It was the first example of literature where the phrase "Deus ex Machina" was ever used.

...Dear lord, that's fucking pretentious. I feel like a living cliche.
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...My screenname is NeoDarklight. That is literally all three of the forbidden words for being in a screenname on some guy's internet etiquette guide. Compared to mine, which is as chuuni as it gets as far as screennames go, according to said internet etiquette guide, yours is rather modest.
 
NeoDarklight said:
...My screenname is NeoDarklight. That is literally all three of the forbidden words for being in a screenname on some guy's internet etiquette guide. Compared to mine, which is as chuuni as it gets as far as screennames go, according to said internet etiquette guide, yours is rather modest.
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Is there actually any listings of the most chuuni names on spacebattle/sufficent velocity/questionable questing? If not we should totally make that a thing.
 
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See if you can't make some pentagon coins that are tileable instead of regular and borrow one of MC Eschers creatures to decorate the back so that anyone with enough coins has a Lovecraftian puzzle.
 
Matou Sutegobana said:
See if you can't make some pentagon coins that are tileable instead of regular and borrow one of MC Eschers creatures to decorate the back so that anyone with enough coins has a Lovecraftian puzzle.
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Nah, keep with the name "Compass". One coin each for the the N, E, S, and W and the largest is the center of a compass rose. They're arranged in a cross for the full design.
 
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adaer said:
Nah, keep with the name "Compass". One coin each for the the N, E, S, and W of and the largest is the center of a compass rose. They're arranged in a cross for the full design.
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Ars Poetica said:
So I'd taken to using twenty-two karat gold coins as the highest value. Lower denominations included a fourteen karat and an eight karat variant, with all remaining parts being equally silver and copper.
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There's three coins?
 
Camellia said:
There's three coins?
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Yeah, there's three coins. Each denoted in that manner at 22ktau, 14ktau, and 8ktau -- all contain that amount in gold, the remaining parts are equally silver and copper. Good luck forging your own, counterfeit coins when the elements are that evenly distributed. :p
 
I figure the best way to stump counterfeiters is to transmute element 79, but as a silvery grey metal instead of its usual color, and use that as filler. And to transmute some colorful variants of durable and non-tarnishing amalgams to make full color portraits on both sides blending over the edges.

In other words they can't make counterfeit coins without melting down coins for unobtanium.
 
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Chapter 287
  • Threadmarks
    • Are you ready for the end? Because the end is just beginning... fuck, that was lame. Let me try agai--

    -x-

    Eventually, it all came down to three people. Even in the midst of a trial and an accidental skirmish that people were already calling the Battle of Rabona, the elections proceeded. Within only two months there were representatives coming out from the south, the east, and the west.

    Meanwhile, patrols along the north had increased as planted castle seeds extended across to form a massive wall. It wouldn't keep Isley out for long, but it was a more solid defense than nothing, and at least we knew for certain where they'd have to come from if they wanted to invade.

    Riful had been eerily quiet, and there was no news of Theresa. Either she died, or she was so far north that there was no hope of knowing what was happening anymore. Either way, she wasn't an issue anymore.

    Now what?

    Knights, soldiers, and Warriors were a thing now… and I really should start to use a capital letter for my soldiers to distinguish them from other soldiers – like, Soldiers as opposed to soldiers, since they kind of deserved it at this point – I was rambling.

    I was rambling because I didn't know what to do.

    The economy was stable, roads had been built, a vast majority of the population had food, shelter, and stable living conditions that would last them for generations to come. There was a written constitutional code, and a code of conduct between Rabona and the Pineapple Kingdom of Compass – name pending.

    What was left to work on? Social issues? There were people going out and openly worshipping me for slaying a goddamn dragon, and I could already tell that there'd be issues with that reaching cult-level heights. Openly declaring that all were free to believe whatever they wanted wouldn't help…

    But, here I was, about to do it anyway. I guess it was because some things just needed to be said. Whether or not the people would go forward with the ideas I was giving them, I had no idea.

    I'd planned on leaving weeks ago, but I was still here.

    Standing behind a podium, giving a speech to a large crowd of people, "And let it be known that our kingdom will respect all people, no matter their beliefs–" After a while, it all blurred together. I wasn't even paying what I was saying much attention anymore as I spoke with fervor that had become habitual.

    The crowd cheered. I smiled, took a bow, walked away, and pinched my brow. Whether it was out of stress or boredom, I had no clue then and I couldn't possibly tell you now. Being the leader of a country was kind of dull. I'd basically won against what some would call impossible odds and it bored me.

    …Did that make me a terrible person?

    -x-

    Ultimately, I'd settled on having a three prong government instead of the two prong idea I'd thought of a long time ago. There'd be a prime minister, a president, and a king – not a Grand King, since that position had apparently become synonymous with me… and wasn't that fucking perfect. I'd be forever associated with the highest level of royalty, god forbid anyone figure out I made up the term Grand King on a whim.

    The prime minister would be second to the president but above the vice president, the king would be in charge of the organization and administration of city states such as Compass. Policies foreign and domestic would be divided among them and determined by peace or wartime, with the powers between them shifting depending on the circumstances.

    Once again, never let it be known that a chunk of this was pulled out of my ass… though, Hermanubis protested that. "It'll work," he claimed. "There are systems in place to prevent any one of the major offices from having too much power at a given time. Between my access to the library and Wrath's knowledge of government, it was easy to write it all out."

    "I'll take your word for it," I shrugged. "I've gotta say, though, nice work with that one line. The Grand King is crowned by his ability to enter the House of the Rising Sun." Scoffing, I turned to him as the world tinged grey. "Think anyone'll ever figure out it can't be done?"

    "Some might consider it a challenge that you left behind. A kind of riddle, perhaps," Wrath chose to answer instead as he stood opposite Hermanubis. I turned my head to the left and peered at him, "Much like the sphinx, he who answers that strange question would be allowed to pass…"

    "Yeah, well, good luck to anyone that tries breaking into my House for the title." I considered that for a moment, "Actually, no. Fuck them. Like hell I'm wishing someone luck, this is my Inner World we're talking about here…"

    "We're aware, Poe," Hermanubis chuckled. "We live there."

    I nodded. "I've…" Color returned to the world for a moment as I swerved in my path to avoid a servant as she rushed from one room to another. It was all slow-motion and shit – the kind of thing that never gets old. "…I've been here too long, haven't I?"

    "That depends," Wrath spoke, "Do you believe you've done all that you could for this island? Is there anything you think you could stay for, that only you could accomplish?"

    My brow furrowed, "The Warriors are living their lives. My Knights are enjoying the scenery and the peace. My Soldiers are just… going around, doing whatever. Crime's down, bandits are gone, the Organization doesn't look like it'll ever rear its ugly head, and the rest of the world is open for exploration. I've got long term plans in place, I've got a line of succession set up, things are as stable as they'll ever get and the whole island's moving into a modern age."

    "In other words…" Hermanubis gestured with his hands. "You nailed it?"

    "For once, yeah. Like ninety percent nailed it." My gauntleted hands clenched once or twice, "Riful might decide to fuck with people, but there's legitimately nothing we can do about her. Isley's barricaded to the north, and it doesn't look like he's ever gonna come down. If he tries, it's not like we'll lack the forces to fuck him over. All those goals I had before that I wasn't able to meet… now they just feel trivial."

    I reached into my pocket, pulling out a small, golden disk. A medallion of sunlight, or an icon of the Quincies – there was no reason it couldn't be both, and Medusa had made good on her promise to "hack" the teleportation network of the island.

    With the ability to go anywhere and move large amounts of material through barren, neutral territory without worrying about interception, there was already a vast trade network between parts of the island that had rarely seen each other. Youma were all but eradicated, so merchants were free to move as they would.

    "I'll write a note." I decided, "If I still feel like I'm done here tomorrow, then I'm going." There was nothing left on this island to keep me here, and I had bigger monsters to slay. That black thing, Ra, he wasn't going to go kill himself. "By the way," I paused in my walk, "When I was fighting Theresa, I saw something. It had a white disk above its head," I made a vague motion with my hand; "It looked a lot like Horace."

    …No reply.

    I turned and looked around me, "Guys?" They'd retreated back into the House of the Rising Sun. "Seriously?" Frowning, I tried to force the world around me to shift–

    "Grand King Poe!"

    –and I sighed with a constipated expression as I forced a smile and turned to greet the soldier coming towards me. "Present and accounted for."

    The soldier saluted, "Sir, your presence is being requested at Acti Square."

    "Right, I'll just… wait, seriously? Acti Square? Who named that?"

    "Uhh, I'm not sure, sir. That's not my job."

    "…Fair." I nodded, "Alright, lead me to it. Let's see what's next on the agenda."

    -x-

    "Alright, Poe," Desiree leaned back and calmly steepled her fingers, offering a casual smile. "I'm glad you found time out of your day for this."

    "It's my mental health, Dez. That's the most important kind of health there is. Kind of. Sort of. Maybe."

    "Fair enough." From nowhere in particular, she pulled out a small notepad. "So we've gone over some of the things you've done over your journey – the good, the bad, the ugly, and the most recent. Let's talk about what happened before that."

    "Okay, anywhere you want me to start?"

    "How about your childhood?"

    "Not much to say," I shrugged. "Suburban, white middle-class family in the nineties. Dad was in the technology business, mom was… well she was a house mom, and she was damn good at it. Moved into this one house when I was about five and lived there till I left for college and started commuting back and forth by train."

    "Were there any events that shaped your life as you grew up?" She asked me, "Anything you remember fondly?"

    "Oh, yeah, totally. Thomas the Tank Engine, Speed Racer, Disney movies – I was autistic, see, and this was in a time when people were just figuring out what that was. For me, it just meant that watching movies was more stimulating than running around."

    "But you did go outside occasionally." Her eyes slid towards the tunnel that sat half-buried in sand, a line of train tracks innocuously leading towards it and going through to some unknown destination. "For example, that tunnel. What can you tell me about it?"

    I smiled, "It was a train tunnel I used to go to. It was built in the eighteen hundreds, converted into a bomb shelter in the nineteen thirties, and shut down in the fifties – there were still tracks that led to it, but no trains ever came by. So people would come through and screw around in it. I'd go there on the weekends, in the mornings, when nobody else was around."

    "But it was an abandoned tunnel. It was dangerous, wasn't it? Did your parents ever know?"

    "I just told them I was gonna go 'play trains, play trains' and they let me." Another shrug, "I figured: hey, if they didn't mind, then it was okay."

    "There's no way it was just a hangout for children."

    "Pshhh, yeah, of course it wasn't. It's just I was never around for that. But my friend growing up, nice guy, he came from an Italian-Irish family, really Roman Catholic – he was around for that stuff. I was just the kid, two or three years younger than him, that'd show up in the daytime. At the weird hours of the nights? The tunnel was a real drug haven."

    "…Your friend, tell me more about him."

    "Sure, sure. He was a great guy…"

    -x-

    I reached over Undine's shoulder and put a hand over hers, "Try holding it like this," I said, adjusting her grip on the practice sword. She insisted on using two, and I wasn't about to criticize her for the decision. After all, I couldn't remember the last time I'd only used one sword instead of dual wielding.

    She nodded enthusiastically, the helmet on her head bobbing. "Yessir!"

    "Now, I'm gonna swing at you. Do your best to block, okay?"

    I stepped back from her, and swung a practice blade at her as slow as I could. She lifted a sword and managed to knock it away. Almost immediately after, she made to counter with a swing from her other hand. But to me, it was all as slow as molasses.

    For a moment, I debated letting the attack through and decided against it as I stepped back and let the wood sword pass me by. Then, the punishment – not too hard, I stepped in and knocked her down. Undine's arms waved slightly as she lost her balance and fell over.

    "…Nice try," I smiled, "Here, we can do it again if you'd like–"

    "Grand King Poe," Deborah spoke to me from the edge of the courtyard. "Are you busy at the moment?"

    "Right now?" I blinked, "Uh… Hey, Undine, how about you practice some swinging on the dummy over there," I gestured to the statue I'd transmuted a little earlier. "Give it a few good whacks for me."

    She nodded, "Can do, King Poe!"

    I stepped away, "So what's up?"

    Deborah scowled, "You're treating her like a child."

    "…Yes I am. That's because she's a child. She has time to learn."

    She turned and glared at Undine as she struck the dummy again. "That child asked to be trained. This isn't training."

    "And she doesn't need to be trained." I looked at her, "I figure I'll placate her for a little while, what's wrong with that?"

    "You can't waste time with her."

    "Teaching her to use swords isn't a waste." I paused, "Or, well, from a certain point of view it isn't."

    "I'd agree if that was what you were doing. But you aren't. You're coddling her, and wasting your time for it. You're the leader of the country; you can't just do this."

    "Being fair; if I'm the leader, yes I can."

    "Not the point and you know it. I can teach her, she'll learn under me."

    "So… you're volunteering?"

    "Yes."

    "Awesome." I turned to Undine, "Hey!" I said to her, "Guess what! Deborah's taking over your training!"

    "Really?" She turned to me, her eyes sparkling.

    Slowly, I grinned at Deborah. "You gonna say no to that face?"

    "…No," she sighed, "I suppose I'm not. But when I train her, I will do so to the best of my ability."

    "Sure, go ahead." I figured, hey, I was just about done here anyway. If someone wanted to make themselves into a fighter in a time of peace, why not let them? And it was as I watched Deborah walk over to Undine and correct her stance that I felt a little warm.

    It was over. For once, things were done and I… well, I was okay with that.

    -x-

    One Foot on the Platform
    OR: One Foot on the Train

    End-287
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Cue the explosions....
    or the train leading to a place of NOT calm...

    ...also, was it ever said that Poe is done with his transformations and powers gained?
    he controls and is immune to flames...can fly and can create cutting wind blades, can control the ground with alchemy and has made tunnels in and out of combat....
    has he done anything with water before?
    we know that the Ghost rider is waterproof, since sharks have been used by previous ones as rides...
    but is POE water/drowning proof?
    plus, nobody would expect a flaming skeleton man to come from the water...leaving that unguarded...
     
    So ...every castle planted has its own population grow with it, which might cause some food shortages. And in the long term, every castle planted isn't part of the teleportation network.

    Beyond that, Poe's just brushing off the two monster that he's removed all defense against. Along with what's left of the Organization.

    edit: and also, you know, everyone living in the North
     
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    mastigos said:
    So ...every castle planted has its own population grow with it, which might cause some food shortages. And in the long term, every castle planted isn't part of the teleportation network.

    Beyond that, Poe's just brushing off the two monster that he's removed all defense against. Along with what's left of the Organization.

    edit: and also, you know, everyone living in the North
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    In fairness, he can't do anything about it. The castles are easily worked with, he's already proven that he has a way around the food shortage issue since these castles come with their own food, and it's not like the people inside don't know agriculture. The people up north have been isolated from everyone below for so long that after the Organization fled there, it's safe to assume it's basically a lost cause.

    Isley has his army, but now he has to deal with the strongest Warrior in the entire setting... and what remains of the Organization. And whatever else might be up north that I'm not telling you about. As for Riful, good luck killing her. She's basically indestructible; combine that with the fact that she isn't doing anything at the moment, and actually finishing her off is easier said than done.

    He got ninety percent of the job done. The only remaining goals he has (Kill Riful, Kill Isley) are impossible to achieve now because fucking Iratus made it impossible to work with the center part of the island. That might change in the future, but it'll take a lot of politicking on the part of whoever takes over after Poe.

    Anyway...

    No update today. I've got a friend who's decided that Pokemon Go is love and life -- he's dragging me to NYC so he can catch some 'mons. With that said, I'll just drop a spoiler and let you all think on it.

    -x-

    No!

    -x-

    ...Yes.
     
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