- Pronouns
- He
He definitely lip read after the gold asked them and then started sprinting. But before that I doubt he would be able to. Maybe Claudia or Emriss could but not Eithan as an Archlord.
Path of the Immeasurable Swarm [Worm/Cradle]
- Thread starter derivativeoflife
- Start date
- Crossover
- Pronouns
- They/Them
I'm not sure if it'll work on this forum, but on some other forums I've found you can also break the tag by putting a different tag inside it. I'm just going to use a screenshot to display it, because that's just the easiest thing:
If it works the same here, that meaningless bolding will break the Information tag. Do it very last thing, though, because SV might strip out the tag while you edit other things.
Looks like Taylor is also thinking about how she might have to push to Monarch to win this. However that would mean she'd have to ascend very soon after doing so and she doesn't want to leave Mercy (and the others) behind.
Obviously manifesting the Arrow (or Bow) Icon would be great for Mercy using the prototypes, but it would also be nice if they could manage to get a Herald on their team, since right now they are very heavily weighted to Sages with Yerin manifesting an Icon rather than merging with her Blood Shadow to become a Herald.
Obviously manifesting the Arrow (or Bow) Icon would be great for Mercy using the prototypes, but it would also be nice if they could manage to get a Herald on their team, since right now they are very heavily weighted to Sages with Yerin manifesting an Icon rather than merging with her Blood Shadow to become a Herald.
I don't think thats the case. She could master a dreadgod as an Overlord. When she becomes Archglord she will not only recover but also become able to wield more of QA's Authority than ever before, just by having that Crown Icon as well as experience.
The new Goalpost will be Taylor Mindblasting Monarchs, and Mercy using PseudoPenances to merc them. Personal hope - Please please please Mercy become a Sage!!! Mercy will have so easy road to Herald that it's a shame for her to struggle to get an Icon as Herald...
That was after the gold knocked and they opened the door, presumably dropping the security they had placed on the room for their talk.
(has not read anything of cradle except this story)
Yes Ethan. Keep dropping clues that whatever you are is manipulating events and toying with people to get some nebulous outcome while refusing to play straight with anyone as you clearly see them all as beneath you. You better hope your the Contessa of this setting or your going to end up like Alexandria.
Even then, you probably won't get away clean when Taylor finally takes exception with you.
Yes Ethan. Keep dropping clues that whatever you are is manipulating events and toying with people to get some nebulous outcome while refusing to play straight with anyone as you clearly see them all as beneath you. You better hope your the Contessa of this setting or your going to end up like Alexandria.
Even then, you probably won't get away clean when Taylor finally takes exception with you.
OctarineShrike
Avatar of Mandos
Seriously don't read this if you think you will read the books yourself it has late series and ending spoilers.
Eithan IS Ozmanthus Aurelius, also known as Ozriel. His talent in the Sacred Arts is transcendent, his talent with the way equally so. His precognition even sealed is ridiculous. He is at minimum as good as every Abidan Judge in their field of expertise except Suriel the Healer/Phoenix. Healing is his one deficiency. He connected to the Broom Icon just to show that he could. He is the missing 8th Abidan Judge, who found a macguffin and used it to go incognito on Cradle. His scythe revolutionized heavenly operating procedures and enabled the clean annihilation of corrupted iterations without any risk of corruption spreading though the shards. But being the Abidan's cleaner took a psychological toll on him. The Abidan tried having people intervene who aren't constrained by the non-interference clause of the Eledari Pact but the first two groups they raised to do this all went mad/got corrupted. Eithan is looking for talented people to ascend with to start a round 3(This round 3 is sometimes referred to as the Reapers). He also wants talented people to ascend with because it's lonely at the top. So basically exactly what Ozmanthus was talking about in the marble he showed Taylor. Lindon, Yerin, and crew are all Reapers after they ascend and I'm sure Eithan also considers Taylor worthy talent.
If she figured out a way to become Archlord, get access to her Oracle and Crown Icons and use QA safely she could manage. But using QA safely as a Sage is the hard part. Plus it's likely her Herald stuff will be tied into QA for better and worse.
I think Taylor will eventually become a Monarch but will leave Cradle with Mercy and Mirara, and likely bring Grace along for the ride. I do think that Charity will stick around long enough to stabiliz things and then bounce to becasue she honestly wouldn't want to be in charge long term and she'd likely want to reunite with her family.
Eithan isn't the Alexandria or Contessa of Cradle. He's the Scion of Cradle and per Word of God could likely fold Scion in half. But the share the same depression weakness.
Eithan's issues have issues, like to the degree he's the one dude we know for sure that beats Taylor's issues especially a Taylor with therapy and a found family.
Taylor and Mercy are looking like really great recruits for the Reapers. Taylor because she's a fantastic paperwork minion, intelligence and intrigue agent and has a talent for social stuff that Lindon and Yerin have lacking. Mercy is a ball of concentrated sunshine that is an absolute monster of talent, Eithan sees a lot of himself in her and respects her morals and character.
- Location
- United States
I'd been wondering about why Taylor reacted so differently to him than to a certain other know-it-all smartass mastermind type, and I think this is a big part of it. Lisa shared Eithan's habit of acting like a jackass for her own amusement, but Taylor knew her well enough to see that behind the facade, she was burning the candle at both ends because of how seriously she took her responsibilities. With Eithan, she has no way of knowing if he refrained from telling her about the Penance prototype sooner because he knew he'd need it when a situation like this came up or because he thought preventing the whole multi-monarch battle by letting Malice use it to assassinate Shen would have been boring.
- Location
- USA
I think it's also that Eithan very rarely "turns it off", so to speak. Lisa rarely "Tattletales" her teammates. She does sometimes lie or manipulate them (mostly for Coil reasons), but she doesn't do the "smug know-it-all bitch" routine on them.
Eithan, with the exception of like one scene in Wintersteel (right before facing Miara) is almost always Eithaning.
In part it's probably due to his desire to get a Joy icon. He got so focused on it he missed the forest for the trees. Though he at least didn't allow it to detract from his problem solving.
- Location
- United States
Potentially worrying thought I just had: if the effect of Penance is unique in such a way that killing a Dreadgod with it doesn't have the usual side effect of making the others stronger, does that also mean that killing a Monarch with it won't make them weaker? Because it's not like the protagonists could go back later and kill him again the old fashioned way if that turns out to be the case.
- Location
- Netherlands
The reason it interacted with a Dreadgod that way is because it killed them so thoroughly.
Presumably, a Monarch killed by the same level of effect, means there is never going to be a later.
It shouldn't work that way. The dreadgods releasing their hunger aura is an on death trigger which Penance bypassed by killing them thoroughly enough.
The monarchs adding hunger aura is a passive effect caused by them existing. The hunger aura stops flowing if they aren't around for any reason, if they're killed, if they ascend, if they somehow were able to revert their advancement and drop down to herald or sage.
Dreadgods are balloons of Hunger Madra. Killing them normally pops the balloon and spills Hunger Madra free to fuel other balloons. Penance not only kills the balloon but also Madra inside. Monarchs are sources of Hunger Madra, no matter how hard they die they stop producing Hunger Madra
I do wonder how things may or may not go according to plan. Obviously, it would be great if everything involving the grand-oath-array works out and Mercy, Taylor, and probably Yerin and Lindon are able to power up to full-sage/herald level in the hyperbolic time chamber before entering the labyrinth to fight the enemy sages/heralds who have already gone in, but I can't imagine it will be that simple.
Stahor
BookWorm
- Location
- Russia, Moscow
Doubtful it's applicable to Taylor in first place - a lot of her stuff is affected by connection to QA\Hera, who will not be in hyperbolic time chamber.
- Location
- Netherlands
I think the struggle will be getting the Grand Oath Array.
So basically, now is the time for a heist.
Speaking of the Labyrinth, do you think Taylor's Devouring Swarm technique could be modified into a Hunger technique? I'm sure Hera could be convinced to handle the memories, and her Jade Cycling technique could be adjusted to handle the rest, since it's already designed to control Madra.
Yes but I don't see it happening, because Taylor isn't trying to go in that direction, and there isn't enough time. While Hunger fits QA very well, Taylor's body never used Hunger Madra not Hunger bindings.
Sacred Artists using techniques with Madra types that aren't related to their Paths isn't an unknown thing.
And if any technique fits Hunger? It's the swarm of spirit-bugs that have already been used to devour people, body and Remnant.
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- Location
- USA
They still actually need to get the madra from somewhere. Lindon uses the Hunger of the dreadbeast prosthetic, then the Archstone, then the Wraith's arm. All inherently have Hunger built in that he channels.
Theoretically if she was holding the Wraith's hand, she could channel it's Hunger madra into her technique.
I guess my question is: Even if they get all the Monarchs to ascend, what stops new ones from rising up and not ascending? It just seems like the plot is completely pointless in that case. I honestly don't care about the galactic stage. I find it hard to care too much about what happens outside of my own zone of influence on my regular sized planet, I cannot imagine people on Cradle are much different.
Maybe its early days yet, but the Akura clan isn't exactly sunshine and rainbows. With Malice gone, why haven't more people rebelled? If betraying the Akura, who have dominated me and my family for centuries, will keep me and my family alive..why not do it? The Akura don't have a Monarch anymore, and though they have sages, not so many that they cannot be contested.
Does the Dragon Emperor kill everyone but dragons? I got the impression that he ruled a territory that was more than dragons and dust. Clearly he wants to wipe out the Akura, but does he just want to wipe out everyone who isn't a dragon? I realize he already killed loads of people, but it doesn't seem like he is intent on total destruction based on the situation in other areas. I'm not saying that those areas are having a great time of it, but life usually goes on.
I don't see Monarchs that aren't willing to ascend as evil. Even Shen and the Dragon Emperor/King have people they look after. While this all seems pretty shit from the Akura perspective, if I live under Shen's rule it probably seems pretty fantastic. Honestly, Shen seems to have the best plan- Become the only Monarch and control the Dreadgods. As the sole Monarch the Dreadgods would be much weaker, and he could establish a much more stable (politically/factionally) world.
Maybe its early days yet, but the Akura clan isn't exactly sunshine and rainbows. With Malice gone, why haven't more people rebelled? If betraying the Akura, who have dominated me and my family for centuries, will keep me and my family alive..why not do it? The Akura don't have a Monarch anymore, and though they have sages, not so many that they cannot be contested.
Does the Dragon Emperor kill everyone but dragons? I got the impression that he ruled a territory that was more than dragons and dust. Clearly he wants to wipe out the Akura, but does he just want to wipe out everyone who isn't a dragon? I realize he already killed loads of people, but it doesn't seem like he is intent on total destruction based on the situation in other areas. I'm not saying that those areas are having a great time of it, but life usually goes on.
I don't see Monarchs that aren't willing to ascend as evil. Even Shen and the Dragon Emperor/King have people they look after. While this all seems pretty shit from the Akura perspective, if I live under Shen's rule it probably seems pretty fantastic. Honestly, Shen seems to have the best plan- Become the only Monarch and control the Dreadgods. As the sole Monarch the Dreadgods would be much weaker, and he could establish a much more stable (politically/factionally) world.
OctarineShrike
Avatar of Mandos
The 8 Man Empire with Dreadgod weapons along with whatever other anti Monarch defenses Lindon and Crew may have established before ascension. I don't recall anything but the giving the 8me Dreadgod weapons