Could be worse. Could go to an Armored Core game and steal a bunch of crap to enchant and stick onto the Knights.
Project: Gamer Ver. 2 (Young Justice/Gamer/Multicross OC)
- Thread starter Mister Ficser
- Start date
Could be worse. Could go to an Armored Core game and steal a bunch of crap to enchant and stick onto the Knights.
- Location
- RS,brasil
ok for constructs i would actualy suggest hagmen golems, they are far more dificult to kill then regular in hand to hand combat, and unbelivably cheaper
second the question of how to enhance the skeletons, you could simply add armor but thats boring
so here are some suggestions:
Acquire vast amounts of Smokey quartz and meerschaum in combination, making the skeletons as hard as iron and possibly increase the number of skeletons per corpse by almost 206
another less ethical source of skeletons is to seek metahumans with strong bones, like a zombie wolverine would be ridiculously strong
kiler croc for instance has over the years mutated into a reptilian creature, his teeth have become naturally sharpen and his legs are now digigrade, so probably super skeleton
also other animals that migth be werth it, moose, canada tried to tame moose cavalry but they were scared of gun, a skeleton moose would have no such problem
heck there is gorilla city, so you might be able to animate gorillas, who have much tougher bones then regular humans, then there are the bones of metahumans like orca, blockbuster and rampage
there is also the project match zombie, which should have super dense bones, Metallo should also be involved, as his bodies is entirely mechanical you only need to remove the brain to reclaim it
the atomic skull has radioactive bones which would be an incredible asset against living invaders
heck there is Skartaris, the inner earth (think journey through the center of the earth) where mammoths and dinosaurs exist, Al could use those to reanimate them, a giant animated T-rex skeleton covered in adamantium is probably going to be difficult for anyone to deal with, the adamantium velociraptors as well
Apparently fossils that are re-animated are immune to non-adamantine weapons, meaning stealing museums in the zombie dungeon is worth your time, as well as getting some mammoth bones for war elephants
use fabricate to make endoskeletal armor for the skeletons, or filling the dried and porous bones with Dark steel, making them both
next create a hangman golem, and attach them to the skeletons, it can use tentacle-like attacks, move the skeleton faster like doctor octopus and serve as a musculature, you can even give all of them a gemstone ring of Azurite to reduce fire damage by half
another source of possible skeletons are warhorse skeletons, those are possible but extremely weak
second the question of how to enhance the skeletons, you could simply add armor but thats boring
so here are some suggestions:
Acquire vast amounts of Smokey quartz and meerschaum in combination, making the skeletons as hard as iron and possibly increase the number of skeletons per corpse by almost 206
another less ethical source of skeletons is to seek metahumans with strong bones, like a zombie wolverine would be ridiculously strong
kiler croc for instance has over the years mutated into a reptilian creature, his teeth have become naturally sharpen and his legs are now digigrade, so probably super skeleton
also other animals that migth be werth it, moose, canada tried to tame moose cavalry but they were scared of gun, a skeleton moose would have no such problem
heck there is gorilla city, so you might be able to animate gorillas, who have much tougher bones then regular humans, then there are the bones of metahumans like orca, blockbuster and rampage
there is also the project match zombie, which should have super dense bones, Metallo should also be involved, as his bodies is entirely mechanical you only need to remove the brain to reclaim it
the atomic skull has radioactive bones which would be an incredible asset against living invaders
heck there is Skartaris, the inner earth (think journey through the center of the earth) where mammoths and dinosaurs exist, Al could use those to reanimate them, a giant animated T-rex skeleton covered in adamantium is probably going to be difficult for anyone to deal with, the adamantium velociraptors as well
Apparently fossils that are re-animated are immune to non-adamantine weapons, meaning stealing museums in the zombie dungeon is worth your time, as well as getting some mammoth bones for war elephants
use fabricate to make endoskeletal armor for the skeletons, or filling the dried and porous bones with Dark steel, making them both
next create a hangman golem, and attach them to the skeletons, it can use tentacle-like attacks, move the skeleton faster like doctor octopus and serve as a musculature, you can even give all of them a gemstone ring of Azurite to reduce fire damage by half
another source of possible skeletons are warhorse skeletons, those are possible but extremely weak
Lycanthromancer
The Arcane Fuzz
- Location
- USA
If Al could get his hands on a special forge from Eberron or another 3rd Edition D&D world, he could make warforged. They're inherently much weaker than most constructs, but they gain class levels and have no upper limit on how powerful they can get. So Al could build an army of warforged wizards and psions that, properly trained and optimized, could take on virtually anything in the DC universe.
I have a level 21 gestalt 3rd edition character that has a caster level in the octillions (at the very least; possibly more, since that's where I lost track) and quite a few abilities that deal nigh infinite damage (and several that deal actually infinite damage). Look up the "d2 crusader" trick, as well as infinite damage via Affinity Field.
I have a level 21 gestalt 3rd edition character that has a caster level in the octillions (at the very least; possibly more, since that's where I lost track) and quite a few abilities that deal nigh infinite damage (and several that deal actually infinite damage). Look up the "d2 crusader" trick, as well as infinite damage via Affinity Field.
- Location
- United States
I've never thought of that before but it is the absolute truth.
- Location
- Isekai'd to this shitty world we're live in
I think you misunderstood me (and story).
Poseidon knows what's going on in Atlantis not because he reads minds, but because it's underwater and that's his domain. It doesn't matter that Al's mind is inaccessible. He still talked his plan out loud, and sound travels through water.
And where did I talk about any fighting?
Lycanthromancer
The Arcane Fuzz
- Location
- USA
Doesn't matter. Mind Blank protects against anything that detects from a distance that involves magic or devices, not just mind-reading. It should even protect against things like CCTV cameras, cell phone cameras, and the like. That includes deific detection abilities. If you're not there in person, Al shouldn't show up on any magical or technological detection abilities at all.
If Al was significantly weaker than Poseidon (or Zeus), then the god should simply be able to overpower Al's defenses, but not even Zeus seems to be able to, else they'd have had to deal with him attacking them prior to now, hence my mention of Al being strong enough to take Zeus out (but for his being able to simply walk off death via his brother). I mentioned that because Alchemist IS strong enough to off Zeus (and thus protect against Poseidon's divination abilities); he's just not able to keep him dead without being sneaky about it.
I do enjoy a good Fromsoft game. Haven't touched on the newest Armored Core, yet, though. Got a bit of a backlog to work through right now.
I know, right?
There's a consideration beyond cost to factor in-
Time. An army of the most basic undead would take time to create and every enhancement afterward is an increasingly expensive investment for lower and lower returns.
Especially given that, no matter how much Al improves them? They'll still just be cannon fodder for the serious threats in-universe.
Their value comes from being quick to make and easy to replace, something that's offset by a large or extensive enhancement process.
Well the good shit that he could rig up to the Incorruptuses are just weapons from the shop that he could probably just Buy. Like the PB-033M ASHMEAD.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeHLtE8LMdc
- Location
- RS,brasil
making the skeleton tougher is very much worth it, as they need to be able to withstand the average earth military, a difficult but possible task
making them reinforcer with darksteel makes them invincible to bombs and bullets, the main large scale treat that super teams
Well if Al wants a cheap and increasingly easy to mass produce horde of minions that can scale to the answer of yes he could always grab a bloodforge.
As those puppies are crazy good at mass army creation that only gets better with the more golems they make.
Plus, it should be a pretty easy thing to grab considering how many of them their are in their game.
As those puppies are crazy good at mass army creation that only gets better with the more golems they make.
Plus, it should be a pretty easy thing to grab considering how many of them their are in their game.
Lycanthromancer
The Arcane Fuzz
- Location
- USA
Most dragons are still considered mortal creatures, as they age and eventually will die from old age.
Plus, this might be "mortal vs god" rather than "mortal vs immortal." There's usually a difference, not that it's a huge leap in Alchemist's case, at this point. Generally, immortals are still "mortal" as far as gods are concerned (not that that makes a whole lot of sense, from a grammatical point of view).
- Location
- RS,brasil
idea: expose batman to the raw unfiltered Arkham Subreddit and watch his reaction
Alright, Satan. We're gonna need you to calm down. M'kay?
We need Batman to be functional. Not... this.
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Now that you mention it, an eberron quest to get plans/build a creation forge to make an army of warforged/people to populate his island would probably be one of the best ways to build himself an army of actually useful people instead of just random fodder creatures. Not that they'll be much help against big threats, but they will help a lot on the street level.
Also it opens him up to people teasing him about his robot Waifu so that also must be considered…
As far as mortal goes… I don't think full void dragons count as mortal, being outsiders, though they definitely don't count as deities, so I think he still technically is mortal, until he loses that last bit of humanity I suppose? Edit: Well… I guess technically he's a golem/dragon so he isn't "mortal" at all is he…
Also it opens him up to people teasing him about his robot Waifu so that also must be considered…
As far as mortal goes… I don't think full void dragons count as mortal, being outsiders, though they definitely don't count as deities, so I think he still technically is mortal, until he loses that last bit of humanity I suppose? Edit: Well… I guess technically he's a golem/dragon so he isn't "mortal" at all is he…
As far as cheap enhancements to undead go, since feats have no cost to him, just get the Corpsecrafted Feats from the Libris Mortis book and you're off to a good start.
There are some POWERFUL templates you can add to stuff, but who knows what the cost is?...
Here's the list of the Feats at the top of the page: Libris Mortis Feats - Eberron Unlimited
There was also a big module from an alt about a ruined city (Rappan Athuk) and necromancers making three undead per corpse! They took the meat from the body and built a crude wooden frame to stick it on before armoring it; they used the bones for enhanced skeletons; and they took the skins and filled them with sand for a third undead.
There are some POWERFUL templates you can add to stuff, but who knows what the cost is?...
Here's the list of the Feats at the top of the page: Libris Mortis Feats - Eberron Unlimited
There was also a big module from an alt about a ruined city (Rappan Athuk) and necromancers making three undead per corpse! They took the meat from the body and built a crude wooden frame to stick it on before armoring it; they used the bones for enhanced skeletons; and they took the skins and filled them with sand for a third undead.
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Lycanthromancer
The Arcane Fuzz
- Location
- USA
Don't forget to raise their souls as incorporeal undead.
Also, blood, because that's a thing, as well.
Void dragons are simply Dragons, not Outsiders, in all Editions.
One of the fun things in Pathfinder was that you couldn't raise someone from the dead if their corpse was an undead. So, if you killed someone and ANimated their remains, then stuck the zombie somewhere hidden, they could never resurrect. It's how they keep the ancient silver dragon dead in the Worldwound Adventure Path.
Also, I forgot to mention you need to raise the Undead on Unhallowed and Desecrated ground for free HD, HP, and other buffs.
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That just sounds like Gotham with a few extra words thrown in.
Rune factory 4 would also be a good place to kidnap/relocate people from pluses there's a sane dragon there and 4 or 5 non sane copys of his/hers elemental siblings that were somehow recreated in labs after she/he put them down for their craziness. Also dungeon, armor, weapon seeds. There's also a couple of monstrous entity's that useto be the sane dragons human friends, apparently they lost their memories tho and only have vague bits and pieces left of their memories tho, except the fairy chic.....who in my opinion as cute as she acts would probably still stab you while smiling if you got in the way of the people she loves happiness. Also the butler's the older gentleman named that and his apprentices...second thought since that lil county and town is in constant danger it would take much to convince them all to move into Al's pocket dimension since it's probably grown considerably, as long as Ventuswill agrees to go they will to, and Ventuswill can just be a citizen of Al's and actually be friends with their people instead of constantly putting up an act.
Chapter 256
Project: Gamer Ver. 2 Alpha Build 2.5.6
Disclaimer Me Do: I own nothing you recognize. And most of what you don't recognize, I still don't own.
_________________________________________________________________________
21/11/2010
Jinx felt nervous as the minutes crawled past.
She, Kary, Yuffie and all of the dolls and all of the familiars were in the demi-plane.
Waiting.
Alright, Yuffie was sleeping. And the familiars and the creepy-ass dolls were parked in front of the television.
But Jinx and Kary were waiting.
If things went well? If things went well, today would just be a slow, anxiety-filled over-reaction. Everyone had been on edge, constantly worrying over what would go wrong.
Jinx sighed in agitation, her claws clack-clack-clacking as she kept on tap-tap-tapping them on the enchanting table she'd put in the workshop in the demi-plane. She'd been exploring how different spells that she knew could turn into different enchantments.
Or at least, she wanted to explore how the magic worked.
There wasn't some simple menu where she could just select an item, select an enchantment, feed it a soul gem and be done with it. She had to actually put in effort, she had to mold the magic and then tether it to an item herself. If she got distracted after she started painting with the magic inside of a soul gem, the magic would just dissipate.
Lost. Wasted. Gone.
Jinx had burned through nearly a dozen soul gems before giving up on practicing. Kary, in contrast to her usual happy-go-lucky attitude in the face of a potential threat, was quietly seated on a rolling stool with a whetstone in hand.
The soft, drawn out shhh-hik of metal and stone was grating on Jinx's ears but she refused to let it get to her.
It wasn't Kary bothering her. It was her nerves.
Kary saw to her weapons. Jinx fretted. Alchemist was a mix of the two.
All day, Jinx had watched him pace around a room, stop for a bit to try and read a scroll about seeing or hearing from a distance, get back up and pace, sit back down and read. Over and over and over.
She knew he didn't act like that in front of the Justice League but, well, he saw them as... colleagues? Or something close to that. He didn't hide who he was for them but he... contained habits in front of them that Jinx would bet he'd been told were annoying.
And they were. Pacing, finger tapping, the way one of his legs would bounce if he was bored or agitated. All of those were annoying.
And yet, here Jinx was. Tapping her claws while nervously waiting for the other shoe to drop. She didn't know which would be worse.
Things going right? From the outside, that would be ideal... but it demanded trust. Worse, it demanded faith.
Things going wrong? If things went wrong, it would also put all of the cards on the table. Eliminate doubt. That kind of thing.
"...Does it ever get better?" Jinx found herself asking, twisting her neck to look at the devil instead of the strangely glowing symbols on the table.
"Yes..." Kary said as she ran her whetstone along the length of her cursed blade. "And no."
"...That's really helpful," Jinx responded, sarcasm thick in her voice. "Thank you. So much."
"...The first time I was killed, Jinx, it was to a party consisting of a fighter, a black mage, a white mage and a monk," Kary's voice was soft and gentle as she put down her whetstone and began to explain herself. "I had slain a dozen such groups already and, each time, reality would reset and reassert. I had learned to feel it as they traversed my volcano. In time, I could even sense it when they would kill my weaker sibling, the Lich, and restore life to the portion of the world that he was rotting away in."
Jinx was giving the fallen angel her full attention now. A fact that Kary seemed to appreciate given the small smirk that played across her lips.
"At that time, success or defeat meant very little to me. I would remember it, I would even act on it but..." Kary brought her free hand up and lightly tapped the side of her temple. "It never truly made any impact. I would repeat the same lines, use the same attacks, cycle after cycle after cycle."
Jinx kept silent, letting Kary speak. It pulled her thoughts away from Alchemist, one of him anyway, sitting on the couch in the cabin on the mountain with his game shop open in front of him, just waiting for Poseidon to take offense.
Just waiting to drag the god somewhere else, somewhere he couldn't escape from. Somewhere he wouldn't have an ocean full of hostages.
"After I truly awakened, I began to feel doubt. Fear," Kary's voice had gotten softer, somber as she admitted to something that many would consider a weakness. "It would grow greater and greater with every passing hour. Sometimes I would flee from my post. It offered only a momentary reprieve before the broken loop of time would reset itself. Even that was no true promise of safety, Jinx. The four warriors, they would always find a ship that could sail the skies. Often enough they would hunt me, to fulfill destiny and prophecy alike by ripping the essence of fire from my dying corpse. Sometimes, they would give up and the world would break once more, sending me back to the volcano to await the heroes."
"That sounds... horrific," Jinx whispered, intended for herself but easily heard by the fallen angel in the stifling silence.
"I found my own freedom," Kary stated, her smirk growing wide into a true smile. "And I've discovered things I never thought I could experience. So this? The waiting? It does get better. You learn how to handle it. How to keep yourself busy. It does nothing for the mounting fear but, the faster you can while away the hours, the sooner what you fear may come to pass."
Jinx sighed, her head drooping as she deflated.
It wasn't what she wanted to hear but... it sounded honest. It sounded like halfway decent advice.
Turning around to face the enchanting table again, Jinx extracted a filled soul gem and a blank ring.
She couldn't make things go faster but she could at least try and be productive.
"...And the few times I tried to burn down the world did not go well," Kary continued after a moment, her idle musings all too loud in Jinx's sensitive ears. "The world would usually break and reset before I'd brought flame to more than a few villages. Though, the elf village was always the prettiest when aflame..."
And there it was. The suggestion that she burn something down.
Jinx sighed again, though it had a bit more fondness than frustration this time around.
At least she could rely on Kary to be consistent...
-----
Orm did not glare at the guards at his sides as he was led into the Temple of Poseidon. The fools knew nothing of what they were doing but their affront, while damning, was at least professional.
He had no intentions of punishing them too harshly. Once this particular circus was dealt with, he would need that same adherence to orders after he rose to his rightful place.
The people watching around the cordon did not jeer. Men and women alike watched on with wary curiosity. Even the children knew enough to keep their incessant wailing to a minimum.
Orm placed one foot before the other, slowing the matter as he walked along the ocean floor.
As was his right.
The quiet muttering from the populace, the silent gazes the clerics of the temple, it all weighed on him. It told him that this relic of a bygone era needed to be removed. Replaced.
"Keep. Moving," the guard on Orm's left demanded tersely, the crab-armored man's spear slamming into the ground to emphasize his demand.
"I am," Orm told the guard, slowing his pace even further.
They'd forced him into a white toga and stripped him of his royal adornments. An inexcusable affront, demanding that he walk among the commoners without any indication of his station. All so he could stand before some priest and hear the canned 'judgement' forced upon him by Orin and his damned wife.
Continuing forward in silence, Orm was met with the great doors that would lead into the heart of the temple. A pair of priestesses stepped into place to open them, doing so in near-perfect sync.
The prince did not bother to hide his sneer at both of the women's rather visible... deformities. One was covered over in blue scales with a pair of eye-spots on her cheeks. The other had vaguely transparent skin and small pads along her arms that would likely be suckers.
At least those of ill-blood were serving, rather than making ridiculous claims and demanding they be known as 'king'.
Orm sniffed in irritation at the turn his thoughts had gone.
'King' Nanaue had proven, time and again, to be far too strong for the numerous assassination attempts Orm had sent his way. A pity, really.
Stepping into the amphitheater, Orm froze in shock.
He'd been expecting to see the elder priest, standing in front of the old altar and mumbling uselessly as was his wont. Perhaps Orin would be somewhere nearby, looking sad or angry or whatever other excessive display he wished to put on for those watching.
Instead he found Orin kneeling at the head of a procession of the clergy. The elder priest at his right and various clerics and priestesses equally prostrated around the center stage. Upon which stood an absolutely massive man, wearing only a bronze-colored skirt and bracers with his arms crossed.
Orm felt something sour on the back of his tongue as he began to realize that this entire procession was not merely for show.
They'd summoned Poseidon. The true ruler of the sea, the lord over all Atlanteans!
The prince's knees trembled as he walked into the room, his guards left behind at the door.
Swallowing thickly, Orm's eyes were locked on the god as he stepped into the room. The man opened his mouth-
"Orm. Son of Atlanna. Prince of Atlantis," Poseidon intoned, interrupting Orm before he could utter so much as a single syllable. "You stand before me, accused of great and terrible acts. Sedition, treason, the attempted murder of your living family and the undermining of the lawful authority in these seas. What say you in your defense?"
"My-my lord," Orm struggled to get out, the immense power of the god's gaze nearly dragging him to his knees! "The, the bloodline has been tainted. A half-breed sits upon the throne- commands our people! This affront cannot stand, it will destroy the history, the purity of-"
Orm was cut off by Poseidon chuckling. It was not some joyous sound.
Rather, it was dark and frightfully mocking.
"There is no 'purity'. Not in Orin. Not in you. None here can make such a bold claim, boy." Poseidon sighed and stepped past Orin's kneeling frame, his every step reverberating through the waters as though the god were far, far larger than he appeared. "Thousands of years. Hundreds of generations. There are urchins, begging on the streets, who have a greater claim to my blood than you."
With every step closer that the god took, the pressure on Orm grew greater and greater. It was not long before the prince's resolve broke and he sank to his knees. That his eyes, so defiant, were forced to look down as his head was bowed.
At least, until Poseidon grabbed the man's chin and forced his to look up at the now-kneeling god.
Orm had long thought that the gods had receded from interacting with humans because they were too powerful. Too alien. That they did not- could not comprehend lesser mortals.
Looking into Poseidon's cold, hard eyes?
He was wrong. He realized what he'd assumed was the opposite to the truth.
Poseidon was not inhuman. No, the god was -too- human. The depths of disappointment, of pity... they were far too deep. Far more than Orm could feel. Deeper, he assumed, than any human could feel.
"Royalty or not, you are one of mine. Not a child, not a grandchild, you are far too distant but you are still of my blood. All of Atlantis is," Poseidon's voice held clear regret, obvious for all around the chamber to hear. "And it pains me so to see one of my people fall so far. Succumb to such weakness."
Poseidon let go and, despite his best efforts, Orm could not hold up his head to watch the god. Instead he had to rely on his other senses. He could feel it as the god stood up and began to walk back to the dais. He could hear the deep impact of his every step.
Hear the regret in Poseidon's voice.
"You have committed terrible acts in pursuit of your goals. Turned magic and blade upon the people you were meant to protect. These can not be overlooked, Orm, Son of Atlanna." As Poseidon spoke, there was a new weight, a new pressure building up in the water. "And yet? There is greatness within you. Ambition and power that ought be turned toward the prosperity of your people. Instead of wasting this by taking away your freedom, of leaving you to rot in a prison where you would accomplish nothing..."
The power, something deeper and far more real than the magic that was Orm's birthright, tore into the man. He screamed, or at least he tried to, but no sound escaped his lips.
"I take from you that which you most cherish," Poseidon declared, his words crashing over Orm like a tidal wave. "No longer are you Orm, Son of Atlanna. This man never existed. There is no brother to Orin, Son of Atlanna. No prince, lying in wait to claim Atlantis in the event of the king's death. At least..."
He could feel it as Poseidon's head turned because the waters churned with the action. Swirling around him, taking away his name, his history...
"How fortuitous. As one is lost? Another is born."
He fought, his back and neck trembling with the effort as he looked to Poseidon and then followed the god's gaze to an observation box.
To where Mera was bent over and holding her abdomen.
"You are free to leave, lost son of Atlantis," Poseidon declared as he stepped past the ritual stage, grabbing a large platter of meat as he went. "None shall impede your path. This is the last mercy I can offer you, that any here shall offer you. Find your path, reclaim your honor and name... or don't. Continue as you are, continue as you were. You will die in obscurity, forgotten by man and god alike."
He stood as the pressure in the waters faded. He stood, reduced.
Looking down at his hands, he felt as though he were a stranger wearing someone else's flesh.
"...Very well, prisoner." Orin's voice broke him out of his spiraling thoughts. "You are free to go."
Looking at him, he could see no recognition in Orin's eyes. Turning towards his...
He didn't know. The nameless man looked into the various stands, looking for someone, anyone who recognized him. That he could recognize.
His breathing grew fast and panicked and he had to close his eyes to keep his vision from swimming.
Names! He knew the names of the people around him! He recognized Nanaue, Orin, the armored form of Vapyre as she hurried after the retreating queen but...
Who were they to him?
Who...
Who was he?
-----
Alchemist leaned forward in his seat, watching as... well, he wasn't quite sure who he was watching leave.
Which was rather curious as he knew he'd known their identity just moments earlier. Before Poseidon had made his proclamation.
An Unnaming.
It was... an all too disconcerting thing, being aware that someone had just ceased to be in every way that mattered. Mages had access to such a spell but it was an excruciatingly difficult piece of magic that required tracking down and knowing the true name of a target. The results were more final if used by a wizard, supposedly causing a total cessation of existence.
The man who was stumbling towards the exit of the temple certainly still existed. At least, physically.
There was also the Ritual of Re-Naming but, like Unname, that was a ninth level spell and Alchemist wasn't in the mood for an instant quest just to get yet-another incredible weapon that he couldn't actually use outside of highly specific circumstances.
And Alchemist was left wondering what other impacts the unnaming would have had. Whatever crimes the individual had performed, what were they? Who had been impacted? The prisoner had to have been someone of high-standing, Alchemist couldn't have gotten the queen to...
He... had gotten the queen to...
"This has to be one of the most disconcerting events I've been forced to witness," Nanaue grumbled, the massive shark-man leaning forward on the edge of his seat, just like the wizard. "I can't even remember why I'm here!"
"Yeah..." Alchemist agreed as he brought up both hands to rub at his temples, to try and soothe the building migraine. "Someone important did something really stupid but... I can't remember what."
With so many important people in attendance, with Queen Mera so close to her due date, Alchemist was honestly surprised that Ocean Mas-
The mage hissed in agony as a spike of fire lanced through his skull, right behind his right eye.
Okay. He was going to have to poke and prod at that very, very carefully. Preferably in another reality.
Alchemist didn't know who had been unnamed but, judging by the glaring holes in his memory as he tried to think on it and the sudden shooting pain as he thought about one of the cartoon villains? He could put together an idea.
It would just be stupidly painful.
He now had a deifically enforced info-hazard sitting inside of his brain.
Fun.
"They must have been a member of the nobility," Kaldur added as the young man stood from his seat. Alchemist did the same, he still had something he needed to do. "Calling forth Poseidon to pass judgement is not something to be done lightly. I cannot recall the last time a prisoner was judged within these walls."
"That would've been about three-hundred years ago," Nanaue rumbled, his nostrils flaring as he spoke. "And the queen is gone. Feh! Couldn't be bothered to wait for the closing ceremony?"
"She has a baby kicking her in the bladder," Alchemist returned as he began to walk down the stairs to the main hall. "I'm surprised she stuck it out as long as she did."
"...Fair," the massive Atlantean grumbled, turning right as Alchemist and Kaldur turned left.
Honestly? Alchemist found King Sha'ark much more tolerable than he'd anticipated. Short and terse, maybe a bit hung up on stabbing things but the man was direct and no fan of politics or subterfuge.
Passing through the amphitheater, Alchemist nodded to a few of the priests and waved at Arthur as he headed towards the chamber that Poseidon had claimed.
Aquaman really could have done with someone like Nanaue in his childhood. Mera was a wonderful woman and a fantastic sorceress but she just wasn't direct. At all.
The wizard raised his hand, ready to knock on the door-
"Enter!" but didn't need to bother as Poseidon clearly knew that the wizard was on the way.
Hardly a surprise, Alchemist mused as he pushed open the old stone door and stepped through, Kaldur dogging his heels. Poseidon was not the eldest among his siblings but he was the eldest of the three kings and, unlike Zeus or Hades, his divine claim upon the seas was not an assumed title.
It was a recognition of fact.
Poseidon, still three meters tall, lounged upon a massive throne within the audience chamber. The platter of raw pork was placed haphazardly over the god-king's lap and-
Well, Kaldur might be enjoying the show but Alchemist really didn't need to see so much sausage.
"You know," Poseidon spoke, his voice far lower and much less commanding. "I typically do not interact with your kind, Gamer. Watching as you and yours gutter and burn out has become tedious and tiresome. I should hope that you, at least, prove yourself interesting."
"Well, I'd like to think I am," Alchemist told the god as he reached into his inventory and extracted a single, pure-white feather almost as long as his arm. "It depends on how much you're willing to listen."
The pegasi shed. A lot.
"...That depends on what you have to say," Poseidon said, fully serious as he placed his feet on the ground and leaned over his platter of bloody meat. "Starting with an explanation for where you found that."
"I picked up a bunch of winged horses on the island of Sarpedon," Alchemist told the god as he placed the massive feather back in his inventory. "I was hoping you might be interested in taking them off my hands."
"Hah!" Poseidon crowed, leaning back on his throne before waving a pork leg at Alchemist and Kaldur. "I knew you were going to be interesting! Anyone that can bleed my brother has to be."
"Speaking of your brother..." Alchemist began to say before pausing as Poseidon bit into the ham leg.
The savage went all the way through the bone, chewing with his mouth open.
"I was going to ask that, when events come to a head-"
"I will not assist you, mortal," Poseidon declared, speaking through a mouth full of food. "Your grievances, however justified, will be of no concern within a mere century. We gods have much longer memories, however."
"That's fine," Alchemist said, shaking his head from side to side slightly. "I wasn't going to ask for you to fight for me. Or on my behalf. I was going to ask-"
"I will not be arming you, either," Poseidon interrupted him again.
Alchemist gritted his teeth, clenching his jaw at the mounting disrespect.
"What I want," Alchemist began, his tone darkening. "Is for you to stay out of my way."
"Alchemist!" Kaldur hissed, literally stepping away from the wizard.
"...That's all?" Poseidon asked, dropping his bloody meal back down onto his plate and sending the mage a crimson smile. "Well, why didn't you just say so? I can easily be convinced to do nothing!"
Alchemist reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"...Where do you want me to leave your flock of pegasi?" Alchemist asked, moving on to something that would hopefully be productive.
"Just take them back to Sarpedon," Poseidon idly commanded as he picked up a set of pigs feet. With a loud 'Crack!' that echoed through the water, he split it apart into smaller pieces. "I'll collect them soon."
Alchemist spun on his heel, more than ready to leave.
And equally ready to not have the pegasi defecating while flying in his demi-plane. Cleaning horseapples off of his roof was downright ridiculous!
"Zeus is still furious about you, you know?" Poseidon asked, popping several chunks of pig into his mouth and loudly crunching through them. "Whatever you used to injure him? It's still bleeding. Despite Apollo's efforts to seal the wounds."
"...I see," Alchemist answered, calm as a placid lake.
That... was actually some rather valuable information.
"Thank you for telling me," Alchemist said, offering a brief wave over his shoulder. "I'll have your children returned to Sarpedon soon."
"What was that?!" Kaldur whispered frantically into Alchemist's ear as they left the god's chamber. "What did you do to Zeus?!"
Alchemist looked up, to the moonlight that was still filtering through the open roof of the temple.
After a long moment spent in thought, Alchemist finally answered, "...I made him bleed, Kaldur."
-----
Poseidon thickly swallowed as the mortals left him to his own devices. The god idly brought another chunk of raw meat to his mouth and bit through tendon and bone alike as he thought on the... thing that he'd spoken with.
It was easy enough to tell that it had been human. Once.
The mannerisms were all there. The little, guttering spark that Zeus had left the mortals with, the tiniest fragment of divinity required for the mewling beasts to comprehend and have Faith was still present.
But the little plaything had buried itself in steel and scales to try and hide from its fear. Touched on dark, wicked things. Magics best left forgotten...
There was a reason that none of the gods had cared to assist Hecate in returning to the mortal realm.
Poseidon almost felt fear for his youngest brother. Whatever he'd angered, it had the echoes still screaming around it of slain gods. Something as old as them.
Older, perhaps.
But most curious of all?
Gaia's little plaything could still -reason-. It had kept itself in check, even as Poseidon had disrespected it at every turn. It was willing to barter, to bargain, to know... or at least guess at what would be too far beyond whatever courtesy Poseidon was willing to extend.
The little dragon hadn't even bothered with trickery or subversion. It had simply offered him what it thought Poseidon might want and, in truth, asked for very little in return.
Were Poseidon younger, he might have chosen to take offense.
Asking for basically nothing? From a god so grand as he?!
But Poseidon was not some rapacious youth. If one of Gaia's toys thought that Poseidon's inaction was something worth trading for? He would graciously accept.
The mortal had tempered its desires with caution and wariness. It understood that removing an actor from the field was an ultimate goal, the method was secondary. And it had removed Poseidon from the field of its future conflict without needing either tooth or claw.
He rarely had need of such skills any longer, what with Athena claiming the roles he once fulfilled, but the tactician within Poseidon approved. Where it had been possible, he'd done the same during the Titanomachia. Convincing some of his aunts and uncles to withdraw from the field of battle had likely been a key reason for so many of his siblings surviving to rule over Olympus.
Such a shame that Zeus had made an enemy that was willing to plan and prepare instead of rushing headlong against him.
Tearing into one of the pork haunches that remained, Poseidon let a bloody smile stretch across his face.
He almost felt sorry for his youngest brother.
Almost.
-----
As Alchemist tried to politely excuse himself away from Kaldur so the young man could rejoin the queen's guard, the second Alchemist that was hidden upon his mountain breathed a deep sigh of relief.
He'd succeeded. He hadn't gotten everything he'd wanted but he'd succeeded at accomplishing his core goal.
He'd been hoping to try and swing an introduction to Athena but, given how dismissive Poseidon had been acting? Alchemist hadn't been willing to press his luck.
Looking up to the ceiling overhead, Alchemist couldn't contain a weak chuckle.
Go big or go home?
Alchemist had chosen to go home.
Threading a hand into his hair as he practically melted on his couch, Alchemist could barely contain the sense of relief he felt.
Zeus was overwhelmingly powerful but there were ways around that. Whether or not they would work, Alchemist didn't actually know. But at least there were options when it came to straight force.
Hades had no love for Zeus and that served Alchemist just fine. The corpulent god of the dead had been key in combating the titans during the Titanomachia, birthing great and terrible beasts from his own flesh to bring down his elders.
The mage honestly would not be surprised if Cerberus was one such creature.
Poseidon, though? Aside from having phenomenal power such as dominion over natural cataclysms, earthquakes, storms and the very seas? Poseidon knew how to handle a war. He understood combat and conflict in a manner only bested by the gods of war.
Removing him from the board probably cut the risks of assaulting Olympus by half!
There was still a significant number of issues to address, concerns to look at and debate but there was one less, now.
Reaching up, Alchemist closed the window he'd opened in the Game Shop that would've taken the wizard to a planet called Golarion, to a place known as the World Wound. A place where the gods were reduced and their divinity so often just out of reach.
A blighted hellscape where hope went to die and an all-too-fitting grave for a god.
"Ugh..." Alchemist groaned as he reviewed those last few thoughts. "I could probably cut myself on all of that edge..."
Pulling his phone out of his pocket, Alchemist flipped that open with one hand as he navigated the Game Shop with the other.
That... was about the limit on his current multitasking, however. He placed an order on the Game Shop for a handful of items. Mostly plants. Stone Flowers and Snowberries from the world of Nirn.
Then one spell. He'd been intending on purchasing a specific spell from Morrowind but the shop didn't have it available.
Instead of Surpassing Sublime Wisdom, there was just-
~~ Fortify Skill ~~
~~ Improves the selected skills effects by (Spell Level/4)% for 60 seconds! ~~
~~ Cost: 60 MP ~~
~~ Price: 1,206 GP ~~
-which would probably be good enough, with a bit of work.
Closing the windows that confirmed his purchases, Alchemist actually found that he was looking forward to the upcoming projects. A bit of enchanting, some potioneering...
The only thing to worry about was finding the time to focus on everything!
"...Hello?" a voice said from Alchemist's phone. A girl's voice. Tiffany's voice. "Alchemist? It's kinda late. And I have school tomorrow."
"I know, Penny. Sorry to call you so late, just got a few things finished up and I had something I needed to ask you." All of which was true.
That Tiffany was actually Alchemist's third choice didn't really need to be said, did it?
"...What?" the girl asked after several seconds of silence.
"I got a text from Wonder Woman the other day, asking for a spar so she could blow off some steam. The problem is that a good spar for her tends to be kind of... destructive?" Alchemist didn't bring up the fact that their last fight could have brought the underworld down on Hades's head. "I was wondering if you might be willing to take the both of us to the Zombie I.D. so we don't break anything important."
"...Fine," Tiffany groaned after a moment of consideration. "But I want your help with the Wind I.D. afterwards. There's this stupid robot blocking the path to the boss. And I tried diplomacy. It didn't work this time."
"I would be happy to help," Alchemist told the girl, genuinely meaning it. "I'll text Wonder Woman and start coordinating things."
There was some moderate grumbling from Tiffany's end of things, along with a spring squeaking rather loudly before the girl hung up on him.
Stowing his phone away, Alchemist stood up and stretched.
One step complete, countless more to go...
Disclaimer Me Do: I own nothing you recognize. And most of what you don't recognize, I still don't own.
_________________________________________________________________________
21/11/2010
Jinx felt nervous as the minutes crawled past.
She, Kary, Yuffie and all of the dolls and all of the familiars were in the demi-plane.
Waiting.
Alright, Yuffie was sleeping. And the familiars and the creepy-ass dolls were parked in front of the television.
But Jinx and Kary were waiting.
If things went well? If things went well, today would just be a slow, anxiety-filled over-reaction. Everyone had been on edge, constantly worrying over what would go wrong.
Jinx sighed in agitation, her claws clack-clack-clacking as she kept on tap-tap-tapping them on the enchanting table she'd put in the workshop in the demi-plane. She'd been exploring how different spells that she knew could turn into different enchantments.
Or at least, she wanted to explore how the magic worked.
There wasn't some simple menu where she could just select an item, select an enchantment, feed it a soul gem and be done with it. She had to actually put in effort, she had to mold the magic and then tether it to an item herself. If she got distracted after she started painting with the magic inside of a soul gem, the magic would just dissipate.
Lost. Wasted. Gone.
Jinx had burned through nearly a dozen soul gems before giving up on practicing. Kary, in contrast to her usual happy-go-lucky attitude in the face of a potential threat, was quietly seated on a rolling stool with a whetstone in hand.
The soft, drawn out shhh-hik of metal and stone was grating on Jinx's ears but she refused to let it get to her.
It wasn't Kary bothering her. It was her nerves.
Kary saw to her weapons. Jinx fretted. Alchemist was a mix of the two.
All day, Jinx had watched him pace around a room, stop for a bit to try and read a scroll about seeing or hearing from a distance, get back up and pace, sit back down and read. Over and over and over.
She knew he didn't act like that in front of the Justice League but, well, he saw them as... colleagues? Or something close to that. He didn't hide who he was for them but he... contained habits in front of them that Jinx would bet he'd been told were annoying.
And they were. Pacing, finger tapping, the way one of his legs would bounce if he was bored or agitated. All of those were annoying.
And yet, here Jinx was. Tapping her claws while nervously waiting for the other shoe to drop. She didn't know which would be worse.
Things going right? From the outside, that would be ideal... but it demanded trust. Worse, it demanded faith.
Things going wrong? If things went wrong, it would also put all of the cards on the table. Eliminate doubt. That kind of thing.
"...Does it ever get better?" Jinx found herself asking, twisting her neck to look at the devil instead of the strangely glowing symbols on the table.
"Yes..." Kary said as she ran her whetstone along the length of her cursed blade. "And no."
"...That's really helpful," Jinx responded, sarcasm thick in her voice. "Thank you. So much."
"...The first time I was killed, Jinx, it was to a party consisting of a fighter, a black mage, a white mage and a monk," Kary's voice was soft and gentle as she put down her whetstone and began to explain herself. "I had slain a dozen such groups already and, each time, reality would reset and reassert. I had learned to feel it as they traversed my volcano. In time, I could even sense it when they would kill my weaker sibling, the Lich, and restore life to the portion of the world that he was rotting away in."
Jinx was giving the fallen angel her full attention now. A fact that Kary seemed to appreciate given the small smirk that played across her lips.
"At that time, success or defeat meant very little to me. I would remember it, I would even act on it but..." Kary brought her free hand up and lightly tapped the side of her temple. "It never truly made any impact. I would repeat the same lines, use the same attacks, cycle after cycle after cycle."
Jinx kept silent, letting Kary speak. It pulled her thoughts away from Alchemist, one of him anyway, sitting on the couch in the cabin on the mountain with his game shop open in front of him, just waiting for Poseidon to take offense.
Just waiting to drag the god somewhere else, somewhere he couldn't escape from. Somewhere he wouldn't have an ocean full of hostages.
"After I truly awakened, I began to feel doubt. Fear," Kary's voice had gotten softer, somber as she admitted to something that many would consider a weakness. "It would grow greater and greater with every passing hour. Sometimes I would flee from my post. It offered only a momentary reprieve before the broken loop of time would reset itself. Even that was no true promise of safety, Jinx. The four warriors, they would always find a ship that could sail the skies. Often enough they would hunt me, to fulfill destiny and prophecy alike by ripping the essence of fire from my dying corpse. Sometimes, they would give up and the world would break once more, sending me back to the volcano to await the heroes."
"That sounds... horrific," Jinx whispered, intended for herself but easily heard by the fallen angel in the stifling silence.
"I found my own freedom," Kary stated, her smirk growing wide into a true smile. "And I've discovered things I never thought I could experience. So this? The waiting? It does get better. You learn how to handle it. How to keep yourself busy. It does nothing for the mounting fear but, the faster you can while away the hours, the sooner what you fear may come to pass."
Jinx sighed, her head drooping as she deflated.
It wasn't what she wanted to hear but... it sounded honest. It sounded like halfway decent advice.
Turning around to face the enchanting table again, Jinx extracted a filled soul gem and a blank ring.
She couldn't make things go faster but she could at least try and be productive.
"...And the few times I tried to burn down the world did not go well," Kary continued after a moment, her idle musings all too loud in Jinx's sensitive ears. "The world would usually break and reset before I'd brought flame to more than a few villages. Though, the elf village was always the prettiest when aflame..."
And there it was. The suggestion that she burn something down.
Jinx sighed again, though it had a bit more fondness than frustration this time around.
At least she could rely on Kary to be consistent...
-----
Orm did not glare at the guards at his sides as he was led into the Temple of Poseidon. The fools knew nothing of what they were doing but their affront, while damning, was at least professional.
He had no intentions of punishing them too harshly. Once this particular circus was dealt with, he would need that same adherence to orders after he rose to his rightful place.
The people watching around the cordon did not jeer. Men and women alike watched on with wary curiosity. Even the children knew enough to keep their incessant wailing to a minimum.
Orm placed one foot before the other, slowing the matter as he walked along the ocean floor.
As was his right.
The quiet muttering from the populace, the silent gazes the clerics of the temple, it all weighed on him. It told him that this relic of a bygone era needed to be removed. Replaced.
"Keep. Moving," the guard on Orm's left demanded tersely, the crab-armored man's spear slamming into the ground to emphasize his demand.
"I am," Orm told the guard, slowing his pace even further.
They'd forced him into a white toga and stripped him of his royal adornments. An inexcusable affront, demanding that he walk among the commoners without any indication of his station. All so he could stand before some priest and hear the canned 'judgement' forced upon him by Orin and his damned wife.
Continuing forward in silence, Orm was met with the great doors that would lead into the heart of the temple. A pair of priestesses stepped into place to open them, doing so in near-perfect sync.
The prince did not bother to hide his sneer at both of the women's rather visible... deformities. One was covered over in blue scales with a pair of eye-spots on her cheeks. The other had vaguely transparent skin and small pads along her arms that would likely be suckers.
At least those of ill-blood were serving, rather than making ridiculous claims and demanding they be known as 'king'.
Orm sniffed in irritation at the turn his thoughts had gone.
'King' Nanaue had proven, time and again, to be far too strong for the numerous assassination attempts Orm had sent his way. A pity, really.
Stepping into the amphitheater, Orm froze in shock.
He'd been expecting to see the elder priest, standing in front of the old altar and mumbling uselessly as was his wont. Perhaps Orin would be somewhere nearby, looking sad or angry or whatever other excessive display he wished to put on for those watching.
Instead he found Orin kneeling at the head of a procession of the clergy. The elder priest at his right and various clerics and priestesses equally prostrated around the center stage. Upon which stood an absolutely massive man, wearing only a bronze-colored skirt and bracers with his arms crossed.
Orm felt something sour on the back of his tongue as he began to realize that this entire procession was not merely for show.
They'd summoned Poseidon. The true ruler of the sea, the lord over all Atlanteans!
The prince's knees trembled as he walked into the room, his guards left behind at the door.
Swallowing thickly, Orm's eyes were locked on the god as he stepped into the room. The man opened his mouth-
"Orm. Son of Atlanna. Prince of Atlantis," Poseidon intoned, interrupting Orm before he could utter so much as a single syllable. "You stand before me, accused of great and terrible acts. Sedition, treason, the attempted murder of your living family and the undermining of the lawful authority in these seas. What say you in your defense?"
"My-my lord," Orm struggled to get out, the immense power of the god's gaze nearly dragging him to his knees! "The, the bloodline has been tainted. A half-breed sits upon the throne- commands our people! This affront cannot stand, it will destroy the history, the purity of-"
Orm was cut off by Poseidon chuckling. It was not some joyous sound.
Rather, it was dark and frightfully mocking.
"There is no 'purity'. Not in Orin. Not in you. None here can make such a bold claim, boy." Poseidon sighed and stepped past Orin's kneeling frame, his every step reverberating through the waters as though the god were far, far larger than he appeared. "Thousands of years. Hundreds of generations. There are urchins, begging on the streets, who have a greater claim to my blood than you."
With every step closer that the god took, the pressure on Orm grew greater and greater. It was not long before the prince's resolve broke and he sank to his knees. That his eyes, so defiant, were forced to look down as his head was bowed.
At least, until Poseidon grabbed the man's chin and forced his to look up at the now-kneeling god.
Orm had long thought that the gods had receded from interacting with humans because they were too powerful. Too alien. That they did not- could not comprehend lesser mortals.
Looking into Poseidon's cold, hard eyes?
He was wrong. He realized what he'd assumed was the opposite to the truth.
Poseidon was not inhuman. No, the god was -too- human. The depths of disappointment, of pity... they were far too deep. Far more than Orm could feel. Deeper, he assumed, than any human could feel.
"Royalty or not, you are one of mine. Not a child, not a grandchild, you are far too distant but you are still of my blood. All of Atlantis is," Poseidon's voice held clear regret, obvious for all around the chamber to hear. "And it pains me so to see one of my people fall so far. Succumb to such weakness."
Poseidon let go and, despite his best efforts, Orm could not hold up his head to watch the god. Instead he had to rely on his other senses. He could feel it as the god stood up and began to walk back to the dais. He could hear the deep impact of his every step.
Hear the regret in Poseidon's voice.
"You have committed terrible acts in pursuit of your goals. Turned magic and blade upon the people you were meant to protect. These can not be overlooked, Orm, Son of Atlanna." As Poseidon spoke, there was a new weight, a new pressure building up in the water. "And yet? There is greatness within you. Ambition and power that ought be turned toward the prosperity of your people. Instead of wasting this by taking away your freedom, of leaving you to rot in a prison where you would accomplish nothing..."
The power, something deeper and far more real than the magic that was Orm's birthright, tore into the man. He screamed, or at least he tried to, but no sound escaped his lips.
"I take from you that which you most cherish," Poseidon declared, his words crashing over Orm like a tidal wave. "No longer are you Orm, Son of Atlanna. This man never existed. There is no brother to Orin, Son of Atlanna. No prince, lying in wait to claim Atlantis in the event of the king's death. At least..."
He could feel it as Poseidon's head turned because the waters churned with the action. Swirling around him, taking away his name, his history...
"How fortuitous. As one is lost? Another is born."
He fought, his back and neck trembling with the effort as he looked to Poseidon and then followed the god's gaze to an observation box.
To where Mera was bent over and holding her abdomen.
"You are free to leave, lost son of Atlantis," Poseidon declared as he stepped past the ritual stage, grabbing a large platter of meat as he went. "None shall impede your path. This is the last mercy I can offer you, that any here shall offer you. Find your path, reclaim your honor and name... or don't. Continue as you are, continue as you were. You will die in obscurity, forgotten by man and god alike."
He stood as the pressure in the waters faded. He stood, reduced.
Looking down at his hands, he felt as though he were a stranger wearing someone else's flesh.
"...Very well, prisoner." Orin's voice broke him out of his spiraling thoughts. "You are free to go."
Looking at him, he could see no recognition in Orin's eyes. Turning towards his...
He didn't know. The nameless man looked into the various stands, looking for someone, anyone who recognized him. That he could recognize.
His breathing grew fast and panicked and he had to close his eyes to keep his vision from swimming.
Names! He knew the names of the people around him! He recognized Nanaue, Orin, the armored form of Vapyre as she hurried after the retreating queen but...
Who were they to him?
Who...
Who was he?
-----
Alchemist leaned forward in his seat, watching as... well, he wasn't quite sure who he was watching leave.
Which was rather curious as he knew he'd known their identity just moments earlier. Before Poseidon had made his proclamation.
An Unnaming.
It was... an all too disconcerting thing, being aware that someone had just ceased to be in every way that mattered. Mages had access to such a spell but it was an excruciatingly difficult piece of magic that required tracking down and knowing the true name of a target. The results were more final if used by a wizard, supposedly causing a total cessation of existence.
The man who was stumbling towards the exit of the temple certainly still existed. At least, physically.
There was also the Ritual of Re-Naming but, like Unname, that was a ninth level spell and Alchemist wasn't in the mood for an instant quest just to get yet-another incredible weapon that he couldn't actually use outside of highly specific circumstances.
And Alchemist was left wondering what other impacts the unnaming would have had. Whatever crimes the individual had performed, what were they? Who had been impacted? The prisoner had to have been someone of high-standing, Alchemist couldn't have gotten the queen to...
He... had gotten the queen to...
"This has to be one of the most disconcerting events I've been forced to witness," Nanaue grumbled, the massive shark-man leaning forward on the edge of his seat, just like the wizard. "I can't even remember why I'm here!"
"Yeah..." Alchemist agreed as he brought up both hands to rub at his temples, to try and soothe the building migraine. "Someone important did something really stupid but... I can't remember what."
With so many important people in attendance, with Queen Mera so close to her due date, Alchemist was honestly surprised that Ocean Mas-
The mage hissed in agony as a spike of fire lanced through his skull, right behind his right eye.
Okay. He was going to have to poke and prod at that very, very carefully. Preferably in another reality.
Alchemist didn't know who had been unnamed but, judging by the glaring holes in his memory as he tried to think on it and the sudden shooting pain as he thought about one of the cartoon villains? He could put together an idea.
It would just be stupidly painful.
He now had a deifically enforced info-hazard sitting inside of his brain.
Fun.
"They must have been a member of the nobility," Kaldur added as the young man stood from his seat. Alchemist did the same, he still had something he needed to do. "Calling forth Poseidon to pass judgement is not something to be done lightly. I cannot recall the last time a prisoner was judged within these walls."
"That would've been about three-hundred years ago," Nanaue rumbled, his nostrils flaring as he spoke. "And the queen is gone. Feh! Couldn't be bothered to wait for the closing ceremony?"
"She has a baby kicking her in the bladder," Alchemist returned as he began to walk down the stairs to the main hall. "I'm surprised she stuck it out as long as she did."
"...Fair," the massive Atlantean grumbled, turning right as Alchemist and Kaldur turned left.
Honestly? Alchemist found King Sha'ark much more tolerable than he'd anticipated. Short and terse, maybe a bit hung up on stabbing things but the man was direct and no fan of politics or subterfuge.
Passing through the amphitheater, Alchemist nodded to a few of the priests and waved at Arthur as he headed towards the chamber that Poseidon had claimed.
Aquaman really could have done with someone like Nanaue in his childhood. Mera was a wonderful woman and a fantastic sorceress but she just wasn't direct. At all.
The wizard raised his hand, ready to knock on the door-
"Enter!" but didn't need to bother as Poseidon clearly knew that the wizard was on the way.
Hardly a surprise, Alchemist mused as he pushed open the old stone door and stepped through, Kaldur dogging his heels. Poseidon was not the eldest among his siblings but he was the eldest of the three kings and, unlike Zeus or Hades, his divine claim upon the seas was not an assumed title.
It was a recognition of fact.
Poseidon, still three meters tall, lounged upon a massive throne within the audience chamber. The platter of raw pork was placed haphazardly over the god-king's lap and-
Well, Kaldur might be enjoying the show but Alchemist really didn't need to see so much sausage.
"You know," Poseidon spoke, his voice far lower and much less commanding. "I typically do not interact with your kind, Gamer. Watching as you and yours gutter and burn out has become tedious and tiresome. I should hope that you, at least, prove yourself interesting."
"Well, I'd like to think I am," Alchemist told the god as he reached into his inventory and extracted a single, pure-white feather almost as long as his arm. "It depends on how much you're willing to listen."
The pegasi shed. A lot.
"...That depends on what you have to say," Poseidon said, fully serious as he placed his feet on the ground and leaned over his platter of bloody meat. "Starting with an explanation for where you found that."
"I picked up a bunch of winged horses on the island of Sarpedon," Alchemist told the god as he placed the massive feather back in his inventory. "I was hoping you might be interested in taking them off my hands."
"Hah!" Poseidon crowed, leaning back on his throne before waving a pork leg at Alchemist and Kaldur. "I knew you were going to be interesting! Anyone that can bleed my brother has to be."
"Speaking of your brother..." Alchemist began to say before pausing as Poseidon bit into the ham leg.
The savage went all the way through the bone, chewing with his mouth open.
"I was going to ask that, when events come to a head-"
"I will not assist you, mortal," Poseidon declared, speaking through a mouth full of food. "Your grievances, however justified, will be of no concern within a mere century. We gods have much longer memories, however."
"That's fine," Alchemist said, shaking his head from side to side slightly. "I wasn't going to ask for you to fight for me. Or on my behalf. I was going to ask-"
"I will not be arming you, either," Poseidon interrupted him again.
Alchemist gritted his teeth, clenching his jaw at the mounting disrespect.
"What I want," Alchemist began, his tone darkening. "Is for you to stay out of my way."
"Alchemist!" Kaldur hissed, literally stepping away from the wizard.
"...That's all?" Poseidon asked, dropping his bloody meal back down onto his plate and sending the mage a crimson smile. "Well, why didn't you just say so? I can easily be convinced to do nothing!"
Alchemist reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"...Where do you want me to leave your flock of pegasi?" Alchemist asked, moving on to something that would hopefully be productive.
"Just take them back to Sarpedon," Poseidon idly commanded as he picked up a set of pigs feet. With a loud 'Crack!' that echoed through the water, he split it apart into smaller pieces. "I'll collect them soon."
Alchemist spun on his heel, more than ready to leave.
And equally ready to not have the pegasi defecating while flying in his demi-plane. Cleaning horseapples off of his roof was downright ridiculous!
"Zeus is still furious about you, you know?" Poseidon asked, popping several chunks of pig into his mouth and loudly crunching through them. "Whatever you used to injure him? It's still bleeding. Despite Apollo's efforts to seal the wounds."
"...I see," Alchemist answered, calm as a placid lake.
That... was actually some rather valuable information.
"Thank you for telling me," Alchemist said, offering a brief wave over his shoulder. "I'll have your children returned to Sarpedon soon."
"What was that?!" Kaldur whispered frantically into Alchemist's ear as they left the god's chamber. "What did you do to Zeus?!"
Alchemist looked up, to the moonlight that was still filtering through the open roof of the temple.
After a long moment spent in thought, Alchemist finally answered, "...I made him bleed, Kaldur."
-----
Poseidon thickly swallowed as the mortals left him to his own devices. The god idly brought another chunk of raw meat to his mouth and bit through tendon and bone alike as he thought on the... thing that he'd spoken with.
It was easy enough to tell that it had been human. Once.
The mannerisms were all there. The little, guttering spark that Zeus had left the mortals with, the tiniest fragment of divinity required for the mewling beasts to comprehend and have Faith was still present.
But the little plaything had buried itself in steel and scales to try and hide from its fear. Touched on dark, wicked things. Magics best left forgotten...
There was a reason that none of the gods had cared to assist Hecate in returning to the mortal realm.
Poseidon almost felt fear for his youngest brother. Whatever he'd angered, it had the echoes still screaming around it of slain gods. Something as old as them.
Older, perhaps.
But most curious of all?
Gaia's little plaything could still -reason-. It had kept itself in check, even as Poseidon had disrespected it at every turn. It was willing to barter, to bargain, to know... or at least guess at what would be too far beyond whatever courtesy Poseidon was willing to extend.
The little dragon hadn't even bothered with trickery or subversion. It had simply offered him what it thought Poseidon might want and, in truth, asked for very little in return.
Were Poseidon younger, he might have chosen to take offense.
Asking for basically nothing? From a god so grand as he?!
But Poseidon was not some rapacious youth. If one of Gaia's toys thought that Poseidon's inaction was something worth trading for? He would graciously accept.
The mortal had tempered its desires with caution and wariness. It understood that removing an actor from the field was an ultimate goal, the method was secondary. And it had removed Poseidon from the field of its future conflict without needing either tooth or claw.
He rarely had need of such skills any longer, what with Athena claiming the roles he once fulfilled, but the tactician within Poseidon approved. Where it had been possible, he'd done the same during the Titanomachia. Convincing some of his aunts and uncles to withdraw from the field of battle had likely been a key reason for so many of his siblings surviving to rule over Olympus.
Such a shame that Zeus had made an enemy that was willing to plan and prepare instead of rushing headlong against him.
Tearing into one of the pork haunches that remained, Poseidon let a bloody smile stretch across his face.
He almost felt sorry for his youngest brother.
Almost.
-----
As Alchemist tried to politely excuse himself away from Kaldur so the young man could rejoin the queen's guard, the second Alchemist that was hidden upon his mountain breathed a deep sigh of relief.
He'd succeeded. He hadn't gotten everything he'd wanted but he'd succeeded at accomplishing his core goal.
He'd been hoping to try and swing an introduction to Athena but, given how dismissive Poseidon had been acting? Alchemist hadn't been willing to press his luck.
Looking up to the ceiling overhead, Alchemist couldn't contain a weak chuckle.
Go big or go home?
Alchemist had chosen to go home.
Threading a hand into his hair as he practically melted on his couch, Alchemist could barely contain the sense of relief he felt.
Zeus was overwhelmingly powerful but there were ways around that. Whether or not they would work, Alchemist didn't actually know. But at least there were options when it came to straight force.
Hades had no love for Zeus and that served Alchemist just fine. The corpulent god of the dead had been key in combating the titans during the Titanomachia, birthing great and terrible beasts from his own flesh to bring down his elders.
The mage honestly would not be surprised if Cerberus was one such creature.
Poseidon, though? Aside from having phenomenal power such as dominion over natural cataclysms, earthquakes, storms and the very seas? Poseidon knew how to handle a war. He understood combat and conflict in a manner only bested by the gods of war.
Removing him from the board probably cut the risks of assaulting Olympus by half!
There was still a significant number of issues to address, concerns to look at and debate but there was one less, now.
Reaching up, Alchemist closed the window he'd opened in the Game Shop that would've taken the wizard to a planet called Golarion, to a place known as the World Wound. A place where the gods were reduced and their divinity so often just out of reach.
A blighted hellscape where hope went to die and an all-too-fitting grave for a god.
"Ugh..." Alchemist groaned as he reviewed those last few thoughts. "I could probably cut myself on all of that edge..."
Pulling his phone out of his pocket, Alchemist flipped that open with one hand as he navigated the Game Shop with the other.
That... was about the limit on his current multitasking, however. He placed an order on the Game Shop for a handful of items. Mostly plants. Stone Flowers and Snowberries from the world of Nirn.
Then one spell. He'd been intending on purchasing a specific spell from Morrowind but the shop didn't have it available.
Instead of Surpassing Sublime Wisdom, there was just-
~~ Fortify Skill ~~
~~ Improves the selected skills effects by (Spell Level/4)% for 60 seconds! ~~
~~ Cost: 60 MP ~~
~~ Price: 1,206 GP ~~
-which would probably be good enough, with a bit of work.
Closing the windows that confirmed his purchases, Alchemist actually found that he was looking forward to the upcoming projects. A bit of enchanting, some potioneering...
The only thing to worry about was finding the time to focus on everything!
"...Hello?" a voice said from Alchemist's phone. A girl's voice. Tiffany's voice. "Alchemist? It's kinda late. And I have school tomorrow."
"I know, Penny. Sorry to call you so late, just got a few things finished up and I had something I needed to ask you." All of which was true.
That Tiffany was actually Alchemist's third choice didn't really need to be said, did it?
"...What?" the girl asked after several seconds of silence.
"I got a text from Wonder Woman the other day, asking for a spar so she could blow off some steam. The problem is that a good spar for her tends to be kind of... destructive?" Alchemist didn't bring up the fact that their last fight could have brought the underworld down on Hades's head. "I was wondering if you might be willing to take the both of us to the Zombie I.D. so we don't break anything important."
"...Fine," Tiffany groaned after a moment of consideration. "But I want your help with the Wind I.D. afterwards. There's this stupid robot blocking the path to the boss. And I tried diplomacy. It didn't work this time."
"I would be happy to help," Alchemist told the girl, genuinely meaning it. "I'll text Wonder Woman and start coordinating things."
There was some moderate grumbling from Tiffany's end of things, along with a spring squeaking rather loudly before the girl hung up on him.
Stowing his phone away, Alchemist stood up and stretched.
One step complete, countless more to go...
This is a cool story, and Imma read the chapter but first ...
Chapter 256 (00FF)
256 is 0100 not 00FF
Does your count start at 0 or 1? Because 16 times 16 is coming up as 256 in my calculator.
Edit: But running those numbers through a programming calculator is coming up as 100, so it looks like you're right.
Ah well, there goes my joke.
Thanks for pointing it out!
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