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Ring-Maker [Worm/Lord of the Rings Alt-Power] [Complete]

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So of all the ways this chapter could have gone, sword fighting off a trigger sure wasn't one I would have expected! Oddly, it still feels exactly like something Taylor would do, if she could!

Though I'm curious about the horror she claims about the entities/shards, given she agreed-ish with Emma's accusation of only helping Sophia due to her power. Is Tayron going to use her new mace to smack the triggers out of her bearers? ;)
 
Lithos Maitreya said:
There was something I'd much prefer—a tool with which I could subjugate entire nations, and bend armies to my will.

Forging that would require more than this little workshop, however, and more time than I had right now. It would need a place of immense power, and time enough to properly focus on the task, neither of which I had at the moment.
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Taylor seems a lot more comfortable with the One Ring than she was previously.
 
Honestly, I don't see the issue with Taylor going full Sauron.

This isn't flawed, yet beautiful and vibrant Middle Earth. This is Earth Bet, where heroes die, and even the Dark Lord of Mordor will be hard pressed to do more harm than good in any campaign to forcibly reorganize the world.
 
JuliusClonkus said:
Honestly, I don't see the issue with Taylor going full Sauron.

This isn't flawed, yet beautiful and vibrant Middle Earth. This is Earth Bet, where heroes die, and even the Dark Lord of Mordor will be hard pressed to do more harm than good in any campaign to forcibly reorganize the world.
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Yeah. You know your world is the ass end of the multiverse when you can look at the coming of the Literal Dark Lord and say "Huh, I think this world might actually have a chance for improvement!" :V

It take some major effort on Taylor's part to make things worse.
 
Lithos Maitreya said:
I twitched. "Is…. How is he?"
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It seems like she just remembered Danny when Sophia brought him up. I doubt she will ask about him without outside prompt because Danny's betrayal cuts too deep and she's too far in Sauron's head space right now. That twitch is between reflexive guilt from not remembering her dad being in the epicenter of her Awakening, or pain and anger from the remembered betrayal. Most likely the first. Maybe.

The fact that she proceeded to think of the best ways to murder the villains afterwards showed how high Danny's well-being on her priority list, which is lower than finding Narsil. At least he's not an unperson in Taylor's POV like Emma? She's very close to cutting him off like she did Emma, though.
 
unsanity said:
Does Heartbreaker have a kill order? I honestly forget.
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He doesn't, because it's suspected that his Master effects are permanent, and then there will be hundreds of sleeper agents across the country that will cause massive amounts of damage in revenge. Plus, he's just lazy and has no ambitions beyond maintaining a harem and keeping a low profile. Heartbreaker is like Lung and Panacea: an incredibly strong power that went to a host the shards picked because the person was disinclined to use it to it's full extent unless pushed by others. From this we can conclude that these shards have been stress-tested enough and are only in the cycle to stress-test *other* shards.

People joke about Lung being the 'level one boss fight', but I think this is quite literally true. People gain powers tailored not just to their situation and trigger event, but also their personality, and a lot of the stronger natural capes lack the drive and ambition that those with weaker powers have. Lung is the perfect example of this. He gets stronger the longer the fight goes on, thereby always providing a challenge to others, but doesn't go out of his way to start fights after he's seized his initial territory. Instead, his shard influences him into parking himself slap bang in the middle of one of the cape capitals of the US and daring everyone to fight him. The harder they fight him, and the more capes that do so, the stronger he gets and the faster he escalates.

WoG says that Nilbog being content to sit in Ellisberg and not try to break out means that his shard is broken, it's been stress-tested enough and has another role in the cycle, or both of those. Glaistig Uaine killed many capes and harvested their powers, but most of those were from the cape teams that were sent to capture or kill her, and then afterwards she turned herself in and voluntarily went to the Birdcage. Sleeper barely does anything at all, and is one of the strongest capes in the world. Assuming Nilbog isn't broken, or not *just* broken, that means that the six strongest natural capes in canon (that we know about) are all people that don't do nearly as much with their powers as they could. I'd say that's fairly conclusive evidence that shards pick their hosts very carefully indeed.

Hmm, that went off on a bit of a tangent, didn't it?
 
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JackTheBaxter said:
He doesn't, because it's suspected that his Master effects are permanent, and then there will be hundreds of sleeper agents across the country that will cause massive amounts of damage in revenge. Plus, he's just lazy and has no ambitions beyond maintaining a harem and keeping a low profile. Heartbreaker is like Lung and Panacea: an incredibly strong power that went to a host the shards picked because the person was disinclined to use it to it's full extent unless pushed by others. From this we can conclude that these shards have been stress-tested enough and are only in the cycle to stress-test *other* shards.

People joke about Lung being the 'level one boss fight', but I think this is quite literally true. People gain powers tailored not just to their situation and trigger event, but also their personality, and a lot of the stronger natural capes lack the drive and ambition that those with weaker powers have. Lung is the perfect example of this. He gets stronger the longer the fight goes on, thereby always providing a challenge to others, but doesn't go out of his way to start fights after he's seized his initial territory. Instead, his shard influences him into parking himself slap bang in the middle of one of the cape capitals of the US and daring everyone to fight him. The harder they fight him, and the more capes that do so, the stronger he gets and the faster he escalates.

WoG says that Nilbog being content to sit in Ellisberg and not try to break out means that his shard is broken, it's been stress-tested enough and has another role in the cycle, or both of those. Glaistig Uaine killed many capes and harvested their powers, but most of those were from the cape team that were sent to capture or kill her, and then afterwards she turned herself in and voluntarily went to the Birdcage. Sleeper barely does anything at all, and is one of the strongest capes in the world. Assuming Nilbog isn't broken, or not *just* broken, that means that the six strongest natural capes in canon (that we know about) are all people that don't do nearly as much with their powers as they could. I'd say that's fairly conclusive evidence that shards pick their hosts very carefully indeed.

Hmm, that went off on a bit of a tangent, didn't it?
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It's a theory I've heard before, and I tend to agree with it. Parahumans and hosts in general need things which they can use their powers for, and of course, one of them is attacking other much stronger but more "sedentary" hosts like Lung.

Now onto another tangent. Do you folks remember when I brought up the idea of Lung being Mastered by Heartbreaker and then Taylor having to kill him, the closest Earth Bet has to an evil dragon using the Black Arrow and Belthrondig?

Taylor has Vilya, the Ring of Air and one of its abilities lets Taylor overwhelm the wills of people she can defeat in mental combat. This is something she is now incredibly good at, given the event of the last update and the mostly metaphorical nature of the fight with Queen Administrator. What if, in his time of need, to resist the machinations of Heartbreaker she offers to save Lung with the power of Vilya? Tricks him into her service.

And thus Taylor suddenly has a dragon, and the shitcake piles higher.
 
BungieONI said:
It's a theory I've heard before, and I tend to agree with it. Parahumans and hosts in general need things which they can use their powers for, and of course, one of them is attacking other much stronger but more "sedentary" hosts like Lung.

Now onto another tangent. Do you folks remember when I brought up the idea of Lung being Mastered by Heartbreaker and then Taylor having to kill him, the closest Earth Bet has to an evil dragon using the Black Arrow and Belthrondig?

Taylor has Vilya, the Ring of Air and one of its abilities lets Taylor overwhelm the wills of people she can defeat in mental combat. This is something she is now incredibly good at, given the event of the last update and the mostly metaphorical nature of the fight with Queen Administrator. What if, in his time of need, to resist the machinations of Heartbreaker she offers to save Lung with the power of Vilya? Tricks him into her service.

And thus Taylor suddenly has a dragon, and the shitcake piles higher.
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I think that's within the realm of possibility, considering her current mindset. Lung is yet to be on her shit list, so her inclination to murder the guy isn't there. Also, having Lung in her pocket means the ABB is practically hers so that's one criminal group down in BB.
 
acegunner said:
could dragon fire be used to forge the One?
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Galdalf says at the Council of Elrond that:
"It has been said that dragon-fire could melt and consume the Rings of Power, but there is not now any dragon left on earth in which the old fire is hot enough; nor was there ever any dragon, not even Ancalagon the Black, who could have harmed the One Ring, the Ruling Ring, for that was made by Sauron himself."
So I guess Lung would be a threat to the other Ring-Bearers, but wouldn't be able to harm the One Ring, which means he probably wouldn't be able to help smith it either. However, once Coil is consumed by Narya, and if Heartbreaker claims Lung, who is then freed by Annatar, that means she could have an indebted Lung. Considering that it looks like Annatar is tumbling down the slippery slope to acquiring MOAR POWER, she may end up giving Narya to Lung, and a dragon wearing the Ring of Fire, situated in a place of power (no idea where that might be at the moment) could indeed be used to help forge the One Ring.
Just a terrifying possibility for everyone to consider.
 
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JackTheBaxter said:
Galdalf says at the Council of Elrond that:
Gandalf said:
It has been said that dragon-fire could melt and consume the Rings of Power, but there is not now any dragon left on earth in which the old fire is hot enough; nor was there ever any dragon, not even Ancalagon the Black, who could have harmed the One Ring, the Ruling Ring, for that was made by Sauron himself."
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So I guess Lung would be a threat to the other Ring-Bearers, but wouldn't be able to harm the One Ring, which means he probably wouldn't be able to help smith it either. However, once Coil is consumed by Narya, and if Heartbreaker claims Lung, who is then freed by Annatar, that means she could have an indebted Lung. Considering that it looks like Annatar is tumbling down the slippery slope to acquiring MOAR POWER, she may end up giving Narya to Lung, and a dragon wearing the Ring of Fire, situated in a place of power (no idea where that might be at the moment) could indeed be used to help forge the One Ring.
Just a terrifying possibility for everyone to consider.
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Your quote is messed up.
 
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Hail Gurthang
  • Apocrypha
    • My muse found the flogging exciting tonight, so thus another Melkor Omake Theatre is spawned.

    -0-0-0-

    Is it not amusing? That my chains are the key to binding what I desire most? Melkor looked down at the futile struggles of the titan from the observation platform in one of Angband Incorporated's secret laboratories. He turned to the only other occupant of the platform with a raised eyebrow.

    "I sent six of you to retrieve the Silmaril, which you alone have. What of the others?"

    "They did not survive the confrontation. They did not embrace the shadow and flame as I have." The Head of Security of Utumno International shrugged, nearly causing his tailored suit to explode from the muscle movement alone. "We were fortunate to corner the host of the Jewel before any official notice could be taken and there were no surviving witnesses."

    Raising an eyebrow at the comment initially, Melkor mentally filed it away as of low consequence. " Angainor will bind it until I have extracted the Jewel. You have done well Balrog. But I believe a recruitment drive will be necessary to fill some positions now. HR had mentioned some interesting prospects in Brockton Bay... but that can wait for now." As Balrog walked off, Melkor took the opposite tack proceeding to a private forge.

    He grinned as he took the black ingots of meteoric iron and a great dark hammer in hand. Melkor then began to sing as he worked the metal. A song of clashing blades, of battles dark, despairing determination and of an unslaked thirst. Thus, with a final hammer blow and the hiss of quenching steel, did Melkor bind Death and Doom into a single blade, black as the Void. Smiling as he beheld his work, Melkor spoke once more.

    "Hail Gurthang, Iron of Death."
     
  • Apocrypha
    • Eh, like I mentioned, Melkor has a more immediate hobby than whatever a former lieutenant is getting up to in Brockton Bay. Those Silmarils are a bitch to extract from Endbringers, so you gotta use something that causes whatever it makes bleed to die to core that apple. :D

    But in regards to Brockton Bay, Grue (sorry Fume) is all about shadow...

    Melkor: "Want a job? And a way to really up that shadow voodoo you do so well? Oh yeah, hey Lung, ever thought about being a father TO dragons?"
     
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    WanderingAirhead said:
    This is really, truly incredibly sad. Her dad is lying there, possibly dead. She reaches for the ring without a second thought. Also I was quite certain that he was dead here. At this point I don't even know if it's a good thing that he turned out alive...
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    To be fair, goingfor the Ring first made sense. If he was alive, then the Ring was her best option for having a chance to save him.
     
    Kinda shortsighted of Melkor. Remaking the sword that's destined to kill him and all. Then again he never did have the best track record of thinking ahead.
     
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