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With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)

Discussion in 'Creative Writing' started by Mr Zoat, Jan 27, 2019.

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  1. Threadmarks: Tower Offence (part 16)
    Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    8th November 2012
    12:03 GMT -5


    Urisk looks understandably nervous to have me standing so close.

    What do you say to someone whose arm you've cut off? 'Sorry' isn't right, as it would imply that I now think that it wasn't the correct thing to do. And I think it was the correct thing to do, as a compromise to just taking his assault or killing him. 'I regret the necessity' is honest, but a little inhuman. 'Are you alright' is a patently stupid thing to say to someone who has just lost their arms.

    "There." The glow ceases and Urisk checks his range of movement. "I hope that you are feeling-."

    "Ah."

    Urisk's pupils expands as he cringes, backing up as much as he can while still staying close enough to Dr. Balewa that he could dive behind him if I attacked.

    "No lasting damage, I hope?"

    Urisk uncringes slightly then freezes, waiting to see what I'll do.

    "If that's what you're worried about, I don't hold you responsible for what you-." I look around the crowd. "What any of you did while under the influence of the Anti-Life. If that's what you're worried about."

    Alan looks at me expectantly.

    "So I see no need to continue hostil-."

    "Paul."

    No, no, it's irrational, but it's basically just social lubricant and it might make him more willing to talk.

    "I'm sorry."

    "You apologise?"

    "It's not like I-" I dismiss my construct armour and send my armour back into subspace. "-like cutting people's arms off."

    And… They're short. So I sit down, affecting a pose of relaxation.

    Urisk doesn’t appear entirely sure what to make of that, but takes reassurance from Dr. Balewa's presence.

    "What do you want to know, great wizard?"

    "Our colleague, the one who looks like John Quinn. Where did he go?"

    "John..? Quinn..?"

    "He wears the golden helmet."

    "The Master-Magician." Urisk shakes his head. "No. He arrived later. The one who called us here looked like the demon's false-face."

    I blink in surprise. "John Constantine? John brought you here?"

    "The Laughing Magician. He was in pain. The crystals helped him stay himself, he said. He asked us to tend his gardens for him."

    "Did he force you to come here?"

    "No. No. We were relieved. Happy. Modern houses are full of electronics." He wrinkles his nose. "We find them uncomfortable. This place is nice, and we all know how to garden."

    "Did he pay you?"

    He hesitates slightly, then shakes his head. "Our needs are met. Amongst our kind, status come from the place where we work. For us, having the run of a place like this in the service of a wizard of such power is reward in itself."

    I glance at Dr. Balewa, who nods distractedly. Right, creatures of fae don't have the same drives as material humans. If having a nice and primitive place to live is what they want, I hope they're happy.

    "Where did the vines come from?"

    "He never said. He brought them here as crystal seeds, and we nurtured them."

    "What did he..? Do with them? To keep himself himself?"

    "He forced magic into them. Weakened himself, and collecting the magic infused crystal. He seemed happy when we got the largest gems. He said that he had plans for them. Then…" Urisk looks away from us, towards his huddled colleagues. "It is… I don't-."

    Alan kneels down and puts his right hand on Urisks's left shoulder.

    "He got you with the Anti-Life, didn't he?

    "I don't know the name. The Laughing Magician went away for several days, then… The other one arrived. He looked similar; we took him for the Laughing Magician's brother."

    "Did he look-. Or feel, demonic?"

    "No. We felt demon magic on him a few times, but he was no demon. Later on, he started visiting with the golden helmet."

    I nod. "John Quinn. Did you ever see him and the Laughing Magician together?"

    "No."

    Well that's… Quinn's story mostly out the window. If John didn't give him a tour…

    "Did the Laughing Magician take any crystals with him?"

    "Once the other one arrived, the Laughing Magician took no more crystals."

    "You called Quinn 'the other one' there, and not 'The Master-Magician'. Was that intentional?"

    "Yes. Since the Laughing Magician wasn't collecting crystals, we thought the other one might make us leave. Instead, he told us to expand. More of us came to the Tower of Fate then, and the gardens grew. He took some crystals for his work, and the rest we stored for him. Then…"

    Alan nods. "I think we can guess. Somewhere he ran into the Anti-Life."

    "We knew he had changed, but he was our host, and wizards can be strange in their ways. He took some crystals and experimented with them, and with the vines. And some other people were brought here."

    "Those three?"

    "Yes. And others."

    Oh great. "Did he say their names?"

    "No, but it sounded like they knew each other well. One of them… He felt like a hole in the universe. But… I think that by then we were affected as well."

    "Do you have access to the rest of the Tower of Fate?"

    "Yes, but that isn't our agreement. We tend the farms."

    "He did Anti-Life you. And if the Laughing Magician brought you here and was defeated, shouldn't you help him rather than the interloper?"

    "If the idea of fighting him offends you, simply lead us through the Tower and then leave. We will handle things from there."

    "Alright." Urisk nods. "We can do that. You will free the Laughing Magician and we will stay here, without the Anti-Life. Follow me."
     
    Last edited: Jul 27, 2022
  2. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    "our host"

    "by then we were"

    Hmm, maybe Dark Druid.

    Or someone from Apokolips.
     
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  3. Citizen

    Citizen Well worn.

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    'our'
     
  4. thebishop8

    thebishop8 Umm, ackchyually...

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    Onomatopoeia, Dark Druid, and Anton Arcane all should have been imprisoned in the Tower of Fate too.

    My first guess for who that could be is Johnny Sorrow. It's been a while since we've seen him.
     
  5. DrThoth

    DrThoth I trust you know where the happy button is?

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    What happened to the Key after Saudi Arabia? Was he killed or did Quinn get his hands on him somehow?
     
  6. Bramble Thorn

    Bramble Thorn Verified Silhouette

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    Johnny Sorrows?
     
  7. Chojin Patriarch

    Chojin Patriarch Veteran Lurker

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    Yes, rather awkward. Hopefully they don't hold the deaths of the ones you diced back there against you, either. Honestly, standing in the background and trying not to talk might be the best option here, if only to avoid those hefty Diplomacy penalties you racked up. :rolleyes:

    I swear, sometimes I think OL would have made one heck of a Yellow Lantern as much as he is a powerful Orange one. Ironic that the Renegade is so much better with Fear than Avarice at times...

    Aw, geez, he's like a kicked puppy... :(

    Yeah, as disingenuous as you might find it, an apology might go down better than your calm rationality.

    Ah, Alan. Seeing just what needs to be said. The joy of a century of experience.

    Yes, yes, you get that he's not really sincere. Can we just move on? You have your hands back, OL is feeling a little regretful... ;) Call it even?

    Not the most reassuring thing, since as a Lantern (or a wizard, which they probably see you as) you don't need to stand to hurt them.

    Yeah, best to let the Doctor handle things, I think. No Diplomacy penalties for him.

    To be fair, he might never have taken the helmet off in their presence. Not likely, given how uncomfortable the ol' bucket-head could be, but still...

    That surprises you, OL? John's hardly above making use of people. The issue would be whether they were fairly compensated.

    Hmm... So he used the crystals to... Drain off excess Chaos energies? Seriously, still betting this is actually part of the Gemworld... They were all for using magical crystals, after all.
    Edit: Okay, Order energies actually makes more sense. Less under John's control, and fundamentally opposed to his naturally-chaotic mindset...

    Heh. I bet they don't like modern appliances at all, huh? Wonder if it was an electromagnetic thing or just the noises they made, like a dog afraid of a vacuum cleaner?

    And they get to make themselves useful, which is probably a hard-wired drive, hence their mythical reputation for helping around the house.

    ...Okay, maybe the vines are from the Gemworld, then. Whatever their origin, Constantine clearly knew what he was doing with them...

    The question is then, what was he doing with the crystals after harvesting them? I doubt he'd keep them for himself, not if he was draining Chaos Order energy into them...

    A fair assumption. But did John do it of his own accord, or did someone else use him?

    Boy, not lessening the suspicion of Quinn being the Golden Boy any, huh?

    Hmm... Still a good likelihood of the 'memory-fueled homunculus' theory the Demon put forward too.

    I mean, that doesn't rule it out. Maybe he didn't feel the need to show this part off?

    At least that part of the timeline adds up.

    Presumably following what Constantine started, for whatever reasons.

    Prisoners in the Tower, certainly. But were there any others...

    Three down, at least three other prisoners we know of...

    Which makes the 'hole in the universe' thing entirely suspect. Perhaps their arcane perception was heightened by the infection, or it was a fluke of imagination...

    Guessing to allow some to leave and lead more Brownies there, if workers were needed, or at least to alert the 'master' to issues.

    Well, that's ultimately up to how all this ends up... Whoever ends up in charge of the Tower may not be interested in house-guests...

    Well, that went... Some questions answered, but more added. The identities of some of the additional players may be easy to guess (the other prisoners Fate secured in the Tower, for a start) but there may well be more than them involved. And who knows what was removed from the main part of the Tower while all this has been going on. I'm honestly amazed one of the dark wizards hasn't gone on a rampage with something from the Tower's mystical arsenal yet...
     
    Last edited: Jul 27, 2022
  8. AmericanNumbers

    AmericanNumbers Not too sore, are you?

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    Wait. There's possibly an Anti Life infected Johnny Sorrow there?

    They're going to need bigger guns.
     
  9. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    He was sent to New Genesis to be purged of the Anti-Life Equation by Highfather.
     
  10. Handlewithcare

    Handlewithcare Versed in the lewd.

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    So Regular!John set up the crystal thing, then Quinn showed up, then Quinn used the Helmet and finally ran into the Anti-Life?

    So Quinn wasn't made by Regularr!John at all but is an Impostor? Maybe from an Alternate?

    Or...he was made from the crystals?
     
  11. Vaermina

    Vaermina Well worn.

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    So basically this whole thing is LePaul's fault for sticking two conflicting energies into John Constantine.
     
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  12. Idkusername

    Idkusername Versed in the lewd.

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    Do you perhaps mean ‘patently’?
     
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  13. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    Age has nothing to do with it.

    Alan just isn't a dick with a stick up his ass like Paul is.

    Who knows; maybe it was enchanted to be comfortable.

    I'm betting he'd drained the Order energies, since I doubt he'd do well with them.

    Or they just don't like newfangled devices.

    He could have used them to make Quinn; a being aligned with Order.

    Or he may have been planning on keeping them around for the future in case he needed some extra power.

    Yes.

    Giovanni mentioned that Nabu fought a lot of threats, so the number of people or things that he imprisoned in the Tower is probably very, very big.

    Not if Quinn is keeping control over them.
     
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  14. Bud-E

    Bud-E Stand up so I can push you down!

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    I don't think Paul wanted John to become a Lord of Order. Something happened in the fight with Nabu that caused him to usurp Nabu's Order as well.
     
  15. Lord Ernest

    Lord Ernest At the End...

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    Let me see if I follow:

    John Constantine, newly appointed Lord of Chaos and owner of the Helmet of Fate feels like he's exploding apart.

    Goes to the Tower of Fate, comes up with a Constantine scheme to manage, gets some weird crystal seeds for a magical plant and creates a garden for them.

    Contacts/hires the brownies to tend to the garden while he pours his magical energy into the plants and crystals. Takes the crystals to conduct experiments of who-knows-what and, from the point of view of the brownies, disappears for a few days.

    John Quinn appears in the garden, to the confusion of the brownies, and appears to have the run of the place, later on even appearing with the Helmet of Fate, orders/manages the expansion of the garden and hires more brownies for it.

    He only takes a few crystals, but the brownies feel a change in him at some point, they even feel demon magic on him at times, and after just experimenting with the crystals and plants for a bit the Anti-Life infection appears in the garden.

    Other individuals appear as well after that, including our three present evil sorcerers, previously imprisoned under sole supervision of Nabu. Other possible prisoners are unaccounted for, and of the other individuals that appeared one is a "hole in the universe" or feels like it.

    After that, I would expect the Anti-Life justified the brownies and the aforementioned evil sorcerers so who knows what happened, but Quinn has still interacted with people while conducting the Anti-Life experiment in secret.

    Did I get all of these right or does somebody have a different reading of what the brownie described?
     
  16. moralrelativity

    moralrelativity Recovering pendant.

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    and -> or ?

    'A little inhuman'; then it's just right for you, Paul.
     
  17. NightmareWarden

    NightmareWarden Versed in the lewd.

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    I don’t understand why John obsessed over managing the Helmet when it was tearing him apart. With the helmet in a different room, John was just a Lord of Chaos. Following Paul’s advice, he tried to become a Lord of Balance as a Lord of Chaos wearing the Helmet. So… why didn’t John just give up on the task? John gives up on other stuff (civilians, explaining magic…) all the time.
     
  18. AR760

    AR760 Experienced.

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    You know, I think I figured one of the things that was hitting me odd from these chapters, even if I enjoy the magical adventures taking place right now.

    From a narrative standpoint, it does feel like Anti-Life is being treated fairly casually. I mean, in most conditions, Anti-Life being an actual thing implies Crisis level shit. It's Endgame level.

    It's one of the greatest tools of the Old God Yuga Khan. It's something that Darkseid, a New God with power spanning entire universes finds so desirable and so potent that one of his most fundamental drives is to discover the equation, given most of the time he either doesn't have any of it, or simply a fragment.

    Some interpretations even have it as the equal and opposite of the Source. The shadow to its proverbial light.

    So yeah. Knowing just how utterly insane Anti-Life is, and seeing it be dealt with and discussed fairly casually, even if only a fragment of a fragment of its power feels a bit odd.
     
  19. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    John may have still remained a Lord of Order even if he lacked the Helmet, so that's why he used the crystals .
     
  20. Assblaster5000

    Assblaster5000 I trust you know where the happy button is?

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    Anti-Life lives at the power of plot. Sometimes it's an impossible to resist memetic kill-agent for the individuality and will of the person exposed even when not complete, other times otherwise normal people can resist the full equation it through an effort of will, and all the time it's only an issue for the heroes if the author needs them to lose so Darksied looks like less of a dumbass. Supposedly makes it more impactful when people in magic pajamas and sci-fi bikinis kick his teeth in for the third time this year.

    It's also only sort-of caused a Crisis once IIRC, and even then it was just a tool Darksied used to help him cause it, not the cause itself.

    And within the context of WTR The Great Darkness would be more likely to be the opposite of The Source than Anti-Life given the implications that The Presence, or at least whatever is its stand-in, is largely in control of The Source.
     
  21. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    Thank you, corrected.
     
  22. Tyrantviewer

    Tyrantviewer lord of all I survey

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    Okay this is better than I feared- sounds like OG John set up the farm to let him bleed off excess power, presumably order power because crystals, and at some point he created Quinn, who took over. He didn't need to bleed off power so he didn't take the crystals, and eventually got contaminated with anti life, as did the brownies, and the wizards, who he then put to work on the farm as well, doing something with anti life.

    The real question is, was Quinn trying to fight the anti-life, he did have the brownies in a trance that dulled its effects, maybe the whole farm was converted so he could siphon of anti life with the order magic in the crystals working to isolate it. In that case its just a typical constantine plot to deal with the consequences of his own action, and Quin has just underestimated the Anti Life fragment.

    Then there is the question about how affected by anti life quin is, it if has been a while since it happened presumably he has come into contact with Paul or Belawa who should sense it, so he is irresponsibly hiding it, but also not spreading it everywhere. So is it controling him and he is hiding it, or is he making like the idiots in a zombie film who got bit and hid it?

    In any case the whole "constantine split like a starfish again and the split has him trapped to use as a powersource or something" thing that Demon Constatine sold the heroes on looks more and more true, with the added layer of Quin somehow getting involved in a worse mess than OG constantine ever did, and hiding it.
     
  23. Stsword

    Stsword Versed in the lewd.

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    Well Constantine being a self destructive dumbass is in character.

    And the speculation that he may have intenalized the power might be true, although from what I remember the ritual that Constantine used to usurp Klarion's position was specifically said to require the Lord taking a second familiar which Nabu never did, so if he did manage to do it in another way, then he managed to be a self destructive dumbass in a new and inventive way.
     
  24. RichardWhereat

    RichardWhereat Aia airëa Fëanáro.

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    Yeah! Take that Hermione! Leave what you don't understand, alone.
     
  25. PDV

    PDV Revelation That Uncertainty Is Itself An Answer

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    Johnny Sorrow?
     
  26. Duke Long

    Duke Long Glomerulus

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    Have we seen Johnny Sorrow since the fight on Themyscira? The last thing I remember was him teleporting away after getting shot.
     
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  27. Vaermina

    Vaermina Well worn.

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    That's exactly what he did...

    Only you can't easily walk away from being a Lord of Order/Chaos.
     
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  28. Windona

    Windona Beetle Queen of Crackshipping

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    I'll admit at this point I'm not theorizing but just along for the ride. Though poor Urisk, I do hope he ends up having a good time
     
  29. Coda

    Coda Versed in the lewd.

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    Alas! Poor Urisk. I wish him well.
     
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  30. Threadmarks: Fall Over (part 5)
    Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    17th September 2282
    Midday


    Vertibirds aren't the fastest thing in the 23rd century, but they've got excellent mechanical reliability and endurance. And a far higher flight ceiling than the handful of propeller-driven fighter planes in Caesar's service. I suppose that I could have taken a flying saucer back, but I'd much rather put them back into active service for the infiltration teams rather than acting as a taxi service for me.

    The Shi's fighters escorted us part of the way, but had to turn north into Ouroboros territory in order to recharge. She is willing to let us use her airbases in part due to her friendship with Diana and in part in exchange for joining the alliance against the Legion. I've also agreed to augment her at some point, both with psionics and -if we can get it to work- FEV. She's a hardcore eugenicist who's been proclaiming her own divinity to anyone who would listen ever since she left Twin Mothers, and after her second in command rebelled against her she's looking to put that on some sort of evidential basis. I'm a little concerned about what happens if what we do fixes whatever damage her brain took during the Legion's conquest of the Twisted Hairs, but she's an adult. And it's not going to make her more crazy.

    "We're a minute out."

    I nod, though obviously the pilot can't see. "Thank you."

    So I'm riding home with the Mojave Chapter of the Brotherhood of Steel, under Elder McNamara. After a long and borderline theological debate about the Codex, I was able to convince him that helping with security and maintaining the civilian electricity supply counted as acceptable aid to outsiders. And after a long and borderline theological debate with General Oliver, I was able to convince him that Brotherhood scribes stood a much better chance of getting pre-War technology working again than anyone he had under his command. So the Chapter is operating again, as a private corporation subject to NCR law and theatre command.

    That was basically the arrangement I've tried negotiating for the Maxson Chapter as well, though in their case their bunker was pretty much written off by Cerberus's tentacles. Most of their paladins died in the war with Lanius and Cerberus, but enough of their scribes and knights survived for them to remain a viable Chapter. They'll be sharing the Boulder Dome with the Baggers, under WARDEN's watchful eyes.

    I've got no idea what we're going to do with Arizona.

    Diana got most of New Mexico, because she was best placed to actually make the place functional after the triple rampages of Paulus, Lanius and Cerberus. Texas wanted the part of Lanius's territory that was historically part of the State of Texas, which the Summer Federation didn't like because they used to live there. That resulted in them joining Texas with the two areas merging as a new Texan county. WARDEN got the newly liberated territory of Colorado and is planning to hold an election for governor just as soon as he can explain to his people what that is. Robot City got a copy of Doki Doki Shiteru 2, which should keep them entertained more or less indefinitely.

    And we're all going to gang up on Caesar's Legion and its allies, and then… That's it. Apart from the Washington Brotherhood. And those weird insect-themed AIs in the Mid-West. And… Probably a bunch of other places that I haven't heard of, but…

    Nothing critical. I'll be able to take a break. Maybe visit England, though that sounds like something that could turn into work. I don't know, it's-

    The rotors switch angle for vertical flight. "Coming in to land now, Krono."

    -nice to be able to make a difference.

    I stand, keeping hold of the wall-mounted straps to maintain balance. And there's Groom Lake, and I feel a little weight come off my shoulders.

    "…where everybody knows your name…"

    "You say something?"

    "Just singing a pre-War song to myself. It's good to be back. You?"

    "Doesn't make much difference. Helios ain't exactly homey. I've got a few days of debriefing to look forward to about the state of the other Chapters, then they'll probably send me to Lost Hills to update the High Elder in person."

    President Hayes is grudgingly giving Lost Hills their secondary bunkers back, in exchange for technical assistance with civilian technology. He wanted power armour, but that was a hard 'no' from the High Elder. Too much like adding to their military power. It works out for me, too, as it encourages institutional cooperation more if the NCR doesn't have power armour and needs the Brotherhood for power armour operations. I'm not sure that it's going to last; Hayes is going to pass that Bill through the NCR's congress to pardon former Enclave prisoners eventually-.

    Maybe I could pre-empt it somehow?

    We touch down in Groom Lake airport, and I step out of the vertibird with a wave to the pilot. She's back in the air almost at once, rotors turning to begin the flight southwards.

    I then give my full attention to my welcoming… Committee?

    Goris is letting out a continuous snort, his equivalent of a barely suppressed giggle. Keanan is doing that falsely-gormless smile that I've had a few subordinates do when the boss has done something foolish and they don’t want to draw attention to-.

    It.

    They saw the broadcast.

    And that's-.

    Tears-In-The-Rain smiles demurely at me. "Husband."

    Ah-h-h-h-h-h.

    "Tears-In-The-Rain. Delightful to see you again. What brings you all the way here from New Canaan?"

    She's smiling in that emotionally honest way she does so that I know even without probing her mind that she's making gentle fun of me. Then she forms an expression of mock-seriousness.

    "Where should a dutiful wife be but by her husband's side?"

    "Did-? You need me to explain things to your parents? Did you get kicked out of the tribe because of what happened? Because-?"

    "She did not, though it speaks well of you that your first concern was for her wellbeing."

    The man next to her is clearly a tribal of some sort, the crucifix around his neck with 'CTR' in place of the usual 'INRI' on the upright. Most of his body is covered in white or red paint, with a muscular body clearly visible underneath. Two ways of dealing with the heat in this part of the world: robes to keep the sun off or minimal clothing to let your sweat evaporate. I do perform a quick probe of his mind-.

    "Chief Balm-Upon-Wounds." I perform a shallow bow. He's currently the ruler of most of Utah, and his rule appears to mostly be stable and non-evil. Getting him on-side would actually help quite noticeably with the strategic situation. "Welcome to Groom Lake. I trust that your stay so far has been pleasant?"

    He nods. "I have learned much here. Keanan-Smith has been a good guide."

    "And I-." I glance at Tears-In-The-Rain. "I wish to make clear that I had no idea what Doki Doki was planning, and I never did anything untoward to your daughter."

    "So I have been told. And I have been told that you wish to step down as your tribe's chief to become the NCR's shaman."

    "That's… One way to describe it."

    "I think that there is wisdom in your decision. I had intended to take control of the tribes of Utah by force, but you have made me see the wisdom of absorbing them peacefully. I have sent a message to the Eagle Rock tribe, offering their chief the position of Air Marshall amongst the Ammonites if his tribe joins with ours. They know flying and flying machines well where we do not, but they are weak in other ways. Sharing our knowledge will make us both stronger. I know that they are worried about having to fight both us and the Ouroboros tribe, so I think that he will accept my offer."

    "I don't know the man, but that seems logical."

    He regards me impassively for a moment. "My daughter wants you as her husband."

    "She-? Oh. She didn't… Say that when we last spoke."

    She looks at me with mild affront. "It is not my place to ask you to marry me."

    "It is if you want it to happen."

    She draws herself up slightly. "Chief Krono of the Sky Walkers, I want to be your wife. Marry me."

    Well…

    "Tears-In-The-Rain, we don't know each other well enough to know whether we're a good match. But since you've come all this way… Perhaps we can do that now."
     
    Last edited: Oct 21, 2023
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