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

‘Krypton’

’choose’

If that Aztec goddess was better than Bast has ever seen her, that might mean she’s even stronger than she was at the height of the Aztecs. Interesting.

 

Does anyone recognize who the Black Panther might be?

 

Thank you, corrected.

Shuri, probably. Assuming that they make another one.

 

That really should have wrung alarm bells in LePaul given what he's learned the last few chapters.

Because that's suggests someone or something is giving the Aztec's an absolutely huge boost. And the most likely source of that given the circumstances is Manaheim.

 

Maybe I'm wrong but... Aztec mythology has another god, one associated with black jaguars: Tezcatlipoca
Providence, the invisible and darkness, lord of the Night, Ruler of the North. Also associated with treachery and conflict


A particularly bloodthirsty god even for the Aztecs. Considering the rivalry with Quetzalcoatl, maybe Tezcatlipoca was ousted from the pantheon?

 

Are they all ignoring that they are in the spirit realm and not fully corporeal? Giving your arm here is not the same as giving up a bunch of cells made out of molecules. To be frank, I am quite surprised that Sekhmet's attack on snake form Paul didn't have any spiritual consequences, given that it was essentially his soul that she was attacking, not a real snake that happened to be Paul but is otherwise fully affected by Wholeness Rightly Assumed.

 

Ah, the panther is actually a black smilodon from The Sandman Presents: Bast.

 

OL: I shall call them Teekl II.
Panther: My name is-
OL: Assimilate. Teekl II.
Teekl II: Yes, Master.

 

hahaha!

Okay that was pretty good. I was only asking because I didn’t know if this is a returning character of the story or someone new.

 

I guess you can make it heroic if the people who are losing their hearts are really, really evil.

Professor Black did that.

Even if he noticed it he may nut have thought it necessary to inform you.

Either the Shinto are implementing that little plan of theirs, or it's a trap.

Vaermina mentioned Manheim potentially being involved, and I'm afraid that they may have a point.

A lot of people are dying, so Manheim may be trying to use some gods to get rid of other gods by offering them power from death.

 

Worshippers are one power source for gods, but as we've seen another is... well, the Source. And as we've also seen, you don't need to be a nice deity to draw on the Source. Could be that Manheim made a deal with the Aztec gods somehow. Being the New God of Human Sacrifice definitely sounds like an Apokolips thing to me, especially if you broaden the conceptual definition beyond "literally someone on an altar" to "tossing countless lowlies into the gears of industry so that their blood may oil the machine".

 

So maybe the Shinto are involved.

Hentai and all that.

Cernunnos mentioned that the Cornwall men are providing them with some power, so the same may be true with Adom.

People look up to Adom and respect him.

His citizens probably have pictures of him in their homes, can name streets after him, have statues erected in his honor.

It may not be full worship, but it probably still has power.

Power that his patrons can collect.

 

Thank you, that's kind of what I was trying for, highlighting absurdity by being absurd. So I seem to have backed into my point but, may need to be more absurd the next time so the point is better made.

 

The specific goddess in question is called the sin-eater, and is supposed to devour sin and impurity to restore the purity of her worshipers. If she doesn't have new worshipers, maybe she found a new source of sin.

 

I'm getting some Howl flashbacks from this.

And now I'm wondering if Moloch will show up.

 

Thought so, he was a very clever Kitty who ended up ruining Basts plan in that story.

Sounds like it might work.

 

Telling them that Mannfred's back, and that your plan is bad for his ambitions against the Empire, ought to help.

 

And slaying a Vampire Lord of his ascended rank is no easy feat even for a might Grail Knight. A mere Questor? It's more likely that Mal would be strung up in the Carstein dungeons to slowly be bled dry over months or years for the insult.

Spoiler: Commentary spoilered for length

No, they're not a nice family, any of them.

In a metaphorical sense, madame.

And knights don't? It's much like the Samurai, who at times could slay any lesser for any perceived slight at will.

Which is why the ideal of the Grail is so rarely achieved.

Since even a less-skilled vampire can animate some measure of undead as soldiers.

And no doubt Paol made it clear that hostile action against him and his will be met in kind? In as polite a way as he could to avoid an immediate insult or challenge.

Who would want that shithole? Not before it's completely cleaned up, I suspect.

Don't let doubt defeat you, Mal. In some tales, accepting that little voice saying you're not worthy is enough to make you so.

And even if they could be found, they're unlikely to want to claim it. Given its dark reputation.

I'm sure there are many things. Let's start off small, though.

Even given the blood-thirst and occasional frenzied rages?

At least he's being realistic about how long it'll take to get things properly organised.

Though controlling which ones you focus on, that's what takes talent.

Which would put it well ahead of most buildings of the era, dwarvish-built or not.

He runs a clean shop, so to speak.

And honestly, most of those in power in this world don't live up to that lofty ideal anyway.

But take away his Ring, and well... He's just an ordinary man, after all...

And that's not hyperbole. Ghosts are very much a thing. And often dragged into necromantic hosts.

Whereas blood taken from unwilling victims is laden with it. So pouring the blood of human sacrifices onto the ash... Well, let's just say that part is on theme courtesy of Hammer vampire movies.

Not nearly magic resistant enough to shake off things like having his soul ripped out of him by some of the stronger Necromantic spells, after all.

Plus the fact that Sylvania is practically on the other side of the Empire's southern borders. So as much as a thousand miles away.

Yes, that's a bomb that would certainly light a fire under the Empire's leadership. Sadly, it'd probably result in hundreds, if not thousands, of Witch Hunters marching off to 'clean up' Sylvania and basically throw themselves into the meat-grinder. Never mind the conventional armies. And likely push the Vampires into their own counter-invasion decades ahead of plan. So let's not let that slip, eh?

 

What’s a Herdstone? Tried looking it up in the wiki and it’s just a corrupted waystone? A rock with maybe some spikes and skulls attached - not something particularly disgusting. Is there some older lore about how gross it is?

 

This post reminds me of a thread that discussed the ethics when it comes to vampires preying on humans.

When it comes to vampires, blood drinkers without demonic influence, I would think that it would be in their best interests for humanity to prosper and to not kill people en masse.

Medicine, hospitals, blood banks, fertility clinics, child care facilities, and protection for humans would be worth while investments for a vampire with time and resources.

 

The Herdstone is the centre of the beastman community and their religious worship. They deliberately turn it into a nexus of chaos magic. The spikes and skulls aren't just spikes and skulls -not once it gets going- but mystical totems of the destruction of organised civilisation.

That's all true, but very few vampires who aspire to power are rational enough to see it that way. Mostly they're either arrogant arseholes like Mannfred, or more humanlike in their outlook like Genevieve Dieudonné.

 

A lot of wrong information in here, was Paolo unknowingly put under Vampire Domination?

The idea that they don't mutate is especially hilarious given there's a bit in 2nd edition describing just how horribly they mutate.

 

It's radiating dhar, raw chaos magic, and generally a place of worship for beastmen. It is basically an altar to the defilement of nature and the end of civilization.

 

Extraneous ‘that’ after the comma.

‘is debatable’

‘Neferata’?

Space between ‘don’’ and ‘t’.
‘vampires’?
Maybe ‘ageing’? But you might just prefer that spelling.

‘Chaos-based’?

I suppose there’s no dhar up there since there are no Polar Gates? But it’s interesting to imagine that Paol is creating a lunar vampire colony.

’finding out about me’?

 

Thank you, corrected.

 

Given both Lichedom and Vampirehood are essentially corruptions of what the Liche Priests sought to attain, it makes me wonder what the Qhaysh equivalent to attaining "Immortality" would be like in opposition to the individual "Dhar Methods" Nagash and Neferata came up with.

Given the transcendent, ephemeral nature of High Magic in contrast to it's counterpart, I imagine it's main benefits would be in bestowing spiritual immortality, rendering one an "Eternal Soul", with any other benefits, (supernatural health and longevity, self supremacy), being but side-effects of it.

 

Both the Jade College spell The Jade Casket and the High Magic spell Apotheosis can bring someone back from the dead.

 

I feel like this was the wrong thing to say if he didn't want them to prioritize Mannfred.
The empire is going to want to prevent him from unifying Sylvania.

 

True, but I'm afraid I wasn't talking about Resurrection, (rather the difference in the kind of Immortality that Qhaysh could likely provide in contrast to Dhar), though on that subject, suddenly the collaboration between the Imperial Colleges of Magic and Liche Priests looks to be more fruitful than expected, particularly if the Jade Wizards can put the finishing touches to Paol's work.

Given the Liche Priests are probably only sparingly familiar with Ghyran, as their incredibly developed syle of Divine Magic which encompasses the "Lore of Nehekhara" focuses mainly on Hysh and Shyish, it amuses me to think how they might react to the fact their salvation may be further owed to "foreign heathens" who know about certain aspects of Magic which they've been ignorant of.