Attention Counting
Getting sticky.
- Joined
- Dec 24, 2024
- Messages
- 69
- Likes received
- 955
Does getting banned from SV preclude you from reading anything on the site?
-
An addendum to Rule 3 regarding fan-translated works of things such as Web Novels has been made. Please see here for details.
-
We've issued a clarification on our policy on AI-generated work.
-
Our mod selection process has completed. Please welcome our new moderators.
-
Due to issues with external spam filters, QQ is currently unable to send any mail to Microsoft E-mail addresses. This includes any account at live.com, hotmail.com or msn.com. Signing up to the forum with one of these addresses will result in your verification E-mail never arriving. For best results, please use a different E-mail provider for your QQ address.
-
The rules regarding NSFW links have been updated. See here for details.
With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)
- Thread starter Mr Zoat
- Start date
-
- Tags
- self insert young justice
Mr Zoat
Dedicated ragequitter
- Joined
- Dec 1, 2016
- Messages
- 18,527
- Likes received
- 972,350
It makes it a bit awkward. I can't put things on Watch. And obviously I can't Like, post things in reply or PM people.
Also, did you see my title?
CrazyNoVa
Not too sore, are you?
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2023
- Messages
- 441
- Likes received
- 1,733
…Did you just read my mind?
Damn it. Now I've gotta find a new idea for an April Fools omake.
To be fair, you can still bookmark stuff on your browser.
Also, you rage quitted? I thought you got banned?
Last edited:
Ardy
I trust you know where the happy button is?
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2017
- Messages
- 954
- Likes received
- 4,537
We don't talk about that. Why? Because we don't talk about that.
Attention Counting
Getting sticky.
- Joined
- Dec 24, 2024
- Messages
- 69
- Likes received
- 955
He wanted to get banned after everything, so he posted one last message to get himself banned as he simply is that dedicated to the game.
Neruz
HISSSSSS!
- Joined
- Jan 21, 2019
- Messages
- 2,737
- Likes received
- 58,100
The Dream is only in Yharnam, Yharnam is not the only thing in the Dream. And when I say Yharnam I don't mean just Yharnam the city, I mean the entire region, which includes Byrgenwerth etc.
Those locations also aren't way outside Yharnam city, in fact every location is visible either from Yharnam, or from one of the locations that is visible from Yharnam. They're all in the same region, even Cainhurst. (The Forbidden Woods is visible from the Cathedral Ward, Byrgenwerth is visible from the Forbidden Woods, Hemwick is visible from the Upper Cathedral Ward, Cainhurst is visible from both the Cathedral Ward and Hemwick, and so on.)
The Fishing Hamlet is actually one of the furthest locations, as its real-world location is shown in the Death of Sleep comic to be several miles from Yharnam city proper, through a wasteland that is overrun with Amygdala.
Last edited:
Changing Lanes (part 10)
New
Mr Zoat
Dedicated ragequitter
- Joined
- Dec 1, 2016
- Messages
- 18,527
- Likes received
- 972,350
18th August 2013
10:25 GMT -5
"Then let us be away."
Lushun holds the Staff of the Netherworld and then strides forwards, towards the purple disc.
I follow shortly behind, reforming my heavy armour outside of my basic armour to the best of my non-magical ability. Hopefully my tattoos and light armour can make up for the lack of magical defence. "You're sure that your protections are adequate? I'd hate to get stranded by myself. If there's anything that you need, I'm happy to provide it."
"No. I believe that this will-"
We pass through the disc.
"-do."
And… Here we are. Like the Phantom Zone, there's nothing here. Rather than grey, the background is a sort of washed out purple and green. Sight lines are less obstructed-. Xen! That's what the place reminds me of!
"We appear to be intact."
I nod, though I imagine that my heavy helmet obscures the gesture. "We do indeed."
"Now… Based on Sandro's records…" He slams the butt of the staff onto… Nothing, and a platform of dull grey rock appears beneath us. "I can make a small part of the primordial void behave as though it were part of Ashan. Remaking a part of the prison outside of the prison seems a little perverse, but until we reach somewhere with laws and definitions, we will have to make do."
"I should probably warn you that I tend to absorb exotic energies used in my vicinity."
"If I'd known that then I would have offered to expose you to more. Is it a natural ability?"
"No, something I had a group of magicians bind to me. Since I lacked an arcane presence, I needed a way to gain one. I warn you because I don't want to throw off your readings."
"Do not trouble yourself." Holding the staff in his right hand, he raises his left, with the purple mists swirling around the orange mote. "This is more than sufficient."
He taps the butt to the ground twice more, and we're off.
"Will Asha be unhappy about this?"
"Perhaps, but it's unlikely that she'll take any action. Sandro was attacked by religious necromancers and by people who hated necromancy, but never directly by Asha herself."
"The religious necromancers weren't in direct contact with their deity? I didn't think Ashan's deities were that illusive."
"They were in contact with an embodied aspect of Asha called the Mother Namtaru; a giant three headed spider-like creature."
"Did they check?"
"Hm? Check what?"
"Well, if I was a giant three headed spider and wanted a bunch of necromancers to obey me and I knew they didn't have a direct communication channel to Asha, I-."
He grins. "You think that she lied? That she played them for fools?"
"It's a basic question in Philosophy of Science: how do you know what you think you know? I mean, I thought that Asha was a dragon and that her children were dragons."
"I would be astonished if that were true, but I can't claim to have confirmed it for myself."
"Well, there you are. It's just good advertising."
"But how would you explain the fate spinners?"
"Oh, that's easy. I wouldn't."
"No?"
"Get a dead giant spider and a dead woman, and a saw blade and a needle and some fine thread. Cut off the spider's face, sew the woman's torso on, then necromancy the whole thing back to animation."
"They were really more like crabs."
"Then use a giant crab. I'm not a necrotechnician."
"That is technically plausible, but… Given the tremendous size and power of Mother Namtaru, I doubt that the explanation is anything like that… Simple."
"Probably not. Funny though. And what's Urgas-." I see… Something, out of the corner of my eye, but when I turn to look again it's gone. "Does anything live out here?"
"I doubt it. We're in the void here. It's a realm antithetical to definition."
"Does that make it Urgash-type chaos, or something else?"
"Chaos can only exist without a framework that contains laws. As far as I'm aware, the void should just be nothing."
"Then how are we here?"
"We exist in this little part of Ashan I've brought with us. But… Observe."
There's a tearing noise as with a flicker of green a small part of his inner robe is sliced off the garment and floats towards the edge of the platform. As it goes over the edge, it…
Oh.
It… What happens is a combination of boiling, melting and merging, but after a few moments there certainly isn't any cloth left.
"And how long will we be here-" Another flicker in the distance. "-for?"
"I have no idea. We're definitely getting closer to something else which contains your energy, but beyond that I can't say. I haven't found any records of anyone getting this far into the void before."
"Getting in was easier."
"If Zachary Zor wants to share his methods with me I will happily use them henceforth."
"Fair enough." There it is again. "Did you see-?"
"Yes." His eyes remain resolutely fixed forwards. "I think it was a darkness elemental."
I look down and fail to see any sort of shadow, including where the light from my orange glow should cast one. "How?"
"There's a great deal about the void we don't know. And they might be some manner of void elemental, though that would defy everything I think I know about this place."
"Ah."
"I know! Fascinating, isn't it?"
"Technically, yes."
"I wonder if any part of it can survive within the laws of Ashan?"
"I suspect that we are about to-"
The thing appears before us!
"-find out."
10:25 GMT -5
"Then let us be away."
Lushun holds the Staff of the Netherworld and then strides forwards, towards the purple disc.
I follow shortly behind, reforming my heavy armour outside of my basic armour to the best of my non-magical ability. Hopefully my tattoos and light armour can make up for the lack of magical defence. "You're sure that your protections are adequate? I'd hate to get stranded by myself. If there's anything that you need, I'm happy to provide it."
"No. I believe that this will-"
We pass through the disc.
"-do."
And… Here we are. Like the Phantom Zone, there's nothing here. Rather than grey, the background is a sort of washed out purple and green. Sight lines are less obstructed-. Xen! That's what the place reminds me of!
"We appear to be intact."
I nod, though I imagine that my heavy helmet obscures the gesture. "We do indeed."
"Now… Based on Sandro's records…" He slams the butt of the staff onto… Nothing, and a platform of dull grey rock appears beneath us. "I can make a small part of the primordial void behave as though it were part of Ashan. Remaking a part of the prison outside of the prison seems a little perverse, but until we reach somewhere with laws and definitions, we will have to make do."
"I should probably warn you that I tend to absorb exotic energies used in my vicinity."
"If I'd known that then I would have offered to expose you to more. Is it a natural ability?"
"No, something I had a group of magicians bind to me. Since I lacked an arcane presence, I needed a way to gain one. I warn you because I don't want to throw off your readings."
"Do not trouble yourself." Holding the staff in his right hand, he raises his left, with the purple mists swirling around the orange mote. "This is more than sufficient."
He taps the butt to the ground twice more, and we're off.
"Will Asha be unhappy about this?"
"Perhaps, but it's unlikely that she'll take any action. Sandro was attacked by religious necromancers and by people who hated necromancy, but never directly by Asha herself."
"The religious necromancers weren't in direct contact with their deity? I didn't think Ashan's deities were that illusive."
"They were in contact with an embodied aspect of Asha called the Mother Namtaru; a giant three headed spider-like creature."
"Did they check?"
"Hm? Check what?"
"Well, if I was a giant three headed spider and wanted a bunch of necromancers to obey me and I knew they didn't have a direct communication channel to Asha, I-."
He grins. "You think that she lied? That she played them for fools?"
"It's a basic question in Philosophy of Science: how do you know what you think you know? I mean, I thought that Asha was a dragon and that her children were dragons."
"I would be astonished if that were true, but I can't claim to have confirmed it for myself."
"Well, there you are. It's just good advertising."
"But how would you explain the fate spinners?"
"Oh, that's easy. I wouldn't."
"No?"
"Get a dead giant spider and a dead woman, and a saw blade and a needle and some fine thread. Cut off the spider's face, sew the woman's torso on, then necromancy the whole thing back to animation."
"They were really more like crabs."
"Then use a giant crab. I'm not a necrotechnician."
"That is technically plausible, but… Given the tremendous size and power of Mother Namtaru, I doubt that the explanation is anything like that… Simple."
"Probably not. Funny though. And what's Urgas-." I see… Something, out of the corner of my eye, but when I turn to look again it's gone. "Does anything live out here?"
"I doubt it. We're in the void here. It's a realm antithetical to definition."
"Does that make it Urgash-type chaos, or something else?"
"Chaos can only exist without a framework that contains laws. As far as I'm aware, the void should just be nothing."
"Then how are we here?"
"We exist in this little part of Ashan I've brought with us. But… Observe."
There's a tearing noise as with a flicker of green a small part of his inner robe is sliced off the garment and floats towards the edge of the platform. As it goes over the edge, it…
Oh.
It… What happens is a combination of boiling, melting and merging, but after a few moments there certainly isn't any cloth left.
"And how long will we be here-" Another flicker in the distance. "-for?"
"I have no idea. We're definitely getting closer to something else which contains your energy, but beyond that I can't say. I haven't found any records of anyone getting this far into the void before."
"Getting in was easier."
"If Zachary Zor wants to share his methods with me I will happily use them henceforth."
"Fair enough." There it is again. "Did you see-?"
"Yes." His eyes remain resolutely fixed forwards. "I think it was a darkness elemental."
I look down and fail to see any sort of shadow, including where the light from my orange glow should cast one. "How?"
"There's a great deal about the void we don't know. And they might be some manner of void elemental, though that would defy everything I think I know about this place."
"Ah."
"I know! Fascinating, isn't it?"
"Technically, yes."
"I wonder if any part of it can survive within the laws of Ashan?"
"I suspect that we are about to-"
The thing appears before us!
"-find out."
Last edited:
Ngamer11
Experienced.
- Joined
- Jan 28, 2019
- Messages
- 3,910
- Likes received
- 24,819
That should say 'known'.
Mr Zoat
Dedicated ragequitter
- Joined
- Dec 1, 2016
- Messages
- 18,527
- Likes received
- 972,350
Thank you, corrected.
NightmareWarden
Versed in the lewd.
- Joined
- Oct 14, 2015
- Messages
- 1,427
- Likes received
- 6,574
I know physics are functional and require minimal mental gymnastics on Ashan, but part of my brain insists on comparing it to Erfworld.
I wonder if this trip through Chaos will involve a trip to an alternate Might and Magic world?
I wonder if this trip through Chaos will involve a trip to an alternate Might and Magic world?
Bigking321
I trust you know where the happy button is?
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2019
- Messages
- 544
- Likes received
- 5,224
I'm gonna laugh if the darkness elemental is just a perfectly nice fellow that's just thrilled to have company as no one ever visits out here.
Chojin Patriarch
Veteran Lurker
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2019
- Messages
- 2,848
- Likes received
- 41,947
...Uh, Angelica and Mazikeen? Or are you planning to sit on the edge of reality like a game interface and pan around with a 'no fog of war' cheat on until you spot them?
Or go and acquire it, if it's exotic reagents local to this world...
Welp, they're out of the world now. I wonder if he looked back through it, he'd see it like the video game screen?
What, from Half-Life? The original, not the fan remake 'Black Mesa'. ...I can picture it...
I assume that's more of a slight bow, being his heavy armour.
Better than just floating in the void, but I get the feeling that sort of thing will get the attention of not-things in the not-space.
Thinking he could have messed with his local Paul? Sadly, The closest he would have gotten with intoxication and maybe eventually death from mana overload...
Presumably using the Orange Light sample to find a path through the void back to the DC Multiverse.
I would rather imagine she's mildly amused and curious at their confidence.
'Illusive', if you folks remember the term from 'Mass Effect', means 'deceptive or illusory'. Unsurprising, given they share the same root phenome.
Naturally, that's the first thing OL asks: 'Is the being those folks talked to actually what they claimed to be?'
Just the fact it's three-headed suggests something truly phenomenal about its history. Either a divine byblow of some kind, or something cursed by a god.
Nothing says they couldn't still be. Gods aren't exactly known for being entirely fixed in their appearances. Zeus, for example, was quite the shapeshifter.
Or at least some folks inclined to believe what they were told. Honestly, if a three-headed giant spider told me something, I'd be inclined to agree with it regardless.
Nice outfits.
Makes sense, if they were larger-than-human. Insect breathing mechanisms don't work that well at that size.
A very talented necromancer, then. Or something a little divine.
Because even a realm with no space-time somehow has creatures living within it. Life... Finds a way...
Well, it wasn't exactly well-studied, was it? He's in pretty unknown territory at this stage.
...Made out of the Void itself. Maybe that act also spawned something else.
Complete and utter dissolution?
Huh, Pretty impressive. Careful thought, that could have acted like bait.
So possibly the DC Multiverse. Maybe not Earth Sixteen, but it's probably not hard to hop dimensions once you're back.
Assuming he still exists. I'm sure Lushun would be happy to go looking...
Maybe your graphics hardware isn't enough to handle shadow rendering?
And there we have it. He has next to no idea about the details. I'm sure he's as close to an expert on it as they can get, but that doesn't mean he knows everything about it.
Save the curiosity for later. Are these critters likely to be hungry for material things?
It could simply disappear in a blip of logic.
So on a scale of 'Tzeentch demon' to 'Youngest Whateley Child', how eldritchly messed up are we talking?
I suppose if it does turn out to be aggressive, it'll be getting a lesson in the laws of physics as relating to objects in motion, via railguns. Assuming it even makes it that far. I'm more concerned if it's a solitary predator or if there are more out there, and their little bubble of Reality is acting like chum to them...
Duke Long
Glomerulus
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2022
- Messages
- 942
- Likes received
- 3,406
'necromancers'
'Zachary', unless he's mispronouncing it.
Vaermina
Well worn.
- Joined
- Oct 16, 2015
- Messages
- 7,422
- Likes received
- 254,356
I wonder if they're going to run into Ambush Bug.
Mr Zoat
Dedicated ragequitter
- Joined
- Dec 1, 2016
- Messages
- 18,527
- Likes received
- 972,350
Thank you, corrected.
boo600
Welp
- Joined
- Aug 24, 2021
- Messages
- 204
- Likes received
- 1,102
As an example.
There are cheaper already-used playstation 4s, but they tend to be at physical stores. In a country I am currently avoiding, due to the ice problem in the streets.
I am currently living in Switzerland, and am trying not to use amazon, as it's somewhat unreliable and also supports IRL-but-dumb Lex Luthor. So.
Clell65619
Getting sticky.
- Joined
- Jan 28, 2019
- Messages
- 92
- Likes received
- 271
You're being a bit hard on Lex; he's done a lot of dumb things, but he's never built a penis-shaped rocket.
Mr Zoat
Dedicated ragequitter
- Joined
- Dec 1, 2016
- Messages
- 18,527
- Likes received
- 972,350
Duke Long
Glomerulus
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2022
- Messages
- 942
- Likes received
- 3,406
'It's'
Was just looking back at this bit. The part where Krono first meets this fellow is one of the most hilarious parts of this entire story, in my opinion.
Last edited:
Changing Lanes (part 11)
New
Mr Zoat
Dedicated ragequitter
- Joined
- Dec 1, 2016
- Messages
- 18,527
- Likes received
- 972,350
18th August 2013
10:29 GMT -5
I see… Tentacles? Strands? Trailing from a central mass that appears to be… Just made up of more strands woven together. The near complete lack of colour on its surface makes it a little difficult to see where one part ends and another begins. I can't see anything I recognise as sensory organs, but there are… Strips? In a couple of places which glow faintly in slightly brighter versions of the colours which make up the background of this place. They're not… Pointing at us, so I don't know if they need to be facing us or if they detect fields or… Heck, they could be parts of its digestive system for all I know.
It doesn't appear to have a way to speak or hear and it exists in a place that doesn't have air or physical laws, so I don't know how much good speaking would do. It isn't attacking, but it is spreading its tendrils out around the small area of reality defined by our platform.
"Any ideas?"
"It somewhat resembles a darkness elemental-. Perhaps this is where they come to move between shadows? Or perhaps this variety has adapted to the weaker grasp of Ashan's laws-"
The extremity of the tendrils have reached about a quarter of the way around us, and the barrier is thickening.
"-to enable it to exist here."
"Is it draining energy from your spells?"
"Not noticeably."
"Remember, if you're replenishing your mana from Ashan's background magic, you're not going to be able to do that when we get somewhere else. Even a small drain here might result in you being mystically crippled."
"But some form of magic exists in other worlds, does it not?"
"Yes, but if it's not similar to what you're used to you might have to relearn everything from scratch. In fact, you might have to unlearn things if the way it functions is diametrically opposed to how things work on Ashan."
"Elves live a long time. I will relish the challenge. But as to this, you see how it's avoiding intruding on our space?"
"Currently, yes."
"We're an anomaly in its plane of reality. I doubt that it's seen anything like us before."
"I respect your scholarly curiosity, but-." Oh heck. "There." I point to where one strand is clearly probing the boundary of our bubble. "It's trying to get in."
"Have you ever seen an octopus try to pry a clam out of its shell? It's fascinating to watch its mind-."
"Yes. Have you ever been a clam?"
"Ah… Not… Precisely." He considers the growing tentacle wall with a little more concern. "Hm."
The tendril I'm watching… The very end melts the moment it hits the outer surface of the bubble, the part just behind the tip bending and pulling back. It isn't getting anything inside-.
"Ahh…"
"Problem?"
"It's barely noticeable, but when it does that, it drains the strength of the spell maintaining our bubble of reality. Just a little. If this is an animal then it will probably give up when it fails to make any progress."
"Most animals would either avoid or ignore a novel thing in their environment."
"Unless it doesn't register us as a threat."
"Unless that's an elemental behaviour, no. The only reason why an animal would act like this is if it thinks we might either be edible-."
…
"Ah, or?"
"Something it can have sex with. Now, I don't know much about elven culture-."
"I'm-. Not, not interested in that sort of thing. Not with that."
"Can you make this go faster?"
"Technically, we're not moving so much as realigning. I can increase the speed of the change, but I don't know whether that would help or not."
"How would it not help?"
"It would put extra stress on the shielding, and… I don't know what drew that creature's attention to us in the first place. It may well be that moving faster would draw more of them to us."
"And going slower might let more of them reach us."
He nods. "It's an imponderable. But my mana reserves are quite extensive. I think I will risk erring on the side of sloth. Did you bring drawing material with you?"
"Ashan doesn't have photography?"
"Light..? Drawing..?"
"It's using a sheet coated in light sensitive chemicals to record an image."
"Fascinating. I never really studied alchemy, but I'm sure I'd have heard of something like-"
My eyes widen as the tendril reaches inside the shield, probing around like an octopus.
"-that-. Oh my."
"Yeees. Do I attack it, or leave it?"
"Can you make a barrier?"
I create a construct hemisphere around the probing tendril and gently restrict its movement. After hesitating as it realises that there's a barrier in its way, the tendril begins feeling along the inside edge of the construct-.
It's bifurcated. Two tendrils are now-.
I look around the edge of the shield. Oh dear. Dozens of tendrils are attempting to gain entry, and two others I can see have managed it. I give up on construct hemispheres and simply generate a construct barrier around the interior of the shielded area, with small blisters for the ones which have already made it through.
"Could you try feeding it something?"
I give him an unimpressed look, but pull a ration bar out of my armour and break off a segment. I reach over to the original tendril and gently deposit in into range of the two-. Four grasping tendrils.
One latches on, its partner getting the idea a moment later and grabbing the other end. The other two don't appear to be guided, but instead find it by chance. And then…
They're not… Squeezing or ripping it.. But… It's coming apart, and the small parts are… Vanishing… Somewhere-.
They branch into a dozen more tendrils and the construct starts to crack!
10:29 GMT -5
I see… Tentacles? Strands? Trailing from a central mass that appears to be… Just made up of more strands woven together. The near complete lack of colour on its surface makes it a little difficult to see where one part ends and another begins. I can't see anything I recognise as sensory organs, but there are… Strips? In a couple of places which glow faintly in slightly brighter versions of the colours which make up the background of this place. They're not… Pointing at us, so I don't know if they need to be facing us or if they detect fields or… Heck, they could be parts of its digestive system for all I know.
It doesn't appear to have a way to speak or hear and it exists in a place that doesn't have air or physical laws, so I don't know how much good speaking would do. It isn't attacking, but it is spreading its tendrils out around the small area of reality defined by our platform.
"Any ideas?"
"It somewhat resembles a darkness elemental-. Perhaps this is where they come to move between shadows? Or perhaps this variety has adapted to the weaker grasp of Ashan's laws-"
The extremity of the tendrils have reached about a quarter of the way around us, and the barrier is thickening.
"-to enable it to exist here."
"Is it draining energy from your spells?"
"Not noticeably."
"Remember, if you're replenishing your mana from Ashan's background magic, you're not going to be able to do that when we get somewhere else. Even a small drain here might result in you being mystically crippled."
"But some form of magic exists in other worlds, does it not?"
"Yes, but if it's not similar to what you're used to you might have to relearn everything from scratch. In fact, you might have to unlearn things if the way it functions is diametrically opposed to how things work on Ashan."
"Elves live a long time. I will relish the challenge. But as to this, you see how it's avoiding intruding on our space?"
"Currently, yes."
"We're an anomaly in its plane of reality. I doubt that it's seen anything like us before."
"I respect your scholarly curiosity, but-." Oh heck. "There." I point to where one strand is clearly probing the boundary of our bubble. "It's trying to get in."
"Have you ever seen an octopus try to pry a clam out of its shell? It's fascinating to watch its mind-."
"Yes. Have you ever been a clam?"
"Ah… Not… Precisely." He considers the growing tentacle wall with a little more concern. "Hm."
The tendril I'm watching… The very end melts the moment it hits the outer surface of the bubble, the part just behind the tip bending and pulling back. It isn't getting anything inside-.
"Ahh…"
"Problem?"
"It's barely noticeable, but when it does that, it drains the strength of the spell maintaining our bubble of reality. Just a little. If this is an animal then it will probably give up when it fails to make any progress."
"Most animals would either avoid or ignore a novel thing in their environment."
"Unless it doesn't register us as a threat."
"Unless that's an elemental behaviour, no. The only reason why an animal would act like this is if it thinks we might either be edible-."
…
"Ah, or?"
"Something it can have sex with. Now, I don't know much about elven culture-."
"I'm-. Not, not interested in that sort of thing. Not with that."
"Can you make this go faster?"
"Technically, we're not moving so much as realigning. I can increase the speed of the change, but I don't know whether that would help or not."
"How would it not help?"
"It would put extra stress on the shielding, and… I don't know what drew that creature's attention to us in the first place. It may well be that moving faster would draw more of them to us."
"And going slower might let more of them reach us."
He nods. "It's an imponderable. But my mana reserves are quite extensive. I think I will risk erring on the side of sloth. Did you bring drawing material with you?"
"Ashan doesn't have photography?"
"Light..? Drawing..?"
"It's using a sheet coated in light sensitive chemicals to record an image."
"Fascinating. I never really studied alchemy, but I'm sure I'd have heard of something like-"
My eyes widen as the tendril reaches inside the shield, probing around like an octopus.
"-that-. Oh my."
"Yeees. Do I attack it, or leave it?"
"Can you make a barrier?"
I create a construct hemisphere around the probing tendril and gently restrict its movement. After hesitating as it realises that there's a barrier in its way, the tendril begins feeling along the inside edge of the construct-.
It's bifurcated. Two tendrils are now-.
I look around the edge of the shield. Oh dear. Dozens of tendrils are attempting to gain entry, and two others I can see have managed it. I give up on construct hemispheres and simply generate a construct barrier around the interior of the shielded area, with small blisters for the ones which have already made it through.
"Could you try feeding it something?"
I give him an unimpressed look, but pull a ration bar out of my armour and break off a segment. I reach over to the original tendril and gently deposit in into range of the two-. Four grasping tendrils.
One latches on, its partner getting the idea a moment later and grabbing the other end. The other two don't appear to be guided, but instead find it by chance. And then…
They're not… Squeezing or ripping it.. But… It's coming apart, and the small parts are… Vanishing… Somewhere-.
They branch into a dozen more tendrils and the construct starts to crack!
Last edited:
Mr Zoat
Dedicated ragequitter
- Joined
- Dec 1, 2016
- Messages
- 18,527
- Likes received
- 972,350
Thank you, corrected.
Duke Long
Glomerulus
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2022
- Messages
- 942
- Likes received
- 3,406
'its'
'an'
Yeah, I was gonna say that feeding it will probably just encourage it. Kind of the opposite of what you want to do.
Frozen20XX
Getting sticky.
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2025
- Messages
- 51
- Likes received
- 142
Well, curiosity killed the dark elemental, I guess. Wonder if it'll die or if Paul will assimilate it?
Chojin Patriarch
Veteran Lurker
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2019
- Messages
- 2,848
- Likes received
- 41,947
It technically may not even be one creature at all, but a colony that has aligned for fused to form a safe mass that can seek... Whatever it/they eat/s, and those are just keeping an eye out for the 'bigger fish'.
That might not be good, given that blind creatures explore something by spreading out.
Perhaps a local adaption, something that found its way in through cracks in reality and bred.
...What'll happen if it engulfs them fully? Because this feels a lot like how a white blood cell functions: engulfing foreign matter and breaking it down.
To be fair, that may be it sniffing the air. What happens when it takes a deep breath?
To put in terms he might understand: There's differences between types of lamp oils, right? One might burn brighter but faster, another might be dim but long lasting...
Avoiding it so far. Probably being cautious.
Not personally, certainly. That other bloke came through here, most likely, but this one may not have encountered him...
Do keep in mind that the clam is a living creature, and the opening process is prelude to dining.
"Ever been drunk?"
"What's wrong with that?"
"Ask the glass of water."
"...Ooh."
Melting, but not disintegrating. So it can probably survive entering their frame of reference for a short time at least, though not undamaged...
...So it's a matter of whether its curiosity gives way to any sort of self-preservation instinct it may have.
That doesn't make me feel any better, I'll note.
The most basic drives: shelter, food and...
...Companionship, to put it politely. And I don't think either of them would enjoy any invasive explorations.
Yes, faster sounds good. Must go faster.
Increasing the energy usage might make you more... Interesting to it.
...Also a good point. Slow-moving things are either too dangerous to eat or too big to harm, and I don't think they are either, yet.
Which is the actual translation of the term, yes. I suspect a largely-medieval world doesn't really spare the resources for that kind of progress.
Well, if he doesn't simply poof out of existence in Earth Sixteen, he's going to have a fun time learning.
Yeah, might want to get on that, boys. Because I suspect it'll find the inside a lot tastier than the outside.
The question is how to attack it. Will it just absorb anything you throw at it, or will it be hurt?
Quickly, please, before you both find yourself with facefuls of alien wing-wang.
Sounds great, until it starts eating the Orange Light... Which it may be trying to.
Let's hope it's allergic to your food.
...Nope, not allergic. possibly found it quite tasty.
Sadly, I doubt OL has the charge or time to try throwing materials at it to see if he can find something that'll make it spit them out, so to speak. Time to start burning the intruders. ...Unless they start absorbing that too. The tendrils are probably already breaking down the atmosphere inside the dome, if nothing else. And who knows what else is out there noticing this?
Bigking321
I trust you know where the happy button is?
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2019
- Messages
- 544
- Likes received
- 5,224
Can't he just change the creatures desires?
Make it not want to mess with them?
Make it not want to mess with them?
Mr Zoat
Dedicated ragequitter
- Joined
- Dec 1, 2016
- Messages
- 18,527
- Likes received
- 972,350
Thank you, corrected.