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

Mistress Butler cautiously nods as she taps her right foot on the tarmac which now covers the village's main road.

Doesn't this stuff only last a few decades? And they can't replace it properly?

Meaning eventually it's going to look fucking aweful and require a complete overhaul?

OL is a complete idiot.

Just make a proper paved road with extreme precision and perfect materials and it will last hundreds of years at least.
 
Methinks that upgrade will be quite welcome come the next rainy season... No tramping through ankle-deep mud to visit the neighbours...

Assuming she knows what those things are, given the poor state of the Warlock-breeds' culture. Still, none of those things are exactly new to western culture.


It's the simple things, eh? A little break from the complicated mess your life has become these last couple of years.


Especially if they're abducting people for nefarious purposes. Let's hope they haven't gone through too much pain and suffering... Then again, Sheeda.


Honestly, OL... You just want to get into orbit and get a good look at this place, don't you?


Though any men following him might not have had as much fun with the trip...


I doubt they extend too far from the surface, anyway. Maybe only as far as the edge of the atmosphere. After all, magic works by intent, and I doubt the casters knew about orbital trajectories and the like.


Bet some would consider that cheating their redemption for their sins... And others would quietly judge the volunteers for it.


That's the best kind of visit. One you'll always remember.


What, you can't just casually float a few centimetres above the seat, and hold your position relative to the cart? That's how I'd do it...


Methinks they've seen some shit in their time.


That's quite a while. But in this level of development, such things would be memorable...


Indeed, where are you going with this, OL?


That's a lot of potential Grundeymen, if someone can muster the mystical chops to raise and brand all of them, especially all at once...


Almost like some kind of artificial genetic augmentation kicks in. Fascinating.


"No, Who's on first." Really feels comedic there...


Yet more things to delegate for later. I assume that's an Amazon...


And thus neither is likely to be welcome. OL really has to expand his magical contact list.


That would also be a problem for researching post-mortem augmentation of Grundeymen...


Indeed... It's been a long time, have we even seen Solomon Grundy here? Up to and including 'locked up in Belle Reve'?


It'll probably not be much, given the lack of contact. For all anyone knows, the next community is already gone...

Looks like OL is getting a little frustrated with the slow pace of this little expedition. And throwing up so many ideas for research in future. Hopefully they run into more Sheeda raiders for him to work those frustrations out on..


...but it's not exactly an easy or comfortable ride.

I think Wildcat mentioned fighting Gold sometime in the past.

OL also said that no one has seen him in decades.


Doesn't this stuff only last a few decades? And they can't replace it properly?

Meaning eventually it's going to look fucking aweful and require a complete overhaul?

OL is a complete idiot.

Just make a proper paved road with extreme precision and perfect materials and it will last hundreds of years at least.

He may not have thought of that, or he wants to trade with them in the future so they can get more of it.

That or he altered its structure so it's much more long lasting than the regular stuff.
 
"By the five goddesses who are their patrons, yes. And yes, I know that they're going to work better than thousands of badly maintained spells put in place by badly trained humans, but that's why I think I can probably bypass them."
You actually don't know that.

Because dumb luck is an actual thing, and the bane of highly trained experts everywhere.
 
You actually don't know that.

Because dumb luck is an actual thing, and the bane of highly trained experts everywhere.

It's not exactly all that difficult to imagine that the spells created by five powerful goddesses are going to be more effective than the ones made by mortals.
 
The horse clop forward, apparently untroubled by the novel road surface or the fact that I was performing transmutations directly in front of them.
The horses?

Given that warlocks are uncommon, I imagine that if he'd just become a warlock and other people had been aware of it.
This if doesn't have anything to attach to, so it's probably extraneous.

My dress is not so outlandish that they would comment, unless to brandished my pistols.
This clause is weird. Perhaps unless I brandished my pistols? But that doesn't feel consistent with Brother Abednego's grammar - for a hypothetical he'd presumably need a subjunctive? Maybe unless I were to brandish my pistols?

an I brandish not my pistols is grammatically fun, but I suspect it way overshoots Abednego's level of archaism.
 
Doesn't this stuff only last a few decades? And they can't replace it properly?

Meaning eventually it's going to look fucking aweful and require a complete overhaul?

OL is a complete idiot.

Just make a proper paved road with extreme precision and perfect materials and it will last hundreds of years at least.
Um. They can't replace it, but that's true of any surface he could put down. Given that the heaviest load it will have to bear is a light cart I'm pretty sure it will be fine.
The horses?
This if doesn't have anything to attach to, so it's probably extraneous.
This clause is weird. Perhaps unless I brandished my pistols? But that doesn't feel consistent with Brother Abednego's grammar - for a hypothetical he'd presumably need a subjunctive? Maybe unless I were to brandish my pistols?

an I brandish not my pistols is grammatically fun, but I suspect it way overshoots Abednego's level of archaism.
Thank you, corrected.
 
Three thousand years of Amazon history say other wise.
You mean three thousand years where they didn't really advance at all?


It's not exactly all that difficult to imagine that the spells created by five powerful goddesses are going to be more effective than the ones made by mortals.
Constantine says otherwise.

Hell, Paul's own Tattoo's say otherwise since they were created by a mortal and stymie gods.
 
You mean three thousand years where they didn't really advance at all?

We weren't talking about their advancement, but about the wards the gods put up.

The fact the Amazons haven't advanced technologically in three thousand years doesn't mean the wards are somehow bad.

Constantine says otherwise.

Hell, Paul's own Tattoo's say otherwise since they were created by a mortal and stymie gods.

Constantine isn't your average mortal, even before he became a Lord of Chaos, so while he may be able to bypass the wards, other things most likely can't.

The wards aren't perfect, but they're probably a whole lot better than the ones the witch breed put up.
 
Want to give a simple technology that will help way more than a road they can't maintain ? Suspensions.
Leaf springs were invented early XIXth century, so they probably don't have them, and are quite easy to make. More modern systems could be even better, if harder to make with their available tools.
 
Want to give a simple technology that will help way more than a road they can't maintain ? Suspensions.
Leaf springs were invented early XIXth century, so they probably don't have them, and are quite easy to make. More modern systems could be even better, if harder to make with their available tools.
....
I mean, it's got leaf springs, so it's not as bad as what the Amazons use, but it's not exactly an easy or comfortable ride.
 
Doesn't this stuff only last a few decades? And they can't replace it properly?

Meaning eventually it's going to look fucking aweful and require a complete overhaul?

OL is a complete idiot.

Just make a proper paved road with extreme precision and perfect materials and it will last hundreds of years at least.

I suspect it'll last a good deal longer without multiple ton vehicles rolling on it constantly, but yes. Eventually it's going to decay. But a neglected concrete road maintained to the best of their ability won't be so dissimilar from cobblestones, so I suspect they'll be fine.
 
Plus that one man was also an extremely powerful demigod.

And if I remember correctly Paul once said that Herakles lost a large part of his fleet during the attempt.
No, he lost a large fleet. A handful of men made it to the island along with him, but the Amazons were under no divine order to leave them alive.
 
Doesn't this stuff only last a few decades?
Saw a Real Engineering video on asphalt recently. Like everything in engineering in the real world it comes down to an optimisation problem involving initial cost, expected use, expected cost of maintenance & repairs, how expected use will change over time, etc. OL can make that asphalt as well as he wants to, and the expected use is incredibly light compared to the use of any modern roads. It could easily last hundreds of years in those circumstances.
 
Otherworld (part 17)
2nd May
02:57 GMT -5


"You know, I think I need to tell Batman about this."

Leonid frowns faintly. "Yes. He will want a full report."

"No, no, I mean…" I stamp my right foot twice. "The cart. He likes to be fully prepared at all times, but at no point in our training were we stuck in a cart for hours. Hey Abednego, the booby trap spells you were talking about. Do they go underground?"

"They do not. The maggots do, but the spells do not."

"If we negotiate a settlement of some kind, I'll build you a tunnel network before we leave."

"I think perhaps that no agreement could be wide-reaching enough for that to be-."

The blurred landscape around us winks out, replaced by a dull blue emptiness. The runes on the cart ignite, radiating out of the wood and metal with enough intensity that I blink and try to look away. Abednego and Mistress Butler have witch-signs in hand, and the tone of Mr. Yao's humming has changed.

"Cunning." Abednego's signs shift, twisting and moving. "'Tis a while since I have seen such a thing."

I consider asking what happened, but it's best to let them work through… Whatever just happened. I could offer to help, but Mr. Yao knows what I can do and will ask if he thinks it would be useful while the other two don't know how their magic interacts with my constructs. Leonid looks at me curiously, but I shrug and shake my head.

Mistress Butler glares at the nothingness. "A wrinkle in the fabric of the world. Warp and weft twisted aside-."

"I be having the gist of it, Mistress Butler. I pray you have patience."

MALEVOLENCE.

Oh.

"Did anyone else feel that?"

Abednego nods. "They're not so foolhardy as to let things like that into the world, but they'll bait a line with us if it stays in the river."

A vaguely… Cone-shaped distortion is.. growing larger. I'd say 'in the distance', but I've got nothing to use to judge scale by. Construct armour and charge an energy pulse.

Mr. Yao looks at my left hand with concern.

"I'm not shooting it, I'm just getting-"

Our surroundings… Bubble, patches of rocky scrubland appearing and vanishing in an uneven mess-.

The springs screech as the cart drops onto the stony ground, wherever we were vanishing back to wherever it was. Mistress Butler staggers off the front board to touch the ground and even the taciturn Abednego looks relieved.

"Was that..?" Leonid looks mildly bewildered. "Bad..?"

"Yes it was." Abednego nods. "Yes it surely was. Though I suppose to one who knows naught of magic it would merely seem-."

I release my blast, the giant mosquito shimmering into being and being torn apart by the orange energy! A warbling note from Mr. Yao highlights another two, which swiftly join their colleague in oblivion as Leonid leaps from the cart and pulverises them with his fists!

The witch-signs etched into their carapace fade and fail as they bleed out, and I start scanning. Yes, Sheeda creatures, the signature biological markers are all there.

"Hid in the eddies of the spell." Abednego nods. "Cunning. Mayhap this is their perimeter watch, and they will bear us no malice?"

I spin out filaments, running them along every surface and up into the air-.

I grip and pull an object unseen but still tangible.

"GAH!"

Orange light grips a humanoid outline and slams them to the ground as Abednego steps up and thrusts a burning witch-sign to their face, particles of illusion flaking away and revealing… Black armour, in a shape nearly but not quite human.

Abednego lifts his brand away and steps back.

"We do not come here for war, but you'll not find us lacking."

"Aye, witch-man, you being here while we are at our weakest is the devil's mischief alone."

"You live far from our towns and villages and we know little of you. Even should I want to, I could not act on knowledge of you I do not have. Pray tell, what malefactor is it which afflicts you? For you are far from the only afflicted in these lands."

I lean closer to Leonid. "I could see through that. Our attacker's concealment was much better."

He nods, keeping his eyes on the newcomer. "Yes. I could feel the wing-beat of the insects. And I think Physician could hear them."

Mistress Butler steps up beside Abednego. "Speak, girl. I know Abednego as I knew his master; he bears us no malice."

The helmet turns our way. "And what of them?"

"W-."

"Yes, we are here to help as well."

As he kneels down and hums at her I remember that Physician is in charge of this, and bite down my intended introduction. I've got out of the habit of acting under someone else's direction in the field. On team missions I lead a squad, and when I work independently I direct myself. I.. don't think I like this, but I suppose that if I wanted a Justice League slot then I should have handled Nabu differently.

Avoiding the mild irritation wouldn't be worth it.

"That-." The figure in armour shakes slightly as Mr. Yao's pitch changes, and then a degree of tension leaves them. "Thank you."

"Please. We came here because we wish to fight the Sheeda, who threaten our world with a Harvest fleet. When it comes, we will have to fight millions of invaders. We must learn all that we can of them before that occurs. If you do not trust our word, at least believe that we are interested in our own people's wellbeing."

"They're here."

"By that, do you mean 'right here'-?"

"They came to our village months ago. We thought they were outcasts as we are, but the creatures of the Sheeda obeyed them more readily than they ever obeyed us. We should have-." She snarls, then pulls herself upright. "They wanted to know about Melmoth, about our history. Seemed to be a natural enough thing to question. We showed them the Old Town. I did not myself see… What happened, but my-. They got into one of Melmoth's armouries. Took his weapons for themselves and announced that we would be their slaves in the name of their Queen."

Yes! They're actual Sheeda!

"Those who resisted or fled, they slew. Our only freedom comes from when they hunt for others."

Mistress Butler scowls.

"And what do they do with them?"

"They do not invite us to join them. But we do hear the screams."

Abednego nods. "I wonder, child, how it is that you escaped to be here?"

"I did not. I hoped to find something I could trade to them."

"So that they might leave your people in peace?"

"So I could become more like them. Strong and powerful, not an ignorant savage living in a forest."

There's a moment of silence.

"If you help us kill them, I can augment you using their corpses."

Mr Yao, Mistress Butler and Abednego turn their heads to look at me.

"What? I can."
 
Last edited:
The blurred landscape around us winks out, replaced by a dull blue emptiness. The runes on the cart ignite, radiating out of the wood and metal with enough intensity that I blink and try to look away. Abednego and Mistress Butler have witch-signs in hand, and the tone of Mr. Tao's humming has changed.
A million monkey's on a million typewriters.

"If you help us kill them, I can augment you using their corpses."
And this is why you aren't allowed to talk to people anymore.
 
2nd May
02:57 GMT -5


"You know, I think I need to tell Batman about this."
Oh, where to start? Because I suspect the field reports are going to be extensive, surprising and more than a little worrying...

Leonid frowns faintly. "Yes. He will want a full report."

"No, no, I mean…" I stamp my right foot twice. "The cart. He likes to be fully prepared at all times, but at no point in our training were we stuck in a cart for hours. Hey Abednego, the booby trap spells you were talking about. Do they go underground?"
Seriously, OL. I know you like to rush things, but learn some patience...

"They do not. The maggots do, but the spells do not."

"If we negotiate a settlement of some kind, I'll build you a tunnel network before we leave."
...Tunnel network as in subways? Or just rig some Dolmen gates tuned for the local thaumic weave?

"I think perhaps that no agreement could be wide-reaching enough for that to be-."

The blurred landscape around us winks out, replaced by a dull blue emptiness. The runes on the cart ignite, radiating out of the wood and metal with enough intensity that I blink and try to look away. Abednego and Mistress Butler have witch-signs in hand, and the tone of Mr. Tao's humming has changed.
Oh, another random encounter. At least this one didn't start with a death ray attack.

"Cunning." Abednego's signs shift, twisting and moving. "'Tis a while since I have seen such a thing."

I consider asking what happened, but it's best to let them work through… Whatever just happened. I could offer to help, but Mr. Tao knows what I can do and will ask if he thinks it would be useful while the other two don't know how their magic interacts with my constructs. Leonid looks at me curiously, but I shrug and shake my head.
Probably a good idea not to distract the people dealing with.. whatever this is.

Mistress Butler glares at the nothingness. "A wrinkle in the fabric of the world. Warp and weft twisted aside-."

"I be having the gist of it, Mistress Butler. I pray you have patience."
Presumably something he's familiar with, then? A Warlock-breed trap for people using tricks like his?

MALEVOLANCE.

Oh.

"Did anyone else feel that?"
:eek: ...Oh, dear...

Abednego nods. "They're not so foolhardy as to let things like that into the world, but they'll bait a line with us if it stays in the river."

A vaguely… Cone-shaped distortion is.. growing larger. I'd say 'in the distance', but I've got nothing to use to judge scale by. Construct armour and charge an energy pulse.
Just in case. Though if whatever's out there is as big as it's emotional resonance suggests, it may treat it like a gnat's fart.

Mr. Tao looks at my left hand with concern.

"I'm not shooting it, I'm just getting-"

Our surroundings… Bubble, patches of rocky scrubland appearing and vanishing in an uneven mess-.
Funky. Does not sound like a pleasant ride.

The springs screech as the cart drops onto the stony ground, wherever we were vanishing back to wherever it was. Mistress Butler staggers off the front board to touch the ground and even the taciturn Abednego looks relieved.

"Was that..?" Leonid looks mildly bewildered. "Bad..?"
At a guess, yes. All of the yes. But thankfully it's gone now... Hopefully.

"Yes it was." Abednego nods. "Yes it surely was. Though I suppose to one who knows aught of magic it would merely seem-"

I release my blast, the giant mosquito shimmering into being and being torn apart by the orange energy! A warbling note from Mr. Tao highlights another two, which swiftly join their colleague in oblivion as Leonid leaps from the cart and pulverises them with his fists!
Welp, a backup trap, huh? Sneaky bastards.

The witch-signs etched into their carapace fade and fail as they bleed out, and I start scanning. Yes, Sheeda creatures, the signature biological markers are all there.

"Hid in the eddies of the spell." Abednego nods. "Cunning. Mayhap this is their perimeter watch, and they will bear us no malice?"
Don't cross your fingers, No way would you be that lucky...

I spin out filaments, running them along every surface and up into the air-.

I grip and pull an object unseen but still tangible.
Sloppy, very sloppy. But it works in the heroes' favour.

"GAH!"

Orange light grips a humanoid outline and slams them to the ground as Abednego steps up and thrusts a burning witch-sign to their face, particles of illusion flaking away and revealing… Black armour, in a shape nearly but not quite human.
Sheeda? Warlock-Breed? Something else?

Abednego lifts his brand away and steps back.

"We do not come here for war, but you'll not find us lacking."
Warlock-breed, then. And they managed to craft that trap? Talented...

"Aye, witch-man, you being here while we are at our weakest is the devil's mischief alone."

"You live far from our towns and villages and we know little of you. Even should I want to, I could not act on knowledge of you I do not have. Pray tell, what malefactor is it which afflicts you? For you are far from the only afflicted in these lands."
They're a teenager, aren't they? No adult could have that level of persecution complex...

I lean closer to Leonid. "I could see through that. Our attacker's concealment was much better."

He nods, keeping his eyes on the newcomer. "Yes. I could feel the wing-beat of the insects. And I think Physician could hear them."
Not allied with the Sheeda from earlier, then. Assuming they were actually true Sheeda.

Mistress Butler steps up beside Abednego. "Speak, girl. I know Abednego as I knew his master; he bears us no malice."

The helmet turns our way. "And what of them?"
That's a girl? Nice armour, then.

"W-."

"Yes, we are hear to help as well."
Hold your horses, OL.

And he kneels down and hums at her I remember that Physician is in charge of this, and bite down my intended introduction. I've got out of the habit of acting under someone else's direction in the field. On team missions I lead a squad, and when I work independently I direct myself. I.. don't think I like this, but I suppose that if I wanted a Justice League slot then I should have handled Nabu differently.
Ooh, sub-harmonic 'friendliness' charm? Sneaky, and not something she'd likely recognise. Too much soloing, OL. When you're running in a group, you do what the leader says. Or you lose out on loot rolls.:V

Avoiding the mild irritation wouldn't be worth it.

"That-." The figure in armour shakes slightly as Mr. Tao's pitch changes, and then a degree of tension leaves them. "Thank you."
Charm successful. She's feeling a bit friendlier now, isn't she.

"Please. We came here because we wish to fight the Sheeda, who threaten our world with a Harvest fleet. When it comes, we will have to fight millions of invaders. We must learn all that we can of them before that occurs. If you do not trust our word, at least believe that we are interested in our own people's wellbeing."

"They're here."
...Crap. Crappity crap in a hat.

"By that, do you mean 'right here'-?"

"They came to our village months ago. We thought they were outcasts as we are, but the creatures of the Sheeda obeyed them more readily than they ever obeyed us. We should have-." She snarls, then pulls herself upright. "They wanted to know about Melmoth, about our history. Seemed to be a natural enough thing to question. We showed them the Old Town. I did not myself see… What happened, but my-. They got into one of Melmoth's armouries. Took his weapons for themselves and announced that we would be their slaves in the name of their Queen."
Typical. Probably minor scouts who got a little taste of power and got well drunk on it.

Yes! They're actual Sheeda!

"Those who resisted or fled, they slew. Our only freedom comes from when they hunt for others."
Oh, hoo-bloody-ray. So these warlock-breed are reluctant collaborators... Serve or die. Some choice.

Mistress Butler scowl.

"And what do they do with them?"

"They do not invite us to join them. But we do hear the screams."
Living up to the finest Dark Elf traditions, I see.

Abednego nods. "I wonder, child, how it is that you escaped to be here?"

"I did not. I hoped to find something I could trade to them."
As expected, she's out for herself. Probably doesn't know better, after all...

"So that they might leave your people in peace?"

"So I could become more like them. Strong and powerful, not an ignorant savage living in a forest."
...Well, fuck her, then.

There's a moment of silence.

"If you help us kill them, I can augment you using their corpses."
OL! Do not offer to help the clearly bad girl!

Mr Tao, Mistress Butler and Abednego turn their heads to look at me.

"What? I can."
...Damn the lack of a proper facepalm emoticon! This deserves a double helping.

Okay, OL? Just stop talking now. Before you say anything to reinforce their opinion of you as an idiot with no impulse control...
...
...It's already too late for that, isn't it?:rolleyes:

MALEVOLENCE
 

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