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Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#101: May 28th 2010 at 8:04:51 AM

It's generally agreed on the Keychain forums that Secret has been approaching some sort of Cuteness Event Horizon with her recent backstory comics. Much squeeing has occurred.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Neep Revolution of Ruin from Booooooooomblastandruin Since: Jan, 2001
Revolution of Ruin
#102: May 28th 2010 at 10:40:30 AM

Hnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng*

You've lost. You're the Bomb Squad after the bomb's gone off. I'm the blast ongoing.
AckSed Pat. St. of Archive Binge from Pure Imagination Since: Jan, 2001
Pat. St. of Archive Binge
#103: May 28th 2010 at 12:52:55 PM

No,must... resist urge... mind. Strong. Body... weak...

MOEEEE!

Dammit.

Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.
EricDVH Since: Jan, 2001
#104: May 29th 2010 at 1:07:43 AM

I'm confused. Who exactly is Secret talking to, Marena? The panel arrangement in the last pre-flashback comic make it difficult to tell whether or not she walked away.

Eric,

Ezekiel Since: Jan, 2001
#105: May 29th 2010 at 2:11:36 AM

The text boxes there were Secret and Marena, after a timeskip that we'll see the end of after this flashback.

Unless it was actually a flash-forward and not a timeskip. In which case this whole thing just got into Timey-Wimey Ball territory without actual time travel.

Semiapies Since: Jan, 2001
#106: May 30th 2010 at 12:59:04 PM

It's a flash-back within a flash-forward to the "Secret?...It's later." conversation. If we find out what Secret and her father talk about, it probably helps to know their background.

AckSed Pat. St. of Archive Binge from Pure Imagination Since: Jan, 2001
Pat. St. of Archive Binge
#107: May 31st 2010 at 9:17:24 AM

Poor Secret.

Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.
MorkaisChosen from Learning Since: Jan, 2001
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#109: Jun 1st 2010 at 7:32:07 AM

That was one of the most awesome Exaltation sequences I've seen in a ... well, all three of the ones I've seen represented visually have been in this webcomic. Still, very well done indeed.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
TraderInTown Since: Dec, 1969
#110: Jun 1st 2010 at 8:51:05 AM

And that's how the littlest cross-dressing orphan became a supersoldier for Death. Or the Underworld. Whichever.

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#111: Jun 1st 2010 at 8:58:54 AM

Y'know, it shouldn't surprise me; I mean, I'm familiar with the setting and all, but it struck me particularly hard in this arc just how badly the lives of ordinary mortals in Creation suck.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
MorkaisChosen from Learning Since: Jan, 2001
#112: Jun 1st 2010 at 9:56:33 AM

Yeah, there's a reason they call Mortal games "gritty" all the time. You can't do anything, the people in charge are in charge because of glorified nepotism, and you may just be killed so someone can destroy the world.

And I haven't described that well enough at all.

TraderInTown Since: Dec, 1969
#113: Jun 2nd 2010 at 7:20:33 AM

Fuckin' hell, dude. What's the motivation for playing as a Mortal then? Masochism?

CountDorku Behold my legal acumen! from the depths of insanity (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Above such petty unnecessities
Behold my legal acumen!
#114: Jun 2nd 2010 at 3:29:43 PM

Pretty much, yeah. The official Character Alignment of mortals is "True Sticky Red Stain". A nowhere near complete itemized list of how much it sucks to be a mortal, divided up by area:

Centre

  • Thousands of Dragon-Bloods and the children of Dragon-Bloods, all of whom believe implicitly that they are better than you because of their fancy powers
  • The economy is explicitly set up to screw you over in favour of the Dragon-Bloods
  • There's an entire religion dedicated to how much you suck compared to the Dragon-Bloods

North

  • It's fucking cold and you don't have Charms to take the edge off
  • The White Walker will turn up to bitchslap you if you dare to look for your lost children instead of honouring the graves of your parents on a specific date
  • There's Wyld mutants and undead and shit everywhere
  • Most of the societies are extremely harsh, in order to survive the Wyld mutants and undead and shit

South

  • It's fucking hot and you don't have Charms to keep cool
  • Paragon is the nicest place to live and it's a ruthless police state
  • Demon cults seem to be a bit more common down south than anywhere else
  • The Alchemicals are turning up in force, and this means things could easily get ugly

East

  • Loads of raksha everywhere
  • There's a huge war that's been brewing for years, and you can't use perfect defences
  • If you go to Chaya at the wrong time of year, you'll be torn limb from limb

West

  • Female? Attractive? You're not allowed on ships because of the storm mothers
  • Most of the area has some pretty harsh gender rules.
  • The Silver Prince. That is all.

Scavenger Lands

  • Nexus is a corrupt hellhole, Sijan is haunted, and you don't want to know about Denandsor.
  • Lots of Solars means lots of limit breaks, means at least a few rampaging kill-crazy psychopaths.

edited 2nd Jun '10 3:31:11 PM by Count Dorku

AckSed Pat. St. of Archive Binge from Pure Imagination Since: Jan, 2001
Pat. St. of Archive Binge
#115: Jun 2nd 2010 at 7:04:39 PM

We'll not mention the shadowlands, pirates and the necromancers to whom you are just a source of spare parts (I've been reading the Abyssal book,can you tell?).

Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.
Semiapies Since: Jan, 2001
#116: Jun 2nd 2010 at 10:16:36 PM

That really was a great sequence. Suddenly, I can believe a nice little girl would agree to help end the world. And I can't blame her.

AckSed Pat. St. of Archive Binge from Pure Imagination Since: Jan, 2001
Pat. St. of Archive Binge
#117: Jun 3rd 2010 at 4:33:35 AM

I think Secret's story,while sad,may be sadder still. She's bonded to a Deathlord who could kill her if she steps out of line,and has given her true name to an insane Eldritch Abomination who can speak to her in her sleep. The mere act of promoting or defending life causes her to gain Resonance,which is A Bad Thing.

If Padraig wants to twist the knife,he could show us Baby's First Resonance-triggered Blight,followed by Baby's First Breakdown at Killing Mortal She Treasured.

But who is her Deathlord?

edited 3rd Jun '10 4:36:33 AM by AckSed

Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.
krrackknut Not here, look elsewhere from The empty Aether. Since: Jan, 2001
Not here, look elsewhere
#118: Jun 3rd 2010 at 5:57:07 AM

The one who gave her the Black Exaltation was the Bodhisatva-Anointed-By-Dark-Water (a.k.a. the Silver Prince), but she's been around many of the other courts of the other Deathlords.

Which is why she knows Ben and Flame, who are the First-And-Forsaken-Lion's Deathknights.

An useless name, a forsaken connection.
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#119: Jun 3rd 2010 at 6:07:15 AM

Honestly, I'm surprised that Secret has managed to last as long as she has in the story without gaining absurd amounts of Resonance. For example, you'd think that simply hanging out with Solars would add Resonance, never mind working on a quest that directly opposes a Deathlord. Jukashi may be playing fairly loose with his interpretation of those particular rules.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
MorkaisChosen from Learning Since: Jan, 2001
#120: Jun 3rd 2010 at 12:06:27 PM

Frequent, small Resonance eruptions. Remember that bird randomly dying when Marena's holding a baby? Blight 2, and if it's gone to Blight 3, the kid would've died too.

TraderInTown Since: Dec, 1969
#121: Jun 3rd 2010 at 3:49:48 PM

So, if your a mortal trying to achieve a Badass Normal state you'd have to be 10 times more badass than any other normal to get there? Talk about a steep curve.

Hey, if random blights are Secret's game, then she can stand by enemies long enough until they drop dead. Huzzah!

krrackknut Not here, look elsewhere from The empty Aether. Since: Jan, 2001
Not here, look elsewhere
#122: Jun 3rd 2010 at 7:01:41 PM

She actually assuages Resonance by killing people. Bad people.

An useless name, a forsaken connection.
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#123: Jun 3rd 2010 at 7:25:35 PM

So the Neverborn doesn't care who she kills as long as she kills somebody? Makes sense, for a certain value of sense.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
MorkaisChosen from Learning Since: Jan, 2001
#124: Jun 4th 2010 at 12:46:00 AM

Unfortunately, killing your enemies with Blight usually requires you to kill someone you like, as well. It's specifically mentioned as an option in the rules...

Ezekiel Since: Jan, 2001
#125: Jun 4th 2010 at 1:38:01 AM

To elaborate, the Manual of Exalted Power: Abyssals has this to say...

Fighting the forces of death is a no-no, but the dead Primordials have no problem with their deathknights slaying demons, Fair Folk, violent criminals and other monsters. Indeed, such deaths often glorify Oblivion more than spilling helpless mortal blood does.

...

Players might wonder if their character can harm enemies by deliberately venting Resonance in massive blights. Why, yes, they can. If an Abyssal wants to poison the very Essence of Creation for the sake of victory in battle, that suits the Neverborn just fine. Keep in mind that invoking such powerful Blight effects necessarily involves killing someone the Abyssal likes (or at least values in some way). Any Storyteller worth her dice can easily turn this “power” against the Abyssal: a village destroyed in the course of saving it, irreplaceable allies slain (or captives the character’s Deathlord wanted alive, damn it!), a Wyld Hunt called against this highly visible Anathema, and so on.

edited 4th Jun '10 1:44:00 AM by Ezekiel


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