Grrl Power #569 – Gore tunnel loop hole
Sciona must talk a good game. That or she was a lot nicer before she got most of her head chopped off. Also we don’t know how long any of these people have known Sciona, who seems to have been around for a while. At least longer than a regular human anyway.
She is exploiting a property of the field here, which is that it kills anything that passes through it. The field is a pipe, not a solid volume of energy, since non-living material can’t pass through it, it would knock the artifacts out when activated. So presumably you could achieve the same result by sticking your arm down a snake’s throat and wearing it like an opera glove, or by taping hamsters up and down both sides of your arm. Normally the whole vault is shielded against teleportation and portals, so Opal for instance couldn’t reach in there, but whatever Sciona did to slip her blood portal in through the cracks disrupted the teleportation wards, which is how Deus et al got in.
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I was kind of hoping to see the mask in the background frowning after that breakthrough, but the artifact is blocking the mouth…..I imagine it is though.
Personally I was picturing it smiling. This is precisely the kind of thing that Loki (the god of trickery) would approve of. This based on a reader recently mentioning that the mask was associated with him.
How in the seven hells did I not spot that that is The Mask before reading this comment?!
Incidentally: I have no idea where I picked up the phrase “seven hells” (I googled to check), probably from something referencing Naraka’s seven levels of the underworld – or Inanna’s visit to the sumerian underworld with it’s seven gates (If so, I blame Neal Stephenson). It is *not*, though – as most of the google results would have it – from GoT/ASoIaF. As I’ve only read the first book and seen the first season and have little to no memory of either. So I just want to preempt that particular accusation :p
According to certain mythologies there are the 7 Heavens and the 9 Hells. The latter I believe was extropolated from Dante’s Inferno which described 9 levels of Hell. Not sure where 7 Heavens came from.
Wikipedia knows.
Hawkman used to say it a lot.
game of thrones uses “seven heels” as a curse there is that too
You picked it up from Game of Thrones.
Didn’t Lord Foul the Despiser rebrand himself as Asaroth of the Seven Hells, complete with a troll song about it to annoy, Tomas Covenant?
I have first editions, of both series, in my library. Only having been read by me the once.
Sorry, I cannot remember that detail. Not going to re-read them to find out either. Suicidally depressing would not be good reading material for me, right now.
I just couldn’t force myself to get through Fatal Revenant, and I’ll almost always finish a book I start reading no matter how little I enjoy it.
The series should have been named “Stephen R. Donaldson and the display of my amazing vocabulary.”
His rule of thumb appears to have been “Why not choose the most obscure word from the thesaurus, all those other words that everyone knows are for the peasants.”
Except it would instead read: ” Why not espouse the palpably fuliginous neologism from the thesaurus, all those divers morphemes that everyone knows are for the servile.”
should I be concerned that both versions were understandable and made sense to me (not holding the same meaning but similar meaning)
I think I’m still only about 30% through it. I’m gonna finish it some year, even if the world ends, but maybe when I’m feeling in the right state of emotional resistance to the bleak.
Well I certainly don’t want to inspire you into plunging into something like that but I will just mention that my memory wasn’t failing me. It comes up in the first book of the second chronicles, The Wounded Land, and the song is used to show how much of a cultural effect L.Foul has had on the Land (as well as turning it into a near desert with the Sunbane) to wipe away Covenant’s feelings of having had a few years to prepare, since Foul has had something like a few thousand.
From Wikipedia:
“Lord Foul is the most commonly used name for the ancient enemy of the Land, given to him by the Council of Lords. He is also called ‘The Despiser’, the ‘Gray Slayer’ (his name in The Plains), ‘Fangthane the Render’ by the Ramen and ‘a-Jeroth of the Seven Hells’ by The Clave. ”
I remember getting the song stuck in my head for a few weeks while I was reading the book. Foul is such a jerk.
I had to re-read that twice to realize you weren’t talking about troll song and the long-call of Terry Prattchet’s/Stephan Baxter’s Long Earth series.
Dissociative amnesia. This disorder is very commonly associated with the watching of Jim Carrey* movies.
* Running gag caveat. I enjoyed the first one I watched him in. But then found too many others where he was just playing ‘Jim Carrey in another movie. When the director gives him a good slapping though, and tells him to act a different part he can give an entertaining performance.
I enjoyed Bruce Almighty (small rations of ‘Jim Carreyisms’ were limited to appropriate moments) and he did a very good job in the Truman show. If I see him in a serious role, I would watch the movie. But not a comedy one, unless the trailer showed he was not falling back into old habits.
Here’s Carrey acknowledging his sameness: “There’s on to me!”
They’re. I can spell, but only if I am careful.
ahh the Mask it was actually one of Jim Carreys better comedies.
It’s actually making a kitty-smile :3
Wow! You know, I really should have suspected that the guy whose name is “Worm-Meal” was gonna bite it.
I am disappointed in myself that I only now got this joke.
If I remember correctly, he mentioned something about immortality earlier, and worms can regenerate lost parts. He’s probably going to hurt a lot, but I suspect he’ll survive.
It was Sciona speculating that he may survive an explosion powerful enough to destroy the vault door. But, that detail aside, that is a reasonable supposition.
On the other paw Sciona may have had a more sophisticated plan, but which would require her to reveal capabilities that she does not want Deus (or anybody she has not screened).
“screened” a.k.a. “forced through a fine mesh screen, as seen above”
I wonder if Cthillia translates as ‘fish food’ and Dr Chuckles is street slang for ‘getting throat cut, from ear-to-ear’?
Given her power, I’d just assumed that her name was a derivative of (or inspiration for) “Basilisk”.
Well, she has almost the same name as Cthylla, a “minor” Great Old One and daughter of Cthulhu; then again she’s from Brian Lumley, who while one of the more influential and well-known latter contributors to the Mythos, was waayyyy too fixed on both defanging the horror/monsters, and following August Derleth’s “Good VS Evil” interpretation of said Mythos (even going so far as putting in a hackneyed “Good inevitably wins” Happy Ending, which is probably still making poor H.P Lovecraft spin in his grave). Though, given her (apparently) reasonably humanlike psychology (she did work for Deus at least once, so she must like/need money) and behavior, I kinda doubt Cthillia is an eldritch abomination.
My guess is she’s probably a gorgon or something similar. I also really hope she survives quite a bit longer. I wanna see what’s under that veil. (Also she strikes me as one of the more intriguing supernaturals so far, I’d really like to get more backstory and motivations).
Hey, eldritch abominations have to pay the rent too!
At most Cthilia would have to be ‘something similar’, as we do have dialogue (in an earlier appearance) where she is described as being ‘unique’. Thus excluding gorgons, as we have seen an army of them (impaling the Council’s enemies). Whilst we could entertain the possibility that they have gradually died off, and Cthillia is now the ‘last of the gorgons’, the clues we have to her features do not match those of the gorgon army.
Meanwhile we do have a veil-wearing Council delegate who does potentially match them (down to the tail, if examining Sydney’s aura sensing, through the wall). Yet again though with different features (such as human skin ,rather than Cthillia’s reptile-like skin).
I can offer a potential ‘something similar’ though, from the annals of legend. Namely the basilisk. A reptilian creature who could kill with its gaze. Notably it was a singular creature, being the ‘King of Snakes’. Which sadly does throw in a gender problem. Or, with a less conservative take, allow for the comic’s first openly transgender character.
or we can take the idea (some even held in the middle ages) that king was a position and not gender locked. another idea is the title was originally queen of snakes but enough of humanity held the arrogance that no queen could truly lead and rewrote it king.
I assume all the doodads in the vault have phenomenal cosmic powers, but I really hope that dagger got an extra dose — cuz you sure can’t use it as a dagger. All the extra points ruin penetration (unless you have insane strength, but at which point there would still be better weapons to capitalize on that) and only a few of the spines have the edge on the outside which would ruin slashes or cuts.
Epimorph — Epidermis/morph? Maybe the thing gives you blade-covered skin/armor, or lets you turn into whatever you draw blood with it from (which would give her vamp body back or something stronger)? or maybe it is like Ivy’s sword from the Soul Calibur series – I imagine her fighting style involves a lot of that ‘blood blade/whip’ magic so maybe it works a bit like that with telekinetically controlled razors flying around?
At least it isn’t designed in a way that risks injuring the user. You know, like spikes towards the hand or a wrist breaker like a ring-with-grip-inside handle.
I assume that for some reason it’s effect works best when the wound is as messy as possible… You know any wound made by that knife would bleed massively and take ages to heal.
This is a setting where insane strength is a pretty common power. Plus artefacts are just about indestructible, unless you find their Mount Doom. Which means those protrusions could safely be used to snag and/or disarm an opponent’s weapon*.
You are perfectly right that there are other weapons that can capitalise on extreme strength better. But you have to exclude a lot of them if you want something that is easily concealed.
Normally I would add ‘and convenient to carry’, but I think that the spikey bits would make sheathing and drawing it, from inside clothing, to be a tricky skill to master, without shredding the outfit!
For a small weapon though it does rate highly on intimidation factor. As Evonix says, it would make very nasty wounds, and everybody can easily see that. One final point is that Sciona is unlikely to find anyone trying to disarm her, if they are bare handed!
* Again assuming super strength to do this effectively. Without such it is limited to similar sized bladed weapons and light swords. With it and the range expands. Although high skill and/or dexterity can help a lot too.
The spikes might also be dynamic and start actively eating whatever you stab it into like little tentacle teeth. Or maybe what we’re seeing is about as useful as a lightsaber hilt when it’s turned off.
Dave would disappoint me beyond words if it was just ‘a knife that could hurt if you hit someone with it where it might as well be made of normal steel’.
In Farscape, Furlow had a dagger that (however it worked) made the injuries it inflicted hurt dozens of times more than the damage would suggest, which was excellent for torture. But that still seems too weak to be in the vault.
Maybe it’s name is one hint, and the other two are: the clearly magical jewel in the pommel, and the fact that the blade’s halves don’t look like they should be part of the same weapon. They don’t sync. It might be designed that way to tell that it splits people between realities when they’re cut, but that still seems weak to me. Instead, I’d say it’s a magical spy tool.
If it let you change your skin to become what you want, or whatever, then that would make sense to me- Sciona could turn her male orc body back into her female drow body, but retain the powers. Plus it’s probably just one step in a long list of other stuff.
Deus probably already subverted her plan action 15 anyway, last year. She just doesn’t know it yet- that’s why he doesn’t care if she takes it.
I have no doubt that the dagger can do a lot more, but this thread was only addressing its physical properties as a weapon. Not all artefacts that look like weapons actually have a functional combat role, but this is one that looks like it has potential. With practice. A mundane weapon of that form would be highly impractical, for reasons stated by others.
We do know that the dagger will do more than just be a weapon though, as Deus has indicated that it will upgrade Sciona to being much more powerful than before.
Further, if their intelligence is correct, this can be done for other users too, once an extra 99 sacrifices have been made, to recharge it.
Given Sciona’s current appearance, and assuming that she has a desire to return to a normal look, we can assume that she will prioritise an artefact that can do that. The title of “Epimorph” is strongly suggestive that it can do that. Not just a colour change, as it is not indicating “Chromamorph”, but is implying a physical change (or supernatural one, with a lasting upgrade, rather than a minor cosmetic change).
Likewise Cthillia appears to be concerned about her appearance, as she obsessively hides it, even when in the company of hideous monsters! So again we have a hint that gaining either normal or superb looks may be part of the upgrade package.
You saying it like that makes me think “Then are the changes genetic but decrease in efficacy over subsequent generations? Is this dagger the reason for Super bodies? Someone in ancient times used it, and since all humans come from the same source…”
There are contradictions in the story, due to the differing statements from Arianna and Peggy versus Varia. The former indicate that ‘we do not know what causes super powers and we have not been able to show a genetic link’. Whereas Varia has observed some genetic influence in what powers her gestalt grants.
We should be cautious with her conclusions though, as she is a raw recruit and not privy to any classified material. Plus she can only speak as to her personal observations about her own power. Which may well have a genetic aspect to it, yet be completely unrelated to the causes of super powers in general.
Supporting the establishment’s view is the boss vampire’s talk about how the Council have been trying to investigate super powers (since at least the 1920s, going by the pictures accompanying his speech). Yet have failed to find anything definitive.
As such, if it has granted the powers then the propagation of them is not as simple as being passed on to children, in the normal way. One or more other elements would have to be clouding the situation.
For instance perhaps it is genetic, but spread via the birds and bees? ;-)
But if you are looking for something that the dagger could have created, which we know is passed on genetically (and via a disease) there are two alternatives… vampires and lycanthropes.
We have nothing to substantiate that mind, but that is a destination that your train of thought can reach.
It also seems possible if not probably that the powers the epimorph grants are not permanent. That’s right in line with requiring 99 murders (‘sacrifice’ is just a weasel-word for murder, after all) to recharge it. As any good manufacturer of an evil artifact will tell you “the first one is free.”
:-D
That might be a deodorant roller ball in the pommel – it actually lets you smell nice, which is something she might want… with that ork body strapped to her head I mean… So yeah.. – She just can’t smell herself anymore!
Epimorph – Apply directly to the forehead! Apply directly to the forehead!! Apply directly to the forehead!!!
Epimorph – Apply directly to the forehead! Apply directly to the forehead!! Apply directly to the forehead!!!
Available at UnderseaVault666
Wow, that’s a blast from the past. I used to work in a security operations center on the night shift, and we would flip one of the TVs which were supposed to be always on 24 hour news to entertainment, and the late night commercials were sometimes amazingly funny.
That “Apply directly to the forehead!” one for some quack headache medicine, which never actually claimed to cure headaches, and then there was “Extenz,” with Smiling Bob (he’s smiling because he now has a 27″ dick is the implication) the pill that was somehow supposed to make your dick bigger while somehow not doing anything to any other part of your anatomy. I remember joking with the other night shift people that if it actually managed to grow the human body that there’d be a lot more competition for MBA positions, since you’d have so many more 8′ guys with massive dicks looking to get on the teams…
Epi – [Greek prefix] meaning “over”
(Such as Epidermis is “overskin”, Epilogue means “overspeaking”,
-morph [Greek suffix] meaning “form, structure”
(Such as isomorph means “same form”, metamorph means “beyond form”).
Epimorph would then mean “Overform” and sounds like a tool for revealing your true form. Possibly Sciona is tired of having an orc she beat up for everything below her jaw line?
Or maybe it’s to go to your higher form? So maybe Sciona gets to go supersayian?
No Regenator for you, Wyrmil!
Either that, or now he really needs a Regenator.
So, how does Wyrmil explain his teeth to his dentist? And does the dentist charge extra? Flossing looks like it would be a bitch, and expensive. And definitely no oral sex from this fella. Hey, he got played for a sucker! Get it? Get it?
(This Sydney moment was brought to you by the ADA.)
Maybe he employs little birds to peck out any food stuck in between his teeth? If they get there early.
My guess is using a buffing implement on a dremel.
If only living flesh can pass through the field, then his shoulder strap should have prevented his chest from being pushed through.
Also the only thing you would need is a slab of freshly killed meat, as the cells of the meat would still be biologically alive.
If the field didn’t fully penetrate flesh then clearly it would only kill the outer layer of skin. Not much of a security device if it doesn’t fully penetrate.
And what idiot designs a security field to be so thin ?
At the very least, the field should be several inches thick.
Leaving only a small pocket to contain the artifact.
or make the floor out of pins like this, but horizontal, and every pin is attached to a bomb, poison gas grenade, flash bang, peanut-can-snake nest, etc.
crap. try sgain:
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FYAv5jzgbyk/TggyXszFU4I/AAAAAAAAHw4/BLzY9j3ntQo/s1600/Making%2Ban%2Bimpression%2Bwww.ShopCurious.com.jpg
Looks like your suggestion scared the crap out of that guy.
I feel like, by necessity, this should not work. If it only killed whatever touched the beams at the surface level than the only effect it would have is killing off the top layer of skin cells on your body. It would effectively result in a bad burn, but easily passable by anyone with regenerative properties, or anyone who didn’t care about the potential of losing their arm to infection later.
The only way for it to kill a person who tries to pass through would be if it went through their body to kill everything that passed through, which would exclude the possibility of being able to reach through one victim to get through unscathed.
Maybe it’s got a penetration depth of, like, an inch or two.
It might also only be going this slowly due to Wyrmil’s special abilities.
Ooh, that’s gotta sting.
[Head gets slammed into the kill field]
“This is the worst thing I have ever felt.”
[Troll fist comes out of chest]
“Well, *one* of these if the worst, the other a close second.”
Well worms regenerate, so…..who knows? maybe it isn’t fatal?
At this point I cannot imagine the rest of the people who came with her aren’t going to shoot her in the face. There is absolutely no way to justify trusting she won’t kill you when she murders ANOTHER fellow team member. I’d feel uncomfortable after Cooter, even though he was a d*ck, but now I would either running or start blasting.
Too late for both, unless you have a way out of the vault.
Of course, this might be a moment to file a job application with Deus…
Or they are in on it
Think about it, they were in on the first guy’s death
Sure, and who’s in on their deaths?
You mean, other than the obvious? o_O
No, no, no… I kill the bus driver.
I should say, if they all know he will regenerate, that would be a reason not to immediately kill Sciona.
Indeed. Although Cthillia may narrow her eyes until she sees that Wyrmil survives. If that was his primary reason for being brought onto the team, then the pain is his problem, not hers. Whereas Cthillia knows that she was needed for her gaze. So has already earnt her split.
It should be assumed that Sciona has some degree of positive reputation, in order to have been able to assemble the team in the first place. Which would incorporate respecting a deal (except with known monster hunters, of course). The alternative is that she has used magic to dominate them. Which seems less likely given the acrimonious bickering previously.
Do note that the great and wise Sydney’s words of wisdom should be recited here.
Of course if Wyrmil does not live, then Cthillia probably will reconsider her position. Especially with Sciona presently holding the artefact that she is here for. Not a big problem (as it can be recharged) if Sciona is trustworthy. Otherwise…
Controlling people is depressingly easy. Just assemble a group of people who hate each other but hate someone ELSE more, where YOU are the one taking them each to the side periodically and letting them know not to worry (with an evil grin) but that they’re useful… for now.
You should be able to kill any of them at any time and they won’t turn on you cuz you’re doing them a favor by killing their co-worker.
Yea, it is depressingly easy to do that on a grand scale too. It is part of ‘how to commit genocice 101’. Dehumanising a segment of society, emphasising a distinction between ‘them and us’, blaming societies’ ills on them and so on. Several steps, but ending up with mass graves.
Cooter handily did most of those steps just through his own personality. So nobody was bothered about him.
Wyrmil though they still see as one of the core team. None of those steps have been taken. Unless he does recover from this Sciona cannot realistically expect loyalty from the rest of the team. After all, if that were the case, they would fall into the category of ‘things that Sciona has no qualms about killing’.
Possibly. Mostly, I keep thinking of the “Joker’s Bank Heist” scene. Different people have different amounts of information on the plan, so the killing of one’s group (or two, three…) is part of the already-agreed on plan.
I heard that during some jail breaks in the USA (where I’m from, I apologize. I tried to stop current stuff from happening! I even hung out at one of that THING’s voting places in a ‘swing state’ and chased people away from it and destroyed whatever signs they put up.), prisoners bring along an effective third wheel, so they can kill them for emergency food at a later date if they can’t get food some other way while remaining hidden.
Mmm, I would take that with a pinch of salt. However human kind can be depraved enough, so I would not dismiss it. I suspect that, if true, it would have been in a specific instance only though, rather than a trend. Planning that, from the outset, would take an unusual mindset.
As for the politics, no need to apologise. The US has a population of over 300 million and 49% of them had a contrary opinion.
Rather it is I who should apologise. I have found a better way for society to function. Which would satisfy both sides of such divides. I have just not been able to propagate it yet. Trying to do so, outside of academia, as I am, is challenging, with no resources.
I am hopeful though, that in your lifetime you will get to see these changes being implemented.
Okay, Yorp, I am intrigued by your views and might even consider subscribing to your newsletter. ;-) Seriously, though, I know this is off-topic, but can you at least post a link?
Currently I am trying to negotiate a deal that will get it very wide exposure. If I have no joy with that I will probably have to resort to just posting it.
Likewise there are a couple of ongoing political situations, where I have been offering it as a solution. Little chance of an unknown outsider being listened to, but if I am then it will be thrust into public debate in a big way. Being a step improvement in society it would need a broad consensus to make the necessary changes.
Either way I will give y’all a heads-up.
Or it will be done on my behalf, if I die before that happens. It would not be fair to tease y’all with the possibility, and leave it up to fate’s fickleness.
Fair enough. I wish you the best of luck with it, and look forward to hearing about it one way or another.
Thanks :)
Another is that Sciona is the blood mage capable of getting them all *out* of there when they’re done. Otherwise, they’re going to have to either pay Deus to get them out (and, holy shit, I can scarcely imagine the kind of toll *he* would charge) or wait for the Council to show up. And they’ll be unarmed, because, yeah, there are a lot of powerful artifacts in the room, but evidence suggests that Sciona is the only one with a plan on how to get them out.
I haven’t been understanding any of the magic mojo that’s been happening since at least when they got into the vault, possibly before that. This is no exception.
This is because Dave is writing their dialogue realistically. Essentially you have a team of experts doing things that they are familiar with. Only where it deviates from that, do comments get made (other than if appropriate in banter). Hence why Wyrmil felt that blowing the vault door out, would be better. Because he can survive even such massive blasts, that is the way he is used to operating. Thus allowing some exposition, without it sounding injected for the reader’s benefit.
Dave has taken pity on us, for a few points, by mentioning them in his blog. For many things though he is allowing us to speculate ourselves. Personally I like this style. If not in the mood to deeply analyse it, we can just run with ‘they are experts and know how to deal with this magic mojo’.
Pretty much like most of us would have to do if we saw a wall-sized equation (in some specialist maths, physics, chemistry or other field) and the hero spots a flaw, after glancing at it for a moment.
Or the real nerds will pause the film, and sit down to try and work it out. Thereby failing to appreciate that it is the fact the hero can solve it in the same time we get to see it that is the impressive part. Not whether the director managed to find a real scientist to get it right.
But, for those who do want to investigate the details (which for magic requires a lot more speculation than looking at an equation) the comments pages are the place to work through them. Some of the speculation is clearly flawed. Others brilliantly insightful. Each bit allows us to build up plausible options that may allow the effects observed.
If you run with this it can be like reading a really good mystery novel. You can see what has happened, but you need to go through a journey to find out how and why.
Which can be great fun, solo or in the comments. But, as it is all about magic, we cannot just look up a scientific paper to prove or disprove a point. Making the whole process mostly subjective. So if debating it isn’t fun, just going with ‘they know their mojo’ is easiest. Or, if craving closure, reading through the comments and picking out the ones which seem to fit the scenes best in your mind.
Psst I found this solution rather stretched myself. But other readers have come up with some good counters to my qualms.
I agree with NoriMori. I have no clue what the heck just happened, or why.
Also, does Deus have delusions of grandeur, or does he actually have god-like powers?
Grey guy was shoved into the field, blocking it (it goes around his now dead flesh, not through it.
Then punching through the meat to make a tunnel of gore hole in the field to reach through. Like putting a hollow pipe through a sheet of water so you don’t get wet.
A good way of explaining it. Not the only one mind, for those not satisfied with this one.
Another minor detail worth noting is that we get our first look at Sciona in combat here and it seems to suggest a lack of super strength.
Orc strength, sure. She clearly has enough force behind her to shove Wyrmil in without too much effort. But super strength seems unlikely when she has to rely on some kind of haemokinesis corkscrew to rend flesh for her.
How can you forget her fight with Sydney (short girl, really pretty, co-owns a comic shop, has orbs that grant her superpowers)? That readily corroborates the ‘orc strength’. However there is one aspect that showed that orcs may be super strong or she is more than just that.
Namely that she could carry on holding up Sydney even with her arm bones smashed by the orbs. Without dipping her, or batting an eyelid.
Another interesting take. Not an easy scene to interpret, so you may well be right. However I feel more comfortable with the alternative, which is that the haemokinesis corkscrew was conjured in order to provide a magical ‘Faraday cage’.
Wyrmil’s body provides the safe tunnel through the most dangerous part of the field, whilst the bloody Faraday cage provides a shield of living cells to punch through the unliving repulsion field, whilst dying off due to the anti-life effects.
If this alternative take is the correct one then Sciona is punching through with her raw strength (maybe with some magical enhancement, such as gaining troll strength). The blood alone, though, as a cutting weapon is not convincing me at the moment.
Either way it tells us something about Wyrmil’s ability to survive massive damage. Which would not seem to stem from being able to resist damage being inflicted initially, be that through ord fist or bloody corkscrews. So regeneration is one possibility. Or rapid mini worm breeding as another.
That is a valid point. We did, at the very least, see an unnerving level of grip retention out of her back then.
But, regarding your Faraday cage point, I’d be a lot more inclined to believe that if there were continuous air barrier between her and the it. As is, we see it make a direct link between gore and fist in the final panel, which would, theoretically draw any life-seeking magic right to her, no?
Assuming that it disperses throughout the victim’s flesh, that is, and is simply held back by whatever Wyrmil’s resistance turns out to be.
I still stand by my theory that it’s a way to turn her punch into piercing damage.
*sigh* Sciona… It’s not “get the artifact out of the field,” it’s “get the field off the artifact.” And Deus has already figured this out, hence Heavenly’s presence. The field looks to be anchored to a hanging pillar and a pedestal. Using Heavenly’s powers to cut away the pillar and pedestal seems the obvious solution to me.
And if that doesn’t work, just bring the entire pillar/pedestal/field/artifact back to the lab and figure it out from there. Opal can make gates pretty much anywhere she wants, after all.
Very good solution. By drawing upon Heavenly’s presence, you may well have divined Deus’s intent. Swords would be outclassed against a gaze attack.* Likewise it would not be a first choice against a mage unless she has some kind of defense against magical attacks.
Without your cunning plan Heavenly would just be there to pad out the numbers. And I think she is indeed destined for more.
Hopefully not including joining the Fall line of Sciona gloves.
* The using mirrors trick only works if the power requires meeting her gaze. She was able to disintegrate the vault door without doing that.
True. But then why not just have Heavenly Sword consider the pillar itself to be a sword-shape, and put her field on it directly?
I am guessing that the field effectively stops the heart/kills the brain of any being that touches it (possibly via chemical/cellular intercommunication or neural communication), but does not actually penetrate such a being (the whole being dies at once, so no ‘need’ to penetrate them).
If so, the instant Wyrmil touched the field, his entire body died. Unless he really is a bunch of cooperating worms, in which case the parts of him not touching the field still are alive.
But there does seem to be some ‘lag’, since if there were not, his face should not have penetrated the field.
Well argued.
Another reader came up with a plausible reason for that lag. Which is simply that Wyrmil is very tough (surviving massive explosion type tough). Meaning that whilst it may instantly kill a normal person, or squishier super, or Sciona, he (or bits of him) may be able to resist the effect, if only momentarily.
You’re burning through your sacrificial minions pretty fast there, Sciona.
No! Why does it do that? That’s stupid!
What is the point of a barrier that can easily be circumvented by using a fancy glove? Like at all? Why wouldn’t it penetrate the material and kill/disintegrate everything intersecting with its plane?
As with many of the vaults defenses they were designed with the following assumptions in mind:
1) The details of the defenses would be secret.
2) Rapid response forces would be on the way, as soon as intruders triggered the first alarm/trap or the guardian spotted them.
This would be a deadly defense against anyone unaware of the properties and pressed for time. Delaying the thieves, whilst they tried to figure out what was happening, would give time for the mobile forces to arrive.
Name any real-world vault defense and there is a way to overcome it. If you have the knowledge of what you face, in advance, and have the luxury of time to implement your solution. Even the best safes in the world, as an example (of something you might put in a vault, in addition to its other defenses) are only rated in how many minutes they can resist a fully-equipped safe cracker. And we are talking a small number, not a large one.
My dad was a locksmith, and one of the things that he always said was that “Locks only keep HONEST people Out.” but basically you’re right, given enough advance prep time and planning, anybody could get in anywhere, it just depends on how much they really want to get in as to the amount of effort they will expend to do so..
Keep in mind however, that real-world vault defences are hindered by real-world laws. I’m pretty certain that your referenced numbers would be much larger if they were able to use lethal countermeasures against safe crackers.
Indeed. But I feel fairly sure that crime lords and leaders of rogue nations (or just the more totalitarian ones) quite happily install lethal devices in places. Then it is a matter of deploying a bomb squad with your safe cracker team.
Or, I daresay in some instances, holding a gun to the vault guards’ (or owner’s/owners’) heads, and getting them to disable the defenses.
It is totally legal to have a fire suppression system that is lethal to humans in certain circumstances … okay, it’s not acceptable now except in some jurisdictions like the FAA and data centers … look up Halon – yeah the EPA says it has low toxicity – you can still asphyxiate which is not the same thing.
There is a distinction between a system that poses a threat of death, which is deployed to reduce a greater threat of death, versus using such a system to deliberately kill.
For instance I am sure that all civilised jurisdictions will have regulations demanding certain safety features* such as clearly marked exits, that lead to safe areas (even if within an area which otherwise has a lockdown facility). Likewise prominently displayed and easily accessible breathing apparatus, where the evacuation options are limited.
You may recall the Terminator documentary demonstrating the improvised use of these breathing masks against police teargas.
A company which chose to link in their halon system to their burglar alarms, in order to kill intruders deliberately would (in the UK) be facing charges of corporate manslaughter. In the US they would just get a fine** and be allowed to go off murdering people in other companies. Although the really big fines, in the USA, do tend to deter that practice. So there is some merit in the system.
* I live in Bulgaria and am certain that (other than EU imposed regulations) they will have no such safeguards. In this regard I consider them uncivilised.
** Unless culpability could specifically be tied down to a specific individual acting without a corporate mandate. Historically a vanishingly rare occurrence.
Mind you corporate manslaughter laws are fairly new to the UK and have not seen much use yet. So I am not pretending that Britain is superior. But they are heading in the right direction.
also used in military vehicles with 3-11 person crews and strong lock systems that can stop exiting for dangerous long periods if fire or fire suppression is present
Remember that for all the “Super-World” defenses there are just as many ridiculous counters. Both sides of the equation go up, not just defensive capabilities.
I miss StickDeath.
Is that mask in the background the mask from the movie “The Mask”, you know the one with jim carrey? it looks super similar. Just saying it would be cool if it was.
That is the consensus of opinion. And agreed.
*wags tail coolly*
I think the mask from the comic series the movie was based on would get much more of a kick out of Sciona’s actions.
Imagine if Sydney wore the Mask. Her usual chaos magnified by a hundred.
[the cracks in the universe rip asunder. the creatures of the dark places contaminate the high places. the world without shrimp’s oceans turn to custard]
And there would be a delicious new variety of hot sauce that would actually make you breath fire, and I would compete with Sydney to get my hands on it.
(puffs flame)don’t see the charm
I think it would be the opposite, her chaos level is orders of magnitude higher than the Mask’s.
Even that seems overcomplicated, you could just take a live snake, stretch it out and use it like a club, really you would only use this method if you wanted to kill that guy very dead, on that note it was mentioned that that guy was hard to kill.
Remember, the field will block non-living materials, like the artifact. You need some way to bypass the field entirely, as the artifact will otherwise just stop on the barrier even if your snake-club strikes it.
Or throw a kitten at it. Sure the kitty dies, but the artifact gets bumped out of the field.
As pointed out, the artifact is not living and therefore cannot be “bumped” outside the field.
Yeah, I replied without seeing that comment and thought “oops”. No edit/delete!
Seems like kind of an oversight if all it takes is to surround the point of entry with something living.
I felt similarly. But Wyrmil is not just ‘something living’. He is something very very tough, who is not dying instantly. Thus giving Sciona the precious moments she needs to grab her toy.
Not an oversight, just one the designers didn’t think anyone would actually perform
And that’s the problem with these sorts of guardian-type people who built the vault. They may proclaim themselves to be monsters, but they still have some form of morals. This means they have blind spots regarding what lengths some people will reach in order to get what they want.
They really should have got a bunch of tabletop nerds to design the vault. It’d’ve been ten times as deadly and the nerds could’ve been paid off with out-of-print books.
Yes, they may technically be classed as ‘monsters’, but they aren’t ‘evil’, which is why they locked the damn things away in the first place rather than use them
These “people” never picked up the “Successful Evil Overlords Handbook”
#12. One of my advisors will be an average five-year-old child. Any flaws in my plan that he is able to spot will be corrected before implementation.
The thing about useful idiots is that there are a lot of different ways they can be useful, some of no benefit to them, but the idiot part, that’s what’s important. She’s demonstrated that twice in this once trip.
You couldn’t have just used oysters, or something? Oysters worked for Adam Stone!
They probably avoid cards that do not need a pin code on principle. Knowing how easy it is for other crooks to rob them.
Also the vault was last accessed 30 years ago, so probably will not accept credit card types created after that date.
Better than never returning, I would think. Well, unless you’re using continuation-passing style.
NM, I was confusing Oyster with CharlieCard (the one for Boston). I R Teh Dummass.
Regarding Wyrmies belt: going off something Yorp mentioned (“The belt may be finest Wyrmil living leather!”), Wulf Sternhammer wore the pelt of his friend Gronk to remember him (after Gronk died saving Wulf and Johnny Alpha, but not before insisting Wulf wear him), so maybe it’s a similar thing here: Wyrmie is wearing the remains of a brother or sister or other relative
Maybe they were a cow.
I can foresee a bit of psychology that might affect Sciona’s team dynamics.
Running with the common assumption that Wyrmil is tough enough to shake off merely dying. If Sciona’s hand dies too, then the rest of the team will see that Sciona is willing to subject herself to pain and damage too. They are only going to get their artefacts if she carries on doing this.
Of course it will be necessary to ensure that Wyrmil’s chosen artefact is the last one on Sciona’s (hastily modified) shopping list. He is not likely to agree to carry on suffering such excruciating pain, once he has what he is after. But may be mollified from a rebellion on principle, in seeing Sciona suffering too. Especially as she was cunning enough to go for her artefact first. So every pain she suffers after this is to get the rest of the team’s items (along with ones they may sell for profit or to create diversions).
There are a few ways I think this could go:
1) Wyrmil may have croaked, but the epimorph can also breach the barrier somehow.
2) Wyrmil may still be alive /capable of regenerating, but weak enough to be used against his will as a conduit vs the remaining barriers.
3) Sciona may have had no intention of claiming the other artefacts, and may in fact be planning to portal out now.
Using the very lethal Cthillia as a conduit seems risky, even with whatever boosts the epimorph grants, and using a vampire doesn’t seem like it would work at all, as non-living. (Which Cthillia might indeed be too).
Personally, I’m guessing option number 2. If only because it gives a specific utility value for W being on the team.
You could also wrap a plant around you. Wood armor or moss.
Do… Do you think he’ll be ok?
*starts to lean forwards*
*pauses*
*puts paws on hips, and looks sternly, at Galactic*
Why don’t you check?
I can’t help but feel the worm dude would be worth more than just whipping up something for the barrier. For example, how hard would it have been to grab a second dupe? They wouldn’t even need to be awake to be used like a glove.
This is, of course, assuming the guy’s death wasn’t already on her to do list for whatever reason.
And that is when Dues frowns at the violence, then pulls out some elbow gauntlets made from snakes, kept alive with biotech to simply reach into the defenses without any blood-spatter.
And why the heck is that line from muppets running through my head now? “Light the lamp, not the rat! Light the LAMP NOT THE RAT!!”. Seriously, google it.
Has anyone payed particular attention to what specifically is happening to our dear Wyrmil? He did not have all those little cracks in his skin before and the exit wound around Sciona’s fist sort of looks… tendrily, not really how I would expect a “punch through a person” wound to look. It appears to me that most (if not all) of the blood around her fist is from her blood magic whatever. It’s entirely possible he is some sort of colony of worms or something controlled by a hive mind, and thus making the individuals dead a-la field may not kill him. Which could also explain the ‘will survive explosion’, if his body gets blown to pieces and he is made of a bunch of much smaller pieces, he can reform his body again. Or maybe he’s just crumbling to bits because of how the death field works. (Apologies if this is already stated in some form, read most of the comments, but unsure if I missed one.)
An interesting way of depicting instant cellular necrosis. In human skin, with gradual necrosis we might expect to see it turning black. But this could be due to a gradual build up of toxins, or just waste products no longer being removed. So cells dying off spontaneously, without that, may well have an effect like a lake bed drying up. Plus his non-human (and possibly extra-terrestrial) nature is a game-changer in what to expect.
The initial tearing of his skin seems fair.* We can see her animating the blood, in the two prior frames. The increase in volumes, in the final one, speak to his blood joining hers, along the way (it may be more of hers, but the rate leapt up disproportionately, in the final frame, so that seems less likely).
Possibly including flesh and other bits, as they are dragged along in the tide, thus accounting for the tendon and sinew-like effect closer to the exit wound. Although blunt force is likely also contributing to that.
Agreed (as with your other points, which I merely elaborate upon).
A few of us have suggested this could be his nature. You explain nicely why this would be of particular use here. It also implies an interesting spin on the ‘regeneration’ power commonly assumed. Namely that his component mini-worms would actually be breeding really fast, in order to re-colonise a Wyrmil body-shape!
* Note that we are aware that Wyrmil is tough enough that he could survive a massive explosion. Yet Sciona is not. The fact that Sciona can push her arm through his body, despite those two facts, indicates that his toughness is more likely to be of a regenerative nature, than straight-forward toughness. Otherwise Sciona’s hand would have just bounced off!
** It is possible that Sciona is making use of his blood too though, to slow down the effects of the field on her hand, as it emerges from his body. If he has such, his blood will probably regenerate or otherwise be more durable than Sciona’s, even fortified with a recent troll-blood transfusion.
Whilst it has been proposed that the field is a wall (of a given thickness), beyond which is an area without the field (for the artefact to sit in) it is possible that the field extends throughout the volume. This though could create a pressure expelling any non-living matter. A serious issue as that would include many artefacts.
So if the field does permeate the whole volume, its effects may be diminished in the middle, so that the lower pressure (from the non-living matter repulsion aspect) does not cause this problem. Hence allowing Sciona’s weaker regeneration to keep her hand alive long enough to do the grabbing.
You say blunt force but, to me at least, panel five looks to depict a drill or spike of blood for ease of penetration.
Yes, had noted the ‘tendrilly’ look around the fist-exit
A very simple but effective way to kill something would be to either instantly dehydrate it.
Basically removing all the water from the biologically living cells.
Or to forcibly crystalize or fossilize the biological tissue.
Or both.
Remove the water, then fossilize and crystalize the remaining material.
All living things need to be flexible and moist to some extent.
I have been thinking of the huge forest fires in British Columbia this year and the wide-spread fires in California now. How would Archon handle things?
Major Hiro: [ Enters large tent ] Excuse me, is this the Fire Control Center?
Fire Boss: Well, this is the Fire Command Center; we are still working on the control part. What can I do for you, uh, Major?
Major Hiro: I brought a team with me to help fight the forest fires and so we were directed here.
Fire Boss: Ok, how many people did you bring and what’s their training?
Major Hiro: I brought the best fire fighters I have. Here’s my team. [ Indicates the 3 people standing behind him: Heatwave, Achilles, and Halo ]
Fire Boss: That’s it?! I thought they were just your officers. I have 495 fire fighters in 62 fire teams combating 7200 acres for forest fire. While I can use all the help I can get, what do you think 4 more people can do?
Major Hiro: This young lady, Corporal Falls, code-named Heatwave, has single-handedly put out several smaller forest fires. She can absorb the heat of the fire, which puts it out. She is also essentially immune to fire damage. This man is code-named Achilles. He is immune to all types of damage. If a fire were to sweep over either of these two, they would be fine.
Fire Boss: What about her? [ Points to Sydney ]
Halo: Let me put it this way. How many water bombers do you have?
Fire Boss: I have a Mars, a Bombardier 415, and 2 Sikorskys, one with an internal tank and one with a monsoon bucket.
Major Hiro: Recruit, I said I will do the talking…
Halo: Well, we are about to increase your capacity by a third. The major has a bucket of his own; he can fly to a lake, pick up about 20 tons of water and dump it in a single drop. Me, I am going to do it another way. I am going to put on my SCUBA gear then …
Fire Boss: You planning on fulfilling an urban legend?
Halo: What? Oh, that one. No, I will stay well above the fire. Once I have my gear on, I will dive into a lake, pop up my force field [ Demonstrates with a bubble just bigger than her ], fly over a fire, and well, bombs away. Rinse and repeat.
Major: Recruit! [ To the fire boss ] What she said is essentially correct. She and I can enhance your aerial firefighting capacity and can use much smaller water sources than a fixed-wing aircraft.
Halo: So just point us to a lake and then to a fire.
Fire Boss: Achilles, is it? You done any smoke jumping before?
Achilles: Sure, off and on for the last few decades.
Fire Boss: Can you get over here? [ Points on a map ]
Halo: I can carry him over there, no prob, then find a lake and start drowning the combusting trees. Heatwave can fly on her own, so just tell her where you want her.
Major Hiro: Why do I even bother? Recruit, I am in charge of this operation, not you. That said, you can move faster, so yes, you carry Achilles to his site. [ Looks at map ] So we are here? [ Fire boss nods his head ] Ok, can we pick up water from this lake? [ Pointing at the map ]
Fire Boss: Yeah. If you can pull that off, I want to start dumping water in this area and this area.
Hiro: Where is the fire smaller, but spreading. That is Heatwave would be best deployed.
Fire Boss: So that would be this ridge over here.
Major Hiro: You heard the man; let’s get moving.
Halo: [ To the Fire Boss ] Do you some place I can change?
Other disaster response teams:
– Hurricane and flood: All team members with flight for evac duties, plus the super-clothing-manufacturer for provision of clothing and shelter.
– Earthquake: Fliers again, plus super-strong members for search and rescue in collapsed buildings. Maybe mages to scry for survivors.
– Epidemic: not really the team’s bag, except maybe for super-doc. But Achilles could be handy if his invulnerability extends to diseases.
Dabbler’s stash of super-tech might well also include items with application for all of the above, although everything we’ve seem so far is, of course, combat-based.
Harem could be useful for small volume essential logistical support in any emergency context.
Anyone else we’re missing?
Maybe…. maybe the regenator can fix that.
Great idea, lets grab .. it .. out…
.. of its death field.
Ahem. I sense a problem. Volunteers, please step forward.
Contractor 1: “So what if someone gets past the traps and into containment; what then?”
Contractor 2: “Simple solutions are the best. A death spell surrounding each artifact.”
Contractor 1: “Ah, but what about undead or like, really long tongs or something?”
Contractor 2: “Hmmm. Force field, screens out anything that isn’t living?”
Contractor 1: “Works for me. Lunch?”
Contractor 2: “Not so fast. What if we got a really really good bribe from someone who wanted in?”
Contractor 1: “…better make a password. Lunch?”
Contractor 2: “Lunch!”
Historical Note: After completing their work, the contractors did indeed become lunch.
The first time I read your post, I continually misread ‘Contractor’ as ‘Contradiction’. Although almost making sense initially, the counterpoints got more and more arbitrary.
I wonder if Deus is secretly recording Sciona and company, and is going to send ARC edited footage anonymously?
Sydney: Hey, boss lady, someone just sent me a video. Isn’t that-
Maxima: *!!!* *grabs smartphone* *exits at super-speed* *returns* *hands Sydney new smartphone* Your temporary replacement while the experts are looking at your phone. Although I doubt they’ll be able to glean who sent that video, or recorded it.
Sydney: *starts recovering settings from cloud backup* Do you think it might be… that Deus guy?
—
Deus (sat at his desk, far away, accessing his YouTube channel): *chuckle* Well, don’t anyone look at me! I can prove where I was when that never-to-be-reported heist at that ultra-secret site took place… (enters title) “My dinner with the President.” *posts video* Heh! *SMUG*
>:=)>
Very plausibly proposed.
The one flaw being the last. Such alibis only work when there is no known way to get from one location to the other, in the time available. Sadly for Deus he can never have such an alibi again, whilst Opal is in his employ. Archon know that she is working for him and he can travel wherever she is able to open a portal.
So to establish an alibi, for himself, he would also have to either prove that she was somehow unable to have opened portals, or that he remained in sight, with the President, at all times. A feat which would require the use of a lookalike stand in, or some other layer of duplicity. With whatever risks may be associated with that. Probably very high risks given secret service involvement.
Especially as presidential guard duty is done by supers, so is not limited to mundane methods!
Why *didn’t* they just bring a bunch of snakes to use as opera gloves or sheep to punch through? That seems way less likely to backfire than this.
You don’t know PETA (the one of that universe at least) well enough. It would be a death sentence for the one doing just as much as a simple scratch on the sacrificial Lamb.
Heh. might actually be the other way around. She might be a PETA follower and would never harm an animal (but put down a Werewolf any time)
You clearly have a great mind.
*looks in a mirror, admiringly*
You are right that this behaviour has an extremely high risk of a backfire, and Sciona has not previously demonstrated incompetency.* So it is likely that she has taken this route for
a goodan evil reason.The one thing that we have learnt about Wyrmil is that he is supernaturally difficult to kill (even by comparison to Sciona, who we know can regenerate with troll blood).
Putting the two facts together implies that the animals would simply die too fast to be of use in this way.
* Barring being rattled when Deus caught her off guard. Which I think anybody would likely be thrown by.
Sci-fright should use PETA members, the same dipshits who are now protesting the wool industry
Loki’s mask and the Lemarchand’s box from hellraiser….what the heck are these guys storing a portal to hell here for?
Where else should they store it?
More seriously, this is a place for things that are extraordinarily dangerous (check), and are either too useful to destroy (not sure how that would apply, unless it’s a more general interdimensional portal generator) or can’t easily/safely be destroyed (right now, the box is a very carefully-balanced tool for creating portals; smash it the wrong way, though, and maybe you end up with a large number of very large, entirely uncontrolled portals, which open up all over the planet, so that suddenly every population center on Earth looks like the elevator scene from “Cabin In The Woods”).
The blood Sci-fright is using doesn’t come from Wyrmil, she uses her own blood
From her elven cheek, no less.
Purpose of the Epimorph as a weapon seems apparent to me. Think chainsaw with moving blades instead of chain. It certainly appears sectioned.
Agreed, I certainly got that vibe.
*wink wink*
I have to say, this may be the best comments section on the internet. Smart discussions with basically no trolling whatsoever. It’s a refreshing read I actually look forward to.
Shh. We actually have do have some, as permanent residents. Occasionally they come out for a rampage. But, like other council factions, do peacefully coexist most of the time. And some are surprisingly nice, when not all grrr.
It is a lovely community though, sure enough, and nice to have new folks joining us, in our tranquil internet pool.
*doggy paddles around it, tail wagging like a propeller*
Actually, when a dog is swimming, the tail often acts as a rudder if it is in action at all. It is only once the dog is back on land and the water has been spun off that the tail will tend to wag in happiness.
*forms tail into the outline of a bird*
*flips it up*
Anyone else think that it looks like the mask from the Jim Carrey movie The Mask? That or the plant-devil in the Cummoner series.
Many folks from the former. Your latter is the first alternative suggestion, that I recall. Googling brought up no pertinent images, so am unable to tell. The comic itself though, at first glance, seems to be a depraved sex romp!
*shocked look*
Thanks.
Hmm. I’ve had a few thoughts. First to the field:
With several people pointing out that his shoulder strap entered the field, I get the feeling that “Living” is treated like Maxima’s personal field. Since the strap was within Wyrmil’s “life” field, it was allowed through as well. Running with that assumption, the field “kills” the life field that it contacts. Given that the council has been around for a long time, I’m sure this isn’t the first vault they’ve had people break in to, and would have learned about any easy work-around at an earlier date. It also looks to me like Sciona has the blood on her hand to be used to pull it back. Where she’s punching through actually showed the field in the panel 3, and although it looks like she pushed him farther in there’s a chance that she could be affected.
As for Wyrmil, I’m pretty sure he’s got some fantastic regeneration. Only the parts within the field are being damaged – the inside of his mouth, as well as his shoulder outside the field are both normal color, not the dead, cracking gray the parts inside are. However, I’m also thinking that his regeneration works like scar tissue – he comes back looking worse, with growth or scars where he regenerates. I’m basing that on the fact Deus thinks he’s looking “The Regenerator”. Maybe he thinks/knows that it will restore his looks.
Pure supposition, of course. I look forward to how this turns out on Thursday.
… What would stop a person taking a metal stick and just poking the artifact knocking it out of the field… or a pair of metal tongs… wasteful killing the guy…
The metal stick, or metal tongs, would bounce off the force field, and never get hear the artefact.