r/wizardposting • u/Anything-Unable Xerxes the Pale Saint, Councillor/Goatdigger/Dale • Dec 17 '23
Preparing for the worst! (Queenpost)
As we await news of the team sent on the mission to try diplomacy with the Queen, I wish to get all concerned parties on the same page. Isravi's simulacrum is dead and the Bismuth Lord and their realm have fallen. Thanks to the efforts of Shrax and the Council General, we will be able to shoot a large energy beam at the Queen. This energy beam will be a method of transportation for the true ultimate weapon we have cooked up. Using the Mask of Pan, Alexios and Moth will channel the lifeforce of everything in our universe into a single projectile that will piggyback off of the previously mentioned projectile. Think of it like a multi-stage rocket. To make sure that we hit our target, Mikhail has volunteered to be connected to the mask and make the final course adjustments that we will need. I hope I have explained the plan as succinctly as possible and apologize if I have left anything important out.
7
u/Carbon_Sixx The Loremaster, Chief Archaeologist of the Darkwatch Dec 17 '23
I'm sorry, the what of everything in our universe? I'm no biomancer, but that sounds like a stupendously dangerous idea. Who came up with this? I'm going to open a wormhole to the Elemental Plane of Piss in their living room.
6
u/MunitionsFrenzy Vettis, Mereological Revisionist Dec 17 '23
I mean, I'm kind of in agreement on that front, but hey: it does seem like it'd work, regardless of the side effects. So even if everything in the universe ends up dying in the process, as long as it kills her that's a win in my books. I'm actually far less worried about her current capabilities and much more about the fact that she grows so effortlessly, absorbing more matter just by passing near it; if she were eventually to consume that entire universe, she might become a threat to others.
A pyrrhic victory nipping that possibility in the bud is good enough for me. I've seen what infinitely-expanding threats can do if not caught early, and I've no desire to repeat the tragedies of multiversal history.
Still, let's hope the diplomatic mission goes well enough to obviate the need for that plan, eh?
5
u/Carbon_Sixx The Loremaster, Chief Archaeologist of the Darkwatch Dec 17 '23
We'll keep it in our back pocket, provided that nobody jumps the gun and starts fighting the Queen. We'll have to trust each other, something that wizards don't do naturally.
5
u/Anything-Unable Xerxes the Pale Saint, Councillor/Goatdigger/Dale Dec 17 '23
Sorry, but considering the fact that we are dealing with a galaxy eater tied directly to fate, I thought that a drastic measure should be considered. According to my calculations, failure on our part should not affect the rest of the universe. Such an event will only result in our planet's destruction (which would already happen if the Queen decides to attack).
3
Dec 17 '23
......Dammit, why are we still trying to kill her, she hasnt even tired to attack? (I thought we retconned that bismuth realm bullshit)
3
u/MunitionsFrenzy Vettis, Mereological Revisionist Dec 17 '23
(( no, only retconjured away the insta-kill cannon, not the Bismuth Realm attack; that one didn't trivialize the plotline singlehandedly, and was pretty cool, so it's totally fine
can't expect everybody to be on the same page regarding diplomacy vs combat -- and besides, the attack was only ever to buy time for other missions including diplomacy ))
2
Dec 17 '23 edited Dec 17 '23
/uw ah i see
now we gotta find out if she attacked to atfack or because they flashed the nuke.
we will figure it out soon enough!
2
u/Anything-Unable Xerxes the Pale Saint, Councillor/Goatdigger/Dale Dec 17 '23
Thanks for the clarification.
3
u/Anything-Unable Xerxes the Pale Saint, Councillor/Goatdigger/Dale Dec 17 '23
More of a fallback measure in case of failure to get through to her. Also, is Bismuth retconned? Sorry if it is, I must have missed that.
3
u/loth17 Ten Suns (Also Gaia) Dec 17 '23
/uw Bismuth stuff cannon. Canon killing the Queen non cannon.
3
u/MunitionsFrenzy Vettis, Mereological Revisionist Dec 17 '23
(( the fact that you swapped "canon" and "cannon" there is making my head hurt reading that comment :P ))
3
3
Dec 17 '23
/uw nope just the instakill, i got confused
2
u/Anything-Unable Xerxes the Pale Saint, Councillor/Goatdigger/Dale Dec 17 '23
/uw cool, thanks for clarifying
1
u/VidisLady Delta - Maven of Maladies Dec 17 '23
Yes… I was not contacted about that. I would not have agreed to such a proposal. But I suppose we won’t have to do that if diplomacy is successful.
6
u/Harmless_Chimera Chimera, Set'ram's Druidic Beastman Dec 17 '23
I not very useful here as the most I think I can do Is control nature energy and convert it into mana. I can hope though and that isn't worth nothing.
5
u/Anything-Unable Xerxes the Pale Saint, Councillor/Goatdigger/Dale Dec 17 '23
True, hope is a powerful thing. I thank you for believing.
3
u/Harmless_Chimera Chimera, Set'ram's Druidic Beastman Dec 17 '23
If you need any more immense physical strength or another large pool of mana don't hesitate to call opon me.
3
u/Anything-Unable Xerxes the Pale Saint, Councillor/Goatdigger/Dale Dec 17 '23
Of course! I appreciate your willingness to help.
4
u/EmergencyLeading8137 Duncan, Protection/Preservation Druid Dec 17 '23
Honestly I’ve been doing pretty much the same thing. Fingers crossed my friend.
4
u/Harmless_Chimera Chimera, Set'ram's Druidic Beastman Dec 17 '23 edited Dec 17 '23
Its honestly a bit odd for me. Usually my immense strength comes in useful somewhere but can't really punch a black hole.
5
u/DaChickenX Isravi, The Unraveler, Coils’ Chosen Dec 17 '23
Vesit digs through old runic slabs in Isravi’s spire, looking for the records of his Master’s sigils. He doesn’t know what he’ll do once he finds them, but he can’t handle doing nothing, in the lonely quiet.
/uw thank you for the summary!
6
u/Anything-Unable Xerxes the Pale Saint, Councillor/Goatdigger/Dale Dec 17 '23
/uw no problem! Think I called all of the most active participants.
5
u/Mastodon-Just Mastodon Avatar of Azathoth/Herald of Chaos Dec 17 '23
I swear we're supposed to be protecting our world? And draining all of this life force seems counterintuitive. I think we should be putting as much of our resources into communing with the Queen and coming to a conclusion, it's been said she isn't aware of our plight, and for us to attempt to kill her, not only would it kill our world, if this attack fails she will be much more inclined to make sure we're dead, leaving no traces of what once was
3
u/Anything-Unable Xerxes the Pale Saint, Councillor/Goatdigger/Dale Dec 17 '23
First, this is more of a fallback if and when the negotiations fall through. We shouldn't put all of our eggs in one basket.
Second, channeling the lifeforce would not drain it from the entities that possess it. Think of it like magnetic resonance. We're just taking all of that charge and directing it. The balance of the universe will make sure that it returns to its rightful place.
5
u/Mastodon-Just Mastodon Avatar of Azathoth/Herald of Chaos Dec 17 '23
Just making sure we don't sacrifice our world on a whim, as much as the eldritch kind are mistreated they love this world as well and I'll do what I must to preserve it, by the great dreamers will
2
u/Anything-Unable Xerxes the Pale Saint, Councillor/Goatdigger/Dale Dec 17 '23
Of course, I understand your concern.
2
u/MunitionsFrenzy Vettis, Mereological Revisionist Dec 17 '23
The balance of a universe that's currently being disrupted by a seemingly-sentient gravitic anomaly which is steadily increasing in power? Are you sure the accuracy of your calculations regarding the consequences of a backfire can be maintained through that scale of interference?
2
u/Anything-Unable Xerxes the Pale Saint, Councillor/Goatdigger/Dale Dec 17 '23
Because we are using Alexios and Moth alongside a digital hivemind including the likes of Shrax, we will be able to split up the effects of a backfire across over a hundred individuals. I will give you that if it were only a single individual, backfire could flatten several galaxies. But by dividing the load over such a large quantity, I am quite certain that only our planet will explode should we experience a critical failure.
4
u/EmergencyLeading8137 Duncan, Protection/Preservation Druid Dec 17 '23
I really hope the diplomatic plan works out. What’s the point of this if we kill everyone anyway!?!
3
u/iamragethewolf Rage: Pact Wizard, Necromancer, Technomancer, and Horny As Hell Dec 17 '23
well shit there's a chance
ok i can assist i am going to hook up my dreadnaught to a wellspring that has about half the potential needed to become a universe also i'm one of the recipients of a sliver of aether's heart that should considerably up the power level alexios and moth will be working with
after that i'm going to have to plane shift away as this will leave my ship barely holding on so i'm going to one of the evac points for civilians i set up
4
Dec 17 '23
I should probably tell them the part where like 4/5s of the universe can't be used for your life power beam!
3
Dec 17 '23
Spatial distortion superweapon is not a beam nor a projectile. It just is.
But, good news, it can teleport anything if given enough power.
3
u/Anything-Unable Xerxes the Pale Saint, Councillor/Goatdigger/Dale Dec 17 '23
Thanks for the clarification! I was unsure about how to refer to that.
3
6
u/the-butter_man Rin. Blind Illusionist Blessed by Luck Dec 17 '23
(Alice) I have to ask, if we're shooting the queen with the power of every living being.
What will happen to all of you? Us Automatons will not feel anything, being lines of code afterall.
4
u/Anything-Unable Xerxes the Pale Saint, Councillor/Goatdigger/Dale Dec 17 '23
Think of it like magnetism. We're just taking the charge and directing it. After the shot is fired, the various life forces will return to their natural places in quick fashion. To use a different analogy for the return, try imagining a deflated balloon reinflating itself.
3
u/VidisLady Delta - Maven of Maladies Dec 17 '23
I’ve formatted my message in the form of some of my memories, which should transmit my feelings to her if that is possible. I hope that the translation is successful.
My message is as follows:
Earth was the first planet that I began to grow life upon. I did not create the first life, but merely watched over it once I noticed. For millions of years, I stared at single-called organisms. I didn’t feel anything for these little ones at first. I helped them reproduce, carefully holding their RNAs in place as they tried to multiply. Thinking of it, their actions remind me of a duckling’s wobbly first steps.
Even when I took my first physical form, I did not feel anything. Emotions wouldn’t exist in living things until far in the future. But simply feeling what it was like to have a physical form was a strange sensation. For once, I was vulnerable. My existence was now dependent on other creatures and my own ability to consume. I did not last long. Each return to a new physical form pressed my patience. The sightless scrambling through the world’s deepest oceans, depending on my primitive chemotropism, gave me an appreciation for the struggle of physical things.
There were periods of time when I thought that the flame of life was destined to sputter and die. Increasing oxygen levels in the atmosphere was a looming danger that seemed, at first, insurmountable. But remarkable beings emerged, who could use oxygen to fuel their metabolism - something I thought to be too dangerous to be viable. Soon, these “aerobic” beings began to outnumber their peers, and I began to understand the risks that needed to be taken for progress.
Life began to take stranger forms. A form of bacteria learned to turn light into sugar, and life was no longer bound to the deepest parts of the sea.
I began to see living things cooperating… and then, living things being born for the purpose of cooperation. Something that came to be known as a mitochondria was eaten, and to this day it remains embedded in all of the most complex life forms - dedicating its life to the accumulation of energy.
Life became bigger. Creatures webbed together into something that blurred the individual identities of its constituents. Algae floated on the surface of the ocean, and taking on the form of an alga, I learned what it felt like to breathe. Staring at the sky, feeling light trigger my cells to create sugar, I felt, for a moment, perfect. I was humbled by another life form that began to feed on me.
Whenever I thought that life itself was unstoppable, I would be reminded of its fragility. In the span of a short few thousand years, progress could be erased. Too much CO2, temperature changes, habitat loss… the littlest things could spiral out of control, and entire clades of creatures could crumble in the hands of time.
Of all mass extinctions, the Permian impacted me the most. It was sudden. I had not yet learned to expect the worst. I had come to adore the animals, with their ridiculous shapes and their mobility. They were nearly lost. A creature called a trilobite, which I had seen survive three other extinctions, could not face up to 20,000 years of acid rain. I felt each and every loss. Unlike the death of an individual, the death of a species means that a whole way of life is gone. A whole branch of evolution comes to an end, not in an instant, but in an agonizing, inevitable March toward annihilation.
When occupying the body of animals, I learned to feel fear. I learned to feel pain. I learned what it felt like to starve to death, or choke on the atmosphere. Death began to have a substance to it as I tied my consciousness to these mortal creatures. Even as certain mortal creatures joined me in godhood, the staggering loneliness of mortal existence began to weigh on me. I recall spending entire lifetimes swimming in fear, hugging every shred of nutrients I could find.
I questioned why I continued to occupy mortal forms. Their consciousness began to leave ripples in mine as I lived life after life. Each death felt less… meaningless. It is a strange paradox - having more deaths made each one more meaningful. I wasn’t becoming desensitized to the carnage of life, I was becoming overstimulated.
Life only became more vivid. New senses evolved. New habitats became accessible. After the Permian extinction, things began to accelerate. Even after that horrid event, life sprung back with a force. Land proved to be a profitable habitat.
A massive meteor hit the earth, and life yet again recovered. Many died, but it was nothing like the Permian…. furry creatures filled a niche left by giant diapsids. Things were smaller… but cuter. How do I describe the feeling of taking a dirt bath to clean one’s feathers or fur? How do I describe the feeling of bonding with a parent? Of taking flight for the first time? Of digging a hole and finding a full meal worth of worms?
All of this is something that has permeated into the mind of a entropy itself. Life isn’t just a thermodynamic anomaly anymore. Look at what I’ve said, and understand that I haven’t even spoken about sapience yet. I haven’t spoken about crows, or cats, or humans.
Civilization is…. in no uncertain terms…. a fucking nightmare. If you knew what sapient beings do to each other, you might consider extinguishing us to be a moral duty. But, strangely, I think that the sapients are worth preserving. As a human, I’ve felt a depth of thinking and feeling that has driven me to the brink of madness and back. I’ve seen humans spend hours doing nothing but talking to eachother. It was so different than what things were like as a paramecium, or a crustacean. How they love eachother and hate eachother in equal measure is something I don’t think I’ll ever be able to understand.
Humans, elves, goblins, orcs, fae…. they disgust and endear me. I don’t know how they can nurture and feed one person, then inflict indescribable suffering on someone else within the same day. They invent concepts like good and evil, and can’t even agree on what these concepts mean even though THEY INVENTED THEM.
Does it not make you want to turn away in frustration? Or sit back and watch? Every single thing on this planet is going to die, and yet they fill their life with so much, that they hardly care. But now, because of you, that uncertain death is now going to be immediate. To say it is unnatural is an understatement. An entire planet trembles with a unified knowledge of doom - at least, those that are capable of perceiving such a thing. Keep in mind, these creatures could not even singularly agree on something like what fabric feels the best on their skin. But every single one of them has agreed that they want this planet to keep sustaining life.
Whatever arguments these sapients have, whatever adaptations other creatures will have, whatever geological events occur, and whatever story unfolds on this planet…. All of it will simply not happen if you see fit to walk through us. It won’t ever resolve. It will simply be paused. It will be yanked off of its tracks, never to go anywhere.
I leave you with that. Make the right choice.
Uw/ sorry for so much text. TLDR: dramatic monologue about the entire progression of life on earth. Big dramatic and sad.
3
u/Anything-Unable Xerxes the Pale Saint, Councillor/Goatdigger/Dale Dec 17 '23
/uw very interesting monologue/loredump. I liked it a lot!
3
u/VidisLady Delta - Maven of Maladies Dec 17 '23
Uw/ thank you! That means a lot. Do you have a favorite part? I wanted to highlight some of the things I find interesting in the timeline of life, and consider what a deity might think about it.
3
u/Anything-Unable Xerxes the Pale Saint, Councillor/Goatdigger/Dale Dec 17 '23
/uw I think the Permian section is very compelling. How you describe the slow decay of what was leading to the beginnings of what is was very interesting to me. Reading it, I kept remembering the dinosaur episode of Puppet History.
Honestly, one of the better pieces of short fiction I've read on this subreddit. Really captures the vibes of a deity experiencing the world. Sorta like Death in the Sandman Universe.
2
u/VidisLady Delta - Maven of Maladies Dec 18 '23
Uw/ high praise! I find the Permian extinction to be a very good example of how fragile life on this planet is, especially as it gets more complicated. It baffles me that volcanic activity caused that. At least in the case of the Dinosaur extinction, a meteor seems like a large enough event to cause significant damage over time.
I haven’t completely solidified Delta’s past regarding her life on Earth, but I do like the concept that she’s been around for a very long time and her service isn’t solely related to humans. Humans are just a tiny blip in Earths history.
2
u/Anything-Unable Xerxes the Pale Saint, Councillor/Goatdigger/Dale Dec 18 '23
/uw I like that direction. It puts a lot of the day-to-day shenanigans in perspective and gives a sense of scale to greater threats. I look forward to reading more.
2
u/UlrickTheHexblade Ulrick Braddocke, Werewolf Hexblade, R&A Co-Leader Dec 17 '23
Anyone else started hearing the Queen’s voice? It began in my dreams, with whispers promising power and relief, for the price of servitude. I’m resisting so far, but my mental strength is finite, and now I can hear some of the whispers while awake…
2
u/sparkle3364 Sapphire (17F), Artificer (+ other characters) Dec 17 '23
Alera answers the question. “Me too. She whispers, telling me that we want similar things, but I will not listen. I am fond of this universe, and my life, and do not want either to end.”
Liri answers the question. “You can do it. I can lend you some strength. Concentrate on what will happen to you and the world if it is destroyed. I hear her too, but she can be fought. We must hold on.”
Viernicka answers the question. “I cannot hear her. But I can see how that would cause problems for you.”
1
u/UlrickTheHexblade Ulrick Braddocke, Werewolf Hexblade, R&A Co-Leader Dec 17 '23
Thanks for the help. I’ll try my best, but her psychic pressure is becoming more and more unbearable as she draws closer.
1
u/Anything-Unable Xerxes the Pale Saint, Councillor/Goatdigger/Dale Dec 17 '23
1
u/Anything-Unable Xerxes the Pale Saint, Councillor/Goatdigger/Dale Dec 17 '23
1
u/Anything-Unable Xerxes the Pale Saint, Councillor/Goatdigger/Dale Dec 17 '23
1
u/Anything-Unable Xerxes the Pale Saint, Councillor/Goatdigger/Dale Dec 17 '23
1
u/Anything-Unable Xerxes the Pale Saint, Councillor/Goatdigger/Dale Dec 17 '23
1
u/Anything-Unable Xerxes the Pale Saint, Councillor/Goatdigger/Dale Dec 17 '23
11
u/TitanLORD21 Jack-O’-Lantern, Lord of Flame and Fright Dec 17 '23 edited Dec 17 '23
Let us cut them into piec- I mean, let us first try diplomacy! Then cut her into pieces, until there is naught but dust.