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[megatheorem]

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un: warden

Comments

[umbraportation]

Something we could work on? Sure, I could kill things with a sword to get thanergy going, but I dunno, there might not be anything to kill.

Also, does your universe have zombies? Still fleshy dead.

[megatheorem]

Let's think of some ideas. Maybe one without killing too many things will pop up.

And sort of, but not the way the rest of you conceptualize them, I think. A flesh magician, myself for example, could puppet a corpse around in a pinch. There's also the notion of the Beguiling Corpse, which is an incorruptible body (read: it doesn't rot) with a bit of spirit attached that allows it freer movement, if not proper sentience. Counter to that would be what I'd call a 'hideous corpse,' where the body is rotting but the spirit is whole-- a haunting in that case, a revenant.

I think both of those qualify for 'zombies,' by what I've understood a zombie to be around here.

[umbraportation]

If it does come down to killing, you can use the thanergy I'd create from it. Just so we're clear.

[ Since Palamedes' cavalier isn't here to kill things for him. ]

Huh. Yeah, those sound like zombies. Guess Jules-Albert would be kind of middling, then.

[megatheorem]

[Hmm, yes, he totally wanted to think about Nico killing things for him today. It hits different when it's not just plants implied? Presumably beasts, but the danger levels? Nico isn't a cavalier, and that isn't a bad thing— mmph.]

I'll allow it-- in an emergency. Still, let's fiddle with the workaround idea in the meantime. No emergencies to speak of yet.

Jules-Albert?

[umbraportation]

[ It is what baby demigods do, and possible grown ones. He'll do his best to not kill humans or pthumerians, animals and animal-beasts would be the most likely target. ]

In an emergency.

The zombie my dad gifted me. In one of his "getting to know my son" moments, he apparently thought I should have someone to drive me to social places other teens hang out. Jules-Albert used to be a racer, was disqualified despite taking first. He's a restless soul, always looking for a chance to drive. He isn't a whole soul, but he's not rotting anymore.

[megatheorem]

[Baby demigod, do that a little less, beasts are dangerous.]

'Gifted' is a terrible word for that, if you ask me. Can he still think and act on his own? Jules-Albert. You can have a conversation with him?

[umbraportation]

[ But he's good at it, and it's necessary. ]

It's not the word I would have used, either. Zombie chauffeurs do not get a guy some mortal friends. No, I just kind of know that he's sticking around for one last race. Even my demigod friends think it's weird.

And some of them have been driven around by weird individuals.

[megatheorem]

[don't do it son]

If you're here, what is he doing now? Does his contract expire while you're away, and he can have his race and go back to rest?

[umbraportation]

[ He can't help it. ]

He's probably hanging out in the Underworld. That's usually where he is when I summon him for driving. I guess I could probably send him to a race with mortals, the Mist would make him look just like anyone else. I don't usually keep using the same undead, unless that's what they want.

Hm, not sure how dad would take it if I let Jules-Albert have his race and rest.

[megatheorem]

Well, I think you should let him try. But then, you can probably guess how I feel about this latest in a series of weird things your dad's done.

[umbraportation]

Sure, I'll do that when I see him again. I give him points for trying, but not many. Mostly because Jules-Albert got me through a hoard of monsters safely, so I could stop a war before it really started. Without him, me and a couple others probably would have tried dying.

So, actually useful "gift".

[megatheorem]

I will award Jules-Albert points for good driving where due, of course, but I graciously refuse to award your dad any points for the 'gift-giving' of actual people.

[umbraportation]

That's fair. Most parents give normal gifts, even some other deities give better gifts than dad. Our relationship is actually better than it used to be, which even I know that it still isn't great.

[megatheorem]

Right. I trust your judgment, you know; I believe you. If you want me to keep my commentary to myself, at any time, just say the word.

You've never told me about your mother.

[Is this also a sensitive subject...]

1/2

[umbraportation]

I don't know, it's probably good to get an outsider's opinion. Demigods tend to be biased.

[ ... ]

[umbraportation]

She was killed by dad's brother when I was ten. I don't remember much about her.

[megatheorem]

[damn, so every god is shitty, noted]

I'm sorry to hear that. The things you do remember - are they good things, at least?

[umbraportation]

[ Pretty close, yeah. ]

Feelings, mostly. After her death, dad had our memories washed away so that he could hide us from Zeus. We were the real targets. I got to witness the whole thing later when I tried to summon her ghost.

[megatheorem]

That [.............] isn't a terrible reason to commit a terrible act, I suppose. Erasing your memories, I mean.

And, 'we'? Your sister?

[umbraportation]

Whole story: this Oracle spouted a prophecy about a kid of one of the Big Three (Zeus, Hades, Poseidon) that would either 'preserve or raze' the gods' home at the age of sixteen.
So they all made a pact to not have any more kids (a stupid pact Zeus and Poseidon broke). Unfortunate fact: Bianca and I were already alive, so Zeus wanted us gone. After the whole memory erasure, dad stuck us in a hotel and casino where people don't age, and we didn't really notice the passage of time for seventy years.

I asked him why he brought us out, and I quote: "This idiot son of Poseidon cannot be allowed to be the child of the prophecy." Which was stupid because both Zeus and Poseidon's kid were older.

Yeah, Bianca. She was twelve.

[megatheorem]

What is it with people and putting you into strange liminal spaces?

[First a jar, now a hotel outside of time...]

At that point, your 'Big Three' must have racked up enough karma to earn it, if somebody knocked their houses over. Did that happen?

[umbraportation]

I don't know, between that and getting turned into plants, I'd like it to stop.

[ Yes, hi. Nico has absolutely been in weird situations. ]

Their dad was the one who wanted to knock their houses over first. But their dad was an even bigger ass. I mean, their house still stands after some remodeling.

[megatheorem]

Christ, sooner or later you're going to run out of things that make me put my omni down in shock, surely. Into plants! Why.

[Also, thanks for teaching him about Jesus, now he can use even more exasperated phrases.]

What is it with dads, every time? My dad is a professor.

[umbraportation]

Yeah, probably. I'm only 95 years old, after all. Because plant deities are terrible. My stepmother hates me because my dad cheated on her twice with mom. The second time was because I threatened a god into saving my sister. I also tend to be walking death to plants when I'm upset.

[ You're welcome. Also learn to curse demigod style, too. ]

Dads and evil grandmas. (Great-grandma to me.) That doesn't sound too bad.

[megatheorem]

[when ur son is 95]

You even have an evil stepmother. Someone could write a book about this. Is she a plant? Like, on the inside? I have no idea how your gods work.

It's very ordinary of him, which I've come to understand is actually extraordinary, when it comes to dads. If I ever see him again, I'll let him know.