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Death Rattle predictions and reactions
zamuelpwe
Posts: 668 Arc User
For those more in touch with the lore of Champions I'm wondering what guesses people have on where the plot is headed. But aside from that, I'm just glad to see some of the attention to detail made with this one mission and what that could mean for the ongoing. It feels like an actual plot instead of just filler, even if (or especially because?) it isn't about the end of the world.
"Interesting builds are born from limitations not by letting players put everything into one build."
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My super cool CC build and how to use it.
But since it is purple, it wouldn't surprise me if the grapejuice realm was in on it.
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Please, no more.
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That could spin into a really long series. First we have to stop her getting all the pearls for the Infinity Necklace, then all the sequins for the Infinity Sheer Top, all the diamonds for the Infinity Studded Belt, and finally prevent her from accessorizing with the Infinity Tiny Purse, lest she assemble the Nightclub Outfit of Doom!!!
- David Brin, "Those Eyes"
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Isn't it all magic, really, in the Champions Universe?
That is the last time I leave my power armor at the West Side Cleaners.
Within what Champions Online has chosen to emphasize from the tabletop game's lore, pretty much. In that lore itself, most emphatically not. Yes, the rise in "ambient magic" in the modern era resulted in the "loosening" of the laws of physics that permits the development of super-technology, superhuman genetic mutations, psionics, ch'i-wielding martial arts, and all the many possible sources of comic-book superpowers. But none of those things are magical or utilize magic. "Magic" is just an enabling device for the change to superhuman, the way other settings use "cosmic energy" or "quantum flux" or any other handwavium excuse.
Actual wielders of magic, whether spell casters or supernatural beings, are the minority in the official CU. But all that diversity is just languishing.
Then again, it could be a call back to Resistance with the inclusion of magi-tech and the desire for cash...either way I'm sure the next mission will give us some more background to play with.
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This would definitely be a nice and welcome addition.
Would be good to see the others.
I know the following are mentioned in game:
- Bloodstone (NPC - Qliphothic Portal mission in Downtown)
- Temblor (Text only)
- Force (Text only)
- Phoenix (NPC - Lair on Monster Island)
- Dark Seraph (Text only)
- Eclipse (NPC - Lair in Canada)
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Inevitable reference to Endgame. I wonder if the next pearl is psionic. Something Psimon would be trying to get.
"YOU'RE NOT MY TYPE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Gravitar then does a sassy hand movement and she erases Millennium City
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I had this conversation way back before the first X-Men movie hit the big screen. The discussion was about Miss Marvel and how Rogue "stole" or borrowed her ability to fly. The question was how "scientifically speaking" did Miss Marvel fly? And would it really be possible to borrow that power?
One of the earliest superheroes to fly was the man of steel, Superman by Detective Comics. But here is the real surprise. Superman didn't fly. According to his creators Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, Superman was just strong and fast. Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound! He could jump high. Joe made drawings of him in mid air leaps and readers assumed he could fly. After a while there was no need to explain the "how" or "why". It was just ok if Superman or any other hero in a cape could defy gravity. Readers of comic gave birth to Superman's ability to fly. We might as well say the supers can fly by magic.
My wife is a writer of fantasy, and on the rare occasion has written some science fiction. But she dislikes the research to explain the science behind a fictional machine and how it works. The point is, the machine cannot work, it is fictional. She likes her fantasy stories the most, her favorite thing she tells readers who ask too many questions is; "Because it is magic, duh!". She would say, you are just nit picking, the author is trying to tell a story, not trying to build you a time machine.
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Science-fiction has always streamed into "hard" or "soft." Hard sci-fi attempts to ground itself in real scientific fact as it's understood at the time the story's written, and builds the story around that focus. Jules Verne was the premier pioneer in that stream. Soft sci-fi uses unreal but science-inspired and "scientific-sounding" gimmicks as a "what if..." springboard to explore the human condition in innovative ways. H.G. Wells embodied the early stage of that approach.
Much later, after the events of the Siege Perilous, Rogue and Carol were mentally separated again, and Carol regained consciousness. She spent some time recovering off-Earth with the Starjammers, under the name "Binary", then returned to Earth and started back up with the Avengers as Warbird. (She also took to drinking to cope, but was shocked into seeking sobriety when, while visiting Tony Stark in Seattle, she and Tony got into a fight about the booze and she knocked him through the wing of a plane on approach to Sea-Tac, nearly killing over a hundred people. After she and Tony got the plane down, he got her to sign up with Alcoholics Anonymous - he's her sponsor.) Later, during a period when I was unable to get to comics to read them and thus don't have the specifics of the story, she decided to honor Mar-Vell's memory by taking up the name "Captain Marvel". (At the time, I think Monica Rambeau was using that name, but I imagine Carol's claim would take precedence, seeing as she actually was a captain in the USAF.)
In the movies, of course, she can fly because she absorbed the power of one of the Infinity Stones, which have the ability to warp reality in specific ways.
If you're looking for a scientific explanation, you're at the wrong church, pal.
- David Brin, "Those Eyes"
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I think it'll be the return of Talisman.
A little hack to understand CSINCISSVUBBQWTF plots is "the highest paid guest actor is the murderer". The voice actress who voiced Ladyhawk also voiced Talisman. (Albeit she's one of Cryptic go-to actresses for generic female roles.)
We know the villain uses magic. Also, the villain is after human money. That rules out your aliens/qlipthoth/lemurians/weird stuff. Also, they're contracting the Cobra Lords, so it's a solo act, not an organization such as Viper and DEMON, because organizations already have mooks.
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She's not really a joiner.
Additionally, whilst it may rule out Qlipthothic stuff...doesn't necessarily rule out aliens or lemurians or anything else. It could be that the villain tried taking something on their own terms and that failed, so it needs to amass money to buy (or get something else to kill for) that thing.
Also it may be someone who is being manipulated by Elder Worms or some supernatural force for some reason. Equally, CU doesn't exist without the multiverse so it could be a multiversal villain who ends up being the ultimate big bad...but for now...I personally think someone may have been messing around with Lemurian/extra dimensional technology and produced something cute to distract everyone from the real plan...
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Thanks for the diversion back, sannia1.
Although it doesn't exactly match the description from the lore, this pearl might be meant to represent the Basilisk Orb, a very potent artifact which was once a key element in Luther Black's apotheosis scheme, before it was taken from him by superheroes and dropped in a live volcano (but things like that never stay disposed of in comics).
However, chaosdrgnz43's observation upthread that the motifs we've seen smack of the Lemurians, makes me wonder if the series could be introducing Zorran the Artificer, a renegade Lemurian sorcerer. Zorran operates as a solo supervillain in the wider world, and desires power of all kinds. In that case the pearl could be a fragment of the Philosopher's Stone. There are a number of such fragments in the world, and some have already been found, including by Zorran; but Stone fragments can be combined to increase their power. Since the Philosopher's Stone(s) are actually fragments of the fuel core for the Mandragalore, and Zorran was exiled from Lemuria by King Arvad but is still being tracked by him, the larger story could involve Arvad and his loyal Lemurians.
Valerian... or, any of her associates from Vibora to be honest, could be involved. We don't really know the full extent of the power Therakiel gave them.
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Yes, Arvad had recovered some of the fragments of the Mandragalore's fuel core over the years, but not nearly all of them. The core exploded when the Lemurians first tried to use the Mandragalore against the Empyreans, which is what sank Lemuria in the first place. The explosion scattered pieces of the core across the globe, where they became known as the Philosopher's Stone. One reason Arvad exiled Zorran, but is keeping tabs on him, is because Zorran is hunting down more core fragments, which Arvad intends to eventually harvest from him.
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Just FYI, in theory the Mandragalore is capable of creating any type of "natural" disaster, up to maximum possible magnitude, anywhere in the world. Tornadoes. Earthquakes. Hurricanes. Volcanoes. Tsunamis.
My preference would be for the series to introduce some fresh blood from the Champions villains roster, rather than retread who's already been used. Then again, my preference would have been for no magic, so clearly the universe is not aligned to my will.
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Another villain, throwing this out there...Hi Pan. He uses magic and was technically the 'leader' of the Cobra Lords at the end of the Westside storyline. Obviously he's Asian and all of his plots therefore have to be super-Asian, but he technically should be a suspect.
Normally I would say it's likely either a red herring, or a purely aesthetic choice, since Malvans as a culture don't use magic. They don't need to -- their incredible technology is the embodiment of Clarke's Law. But Cryptic has a history of bending the lore precedents to fit what they want, even if it makes no sense. In that vein...
That's a significant connection; and Hi Pan (annoyingly obvious pun, but whatever) would not have to be involved in an "Asian plot" if the devs don't care about setting-based logic. Now that I think about it, Hi Pan might be disgraced and ostracized from the Cult of the Red Banner due to his previous failure, and having to find whatever means he can to redeem himself. OTOH he's probably a relatively minor functionary in the Cult's hierarchy, so he could be used to bring in more significant players as the true power behind the event. But I do feel that using a pearl as a McGuffin in this story has a more Oriental "flavor" than the gemstones favored in Occidental supernatural fiction.
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I predict the CO community will get disappointed
It appears to be a mix of Radical and ancient armor bracer.
Cobra Lords aren't exactly VIPER or DEMON. The ones that give them these new powers must only want to use them as pawns. They themselves are hardly occultists or even well funded paramilitary groups. Cobra Lords are basically the Sons of Anarchy. Nothing really threatening about their capabilities when compared to Shadow Destroyer, Talisman, Luther Black, etc.
Mysterious, Large Scale Big Bad delegates to Local Big Bad, who delegates to Disposable Street Gang? It does feel like there’s a middleman involved, doesn’t it? (Oh, and it would be hysterical to see the Cobra Lords get taken for suckers again after Hi Pan almost fed Zaretti to the Death Dragon. The day may come when they figure out how low they are in the pecking order, but it is not this day.)
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But yeah, it does taste kind of like a middleman trying to skim some profit off this whole affair. The ultimate Big Bad is probably someone cosmic-level (Istvatha V'han, maybe? Or another Malvan trick going on?), but using a Terran to do their dirty work because that's too low-level for them to bother with. I mean, it's not like the heads of the Five Families are intimately acquainted with every hitman-for-hire their local capos contract...
- David Brin, "Those Eyes"
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