KoC 181-185

Good as ever, Jukashi. There's time to laugh... and time to hearten and cuddle a sad, pretty demigoddess of death :wink:


Oh, our Chosen of Journeys, there he is! :mrgreen:
 
And Dragon-Blooded don't even need to be heroic to Exalt. They just have to have a good bloodline and a bit of luck.
Imagine the life of a Dynast that had the most refined breeding on both sides of the family, yet still didn't Exalt. :shock:


I'd just about want to off myself.
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That's probably a good idea, actually. A lot of really-high breeding Terrestrials would be pissed if you didn't Exalt.

(Abyssal character creation idea!)
"My family must have somehow dishonored themselves and THAT is why the Elemental Dragons have passed me over!"


"They shall all pay for my disgrace!" :mrgreen:
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I like it.


Andway, this comic rocks. Don't feel bad about not having a punchline, I love seeing Marena comforting and expositing to Secret. The pose with Marena's tail around Secret's shoulders and neck really makes it.


Also, you might want to duck. Western Union has taken out a hit on you - that visual gag couldn't be telegraphing the "yellow eyed spike-hair is a Sidereal" any harder if you actually wrote it in morse code on the bottom of the panel.


Lastly, I think Marena's heart is in the right place, but if I were her, I'd have gone with the opposite tack; telling Secret that, no matter how scared she feels, or how corrupted her Exaltation is, she's still the inheritor of one of the golden Solar Shards, and she can make it as a hero. Of course, Marena doesn't know that, perhaps, so, c'est la vie...


Poor Secret. She really needs a lot of hugs.
 
On the one hand, Secret needs hugs!


On the other hand, their pose is so adorable...And somehow reminds me of the times of Secret pretending to be Marena and Misho's daughter.


Either way, shoehorning a joke into a serious comic rarely works well. Better to have an all-serious one like what we got.
 
Marena's about to find out that, in actuality and to our surprise, Secret is Marena.


...


You are going to draw out Marena hypnotherapying Secret, right?
 
ShadowDragon8685 said:
Hmmmm...
What are the odds that Marena is Secret's Lunar Mate?
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Directly proportional to the dramatic potential it would have on the story versus other possible pairings.


Given that the other choices are Karen, Misho, Ben, Forgotten Flame, and the King, I'd say that Secret's in the top 3 canidates.


EDIT: And that's if no one wants to postulate that Ten Winds is a Solar.
 
Kyeudo said:
EDIT: And that's if no one wants to postulate that Ten Winds is a Solar.
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Or an Abyssal, or an Infernal.
...hey, has anyone suggested that he might be an Alchemical yet? That would explain the real reason he knows Nova. Or he could be a Gaiakuma. (Yes, yes, Gaiakumas don't exist. Or so we've been told.)


Maybe he's actually Autocthton, and he's just managed to lose a lot of weight lately.
 
What I'd be afraid of is that when Secret goes under, it's not just Marena that she hears whispering in her ear...but the whispers of the Neverborn.


"I see it all so clearly now. All I have to do is kill everyone in Creation, and then myself, and I'll never be afraid again."


I do love Secret, though. She's so adorable. I dunno what it is, but she falls into a category of character that I can't help but like, for the most part: the girl who's supposed to be this deadly killer vixen but turned out to be a sort of sweet, shy, introverted klutz (see also: Seras Victoria, Karen Maaka).
 
Zeikfried said:
What I'd be afraid of is that when Secret goes under, it's not just Marena that she hears whispering in her ear...but the whispers of the Neverborn.
"I see it all so clearly now. All I have to do is kill everyone in Creation, and then myself, and I'll never be afraid again."


I do love Secret, though. She's so adorable. I dunno what it is, but she falls into a category of character that I can't help but like, for the most part: the girl who's supposed to be this deadly killer vixen but turned out to be a sort of sweet, shy, introverted klutz (see also: Seras Victoria, Karen Maaka).
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Well, there's a good bit of the Woobie to her, and a bit of the Butt Monkey as well...
 
Hm...on the one hand, Secret could use a little hypnotherapy and some Charm-implanted courage.


On the other hand, Marena's schtick is "I have the best Manipulation score in the party." I would not be at all surprised if Secret wakes up with a few implanted suggestions she doesn't know about until they go off.


I have to agree with Zeikfried, though. Marena using hypnotherapy to get to Secret's hidden inner insecurities and suddenly hitting Whispers that aren't coming from Secret would be a wonderfully creepy experience, and could do unforseeable things to their relationship.
 
Zeikfried said:
What I'd be afraid of is that when Secret goes under, it's not just Marena that she hears whispering in her ear...but the whispers of the Neverborn.
"I see it all so clearly now. All I have to do is kill everyone in Creation, and then myself, and I'll never be afraid again."
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And then Misho, Karen, Marena, and Ten Winds appear in her dream thanks to a little Sidereal charm purveyed by Ten Winds - or, alternatively, a dream-invading artifact produced by Misho - who tell the evil voices in no uncertain terms that if they want to get to their vulnerable friend, they go through them first.


Cue emotion-battle within Secret's psyche, where Warform Mama Marena is aproximately the size of Juggernaut and three times as pissed. A battle wherein Misho uses analytical skill and logic to smoothly and deftly counter the insanity-inducing whispers by pointing out how stupid they really are, a battle wherein Ten Winds spreads serenity and peace through meditation, and the Sisters Ragara rip through mind-ghosts and niggling doubts, squirming fears and suicidal impulses like, well, a Dawn and a Warform Lunar through whatever gets in their way.

I do love Secret, though. She's so adorable. I dunno what it is, but she falls into a category of character that I can't help but like, for the most part: the girl who's supposed to be this deadly killer vixen but turned out to be a sort of sweet, shy, introverted klutz (see also: Seras Victoria, Karen Maaka).
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Everybody loves Secret. She's The Woobie. The way Marena's tail is being her security blanket, the way she's curled up...


D'awwww. If it's possible to get the Follower background without wanting one, she's it. I'm sure anybody who'd met the real her would follow her to every end of Creation and beyond to make her feel better.
 
Quchu said:
You are going to draw out Marena hypnotherapying Secret, right?
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It doesn't look like it. It's a chapter end, and it seems unnecessary when he can just show the results of it through the rest of the story.


Onward to Chapter 3!
 
ShadowDragon8685 said:
And then Misho, Karen, Marena, and Ten Winds appear in her dream thanks to a little Sidereal charm purveyed by Ten Winds - or, alternatively, a dream-invading artifact produced by Misho - who tell the evil voices in no uncertain terms that if they want to get to their vulnerable friend, they go through them first.
Cue emotion-battle within Secret's psyche, where Warform Mama Marena is aproximately the size of Juggernaut and three times as pissed. A battle wherein Misho uses analytical skill and logic to smoothly and deftly counter the insanity-inducing whispers by pointing out how stupid they really are, a battle wherein Ten Winds spreads serenity and peace through meditation, and the Sisters Ragara rip through mind-ghosts and niggling doubts, squirming fears and suicidal impulses like, well, a Dawn and a Warform Lunar through whatever gets in their way.
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No, that'd be bad. Part of Secret's development as a character is that, while she can rely on her friends for help, she shouldn't have to rely on them to come solve all of her problems for her. Secret wants to become a strong, valuable member of the party, not the eternally helpless, scared little girl who can't do anything without Misho and Marena and Ten coming to save her. An internal battle within her soul against the Neverborn ultimately has to be won by Secret herself. And victory against a Primordial is exactly the sort of thing that proves her worth to be Exalted.
 
Oh, and as for Secret being the reincarnation of Brigid, I'd say that there's a far better chance of her being the reincarnation of Shadow's Grace...particularly since it's a potential plot-hook for Five Days Darkness to show up and make a request. Also, Secret using Ebon Shadow Style would be pretty awesome.


There's also the chance that she is the reincarnation of Brigid, but who got a Day Caste Exaltation stuck to her because the Deathlords aren't using the same methods of Caste selection that the Incarnae use and the Exaltations themselves naturally have.
 
All Celestial Exaltations except Lunar ones have the Caste stuck. Brigid could no more be a Day than she could be a Chosen of Mars.
 
Depends on if we are talking about Brigid's Exaltation or Brigid's soul. Both move on to different incarnations, but usually not the same one. Brigid's soul could have been reborn as Secret (not that it would have any mechanical benefit), but her Exaltation doesn't change castes, so Secret couldn't have gotten it.
 
Kyeudo said:
Depends on if we are talking about Brigid's Exaltation or Brigid's soul. Both move on to different incarnations, but usually not the same one. Brigid's soul could have been reborn as Secret (not that it would have any mechanical benefit), but her Exaltation doesn't change castes, so Secret couldn't have gotten it.
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You really can't do much of anything, but since they won't notice you it's ok.
 
Kyeudo said:
Depends on if we are talking about Brigid's Exaltation or Brigid's soul. Both move on to different incarnations, but usually not the same one. Brigid's soul could have been reborn as Secret (not that it would have any mechanical benefit), but her Exaltation doesn't change castes, so Secret couldn't have gotten it.
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Exactly this. I probably wasn't as clear on this as I should have been, but I was talking about Brigid's Hun, not her Exaltation. Brigid's Exaltation is still Twilight, but Secret could be her recycled Hun.


While I don't think that it's ever directly stated, I get the impression that normally an Exaltation will normally attempt to seek out and reattach itself to the reincarnation of a past owner; or maybe Lytek or the Unconquered Sun seek out their reincarnated souls and send their former Exaltations that way.


Abyssals, on the other hand, are selected by the Deathlords, who don't use the same criteria in selecting their deathknights. Secret could be Brigid's recycled soul who never had a chance to reclaim its Twilight Exaltation because a Deathlord stuck a Day Exaltation to her instead. I doubt this is the case; I still stand by my statement that it's more likely that she's Shadow's Grace (and more likely yet that she's not the reincarnation of any famous canon character at all). But it's possible.
 
Zeikfried said:
No, that'd be bad. Part of Secret's development as a character is that, while she can rely on her friends for help, she shouldn't have to rely on them to come solve all of her problems for her. Secret wants to become a strong, valuable member of the party, not the eternally helpless, scared little girl who can't do anything without Misho and Marena and Ten coming to save her. An internal battle within her soul against the Neverborn ultimately has to be won by Secret herself. And victory against a Primordial is exactly the sort of thing that proves her worth to be Exalted.
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Dude.


Do you really think she's capable of fighting off even a single Neverborn's remote influence in her sleep? Hell, do you think Ten Winds is? I doubt it.


Getting your mind invaded by that kind of thing ain't lightweight shit, especially since they're more than capable of pre-emptively sabotaging that which would let her fight back at all - to wit, her self-confidence.


Besides, I think she'd be more likely to be spurred to heroic deeds by seeing others she cares about (Marena, Misho, or Ten Winds) put in danger than she would by being cornered on her own. She's obviously a Compassion-high person, so... Put two and two together, and if her friends come into her head, start laying the smack down, it might give her some confidence in the lengths they're willing to go for her. Then when they start getting the smack laid upon themselves, in the process of trying to save her, it would be the catalyst she needs to start acting like the voidSolar she is inside.
 
Neverborn are sleepy Primordials. The only real weapon they have against Abyssals is Resonance, and they can't make that go very fast. She might be subject to some nasty assault if she were inside one or something, but even that's survivable with good Integrity (immunity to Shaping helps).
 
Quchu said:
High Essence, self-confident and prepared Exalted backed by incredible armies killed Primordials before.
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While a "Neverborn in your sleep" might be a ghostly pale comparison to the tune of an order of magnitude lower than a Primordial, Secret is roughly even less-so well prepared to fight off in-your-head attacks from one than the First Age Essence 10 Solars were to fight their phsyical bodies.
 
I also don't think Secret's going to resist the Neverborn influences on the next strip?
 
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