King of Swords 1-7
Chapter: 1
“The Ruling King has no equal. He is at the pinnacle of power of all men, servants, angels, and devils alike. Only the gods could rival him, if they weren’t rotting, the bastards. And only a man who’s power reaches that far up can cast a shadow that large.”
– Hurim Thrymgard, Demiurge of the First Conquest
Hail Zoss. Hail the Conquering King!
Oh god, his citizens really do all call him Daddy, don’t they?
With the girth and power like that I wouldn’t be surprised tbh
Well, Solomon David is no dummy. If he submits, he might yet serve AL-YIS-UN.
PS: Make sure you have everything in writing when you make a deal in his lands, they don’t accept parol evidence. Nearly caused me to be thrice dead.
Could that square beard possibly be… a minecraft reference?
The magnificently oiled and styled beard is, in our world at least, characteristic of the ancient kingdoms of Sumer and Babylonia. I wonder if some glimpse of his glorious beard percolated into our world in those ancient times, starting a fashion craze.
No, a lot of ancient Persian and Middle Eastern countries had statues that depicted great men with cube beards.
It’s an ancient Mesopotamian beard, perhaps from Babylon or Assyria.
Probably not. Ancient Babylon and Assyria had beards like that and Solomon’s beard is probably a reference to theirs. Assyrian kings had pretty elaborate angular beards with waves in them in particular.
His beard and whole idea are likely a call out to Hammurabi, he of the most famous law code. His whole look is pretty Mesopotamian but very pared down. It’s likely a conscious opposite of Mottom, with her opulence and overindulgence.
♪♪ Traditiooooooon ♪♪
Until Freddy Mercury comes along.
Now I’m imagining Solomon singing “If I Were A Rich Man”, but it’s about achieving penultimate godhood, as Zoss supposedly did. “If I Were A God-King”?
Neither feint of heart nor feint of beard, Solomon’s ambition knows no limits.
I should hope that beard’s not a feint, the true beard would be even more devastating!
“And only a man who’s…”
“And only a man whose”
“Only the gods could rival him, if they weren’t rotting”
One has to wonder what would have happened if Zoss and Aesma had met.
She would punch his head off. And he wouldn’t mind, calmly continuing to go about his business.
Damnit man, I want to see it.
From some couple of thousands of light years, for safety reasons.
It would be…interesting, to say the least. Indeed, such an event would qualify as the proverbial “Interesting Times”, as the curse says.
Aesma would tantrum and start throwing planets at him, or get bored and wander off to find the booze.
As expected, Salami Dave has doubt (or at least, as he puts it, great interest) in Zaid’s supposed right to Zoss’ power. Indeed, he even question’s Zaid’s role in the narrative. But how will he proceed, I wonder?
Being a king means that you may be dethroned, for if your reign had a start, then at some point, it will have an end, the same goes to any mortal’s life, be him a lowly noodle vendor or the greatest of demiurges.
Salami Dave here gets, and he is smart enough to ascend to something bigger instead of just trying to expand his kingdom to secure his power grip.
A god is a line, a mortal is a line segment. This does not mean that a ray cannot exist.
He’s what got the Rising King on the road of Sovereignty, Solomon David.
That is the beginning and, quite likely, the end of his significance.
Sounds like he doesn’t know who Allison is yet, but does suspect there must be someone like her, running around with the old king’s mighty brow bauble.
A pretty revealing panel, in my opinion. I feel a little more sympathetic for Solomon David. Its sounds he knows he’s done bad things, and that he doesn’t want to. But he feels like he has to for the greater good, which makes sense when you consider what the alternatives are. The other Demiurges haven’t exactly proven to be benevolent rulers, and if some evil is required to stave them off, then it’s a neccessary sacrifice.
Insidious are the snares of the Great Enemy, Preem Carr.
To become Royalty is to transcend one’s chains. Oh, how Solomon David seeks it! Like Mother Om in her ballroom-prison, or Mammon in his golden oubliette! Fondly do they recall the way they strode across the universe before their backs were bent under all their kingship’s terrible weight!
The sons of Solomon David seek to inherit. Their stewardship would be closer to that which he desires than any other in the multiverse, and [i]that will never suffice.[/i] Solomon David will suffer no man less skilled than himself to make the same errors he made when his kingship was still young.
Behold Apotheosis. Enslaved by his pride, and his terror that another might mar his beautiful creation, Solomon David shall reign god-emperor over his people forever.
Pure. Perfect. Unchanging.
Infertile.
Each of the demiurges are sympathetic in one way or another, for all of the atrocities they have committed. They have been broken by their position in the world, in more subtle and less subtle ways.
Solomon may be motivated by a desire for the greater good, but do not forget that ultimately, he is using necessity as an excuse for maintaining exacting control over his domain and all of its inhabitants. The population of his domain are his children, and he rules over them with a fair, but unwavering and unforgiving hand. But to never allow your children to grow into adults, along with the freedom that entails, implies that you view only yourself as being truly capable of responsible choice, a kind of terrible Pride that solidifies the ego in itself out of what it tells itself is necessity. This is an aspect of Solomon that precludes him from achieving true royalty, but he will likely never understand this. Such is the tragedy of the man.
“Lackbeard, you pale in comparison to my merest follicle!”
In that last panel, on the construction site, there seems to be three bunches of people dragging giant blocks of stone up ramps. Is that slave labor? It just seems inefficient since they know how to make cranes and are already using them in that scene.
Inclined planes are also perfectly fine classical simple machines, though to actually benefit from that, they’d need a shallower incline than 45 degrees.
A preoccupation with justice would necessitate a system of punishment, and Solomon has displayed a certain preoccupation with tradition…
Don’t start discussing the schizotech, or the whole setting will vanish in a puff of logic. 😀
Might not be slaves. Contrary to popular belief, the ancient Egyptians *did not* use slaves to construct the Great Pyramid of Giza, but instead a volunteer workforce paid in a levy stipend divided into “gangs,” many of whom were EXTREMELY proud of their work. They got paid quite well, plus they got the satisfaction of working on a pretty incredible project, one they KNEW would last the test of time.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ancient/who-built-the-pyramids.html
http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/05/28/pyramid.markings/index.html
One group who built the Great Pyramid, for example, put a builder’s mark inside identifying them as “The Friends of Khufu Gang”, Khufu being the dude who commissioned the pyramid.
https://anthropology.msu.edu/anp363-ss13/2013/02/27/graffiti-in-the-giza-pyramids/
This isn’t to say the Egyptians never had slaves — they assuredly did — but just that the slaves didn’t build the pyramids, therefore, it’s entirely possible that the folks hauling up that stone block *are not* slaves. Especially since Solomon David is well-loved, I imagine he’d have little trouble getting eager volunteers.
(also, 12 men can pretty easily drag a bigass stone block up a ramp if the ramp is greased / otherwise rendered slick. Can in fact be more efficient than the cranes in some cases.)
Some who seek Royalty are such skilled Liars that they deceive even themselves.
Kings speak Truth
this is axiomatic
They make YISUN proud, yes.
Okay so…both teams, the Demiurges and Alison are being told/hearing different parts or versions of the same prophecy? Because Solomon here seems pretty sure of what he’s saying.
Put no faith in shadows, Demiurge Hurim, for they are tricky things and oft misread. An ant casts a greater shadow than a giant, when it rests upon the light.
I’m actually starting to like Solomon David. He might be ridiculously arrogant, but he has good reason to be, and “I want to make the world a better place, then retire” is exactly what a Demiurge should be saying.
Gonna be sad if he turns out to be a monstrous blight upon the multiverse. Which is, let’s be honest, pretty likely.
All the Demiurges we’ve seen so far have secret layers, playing out beneath the surface of their imperial facades.
Mottom’s all-devouring empire is run partly for the benefit of her court, and the many lords who come to her with hands outstretched.
In the confines of Mammon’s bank, his legion of combat priests put up a vision of his strength, while sequestering the dragon himself away from the world.
Incubus entices with power and pleasure, while his true face is scarred, and the power he provides makes defeated, mewling slaves of his “champions”.
I wonder, then, what Solomon David’s empire hides…
Once more I have to say,
I like this tyrant.
Tradition is usually dangerous. It gives the dead a power they do not deserve over the living, a pattern and a trap. But if tradition is written by the immortal lord of law, it’s wise not to challenge it
All these people running around like “you are the chosen one but you don’t even have his power.” Meanwhile Allison running about wrecking shit up and being a bad ass.
Just a guess but maybe if he doesn’t have the power then he’s not the chosen one?
tradition hey, sounds ominous
Every party needs a stage.
Meet the stage.
Prepare to meet the cast.
The most badass vissage of Zoss so far.