that… that could actually work. I doubt it’s what will happen, but all of this was just to make this prideful bastard think he’d seen through the plan, seen through the real plan behind the plan, and get his chance to gloat, all the while not realizing that Gog-Agog did all of this just so that he wouldn’t think to do something as mundane as make sure there was no worm in his soup.
Pree Liava, carpentry is a fine example of the beauty of cutting.
Cut logs become wood. Cut wood becomes plank. Cut planks become a table.
The carpenter decides what is cut and how, and what is discarded; and while much wood is lost, something greater is gained.
In this way can a few slain gods create a Throne, and in this way are kings and carpenters essentially the same.
But then cut table becomes trash and cut trash can become foundation for another tree to grow and the cycle to close. Mayhaps cutting is not just a mindless act of destruction but the means of forcing things to go forward?
the logs are chopped, not cut! chopping is a much more useful skill – good for vegetables, the heads of criminals, and indeed logs! but none of these are the Fool’s Art.
a king cuts; a carpenter chops. woe be the one who mistakes a sword for an axe!
Solomon King, who commands fear, if not respect. Killer of sons by not but worth and time. A coward! A charlatan! A fool, who knows not what it would mean to seek God’s name as his own! And yet…even I must relent to his power. An immortal man, however morally corrupt, is still not one whose invitation you say no to.
Being too hurt to continue does not seem to be appropriate reason for disqualifying a warrior unless he – or she – is crippled permanently. You can just wait a few days and then continue.
It’s angel armor/shell we’re talking about here though, no new angel (aside from the Thorns) armors have been created in a number of centuries due to some longstanding disagreement or other. I guess repair services might be available, but would Solomon be willing to wait for that?
Besides, the tournament was supposed to only take place over three days. Unless there’s some ‘magical’ (read as you will, whether high tech medical, martial arts bs, actual magic, potions, whatever) healing around, if the fighter can’t recover within a day, they’re probably out.
I was once asked by a mortal, “Ô Concordant Knight, what does it mean to share table with two that aspire to the Crown ?”
As i pondered the question of the flesh, a red devil laughed, and anwsered accross the street : “It means that you won’t need a knife to cut meat tonight.”
Meanwhile, Fabio/Zaid Skywalker (flashing plenty of cleavage) and the gang have been recaptured, to be trotted out by Solly at a crucial moment in the coming confrontation. Popcorn moment!
My anticipation grows ever stronger. So far Solomon has appeared to be the least abominable of the Tyrants, I wonder if this will hold true behind closed doors? Somehow it would disappoint me if he were nothing more than a mere monster.
Solomon David is something *much* more horrible than a monster or an abomination. Solomon David is a tyrant who believes himself utterly to be in the right.
One wonders if that is why he has seemingly built something more enduring than the more honest Mottom or Incubus; selfish mercenaries who for the most part wear their monstrosity on their sleeves, and see the world for the cruel, brutal place that it is. Solomon David is most proficient in the act of lying to himself, which perhaps puts him closer to God called YISUN than anyone.
I had, at the time, thought him deluded when he declared himself the closest of the Seven to true Royalty. Now, I am not so sure.
Solomon provides entertainment for his subjects in the form of bloody tournaments, while Mottom does the same with her extravagant parties. But Solomon is smarter, as his tournaments eliminate many potential challengers to his rule.
I can’t remember if we’ve been told explicitly or if that’s just a head cannon but if the demiurges each represent a deadly sin Solomon definitly represents pride. So what he does in private might not be the same as what he does when his people are watching
A king only needs to fear the bureaucracy if his bureaucrats are mistreated. Solomon’s bureaucrats almost unilaterally worship him as an actual benevolent god. The law is basically Solomon’s b*tch right now, nobody cares if he wants to keep a few “political prisoners” whose exact crimes are known only to him & a few trusted ministers.
FINE PRINT?! Only the most amateur of bureaucrats rely on FINE PRINT to win their battles. The very best ones rely on rules which are written in a perfectly legible font size, and entirely accessible to those members of the public who are willing to spend the time searching for them…the catch being, obviously, that nobody ever has enough time to search for them.
Solomon is essentially the Master of all master bureaucrats, of course. Thus, you will note that he is not cheating, not working outside the system, not surprising us with a lame twist at the seeming end of the fight. He is merely pointing out facts which should have already been obvious to anyone in the audience, taking them to their logical conclusion, and then opening the way for further negotiations with his enemies. He has not moved an inch from his spot during this entire fight, never even came close to directly confronting Allison & her friends (except perhaps a little order he gave, one more company of guards to head to a certain wall)…but from the moment the “battle royale” began, I think he knew that his victory was certain. His enemies have utterly destroyed themselves using the very system he created, and now the dust has settled he is completely in control.
I believe my old master would officially classify Solomon as “one bastard who is NOT TO BE FUCKED WITH”. He does not need any fine print or business cards, thank you very much.
One thinks he must have ‘changed ends at half time’, as he seems now to be atop the Gogs Agog commentary tower, when he started on the tower with the huge ceremonial tournament flame, and his throne.
One did not exactly witness him doing so (one must have nipped out to put the kettle on perhaps), but suspect it was when he crept up behind a Gog and sprung his new tournament plans on her, whilst Allison was outside formulating her own new plan.
Standing around watching the fight and not making their escape certainly didn’t help. As far as I can tell, they haven’t moved from where we saw them watching the fight a bunch of pages ago
It probably went tits up the moment they took the bait and started winging it.
Not sure what Allison is cussing about, she DID say ‘I yield!’, not in the exact wording, but the meaning is the same.
Also, I bet Solomon knows exactly what’s going on with the rescue attempt at that moment, it’s starting to look like he set up a trap and they fell right into it.
I don’t think this is about him denying her victory, she didn’t even come here for that. I think it’s about how Solomon is making a grand show building up his image of a benevolent ruler and follower of law, particularly after just switching the rules of the tournament earlier and with the whole thing being a ploy to lure her out, expose her allies and possibly thin out any competition in the process.
Interestingly enough Allison having lived on Earth might be one of the people who see through Solomon’s BS the easiest. For most citizens of his worlds he’s not pillaging their lands into desolate wastelands (probably?) or actively physically devouring them so he must be the good guy, right? She grew up in a world of leaders who care about PR because they can’t turn you into a tree with the power of their mind or single-handedly fight off armies.
Tyranny comes in many flavors, yet all of them lay bitter and sour upon the tongue. I cannot say with certainty, but I suspect that I have seen, and crushed, most shapes of tyranny over my many kalpa of work… and of all forms tyranny takes, none is more vile than the tyrant that wears the face of a false hero.
Let us be honest – 10 Vigilant Gaze is no Prime Angel, and Solomon David being the holder of 1/7th of Zoss’ power would easily send our brother to his 11th incarnation.
Technically correct, but alas! Solomon David only possesses 1/7th of the names and voices of God, the bearer of the word Diamond, with the true extent of the powers granted by it unknown. Not 1/7th of Zoss’s own prowess, abilities so great and terrible that he was able to smite the Prime Angels down, alone, without a single voice of god. A Ki Rata master enhanced by a Key would surely be a terrible enemy to face, but… Solomon David does fear… or perhaps respect the prowess of Angels, as he does hold to Throne being neutral ground. Against Vigilant Gaze, it would likely be a battle of a singular, decisive strike, a gamble on speed and experience.
Too wounded to continue? Such a dishonourable display from Solomon David. He should know better!
“The only truly useful thing in this cursed world is will. You just suffuse your body with its terrible heat. You must be so hot that even if your enemy should strike your head off, you shall continue to decapitate ten more men. Your boiling blood must spring forth from your neck and mutilate the survivors!”
– Meti’s Sword Manual, 7th precept
I know it’s naive at this point, but I’m still hopeful Solomon is not a monster.
His people live well, at least apparently. I wish we knew more about the laws of his domain.
His attitude to dissent, for example, would be telling.
Have you noticed there are no wheels in Rayuba? Or that, despite having flatscreen televisions to show off his tournament, Solomon had his people labour with less technology than the ancient Egyptians to build his arena? Which they must then tear down and rebuild every three years?
*ahem* There was a small cart in 8-87 with wheels, but yes, one does wonder why he doesn’t employ the best available (and allowable) technology to construct and tear it down (unless Solomon tears it down himself) in the span of three and then some years.
Honestly the argument that technology does not necessarily bring prosperity, harmony and happyness is totaly reicevable. They obviously have other method to garanty good health considering we saw many really old people, so it’s very possible Solomon limit the utilisation of advanced technology in general society because he honestly think it would bring more bad than good.
Also it would prevent him from fully LARPing his Multiverse Empire as a GLORIOUS Polis, and really who can blam him on this.
Local Orator: There are arguments, but the thing is that Solomon probably doesn’t deserve the benefit of the doubt. He’s one of the demiurges, his sin is pride, and we’re all kind of anticipating he’s going to eventually prove himself rotten like the others.
I think your second paragraph is on the money, and Solomon keeps his people’s development limited as one more sop to his vanity. If the workers had motorised construction equipment, Solomon wouldn’t NEED to step in to “save” the labourers. He enjoys his benevolent master/grateful slaves relationship – he calls it a virtuous philosopher society, but that’s incompatible with an undying, incontestable god-king whose people call themselves mere tools of his will. He thinks he’s doing good, but I suspect the whole shebang is about making himself feel virtuous and beloved rather than actually what is best for his people, and that will show when it comes to the rub.
Solomon keeps technology down for the same reason the other demiurges do.
He is, in fact, mighty. Far, far, beyond most.
But nuclear missiles are not inconsequent either, and he only need to fail once. Lesser creatures compensate their absence of might with multiplicity.
Technology falls apart in the void, which is why it is less common than some commenters here may be used to. Spreading tech is tricky when the most common mode of transportation makes it stop functioning.
The devil engines don’t seem to have an issue with the void, and I’m pretty sure Mottoms soldiers carried their guns through the void.
Even then, knowledge, whether in books/scrolls or in the mind, can still pass that barrier. The void makes it harder to spread technology, yes, but can’t stop it entirely. So, I don’t buy that explaination.
Pride is the most virtuous and the most vile of all sins, I have absolutly no doubt that Solomon is absolutly convinced he *IS* doing good, and that he legitimely want the best for his people. He want, with every fiber of his being to make sure that his people is safe and prosperous, otherwise he wouldn’t represent pride. But it also make no doubt pride blind him and make him deaf to advice, deaf to every potentiel suffering of his people. He look at the great suffering in the wheel, and think “Halas, my hearth weep, but there is no other way, for I found none”.
I think the most obvious exemple is the fact he as only son. Not because of misoginy, it would be absurd. No, because his first childs, the one from his “true” familly when he was still a mortal man who’s life was broken by the war, where daughters. And he dare not to have more, for he closed his heart to his many sons, but secretly fear he would love his daughters like the first, and that it would make him weak. So he carry the weight of his Empire alone, look at his sons who never had being trully tested because of this and ask “Why are you so weak ? Why won’t you show yourself worthy of me ?”
Solomon David is a man who wish to be good, and delude himself into thinking he suceeded.He rule with a iron fist because it’s the only way he know and he is too hurt and pridefull to learn and change. He is a diamond, cold and hard, who encase the love he once lost and now fear.
He is a great and terrible king, if he ever die you should rejoice for billions of freed souls and the death of a tyran, but also weep for the same billions of souls, now unprotected from the terrible hunger of others Demiurge, and the death of one more victim of the Universal War.
Mean happiness? Gog-Agog probably enjoys Gog-Agog’s realm quite a lot. Perhaps many people are miserable, but they’re surely outnumbered by Gog-Agog. Happiness is just a worm away.
Technology falls apart in the void, which is why it is less common than some commenters here may be used to. Spreading fancy tech is tricky when the most common mode of transportation makes it stop functioning. There’s no particularly grand conspiracy by the demiurges to keep it out of people’s hands; the universe does that on its own for the most part.
Again, I don’t buy that explanation for the lack of tech, I’ll repost my earlier post for convenience. Also, as Quieten said, it’s been around a thousand years since the Universial War, plenty of time to make home built tech if Solomon desired it.:
The devil engines don’t seem to have an issue with the void, and I’m pretty sure Mottoms soldiers carried their guns through the void.
Even then, knowledge, whether in books/scrolls or in the mind, can still pass that barrier. The void makes it harder to spread technology, yes, but can’t stop it entirely. So, I don’t buy that explaination.
Alas, I will not be able to see much beyond what happens here. Nonetheless, I have enjoyed this fight. I will stick around Rayuba for a few weeks for the bureaucrats to tally up the total proceeds from drinks at a fight like this–one that should hopefully make me rich enough to buy up some land on a few stray ice worlds for harvesting.
Until next time, everyone–I have a nice hostel to return to.
*appears behind you, carrying a black briefcase*
*monotone* For a small fee and a few bits of your personal information, I am sure I could streamline the process for you into a mere 8 days.
…also, some of that ice if you please? My throat is PARCHED.
Oh dear, I wander what surprises a Celestial Empire state dinner will be like, compared to those of Mother Om?
I dare say there will be more Kung Fu fighting.
Would that include kicking maneuvers that have speed comparable to lightning?
Indeed, there are those who might consider such a display rather frightening.
Galileo. Figaro.
Of course, the fighters are masters and as such their maneuvers will be done with expert timing.
Ho ho-ho hooooo
There
One wonders if the five Gogs currently onstage will be invited to the feast. One does not relish the idea of sharing a table with so many worms.
And we all thought the food at Mottom’s palace was unsavory…
Now, picture Gog Agog invading a cook in the palace.
Also dropping a worm on Solomon’s alphabet soup.
Also cackling and laughing and just being, y’know, your pal, Gog Agog.
Now with two Keys.
I don’t know if you jest but I do actually fear they might all be playing into Gog Agog’s many appendages.
that… that could actually work. I doubt it’s what will happen, but all of this was just to make this prideful bastard think he’d seen through the plan, seen through the real plan behind the plan, and get his chance to gloat, all the while not realizing that Gog-Agog did all of this just so that he wouldn’t think to do something as mundane as make sure there was no worm in his soup.
Gogs within cogs.
I wouldn’t be surprised if she tried something like that in the past.
given what happened to the last table dear king solomon sat at, i wouldn’t want to be dining there.
cutting is a much less tedious art than carpentry!
Pree Liava, carpentry is a fine example of the beauty of cutting.
Cut logs become wood. Cut wood becomes plank. Cut planks become a table.
The carpenter decides what is cut and how, and what is discarded; and while much wood is lost, something greater is gained.
In this way can a few slain gods create a Throne, and in this way are kings and carpenters essentially the same.
The table Lord Solomon smashed was a stone one.
A thousand tears shed for the sawdust. It is left to be trodden underfoot by all those who come to admire the beauty of the table.
But then cut table becomes trash and cut trash can become foundation for another tree to grow and the cycle to close. Mayhaps cutting is not just a mindless act of destruction but the means of forcing things to go forward?
the logs are chopped, not cut! chopping is a much more useful skill – good for vegetables, the heads of criminals, and indeed logs! but none of these are the Fool’s Art.
a king cuts; a carpenter chops. woe be the one who mistakes a sword for an axe!
We’s a carpenter and we’s ok, we sleeps all night and we chops all day.
Celestial Empire state dinner? All supremely self-important backstabbers order out from Mickey Dees.
Goggy Chair Goggy Chair Goggy Chair Goggy Chair Goggy Chair Goggy Chair Goggy Chair Goggy Chair Goggy Chair Goggy Chair Goggy Chair Goggy Chair Goggy Chair Goggy Chair Goggy Chair Goggy Chair Goggy Chair Goggy Chair Goggy Chair Goggy Chair Goggy Chair Goggy Chair Goggy Chair Goggy Chair Goggy Chair Goggy Chair Goggy Chair Goggy Chair Goggy Chair Goggy Chair Goggy Chair Goggy Chair Goggy Chair Goggy Chair Goggy Chair Goggy Chair
Solomon King, who commands fear, if not respect. Killer of sons by not but worth and time. A coward! A charlatan! A fool, who knows not what it would mean to seek God’s name as his own! And yet…even I must relent to his power. An immortal man, however morally corrupt, is still not one whose invitation you say no to.
his is not an eye so easily fooled.
=//=
BASTARD IS RIGHT! WHO CANCELS A PERFECTLY GOOD TOURNAMENT?
The tournament had nothing to do with being a tournament.
Wise words…
Being too hurt to continue does not seem to be appropriate reason for disqualifying a warrior unless he – or she – is crippled permanently. You can just wait a few days and then continue.
It’s angel armor/shell we’re talking about here though, no new angel (aside from the Thorns) armors have been created in a number of centuries due to some longstanding disagreement or other. I guess repair services might be available, but would Solomon be willing to wait for that?
Besides, the tournament was supposed to only take place over three days. Unless there’s some ‘magical’ (read as you will, whether high tech medical, martial arts bs, actual magic, potions, whatever) healing around, if the fighter can’t recover within a day, they’re probably out.
A coward’s contest to make himself victorious without accepting a challenger.
Are we surprised when this comes from a man who can sire ten thousand sons without producing an heir?
I was once asked by a mortal, “Ô Concordant Knight, what does it mean to share table with two that aspire to the Crown ?”
As i pondered the question of the flesh, a red devil laughed, and anwsered accross the street : “It means that you won’t need a knife to cut meat tonight.”
Solomon prepares to deliver the coup de grace in private. Solomon thinks he has played this perfectly. Solomon is a fool.
Yes, the real question is what direction will that revelation come from?
The rules dictate that only those still standing after ten minutes continue. A canny change, from a canny king.
“My body is The State and the Whole of the Law” indeed.
Meanwhile, Fabio/Zaid Skywalker (flashing plenty of cleavage) and the gang have been recaptured, to be trotted out by Solly at a crucial moment in the coming confrontation. Popcorn moment!
My anticipation grows ever stronger. So far Solomon has appeared to be the least abominable of the Tyrants, I wonder if this will hold true behind closed doors? Somehow it would disappoint me if he were nothing more than a mere monster.
Solomon David is something *much* more horrible than a monster or an abomination. Solomon David is a tyrant who believes himself utterly to be in the right.
One wonders if that is why he has seemingly built something more enduring than the more honest Mottom or Incubus; selfish mercenaries who for the most part wear their monstrosity on their sleeves, and see the world for the cruel, brutal place that it is. Solomon David is most proficient in the act of lying to himself, which perhaps puts him closer to God called YISUN than anyone.
I had, at the time, thought him deluded when he declared himself the closest of the Seven to true Royalty. Now, I am not so sure.
Solomon provides entertainment for his subjects in the form of bloody tournaments, while Mottom does the same with her extravagant parties. But Solomon is smarter, as his tournaments eliminate many potential challengers to his rule.
I can’t remember if we’ve been told explicitly or if that’s just a head cannon but if the demiurges each represent a deadly sin Solomon definitly represents pride. So what he does in private might not be the same as what he does when his people are watching
What are the Gogs-Agog fighting over?
They’re fighting about who is more mature.
Probably her internal freakout.
Over who sits next to Allison at the banquet.
Probably over whose bright idea this whole farce was.
This ain’t lookin’ good. I suss we’ll be seeing a tyrant’s true face very soon.
True to the harsh bit fair legal form, I expect he’ll offer some sort of ‘plea deal’ in exchange for not sending them all to jail.
Still, yeah, we’ll be seeing the shady side of his gilded Capitol pretty soon.
i cannot wait
for some ki rata fisticuffs
The rules are indeed the rules. See, if you read the fine print around my business card here it says: “No kidnapping on the premises!”
But keeping hostages is okay?
If the paperworks are in order. And I assure you, good beverage, they are.
A king only needs to fear the bureaucracy if his bureaucrats are mistreated. Solomon’s bureaucrats almost unilaterally worship him as an actual benevolent god. The law is basically Solomon’s b*tch right now, nobody cares if he wants to keep a few “political prisoners” whose exact crimes are known only to him & a few trusted ministers.
Ha ha. I love escapist fantasy.
Keeping citizens as hostages is against the law, but Zaid is not a citizen of the Celestial Empire.
FINE PRINT?! Only the most amateur of bureaucrats rely on FINE PRINT to win their battles. The very best ones rely on rules which are written in a perfectly legible font size, and entirely accessible to those members of the public who are willing to spend the time searching for them…the catch being, obviously, that nobody ever has enough time to search for them.
Solomon is essentially the Master of all master bureaucrats, of course. Thus, you will note that he is not cheating, not working outside the system, not surprising us with a lame twist at the seeming end of the fight. He is merely pointing out facts which should have already been obvious to anyone in the audience, taking them to their logical conclusion, and then opening the way for further negotiations with his enemies. He has not moved an inch from his spot during this entire fight, never even came close to directly confronting Allison & her friends (except perhaps a little order he gave, one more company of guards to head to a certain wall)…but from the moment the “battle royale” began, I think he knew that his victory was certain. His enemies have utterly destroyed themselves using the very system he created, and now the dust has settled he is completely in control.
I believe my old master would officially classify Solomon as “one bastard who is NOT TO BE FUCKED WITH”. He does not need any fine print or business cards, thank you very much.
One thinks he must have ‘changed ends at half time’, as he seems now to be atop the Gogs Agog commentary tower, when he started on the tower with the huge ceremonial tournament flame, and his throne.
One did not exactly witness him doing so (one must have nipped out to put the kettle on perhaps), but suspect it was when he crept up behind a Gog and sprung his new tournament plans on her, whilst Allison was outside formulating her own new plan.
Just so we’re all on the same page here, at what point did the plan go spectacularly tits up?
Standing around watching the fight and not making their escape certainly didn’t help. As far as I can tell, they haven’t moved from where we saw them watching the fight a bunch of pages ago
It probably went tits up the moment they took the bait and started winging it.
Not sure what Allison is cussing about, she DID say ‘I yield!’, not in the exact wording, but the meaning is the same.
Also, I bet Solomon knows exactly what’s going on with the rescue attempt at that moment, it’s starting to look like he set up a trap and they fell right into it.
I don’t think this is about him denying her victory, she didn’t even come here for that. I think it’s about how Solomon is making a grand show building up his image of a benevolent ruler and follower of law, particularly after just switching the rules of the tournament earlier and with the whole thing being a ploy to lure her out, expose her allies and possibly thin out any competition in the process.
Interestingly enough Allison having lived on Earth might be one of the people who see through Solomon’s BS the easiest. For most citizens of his worlds he’s not pillaging their lands into desolate wastelands (probably?) or actively physically devouring them so he must be the good guy, right? She grew up in a world of leaders who care about PR because they can’t turn you into a tree with the power of their mind or single-handedly fight off armies.
Tyranny comes in many flavors, yet all of them lay bitter and sour upon the tongue. I cannot say with certainty, but I suspect that I have seen, and crushed, most shapes of tyranny over my many kalpa of work… and of all forms tyranny takes, none is more vile than the tyrant that wears the face of a false hero.
Zaid is lookin like young Luke Skywalker. Gog ago, I am agog. I had better not develop a clown fetish. Salami David’s looking regal. Whoooooowhe!
Most importantly sweet Cio and dear White Chain live to fight again… for now!
Will Uncle Brass Pot survive lunch with the Big Salami?
Find out next time on KSBD!
You don’t have to have a clown fetish, but it sure does help.
So stop pulling that one and
pull the other one – it’s got bells on!?
Solomon David does not desire a contest with Vigilant Gaze. A pity.
That’s because Solomon David knows not to pick fights he won’t win.
Let us be honest – 10 Vigilant Gaze is no Prime Angel, and Solomon David being the holder of 1/7th of Zoss’ power would easily send our brother to his 11th incarnation.
Technically correct, but alas! Solomon David only possesses 1/7th of the names and voices of God, the bearer of the word Diamond, with the true extent of the powers granted by it unknown. Not 1/7th of Zoss’s own prowess, abilities so great and terrible that he was able to smite the Prime Angels down, alone, without a single voice of god. A Ki Rata master enhanced by a Key would surely be a terrible enemy to face, but… Solomon David does fear… or perhaps respect the prowess of Angels, as he does hold to Throne being neutral ground. Against Vigilant Gaze, it would likely be a battle of a singular, decisive strike, a gamble on speed and experience.
I don’t think old SD would allow angels to register for the tournament if he weren’t confident that he can win against one.
The tyrant speaks, and so it is. What, then shall our rising king reply?
She seems to be expressing doubt re his parents nuptials.
It is a human foible, which I cannot understand, but have observed many times.
this comic remains
so dang good
Too wounded to continue? Such a dishonourable display from Solomon David. He should know better!
“The only truly useful thing in this cursed world is will. You just suffuse your body with its terrible heat. You must be so hot that even if your enemy should strike your head off, you shall continue to decapitate ten more men. Your boiling blood must spring forth from your neck and mutilate the survivors!”
– Meti’s Sword Manual, 7th precept
Also, “This SHELL, is NOT my body.” White Chain, KoS 9-124.
Does anybody else find Solomon denying White Chain any honorific… interesting?
She succeeded through self sacrifice, a virtue which Solomon does not value.
The tone he took when addressing Allison caught my eye, like he is trying his hardest not to react to her–but to react how? With fear? With contempt?
I know it’s naive at this point, but I’m still hopeful Solomon is not a monster.
His people live well, at least apparently. I wish we knew more about the laws of his domain.
His attitude to dissent, for example, would be telling.
Have you noticed there are no wheels in Rayuba? Or that, despite having flatscreen televisions to show off his tournament, Solomon had his people labour with less technology than the ancient Egyptians to build his arena? Which they must then tear down and rebuild every three years?
*ahem* There was a small cart in 8-87 with wheels, but yes, one does wonder why he doesn’t employ the best available (and allowable) technology to construct and tear it down (unless Solomon tears it down himself) in the span of three and then some years.
Honestly the argument that technology does not necessarily bring prosperity, harmony and happyness is totaly reicevable. They obviously have other method to garanty good health considering we saw many really old people, so it’s very possible Solomon limit the utilisation of advanced technology in general society because he honestly think it would bring more bad than good.
Also it would prevent him from fully LARPing his Multiverse Empire as a GLORIOUS Polis, and really who can blam him on this.
smjjames: Good eye!
Local Orator: There are arguments, but the thing is that Solomon probably doesn’t deserve the benefit of the doubt. He’s one of the demiurges, his sin is pride, and we’re all kind of anticipating he’s going to eventually prove himself rotten like the others.
I think your second paragraph is on the money, and Solomon keeps his people’s development limited as one more sop to his vanity. If the workers had motorised construction equipment, Solomon wouldn’t NEED to step in to “save” the labourers. He enjoys his benevolent master/grateful slaves relationship – he calls it a virtuous philosopher society, but that’s incompatible with an undying, incontestable god-king whose people call themselves mere tools of his will. He thinks he’s doing good, but I suspect the whole shebang is about making himself feel virtuous and beloved rather than actually what is best for his people, and that will show when it comes to the rub.
Solomon keeps technology down for the same reason the other demiurges do.
He is, in fact, mighty. Far, far, beyond most.
But nuclear missiles are not inconsequent either, and he only need to fail once. Lesser creatures compensate their absence of might with multiplicity.
Technology falls apart in the void, which is why it is less common than some commenters here may be used to. Spreading tech is tricky when the most common mode of transportation makes it stop functioning.
The devil engines don’t seem to have an issue with the void, and I’m pretty sure Mottoms soldiers carried their guns through the void.
Even then, knowledge, whether in books/scrolls or in the mind, can still pass that barrier. The void makes it harder to spread technology, yes, but can’t stop it entirely. So, I don’t buy that explaination.
Pride is the most virtuous and the most vile of all sins, I have absolutly no doubt that Solomon is absolutly convinced he *IS* doing good, and that he legitimely want the best for his people. He want, with every fiber of his being to make sure that his people is safe and prosperous, otherwise he wouldn’t represent pride. But it also make no doubt pride blind him and make him deaf to advice, deaf to every potentiel suffering of his people. He look at the great suffering in the wheel, and think “Halas, my hearth weep, but there is no other way, for I found none”.
I think the most obvious exemple is the fact he as only son. Not because of misoginy, it would be absurd. No, because his first childs, the one from his “true” familly when he was still a mortal man who’s life was broken by the war, where daughters. And he dare not to have more, for he closed his heart to his many sons, but secretly fear he would love his daughters like the first, and that it would make him weak. So he carry the weight of his Empire alone, look at his sons who never had being trully tested because of this and ask “Why are you so weak ? Why won’t you show yourself worthy of me ?”
Solomon David is a man who wish to be good, and delude himself into thinking he suceeded.He rule with a iron fist because it’s the only way he know and he is too hurt and pridefull to learn and change. He is a diamond, cold and hard, who encase the love he once lost and now fear.
He is a great and terrible king, if he ever die you should rejoice for billions of freed souls and the death of a tyran, but also weep for the same billions of souls, now unprotected from the terrible hunger of others Demiurge, and the death of one more victim of the Universal War.
Solomon strikes me as someone who would do that out of tradition. That’s how they built the first one, that’s how they’ll build all of them.
Which of the seven realms do you think compares on median or mean happiness?
Mean happiness? Gog-Agog probably enjoys Gog-Agog’s realm quite a lot. Perhaps many people are miserable, but they’re surely outnumbered by Gog-Agog. Happiness is just a worm away.
Technology falls apart in the void, which is why it is less common than some commenters here may be used to. Spreading fancy tech is tricky when the most common mode of transportation makes it stop functioning. There’s no particularly grand conspiracy by the demiurges to keep it out of people’s hands; the universe does that on its own for the most part.
IIRC it’s been around a thousand years since the Universal War. If he can give his people televisions in that time surely he can give them forklifts.
Again, I don’t buy that explanation for the lack of tech, I’ll repost my earlier post for convenience. Also, as Quieten said, it’s been around a thousand years since the Universial War, plenty of time to make home built tech if Solomon desired it.:
The devil engines don’t seem to have an issue with the void, and I’m pretty sure Mottoms soldiers carried their guns through the void.
Even then, knowledge, whether in books/scrolls or in the mind, can still pass that barrier. The void makes it harder to spread technology, yes, but can’t stop it entirely. So, I don’t buy that explaination.
Alas, I will not be able to see much beyond what happens here. Nonetheless, I have enjoyed this fight. I will stick around Rayuba for a few weeks for the bureaucrats to tally up the total proceeds from drinks at a fight like this–one that should hopefully make me rich enough to buy up some land on a few stray ice worlds for harvesting.
Until next time, everyone–I have a nice hostel to return to.
Many thanks Icemonger, My drinks would not have been so chilly and delightful without you!
*appears behind you, carrying a black briefcase*
*monotone* For a small fee and a few bits of your personal information, I am sure I could streamline the process for you into a mere 8 days.
…also, some of that ice if you please? My throat is PARCHED.
Boggledy boggledy. Tellt tha watchit f’yon brocrasymonger! Too cannysome he, an a half.
“We would be honored if you would join us.”
My thoughts exactly.
If the winner folds his cards
and walks away when it gets hard,
he’s turning. Watch for gap in guard.
This lyrical cranium is observant