Seeker of Thrones 7-81
Chapter: 7
Behold The Mirror of Laments,
Though it may be broken, its shards will pierce your heart.
No weapon is mightier.
Even the greatest sword can be bent against it owner.
– Song of Southern Winter
Kill Six Billion Demons
Seeker of Thrones
He’ll yeah.
Limit Break feels good in the moment. Sometimes less good afterwards.
Bitter are the Laments of the Immortal.
New Headcannon:
Pontifex of Locusts is a Metal Band and “Bitter are the Laments of the Immortal” is the lead track from their new album “Laments of the Immortal.”
Sounds like a Nile song
I am reminded of a similar tale, where a powerful chieftain, captured by a rival king, was subjected to a ritualized version of the performance; execution nigh, an innocent (the King’s youngest daughter) demands he be spared, and lo, the King says “my heart is moved by this innocent’s plea. Henceforth, your ass is mine.”
Sadly, the chieftain, being a barbarian, failed to interpret the ritual correctly, and returned to his savage clan confident in the knowledge he was free to do as he wished, on the grounds the King’s daughter was horny for him. And when in the fullness of time his barbarian tribes wiped the king and his people from the face of the earth, she died caged, a plaything for a barbarian princeling.
Always make your contracts as explicit as possible, children. The repercussions of failing to do so are dire indeed.
Ah, I recall this tale—though the way I heard it told, the daughter was but a small thing, and well blessed behind the worthless urges of adolescence. But her fate was unchanged: the filthy, unclean world of the barbarians was filled with disease, claiming her soon enough. And all that really matter when comparing stories are the endings.
Huh, so that’s what young goblins look like
Could this be the gay? Perhaps it is the gay. Or perhaps it is merely cold reason that has quenches 82’s rage.
I ship it.
And I shall call you the chill pill.
Angel strength.
Take twice daily while Metatron is alive.
“… and you’re carrying the bags, miss!”
“But I’m not… *sigh.* Okay.”
The greatest angelic style
42 Puts down Table gently because of the realization that tables hold teacups
I … can’t believe I–I almost… wasted a PERFECTLY GOOD TABLE on pummeling this schmoe.
Nyave is a fine young woman, aye. It seems as though her mere existence serves as a powerful argument against 2 Michael’s view of all creation and it’s worth.
I wonder at the state of the Wheel and the universes beyond if Metatron and Michael and Juggernaut and their thorny ilk had a Nyave…
When the Human Accountant is the most awesome person in your Gnostic High-Fantasy Adventuring Party.
Nothing can break the law quite so much as overzealous pursuit of it.
Or at least, that’s how I justify my solitary life of drinking and leisure.
Behold!
The Card of the Tarot known as Strength.
Well done, Nyave.
Metatron is a stone cold bastard (probably literally)
Do not mistake the Raiment for the King.
There is no Honor in Beating a surrendering Foe
at least White Chain is making good decisions although i doubt Alice-UN will
Thought before action is priceless.
Thought after action is worthless.
Brilliant. I didn’t expect that.
So the concordant knight reach concordance
Middle panel subtext: Won’t somebody please think of the children!
At the heart of the Law, there is one divine concept: Mercy.
Sorry to break to you buddy, but we forged you guys to break the legs of our goblin servants for trying to unionize.
I mean, we put some gold filigree on it and all, but at the heart it was like, “This ‘free will’ idea turned out to be a mixed bag. If only there was someone to deal with the downsides for us so we could spend more time drinking. Ergo, angels.”
I wish to note that mercy is required to ensure only legs are broken.
Dead workers cannot work.
The fear of the children, the contempt of those who once held you in such high esteem, they pierce your soul. Only a great and terrible lie could keep you hidden from the condemning gaze in the mirror. Look deep and feel the pain and relief of healing. Or wrench your visage further, follow the path of the great and thorny lie that will hide you from yourself forever.
Oh. Look who didn’t take cover. Not a great choice, in my humble opinion.
Are those CHILDREN!? Those are probably the first beings in Throne that I’m more than 20% certain are innocent people!
Seriously, they’re only like 80%, they could be arsonists in training or something, but still.
YAAAAAAS
NYAVE, BBY!
“Reach heaven through violence.” Truer words have never been spoken on the Wheel. And yet…
Who wants heaven, anyway? Place is a proper shit-hole.
Then, the quality of mercy was White Chain, but it was not a mercy born from kindness; rather a child of disillusion and pain.
When Chain: “We shall table this for now”
Stronger than an angel. Would that I could say such a thing.
See? What did I tell you, White Chain? The Law is meant to be impartial. Controlled. Dispassionate. It is supposed to make the populace feel safe, not put fear into them.
Only the guilty should fear the Law. When it is wielded in rage, there can be nothing BUT fear.
…
Plus, disturbing the peace is against city ordinance. So there’s that, too.
I sometimes find myself ignoring the actions of the mortals. So easy it is to discount their existences as inconsequential. Time and time again, though, they prove themselves so much more than we expect of them. It takes a special kind of bravery for one so fragile to attempt to stand against the might that I and my fellows can bring to bear, and attempt to calm them with naught but will. Foolish, some would say, and perhaps they would be correct, but brave nonetheless.
I am glad that the little flame intervened. My sister would have regretted what she would have otherwise done. As is, there is still time to bring her back from that pit of despair.
When the dog is in the ditch
And the swirling face looks down
The eyes look up and beg for help.
Cue epic costume change
I don’t understand why our little maiden stopped White Chains. They were only practicing the Old Laws, and upholding them as it should be.
In a world where the strong survive and the weak perish, it is the duty of those who are stronger to kill those who aren’t. Morals only get in the way of fulfilling your wishes. It would have been better to let Chains kill whomever this angel is. Maybe then their influence over those who would seek to break the Old Laws would think twice before throwing their life away so carelessly.
Define “strong.” With a simple gesture, she exerted her moral ascendancy over the brute forces of raw strength. And she won. In our Universe, the example that occurs is the Tiananmen Square man, placing his soft body and his one and only life in front of the behemoth tanks. He brought the tanks to a stop because, ironically, the tank crews also “suffered” from a certain moral sense. Morality requires intimacy; dropping incendiary bombs from 20,000 feet, or shooting a person a 600 yards safely partitions off our moral sense, and allows the commission of atrocity.
But one must also remember that morality is subjective. Do you think Chains would have reacted the same way before Al-YIS-UN found her way to Throne? No. They would at least shove her aside before destroying the Angel in brutal fashion, as those who support the Old Laws should. At most, they may have deemed her as a criminal just as well, and enforce them with much violence, as it should be.
That one Man from Tiananmen Square was lucky. Were the patriotism of that tank driver in more abundance than their weakness of violence, that oh so heroic man would be nothing more than a red smear on the ground.
I would prefer to instead engage with a action that would result in those thanks burning, with the men boiling inside rather than relying on a hope that they have the weakness of morality. One’s a certainty of victory. The other is always a gamble.
It seems that most of the people commenting here missed the most significant action by the peasant-girl-who-is-in-love-with-an-angel. She bought that blue fleur-de-lis cloth as a gift back in seeker-of-thrones-5-36, and now throws it down and walks away.
Can one break that which the Multiplicity forged defective?
It’s my supposition – my hope, really – that this arc is about Trying On Ruthlessness For Size, and then, after an initial rush, discovering that it doesn’t fit after all.
W. C. Biertse, here, will probably find this an easier decision than Cio (who’ll have to turn away from a familiar and seductive path) or Allison (who’ll probably have to shatter that line of thought manually). But both have already indicated – in their own way – the first inklings of REGRET, and REGRET is a powerful thing.
So we’ll see.
Things angels are supposed to respond to:
Law
Judgement
Right
Wrong
Things White Chain responds to:
A pleading look
The word ‘please’
The needs of the weak
This.
This is the kind of page that keeps me coming back.
She didn’t even drop her shopping bags when she stepped in front of the angel.
She’s total hero material, she really is.
Those poor cups.
Here we witness the art that beats even the might of an angel.
Behold: TWO EMPTY PALMS
KA!
RA!
TE!
OOH-Yah!
yes white chain we all know you’re a force of vengeance now carry these bags
Daaaaang gurl, that isn’t a safe fight to jump in the middle of, nope nope nope.
It’s quite impressive how you express the wide-eyed mortal fear these people feel even in the thousand-faceted eyes of a mantis-person. Quite impressive indeed.
How weak can mankind possibly be when they stand against the raging inferno of an Aeon’s rage?
YES.
“…and now that you’re not killing anyone, carry the shopping!”
Love the panel with Goblin family.
Awwwkwarrrd Silennnnceeeeee~
Angels explode big time so Nyave just saved everyone’s life there. Smart girl!
Take some deep breaths, White Chain. Deep breaths.
Even angels can fall prey to the sin of Wrath. Not all of them can resist the temptation.
Also, White Chain better take all those groceries back in one trip.
A moment where the action of the weakest in the room stops the action of the strongest. An evidence that there is no such thing as purely strong or weak because all have some in either.
I tried to comment on Lancer and it failed twice – no message, just didn’t work. If others have the same problem, maybe that’s the reason there are only two comments.
It seems that the guy moderates every comment. That means nothing appears until it’s blessed and sent on its way. I can’t for the life of me understand why anyone would want that perpetually recurring headache, though. It would drive me nuts. Most people mean well, and most people can handle some spam…
METATRON LIVES! hype drastically went down
funny that white chains used a wheel like object as a thorn knight would.
Hrmm… Dropped bags… Maybe a not-so-subtle reminder to White Chain of the other half of the motto of The Angels law enforcement division: “To Protect and to SERVE”.
Yeah, sometimes it can be tough playing the Paladin.
So, even a fascist can calm down and think…
Hmm… While White Chain might be a Nationalist, s/he doesn’t seem concerned with race or economic dominance that are also hallmarks of fascism. Overzealous enforcement of the Law may use fascistic methods of brutality, but those methods have never been limited to only fascism.
Dead or not dead…
Looks like the matter has been tabled for the time being.
That’s how people look at me too after 5 drinks on a tavern.
I’m not the most resilient drinker out there.
repent
Those’re the accusatoriest shoppin bags I ever seen
Since when do angels care about the feelings of mewling peasants? Judgment imposes no remorse.
Nice poem and comic.
Lets see if this post finally is POSTED! if not, I`ll give up trying….
heh. smashed tea cups.
Well done, Nyave! (Had to do some digging to find her name. Anyone else have issues keeping track after a while?)
Or two bags of groceries
Ah, the “Holy shit, I’m a monster” moment. Don’t you just love that feeling?
It can be… disruptive to suddenly realize while in combat that you’re a monster. For this reason, it’s for the best that you first accept your monsterdom, and keep clear in your mind every moment of every day your true nature.
┬──┬◡ﾉ(° -°ﾉ)
Well, that worked. Colour me surprised. Surprised and hopeful.
Even an angle can feel the power of fury ayy
Ship f’n confirmed!
it owner?
Such a fine line, vigilantism, justice. We never should have moved past the Code of Hammurabi.
Dude have you read the Code of Hammurabi?
It’s like the rough draft of a legal system, that would still been shit, even if they hadn’t literally carved it into a stone pillar.
She’s a loose cannon.
But damn it, she gets the job done.
…children. After seeing so many evil and bloody men among their numbers, it’s too easy to forget that even goblins are children at one point in their lives. Too easy to forget how all us mortals began as little babes.
No, I didn’t get anything in my eye. I just cry easily.
I Walked
I could do nothing but Walk
The cracks in your stone skin will spell doom
Your Fear and Hate will kill us all
Curse not the wretched, My Family.
It is not their fault they stray.
For the Law is broken and weary
And All have lost their way
For God has abandoned us
And if you seek His Throne
Pain will be your butler
And Silence will be your pay.
Tell me now, who taught you how to hate?
‘Cause it isn’t in your blood
Not a part of what you’re made
So let this be understood
Somebody taught you how to hate…
My bad.
What if both sides have a shard?
Ken ye not, the patterned weave therein – a gift thus given, by grace of mortal befriending grievous angel – (“Chekov’s Clothes Shopping”)
Ken ye not – the patterned weave therein? – the Gift thus given, by Mortal Grace befriending Grievious Angel . . . (& “Chekov’s clothes shopping scene”)