Seeker of Thrones 9-105
Chapter: 9
“When Jayakka touched the dragon’s pearl, he saw at once it was not a great treasure at all, but a tiny world upon which lived innumerable small and peaceful beings. The merest imprint of his finger had smashed nearly ten thousand of them to death, and at this realization he recoiled in horror.”
– Saga of the Seven Pearls
Have we come, at last, to a place as of yet untouched by violence?
Yep. But not for long.
Naturally.
Depends. There has been a minimum amount of violence enacted IN this room…however, were you to observe a random sampling of this wealth, I am certain that you would find no few coins with a significant amount of blood on them, spiritual or real. It might be argued that violence is then, if not done in the room, none the less inhabiting it, perhaps even to have truly built it in its entirely. A room of quiet battle, echoing hollowly with the misery of the beaten, and the lusty shouts of the cruelest beings claiming their greed’s demand.
I would agree with you, normally. Money, nay, the very concept of ownership, is saturated with violence!
But these coins are not money. So plentiful are they that no sane person born in this pocket dimension would ascribe them any individual value. And, de-moneyed, the gold has been washed clean of its sins and returned to its origins, becoming again the earth.
Haha, you think this place has seen no violence? Well firstly you should know by now that violence is inescapable, but more importantly YABALCHOATH was here. No place that an Ebon treads is free from bloodshed.
I see that Mammon keeps a small village close to him, in case he feels the need to live up to his moniker more than he already does.
This scene, though beautiful, is lacking in a certain demon with a penchant for fanfiction and a slight kleptomaniacal itch.
Behold, the infinite fractal vault of the One who Owns Infinity! Praise Mammon, for His wealth is as boundless as His wrath! By the molten gold in my veins, those who seek to gain at the Dragon’s expense, will lose all instead.
In other news, its so neat getting to see the Mighty Dragon’s inner sanctum outside of an involuntary meditative hallucination! Truly a wonder the Glyphosphere is. I wonder if I’ll get my pay docked for seeing this… I’ll need to bust out the ol’ icepick, because I’ve got a memory or two to erase.
That spotlight is making me nervous. Trained on the point of entry to the great vault, is it the glow of a sleepless, jealous eye?
I do hope she realizes that Cio is better worth saving than Zaid. When she is The King she can have him released.
And the cat. Make sure the cat is safe.
She’s collected herself, but now she’s all alone again.
Just askin: Shouldn’t a vault have a vaulted ceiling? It’s middlin’ English is all…
Danger lurks.
This is axiomatic.
Will those blue eyes be weeping for a blue demon lost?
It took me a bit to realize that she is standing on the edge of a great precipice.
You know, figuratively as well, but also literally.
And yes, that is a town.
Oh noes, where is poor Cio!
And, incidentally, private property.
(Mammon engages Allison in a extended discussion of the nature of property, natural rights and the works of Lysander Spooner. Initially, Mammon concedes that knocking off his entire family constitutes a violation of the Non-Aggression principle, but observes that as far as murder goes, Allison’s hands are not exactly clean. Allison counters that even flawed individuals are still obliged to uphold justice. Mammon agrees, but then observes that even from a Marxist point of view his market anarchy is a necessary step towards socialism, certainly an advance as opposed to the primitive feudalism of King Zoss, the outright fascist imperialism of Queen Mottom or the obscurantist authoritarianism of the angels. “In other words, since I am a necessary world-historical phase in the march of progress, I should be allowed supremacy over all the other gods – and progressive elements such as yourself should rally to my side, not attempt to thwart or loot me.”
This debate, although productive, is cut short by the arrival of the surviving demons, leds by a more than slightly annoyed Cio.
(“Obscurantist” is a word often used by Mammon, along with “world-historical crisis” and “deformed worker’s states”. At heart, Mammon is something of a Trotskyite. Well, you know – entryism)
(Muted applause)
Thank you, that was beautiful.
I think she’s going to hit someone, and they’re going to learn an important lesson. Or Cio’s going to hit HER, and then she learns the lesson.
Might be a while. Cio has been trying to hit that for a couple books now
Finally, she’s lost that ghastly lipstick
Win: Regained self.
Win: Got to the vault.
Loss: No backup and/or cannon fodder, not even the backstabby kind.
Two out of three is not a survivable grade in this case.
Guess: boyfriend is in the village, but is lilliputian.
“O God, I could be bounded in a nutshell and count myself a king of infinite space, were it not that I have bad dreams.”
– Hamlet: Act 2, Scene 2, page 11
“What shall we say of a Dragon who funds the building of an nigh infinite Maze Fortress ? Are the armies, walls, traps, monsters, mazes, and the Tesseract Fortress of Yre enough to give you peace and solace ? O’ Dragon, what good is your incalculable wealth ?”
Tradition. Forget not the words of the Bard: gilded tombs do wyrms enfold.
I think the best case scenario here is that Allison slays Mammon on her own, takes his key, and goes back and gives it to Cio instead of keeping it for herself.
Wow. Could you be any more…METAL?
Eh? Eeeeeh? Geddit?
😀
… strictly speaking, you are right.
That gets you a three minutes head start. Run. Or don’t. The Liquid Concordant Angels that have been dispatched to deal with you don’t mind a challenge, if you can provide it.
Reach Heaven through Violence. Reach heavenly wrath through violently cruel puns.
“Hell is empty and all the devils are here”
I notice that over to the left there is a large tree bearing fruit. The previous times such entered the story line were associated with unpleasantness.
Gray/white hair and blue eyes… I guess Normal Allison and Queen Bitch Allison learned to share.
Can you REALLY call yourself wealthy if your money hasn’t started its own ecosystem?
Scrooge McDuck would be very at home in this place.
Ah! A fresh scene! Umm…oh, dear — ANOTHER infinite vista. My Lord Mammon appears to have a limited notion of “impressive.” Ah, well. Forward we go….
O YEAH, Finally caught up o boi
Hold your breath
Make a wish
Count to three
Come with me
And you’ll be
In a world of
Pure imagination
Take a look
And you’ll see
Into your imagination