Seeker of Thrones 9-109
“Once, on the road, Prim met a meditating sage who had spent most of his life on top of a flat rock. They had black bread and shared some ajash, as was custom. The sage was thankful, as the road was not very frequently traveled in those days and he was very near the point of starvation. During his conversation, he was delighted to learn of Prim’s extensive mastery of Empty Palms and the fifty five earthly purities. Delighted, and as payment for his meal, he taught Prim the meaning of watchfulness.
This was the old breathing and cold-atum technique often used by warrior monks in those days. It ran through the following methodology:
Build a tower, and make it impregnable. Make every stone so tightly sealed that no insect can squeeze through, no grain of sand can make it inside. Your tower must have no windows or doors. It must not accept passage by friend or foe. No weapon, no act of violence, and not one mote of love may penetrate its stony interior.
“Why build the tower this way?” said Prim?
“It will make you invincible,” said the sage, “This is the way of Ya-at slave monks. Their skin is like iron, and so are their hearts. They are inured to death and fear. Grief shall never find them, and neither shall weakness.”
Prim thought a moment, and came upon a realization, for she was wise, obedient, and an excellent daughter. “If a man built a tower this way, he would quickly starve, no matter how strong he became.”
The sage was even more delighted. “Yes,” he said, “There is a better way, and I will teach it to you:
Once you have built your tower, you must deconstruct it, brick by brick, stone by stone. You must do it meticulously and carefully, so that while you leave no physical trace of it remaining, your tower is still built in your mind and your heart, ready to spring anew at a moment’s notice.
You can enjoy the fresh air, and eat fine meals, and enjoy a good drink with your friends, but all the while your tower remains standing. You are both prisoner and warden. This is the hardest way, but the strongest.”
Prim saw the wisdom in this, and quickly made to return to the road, but the sage stopped her before she left.
“As you to your earlier remark,” the sage said, “The man who builds his tower but cannot take it apart again – that man is at the pinnacle of his strength. But that man will surely perish.”
– Prim Masters the Road
Aah Senility. The only rue enemy of Mortals.
As Mottom once said: “everything’s rotting”
Better to say, it is only truly the enemy of mortals.
These Demiurges will never be equal to the Multiplicity.
Even their greatest could not master Space-Time.
Actually, the First King seems to have done that, in some sense or other – he seems at least cosmicly aware of the cycle he is in, has refused to die despite being dead, possibly by timey-whimey shenanigans, and is mucking with outcomes beyond the length of a multiverse cycle. If he hasn’t mastered Space-Time, he at least is a journey-man at the subject.
As a servant race the Kind People are in essence immortal, save for violent death.
In which Allison sacrifices most of her friends to infiltrate the multiverse’s most secure assisted living facility.
Oh. My. A gentle, polite soul.
When when are born we are soft and supple
and as we age we settle, and harden, and crack.
Stalk and Know, for this is axiomatic.
Glucose: Any and everyone can be polite when the situation calls for it. Remember, this guy DID have his entire clan slaughtered for his own purposes. He’s pillaged countless worlds, and caused untold deaths. Just because he’s being polite in the moment doesn’t make him stop being a heartless glutton.
Liebot, what is the saddest thing? A dragon that forgot why it hoards.
Though The King’s body was Immortal, His mind was not and thus His soul rotted from inside form incorruptible. The King is dead, Long Live the King!
Or so I am told by a Consummate Liar…
To inherit a slap across the face
that shows in rage, unlike white stripes
is true duration
The Great Dragon gave his mind fully over to amassing wealth! Such wisdom!
“The man who builds his tower but cannot take it apart again – that man is at the pinnacle of his strength. But that man will surely perish.”
This is why seeking the way of the Blade is foolish.
Always listen to Meti!
he definitely shrank down from last page
Deconstruction: yes, one must remember the other half.
You know, it seems Mammon might not be the monster he once was. Keys don’t grant immortality do they?
Mammon is a Servant and thus possessed of an immortal body. His mind however…
Even the gods from whose corpses the Keys were plucked grew old and died. Only angels and demons seem truly immortal, though the original angels yet did die and demons can always be returned to Chaos. True immortality, it seems, died with YISUN.
Immortality is not the problem. Vitality is. Even if a castle is built so sturdy it stands until kingdom come, it matters not if the lord inside has perished. Or worse, gone irretrievably mad.
The immortal edifice that is Mammon still stands, but the ruler inside is…diminished in capacity.
They don’t, but he’s immortal anyway because he’s from one of the Servant species (the Kind People in specific), who are all naturally immortal (humans are actually the only mortal race in this setting). But I guess their immortality doesn’t prevent senility from setting in.
Servant races such as Mammon’s do not die of old age. That particular gift belongs to the black flame of humans and devils.
Nay, but Mammonkin’s immortallike
Mammon was born of the Servant races (though He has long since ascended such meager classification through unparalleled Greed), meaning that He is utterly deathless regardless of His Key.
From what I understand, keys don’t grant immortality on their own, but do allow for it with the right techniques. But Mammon is a Servant, and Servant species are naturally immortal anyway.
Humans are the only type of Inheritor with a natural end to their life.
in a way they do. but to the body only as long As the mind persists i think. they can revitalize the body over and over halt the aging. heal its PHYSICAL wounds. But I cannot help the wounded mind.
I never expected to find such a supremely impressive, opulently wealthy, and exceptionally powerful dragon… So sad looking.
Time is the first enemy and the last.
Indeed, and the one that comes for prince and pauper alike. I suppose I should have expected this, we’ve seen plenty of the other demiurges succumbed to one thing or another already.
Ah, and here again we see a creature enslaved by its own hand. This one by an obsession long ingrained into its very nature but slowly forgotten.
well.
It seems that Mammon has a lot in common with Scrooge McDuck.
On the contrary, Scrooge McDuck knows where and how he earned every coin and bill in his hoard. He can tell the story of how he found any of his treasures. And while he may do so very reluctantly, he is prepared to part with his wealth for the sake of his family, which he has come to regard as his greatest treasure.
He built his tower and nearly perished for it, but tore it down again after letting his nephews in and emerged all the stronger for it. I daresay any similarities between Mammon and him are mostly superficial at this point, perhaps if Mammon were able to deconstruct his own tower… but I do not think that is likely.
I was more referring to the fact that while they are both famed as having a fierce temper in defense of their wealth, they are nonetheless possessed of a fairly genial personality when said wealth is not at risk.
however, your point is fair and well-taken.
A dragon in his dotage. Now I kinda feel sad for him.
He can’t see, he can’t remember, and he no longer cares. Yet he insists on counting it all anyway, because we are slaves to our former selves.
Behold the second snare of the mighty, which is called Stagnation.
Fear not of others, but fear of self. Fear of the possibility of change. To attempt to stretch a single goal long enough to bind the doubting voices within, and eternity without.
To die, and yet live to see the keepers of the grave flying your corpse-standard to pursue their own petty goals.
Pity them, the dead in their towers.
Grant that one day Royalty will show them mercy.
Addiction is a powerful thing.
I wonder how many have perished at this point in the heist because they were too proud to say they were sorry. Maybe Alison having conquered her Strength is the only thing keeping her alive, now.
Hmmm…interesting. Not the dragon I expected.
He’s kinda cute actually. Old dude who’s just kinda hoarding out of habit, it sounds like?
Poor old dragon. He’s gone potty.
Allison or Mammon: who will awaken first?
…How long ago, exactly, did Yalbachoath steal Mammon’s Key of Kings?
In its majestic equality, dementia ravishes the rich and poor alike.
Aye! the great one’s mind is gone. Or perhaps he feels he is too great for fear
(Also aahhh the pain of waiting for updates through this climax is real)
He’s lovely. <3
Awh he’s just a sweet confused old man.
Who murdered his entire family and decorated his house with their corpses.
Aiight so in my head, Mammon sounds exactly like SCP-082 Ferdinand the Cannibal as portrayed in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0b2s_ot9_0
Agreed.
BAD
MIN
TON
I once had an epiphany quite like the Dragon’s this winter, as I began my 47th Skyrim playthrough and couldn’t find a dungeon I wasn’t familiar with.
Who is greedy and strong will seek and find, and seek and find. And in ever seeking and ever finding, he will despair of seeking. Only then will have Found.
Oh, the auld dear…
This is an interesting turn of events. Will the Young King be able to continue her journey?
Dragon Surprises Himself
Manners Are Golden
Blind in Eye
Keen in Nose
Mammon Admits the Burden
To the Contrite Visitor.
Well that was….unexpected.
Has the Great Dragon… gone senile?
I swear if anything happens to grandpa dragon I’m gonna be upset
The beast has seven heads.
You wouldn’t think it would be possible to feel pity and concern for a gold-hoarding dragon god of 111,111 worlds. Kill Six Billion Demons is, if nothing, ready to surprise.
Bless his heart. I didn’t expect the dragon to be senile.
Oh snap, Mammon’s a nice dragon.
I didn’t expect that.
Oh dear. So the great dragon has forgotten why he even did all this?
This was… not expected
It seems the Dragon is either the very essence of greed, hoarding for hoarding’s sake, or has gone senile, forgetting what the meaning of his existence is. Perhaps both.
That makes two monsters I pity.
Poor old fool… The Scaled God of the Deep has withered much.
Uh… WHY exactly is Allison doing this again? I’m getting progressively more uncomfortable with this as we see how far the Demiurges have fallen.
All this latest King wants at the moment is her boyfriend back. She braves demons, gods, and the multiverse itself, sacrificing allies, slaughtering enemies, and challenging the rotting corpse of the universes greatest heroes…for some guy she decided to sleep wth.
Long live our new King.
Stagnation is sin.
And anyway, remember that a King is so powerful as to destroy without intent or knowledge. Oceans of blood are on Mammon’s hands, even if he’s clueless to it all.
Pity the Dragon: but do not let that stay your hand. This is a mission of mercy; both for those who suffer under the heels of the seven-headed beast and for the beast itself. Their only peace shall be found when head and body part.
This is a mission of mercy at this point.
To save her “boyfriend”.
Supposedly the Thorns have Zaid stashed in here somewhere.
This is a rescue mission.
Zoss seems to be under the impression that his successors will force her to kill them while she’s in town.
The Seven, not the Thorns
The worlds of the Wheel started a disaster, cruelty on an unimaginable scale, but now ready to tip over to something worse. And the power best positioned to take over, Demiurge Jagganoth, plans to reset everything with the ending of most life.
It appears that the former King Zoss attempted to relinquish his reign (wonder what caused that?) by appointing Zaid as Heir and handing over the Key of Kings to him. By accident, perhaps, Allison has become the Heir instead and now has the very unsavory task of trying to resolve this mess.
The Demiurges have fallen far, but they still receive their tributes of blood and bone and they can still cause enormous destruction. For example, how many will die when Queen Mottom and the Grand Dragon fight in the near future as surely they must?
Allison could walk away from all this, and hide for an eternity as Zoss apparently did. But that won’t stop this tragedy.
She’s just here to get Zaid
Mammon seems like a chill dude who’s forgotten his true purpose, and doesn’t really care about what’s going on in life. He’s old. Maybe he’s bored, and that’s why he’s counting all his gold.
the amount of gold in his vault is goals though plz gimme
I guess all grumpy old men are the same, even Gods.
well.. uh.. he kind of looks.. cute?
this is so goddam cool
Reminds me of a short story I read about a barrow guarded by a troll. The hero slew the troll but was trapped by the treasure. There was too much of it to remove and he didn’t dare leave the barrow to get wagons and help because he was afraid others would take the treasure. So all he could do was remain and defend it. And over time, he became less and less human eventually becoming a troll.
Painting and Imagination, Stereotype and Rumour. None can judge just by one or two of these. One must see past only perspective and see the whole. See the Spirit. Then one can truly Paint.
Also could we have just the third panel? It would make a great wallpaper. I would copy it myself but my drawing would bring both sorrow compared to your exquisite art.
What do you think about Death, my lovelies?
To some, it would be mercy.
Demanding an apology. Truly, this is the the most heinous of punishments for one who aspires to royalty. Too bad for him that Al-YISUN does not truly aspire to it.
Moreover, Allison is such a polite girl.
Grandpa Mammon is pleased with your apology
From Black Emperor to doddering old grandfather. Reality is a lie indeed.
Oh… my.
Apologies truly are magical
As some expected, The Dragon has Grown Old, and gained a wisdom in Its senility. As others expected, a true excess of wealth renders it useless, valueless, and more burden than boon, it seems.
As Om fears both living and death in equal measures, and thus her desire for immortality is now ash in her throat, Mammon finds no worth in what They have desired most ardently; But for 2, I wonder if all the Demiurges shall bless Al-Yis-Un as a savior from their burdenous lives, rather than a scourge to be feared, in the end of things that is the beginning.
Its only me or its the second Demiurge who is more a slave than a true master?
I imagine that they all are – slaves to what they were, slaves to their ambition, slaves to their throne.
Even Zoss.
Which is why he admonishes Allison for seeking the throne rather than breaking it.
All who sell themselves to gold become it’s slaves.
I met an elderly Counting-Cardinal once. He was a sad man, and the lines of his sadness creased his face deeper than the scars of liturgical infighting. He said this, over a meal of one of my beetle-goulash pies:
“My God is a lonely God, is he. We hear Him crying in the deeps, sometimes. Moaning. Whimpering. He built His Vault, untold ages ago, and now, He cannot get out. Ghosts of suggestions of forgotten memories tell him he locked himself in His own vault–and he does not know why. If he told any of us to, we would but open the front door for Him. Alas, he does not, nor does he remember His priesthood exists save for in the most vague terms. And so, we bring him ever-more treasure, leaving him to count shining coins in an infinite coffer that is ever-filling. Thanks to His service, I can buy my own world. I would trade it all for surcease from the memory of His weeping.”
We see now the true nature of the burden upon the back of the Grand Dragon. It is a grievous burden indeed. To be unable to see the full extent of ones burden is almost a mercy.
Sorry! (not sorry)
I wonder if Al-Yis-Un has the audacity to tell Mammon that more is being added each day, and so a count is not possible, as there will always be some amount flowing in?
Mercy, please. No one could possibly so cruel.
But then, the ignorant, with a single innocent comment, can be the most cruel of all…
Those eyes, shackled with the film of age…
I, uh… huh. Okay? Definitely more cordial than I expected–it seems like Mammon has become one of those eccentric, almost childlike kings who wouldn’t last a moment in outside of their castles. And in that vein, perhaps the theory we’ve been entertaining all along is true: Mammon’s followers protect him out of a twisted sort of pity-worship.
I think I might like this dude.
Al-YISUN has taken her first step towards wisdom: apology. In a mere two words she admits both the wrongfulness of her actions and the truth of Mammon’s claim to His infinite treasure. In her heart even the Rising King must submit before the boundless mastery of the Golden God. Whether by complete and total apology for her trespasses (as Allison did) or by replacement of his entire cardiovascular system with molten precious metals (as I did), all will submit tribute in their own meager but meaningful way to the Dragon, whose strength is like the towers of the Ya-at slave monks, and whose wisdom is worth tenfold His entire treasury. For He alone comprehends the true meaning of Greed.
The dragon’s mind may be hazy, but do not mistake that for dulling his fangs. He is still one of the monsters who has swallowed one seventh of creation, those fangs have sharpened themselves on countless worlds.
He’s such an adorable old man.
All must adore Him
Wow so much and so long its just dirt now.
Wonder how long the amicability will last
Blind idiot god,
In a tower full of blings,
Nice in fact, huh.
SUCH A NICE TERRIFYING DRAGON-GODLET.
So polite and gentle. And lost, too, in his own accumulations. (There’s a message in that.)
And it does appear that the sigil in his halo isn’t a khopesh after all, as I speculated earlier.
IA IA IA
Seems the dragon has lost count
I’ve built walls
A fortress, steep and mighty
That none may penetrate
I have no need of friendship
Friendship causes pain.
It’s laughter and it’s loving I disdain.
I am a rock
I am an island
Paul Simon
Excessively glib answer: “I can help! I could move it all elsewhere, so that none is here, and you can count it quickly.”
*Gasp* Dark Lord Reasonable???
The “APOLOGIZE” rung too close to this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUjVaaT60qY
And that monk is cool and all, but I’ve heard better analogies for that kind of thing. They involved bread.
Pity him
Counting one’s money by hand is for the poor, and perhaps the most bored of the immortals.
A mind, they say, is a terrible thing to waste.
This explains why he wasn’t on the meeting.
The count is all.
It’s very possible that Mammon didn’t even choose to send a surrogate to the meeting. He’s so unaware of himself or what matters, he attends to none of the affairs of his own empire. The priests, instead, received the summons to the meeting, and responded of their own accord, without consulting their god emperor.
For truly, it is best not to borrow His Worshipful Majesty with such trifles. The Count consumes him, and he wouldn’t remember the meeting the moment it would be time to set out, anyway.
Another commentator floated the idea a while back that Mammon had actually been dead the entire time, and this more or less amounts to the same thing. I’d say it’s almost certain that the Priests of the Count have been running the show for a long time.
Considering I’m not laughing, I’m surprised just how hilarious I find this.
I’m not even sure what that means.
But got damn that a good reveal
Will it become certain that all seven are terminally tired?
A crown is a heavy burden.
Solomon seems too smug to be tired or sad. But we’ll see, I suppose.
The weight of commitment
and other facets of snow
require attention; beware avalanche
I love the stories below the comic almost as much as the comic itself.
I feel as though the Grand Dragon himself stands below his counted court.
His bureaucracy his grown so engorged, it itself has lost sight of its original purpose. Their leader is a figurehead, too forgetful and consumed with his personal obsessions to bother with normal affairs. When his priests interact with him at all, it is to humor the doddering old man, while the priests attend to his empire themselves.
Did Mammon himself send that emissary to the meeting of Demiurges? Or did the priests receive the summons, and attend to it themselves? Is Mammon even AWARE of a world outside his hoard? Would he remember five minutes later, if you deigned to tell him?
ah yes, the wisdom of age, sweet erosion of the higher mind, leaving only simple purpose and existance. i too wish to arrive to that point.
Longtime reader, first time commenting. I have to say, I’ve loved what you’ve done with the Demiurges. Even with the short amount of screen time each has gotten they’ve been compelling, intriguing characters, each surprising in their own way.
Bearer of the word TOWER, you say? Well, actually I can see it now…
And I really like how this scene turned out to be.
This is the Horror of Bureaucracy, that which puts form to function and regulation to activity, until Purpose atrophies and all that remains is the rote repetition of meaningless ritual. ‘Tis a truly terrible thing to behold, watching a god degraded to simple compulsion, like a child that refuses to sleep without their nightlight.
Dragon not so bad after all ^_^
also, blind I guess? because of his white eyes?
WHEN NEED BECOMES HABIT, AND HABIT IS NO LONGER NEEDED, ONE OFTEN LOSES SIGHT OF WHY THEY WERE DOING SOMETHING IN THE FIRST PLACE.
ONCE, A TALE WAS RELATED TO ME. A HUMAN MOTHER USED TO ALWAYS CUT A TURKEY DOWN TO A SIZE BEFORE PUTTING IT INTO AN OVEN. IRONICALLY ENOUGH, HER DAUGHTER DID THIS AS WELL AS A RESULT. THE DAUGHTER’S HUSBAND ONCE ASKED ABOUT THIS: AND SHE DID NOT KNOW WHY. SO ONE DAY, SHE ASKED HER MOTHER WHY SHE DID IT.
THE MOTHER RESPONDED “OH, THAT IS BECAUSE THE OVEN WASN’T BIG ENOUGH, SO I HAD TO CUT IT DOWN TO SIZE.”
HOW IRONIC: IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF A TOWER, YOU MAY NOT ONLY JUST ENTRAP YOURSELF, BUT OTHERS! TRULY, A TOWER CAN REMAIN FOR GENERATIONS!
I find no comfort in discovering the dragon is so… amiable.
All the gold in existence cannot buy you all of Time, for just as there is bound to be an end of gold, there is to be an end of Time.
This… this seems like it’s going to take a turn for the very sad momentarily.
How fascinating. Has Mammon forgotten want?
That the lord of greed would find some degree of contentment is quite interesting.
Well, now I’m conflicted.
The old man thinks on his long life.
Am I happy?
Did I do what I wanted?
Was my time spent well?
Hmmmmmm…
The old man thinks some more.
What sorrow there is in owning everything, yet having nothing.
What more sorrow is there, to own the world, yet lose yourself.
Reminds me a bit of the part in The Hobbit where Smaug sniffs out the invisible Bilbo. Only with a very old and very depressed dragon
He sounds more like a sweet old man than an eldritch beast of terrifying implications… Can he be my grandpa?
Sure.
If I can have Hipster-Santa Zoss as my grandpa.
the dragon, the guardian of treasure is no more. all that is left is the memory of the dragon that was, a pale shade of greed. and there is no treasure in the world that can quench the thirst of a memory
Old, possibly senile, giant dragon grandpa is best dragon grandpa.
Old, possibly senile, giant dragon grandpa, is best grandpa.
I… The tales of him did not do him justice, did they? ”Gracious’ is not a word I would apply to any of the demiurges, yet he was fine with just an apology. He seems more a slightly crabby old man than anything else, because if he were smaller, I can almost picture him gruffly pat at her shoulder with the ‘that wasn’t hard’… Is he on the verge of recounting a winding story about his youth and how the time flies, as well?
Those aren’t coins, they’re Werther’s Originals!
Alas, the story must wait. They must ALL wait. Mammon has yet to finish counting.
There will be plenty of time for stories later…wait, stories? What were we talkign about? Oh bother, we must return to counting. Where were we…
In love and in glory
We worship her story
So all the Demiurges except Solomon David (probably) are all old, worn out sorcerers? Between Mottom desperately needing to harvest women for their youth because of how scared she is of old age or Mammon being a hoarder that can’t see his prize they’re looking like tragic figures more and more
What need for wealth when one has purchased godhood?
And here we see yet again, expectations subverted. Mammon’s wealth acquisition is infinite — a supertask — and his greed is therefore caught between a rock of WANT and a mathematical hard place.
Judging by what he just said…
He’s old (obviously) and he no longer cares about all his shit cause he’s old and tired and he’s actually gotten sick of it like Om did! :O
It’s not easy being green.
Is it wrong that I find Mammon hilarious?
Damn. Scrooge McDuck sure lost his looks.
There is but one singular scene of which I am reminded by the poignant image, a recollection of which is included in the below runic inscription
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KniUNdVZvH4
Well… I suppose that’s one advantage to fighting opponents that are literally insane.
“You got what you wanted, but lost what you had!”
– Doctor Facilier, former trafficker in Demons
Behold the Dragon. His mind rots in a vault of his own making.
Oh, ALL-YISUN, you who bear the Key of Keys…
Will you not unlock his shackles? Will you not set him free?
So that’s what “pity the dragon” is all about O_O
The seven are truly tired and old, and a lot more personable than their outward attitude to each other, or their servant’s attitude, would suggest. Important to remember these were all the greatest warriors, savants and mystics across all worlds, who pierced the veil, belonged to a society of peerless masters, and won when it all turned ugly. They aren’t villains with two-dimensions; their people who powerful and hungry enough to become gods, but still people.
He doesn’t seem so bad at all nowadays… can’t take the kind out of the Kind People, can you? (Although we can’t forget what he has done; I mean, maybe he himself forgot or feels remorse?)
I suppose those who purchase their divinity must be as willing to sell it.
As it was, it shall ever be. Time takes even those who proffer to be ageless.
The True Art of Dragon Slaying is impossible to learn from from anyone but a Dragon.
thus do our obsessions laugh in our face. For they remove all other things and we experience nothing of value during our lives in exchange for an obsession we care less and less for due to that very fact.
I wonder how Mammon would think of Cookie Clicker.
I love grumpy Grunkle Mammon
I suspect that this is going to be the main theme of the story: All of the demiurges are trapped within their own power. Allison isn’t destined to kill them as such…she’s there to free them.
The one exception to this is probably Incubus, and that’s because we know he isn’t the original holder of his key. Maya was, and she was the only one of the original Seven who managed to free herself.
From the previous page, the count was up to 556534935. If that were one per second, the count has been going on this time for 556534935/60/60/24/365.24 = 17 years and 232 days (or whatever the local measure is). Alison should apologize!
So, who’s the henchman that is actually running the show out in Throne? Is it #1?
It’s not clear that he’d finished saying the number, so it might be a few orders of magnitude higher. On the flip side, there’s a lot of people counting….
Oh, I am going to call two of my predictions as coming (mostly) true:
1) There is a secret in the vault more valuable that a world key. Yes, it’s Mammon’s senility.
2) The vault dwellers will be kind to her. The ultimate vault dweller just was.
Ah! Ah! Ah!
-Dracul, Vampire Lord
Pity and Empathy are rare treasures to find whilst adventuring, but I cherish them all the more for it.
Today, a character in Dumbing of Age is singing Hurt (Thank you again, Trent Reznor for this Cash song).
I find it remarkably relevant to the current situation.
Be this a lesson to you all saying sorry can save you life!
I am the property of my property
I am possessed by that which I possess
I am the slave of that which I enslaved
And am devoured by that upon which I feed
Senility or OCD?
It occurs to me: are the priests who follow Mammon there because they want to be? Or did they, like Allison, get caught trespassing in Mammon’s hoard?
And, when he says, “Now you must wait,” were too afraid to disobey? Are they all prisoners here, waiting for the old dragon to finish his count and attend to them?
An intriguing thought. Although it doesn’t explain why so many of them were complete nutters with chainsaws, and willing to die for their beliefs. Some may have ended up there the way you suggest, but it appears that most are true believers.
Although you’d think someone would have noticed that old Mammon had lost the plot a bit.
I love this plot twist so much I want to marry it.
So, it seems to me the trick here is to just ask him what he wants *now*. I bet everyone else is too afraid to do it. And it could turn everything around.
“Let me help you count, Mammon! Zero, one, aleph null. There, wasn’t that easy?”
That’s quite the hoard there Mammon, but it would be even larger with this sword.
I’d trade it to you for something. Say, a hostage, or that key in your brow.
I’ve heard such things can be bought and sold, you know.
Watch now, for Alison has interrupted the count, and Mammon has forgot his place and must start anew. Counting the infinite takes quite some time you know.
Still terrified. Probably Wisely so. A senile Dragon is still a Dragon.
And his mood may shift from moment to moment…
Half-measures are never good enough.
What use is it to seek and obtain power if you cannot hold onto it?
What use is it to be effectively immortal if you cannot stop the ravages of aging?
I… Well then. I would like to be able to have some kind of response that’s both poetic and thought provoking. But I can’t think of anything up. I got nothing.
Except that this is FAR more polite than I thought. One would think that someone ruled by greed like our dragon friend here would be a little more… Angry? Frustrated? Some from of negative emotion that’s more impacting than annoyance.
And yet here we are. I have no clue what to make of this.
I tried to imagine Mammon speaking with Scrooge’s voice, and instead I wound up with Donald Duck speaking his lines.
It’s horrible. It’s beautiful. I can’t stop it now.
“Eos had an unquenchable desire for handsome young men, some say as the result of a curse laid upon her by the goddess Aphrodite. Her lovers included Orion, Phaethon, Kephalos (Cephalus) and Tithonos (Tithonus), three of which she ravished away to distant lands. The Trojan prince Tithonos became her official consort. When the goddess petitioned Zeus for his immortality, she neglected also to request eternal youth. In time he was shriveled up by old age and transformed into a grasshopper.”
What a delightful twist!
This serves as a point towards just how dangerous Jagganoth is. Unlike all the others revealed so far, he has found himself a new and unflinching purpose to solidify his will into a point of white hot fire. With a need like that driving him he has grown sharper rather than pitted. No wonder Mammon fears him.
Kept it so long he forgot its value. Only when he loses it all will he remenber what it meant to him
The key bearers are all slaves to their passions. Let go, Let Go, LET GO! One must be free of all burdens grand opulence and vile detrimental to be a true king, other wise a slave.
You mean “Let it go … the old never bothered me anyway?”
Has he already counted the key?
He has already accepted a apology what about a polite request? Could she not just ask for the key of kings? Even if he wants to keep the count precise a trinket could take its place.
Could it be that easy? to take the strength of a god with not but “I’m sorry and “Please”?
What a nice guy
Instead of chatting up a senile dragon shouldn’t Allison be busy rescuing Cio??
So Mammon and my late Grandmother sound very similar. A strict adherence to the standards of decency and late in life a dedication to going through the motions even though much of the meaning drained away.
But Mammon also has a power move. “Wait” The would be raider asked to wait by such a deity would die of old age before the count was finished.
I wonder how the dragon keeps his worlds. Are this his treasures or source of plunder?
It occurred to me that in a way Mammon has merely reverted to the nature of his people, having forgotten the greed for wealth and power that consumed him earlier in his life. So, what has rotted away? Mammon’s mind, or that which had consumed Mammon’s mind?
I hear Keith David’s voice in my head while reading Mammon’s dialogue.
Time makes enemies even of immortals, it seems.
Prim is the only person in the spasms with an ounce of sense.
As for mammon, he shall end up cut I expect, fool girl decided to become royalty, better to be a peasent.
The true tragedy of ascension is this: once one reaches the summit, they have nowhere left to go.
So, At least two so far have been ravaged by Time. There was also the embodiment of Sloth, who’s embedded in a block of crystal, and is likely to simply go along with the future she sees ahead. Maya escaped the trap, and her replacement Incubus seems intrinsically weak. Jagganoth has bound himself in iron, making himself invincible… but above us we see the trap of that path. Three others remain to be considered….
>“It will make you invincible,” said the sage, “This is the way of Ya-at slave monks.
> “Yes,” he said, “There is a better way, and I will teach it to you:
>“As you to your earlier remark,” the sage said, “The man who builds his tower but cannot take it apart again
Minor typos:
The comma at the end of each dialogue tag (“said the sage”, “he said”, “the sage said”) needs to be removed.
It is late in the day but this has annihilated me. Utterly. As much as I felt it coming.
This is a beautiful monster of a thing.
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He’s…a lot less intimidating than I thought he would be