Grrl Power #1364 – Dungeon rules
Ah, the most visually stunning comic page in the medium’s storied history. You’re welcome.
I’d say it’s about even odds that Sciona is writing in Alar instead of English. I feel like I may have put some Alar writing on a wall panel or something on some page, but I don’t recall what it looks like, so I can’t say if it would be easier with a sharpie duct taped to a finger on your non-dominant hand. My alien writing tends to look suspiciously like whatever the last alien/fantasy script I saw, so if Alar text does appear in the comic, there’s no telling what it looks like.
In Gnosticism, the demiurge is a flawed or even malevolent creator responsible for the material world. In this context, Scion (which will become the golem’s fairly obvious alias) is using “demiurge” to mean a creator that creates a thing then steps away to let it run its course. Fire and forget, if you will. It’s a theistic concept that attempts to explain creation, but also the perceived absenteeism of any divine force afterwards, and doesn’t have to answer questions like “why is there evil,” or “why aren’t my prayers answered?” It’s cause god fucked off to mess with his next project. Or maybe he died. Maybe the act of creation killed him and the universe as we know it is his corpse and we’re all dancing in his rotting meats. Or maybe he ascended to the next tier. Maybe he descended. Doesn’t matter. It seemed appropriate for Scion to label Sciona as his own personal Demiurge.
The vote incentive is finally done!
The update to the TWC image is pretty minor, but the Patreon version has the bonus comic as well as nude versions. I will strive to make the next one more timely.
Double res version will be posted over at Patreon. Feel free to contribute as much as you like.
maybe you could have used the foreign language «» markers in the speech bubbles and also in Sciona’s notes
I don’t feel sorry for Sciona.
I do not condone torture, but I refuse to feel sorry for the murdering slaver who wants to subjugate the Earth. =_= She made this abomination with malice aforethought. These are what we call consequences.
All things considered that thing is being fairly civil so far.
Remember how it showed up to that cartel meeting with a duffel full of heads?
Even if they were drug-peddlers, this thing is a killer.
The civility is very conditional, and the accent is very much on ‘so far’.
Eww she’s one of those people that make a’s weird. Into the fire she goes.
Wait to try and farm an ARC guarded dungeon or steal some from Galytn the well guarded, super infested colony, run by the world’s smartest human. Both options seem pretty difficult.
Actually, the Galytn approach is the easy one, since Deus is a reasonable guy who’d gladly put Scion on retainer and let him work off the cost of the core materials. The guy has no problem employing eldritch horrors and supervillains, so long as they behave while on the clock.
I think Scion and Deus would actually hit it off.
That’s true actually! Deus is remarkably open to collaboration. There’s something pretty funny about this seemingly impossible task being solved with an email. I guess the only real hurdle is working with Deus under the assumption he is manipulating you, which he basically always is and being okay with that.
Being OK with Deus’ M.O. might be the only real hurdle for Scion since as we are seeing he has some trust issues.
…Now I’m wondering if one of Deus’ multiple motives for having sex with Sciona was because he predicted this sort of thing, and wanted a connection with Sciona so he could deal with whatever fallout arose from her short sighted evil.
If Sciona could swallow her pride and acknowledge that Deus ‘riding her coattails’ were part legitimate achievements, part the results of her mistakes, she could acknowledge that, at least in the short and medium-term, an ‘alliance with benefits’ relationship with him would be very much a win-win deal and quite beneficial to her. True, she would have to tolerate his ribbing and eccentricities w/o exploding, but it’s not such a big deal. Even Max can do it… somehow.
The hard part is believing it would work. Sciona can’t be trusted ergo she never trusts others. No clue what Scion’s view is on that.
I guess he shares the trust issues of ‘Mommy’ if his treatment of her is a guideline and not a special case.
Or dunno, swallow your pride and paranoia and make a deal with the world’s smartest human, who demonstrably is open-minded, sets reasonable terms, is eager to have Sciona as an ally (and FWB), and in all likelihood would love to do the same (short of the hentai stuff ofc) with someone as powerful as a fixed Scion. Why break the door if it gets opened if you knock?
Because Scion doesn’t KNOW most of that “demonstrably” info about Deus. As we saw in Scion’s second appearance, his info on Deus comes from public news sources. So Scion doesn’t know for sure that Deus would be able to get him core material, and he does know that Deus went on that economics show and basically said that everything comes down to greed and that he wants to own the world. That’s a pretty scary attitude for Scion to see in a potential employer, given that Scion might well have a built in method to enslave himself that he can’t figure out.
Even if Scion did know that information somehow, he’d still have to get somebody to introduce him to Deus, since I doubt Scion has Deus’s phone number.
Can Scion copy Deus’ mojo?
If his core gets fixed, quite possibly and even likely. Ofc, he would have to get some of his blood, which is not so simple.
You have a point, but then this leads to a deal with Sciona (and Deus by extension) being the best option Scion has according to the info he is, or he is getting (her ‘not for me’ comment hints to that).
She has an open invitation to Gaitlyn and further deals (with sexy side benefits) with Deus. Scion could use that as an introduction, and then quickly discover that Deus can make a reasonable deal with him too.
Ofc, he needs a way to trust Sciona can keep her end of a deal w/o keeping her bound, gagged, and grabbed by the liver, and trust Deus can be faced to negotiate w/o excessive risk.
Trust; the problem is trust.
Please, please let’s assume Sciona is writing in English because it is somehow simpler for her in her current circumstances and let’s leave it at that. I am thoroughly fed up with linguistic discussions.
It seems the plot might go in a narrative convergence of Sciona, Jr., and Deus if the first two agree Gaitlyn is the best current source of core material until the dungeon matures and they need to cooperate to look for it. In such a case, however, they really need a way to agree on a deal and trust each other on its fulfillment that does not involve Scion keeping her tied and grabbed by the liver. Perhaps some kind of of magically enforced pact?
I wonder how Sciona got the material to build the golem in the first place if its so troublesome to acquire; perhaps she stole it from the Council, or it was supplies she got from Alari Prime.
So Earth is a Superion well but relatively scarce in mana in comparison to other worlds. Yet we were told strength of the Thaumion field is tied to abundance of life, and Earth is not exactly lacking in this regard. Hmm. In any case, it id not seem to trouble Earth-based mages and supernaturals one bit up to now.
Perhaps it is an issue more relevant to enchanting than spell-like magic. If so, it makes all the more sense that so many actors (Archon/US government, Twilight Council, Deus/Gaitlyn, Sciona) are supporting the dungeon project.
I also wonder why Deus is not backing the development of a second dungeon in Gaitlyn right now.
“I also wonder why Deus is not backing the development of a second dungeon in Gaitlyn right now.”
Pick your choice!
A) He feels that he doesn’t need to because he can use his influence to access the dungeon currently under construction
B) He feels that he doesn’t need to because he can open a portal to anywhere in the universe on a whim and acquire supplies that way
C) He already has a dungeon on the go in Galtyn and understands that “secrecy” means not shooting your mouth off to everybody that you meet
D) All of the above – redundancy is important!
E, always E. If you think he doesn’t have the entire alphabet of options already set up or with everything a nudge away from set up. Buddy, have I got an extinct volcano lair* for you. Have to go, shift is starting and I am doding la migra again.
*May or may not be a nuclear and toxic waste site with various escaped lab experiments living there. (say hi to felicia the cloud leopard/velociraptor/crab she’s mostly nice)
I’d believe option C. I think it’s always prudent that the admitted super genius is always working on stuff you don’t know. Redundant or otherwise. Like it might be easier to let ARC do most of the work for him but, honestly the only reason I think Deus deals with the US government on these projects at all is to keep friendly with them and that itself is very obviously to keep friendly with Maxima specifically. Also maybe he was born in America and has some inherent home patriotism?
He’s got dual American and Galtyn citizenship, and I very much doubt that he was born in Africa, so I’m going to go with him being born in the USA
There is a decent chance that he predates the USA and just has the resources to claim whatever he wants.
My assumption given his established M.O. is a combo of B) + C).
“So Earth is a Superion well but relatively scarce in mana in comparison to other worlds. Yet we were told strength of the Thaumion field is tied to abundance of life, and Earth is not exactly lacking in this regard.”
I would guess the Veil is probably draining quite a bit of mana. Especially with that many humans to fool.
My guess would be that they created/powered the Superion field by repurposing part of the Thaumon field. It’s like a standing complex spell running in administrator mode.
And does Administrator mode set access rights to Terran based individuals for mana?
That way supers and all who are covered as native under the Veil get average or better Mana Regen, but any visiting alien gripes about the low level of the planet.
Possible but IMO it is an unlikely explanation for various reasons. I think Christopher’s explanation that it is the Veil’s fault works better.
Good guess. I assume a big chunk of Earth’s mana being tied up in fuelling the Veil may be an excellent explanation of why the planet’s mana level does feel not so impressive to visiting aliens despite Earth being rich in life.
If so, Deus is all the more right for wanting the Council to wind down the Veil right now and pressuring them to do so. It is not just obsolete, it is a major obstacle to humanity closing the ‘magic gap’ with advanced civilizations.
Narrative convergence but it’s also that it’s a small world at the top.
She’s likely had to write in English non-stop since returning to Earth. At this point it’s probably instinctual and takes concious thought for her to write in Alari. Plus there’s no reason to think Scion can read Alari at all. So probably better to just… go with the easy answer.
Consult your blood magus to find out whether tentapin is right for you!
I still feel bad for the golem. I hope he’s able to make friends and turn to the side of good or at least True Neutral.
To make friends, he needs to learn to trust people are not going to kill/enslave him w/o him keeping them at gunpoint (or blood-sucking tentacle in his case).
you managed to convey the “I am so pissed off, and am totally going to kill you several times in horrible ways” glint in her eye in panel 2.
That stepping away isn’t Gnosticism but deism. In Gnosticism the demiurge is still here and ruthless enforcing the natural and moral laws that cause all our suffering.
The complications of being in a foreign world without the spare parts needed to fix your car.
Or in this case being a magical entity with no way to repair your legs/brains because the locals had yet to invent the basic fire ball spell and you need access to 5th or 7th tier magic… And they are struggling on cantrips.
re: the stinger line: That always kind of annoyed me, when ads for a new medicine tell you “Don’t use X if allergic to X”. Not “don’t use X if allergic to an ingredient in X”, nor “don’t use X if allergic to this category of medicine”. No, it’s “don’t use this specific medicine if allergic to this specific medicine“. Surely I can’t be the only one who sees how stupid that is, right? How would you know you’re allergic to it if you’ve never tried it? And if you did know, why would you ever want to use it again anyway?
The “don’t use if you’re allergic” line is not there for you. It’s there for them (at the behest of their lawyers). You die and your heirs sue, they just say “Meh, he was warned not to use it if he was allergic, he ignored the warning, we’re not liable.”
They don’t want to discourage you from trying the product, but are trying to defend themselves against legal liability.
So “Demiurge” is fancy for “Deadbeat parent”?
Demiurge extends the concept of “deadbeat parent” to all of creation. What if God isn’t benevolent and caring? What if he doesn’t give a rat’s ass, or worse, actively wants you to suffer? What if he created you to suffer?
Ah, of course Scion missed the obviouse option to just not be evil and maybe join up with the heroes.
Huh? His complaint with the dungeon method is that it will take way too long, not that he wouldn’t be willing to work with the heroes for legit access. He has no reason to believe ARC-SWAT has core material or would be able/willing to infiltrate the Alari colony ship.
Since Scion doesn’t believe joining up with the heroes would solve any of his problems, how is it in any way an “obvious” option?
Plus, in the first few moments of his life he was torn to shreds by ARC-SWAT. I imagine there’s a bit of wiggling tentacle trauma there too.
(Whoops, accidentally didn’t reply to your comment originally.)
The description you gave for a demiurge as an “absentee parent” is covered, in a way, by the concept of Deism.
Deism is the philosophical/theological idea (often going hand in hand with Agnosticism, but not always) that whatever created this universe does not intervene with nature or human affairs. It rejects the need for organized religion (hence its frequent link to Agnosticism) because one of the Deist beliefs is that there is no logical reason to attempt to appeal, through ritual or dogma, to a God that is either too busy or unconcerned to be influenced in the first place.
As the famed British raconteur, Quentin Crisp, is attributed with stating: “I simply haven’t the nerve to imagine a being, a force, a cause which keeps the planets revolving in their orbits and then suddenly stops in order to give me a bicycle with three speeds.” (Side bit of trivia… Sting wrote the song “Englishman in New York” for and about Quentin.)
Or, as I’ve described my own Agnostic Deism to people before… “I believe that something created all of this, but since the finite mind can’t truly define an infinite being, there’s no point in trying. But I do believe that it is too busy with keeping the universe spinning to care who wins the Superbowl, an Oscar, the lottery, or which religion has the most adherents. It may be aware of everything but why would it feel a need to micromanage it all?”
It likely would not be inaccurate to equate it to someone coding a program to change the color of a screen a million miles tall by three million miles wide… one pixel at a time by one shade, hue, and saturation number at a time… starting said program… and then just sitting back to watch what happens. (Just think. Every possible painting, book, drawing, or comix strip would eventually appear on that screen at some point. Even the entire run of Grrl Power… including the comics Dave hasn’t drawn yet or every possible plotline.)
I actually went and worked this out to prove a point to myself. The scale of our solar system compared to the observable universe is comparable to the scale of a single quark compared to a human body. Do you care about a single quark in your body? I bet half the people reading this didn’t even know what quarks were until they read it.
Hey! I watched Deep Space Nine!
Wrong kind of Quark!
Huh? His complaint with the dungeon method is that it will take way too long, not that he wouldn’t be willing to work with the heroes for legit access. He has no reason to believe ARC-SWAT has core material or would be able/willing to infiltrate the Alari colony ship.
Since Scion doesn’t believe joining up with the heroes would solve any of his problems, how is it in any way an “obvious” option?
Plus, in the first few moments of his life he was torn to shreds by ARC-SWAT. I imagine there’s a bit of wiggling tentacle trauma there too.
He obviously didn’t read the instructions on Sharpie packaging that they are “not for letter writing.”
And the sharpie is off the paper and into all that blood.
It took me longer than it probably should have to figure out “dung” was dungeon abbreviated.
For me, the Demiurge has always been the creative spark, that urge, that desire to create, that God used as inspiration to create the universe. Any flaws therein are deliberately placed. All part of God’s unknowable plan. Just my thoughts
please have pity…i vaguely remember hagfish mafia inquisitor and drug golem and/or any other origins to tentacle spider scion. could someone provide links to same? thank you
Scion first appeared on page 507, fought Archon, was mostly destroyed, but a small piece got away, and eventually resurfaced on page 1264, killing and extorting organized crime.
thank you
Lois Griffin: “Now stick your finger in there and twist it!”
Is Sciona losing consciousness due to blood loss or is she making a play to dip the pen in blood? Both can be true.
She (claims to be) flinching/thrashing in pain because Scion anxiously wriggled the tentacle he has lodged in her liver.
I thought she was calling him Liv for a second
I love that we not only see the flipped pages get thicker, but the bloodstain on the box spreads.
Any bets he gets involuntarily installed as the dungeon core master?
Suddenly there’s a new popular difficulty level.
F(basic)->A->S(hell)–>?!(Hentai) The last is popular with Japanese schoolgirls , bored housewives, and some men. For most that’s the “Nope!” Level.
Part of me wonders whether she was named Sciona just so that her “child” would be named Scion.
Only people with a pulse get into the whos who?
Even if they don’t speak.
the sentient kill bot does speak but doesn’t have a pulse and didn’t make it into the who’s who.
…
I think it has more to do with the lack of official naming. Some characters have gotten “mysterious figure” treatments in the who’s who, but many also just wait until they are named.
I am surprised that their party has not been crashed already, as I find it hard to believe that Archon is not watching Sciona after her visit to the dungeon site.
I agree with others that Dave is mixing the concepts of Demiurge and Deism here.
From my irreligious PoV, I hold both ideas as slightly more reasonable explanations to escape the impossible conundrum classical theists built for themselves by wanting to believe the storytellers and self-appointed spokesmen of the Big Fairy in the Sky when they told he was simultaneously all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-good.
From my PoV it is a big gratuitous self-inflicted problem one can easily escape by stopping to drink the kool-aid of classical theism to the last drop, even if I acknowledge some people may have a need to do it for various reasons.