Letter writing, wells, menders and more
By
Adeon Hawkwood,
Posted on: 2011-08-15 06:56 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
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It could have been Anti-Matter. But while he's unimpressed by Arachnos' modifications, I recall him saying something along the lines of "This. This is interesting. Everything else is caveman technology but this bomb is FAR better than the rest." I could be remembering wrong, but I recall him being impressed.
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Originally Posted by TheDeepBlue
Where's that at? All I remember is Anti-Matter not being impressed at all by Arachnos' jerry-rigged Rikti UXBs.
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Originally Posted by Arcanaville
Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.
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Well, looking through his arc, he calls Arachnos tech 'shoddy' but doesn't say anything about Rikti tech other than it's too advanced to belong to Arachnos.
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Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
It could have been Anti-Matter. But while he's unimpressed by Arachnos' modifications, I recall him saying something along the lines of "This. This is interesting. Everything else is caveman technology but this bomb is FAR better than the rest." I could be remembering wrong, but I recall him being impressed.
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61866 - A Series of Unfortunate Kidnappings - More than a coincidence?
2260 - The Burning of Hearts - A green-eyed monster holds the match.
379248 - The Spider Without Fangs - NEW - Some lessons learned (more or less.)
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Hmm... My bad, then. I thought for sure he said he was impressed with it.
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Originally Posted by TheDeepBlue
Well, looking through his arc, he calls Arachnos tech 'shoddy' but doesn't say anything about Rikti tech other than it's too advanced to belong to Arachnos.
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Originally Posted by Arcanaville
Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.
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Ew, I hope not. Rularuu is cool. The Well is stupid.|
Originally Posted by Thirty-Seven
Is it possible that the Echos and the Reflections are one and the same... and the reason that the Reflections seem tortured is because they have been somehow cut off from that greater mind/timelessness that you speak of?
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| Now why that would be, I am unsure... it could be anything from the way Rularuu was imprisoned, to some odd eccentricity of how time flows (or doesn't) in the Shard... but I should think they could be related. (And in fact, SHOULD be from a game mechanics perspective. One should only use unique effects like that for things that use the same concept/idea. It would be like if Fire Blast was used by an enemy group and did Cold Dmg instead... it should look different to describe a different effect.) |
I don't think they have to be from the same source at all. I have an Invul who is tech origin and wears power armor. You have an Invul who is a mutant. Same result, different source. Of course making them the same would give the devs an excuse to tie Rularuu to the puddle of annoyance, which would diminish his coolness, and then he'll probably turn out to be another alternate Marcus Cole, so I fully expect them to do it, but that doesn't mean I think it's the only option.
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Originally Posted by Dante
As for who the Letter Writer is, I think its likely to have changed a number of times over the past ten issues depending on how the story was being written at the time and who was writing it. If I had to hedge a guess, Id go for the Dream Doctor simply because it seems to fit his style. Plus there is a link between time/memory/psychic plane that works for me.
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| Despite the facepalm worthy moments weve had with the plot so far (I really, really hate having my character written for me), Im looking forward to seeing it resolved, even if it does mean trusting Tesseract given that shes *MMmmmmppph!!!* (Sounds of hand clamped over mouth and struggling) |
Eva Destruction AR/Fire/Munitions Blaster
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Arc ID#161629 Freaks, Geeks, and Men in Black
Arc ID#431270 Until the End of the World
I think that we will never find out who the letter writer is.
There may come a time when we have an arc that has us making a big change of some kind, either in the present or the past. Near the end, we will find a final letter from the writer, telling us that the change we're about to make will be the one that erases them from the timeline.
The letter will give us a last couple of warnings, wish us well, and thank us for doing what must be done. No name will be given, though they will state that they're at peace with what's about to happen to them for the greater good.
And when the story is over, there's no more letter writer. Just your memories of them, and your own belief of if they were a hero or a villian.
"I do so love taking a nice, well thought out character and putting them through hell. It's like tossing a Faberge Egg onto the stage during a Gallagher concert." - me
@Palador / @Rabid Unicorn
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Originally Posted by Dante
Im looking forward to seeing it resolved, even if it does mean trusting Tesseract given that shes *MMmmmmppph!!!* (Sounds of hand clamped over mouth and struggling)
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I'll hazard a guess ... Nemesis' daughter?
Would that be trite, predictible, or expected? Or all three?
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Without a specific in-game statement, I'm not sure that I'm willing to sign off on the idea of us never fighting the Rikti's best. That would have to mean that they deliberately didn't send their best forces thru in the initial wave of the invasion, which isn't the best way to carry out a Blitzkreig-like attack. It's possible they may have some powerful emplaced defenses on their homeworld that they couldn't use in the attack, but I have trouble believing they didn't use the strongest forces they had available.
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Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
That's an important point to make - we've never actually fought the full might of the Rikti's mobilised military. All we've ever fought has been a relatively underpowered expeditionary force, and even that kicked our *****. If they were to send in the big guns, we'd be SOL. In this game, two sources of technology are consistently praised far above all others - that of the Nemesis and that of the Rikti. Even Praetorian Earth, which is supposed to be far more technologically advanced than Primal Earth, still isn't anywhere near the level of the Rikti, with Neuron being speechless at the greatness of a single Rikti bomb.
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"Trust me, it worked in the Simpsons." - Calash
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I'm not saying we didn't fight their best, even if Hro seems to be their best and he's been stuck on the homeworld. I'm saying that we didn't fight their entire military, but mostly fought a smaller expeditionary force which was intended to cripple us by targeting areas of strategic importance, just by virtue of inter-dimensional portals having limited capacity. I assume that the Rikti would have many millions of soldiers and enormous stockpiles of weapons, especially when they mobilise for war.|
Originally Posted by Jasra
Without a specific in-game statement, I'm not sure that I'm willing to sign off on the idea of us never fighting the Rikti's best. That would have to mean that they deliberately didn't send their best forces thru in the initial wave of the invasion, which isn't the best way to carry out a Blitzkreig-like attack. It's possible they may have some powerful emplaced defenses on their homeworld that they couldn't use in the attack, but I have trouble believing they didn't use the strongest forces they had available.
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The reason I say all of this is that we didn't win the first Riki War by beating the Rikti head on. We won it when the Omega team sacrificed themselves to seal off the Rikti portals and so cut off their reinforcements. If those portals had remained open, we would have lost.
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Originally Posted by Arcanaville
Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.
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I think the phrase: "Keep your friends close, your enemies closer" would be appropriate around now. |
Originally Posted by Mallerick
I'll hazard a guess ... Nemesis' daughter?
Would that be trite, predictible, or expected? Or all three? |
I'm just waiting to see whether that part of her character has been retained over the intervening ten issues. I sure hope so.
@Dante EU - Union Roleplayer and Altisis Victim
The Militia: Union RP Supergroup - www.themilitia.org.uk
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i have wondered if perhaps the introduction of the coming storm wont introduce even more possibilities for powers. the well seems unnerved by the battalion, maybe we will need even more power to fight them. I am willing to bet that a number of people just screamed with annoyance at more power, and a number screamed out in joy, but it was just a thought i had. maybe omega wont be enough.
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Originally Posted by Golden Girl
Just change "Invention system" for "Incarnate system" and you'll be fine
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Are you forum stalking me, Ms. John? 
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All three, I would think.|
Originally Posted by Mallerick
I'll hazard a guess ... Nemesis' daughter?
Would that be trite, predictible, or expected? Or all three? |
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Originally Posted by Dante
I think the phrase: "Keep your friends close, your enemies closer" would be appropriate around now.
I'm just waiting to see whether that part of her character has been retained over the intervening ten issues. I sure hope so. |
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Well Sister Psyche did foil one of his big plots, and she is effectively immortal....|
Originally Posted by Thirty-Seven
Hmmm... who is an enemy to Nemesis, and is a female?
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Edit: So is Lady Grey, but the face is all wrong.
Eva Destruction AR/Fire/Munitions Blaster
Darkfire Avenger DM/SD/Body Scrapper
Arc ID#161629 Freaks, Geeks, and Men in Black
Arc ID#431270 Until the End of the World
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Well,|
Originally Posted by Eva Destruction
Well Sister Psyche did foil one of his big plots, and she is effectively immortal....
Edit: So is Lady Grey, but the face is all wrong. |
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Originally Posted by Letter Writer
Her kind was bred to rule, to conquer, to consume. There is no 'high road' along that path. Tesseract is a nightmare given form, a monster with a pretty smile. Pray you never meet her in her own time.
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61866 - A Series of Unfortunate Kidnappings - More than a coincidence?
2260 - The Burning of Hearts - A green-eyed monster holds the match.
379248 - The Spider Without Fangs - NEW - Some lessons learned (more or less.)
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I hadn't seen that letter before but your conclusion is exactly what was suggested to me too. I reckon each of the Menders may well have as equally dodgy backgrounds. We already know that Twilight's Son is suspect, I wonder what Lazarus' story is?
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Originally Posted by TheDeepBlue
So I'm not so sure. So, what kind of monstrous horror have we met, or have yet to meet? Jeez, she might even be a former member of the Battalion.
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@Dante EU - Union Roleplayer and Altisis Victim
The Militia: Union RP Supergroup - www.themilitia.org.uk
I am certain that the letters are from the Dream Doctor.
The Coming Storm is clearly a Rularuu invasion (just read the lore on Shivans - "Shiva" is a world-devouring entity whose first warnings appeared in the shadow of Ularu [sic], and that can't be a coincidence). The Dream Doctor, though not exactly a "rogue" Midnighter, is sufficiently detached in his current state that he might as well be, and we know he's searching the Dreamspace* for a way to stop the Circle of Thorns from "ascending to ultimate power." The Circle is a major enemy group in not only in the Shadow Shard TFs but also THE enemy group in Twilight's Son's TF.
Also, the Dream Doctor's writing "Why I Left and Why You Must Stay" is not only similar in writing style to the Letters but also mentions "something is coming and [he] must find it before it's too late" and that the Dream Doctor has "never been afraid to ask for help." I don't believe that his statement that it's "something [he] must do on [his] own" is sufficient evidence against his being the Letter Writer, either, since he follows it with advice to heroes (and villains!) to direct their own efforts to saving the world as well.
Not to mention the Midnighters have a crystal.
*Another notable bit of support considering Ayer's Rock (Uluru); just replace "space" with "time" to see the significance.
Yeah, that's been my story for about a year now and I'm going to stick to it.
EDIT: Ooh, ooh, and he even writes that he used a blade of some sort and shaved off a piece of himself! Fragmentary nature, and he calls Rularuu his counterpart - I bet Rularuu himself is an alternate-universe Dream Doctor who first drank from the Well, then continued to gain power all the way up to full godhood, which (as frequently happens with ex-mortals) resulted in madness. Everything is making more and more sense.
,'&#
{}... .-
01234
"*_
?;!hgfauirebcew
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Actually, the Shivans borrowing the name of Shiva IS a coincidence. I forget where I read this, but this name was given to them by the astronomer who discovered the Shiva meteorite and I believe found the intelligence inside of it. The thing's actual name is said to be unpronounceable, so she called it "Shiva" as in the devourer of worlds, because that's what the Shivans do. They land on a world and they devour it, and they cannot be stopped, as I understand it. You can kill the creatures, but the energy which creates them will just find another host.|
Originally Posted by FlashToo
The Coming Storm is clearly a Rularuu invasion (just read the lore on Shivans - "Shiva" is a world-devouring entity whose first warnings appeared in the shadow of Ularu [sic], and that can't be a coincidence).
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Originally Posted by FlashToo
Also, the Dream Doctor's writing "Why I Left and Why You Must Stay" is not only similar in writing style to the Letters but also mentions "something is coming and [he] must find it before it's too late" and that the Dream Doctor has "never been afraid to ask for help." I don't believe that his statement that it's "something [he] must do on [his] own" is sufficient evidence against his being the Letter Writer, either, since he follows it with advice to heroes (and villains!) to direct their own efforts to saving the world as well.
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Now, I'm not saying that's evidence AGAINST a connection, just saying that writing style isn't necessarily evidence FOR a connection.
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Originally Posted by Arcanaville
Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.
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So where does that leave the Battalion then? |
Originally Posted by FlashToo
The Coming Storm is clearly a Rularuu invasion |
@Golden Girl
City of Heroes comics and artwork
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I've read that too in one of the plaques, badges or from one of the scientist in Bloody Bay I think. The astronomer that first observed them was Indian and thats the combination with devourer of worlds thing to Shivan.
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Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
Actually, the Shivans borrowing the name of Shiva IS a coincidence. I forget where I read this, but this name was given to them by the astronomer who discovered the Shiva meteorite and I believe found the intelligence inside of it. The thing's actual name is said to be unpronounceable, so she called it "Shiva" as in the devourer of worlds, because that's what the Shivans do. They land on a world and they devour it, and they cannot be stopped, as I understand it. You can kill the creatures, but the energy which creates them will just find another host.
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From the Wiki:
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That said, I still think the Dream Doctor is a possibility. In his memoir, he says:| The lead cryptologist, an Indian woman named Seetha Neremanu, deciphered the code in a matter of hours. Dr. Neremanu immediately alerted the UN Security Council that a gigantic planetary devourer was heading our way. The things name was unpronounceable in human speech, so Dr. Neremanu named it Shiva, after the Hindu deity Destroyer of Worlds. Shiva, Seetha added, would reach earth within a year. |
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I still work among you - looking for answers. But I've also begun searching in the dreamspace for a way to protect you, and the rest of the world, from a fate that grows closer with each passing day. Something is coming and I must find out what it is before it's too late. I have never been afraid to ask for help. If you remember anything about me, please remember that. But this...this is something I must do on my own. I'm going to try and save the world... again. But by all means, don't let that stop you from trying to save it first. |
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Can you ever really kill a dream? The Dream Doctor will always be alive and well in the hearts and minds of the Midnight Squad. At last report however, he was still in dreamspace seeking ways to prevent the Circle of Thorns from ascending to ultimate power. -The Dream Doctor |
However, consider this: If the Thorns still pose a threat and are maybe tied in with the Coming Storm in some twisted way, they'll be getting a lot more of a showing in the future. That might well be why we've just seen them revamped into full on Neon Porcupine mode.
@Dante EU - Union Roleplayer and Altisis Victim
The Militia: Union RP Supergroup - www.themilitia.org.uk
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That's in the 'Get to Know Your Enemy' profile for the Shivan.|
Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
Actually, the Shivans borrowing the name of Shiva IS a coincidence. I forget where I read this, but this name was given to them by the astronomer who discovered the Shiva meteorite and I believe found the intelligence inside of it. The thing's actual name is said to be unpronounceable, so she called it "Shiva" as in the devourer of worlds, because that's what the Shivans do. They land on a world and they devour it, and they cannot be stopped, as I understand it. You can kill the creatures, but the energy which creates them will just find another host.
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Originally Posted by Dante
But I have no idea where that quote comes from.
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61866 - A Series of Unfortunate Kidnappings - More than a coincidence?
2260 - The Burning of Hearts - A green-eyed monster holds the match.
379248 - The Spider Without Fangs - NEW - Some lessons learned (more or less.)
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Sounds like a rockin' band name...
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Originally Posted by Dante
Goatee Statesman and the Clockwork Collective
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There I was between a rock and a hard place. Then I thought, "What am I doing on this side of the rock?"
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I meant the similarity between "Rularuu" and "Ularu," not the reference to Shiva.
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Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
Actually, the Shivans borrowing the name of Shiva IS a coincidence.
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,'&#
{}... .-
01234
"*_
?;!hgfauirebcew
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The Circle of Thorns are still trying to get a complete version of the Malleus Mundi, if that happens they can control all of reality as I mentioned earlier in the thread.
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Originally Posted by Dante
However, consider this: If the Thorns still pose a threat and are maybe tied in with the Coming Storm in some twisted way, they'll be getting a lot more of a showing in the future. That might well be why we've just seen them revamped into full on Neon Porcupine mode.
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@Golden Girl
City of Heroes comics and artwork