Question 15

[Voidus]

actually his clones were able to use guns- they do a few times throughout. Its only when the clones number in the hundreds and start weakening, not to mention David's singing, that one clone tries to fire only to have the gun disintegrate.

So Mitosis can make up to hundreds of perfect copies of himself, each with a gun with several bullets in it, seemingly endlessly (as long as clones keep dying).

and we haven't seen any upper limits on how much power Conflux can put out, either.

David wasn't singing when the first gun disintegrates plus Mitosis has an upper limit, yeah he can make a few hundred clones but as far as we know Curveballs power never ran out, he could make an infinite amount of matter if he had enough time. Conflux might be able to match matter creation but I seriously doubt it, he didn't even power all of Newcago just a large part of it and that only after its population had significantly dropped compared to today. Matter creation could power the entire planet pretty easily in terms of energy.

[Curious Anamaximder he/him]

I think the arena was just about to start the fights again so Soulcaster will probably be unavailable except for emergencies until night time. But if you want to meet up with Sentry or Heartsleeve that should be fine to do now.

Since the plotlines are picking up I might even make another character from the government, either a high ranking Vanilla or possibly Metronome. 

Okay.

[Voidus]

Re: Countdowns first post, interesting character but murdering Vanillas for no reason is generally not approved of. Soulcaster is hardly likely to care about the matter personally but there are rules in place about using lethal force.
Blowing off a limb or two should be ok under Soulcasters 'Training and Reprimanding Act' of 2020 
If you still want to keep it in that's fine but Mouldbreaker might be notified and potentially pay Countdown a visit later if that's the case.

[Edgedancer he/him]

Edge, Altermind's all ready to hear about the Voidbringers now.

Alright, it seems that Voidgaze should put on her business suit again.  

 

Newan? Ill add him as a former player (he isn't still around is he?)

I don't think he officialy quit but given his behaviour beforehand, just writing his characters out of the story and general inactivity over here, I'd say it's save to assume. That reminds me for the list of players that aren't around anymore, there's  Matrim Bloody Cauthon, Delightful and Leftinch.

 

No way, how could there possibly be a girl that fits Flashpoint's desires almost to the letter only a short distance away?! And what are the chances of Backtrack bringing her up while in Thoughttown?

 

Well Backtrack's impression would have been mostly about her pantsing a fuy and making pretty eyes at Frostfire, so maybe not the best reference. If only there was someone leaving the Dalles more interested in a woman's... positive qualities.

 

Something different about the Flashpoint post (aside from it being a good post).  I'm not sure if it makes sense for rounds themselves to be homing, given that would require an aiming mechanism, something to change the bullets trajetory without costing momentum, a computer to calculate for those two devices (assuming they aren't run on Motivators, which I think we can agree would be wasteful in bullets themselves and much too expensive) all of that small/light enough to fit in a bullet yet durable enough to survive being fired.

Now excuse me as my brain tries to figure out the economics from seven cells, most of which is from no name minor Epics vs two (or was it three?) from High Epics killed by the Reckoners versus purchased merchandise.

 

True, but declaring war literally the day after they strike an alliance? It might be just like an Epic, but I think the Thoughttown/Empire alliance needs a better payoff than that. 

Arms dealers are pretty much the sacred ground of war mongers, you don't want to mess with them in fear of retrubition... but if no one knows you did it.

 

Mitosis' clones had reduced mass to conserve matter, which was why they couldn't use guns. So yeah even the one other character who could create stuff out of nothing still wasn't as powerful. 

Talking about pure energy, what about regeneration like Prof's? Although I think we can agree that there does seem to be some kind of meta scale to how powerful an Epic's power counts, even in world.

 

Two things to consider with this plan of action (aside from what has already been said), is that (A) the restraints are made of tungsten, which has a melting point approx 2000 degrees © higher than the melting point of steel, and ( the air temperature in there has got to be close to -40 C (Sorry I'm using Celsius, you can blame it on the fact that I'm Canadian).  Converter would already be battling hypothermia, taking in heat just to keep herself warm (she could find heat, of course, since Rainmaker can't lower temperatures to absolute 0, there just wouldn't be much of it).  

 

If Converter can find away to escape, I'm fine with it, as long as we are working with an accurate set of facts.  

 

I just looked back, and noticed that I didn't actually specify what metal the restraints were made of (or at least I couldn't find a mention if there was one), but in my head the chains were tungsten.  

You did mention it was tungsten, at least in one of the question. By the way, I can't remember but did Rainmaker let rain hit Converter or did she steer it away from her?

 

Re: Countdowns first post, interesting character but murdering Vanillas for no reason is generally not approved of. Soulcaster is hardly likely to care about the matter personally but there are rules in place about using lethal force.

Blowing off a limb or two should be ok under Soulcasters 'Training and Reprimanding Act' of 2020 

If you still want to keep it in that's fine but Mouldbreaker might be notified and potentially pay Countdown a visit later if that's the case.

Especially given that said Vanilla was literally just doing his job and was pretty good at it to boot, given Heartsleeve just entered town.

 

And meanwhile i wonder how Neverthere will react to the revalation that the guy leering at her legs is Lucentia's brother.

[Voidus]

Talking about pure energy, what about regeneration like Prof's? Although I think we can agree that there does seem to be some kind of meta scale to how powerful an Epic's power counts, even in world.

 

 

Especially given that said Vanilla was literally just doing his job and was pretty good at it to boot, given Heartsleeve just entered town.

 

And meanwhile i wonder how Neverthere will react to the revalation that the guy leering at her legs is Lucentia's brother.

Depends if the removed limbs etc. remain after being regenerated, same thing with reincarnation, does the old body remain?

Also depends if it's just a speeded up version of regular healing, cell division etc. (Basically does Prof get really really hungry after he heals?) Cause that would still conserve matter. If not then yeah that'd probably be right up there.

Quite happily, family that haven't killed each other despite being Epics means they care at least a bit about each other which means leverage. 

[Tyson]

So you're gone for good? Or will you be back in a few month's time?

 

Not sure at the moment, so it's best to presume i'm gone for good. I'd love to stay but i'm juggling too many time consuming activities (soccer team, writing a novel, english literture degree, full time job) and my first child is due soon, so something has to give.

 

You'd be surprised at how much time I spend reading these RPG threads and preparing my own posts lol. I'm trying to limit the amount of time I spend on the internet and hopefully put it into my novel instead. 

 

If anyone wants to write Gunsmoke or Malevolence you can. Twilight and Coma know their weaknesses.  

[Edgedancer he/him]

Depends if the removed limbs etc. remain after being regenerated, same thing with reincarnation, does the old body remain?

Also depends if it's just a speeded up version of regular healing, cell division etc. (Basically does Prof get really really hungry after he heals?) Cause that would still conserve matter. If not then yeah that'd probably be right up there.

Quite happily, family that haven't killed each other despite being Epics means they care at least a bit about each other which means leverage. 

Taking David as a leverage, Prof can heal from a point where he simnply doesn't have the means for metabolism, so that option is out and it seems that Megan's old bodies stay around, having to burry them and all that, so behold their power.  

 

Hey, let's use Nighthound as leverage! What could possibly go wrong?

[Voidus]

Taking David as a leverage, Prof can heal from a point where he simnply doesn't have the means for metabolism, so that option is out and it seems that Megan's old bodies stay around, having to burry them and all that, so behold their power.

 

Hey, let's use Nighthound as leverage! What could possibly go wrong?

I'll just lock him up next to my real body and...

He escaped.

And now he knows where I live.

*Cries for several hours*

[Edgedancer he/him]

I'll just lock him up next to my real body and...

He escaped.

And now he knows where I live.

*Cries for several hours*

I think that Nighthound escaping when he's right next to her real body would come with more emidient problems.

 

How aware is she of her real boddy while projecting, actually?

[Voidus]

I think that Nighthound escaping when he's right next to her real body would come with more emidient problems.

 

How aware is she of her real boddy while projecting, actually?

Pretty aware, her senses work more or less as normal so it's mostly limited by how much attention she's paying so if her projection was concentrating really hard on something she wouldn't notice much happening around her real body.

[Aonar he/him]

Two things to consider with this plan of action (aside from what has already been said), is that (A) the restraints are made of tungsten, which has a melting point approx 2000 degrees © higher than the melting point of steel, and ( the air temperature in there has got to be close to -40 C (Sorry I'm using Celsius, you can blame it on the fact that I'm Canadian).  Converter would already be battling hypothermia, taking in heat just to keep herself warm (she could find heat, of course, since Rainmaker can't lower temperatures to absolute 0, there just wouldn't be much of it).  

 

If Converter can find away to escape, I'm fine with it, as long as we are working with an accurate set of facts.  

 

I just looked back, and noticed that I didn't actually specify what metal the restraints were made of (or at least I couldn't find a mention if there was one), but in my head the chains were tungsten.  

 

(Celsius is fine; I'm also Canadian. Although in this case it doesn't really matter seeing how -40 is equivalent in both systems.)

 

Having tungsten as the material for the restraints does change things. Not in the way you'd think, however.

 

Yes, it's melting point is stupidly high, (3422 degrees Celsius) and under regular circumstances, it's very difficult to get it there. However, this has nothing to do with the energy required to heat it, and everything to do with the laws of thermodynamics, and the fact that almost nothing (well, nothing we can get our hands on easily, anyways) burns at a hotter temperature than it takes to melt Tungsten. (Hydrogen and acetylene both barely get up there, in optimal conditions.) 

 

Energy manipulation Epics happen to break multiple laws of thermodynamics. This means that melting point doesn't really matter. Something called specific heat capacity does. Specific heat capacity is the amount of energy (measured in kilojoules/kilogram) required to raise the temperature of a substance one degree at a constant pressure. Steel has a heat capacity of 0.49 kj/kg. Water has an amazingly high specific heat capacity of 4.19 kj/kg. Tungsten has a heat capacity of 0.13 kj/kg. (Really useful list of the specific heat capacities of common metals, if anyone's interested.)

 

Seeing how we've already estimated the amount of energy required to change the temperature of the human body by one degree to be about 300 kj/kg,* and we know the specific heat of tungsten, as well as it's melting point, this becomes a simple equation.

 

0.13 kj/kg * 3422K / 300 kj/kg = 1.48K (**)

 

So for every kilogram of tungsten she had to melt, Converter would only have to expend a degree and a half of her own body heat, which is actually less than what she would require to melt steel restraints.

 

If you're looking for a material that would be very hard for her to melt, you best bet would be pure beryllium, as that has a very high melting point and heat capacity, when compared to other metals (however, it's also toxic, brittle, and above all, extremely rare). A more realistic option would be wrought iron; not weak enough to break easily, and it takes about 750 kj/kg to melt. Of course, if you could get your hands on restraints made of solid diamond, that would be better still, as diamond would take almost 2000 kj/kg to sublimate. (Diamond doesn't really do melting.) Of course, that option isn't really much more realistic than beryllium, unless Luncentia drops by. 

 

Given Converter's situation of course, lowering her body temperature even slightly would be extremely risky, to the point where melting her restraints would basically be suicide. I just really enjoy figuring out this sort of thing, and always welcome the opportunity to do more research and share my findings.

 

(*Specific heat capacity of water is 4.19 kj/kg, the average human body is 65% water, the average adult human female weighs about 80 kilos,  therefore: 80*0.65=52, 52*4.19 = 250 [approx; actual number would be about 220, but Epics, especially powerful ones, have a tendency to have a larger than average height and frame, and as I was unable to find a physical description of Converter, I might be placing my estimates a little high]. Round up to 300 (+/- 30) to account for the 35% of body weight that is not water.)

 

(**In all my calculations, I'm assuming 0 degrees Celsius is the starting point, which it wouldn't be in this case, but the extra 40 degrees won't make a huge difference, given the numbers we're talking about.)

Edited August 20, 2015 by Aonar Faileas

[Blaze1616 he/him]

Not sure at the moment, so it's best to presume i'm gone for good. I'd love to stay but i'm juggling too many time consuming activities (soccer team, writing a novel, english literture degree, full time job) and my first child is due soon, so something has to give.

 

You'd be surprised at how much time I spend reading these RPG threads and preparing my own posts lol. I'm trying to limit the amount of time I spend on the internet and hopefully put it into my novel instead. 

 

If anyone wants to write Gunsmoke or Malevolence you can. Twilight and Coma know their weaknesses.  

 

All right. Congratulations on the offspring, and good luck with, well, all of that! 

[Blackhoof]

(Celsius is fine; I'm also Canadian. Although in this case it doesn't really matter seeing how -40 is equivalent in both systems.)

 

Having tungsten as the material for the restraints does change things. Not in the way you'd think, however.

 

Yes, it's melting point is stupidly high, (3422 degrees Celsius) and under regular circumstances, it's very difficult to get it there. However, this has nothing to do with the energy required to heat it, and everything to do with the laws of thermodynamics, and the fact that almost nothing (well, nothing we can get our hands on easily, anyways) burns at a hotter temperature than it takes to melt Tungsten. (Hydrogen and acetylene both barely get up there, in optimal conditions.) 

 

Energy manipulation Epics happen to break multiple laws of thermodynamics. This means that melting point doesn't really matter. Something called specific heat capacity does. Specific heat capacity is the amount of energy (measured in kilojoules/kilogram) required to raise the temperature of a substance one degree at a constant pressure. Steel has a heat capacity of 0.49 kj/kg. Water has an amazingly high specific heat capacity of 4.19 kj/kg. Tungsten has a heat capacity of 0.13 kj/kg. (Really useful list of the specific heat capacities of common metals, if anyone's interested.)

 

Seeing how we've already estimated the amount of energy required to change the temperature of the human body by one degree to be about 300 kj/kg,* and we know the specific heat of tungsten, as well as it's melting point, this becomes a simple equation.

 

0.13 kj/kg * 3422K / 300 kj/kg = 1.48K (**)

 

So for every kilogram of tungsten she had to melt, Converter would only have to expend a degree and a half of her own body heat, which is actually less than what she would require to melt steel restraints.

 

If you're looking for a material that would be very hard for her to melt, you best bet would be pure beryllium, as that has a very high melting point and heat capacity, when compared to other metals (however, it's also toxic, brittle, and above all, extremely rare). A more realistic option would be wrought iron; not weak enough to break easily, and it takes about 750 kj/kg to melt. Of course, if you could get your hands on restraints made of solid diamond, that would be better still, as diamond would take almost 2000 kj/kg to sublimate. (Diamond doesn't really do melting.) Of course, that option isn't really much more realistic than beryllium, unless Luncentia drops by. 

 

Given Converter's situation of course, lowering her body temperature even slightly would be extremely risky, to the point where melting her restraints would basically be suicide. I just really enjoy figuring out this sort of thing, and always welcome the opportunity to do more research and share my findings.

 

(*Specific heat capacity of water is 4.19 kj/kg, the average human body is 65% water, the average adult human female weighs about 80 kilos,  therefore: 80*0.65=52, 52*4.19 = 250 (approx). Round up to 300 (+/- 30) to account for the 35% of body weight that is not water.)

 

(**In all my calculations, I'm assuming 0 degrees Celsius is the starting point, which wouldn't be in this case, but the extra 40 degrees won't make a huge difference, given the numbers we're talking about.)

 

 

Nice calcs man!

 

Obviosuly Rainmaker, like us and most Epics, has an imperfect knowledge of physics and assumed a high melting point would stave off Converter

[Voidus]

Theres also the issue of if the restraints melt off then she's going to lose the use of her hands.

[Blackhoof]

That is true. While she would be immune to the heat, a huge sloppy mess of molten metal covering her hands and arms would be quite annoying. I guess it would just slough off eventually.

[Voidus]

She's not immune to heat is she? I guess she could then try to reabsorb it but that'd either result in the restraints not melting or her just getting very severe burns instead of losing both hands entirely depending on how quickly she absorbed it.

[Aonar he/him]

She's not immune to heat is she? I guess she could then try to reabsorb it but that'd either result in the restraints not melting or her just getting very severe burns instead of losing both hands entirely depending on how quickly she absorbed it.

 

^Which is why just repeatedly adding/removing heat to make them shatter through thermal shock would be a much safer option. Less chance of severe hypothermia, less chance of extreme burns; all around better.

[Edgedancer he/him]

All of you seem to be forgetting something in the Converter debate. She is a High Epic that can resurrect, while no doubt painful enough to not be her first resort, dying of hypotermia is not a problem for her, it's her easiest way out. (Although, out of character, getting her to resurrect in Corvallis again would need some justification.)

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

All of you seem to be forgetting something in the Converter debate. She is a High Epic that can resurrect, while no doubt painful enough to not be her first resort, dying of hypotermia is not a problem for her, it's her easiest way out. (Although, out of character, getting her to resurrect in Corvallis again would need some justification.)

She could always resurrect elsewhere and return to Corvallis for revenge.

[Kobold King he/him]

All of you seem to be forgetting something in the Converter debate. She is a High Epic that can resurrect, while no doubt painful enough to not be her first resort, dying of hypotermia is not a problem for her, it's her easiest way out. (Although, out of character, getting her to resurrect in Corvallis again would need some justification.)

 

So what you're saying is, Converter serves her revenge cold?

[Voidus]

All of you seem to be forgetting something in the Converter debate. She is a High Epic that can resurrect, while no doubt painful enough to not be her first resort, dying of hypotermia is not a problem for her, it's her easiest way out. (Although, out of character, getting her to resurrect in Corvallis again would need some justification.)

I was assuming that since theres a giant forcefield and her resurrection is relatively random in location that that'd result in her likely being locked out of Corvallis and then she'd be denied all future entry.

Edit: Plus it means the next time she was captured they'd know to just keep her sedated all the time.

Edited August 20, 2015 by Voidus

[Edgedancer he/him]

So what you're saying is, Converter serves her revenge cold?

Cold, as her hypotermic corpse.

 

Oh and Kobold, Elsa is back in a cell, right?

 

I was assuming that since theres a giant forcefield and her resurrection is relatively random in location that that'd result in her likely being locked out of Corvallis and then she'd be denied all future entry.

Edit: Plus it means the next time she was captured they'd know to just keep her sedated all the time.

Does Converter even know about about the forcefield? Anyway, with it being lowered daily, it would be absolutely useless holding of a single person like Converter.

[Mestiv he/him]

Being outside the Corvallis bubble is not that big deal. The bubble is so big, that if she just waited on the border in the forests, she would be able to just sneak in the next time the bubble is dropped.

 

Ninja'd by Egdedancer.

Edited August 20, 2015 by Mestiv

[Edgedancer he/him]

Being outside the Corvallis bubble is not that big deal. The bubble is so big, that if she just waited on the border in the forests, she would be able to just sneak in the next time the bubble is dropped.

 

Ninja'd by Egdedancer.

Or kill all the guards, if she's feeling vengeful.

[Voidus]

They don't have to lower the bubble at all if they don't want to, particularly if theres an angry Epic waiting outside or just create more stringent procedures like only leaving the bubble up for the time it takes the authorized entries to come in (So about 10 seconds) So not that big a window unless she's pushed right up against the bubble and knows when its coming down.