Kobold King

That's... actually how I picture him, too. The raptors do have a covering of proto-feathers everywhere except the head. If you took some from the tail and glued it to one's face, he might not notice right away. Has anyone else started thinking of Backtrack as a reverse Fortuity? Fortuity sees into the future, Backtrack sees into the past. Fortuity has a few beautiful women with him at all times, Backtrack is astoundingly bad around any females at all.

I've been meaning to have Sam or Revolution bring that up, actually. He has grown closer to a physical ideal since Calamity. He lost a little weight, and his muscles are tighter. He has a small bit of beard stubble now, and as we all know, even the trace of a beard makes an Epic far more attractive than no beard at all.

Really? Wow. I wish finding CM's weakness was that easy.

Wes is basically the undead reptile version of Remington. I'm going to bed too now, so good night!

Cricket wasn't overly fond of the situation. It was all well and good for Aldo--he could practically see the future. He was perceptive enough to have a good grasp on the situation. But as someone whose only way to get out of a bind was by kicking her way out, Cricket was annoyed by his constant involvement with other Epics. He'd talked them into a serpent's den, and all she could do was watch and pretend to sip tea. It was like the time he'd pretended to pull a dime out of Nightwielder's nose all over again. Already sitting at her utmost pinnacle of annoyance, she was only mildly irked when a voice called through the dwelling. "Hello shabby little shack!" the voice yelled. "Backtrack and friends are in the house!" A dorky man in pink sunglasses strode into the dining area like he owned the place, accompanied by a pair of blonde twins that didn't seem to like him very much. Saccharine ignored the trio and continued sipping her tea, while Purple Phoenix rose to his feet in alarm. "How did you find us here?" He demanded immediately. "Who are you working for?" The man who called himself Backtrack didn't answer at once, instead letting his eyes scan the table for a moment. To Cricket's annoyance, those eyes seemed to settle on her legs for a touch longer then they should. "Eyes forward, soldier," she said irritably. "Answer the nice energy Epic here before he blows you up." Backtrack snapped back to attention and smiled not at Phoenix, but at Aldo the Enigmatic. "He wants to know who I'm working for," he said smoothly, a goofy smile stretched across his lips. "That answer's entirely up to you, Aldo the Enigmatic. You're recruiting for Lightwards, aren't you?" Aldo smiled and nodded his head. "I am indeed, I am indeed. What precisely can you and your lovely assistants do?" The twins seemed about to object to their characterization as "assistants," but Backtrack spoke first. "These lovely lasses can control momentum. They--" One of them cut him off. "I'm Impact. I can give things a push, as it were. I grant momentum to objects." "I'm MV," the other twin explained. "She adds momentum, I can move it around to other objects." "Couldn't have said it better myself," finished Backtrack, smiling widely at them both. "Darn right you couldn't," MV mumbled. Cricket couldn't help but grin at her. Aldo looked impressed. "Useful abilities," he said cheerily. "Remind me to shoot at them later to see if they can affect bullet trajectories. What are your powers, Mr. Backtrack?" "Mine are the most impressive of all," Backtrack replied mysteriously. "I shan't be revealing them till you introduce me to Lightwards." "Fair enough," Aldo said amiably. "Speaking of which, Phoenix and Saccharine, I really must be getting back to him now. Would you two would care to accompany me and these fine fellows to the Empire's headquarters...?" For a moment a strange expression flickered across Traveler's face. It could have been surprise--it almost seemed that he was proud of her for coming to the realization. The look was gone in an instant, and he turned to face the ground. "Because he told me to," he explained quietly, not meeting her gaze. "He thought… thought it'd help my cover when he guessed the same thing you just did." He let out a low sigh. "And I never got a chance to tell him that my name's not Traveler. It's Nathan." Sam looked at him a moment more. I was right. Even though her correct guess just meant that Traveler was another enslaved human, her hunch had been right. She gave a genuine smile. "I'll talk to Remington to make sure he agrees," she told him. "But I believe you." Nathan. His name was Nathan. She sat down on a stump beside him before giving a pointed stare. "You could have told us before," she accused. "We're all in the same boat here, Nathan." She tried out the name, and found it fit this mild man far more than "Traveler" fit the smug but artificial Epic. Revolution for once, appeared a bit surprised by the revelation. Pleasantly surprised. Her mouth stretched in a wide smile and she came to sit down. "I've got some questions now," she proclaimed quietly, still beaming. "First, was this disguise your idea, or hers? And secondly--" this one brought with it an ever broader smile-- "how come we don't get to pretend we're Epics?" Anger. That was what the alpha mammal smelled like. Anger. The raptor watched the green mammal sweep by, the scent of rage and fury strong in his sweat. The raptor wasn't quite clear who or what the anger was centered on, but he got a sense of it. He stared at the pink mammal. It was one of the female ones, drenched in sickeningly sweet smells mixed with the vile smell of loathing. He didn't like that one. There was anger in the alpha mammal. The raptor sniffed the air, letting out a hiss. The alpha's anger began to filter through his mind, giving him strength. There was a freedom in anger. He took a step forward. His first free step forward for a very long time. He took another step forward, closer to the pink female. He took another step forward, savoring the liberty. He was half a dozen yards away, but already he could hear the blood gurgling in her veins. He would spill it, he would slash his claw through her abdomen, he would dance in the viscera. The first kill in ages was a mere leap away-- "What are you doing?" The raptor froze at the alpha mamma's voice, swiveling his head to face him. He let out a hiss of defiance--an alpha did not stop the hunt! "I did not tell you to move," the mammal continued harshly. "Sit." After a moment of staring, the raptor complied, still emitting a low growl. The alpha mammal gave out some sort of sigh before speaking again, this time to the pink mammal. "My apologies, Doctor. I did not order it--I'll probably have to kill it a few times before my control really cements." The raptor didn't understand all the words. But he understood the hostile intent. So he fixed his eyes on the creature with the green headcrest and growled.

Wes is the green one, but with a somewhat shorter tail.

It's funny that Remington's first sight of Wes led to him thinking this: ...and now we're talking about making them best friends forever. The best way to keep the others safe? Keep Wes well fed and the others away from him. If possible, keep him isolated from humans altogether--if he gets into the habit of slaughtering humans, getting him to stop would be difficult. If he must have his violent tendencies vented out, make sure he has access to deer or other large game. As for how long this process will take... if Remington really threw himself into the project, it could probably work in just an in-game month. Maybe a bit less if we simply don't have that kind of time on our hands (though coordinated time skips with the other players might be an option.)

Wes is a... very clever raptor. If Lightwards ever took the time to really examine him and a couple of his fellows, he'd find that they're not really true Deinonychus--they're a more intelligent, fictional species from around the same time period with roughly the same IQ as great apes. My headcanon is that the Museum Quartet stole Wes' skeleton from a fossil dig in Montana that opened after Calamity's first appearance. As for Wes' chances of being more or less trained... it's definitely on the table. Remington would have to treat him like another raptor would, with a very firm hand but a touch of tenderness. Allowing him to hunt would work wonders towards this end, particularly if Remington hunted alongside him and proved his worth as a hunter. Seeing Remington get into a physical confrontation--and win it--would also increase his respect, and might make him more inclined to accept him as an alpha. There would be a dangerous stretch of time in an in-between stage, however. For a brief bit of time it's entirely possible for Wes to have slipped free from Lightwards' thumb before he's fully accepting of Remington, putting human he's around in danger of being mauled. Overall it would be a tricky process, but ultimately a rewarding one. If only because a climax where Remington rides Wes with Alice sitting behind him would be the greatest thing in the history of the Internet. Also, Wes is my only viewpoint character who's entirely immune to ponification. I don't know how I feel about that.

Words cannot express how much I love that name. My next post, which I'm writing up now, includes a Wes POV. I intend to include one of those every few pages, since I so love to write nonhuman points of view. If Wes is present during the final Quota confrontation, he might even get a flashback to the Cretaceous period showing how he died.

Any ideas on what to name this raptor? Perhaps a name Remington would think of, like the name of a rifle? I like this a lot. Sure thing. A picture of what, exactly?

...Maybe Remington could come to see the raptor as a kindred spirit and insist on keeping it? And together they would join forces and become best buddies, forming the most awesome anti-Lightwards team in Oregon? It does seem to be fairly obvious in its murderous nature. Remington and Revolution noticed it right away, and even the less outdoors-y Sam felt particularly uncomfortable around it. So either one of the less existentially troubled raptors, or another dinosaur altogether. (The reason this particular raptor is so resistant to Lightwards' control is primarily centered around the fact that he was a pack alpha when he died. The other raptors are more inclined to accept Lightwards as a new alpha, but he's still stuck in a dominant frame of mind even as a Warrior.)

Lightwards: ...You want me to sign a contract? Funtimes: * scowling * Yes. Yes I do. Lightwards: Fine. I, Lightwards, do solemnly swear not to give any orders which would result in a dinosaur devouring Traveler in his sleep. Now I'll just sign on the dotted line... * yelps in alarm as the pen becomes a lizard and scurries away * * Funtimes giggles * Lightwards: * sighs * It's good to have you back, Doctor. If Nathan gets his own raptor, shall we make it the big angry one that wants to murder all mammals? Just for the lolz?

Cool! Now we just need a reason for Funtimes to allow this. Maybe if Lightwards was sufficiently resistant to Revolution getting her own pterodactyl, she would realize that he wasn't planning anything nefarious and would speak up in support of it?

What kind of computer did the Lord Ruler own? A Lutha-Dell.

This made me cry.

Welcome to the party! (My, Portland's getting a bit crowded. We'll need to destroy the city and spread out over the state soon. ) Hmm... tough choice, but I think Lightwards will ask her permission first. (A thought I just had. I was toying with the idea of having Revolution adopt one of Funtimes' pterosaurs, and I thought she might try to get it to act more naturally with commands like "be a pterodactyl." Then I realized that if she actually succeeded in nursing the animal back to a natural mental state, then it could be a catalyst to Nathan guessing what happened to Alice. Thoughts on my random thought?)

Well, I was thinking of having Lightwards assign one of his raptors as Traveler's personal dinosaur, as a way of appeasing Funtimes and keeping her on his side. But I realized that if she's paranoid about his Warriors, then she might interpret such an action as a threat or attack.

In this respect the pony is an accurate representation of canon, yes.

Figuring out Nathan's secret has sort of become a status symbol for characters. Also, did Funtimes consciously refuse to take her pterodactyls to the cottage with her, or were they simply forgotten?

Now we just need to have Aldo and Backtrack figure out his secret. Actually--what the hay, we'll have Chicago Joe uncover it while we're at it. (Thanks. ) All right! See you when you get back. I suppose I'll take the lead in the shack scene then. And by "take the lead," I mean "talk to myself." And again, thanks. (It just occurred to me how many smilies I use in the average post. )

He sounds really unsettling. I can't wait to meet him. Anyway, I hope Sam guessing Nathan's secret didn't seem too far-fetched or manufactured. I didn't plan on doing so when I started writing the post, but then it sort of made sense as I wrote that she'd be able to guess it.

The conversation paused, and Sam cast a glance at Traveler. The teleporter was leaning against a tree, his hand absently clenched to his side. Lightwards must throw better punches than you'd think, Sam thought musingly. She'd usually offer a few words of sympathy to someone who'd survived an Epic attack--not that she'd had many chances, since Ray and the Museum Quartet didn't often leave survivors. But in this case, it was hard to work up a lot of pity for Traveler. He'd beaten Remington for the crime of disrespect. The hunter had hardly put those bruises on himself, after all--as far as Sam was concerned, Traveler getting the tar beaten out of him was just a bit of karma that Epics usually didn't get pinned with. Still though, he looked rather pitiful as he sat there, his face furrowed into a look of concern. That was strange in itself. Epics simply didn't show weakness in front of humans. Lightwards couldn't even take a joke about his hat without threatening murder, and he was an established High Epic. A new and insecure one like Traveler should be wallowing in his own arrogance, committing atrocities far worse than beating a hunter into submission. Sam narrowed her gaze at the sad creature on the tree stump and turned to Revolution. The hippie was also looking at Traveler curiously, but turned to lean in close to Sam. "Look at him," Revolution whispered sympathetically, "The poor guy looks like he's about to cry. I didn't think Lightwards could punch that hard." "I don't think that's what he's upset about," Sam replied slowly. "He looks scared. He looks..." Like a normal man drafted into an Epic war. Sam had a hunch. She walked over to Traveler, making eye contact with him and giving a stern stare. The worst case scenario was that she was wrong about her hunch, and Traveler would beat her senseless. That wouldn't matter. She'd taken worse before. "I once watched an Epic use his powers for the first time," she told the man softly. "He saved my life from a monster. But I watched him turn into one himself every time he used those powers." She let her eyes narrow. "Here's my question, Traveler: if you're not an Epic, what's your excuse for beating up Remington Springfield?"

I like him, all the more knowing that I'll probably hate his guts when I see him in action. Also, does anyone else think Page 31 of Oregon is one of the coolest character-driven pages yet? It's got Funtimes' speech to Lightwards, the first awesome Remington flashback, and even Nighthound and Lucentia's meeting all on one forum page.

Yes it's a bad idea! It's a wickedly bad idea for the greater good of bad! (They'll probably have better chemistry together than Lighthound, at any rate. Assuming their mutual arrogance doesn't drive them to kill each other.)