The Seven Serpents

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Re: The Seven Serpents

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I've decided to roll with the idea that each of the Serpent's rings has a unique trick tied to the person wearing them. Most of these abilities were already known, but for the record I'll list the ones of the Serpents thusfar:

Mustafa Crimson's ring is carved from bright crystal quartz and can summon a pack of ravenous spirit hyenas.
Mister Li's ring is bronze and jade and contains a deadly poison needle, a chemical substance that produces a flash and smoke, and a mind-dulling potion.
Vivian Saint-Blancat's silver ring is actually a copy of the ring worn by Lord Caleb Belle and contains a broad-wavelength scanner and a singularity comm. system.
Manco Capac's ring is made of pure Inca gold imbued with the power of the sun and can project a beam of light that sets things and people on fire.
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Re: The Seven Serpents

Post by Peregrin »

Does the power change when the ring gets a new owner, then? I'm assuming this I'm not 100% sure.
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Re: The Seven Serpents

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Peregrin wrote:Does the power change when the ring gets a new owner, then? I'm assuming this I'm not 100% sure.
There's nothing inherently magical about the Serpent Rings, so they don't change into something else should their owner be slain; it's just something of a tradition for Serpents to, when they craft their ring, make something of a cool gadget out of it rather than just have it as a status symbol.

The reason why Serpents usually craft their own rather than just wear the ring of their predecessor (if they slew one, which isn't always the case) is that it is unwise to try and use old rings precisely because they are so highly customized. For example: the imbued ones (Capac's, Crimson's) won't work for anyone but their owners and are probably unhealthy/deadly to anyone else; similarly, Saint-Blancat's ring is gene-locked to her DNA (Lord Belle makes sure his toys won't fall into the wrong hands) and will self-destruct if anyone but her uses it (a process that will take the wearer's hand off at the least, and probably more than that).

Only Mr. Li's ring won't harm a new owner (assuming he or she doesn't accidentally get stung by the poison needle). But then, Mr. Li has a cabinet full of Serpent Rings taken off the bodies of Serpents he slew, so he believes he is quite beyond the need for any 'strike from beyond the grave' trickery.
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Re: The Seven Serpents

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SiegeTank wrote:But then, Mr. Li has a cabinet full of Serpent Rings taken off the bodies of Serpents he slew, so he believes he is quite beyond the need for any 'strike from beyond the grave' trickery.
That establishes him as a total badass. 8-)
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Re: The Seven Serpents

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That's because of his magnificent intellect, and the cumulated evil of an entire Eastern race :twisted:

Imagine a face, with the brow of Shakespeare.

Like that of Satan's, but sculpted in gold!


:lol:
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Re: The Seven Serpents

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Shroom Man 777 wrote:That's because of his magnificent intellect, and the cumulated evil of an entire Eastern race :twisted:
We need a villain who has the cumulated evil of the entire Nordic race. (and a Viking smiley wearing a horned helmet)
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Re: The Seven Serpents

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Shroom Man 777 wrote:Well, while Crimson is an evil asshole, I doubt it's Archwind or Wayward's call to depose of world leaders :P
Err, sure it is. They're heroes. They fight evil, defending the weak, the innocent, the downtrodden. I see no reason to assume they'd be more likely to respect a genocidal, unashamedly evil maniac just because he's the sovereign of a nation*. I have no doubt that Archwind (or the Communist Manifester, for that matter) delivered Slobodan Milošević, kicking and screaming, to the Hague. You know Robert Mugabe and that farce of an election? Archwind was probably strolling around breaking beating stick. Pervez Musharraf and the march of the lawyers? The Wayward Son, crooning for their cause. There's more to fighting evil and injustice to beating up the odd alien invader: there's ethnic cleansings and minor wars and major wars and world leaders abusing their power and their people, there are homeless people starving in the streets and children indoctrinated to fight for terrifying causes.

As an example, Patrick Peck is at heart a good man. He wants to help people. Do you really think someone who wants to help people and who is as indescribably powerful as Archwind isn't going to be stopping stuff like that?

*And incidentally, Crimson is actually illegally a sovereign, and the UN is not likely going to say to either Wayward or Archwind that 'they did the wrong thing' if they brought Crimson to Geneva, hands bound, crystal eye missing and ring crushed into powder. They would be on their feet and applauding, before drafting up his war crimes tribunal with tears of happiness in their eyes.
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Re: The Seven Serpents

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That, however, raises the question of whether or not there's African/Asian/South American heroes out there who share President Mbeki's attitude that "only Africa can help Africa", and who would be very opposed to what they would perceive of as neo-colonialism by Western heroes. Lord knows that, justified or not, a lot of people would be screaming "imperialism!" on the top of their lungs no matter what the reason for Archwind's intervention in the affairs of third world nations.
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Re: The Seven Serpents

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I remember Shroomy and I were discussing an African character with momentum based powers born from a shamanistic ritual involving the blood soaked earth, but we never took it very far. It's an interesting conundrum, actually. I remember thinking about a political domino effect that might restrict the actions taken by world-level metahumans. I have tried to mention on more than one occasion, Archwind's attempts to foster an international image - such as his friendly nature in the Cold War to make those on the otherside of the Iron Curtain more responsive to him. Admittedly, this derives from my opinion that Archwind makes for a much better Hero of the World than an All-American Hero.

Imagine the fistfights started over the delivery of ten thousand tons of grain. "Imperialism!" "Don't make me hit you with this!"
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Re: The Seven Serpents

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SiegeTank wrote:That, however, raises the question of whether or not there's African/Asian/South American heroes out there who share President Mbeki's attitude that "only Africa can help Africa", and who would be very opposed to what they would perceive of as neo-colonialism by Western heroes.
Since Rey Quirino is a sort of "Captain Philippines", or at least has such an image, I think he'd take very easily to that sort of attitude if the incident with him and Archwind didn't already hint at that.
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Re: The Seven Serpents

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The end of the Cold War saw the end of the Superhuman Arms Race... but in its place came the rise of nationalism, and the Superman once more became the means to an end of ideologies.

Human beings are stupid, selfish, violent creatures - and the gods amongst us are no better.


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Re: The Seven Serpents

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Hrm, I wonder if this would be a good approximation of what Vivian Saint-Blancat looks like - minus the eye color.

Course, we all know what Fu Manchu looks like, and Manco Capac is a mummy. Someone find a Robert Mugabe pic with a laser-shooting crystal eye!
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Re: The Seven Serpents

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Shroom Man 777 wrote:Hrm, I wonder if this would be a good approximation of what Vivian Saint-Blancat looks like - minus the eye color.
Certainly works for me (but don't forget the stripe of red through her otherwise black hair!)
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Re: The Seven Serpents

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I wonder with Vivian...

That Dauphin, Louis Duc de Châteauroux, son of the King of France and heir to the Lilies Throne dude. What's he like? Is he totally ignorant of what Vivian does, like a clueless Prince George played by Hugh Laurie? Or is he also quite a schemer himself, and while he is not entirely aware of the scope of Vivian's treachery, he may be complicit in her other plots as well?

Plans. Vivian's, theirs, everyone's. Vivian has plans. Mister Li has plans. Schemers trying to control their worlds.
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Re: The Seven Serpents

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Shroom Man 777 wrote:That Dauphin, Louis Duc de Châteauroux, son of the King of France and heir to the Lilies Throne dude. What's he like? Is he totally ignorant of what Vivian does, like a clueless Prince George played by Hugh Laurie? Or is he also quite a schemer himself, and while he is not entirely aware of the scope of Vivian's treachery, he may be complicit in her other plots as well?
Dude, he's the son of the King of France, product of a family that's survived more backstabbery than pretty much any other family on the planet (including the Von Reagans) and heir apparent to the throne which maintains things like a secret robot army, a clockwork hypercomputer, and interplanetary spaceships. A talent for conniving dastardly schemery is pretty much genetically coded into the royal bloodline. He knows exactly who she is and what she does, and he loves every second of it.
Schemers trying to control their worlds.
I wouldn't say the King is trying. He's actually succeeding.
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Re: The Seven Serpents

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SiegeTank wrote:He knows exactly who she is and what she does, and he loves every second of it.
What a lovely couple! :twisted:
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Re: The Seven Serpents

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Walter Ironsides - The Serpent of North America

Why do men turn to crime? Some do because they are born into lives of hardship or suffering, and crime might appear the only way out. Others do because their mentalities are twisted, wired differently from other men, and thus lacking empathy or compassion they just cannot help themselves. Yet others are victims of experiences so horrid, so vile that their belief in the morality of Man has shattered, the experience transforming them into amoral creatures without the faintest shred of decency or faith in the system.

Walter Ironsides is not one of those men. He turned to crime simply because it was profitable, because he realized that by acting outside the law he could achieve more, that by breaking the rules he could rise faster than would otherwise be possible. Some villains might think that their actions are for the greater good. Not so with Mr. Ironsides. He is under no illusion: he knows what he does is illegal, that he is hurting innocents, and that his actions are morally reprehensible -- and he simply does not care. He approaches crime almost like an account might: the only thing that matters is whether he will profit. He does not feel a need to defend his morality, because he knows he has none. This distinguishes him from other crooks, sets him apart. He is no mere criminal; he is a villain. A super-villain. And he knows it.

Born in the early 1960s, Mr. Ironsides first made the big-time during the 1980s, in the time of Ronald von Reagan and Gordon Gekko, taking to heart the motto of those times: "greed, for lack of a better word, is good". He coupled that screed with a total lack of any morality. A trust fund kid born to wealthy parents, he graduated Harvard Business School and landed a job on Wall Street, where he rapidly made a name for himself first as an investment banker and arbitrageur for a global investment bank owned by multi-billionaire Jurgen Baccara. He quickly garnered a reputation for ruthlessness and amorality, and when that reputation got him into trouble with his bosses he quit and started his own firm, which soon became involved in corporate raiding.

It was during a routine stock market raid that his company, Ironsides Capital LLC, acquired a majority interest in TransGen, an inconspicuous bio-tech company which as it turned out was merely a front for an alien conspiracy. The reptilian Sarpathians from Eta Carinae masqueraded as human beings and, during a shareholder meeting, attempted to eat and replace Ironsides. It was only through sheer luck, a touch of innate paranoia and his love of high-powered firearms that the investment banker managed to survive, pulling out his oversized Colt Python the instant the TransGen board of directors began to change into their chitinous, inhuman true forms and putting six Teflon-coated .357 Magnum rounds into the scaly head of the company's "CEO" at close range, whilst she was still mid-transformation.

As it turned out this was quite enough to kill her stone-dead. That left the rest of the brood, but as luck or fate would have it the CEO was also the queen of the Sarpathian brood, and having rightfully killed her in single combat command of her underlings now fell to him. It took Ironsides some tense minutes to work out that he was now in control of a boardroom full of oversized reptilian aliens with multiple rows of sharp pointy teeth, but once he did it didn't take him long to figure out that commanding a nest of lethal alien warriors with the capability to masquerade as humans was most useful.

Using his new-found command over the Sarpathians on Earth Ironsides' business empire and influence grew rapidly: if he wanted a company and it didn't want to sell its shares, he would simply send one of his "managers" to have a private chat with the CEO who was being difficult. After the CEO was eaten, a Sarpathian would take his place and enact policies that would rapidly bring the company within the fold of Ironsides Capital LLC.

Naturally as the USA under Von Reagan began to learn more about everything that was "out there" among the stars, Ironsides took an interest in outer space and galactic society, recognizing instantly that advanced alien technology could aid him in amassing more wealth and personal power. He became involved in aerospace technology and nano-biology, branches of science that boomed during the '80s, surfing the same wave of success that also brought conglomerates Hero Labs and Saintly Concerns to prominence. He bought his first senators in the third year of Reagan's first term, which enabled him to place an inside man aboard the Interstellar Megafortress Valkyrie during its five-year mission into deep space. Through this mole and similar agents placed in the Reagan-era SDI Ironsides scavenged a number of alien artifacts, but more importantly managed to establish ties with the galactic milieu, the interstellar society of which humanity only now was becoming aware.

It was during the Baron von Reagan's second term that these efforts began to pay off. Ironsides acquired advanced alien technology in return for information on Earth's defenses, then double-crossed his alien benefactors by providing information on their capabilities to Von Reagan in return for various favors. Not only did this get him, as one of the few people with knowledge of what was out there, access to many of the space missions launched by the administration, but as the intergalactic equivalent of a 'confidential informant' for the US government Ironsides could get away with things that would get others prosecuted and quite possibly locked away for prolonged periods of time. He made a fortune selling alien technology on the black market, used his Sarpathians to muscle in on the underworld, and encouraged the pro-business Von Reagan government to remove anyone who might want to investigate the sources of his wealth too deeply. By the time Von Reagan's second term ended Walter Ironsides controlled much of the criminal underworld in North America, his reign contested only by the Italian Mafia in the east and by a mystical cartel operating out of Crowtalon City (led, unbeknownst to Ironsides, by his old boss Baccara).

Ironsides reached the height of his power in 1989. In that year he declared himself a Serpent of Crime, forged his Ring and easily repelled the customary attacks of the other Serpents of the time.

Since the days of Von Reagan his fortunes have waned somewhat however. Once upon a time Ironsides owned half the Republican senators, but those days are long gone. During the de-Reaganization of the US government large-scale investigations into corruption weeded out many of his pawns in the departments of justice, state and defense, and even though he himself was never investigated his ability to influence government policy has diminished even further under the charismatic President Lightning, who like many democrats has never trusted the Reagan-era oligarchs. He is further struggling against several of his fellow Serpents; specifically against Manco Capac, whose mystical gribblies keep pushing up through Mexico into Texas, and Mister Li, who has taken over large parts of the LA underworld.

Despite some recent setbacks Walter Ironsides is still the Serpent of North America. In response to pressure from some of his competitors Ironsides has formed a pact with Vivian Saint-Blancat, the Serpent of Europe, a natural alliance considering their similar mindsets and goals. Ironsides is headquartered in Las Vegas, in a glitzy retro-futuristic skyscraper that towers above the Strip. Ironsides Capital LLC has evolved into a holding firm which wholly owns several aerospace and nanobiological businesses, owns significant numbers of shares in several large corporations, notably Westinghouse and Lockheed, as well as minor stakes in Hero Labs and Reagan-Raytheon. Although these companies are a source of great wealth, the better part of his power is derived from his off-world contacts.

Ironsides is still uniquely well-connected within the galactic milieu, of the Seven Serpents he is the only one with a credit line with the Orion Bank, which enables him to contract alien bounty-hunters and other galactic mercenaries, as well as hire interstellar transportation in a pinch. He trades favors and information with several alien empires or the criminal elements within those empires, usually for technology, which then find their way either to his companies or onto the black market, whichever he deems more profitable.

Apart from mercenaries and bounty-hunters Ironsides employs a large number of raygun-armed bodyguards (with obligatory sunglasses), many of whom were SDI troopers or Blacksuits during the Reagan-era, as well as a brood of Sarpathians. The Sarpathians are a race of ravenous chitinous reptilians from Eta Carinae. They have the ability to disguise themselves as human beings. The brood under control of Ironsides is a clan that sought refuge on Earth after having provoked the wrath of the Seven Families of the Sarpathian Hegemony. By the standards of the Hegemony they are little more than a band of common criminals, but by Earthly standards they are terrifyingly powerful and ferocious beings.

Compared with many of his fellow Serpents Walter Ironsides has an unusual hands-on attitude. He frequently accompanies his underlings during operations, and clearly derives some modicum of satisfaction from the carnage and destruction he wreaks. Ironsides can afford to do so, too: even though he looks like a more or less ordinary human being, his vast knowledge of nano-biology and Sarpathian technologies has allowed him to transform his mortal shell into something far stronger, more formidable, and more terrifying if the need to do so arises. It is rare for Ironsides to transform into this true form however, as it tends to ruin his suits as well as his cover if anyone were to survive his onslaught.

Ironsides possesses a small unarmed spaceship capable of ferrying up to ten people around. This ship, acquired from contacts in Mogar Space, is hidden away in a cave on the moon. However his Serpent Ring contains a miniature transmitter which calls the ship to him. Once activated the vessel will arrive in Earth orbit in under ten minutes, then use a transmat link keyed to the signal in the ring to beam any living creature within a ten meter radius of the Serpent Ring to it. This has so far allowed Ironsides to escape quite a number of hairy situations.
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Re: The Seven Serpents

Post by Magister Militum »

I have to say that I smiled at your tribute to Wall Street; Ironsides seems like just the type of person that would fit Gekko's role in Comix. What type of characteristics, though, does Ironsides possess when he transforms into his true form?
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Re: The Seven Serpents

Post by Malchus »

I love the article. From the "Walter Ironsides is not one of those men" beginning to the mention that he has an account with an alien bank. Of the Orionians, no less!

Also, it's kinda funny how he pretty much lucked into gaining an alien invasion force loyal only to him. Wonder how he feels about technically being an alien "queen." :lol:

Oh, and the mention of him hiring ex-Blacksuit mercs, which would mean Greycoats. This makes me very happy. :mrgreen:
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Re: The Seven Serpents

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GREED IS GOOD!

Man, I love the casualness of the whole alien invasion thing, man. I mean, geeze. A board room full of execs metamorphing into freaky-deaky alien reptiles who want to EAT YOUR FACE! Man, talk about ripping your face off to reveal a lizard! I mean, it's so underplayed, but woah all of a sudden now we've got aliens in disguise, owning companies and staging hostile takeovers and buying senators. :twisted:

I love the implications of that. Man. That's just so bizarro, and the idea that companies like Lockheed and Reagan-Raytheon are involved in all sorts of space age stuff courtesy of Ronnie Raygun taking American foreign interests to the stars, woah. The sheer amount of dickeries!

Comix just got a whole lot bigger.

We don't just have ugly shoggoths popping outta portals and eating people in Massachusetts or bejeweled-battleshorts-wearing Mogars proclaiming and invading every few years no more. Now we're in the real deep blue sea.

Great timing for the article, Siege. Seriously, like clockwork. ;)
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Re: The Seven Serpents

Post by Invictus »

One minor point: Hero Labs in its current form didn't really ride the Von Reagan gravy train or come to prominence in the 80s. It was even put under investigation because one of its founders had Cyberpunk connections. The article in general is great though, especially with the Orion Bank.
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Re: The Seven Serpents

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Magister Militum wrote:What type of characteristics, though, does Ironsides possess when he transforms into his true form?
He becomes a big, tall (12 ft or so), scaly, chitinous monstrosity, like a half-human half-Sarpathian, with retractable razor-sharp talons and rows of pointy teeth. In this form he can probably shrug off small arms fire to most of his body (barring weak spots like his head), can sprint real quick, and can toss around things like cars with little effort.
Invictus wrote:One minor point: Hero Labs in its current form didn't really ride the Von Reagan gravy train or come to prominence in the 80s.
Ah, ok. I must not have been up to date on the most recent Hero Labs lore then.
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Re: The Seven Serpents

Post by Ford Prefect »

Man, I couldn't help but giggle at how you put 'true form' into italics. That Shroomy sure is memetic.

In any case I really liked how it it started off as just 'corrupt investment banker' and then SUDDENLY LIZARDS. The look on Ironsides' face must have been absolutely classic. Also, I really liek the connection to Jurgen, and how that little op in Crowtalon keeps messing with Ironsides' interests. Is he still unaware that his old boss is the head of the Crowtalon underworld?
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Re: The Seven Serpents

Post by Artemis »

I still need to read the rest of the article, but this stuck out at me:

the infamous Mr. Li from Hong Kong

From Greater Hong Kong, you might say? :D
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Re: The Seven Serpents

Post by Vagrant Orpheus »

Goddamn, Ironsides is awesome. It's interesting though because aside from the space banking thing, he's actually very similar in how he operates to how Vice operates her crime ring. You've reminded me that I want to rewrite her and Banner.

But man, he has his own transponder-linked spaceship. That's pretty awesome. The true form thing I'm a little wary of, but hey, I guess Vice does the same thing with her Symbiont Suit, so I would be hypocritical if I dismissed it out of hand.
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