#like a denizen is a browser of timelines or something.

[dingodad]

i wonder if the denizens being simultaneously web browsers and eternal gods who exist simultaneously across realities is supposed to imply that skaia's "well of potential from which every conceivable possibility arises" in some way IS the internet

[thewertsearch]

DAVE: so why wasnt this legendary pos in the sylladex you gave me [...] DAVESPRITE: it was stolen DAVESPRITE: by one of hephaestus's minions DAVE: hes the denizen right

The Denizens are the Browser Gods, which is painfully obvious in retrospect. No wonder John died to Typheus so easily...

...hey, wait a second.

If Typheus is still around, then what the fuck is this thing?

Option 1: It is Typheus, but he's not dead yet. Grandpa killed him in the session's future, and brought him back to the past alongside Dream Jade.

Option 2: This was never Typheus in the first place. It's just a representation of John's Denizen - a sculpture, doll, or puppet made to look like him.

Granted, I'm not sure why Grandpa would do either of those things. I suppose he could have known it was predestined, but I'm not a fan of 'fate' being a character's sole motivation.

DAVESPRITE: yeah lord of the forge [...] DAVESPRITE: hes a pretty ornery dude DAVESPRITE: kept raving about how he was waiting for the forge to come DAVESPRITE: which he needs to complete his work DAVESPRITE: but in my timeline the forge would never come DAVESPRITE: so he was extra pissed off

Anyway, Hephaestus is waiting for the Forge, a Sburb construct we were introduced to back in Hivebent.

It's probably worth noting that the Forge isn't spawned by the game. Kanaya's was a naturally occurring Alternian volcano, located beside her hive, which Entered when she did. Alt-Hephaestus was missing his Forge because it's Jade's volcano - and Alt-Jade never Entered.

It's a strange property for a Sburb construct to have. I mean, a game which can synthesize entire planetoids should have no problem creating a volcano - so why does the Forge need to be an extra-session object?

Well, it was implied the Forge could destroy Royal Rings - and these rings are the most powerful Sburb artifacts around. Perhaps they can't be destroyed by Sburb constructs at all - they can only be unmade in the fires of Earth, from which their session was forged.

That said, I don't think this is what Hephaestus wants the Forge for. He needs it to complete his work - which, when paired with the term 'forge', seems to indicate that he's creating something.

Maybe the Forge is some sort of uber-Alchemiter, and the kids need it, plus a Denizen's help, in order to perform the Ultimate Alchemy. In other words, Hephaestus's great work could be the universe itself.

It's also a little odd that Hephaestus - who is clearly Dave's Denizen - is waiting for a Forge on LOJADE.

To be honest, I didn't even think Denizens knew about other Lands. As the final bosses of the Players' personal Quests, I thought their influence would begin and end on the planets they spawn in.

Denizens are more complicated than we thought. Hephaestus is clearly more than a generic 'boss monster' - he's also a craftsman, a blacksmith searching for his Forge.

...oh, right! Hephaestus is a blacksmith! Maybe he does want to melt down the Rings, then - but just to get at their metal. I'd love to see what a god could forge with that kind of raw material.