#operation: emperor's abyss

[alterrune]

Operations Emperors Abyss

Mission 1: Syntax Error

Details: Terence and the Toppat Radical’s have an underground server facility setup in the UK. These server’s contain some details on Terence’s new weaponry and technology. We believe he is looking to robotic warfare with drones and machines, and we want to put an end to these operations. Break into the facility and pull the plug on his servers.

Complications:

Titan Security System: The facility has been outfitted with special security, keycard readers, security panels, and cameras can’t be destroyed or hacked, be careful.

Small Arms Only: We've had issues smuggling weapons to the mission site. You're going to need to bring small, easily concealable weapons. Only pistols and SMGs will be available.

Extra Cameras: Terence doesn’t want to take any chances, so he’s set up a serious amount of cameras in the facility. Because of the Titan Security System, the cams can’t be destroyed nor hacked.

CHAPTER 3, ACT 5: THE ABYSS BEGINS

(All 5 of us are in a sewer line going directly underneath the compound. The plan is to set a few bomb charges and flood their operation with sewer water. The bomb charges are ones that I made, small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, yet packed with enough explosive power to blow a hole through any wall. However, we're all less than happy with the current situation.)

Kyle, what exactly were you on when you thought of this plan?

A LOT of sleep medication, Alter. I've had some really bad bouts of insomnia from this, remember?

Yeah, but even though you were pretty much sleep-talking, you made a valid point. "If they're deep underground, let's go deeper underground". That was what you said, and honestly, it was pretty genius of you.

Alright, pretty sure that's the last of the charges. Are we all ready?

Sweetheart, just detonate the damn things already. WE'RE IN A SEWER!

Yeah, let's go.

(Henry detonates the charges, which causes sewer water to rocket through the floors of the facility up to it's ceilings. Not only are all personel completely knocked out by the blasts, but all the security systems got completely drenched and short-circuted, knocking it out completely.)

WHOO!!! That was AWESOME!

Let's get outta here before someone else shows up, Kyle. Adam, beam us out!

(We're beamed out, and just like that, mission complete!)

CHAPTER 3, ACT 5 COMPLETE

ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: "SEWAGE BLAST"

DISPLAYING EPILOGUE...

(Terrence returns to the compound, only to find the floor to be completely blown out, revealing a sewer pipe below.)

Hey, boss!

(Terrence whips out his gun, but stops himself from firing it when he realizes it's merely one of his underlings.)

What the hell are ya doing down there, ya bloody idiot?!

(Terrence has a heavy British accent. He was raised in the UK, after all, and only moved to the Toppats when he heard they needed a new leader. To him, that was the best time of his life, but to everyone else, it was the worst time in the Toppat's entire existence.)

The CSB got us, sir. Mind helping me up?

(Terrence is about to shoot him, but he decides not to. His rage is at the CSB, not his head scientist. He extends a hand out, helping the poor man out.)

Let me guess, those blokes left a message?

Yes, sir. Here.

(Terrence unfolds the note and reads it.)

Terrence! Long time no see, fuckface! You know, we didn't miss you in the slightest. The Toppat Clan is doing WAAAAY better than when you were in charge, y'know? We all called your tyranical rule the "Age of Suave", because it was so bad it felt like AGES before the Toppat Clan did something about it. And like all tyranical rulers, you were defeated. And if you can be defeated once, it sure as hell can happen again.

Hope you burn in hell, you piece of shit.

Unsincerely,

Kyle Gibbons✍🏼

Alterrune🔺

Violet Wolfsbane💜

Henry Stickmin 🔵

Ellie Rose 💕

(Terrence takes the note, pins it to a corkboard, and throws a throwing knife at the corkboard, landing dead-center on the note.)

Dr. Grey, run a scan. There's someone we need to kidnap for a ransom. "Édouard Labarthe" is his name. And if ya get anymore calls from that bloomin' idiot brother of yours...

Oh, trust me. Earl and I have been out of contact for a while now. As far as he knows...

..."Jerry Grey" has been dead for a long, long time.

END OF EPILOGUE

[rotworld]

29: Medical Malpractice

art by @exorbitantsqueakingnoises

sometimes in the chaos and confusion of a disaster on cardea prime, people go missing. no one has any reason to suspect this has something to do with the planet's best clinic and its famously talented healers—you and your partner.

->warhammer 40k. original drukhari haemonculus/reader. contains gore, medical gore, descriptions of surgery, abuse of authority/betrayal of trust, non-consensual touching.

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The city trembles and everything built upon its back starts to shake. It feels tectonic, a deep thrum of destruction millennia in the making. Half a minute is all it takes for the quake to reduce whole swaths of civilization to rubble. It opens fissures, jagged wounds of rock like lacerations through the streets. It topples homes and tears the manufactorum in two, one half swallowed whole by a sinkhole abyss. It starts strange fires at the chemical plant that flicker green against the sky and crackles like the screams of thousands. If that didn’t wake you, the wail of klaxons would have, or the pounding at your door.

There’s been an accident in Mine 416, they tell you. There are thirty-nine men unaccounted for but one crawled to the mouth of the tunnel and he is just barely clinging to life. It is his wife and three eldest who come to you in the dead of night with tears in their eyes, begging for help. There was a hospital closer but they left because they were told it was hopeless, risking a long transport across the ruins all the way out to your clinic because they know miracles happen here.

Your clinic is a humble outpost in the Ghostwood, a sickly forest where the trees have turned thin and bone-white from the runoff of a manufactorum miles upstream. It’s a quiet place, untouched by the rapid industrialization scouring the rest of the planet because it is useless, the soil barren, the plants toxic, the water gone bad. Nothing should live here, including you. There should be no place of healing on this blighted ground and yet, here it stands.

The man sprawls on a metal gurney, unresponsive. His internal organs are leaking from a wound in his abdomen. His wife can’t tell you what happened for sure but she overheard some talk of equipment malfunction, an industrial rock-cutter gone haywire when the tunnels shifted. The wound is neat, laser-precise, but everything inside is liquefying. Organ failure, exsanguination, septic shock—it's hard to guess what would win the race. Your first step is getting him in stasis, frozen down to the molecule until you can scrape out the necrotic slurry of his own decaying insides, process tissue samples and regrow replacement organs. 

Stasis field generators aren’t easy to come by or maintain in the furthest reaches of Imperium Nihilus. The one in the cramped operating chamber of your clinic is a strange, spiny obelisk unlike any design on record. No one knows it’s back here—except, of course, for the person it rightfully belongs to. He won’t like that you used it without his permission. You’ll have to make it up to him later.

In the waiting room, the woman sits in a stiff metal chair with her hands clasped together and her head bowed, praying to the God-Emperor to grant you divine inspiration. They’re both young, her and her husband, but they look much older, graying with coarse, wrinkled hands and tired eyes from the harshness of the Northern Mining Plains. You stand in the stifling silence of the operating chamber beside her husband, staring down at all the wounds he survived before this one; dried scabs and blisters, old surgical scars, one hand lost in a previous accident replaced with a rudimentary augmetic. 

The Imperium will grind these people into nothing. You’ve seen it happen over and over and over again, and this is one of the gentler worlds. The manufactorums are not yet sprawling, world-suffocating behemoths and a series of farm skyscraper complexes have helped the populace narrowly avoid several famines. It’s hard to escape the creeping despair, the feeling that you’re only delaying the inevitable.

You can do something, or you can do nothing. Both choices have their price. 

There’s a chime—an electronic doorbell. Someone just walked into the clinic. You make sure the stasis field is stable and head down the hall to see what’s happening. Instead, you find a man kneeling beside your patient’s wife, one of her hands clasped gently in his. He’s tall, eye-level with the woman even while crouched, long hair pulled back in a ponytail and bangs parted neatly down the middle. He dresses in an unobtrusive manner, perfectly forgettable in dull colors and simple clothing. He’s speaking to her in a soft, reassuring murmur, his eyes and smile full of warmth. Both of them look up at your arrival. The woman dabs at her eyes, sniffling but more collected than she was before. 

“Is he…?” Her voice cracks.

“No. He’s in a very delicate situation, but he’s stabilized for now,” you assure her. 

She inhales shakily. “I don’t know how you do it. Throne bless you and Feron both.” 

The man squeezes her hand. You want to rip him away from her. You want to tell her to run. He smiles up at you like he can hear the vicious thoughts racing through your head. You don’t say anything. You never do. “Feron,” you greet him curtly.

“Doctor,” he says, his voice silky and sweet. 

“How was the governor’s son?” 

“Better now. It was respiratory sickness after all. He should be just fine if he takes the full dose of medication.” He strokes the woman’s hand with his thumb. It looks like a soothing gesture but he’s studying her. Feeling for joints and tendons, mapping out muscle and sinew in his mind. Always curious. Always envisioning some new gruesome project. “The doctor is perfectly capable alone, but things will go faster with the both of us. We’ll do everything we can for your husband.” 

“I know you will,” the woman says. “The Emperor sent you to us, I know He did. I thank Him for it every morning.” 

“If I could have your opinion on something, Feron…?” you say, a hint of urgency in your voice.

He regards you with faint amusement. “Of course,” he says smoothly. He stands to his full towering height, nodding goodbye to the woman, and follows you down the hall. 

For a while, you don’t say a word to each other. The man walks beside you in complete silence, hands in the pockets of a long jacket, stealing leering glances at you out of the corner of his eye. You unlock the operating chamber and he steps through first. The door shuts behind you. Then a thicker steel barrier snaps closed. Then a soundproofing barrier and comms shield crackles to life. The window shutters close and the lights flicker. There’s a faint whirring sound of something mechanical coming to life and then the entire chamber starts to descend like a slowly sinking elevator. 

“Having fun?” you ask him.

He chuckles, smoothing his hand up the unconscious man’s leg like a butcher fondles a cut of meat. “Yes,” he says brightly. “I am. The concept of ‘bedside manner’ is entertaining. I’m enjoying it immensely.” You ignore him, focused on the carnic-incubator on the counter. You bend slightly, peering into the hazy glass. A pile of chunky organic slush bubbles in a glass dish. It will grow steadily, congealing from red jelly into a veiny, bulbous mass of muscle with a series of fleshy tubes on top—a new heart. “You used my stasis generator.” The words are as quiet and nonchalant as always, but there’s a subtle sharpness lurking somewhere in his voice. A touch of sadistic glee.

“It was an emergency,” you insist.

“Yes, yes. Regardless, we have an agreement, do we not?” His eyes narrow in delight at your visible misery. 

“Yes,” you say reluctantly. “We do.” If you make use of his equipment, he makes use of your time. 

The operation chamber seems to descend forever. Being stuck in such close quarters with him makes you nervous, especially when he starts to pace and change. Feron, as far as your patients know, is a blessing. A kind stranger shepherded to Carea Prime by divine guidance, a healer with the knowledge to help you run the clinic and save even more of the Emperor’s faithful. They didn’t ask too many questions about where he came from or why, and why would they? That would be ungrateful, borderline blasphemy. As long as you don’t denounce him, he might as well be holy. 

And you can’t do that. Your truce is one of mutually assured destruction. The moment you make your move, he’ll drag you down with him. 

“I have so many new projects. What should I have you help me with?” he wonders aloud. As he paces, wandering back and forth at the head of the gurney, his silhouette unravels. He grows taller, his limbs longer, elongating into a willowy, alien shape. His fleshcraft is peerless and the change takes mere moments, each alteration accompanied by a sickening crunch of rearranging bone and tissue. For a moment, he is fully protean—a lump of featureless flesh that gradually carves itself into being. He can look like anything and anyone but he chooses his favorite face tonight—the one that first cornered you and struck this devil’s bargain.

His skin takes on an unnaturally sunstarved pallor and his hair turns ink black, spilling long and unbound down his back. Uncaring of his audience, he discards his clothes and pulls new ones from a cabinet, dressing himself in an ensemble of loose, flowing robes and bone-like clasps that cinch everything to a form-fitting extreme. He has four arms, each long and bony with a clawed index finger. Protrusions of bone like tapering horns jut from either side of his head forming a crescent. He takes the time to wind his hair around them, keeping the long dark strands from dragging on the floor.

This is him. The real him, or as close to real as it can be for a creature that can change itself so easily; Indrakkis the Visager, a drukhari haemonculus.

“Any thoughts, Doctor? I’m open to suggestions.” Your defiant silence makes him chuckle. “Poor darling thing. What’s that precious maxim of yours? ‘Do no harm?’” 

“You did this, didn’t you?” you ask him.

He turns towards you, two arms up tying his hair, the others flicking through the projected display of a crystalline clipboard. He has six eyes arrayed like a spider, the shape and pupils differing in each. “This?” he asks, gesturing to the patient. “Hardly. Mass panic and excavation machinery are rarely a wise combination.”

“The earthquake,” you insist.

“Of course. I was getting bored and the previous batch of experiments have all expired.” He pauses, glancing up from the clipboard with all of his eyes narrowed. “I had a fascinating conversation with that creature in the waiting room. Do you know what she asked me in a moment of vulnerability?” You frown tightly. He’s going to tell you no matter what you say. He smiles. Beyond the gaze of outsiders, he feels no need to perform authentic emotion. His expression is all sharpness and malice. “She asked if I had considered proposing. To you.”

You take another look at the incubator. A terrible mistake—Indrakkis has crossed the room in the time it takes you to turn around, long fingers dragging up the nape of your neck. 

“A proposal,” he muses. “That’s the local custom to suggest mutual monogamy, is it not? A gesture of romance and devotion.” 

“I’m sure you thought that was hilarious,” you say. 

“I did. And then I was intrigued. How, precisely, had she come to read such peculiar intentions into my actions towards you? But perhaps it makes perfect sense.” He rests his hands on your shoulders. The other two slide lower, caressing your sides. “I’m known to be eccentric among my peers for my physicality. There’s no better way to know a subject than to experience it tactilely.” 

He steps forward, pushing you against the counter. One of his hands traps your hand beside the incubator. Another presses your palms together, lifting your fingers to expect. He keeps moving the other hands up and down, that sliding, sensual touch never stopping. 

“And you are fascinating,” he gushes. “A one-of-a-kind specimen. Your resilience…your resistance to poison…your body’s natural capacity for healing. This is what happens when expert fleshcraft is permitted to flourish in the recombinant chaos of sexual reproduction. If only your ancestors were not so insistent on cloning as the sole method of procreation.” He leans over you, bringing one of his hands up to stroke your cheek. “Sometimes,” he purrs, “one learns far more by surrendering control.”

You’re spared his undivided attention when the operation chamber shudders to a stop. Heavy steel panels lift, unsealing the room. In the back, where there was a solid wall before, there is now an opening and a long, dark corridor lit by eerie green lanterns. Indrakkis untangles from you but one sharp-clawed finger taps beneath your chin, turning your gaze up to meet his. 

“What do you think, Doctor? Should we get married?” The sickened mix of contempt and revulsion in your eyes makes him laugh. “It would be better for our alibi. Two strangers brought together by fate, finding love at the edge of the galaxy? Your people love a good story.” 

You slap his hand away. “Let’s just get this over with,” you mutter. 

“Always so matter-of-fact. Where is your whimsy, my dear?” 

Indrakkis sighs in disappointment but he can sense he’s wrung all the shock he can out of you for now. He makes a beckoning motion with his hand and you hear footsteps coming down the subterranean passageway. A group of figures files silently into the operation chamber, fanning out around the unconscious man. They are taller than you but not nearly as towering as Indrakkis. Their broad, scar-covered chests are bare, the robes around their waists drawn tight by the plates of armored corsets in a simplistic, brutal imitation of Indrakkis’ more elegant clothing. Each wears a metal mask that obscures their features.

“Master?” one asks. They all look to Indrakkis, waiting with bated breath for his orders. 

Indrakkis, in turn, looks to you with an expectant smile. “Doctor?” he prompts. You hate this. You hate when his butcher-servants turn to you instead, all of his authority temporarily in your hands. You pretend they’re students. Nurses. Surgical assistants. Anything but what they really are.

“He must survive,” you tell them, your tone firm. “Apply constant regenerative treatment at low intensity to the abdominal cavity. Remove damaged tissue and sterilize the wound. The heart must be transplanted, and the rest of the organs are to be grown in-situ. The seeds are incubating in the lower tray. You will reactivate the stasis field when you’re finished so I can verify that you’ve followed instructions. I will not be happy if anything is amiss. Am I understood?” 

They bow in unison and then the room fills with bustling movement. Indrdakkis drapes an arm over your shoulders and another rests on your hip. “Just when I start to think you’re a tedious softling without an interesting bone in your body, you surprise me,” he says. He grins at you. “When you look at someone as though they’re a worm beneath your boot, you have your grandmother’s eyes.”

No one knows that a haemonculus has made his lair under the surface of Cardea Prime. He’s well-hidden, tucked beneath the tainted ground of the Ghostwood where nothing and no one would dare to look. There’s a gate down here somewhere, a massive arch of strange material left behind by the first beings to set foot on the planet long ago when it was only a lifeless rock drifting through the cosmos. Indrakkis leaves sometimes, passes through the gate’s shimmering membrane and vanishes for days or weeks at a time, before suddenly returning. 

“You didn’t ask me about your grandmother,” he says, sounding disappointed. “I have more stories about her, you know. Millennia’s worth. She was my dearest confidant, a true visionary. Her talents were wasted in the cult of Luna, but here in these tunnels, she at last had an equal and so did I.” He peers down at you with a condescending smile. “You pale in comparison, but you’re still young. With my instruction, you might yet become something remarkable.”

You don’t look at him. Indrakkis chuckles but your refusal to respond is starting to grate on his nerves. He sinks his claw into your shoulder, sinking through your clothes and piercing the skin. 

Countless chambers line the hall, each spacious with a high ceiling and walls lined with blood-spattered metal gurneys, examination tables, barred cages, liquid-filled stasis pods, and many of them are occupied. Indrakkis and his servants are opportunistic predators and disasters are their banquets. Bodies have a habit of going missing on Cardea Prime. 

“Ah, here we are,” he says. He stops before one room in particular, two arms crossed over his chest, a third pressed against the transparent glass wall. “The newest batch. Not particularly remarkable specimens, but the quantity of the flesh is far more important than the quality in this instance. I was thinking…”

You’re not listening. In that room, strapped down and squirming on metal slabs, are the missing men from the mines. You knew they’d be here. That’s how it works. But it’s been so long since you’ve resorted to using Indrakkis’ tools. You’ve forgotten how horrible this place is. Each of them is badly wounded already, limbs crushed and bodies bludgeoned by the force of the tunnel collapsing on top of them. A group of wracks, Indrakkis’ masked accomplices, walk down the aisles between each writhing, agonized body, taking samples and injecting healing serum. 

Indrakkis always does this. He sutures them back together, mends their bones, bandages their wounds. He nurses them back to perfect health before he takes them apart again, piece by piece, until what is left screams to be allowed to die. 

A hand wraps around your throat and lifts you off the ground easily, slamming you back against the glass. Your legs kick and your fingers scrape against his wrist but it just makes him laugh. Indrakkis leans in until he’s all you can see, arched over you like an animal preparing to disembowel prey. He presses his thumb down on your windpipe, sighing in pleasure at the flare of panic in your eyes. 

“Do you still think you’re going to get out of this somehow?” he asks, all six eyes arching in amusement. “You’ll flee somewhere? Manage to get off world? Tell someone about the horrible monster lurking in the depths of Cardea Prime? Let me remind you that this planet would send you into the jaws of the Inquisition right alongside me.” He lets you breathe and you gasp desperately, trying to ease the pain in your burning lungs. “To your people, I am a xenos. Of course I deny the divine right of the Corpse Emperor. I know no other way,” he sneers. “But you are a heretic. For you to do the same is an abomination, a rejection of your own humanity. That is the thinking of this decaying empire. You would do well to remember that.” 

He drops you and you crumple, landing hard in a heap at his feet. Indrakkis crouches down in front of you. You experience what the woman in the waiting room did—his cloying, practiced kindness, gentle fingers wiping away your tears and stroking your hair as he whispers that it’ll all be alright. It makes your skin crawl. 

He holds you still, gripping your shoulders while his other hands frame your face. You start to struggle when he leans in closer, his breath warming your lips. “We’re in this together, darling,” he says. “You don’t have to enjoy it, but it might be easier if you do.” You can feel him smirking when he muffles your miserable, hopeless scream with his lips.

[goattypegirl]

Theres a through line in Wildbow's works of conflict and competition being a necessary, generative force. Its the Entities modus operandi in Worm, seeding worlds with powers that nudge hosts into conflict, in order to find the magic combination of powers that can reverse entropy. Brockton Bay is a smaller application of this, with Cauldron giving more leeway to parahumans than they normally would as a city sized experiment (ok actually that may be a fanon thing I honestly can't remember.) It's best seen in Eden's vision for Earth, a dystopia where humanity has fractured into small groups all constantly at war with each other. In Ward, we see that the plan may have actually worked? Maybe? The Fortuna Titan carves an unknown message in the shardspace bedrock for future Entities to find. It may be the secret ingredient their looking for, or a memo saying this method sucks, don't do this.

In Twig, Sy repeatedly compares how the Lambs operate to shaking a box full of spiders and seeing what happens. In the final epilogue, Sy gets the emperor of Europe to not, you know, kill them all then and there and take back control, because they can offer needed competition to the empire. You also see it in the primordial life interlude, as it develops and learns specifically in reaction to how the doctors try to control it.

In Pact, Blake prays to the Abyss, believing that it's not just a destructive force, but a *refining* force, one that forces change. This is also Charles' plan for the undercities in Pale, to create harsh, godawful environments to make new, powerful Aware that blur the line between Innocent and Other. I really should be making this after I finish Pale, because from what I understand Charles last plan is a version of this cranked up to 11?

As for what this all means, idk. It's worth noting that it's usually the villains or antagonists who subscribe to this, and that the works also show how being an individual in these conflict driven systems really fucking sucks, maybe we shouldn't be doing this? It's literally midnight here so I'm sure there are more examples or counterexamples that I'm forgetting.

[awwsha]

Hiiii o//

Do you have any lore for your abyssal seals?

If so, I'd love to hear it :3

Alright, here's a bunch of my in-my-head-lore and some from my posts. Get ready for lore dump because you gave me an excuse.

The Abyssal Seals are a White Scars(Emperor's Children) successor chapter. They are a 2nd founding chapter.

Their company was adopted by Jaghatai Khan during the Horus Heresy. They consider him their dad.

Their homeworld is Juliana's Hope, which I named after the Danish name(Julianehåb) of my hometown on Greenland. It is a very earth like world. Its inhabitants mostly work with some sort of food production/procurement(farmers/hunters, etc.). Its dominant culture is very much based on Greenland Inuit. Which is why the marines have names of both Inuit and mostly Germanic mix.

Juliana's Hope is the 3rd planet of the Seppha System, which also has a forgeworld that the Abyssal Seals have a very close relationship with.

Abyssal Seal recruitment happens during an annual grand festival on the summer solstice. Aspirants and their families spend the entire day participating in various games and forms merriment. At midnight, every aspirant from cities, towns, and villages will stand on the shore by the Abyssal Seals main Monastery Fortress. Under the midnight sun and accompanied by drum dances and singing under the eyes of the Abyssal Seals company that's currently on leave. Those chosen will hear a call from the sea, and they will walk into the shallows where a seal will approach them and they will dance. They are psychically bonded for life. However far away they're from thier homeworld they will have a connnection. No matter how old the marine becomes, their bonded seal will match their age.

This connection also afford them some "benefits," but these are very secret(they don't experience as much resistance moving through water and pressure changes dont affect them as much).

Those who aren't chosen can always try next year. Until they age out of adolescence. There's no gender restrictions on their recruitment. Around 30% of the Abyssal Seals are women or others. Gene-seed rejection is very low. After being chosen, the aspirants do 3 years of implantation and grueling training with chapter veterans before they're given a suit of passed down scout power armor and sent off with one of the 8 battle companies and begin their time as space marine scouts. Their time as scouts is where those that don't live up to expectations are filtered out. Many will call it their worst time of their space marine career.

Those that survive will be presented with a suit of MKVI Corvus Pattern power armor and will earn the privilege to paint their right shoulder pauldron red and will wear their sergeants' honor markings upon it. This is also where they will learn of their origin and who their true gene-father is

The Abyssal Seals operate out of large company fleets. Every season on Juliana's Hope a different company will be present to rearm, pick up new scouts, and otherwise rest up before going. They will also leave a few of the most skilled veteran marines behind for 1st and 10th company who are the veteran companies.

1st company is the company of the elites. Captain Avataq leads the 1st. They are masters of weaponry and tactics. They face the enemy head on and have seldom known defeat.

10th company consists of kill teams. Small scale covert operations, hunting down traitor astartes warbands, some inquisition dirty work. Every kill team is led by a "kill team captain" named so because they are given a ship each. They fall under the command of the 10th Company Captain Malína, who will delegate assignments for them, and as a result, the 10th company fleet is rarely in in one place the same time.

2nd company is led by Chapter Master Gideon they are specialized in the spear tip assault, the decapitating strike.

3rd company is led by Captain Tornaq, who is the oldest non-dreadnaugt marine in service. 3rd company is specialized in defense.

5th company is led by Captain Ujarak and is a jack of all trades company.

6th is the fast attack company led by a yet unnamed and unpainted bike captain.

7th is the siege specialized company.

The rest of the companies are undecided.

In general, the Abyssal Seals temperament is measured and jovial. A core belief of thiers is that, even though they are as augmented as they are, they are still just humans. And preserving their humanity is important. They are encouraged to take up hobbies and pursue interests. They are encouraged to seek out living family and help out when they are on leave. Popular among them is cooking and communal eating. One of the duties of chaplain is that their marines don't go too long without a real meal.

They taught that the pursuit of perfection is folly and that which you cannot perfect, you can master. They are taught to complement their weaknesses with the strengts of their fellow marines.

They don't field any primaris marines because the process of becoming primaris messes with their connection to the seals.(I dont like tacticus power armor, i am a beaky fangirl). It also seems to lessen their humanity and that they dislike just as much.

They were originally called the Lunar Wardens, and they were a dark grayish blue. That was until an event that took place on their home planet around 500 years after their founding. That saw their numbers reduced to mere 189. They call it "The Abyss War," whereafter they changed their name and heraldry.

I think that is all off of the top of my head.

[clocktowerechos]

Factions of the Grand Alliance

"Our enemies are numerous, powerful, insidious, and dangerous beyond reckoning. Tis good we have friends just as formidable. I cannot fathom having to stand alone in such a galaxy." ~ Imperial Diplomat toasts his allies during a feast on Craftworld Ulthwe

The Brightest Night AU is a lot more clear with who it counts on the good end of the moral spectrum and who it doesn't. This doesn't mean people are perfect, but they're at least mostly good by nature and try to be better. The Grand Alliance is what stands of the "civilized" races of the galaxy, an united bulwark against the abyss that threatens to consume them all.

The Interstellar Imperium

The Imperium of Man as we would know it and the successor state to the Greater Human Dominion from before the Dark Age of Technology. Ruled by the God-Emperor Aurelian, they are far less totalitarian and xenophobic than in canon, their faith is far less fanatical and count abhumans and even some xenos as Imperial citizens. As demonstrated by his marriage to Isha. Instead of the glorification of a holy human form in a physical sense, they value the concept of Humanity as people who can work together towards a greater goal. They can be seen as a galaxy spanning Interex and have adopted their method of dealing with Chaos with mixed results. People are generally more aware and can protect themselves better, but those who do fall often fall faster and further than they otherwise would have. As the Horus Heresy never happened, the idea that betrayal can happen at any time from within while still present, it not all-encompassing. However, plenty of planets and forces have been corrupted, just never all at once in an empire-splitting civil war. Faith remains a pervasive aspect of life in the Imperium, especially Emperor still being alive who is able to put some top down power to reign in the worst parts of the Imperium at times.

The Mechanicum

The largest of Survivor States that rose after the fall of the Greater Human Dominion, they are the most heavily intigrated of them. As the Imperium in this AU operates more akin to a federal system instead of an autocracy, the Mechanicum retains enough independence to the point of never having been forced to integrate and become the Adeptus Mechanicus. Still steeped in their techno-mysticism, technological advancement is glacial at best and often just as restrictive in canon. While technology is still stagnant and they hold the lion's share, some technology remains available in M41 such as jet bikes and volkite weaponry (albeit expensive and rare). AI remains completely outlawed in Mechanicum space and they're constantly pushing against the Tau's utilization of it. Their worst tendencies have mellowed out, going from callously apathetic to just iron-plated dicks. Given the Imperium can rely on other Suvivor States, the Tau, and even the Kyn Leagues for some tech, the political influence they wield is strong but not overpowering.

Confederation of Eldar Craftworlds

Less arrogant and self-assured of their own supremacy than in canon. Especially after Eldrad Ulthran brokered a pact between the Craftworlds and the young Imperium to aid one another in the War of the Beast and then an impossible raid on Nurgle's Garden to free Isha. It was this Hail Mary sucess that formed the foundation of the Grand Alliance and the eventual marriage of Isha and Aurelian. In exchange for their aid, the Eldar repaired and upgraded the Astronomicon and shared anti-Chaos technology and measures to the Imperium. With the rescue of Isha, hope has been restored to the Eldar. While they are a long way off from being a "dying race", their population at least grows even at a tectonic pace. Although their corrupted kin, the Shadishari, or "Chaos Eldar", still vastly outnumber them. She is the most potent anti-Chaos weapon the Alliance have, able to use her divine power to cleanse corrupted worlds with her presence but even with the constant movement of the Celestial Court, she can only be in so many places at once.

The "Imperial" Aquilla (the Alliance Aquilla in this timeline) and its twin heads in this AU actually represent the Imperium and the Craftworlds, not the Imperium and the Mechanicum.

The Exodite Enclaves

Also known as "Medari", they continue their low-tech existence on Eldar Maiden Worlds. There is usually a singular, technologically advanced settlement on their worlds, meant as a space port for their Craftworld cousins and the Imperium, but even then the technology is heavily regulated. Exodites are far more prickly and selective when it comes to dealing with outsiders and are granted special rights upon their worlds that not even the Craftworld Eldar can ignore. They exhibit more Wood Elf-tendencies as well, favoring the use of Ghostwood over Wraithbone which they cultivate in Ghostwood Glades. While often relying on treaties of defense with the Craftworlds, they are capable of rousing "forest spirits" in the form of Ghostwood Dyrads, Ents, and Treekin. Not to mention the various dangerous fauna they keep, most famous being the dinosaurs their knights ride into battle.

The Tau Empire

The largest of the allied Xenos races, they were independent for several millennia, resisting the advances of both Humans and Eldar until they finally joined in M39 after a series of devastating catastrophes and a brief civil war that saw the Farsight Enclaves break away. Their caste system and loyalty to the Ethreals is the result of cultural traditions and social engineering; it's possible for a Tau to go against an Ethereal but those who do probably aren't welcomed in the Empire to begin with or often feel deep shame for doing so. They're genuinely well-meaning with their entrance into the alliance being the biggest boons in millennia, but they're coming to grips with the reality and the vastness of the galaxy as well as its dangers. They weren't stupid enough to trust the Dark Eldar with cultural exchanges, but the Drukhari still took their due with successive raids during their "Bloody Teared Years" leading to a huge amount of animosity that is uncharacteristic for an otherwise famously, levelheaded people. Their AI technology is still highly advanced and they do butt heads with the Mechanicum over it. They are technically immune from its anti-AI strictures but a close, covert eye is kept out of fear they might trigger another Men of Iron-like revolt. Most of the time though, the Tau don't really quite believe the scale and scope of the universe they're in, still somewhat sheltered by their relative youth.

The Leagues of Votann

Technically abhumans, they are officially classified as "Xenos Amicis" (aka Friendly or Allied Xenos) in Imperial and Alliance records for what amounts as galactic tax evasion as being counted as an abhuman Survivor State would involve a great deal more integration than what most Leagues are comfortable with. Not to mention the additional burdens Survivor States are expected to provide for one another. However, they're still happy to work with the other members of the Alliance, giving tech, resources, and expertise in exchange for goods and oaths of defense. The true nature of their Votann AI is a closed secret known only to the Emperor with not even the Mechanicum fully let in on it. Some have their speculation, but it is a "don't ask questions to answers you don't want" situation for everyone involved.

[float-p]

Updates on Soulbond, the demonic visual novel with dating sim elements!

MEET THE DEMONS!

Bearer of the unquenchable fire of envy, despite his violent behavior, his inner goodness struggles to find a place amidst his rage. Marquis of Hell, he commands fear and respect.



Lucifer's only confidant, Akittazara exudes elegance and ambition, walking a fine line between loyalty and personal desire. His ruthlessness is adorned by his uncanny charm.

Bearer of Sloth, Madrior orchestrates the flow of souls with detached diligence. Operating in the depths of the underworld, he carries the most human core among them all.

With a street sense honed through years of survival in the lowest planes of Hell, Innel's seen it all, from the backstabbing deals to the desperate struggles for power, and she knows just how to keep her head above the infernal fray.



Pride incarnate, Laleit holds the title of Lucifer, the Emperor of Hell, the highest leader of all. With a majestic aura, he still bears the price of his pride behind a carefully planned facade.



Once trapped in the Abyss, a prison for the greatest monsters judged by God, Pastalpahziel emerged as a storm of wrath, stirring up Lucifer's hitherto monotonous reign. He is a wildcard in the game of the damned.



As the Grand Duke of Lust, Tohuom holds immense power and influence. His court is the epitome of debauchery as he engages in an insatiable appetite for indulgence that entices even the most virtuous souls.

are they all dateable?

it's complicated - but in short YES! (some more than others though)

I'm solo developing this game for some months now along some freelance artists to help with the background art + GUI and it's available to wishlist on Steam. <3

[seijatachiis]

IS4 is apparently focused on sami and im suuuuuper excited about that. we don’t have a lot of operators from sami much less story relevant ones.

i think its santalla in the pic we got here...

but when i did my dive into arknights lore specifically the countries n shit thats when i noticed sami didnt have a lot!! and this was around the time they started to fill out info on other countries like getting the laterano event and the starting of the kazimierz events.  upon my research ive learned that budget frostnova from the original IS is sami related and her lore is so sad... much like frostnova...

these eldritch demons are held at by with the assistance of the Emperor’s Blades and i think its interesting that they contain fragments of the eldritch demons - its reminiscent of the abyssal hunters! with the seaborn stuff!   im super excited tho if im being honest i was definitely hoping IS4 would be saga focused bc im desperate for her to get a skin. what i am curious about is bc we lack sami operators especially 6s is that we’ll get an event then? we dont know who this purple haired girl is do we... who’d get the skin for this IS4? free operator? shalem was part of the troupe and highmore is aegir seaborn hybrid so theyve got connections to whats going on in the IS4. god im so EXCITED bc IS is definitely one of my fav parts of arknights

[sailingtheimaginarysea]

[PROVISIONAL MUSE LIST]

[to be updated at a later date]

Meredith 'Merry' Forvedge. A thaumaturge who lost her ability to cast spells, she runs a shop selling magic tools and weapons, and spends her free time learning just about every system of magic that doesn't rely on the caster to provide the magic.

Faera Everhval. A Night Elf spellblade adventurer with over a decade of experience, which is notable because she's barely in her mid-twenties. Inhumanly skilled with a sword, fairly decent at magic. Loves challenging people to friendly fights.

Quintus, aka my Hoyoverse muse. An artificial human/cyborg who was created in a lab as a living weapon, then escaped and eventually found her living as a mercenary. Her element is Ice, and her path is The Hunt.

Also comes in catgirl flavor, for Genshin threads. Mainly lives in Dragonspine, hates the Abyss Order, and spends her time tracking and disrupting their operations all across Mondstadt. Has a Cryo vision, and uses a Bow.

Sylvia Neumann. The Master of Chaldea, a magus from an old lineage, who primarily specializes in mental interference. Hypnosis, memory manipulation, also a pair of mystic eyes called the Mystic Eyes of Domination. Also a control freak who recently has begun to mellow out somewhat, mostly due to getting a taste of her own medicine from a certain bratty goddess.

Diocletian. The Roman emperor who brought an end to the Crisis of the Third Century. Now summoned as a Ruler in the service of Chaldea, for the purpose of protecting human history.

[unboundwanderers]

THE MOST SIGNIFICANT POINTS IN THE UNBOUND TIMELINE. Essentially, my verses page. However, instead of marking Verses that show divergent versions of the muse, it shows the muse at the most significant points in their lives. Figured this would really help with plotting. Or help people get some ideas on how to interact with me. Has specific entries for my Genshin mains.

THE SCARF DOCTOR: DARK EYES

The Earliest point in the Scarf Doctor's life. The State of the universe is relatively calm. Although there seems to be an uneasy rest throughout the universe. Shadows are moving in the dark, and figures are colluding to dominate the universe. Old foes are returning. Even The Doctor's own people- The Timelords, are launching secret missions across time and space in order to prepare for oncoming darkness. At this point in time, The Doctor has made first contact with Teyvat by meeting @primewitch and the trek across the universe in order to get her back home.

THE SCARF DOCTOR: DEEP SPACE

Following Lisa's Departure, The Scarf Doctor is relatively alone throughout his run. Deep Space has more open avenues in order for The Doctor to engage with entities both off-world and on-world. He's already had contact with Teyvat and peaked around at this time. Most likely meets most of the Sumeru cast at this point in time (including @maquiscursed's Nahida and @verdantstride's Tighnari) As he is very familiar with Teyvat by the time he meets @lunaetis's Dehya. The State of the universe is beginning to shift. The Daleks are returning, and The Timelords are launching intelligence missions and operations in order to outmaneuver them. Something is coming, and The Doctor is right in the center of it.

THE SCARF DOCTOR: WAR DRUMS

THE UNIVERSE IS BREAKING APART. The Time War is breaking out, and among its first casualties is @lunaetis's Dehya, killed by the DALEK TIME CONTROLLER. The Doctor you meet here is unstable, nearly paranoid. He's being abducted into more Secret missions for The Timelords, and he's chasing Daleks through time and space looking to avenge Dehya- but as he gets closer and closer to the eye of the storm- The Time War finally lets itself loose from the universe- and all The Doctor wants to do is run. He will run into @kemikorosu's Lumine, and she will run with him. Eventually, he will run no longer... and be forced to Regenerate. Doctor no more.

THE WAR DOCTOR: THE LAST GREAT TIME WAR

DOCTOR NO MORE. Throwing his name away, the War Doctor joins in on the war regenerating into a warrior and a soldier. Through the Last Great Time War, The War Doctor faces corruption, espionage, betrayal, and battles with ferocious demons, sentient weapons, and unyielding nightmares. He's not alone, though- as @kemikorosu's Lumine fights with him-- and along the way, he even slips past a parallel universe and meets @lunaetis's Abyss Lumine. He will face power-mad gods, renegade timelords, and even his own planet... and he'll fight with everything he's got- until there's nothing left.

THE WAR DOCTOR: THE DALEK INVASION OF TEYVAT.

THE FINAL DAYS OF THE TIME WAR ARE CREEPING IN UPON THE UNIVERSE. While Rassilon constructs her fearsome ark, The DALEK EMPEROR amasses the biggest Time Fleet ever seen in history-- and all the while, The Dalek Time Strategist enacts his greatest scheme. He captures a Timelord weapon engineered by the ancients of Gallifrey and sends a small force to INVADE TEYVAT- Locking it within a pocket universe and rewriting its history so that The Daleks succeeded with total victory over the planet and its archons. The Planet becomes a Post-Apocalyptic wasteland where survivors are either captured and put in work camps, or forced to fight for survival. He then sends a Dalek Attack Squad to capture The Doctor's Companion- @kemikorosu's Lumine-- and lures The War Doctor into the alternate timeline. There, within the pocket universe- he fights alongside @maquiscursed's Rukkhadevata- as the surviving Archons claim to remember the native timeline. They Set up spires across each nation's capital city that The Doctor has to individually liberate with a band of freedom fighters. However, eventually, The Doctor uses The Moment to undo all the damage done to the planet-- but knows that the final day of the war is here...

THE WAR DOCTOR: STRANDED

As The War Doctor makes his way toward Gallifrey to END THE LAST GREAT TIME WAR, he falls through a crack in reality and slips back into the universe inhabited by @lunaetis's Abyss Lumine. In the Alternate Universe, he is blasted so far back in time that he's at the start of The War. In order to return to his home, he will have to gain the six segments of The Key to Time- but he's not alone. Not only is Lumine traveling with him, but he has figures from his past mission to the alternate Teyvat, like @lastvigil's Hui, and other figures. Although this universe has no Timelords, and No Daleks-- some sneak their way through-- and The War Doctor must keep The Time War from leaking into this universe... while getting back to his own. Eventually-- he will... and he shall push that button... and End The Last Great Time War... No More.

THE GOTH DOCTOR: FEAR OF THE DARK

THE TIME WAR IS OVER, and it has left The Doctor as the last of his kind. Stricken with Grief and trying to power through his pain- The Doctor will roam across the universe seeking purpose after the war, and finding the strength to persevere after The War. Choosing to be the hero, choosing to try and see the good and people- but carrying that burden of guilt and that sting of rage with him, The Doctor will meet people who will influence him into finding his place in a new and bold universe. He'll confront his demons, and work too better himself. He spends a FEW CENTURIES on his own--one thousand in fact. Before he hits that two-thousand mark, however- he'll meet Companions like @grislyintentions's Ei, and will come face to face with goddesses like @mcthernight. Eventually, he'll meet @lunaetis's Yelan- who he'll go onto Marry... and eventually... Die for her... when both of them are poisoned, and there's only enough cure for one. He'll choose her... every time.

THE LOONEY DOCTOR: CLOCKWORK

In his ALTERNATE TENTH INCARNATION, he's a scruffy, witty, and somewhat Mulder-ish heartthrob, with great inner fury and wistful melancholy concealed under his easygoing and almost extremely positive attitude. An accidental and often reluctant chick magnet, the Looney Doctor started out rather manic: prone to speaking very quickly, peppering his speech with pop culture references and foreign words, and going off on long rambling tangents. Somehow, he ended up roping @lunaetis's Eula aboard The TARDIS- and traveled with her long enough to develop a deep enough connection that pushed him to try and alter her fate. When the reaper came for her, he had no choice but to let her go... and the loss stoked that great inner fury into a fire that could've raved the universe.

THE LOONEY DOCTOR: MISSING PIECES

Distraught after the loss of Eula- The Doctor spends a couple centuries on his own and almost drops pretty far into a pit of despair caused by the loss of his people and the loss of his friend. Eventually, however, The Doctor checks himself. Realizing that he might be going too crazy on his own, he attempts another shot at social connection through @gunnhildred's Jean- who he invites to the TARDIS after the duo saves Teyvat from what equates to an illegal eviction. He'll travel with Jean for quite some time before the duo part ways... and The Bells begin to ring... He can feel the chill of death wrapping around his neck...

THE LOONEY DOCTOR: LONG ROAD HOME

DEATH BEGINS TO COME FOR THE DOCTOR when cryptic warnings of a girl from the earth begin to follow him through time. People who he's met out of order claim he's traveled with a girl in white prompting him to think that they must've been referring to Jean- but when @vonerde's Gaia turns up- and says that an evil deity has stripped her of her powers and that she must return home-- The Doctor understands now that his time is running short-- and as his final act of heroism, he dedicates everything he has left in the tank to getting Gaia home. He'll fight demons, confront The Daleks again, and even meet Death face to face-- but all of it is worth it in the end, as eventually... he gets Gaia home... and the universe sings him to his sleep.

THE PINK DOCTOR: THE COSMIC TRAIL

This incarnation of The Doctor a prideful, articulate naysayer with a hidden heart of gold and the dress sense of a rejected carnival clown, The Pink Doctor is a darker and certainly more unstable Doctor, more suited for a hard and chaotic universe, whose default emotions are righteous indignation or smug self-satisfaction. Despite his thunderous exterior and tendency towards dirty business, he still remained firmly dedicated to the pursuit of justice and was always capable of being deadly serious or emphatic to others' plight when the situation called for it, almost always having some sort of crucial insight into the situations he found himself in, although he was also good at not letting on how much he knew until he felt the time was right. He'll travel a good majority of the time on his own, but eventually-- friends and companions will walk their way into his life, including @maquiscursed's Kazuha, @lunaetis's Hu Tao, and he'll even be reunited with @kemikorosu's Lumine...

[studentofetherium]

hey so here’s 1,100 words about Arknights music, particularly what it all it, what it means, and how it relates to the game. it’s just an outline of a subject which could be talked about in much more depth, but i hope it’s interesting anyway

so loosely, i think we can break Arknights music down into a few rough categories. three at the broadist, that being in-universe music, songs tied to characters, and songs that are just songs. however, it’s more complicated than that

IN-UNIVERSE MUSIC

these are songs that exist on Terra, that an Arknights character could conceivably listen to. most directly, the songs Alive and Aflame Avenue, meant to be performed by the in-universe band Alive Until Sunset, as well as Ready by DDD, and Not Your Business Part.2,  Loyal to the beat, and Melting White (which seems to be about Magallan, who is similarly based on a penguin) by Emperor

we can also assume the songs Curtain Call and Rhythm in Literature are in-universe songs, as the characters they’re associated with, The Playwright and Phantom, are musicians, so this is likely the music they perform as a troupe

the songs March On! and Towards Her Light are both nationalist anthems associated with characters who have close ties to their home nation of Victoria, Horn and Saileach. this also goes for Keep the torch which is associated with Pallas, another nationalist character, this time tied to Minos. that song was even sung in a constructed language resembling Greek, further demonstrating its in-universe nature. the song Song of Fools is sung from the point of view of Iberia’s people, wishing for better times. 

Hunter's Song is the last song from the in-universe music category, as Skadi in the Under Tides event sings a song with similar lyrics, making it the only song to show up directly in-game

SONGS ABOUT CHARACTERS

i broke the songs about characters section into two subsections:

character songs: songs sung from the point of view of a specific character, but which might not exist in-universe otherwise

and

“associated with character” songs: this includes songs whose lyrics might not directly relate to a character or characters, but through other media such as a music video, may still relate to them, as well as instrumental leitmotifs for 6* operators, which, owing to their lack of lyrics, can’t properly be properly categorized as character songs

the first category has 21 songs in it and the latter has 39. from the latter category, A Grand Adventure (Durin & Myrtle), Bridge to the Dawn (Pinus Sylvestris), CONFRONT (Rosmontis), El Brillo Solitario (Thorns), Evolutionary Mechanization (Eunectes), Field in the Light (Pinus Sylvestris), Gazing From Great Heights (U.S.S.G.), Gearing Up (Passenger), Hometown Wind (Bagpipe), Lily of the Valley (Suzuran), Lithos (Mudrock), Neon-lit Bustle (Aak), Rapier (Irene), Real Me (Carnelian), Reconnection (Surtr), Self-observation (Saga), Solitary Journey (Ceobe), Sparking Hydraulics (Weedy), Stay Gold (Blemishine), Till the Bell Tolls (Archetto), Till the Wave Ends (Dusk & Nian), Tipsy (Mountain), Voices (the Abyssal Hunters), Y1K (Mizuki), Zone 10-8 (Ethan), 却阑珊 (Lee), and 醉飞尘 (Ling)

several of these, such as El Brillo Solitario or Gazing From Great Heights could suggest what in-universe sounds like, as it mirrors the real-life musical styles of the areas which nations in Arknights in based on. however, other than that, there’s little that ties them to anything concrete within the world of Arknights

of the remaining nine songs in this category, it can be broken into two further categories. most are seem vague. their degree of relation to their respective characters varies, but none can be said to be “about” their characters in the same way that the character songs are. this category includes the songs, Autumn Moods (Croissant & Angelina), Daydaydream (Ch'en & Hoshiguma), Everything's Alright (Magallan & Mayer), Hold Onto The Light (Surtr, Thorns, & Zima), Random Randomly (Jessica, Snowsant, & Swire), Spring's Pulse (Myrrh & Nightingale), and Your Star (Nightmare, Podenco, & Scene). these songs frequently combine characters who could conceivably be associated with one another but otherwise don’t have much connection— aside from Ch’en and Hoshiguma, the exception— these are more based in vibes than anything else

however, the songs Lullabye (focusing on Faust & Mephisto) and Requiem (focusing on Patriot, and about FrostNova) are more direct. they’re also notable for the fact that they focus on non-playable characters and seem to talk about specific plot beats. more on this later

as for the character songs, their quality varies, in particular the degree to which they relate to their respective character’s characterization. some are quite direct, and others are more vague. i’m not an expert in every character, so i won’t attempt to analyze all of them. still, the songs Across the wind (Ch'en the Holungday), Ain't Seen Nothing Like This (also Ch'en the Holungday) Awaken (Specter the Unchained), Bluish Light (Lumen), Boiling Blood (Blaze), CanNot Wait For (W), Double Dragons (Ch'en, directed at Talulah), End Like This (Patriot, another song focusing on a non-playable character), Eternal Flame (Fiammetta), Heal the World (Gnosis), Immutable (Kal'tsit), Last Of Me (Frost Nova), Magic Theorem (Dorothy), Radiant (Nearl the Radiant Knight), Renegade (W), Silver Lining (SilverAsh), Ständchen (Ebenholz), Spark for Dream (Goldenglow), Winter Absolution (Shining), Wrathful Cerulean Flame (Amiya), and Прощание (Hellagur) seem to focus on their associated characters’ feelings, and frequently involve their hidden emotions or motivations

there are two other songs that don’t fit in the prior categories, that being ManiFesto:, which features performers singing from the perspectives of Emperor, Siege, Lappland, Indra, and Ethan, and Rock the Night Away, which features W, Zima, Blaze, and Frostleaf. these being such eclectic collections of characters as they are, they’re not especially useful to look at as anything but a fun extra

IDK THESE ARE JUST SONGS

there are a lot of other Arknights songs, which are either instrumentals or only loosely tie into the game through vibes. frequently, these tie into events or special occasions. there’s not much more to say about them without going into analysis

After It All, Come to Light, Crystallize, AJURIKA - Fading Sky, Feels, Heart Forest, I Believe In Us, Infected, Lean On, Never Give Up, Operation Barrenland, Operation Blade, Operation Cinder, Operation Dawnseeker, Operation Deepness, Operation Lead Seal, Operation Pine Soot, Operation Pyrite, Operation Spectrum, Operation Wild Scales, Reversed Time,  Rewinding Breeze, Save Us From Ourselves, Speed of Light, Summer Wave, Survive, Timeless, Tower Fierce, Two Feet On The Ground, Under Tides, Untitled World, and Wildfire

CONCLUSION

IDK! this ended up being longer than i meant it to be. i guess the interesting things here are the in-universe songs or the character songs. there are interesting things that can be further extrapolated from this if one chooses to look deeper on it. music is something Arknights quite obviously puts a lot of thought into, especially with the character songs, so it’s worth giving it focus

also i might have gotten stuff mixed up here because there’s a lot of songs and a lot of lists if i did don’t be rude and just lmk

[alterrune]

Emperors Abyss

Mission 2 of 6: Golden Handshake

Details: The Toppat Radical’s had just torn up a city just so they could eliminate one of the Toppat Clan’s High Ranking Leaders, Édouard Labarthe. The city has been reduced to nothing but a warzone, and GEOGRAM Personnel is attempting to keep Édouard safe. We need the full support of the Toppat Clan for this mission. Édouard is in an armored vehicle and we are attempting to extract him by the beach via air transport. We will need 2 members of the Colorstreak Battalion in Aircraft, another 2 in Ground Vehicles, and 1 with the VIP Édouard in his personal vehicle.

Complications:

Enemies Unmarked: The Toppat Radical’s has used jammers to block out satellite links. Because of this, all allies and enemies are marked as unknown and difficult to identify to due toe time of day being night, let alone the massive storm taking place. You must manually identify Toppat Clan Members (Friendly), GEOGRAM Personnel (Friendly), and Toppat Radicals (Enemy). This goes over to ground personnel, aircrafts, vehicles, and boats.

Defend VIP: Édouard is valuable for the operation against The Toppat Radicals, he must be protected at all costs. If he dies, the mission is a failure.

Enforcers: Terence has equipped his people with protective armor and weaponry, they’re not screwing around just trying to kill Édouard, be careful and do not let your guard down.

CHAPTER 3, ACT 6: THE ABYSS DEEPENS

(Alter and Vi are in the air, Henry and Ellie are on the ground, and I'm in the VIP car defending Édouward. We marked all members of GEOGRAM and the Toppat Clan as "Friendly" before we left. However, this man is very---)

Hey! Do not ignore me! Why are you just staying silent, huh? Explain zat, mon ami!

(---yeah, that. Annoying. Annoying the ever-loving piss out of me. He's constantly trying to belittle me. And I'm about one insult before I---)

Are you deaf, you stupid fool?! I asked you to explain yourself!!!

(---y'know what? FUCK. THIS. SHIT. I immediately slam the breaks on the vehicle and turn to him with my gun aimed dead-center at his forehead.)

Unless you want to meet your maker right here and now, I suggest you shut your fucking piehole before I shut it myself.

Meep.

That's what I thought. Now, do us all a favor and SHUT UP ALREADY.

(I immediately turn the vehicle back on, but it seems as though Terence's lackeys have caught up to us. However, it seems Alter and Vi have a way to get us out of this.)

Kyle! There's a tanker up ahead of the Radical's fleet!

Shoot at it and they should scatter.

(Me, Henry and Ellie all shoot at the tankers...which EXPLODE, taking out the Radicals' vehicles. Luckily, the armored vehicles withstand the explosion and continue moving.)

Oh man, I thought it was a WATER truck...

Was that a refrence to Captain America: Civil War, Vi?

Hey, you're not the only one who can pull pop-culture references outta their ass!

Okay, we should be reaching the extraction point now! How about we have a little fun in the sun before we go?

Don't have to tell me twice, Henry! Let's go!

(Whoo boy, that took a bit, but we did it! And I got to give that snooty, hoity-toity, holier-than-thou fuckface a reality check, too, so I feel like this was worth my time. Mission accomplished, bitches.)

CHAPTER 3, ACT 6 COMPLETE!

ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: "Beach Party"

DISPLAYING EPILOGUE...

What do you mean, "Édouward escaped"?!

Just what I said, sir.

You bloke. I oughta choke you out and fuckin' replace you with someone who can do better.

Jerry. Why am I not suprised you're with him...?

(As if by magic, Earl Grey appears, who wasn't expecting to see his brother working with Terence, but isn't terribly suprised by it.)

Earl, get out of my sight. I am not your brother anymore.

Oh, trust me, feeling's fucking mutual. After you betrayed GEOGRAM the way you did, I have a hard time considering we were EVER related.

What the hell are you---

(Earl holds up his hand as if to say "Silence, I'm still talking.")

But, I digress. I'm here to deliver this to Terence. A note, courtesy of the Colorstreak Battalion. The five of them have asked you all to go fuck yourselves. Goodbye, Jerry, you disgrace of a brother.

(Earl leaves as Terence unfolds the note.)

Hey, Terence! We're currently enjoying a day at the beach, sipping some beverages and enjoying some food here, celebrating YOUR latest loss at our hands. If you really think you can win this, then buckle up, motherfucker. Because this ride's about to get real bumpy.

Hope to see you in hell,

Kyle Gibbons ✍🏼

Alterrune 🔺

Violet Wolfsbane 💜

Henry Stickmin 🔵

Ellie Rose 💕

(Terence crumples up the note in anger, then tosses it in his jacket pocket.)

GODDAMNIT! Alright, c'mere, Jerry. You're gonna initate the next part of our plan.

But, sir, we don't exactly know what's ahead of us and---

DID I STUTTER, YA DAFT FUCKER?! GET OFF YA FUCKIN' DUFFS, GET ON YA FUCKIN' KNACKERS, AND GET TA FUCKIN' WORK!

YES SIR!!!

(Jerry hasn't seen Terence snap like that before. Whatever is going on is leaving Terence in a worse mood than usual...but just what could it be?)

I SAID---!

YES SIR, I HEARD YOU THE FIRST TIME!

(Finding out what it is, however, will clearly have to wait until Terence is in a better mood.)

END OF EPILOGUE

[attollogame]

Hello! Tumblr search refuses to tell me if this has been answered lol, but if not:

What Tarot cards would you associate with the main characters? 🤔👀 (read: the ROs + any additional characters you feel like including 🥰)

Thank you!

There's 21 major arcana so please enjoy 21 major associations

The Fool: Alexander Crowe (upright)

The Magician: Vincent Crowe (reversed)

The High Priestess: Florence Spine (upright)

The Empress: Desdemona Talize (reversed)

The Emperor: Elix Enaire (upright)

The Hierophant: The Hierophant (reversed)

The Lovers: The Archivist (upright)

The Chariot: Gasper Vakili (upright)

Strength: Vasilisia Soloveva (upright)

The Hermit: Operator (reversed)

Wheel of Fortune: Hypatia Crowe (reversed)

Justice: Suha Sobhi (upright)

The Hanged Man: Joona Vargo (reversed)

Death: Sysba (reversed)

Temperance: Deadlock (reversed)

The Devil: Markos Crowe (reversed)

The Tower: Pariah (upright)

The Star: Sylvester Blanc (reversed)

The Moon: Dreamwalker (upright)

The Sun: Helios (upright)

Judgment: Abyssal Prince (upright)

The World: MC (reversed)

[cienie-isengardu]

The Lin Kuei? As far as social dynamics and structure. You probably have a lot of these questions answered already, so you might just have to consolidate them... but what do think the Lin Kuei social structure is like?

I know there's the Grandmaster whose above everyone, and the Master Assassins (game characters we know about) and Sifu above everyone else, and rank is probably determined by skill less than birth. Sektor doesn't seem to get any special protection or treatment despite his family tree.

But what exactly is the hierarchy among the members? Who out ranks who? Both in teams, and as a group? What are the inter Lin Kuei relationships like, who feels what about who? What exactly is the qualifications? (Cyrax who I admittedly don't pay much attention to, for example confuses me, since he doesn't seem very impressive as a fighter?) How is rank maintained? I know they probably fight for it, but fighting constantly or to the point of death / serious injury seems counterproductive, even in mk? How is peace maintained? How is punishment dolled out, what constitutes punishment in a aggressively combative society like that, and in such a brutal environment, what is punishment?

If there's other things you think of to answer that I didn't ask, answer those too please. I love how much thought you put into these. Your the best. 🥰

"RELEASE THE RAMBLES!!!"

First off, sorry it took me so long to answer. Secondly, thank you very much for such a wonderful ask! Hope you will not regret once the rambles are set free, because there is a lot to talk about :D

The safest way to analyze Lin Kuei social structures would be to start with some basic question: what is a Lin Kuei? And the answer will be of course a clan, more precisely, a clan using assassins and thieves as its main source of income. But there is also another thing about Lin Kuei that will play an important role in creating and sustaining social structures - the strong independence streak and the pragmatism born from it.

Because the vital part of Lin Kuei is their loyalty to themselves. They work for those who can afford their service, but they aren’t bound to any earthrealm government or outworld ruler. I mean, Shang Tsung/Shao Kahn probably had a long-lived deal with Lin Kuei that benefited clan and in MK9 Lin Kuei offered the emperor their loyalty and service, but we also known that cyber Sektor refused to serve Quan Chi/Shinnok [MKX] once he decided the sorcerer had failed to fulfill his part of contract. Which means at the end of the day, the Lin Kuei benefit was the major goal to achieve. Even Kuai Liang’s reformed Lin Kuei shows this tendency - Sub-Zero will work with other Earthrealm Defenders but he isn’t blindly following anyone and is willing to go against fellow combatants (seen especially in banters with Raiden [MK11] where Sub-Zero questions god’s competence to protect the realm).

Interestingly, Shirai Ryu in the past did offer their service to various Japanese leaders / shoguns and who knows, even in modern days the clan still could have served the government as some special forces in time of need (and in return, have some protection and/or supplies from government?). In contrast, there is little to none information of Lin Kuei being loyal to one country - I mean, the sources usually call Lin Kuei warriors the “chinese ninjas” but we have never seen them showing any sign of national pride, haven’t we? Their only pride comes from belonging to Lin Kuei and their own skills. Another point against connection to any government is the fact that Lin Kuei are operating world-wide and collect people with special powers from over all world (Cyrax comes from Botswana [Southern Africa], Smoke/Tomas Vrbada from Prague [Czech Republic] and even Ice Bros were born in USA in old timeline). So, the fact that Lin Kuei warriors are diverse in terms of their powers and appearance/ethnicity will also affect the social structures.

So, the social structures on one hand must create a society that blindly follows Grandmaster’s will, on another be enough A) elastic to adapt a vast number of different people and B) solid to maintain the clan independence from others, Earthrealm and Outworld alike.

The problem with independence is that Lin Kuei works for the best price which also means constant danger. For warriors sent on missions to the safety of the whole clan. Without a clearly defined loyalty to anyone but themselves, Lin Kuei would be left on its own in case of enemy attack or any other potentially dangerous crisis. So the members of the clan must stick to each other because no one else would do that.

Regardless of type or date of source, the clan headquarters - one or many existing at the same time? - is usually presented as located in a naturally hard-to-reach, isolated place and with a clear defensive character, as can be seen below :

Lin Kuei for ages used naturally hard to invade / attack places like mountain peaks separated from the rest of the world by abyss with a bridge that can be easily destroyed and solid, thick walls to protect the clan. But here is a thing to think about - as much as there were a lot of strong, cunning and skilled warriors, Lin Kuei operated world-wide, taking jobs in various parts of Earthrealm and Outworld and some missions could take months if not years to finish and there was no guarantee that everyone would return. Which means the warriors couldn’t always be available in case of an enemy's attack or other serious crisis.

So, to maintain the defensive advantages, especially in a naturally harsh environment, there should be someone to control and if necessary take care of the state of walls, the bridge(s), residential buildings and so on. Which means Lin Kuei would need access to natural resources (wood, stone, metal) for expansion or repair but also for experienced craftsmen. There is also a matter of access to drinkable water and food supply, the most basic requirement for a clan to survive and thrive.

On one hand, warriors could fulfill such roles too, especially if we take into account a paragraph from Mortal Kombat novel by Jeff Rovin (1995):

They [Lin Kuei] would kidnap children when they were five or six and raise them in secret caves or woods to become superb athletes, great scholars, and unparalleled fighters, able to use all weapons and to improvise arms from common objects such as paper rolled to a knife-point or sand packed into a sock. They would train the children, boys and girls both, to be masters of many trades: carpenters, fishermen, priests, and even beggars, so they could blend in and make themselves useful in different towns as they traveled on missions for their lords.

Many young people died during training: some could not hold their breath for five minutes and drowned, others weren’t fast enough to avoid the weapons of the masters, some starved or froze or dehydrated when they were stranded, naked, in deserts or on mountaintops and told to make their way home. But those who survived were the Lin Kuei.

On the other hand, to become masters of the traders mentioned above, those children needed proper teachers. And yes, the already trained warriors could pass the knowledge to the younger generation but warriors first and foremost were responsible for earning money for the clan which is why personally teaching kids anything other than martial arts seems like wasting a time they could utilize in a better (more profitable) way.

This is why I suspect the social structures of Lin Kuei included various groups responsible for different needs of the clan.

The leader

So, we have a Grandmaster, the ruler. In modern times, pretenders for this title needed only to defeat and kill the current leader to take over the clan. Like Cyber Sektor and Kuai Liang did. But such practice may be just an exception to the long tradition, because Cyber Initiative was an extreme project that divided and ultimately destroyed the old version of clan. Killing the previous owner of the title may have some value (as in, eliminating any potential conflict of interest) but at the same time choosing and teaching a successor sounds much more practical. Because leading such a big clan is no easy feat thus any preparation would be useful and beneficial for the clan’s future. Not to mention the possibility of some secret knowledge that should be passed alongside.

Sadly, we don’t have much information about the inner politics of Lin Kuei. From the crumbs here and there, we know about Sub-Zero and past-Grandmasters that:

→ they could have offspring (example: Sektor).

However the sources don’t define if that was required from them in the form of a marriage or just as a way to secure the continuing inheritance of power (a tradition that Kuai Liang could simply ignore) or from their own choice or if the procreation of a child was unplanned and just happened. Whatever the truth was, in the case of Sektor, “it was never in question that he would join the Lin Kuei.”

The line from MK9 Sektor bio suggests that being a child of a warrior does not give immediate status as a member of the Lin Kuei. This in turn could suggest that not every child begotten by Lin Kuei warriors would be forced to join the clan. Sektor, as the son of the Grandmaster simply didn’t have a choice in the matter and who knows, maybe there is some premature qualification should the child be taken or not.

Another interesting part of Sektor’s BIO is this line: “Though this mission will put his clan in good standing with Shao Kahn, Sektor's ultimate goal is to supplant his father as Grand Master of the Lin Kuei." which may suggests that Sektor wasn’t the designated heir after all so plotted to overthrow his father?. I mean, he was sent to the Mortal Kombat Tournament as a participant and then cyborgized while the Grandmaster himself stayed human with a handful of other members of the clan. Then again, Sektor’s ending suggests that Grandmaster wasn’t surprised much by Sektor’s attempt to take over Lin Kuei, so maybe the killing of the previous leader was in fact a necessary part of rite of passage between old and new ruler?

→ it was against tradition for them to personally train new recruits

Stated in Deadly Alliance, in Frost’s Bio:

The winner was a mysterious female named Frost who seemed to have freezing abilities similar to those of Sub-Zero. Breaking with Lin Kuei tradition, the new Grand Master, Sub-Zero, took it upon himself to train this new recruit.

Interestingly, the Grandmaster was supposed to be the absolute ruler yet there were some traditions that actually regulated his or her participation in daily life of the clan. Kuai Liang simply ignored those and chose Frost as his apprentice, who at least in theory, became his appointed heir. By that logic, Sektor shouldn’t be trained by father, at least not before he gained the official status of Lin Kuei and proved himself worthy of Grandfather’s attention.

→ but it was their duty (choice?) to teach advanced arts to a few selected warriors.

This is mainly seen in Mortal Kombat Conquest TV series. The third episode (“Cold Reality”) gave us Shang Tsung’s explanation about clan and its warriors:

“The Lin Kuei, an ancient sect. Their training is the deepest secret as is their code. They are silent, swift and always lethal [...]. For some, a select few… the Lin Kuei Grand Masters will continue their education into darker areas. Then death comes in more interesting ways.”

Then, through this and another episode, the TV series shows that Grandmaster in fact personally oversees the training of Sub-Zero. So, the training of the new recruits may be against the tradition, but passing the advanced knowledge and the final trials seem to be not. Or at least the trials of the warrior with special (ancient) abilities.

This suggests the social status of a warrior - or any clan member - is affected by Grandmaster’s favor or lack thereof. Those chosen will advance, become more powerful and thus sent on more dangerous yet profitable missions. With a successful streak of missions, their notoriety will grow between prestige clients and the Lin Kuei community for good strengthening their social position. And who knows, one day they could take the place of (grand)masters in the inner circle serving closely the leader? On the other hand, those whose loyalty or skills get doubted by the Grandmaster are punished in several ways.

Inner Circle / Ancient (?) Masters

The same as with Grandmasters, there is little confirmed information about Lin Kuei masters. Bi-Han/elder Sub-Zero seemed to be favored by Grandmaster who called him the “our most cunning assassin and thief” (Mythologies: Sub-Zero) but it doesn’t sound like he was one of the inner circle.

In Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm (episode 5, “Old Friends Never Die”), Kuai Liang mentioned “Ancient Masters” who decided to change warriors into cyborgs, while in the Mortal Kombat Conquest TV show we could see that Grandmaster keeps talking to some men about Sub-Zero’s training and powers. Interestingly, those men had uniforms looking more like his own than of any warrior.

(If Lin Kuei co-operated with Shang Tsung for ages, their life-span could be extended by sorcerer’s magic. Or, their own special abilities allow for such a long life. Thus the name of ancient masters?)

I think it is right to assume those masters formed an inner circle that advised the leader and helped in training the chosen warriors and most likely oversaw specific operations / aspects of the clan's life. Most likely with Grandmaster, they made the higher command and were the law.

Warriors

In the simplest way, this is the working class that earns money and builds the reputation of the clan. The warriors were the main source of incoming profit for the clan, but it wasn’t just material goods from assassinations and stealing but most likely also important intelligence data that Lin Kuei could use for its benefit or sell on. Thanks to them, Lin Kuei was also feared and respected in Earthrealm and Outworld alike.

So, on one hand, being a warrior in itself was a prestige rank that gave a chance to gain fame. The skilled and smart could advance into higher positions (the master assassins and thieves) and maybe even get Grandmaster’s attention. On another the life of a warrior was the most dangerous and hazardous occupation in the clan with little prospects for a long life. The victory was paid in warrior’s blood and pain while punishment for failure was severe and harsh.

The easiest way to classified them would be those two categories:

→ the common ones,

in games and comics looking alike, without distinctive features. It is hard to tell, if they possess any special abilities, if they were blood related to each other, what kind of missions they took.

→ the master assassins and thieves,

whose uniforms and weapons are modified to their personal taste and style of fighting and who have greater independence than warriors from the first category. I think it is right to assume that named warriors should be classified as such. So we have Sub-Zero/Bi-Han, Tundra/Kuai Liang, Smoke, Cyrax, Sektor, Frost, comics!Hydro.

Yet, this division may be in fact disastrous due to lack of enough sources. I mean, the lack of individuality does not necessarily imply a lack of appropriate abilities and for all we know, the “nameless” members just wear proper uniforms for their duties. Something that maybe even the named characters would wear if any source actually showed their downtime between missions. Frankly, the classic “ninja look” also makes everyone look alike, with only proper colors to distinguish between characters. Like the old comics version of Sub-Zero and Hydro - the main detail to tell them apart was the color of their eyes because both wore the typical Lin Kuei blue and dark uniform.

There is a lot to say about Lin Kuei warriors, so I will focus only on the aspects most vital to the subject and the role and effect it has on the Lin Kuei social structures.

→ armors, uniforms and their colors

Lin Kuei seems to have various uniforms, from those with plain (“classic”) look to very ornamented ones. Like I mentioned earlier, there may be an established type of clothes the warrior should wear on duty between missions while during the job the uniform was personalized due to the owner's skills and preferences. Some more advanced designs could be also a sign of personal achievements and were given / passed down (as family heirloom?) to said warriors.

The most noticeable thing however is the color. Since most clan members shared some kind of blood-ties (thus specific set of genes), the color may represent their connections to a specific branch of the clan. For example, blue was used by cryomancers and those warriors who had water-related powers. At the same time, blue seems like the most common color used by Lin Kuei. It makes sense for Kuai Liang’s warriors to use such tone, as to honor their leader and maybe even cut off from the dark past of the clan but frankly, Sub-Zero’s freezing power was called “ancient one” in Mortal Kombat Conquest TV series that alone was set ages before the last tenth Tournament happened, so maybe the ice/water always played a big role through the history and Lin Kuei simply adapted it for its common use? As to combine the reputation of the clan with the terrifying powers of cryomancers?

There is also grey color used by Smoke that fit well to his special power and yellow worn by Cyrax. Albeit if that has any connection to his unique genes or is just a color for a specific branch of clan or just esthetic, hard to tell.

Then we have a red color that most commonly is related to fire, something that Sektor frequently used at least in the new timeline. At the same time, various Grandmasters used red / reddish or burgundy colors (examples: [1] Mortal Kombat Conquest TV series, [2] Mythologies: Sub-Zero, [3] Sektor’s Ending in Mortal Kombat 9). So the red accents on Sektor’s uniform may in fact be a sign of his blood-ties to the leader (or leading family?).

Whatever true reasons lie behind the meaning of colors, Lin Kuei warriors seem to be segregated in certain smaller groups. Interestingly, even if Sektor’s red color in fact symbolised his connection to Grandmaster, this played little to none role in the MK9 game. Of course, the source did not show much inner dynamic between Bi-Han, Sektor and Cyrax but even with so limited space, Sub-Zero was the central figure in the group screen time which makes an impression he was in fact the leader. Then, the argument about the Cyber Initiative project happened only between Sektor and Cyrax, which could also imply Sub-Zero outranked them so they did not want to bring attention of their superior to their personal conflict. Especially since disobedience to Grandmaster was a serious crime.

→ codenames

Mortal Kombat X and 11 provided information that Shirai-Ruy does have some system of official ranks including the term Chujin that in general was a middle rank between ninjas (Takeda Takahashi is a known example). Lin Kuei has complex social structures but as far as we know, they do not use analogous to Japanese ninja system of ranks and yes, I know I categorized the named characters as the master assassins and thieves but frankly, I don’t remember other warriors to refer to them as such. The warriors just called each other by codename and various sources say the codename wasn’t something that permanently belonged to one individual. The name of “Sub-Zero” is the best example since it was used by many warriors through the course of a long period of time.

In both timelines, Bi-Han and Kuai Liang come from lineage of cryomancers serving Lin Kuei

and currently have ongoing conflict to whom the codename truly belongs. Because apparently, the name is passed to new generations once the younger cryomancer will prove their worth, most likely, by defeating the present champion. This does not mean that one must die because frankly, “retired” cryomancer still could teach adepts or serve the clan in a meaningful way. Also, which is very prominent with cryomancers, their mastery over ice grew stronger with passing years, so Bi-Han and Kuai Liang’s Grandfather in fact could be a pretty powerful warrior even as an old man.

The important thing however is that, the codenames may determine the position in clan hierarchy. We don’t have a way to analyze the subjection between codenames and social status of Sektor, Cyrax or Smoke but names used by cryomancers may define their level of mastery over ice. The title of Sub-Zero has existed for ages and I think it is right to assume this is a codename intended only for the best of the best. Sadly, we don’t know how high in the hierarchy was “Tundra” but we can’t cross the possibility that Bi-Han at some point in his career used that name too, before he managed to earn the mantle of Grandfather’s name.

So, Lin Kuei may not use typical ranks and instead stick to codenames passed from one generation to another. Thus no one is addressing Bi-Han as the master assassin and thief but everyone knows that the person using the codename “Sub-Zero” is one of top warriors in the service of the clan.

→ combat experiences, teachers and retirement

Combat experience is something that affects a warrior’s position in a clan because no amount of training (even as hellish as training of Lin Kuei adepts) will be the same as real life and death struggle. The more experienced a warrior is, the more valuable become to the clan. At the same time, old age will slow down even the best of the best fighters at some point. Surprisingly, the first game mentioned (hinted) the idea of retirement in Lin Kuei in Sub-Zero’s (Non-Canonical) Ending:

"After receiving the title of Grand Champion, Sub-Zero disappears back into the shadows from which he came. His only goal in the tournament was...the assassination of Shang Tsung. He was paid a large sum of money by one of Tsung's wealthy enemies. With his mission accomplished, Sub-Zero will collect his fortune and retire from his dangerous profession."

The original Sub-Zero was usually described as 32 years old. Which doesn’t sound old, but if we take into account the previously mentioned passage from the book, the teachings started at the age of 5 or 6 which could mean Bi-Han already survived two decades of harsh servitude to the clan (that abducted him and his younger brother). No one leaves Lin Kuei but there is a possibility that at some age the warrior may step down from the dangerous profession. Then, such a “retired” fighter could train adepts and young, less experienced members of the clan and maybe even start a family that will produce offspring - preferable with special powers - to supply the clan with new recruiters.

Because of that I assume that warriors in their prime were used mainly to do the dirty job and get as much money and valuable items as possible. Once they survived to a certain age, they shared the gained wisdom with less experienced fighters. We don’t know how students and teachers (“sifu”?) were assigned to each other; it may be related to their family ties or similars powers (cryomancers teaching cryomancers, like Kuai Liang and Frost) or the veterans picked youngsters for certain skills or traits that made them worth the time and effort. Anyway, veterans, as those who survived years of service, should be placed high in the hierarchy. Because their experiences and wisdom help to shape a new generation of warriors earning money and fame for the clan.

→ they work alone, in pairs or in bigger groups.

We rarely see the “nameless warriors” working alone - in case of danger or mission, they form a small army and do as they are commanded by Grandmaster (MKX) or one of master assassins, like Bi-Han (Mortal Kombat 2021). In contrast various sources show that named characters usually worked in pairs (Smoke & Tundra, Cyrax & Sektor, Sub-Zero/Bi-Han & Hydro) or alone (Bi-Han, Frost) and in some special cases, commanded larger groups of warriors.

This is an interesting detail, because all the named warriors seem to be to some degree familiar with each other even though it looks like they were permanently paired. Of course, training together will have this effect, but Lin Kuei operated world-wide and in different realms so it is not guaranteed that warriors had time to hang out between missions or to be at the same time in headquarters. If they possessed diverse, opposing elements, after passing the trials and earning the title of warrior, they could be trained separately. Thus again, a smaller chance to form (forbidden) friendship. Which is why I think there must be some exercises that force fighters to cooperate or test their skills in some sort of tournaments. Partially to see how well they fare in fight (thus judge their usefulness to clan), partially to establish hierarchy between them.

Who and how decides about pairing certain fighters is completely a mystery. On one hand, Hydro (water) and Sub-Zero (ice) were compatible and probably naturally increased their own powers. But we also have Kuai Liang (ice) and Tomas (smoke) whose elements seem like not the best combination since Smoke’s power should work better with fire (at least his battle cry, “Where there is Smoke, there is fire!” suggests that) and there is Cyrax and Sektor who powerwise may work well, but their mindsets are extremely different.

Are warriors forced into such partnerships by their superiors or were they allowed to find the right partner, sadly we do not know. On one hand, the dynamic between named characters makes an impression they are in fact an equal partners - Smoke joined Kuai Liang in his quest for revenge on his own (MK9), Sektor didn’t manage to force Cyrax into submission before the man left the clan. Comics!Sub-Zero and Hydro were so close that “Bi-Han” wasn’t afraid to admit his fears of undead Scorpion relentlessly haunting him and Hydro was supportive all the time (“Blood and Thunder”). On the other hand, partnership could provide additional safety and increase the chances of survival during missions and maybe even uphold an already earned social position, so the warriors may seek each other for solely pragmatic reasons, even more since friendship was seen as a weakness and forbidden. I also suspect that though partnership between two warriors was based on mutual benefits, there could be fierce competition between pairs.

Surprisingly, all known to us partnerships are between male characters. There is no gender-mixed duo as far as sources are concerned (unless comics!Hydro was female, trans- or agender person and frankly, for 4 comics issues only one narrator box used the pronunciation of “he” for Hydro, while Scorpion was constantly called by Lin Kuei, other characters or narratives as “he”, which always makes me wonder about Hydro’s gender. Or did comics!Lin Kuei warriors talk about themselves in third person to not betray their and their comrades true identity / gender?). Regardless of the nature of said partnership, those working together share a strong bond. Kuai Liang and Tomas outright considered themselves very close friends (family) despite clan rules that forbidden friendship. Bi-Han was willing to show his weakness / fear to Hydro who in return was very protective of him and even Sektor shows a pathological need to keep Cyrax at his side despite all the oblivious signs how unwise this decision is. Frost, sadly, didn’t have any named partner (what may be related to her role of chief between female Lin Kuei warriors) and if she was included in an important mission, she partnered Grandmaster (MK: Deadly Alliance). And their collaboration was based on a master-apprentice relationship, so it had none of the equality that characterizes the previously mentioned duos.

Of course, ultimately, the warrior who works alone does not need to share the fame (and earning?) with anyone. Bi-Han is the best example of that (Mythologies: Sub-Zero, Mortal Kombat novel (1995) or his bio from the original game). And yes, every warrior should be capable of completing the job, but though weak Lin Kuei fighters may look superhuman in Earthrealm they will not last long in Outworld.

And that brings us to another important matter:

→ the place of activity.

Because those who work frequently in Outworld by default should be considered better in the combat area. But at the same time, Lin Kuei must have a wide and well organized spy network, to keep track of all potential recruits (Smoke and Cyrax), access to science research and laboratories and so on. So, especially in modern times, combat skills may not be the most appreciated feature anymore and some Lin Kuei warriors, no matter how weak they are compared to others, will still have their special value to Grandmaster’s plans. Due to the nature of spying, they could also work alone or in small groups far from their homeland. Thus, operate outside the social hierarchy established between other warriors.

→ Punishments

A warrior could die on mission at any moment, but also could be killed for various offenses, such as:

Leaving the clan - punished by death and this seems to be a consistent punishment in all sources. Of course a determined warrior could manage to successfully run away (like Takeda, the founder of Shirai Ryu or Kuai Liang did) but Lin Kuei does not forget such crime and will hunt down the fugitive for years. The best example comes from the Mortal Kombat book, in which Sub-Zero spent two decades hunting down his own ex-partner in crime to kill him in a brutal way in front of the man's family.

So even if someone managed to run away and start a new life, there was no escape from the clan's wrath. In the modern time, Cyrax was captured and cyborgized - for him, it was fate worse than death. This actually brings the question, if there were warriors responsible for hunting down fugitives or was it the duty of those whose partners broke the sacred rule of “no one leaves Lin Kuei”?

Failure of mission - another known major crime punishable by death yet most likely not applies to Kuai LIang’s reformed clan.

In the Conquest TV series, by Grandmaster’s order two warriors that failed the mission were killed by then current Sub-Zero. This was as much public execution to show others what happens once you fail as presenting the ice powers of freshly promoted cryomancer:

“Before you stand two who have failed. For this there can be but one consequence and it must come from within, within us. Earth, wind, fire, water. To control one element of the four that make up life is power. A twist of nature, an aberration, one who brings forth true killing force. Before you stand one whose ancestors have passed on such power to us. Remember this well. Behold... Sub Zero. [Grandmaster’s speech, episode 3, “Cold Reality”]”

This is just one example from the distant past but it may also be a suggestion that warriors with special powers played the role of executors.

Another example, from Mythologies: Sub-Zero, thus relative modern times:

Scorpion: Yessss... I am Scorpion. You killed me in cold blood.

Sub-Zero: I had no choice. If I had not stolen that map I would be the dead one.

Frankly this attitude is both inhuman treatment of subordinates (failure in itself is just another source of experiences and sometimes failed mission wasn't the result of someone’s mistake or incompetence but of independent circumstances) and unpragmatic (losing manpower). We may only wonder if warriors were punished for failing all kinds of missions or just selected ones. At the same time, a fighter that survived to old age should be really respected - with such harsh laws, not many members live to old age and those who did through the decades failed little to no missions.

Lin Kuei punished also impostors:

which brings us back to the point about codenames and their relationship with social position (and hey, Noob’s complaints aren’t baseless). We don’t know though what kind of punishment was used for such an offense.

Disobeying Grandmaster was also a big deal. I suspect this could be punished by death too although rather not in Kuai Liang’s clan:

“When Sub-Zero made historic peace with his clan’s enemy, Scorpion, defiant Frost challenged her Grandmaster as unfit to lead. Sub-Zero defeated and banished Frost. [MK11]”

In general, Lin Kuei laws were harsh and cruel and it was really easy to lose such hard-earned privileges and positions.

Recruits

In ancient times, children were abducted at the age of 5 or 6 and forced into harh training. Some didn’t survive but those who did became fully pledged to Lin Kuei warriors. In modern times, it seems like most adepts have some blood-ties to other members of the clan and usually are “given” for training freely. There are exceptions to the rule, like Bi-Han and Kuai Liang, who were stolen from home at a young age. Finally, there are people who seem to join Lin Kuei on their own (or at least they think it was their choice), like Smoke, Cyrax and Frost.

(Tomas and Frost are confirmed users of special powers. Cyrax most likely possesses some unique genes too or at least is capable of well controlling his own energy (chi) during fight. Frankly, it looks like Sektor is the only one named Lin Kuei who does not utilize any special power. Ironically, considering how Grandmaster (Oniro) from Defenders of the Earthrealm was shapeshifter. Who knows, maybe Sektor didn’t inherited father’s unique skills?)

So even recruits are a diverse group to begin with and include people ethnically totally different from the majority(?) who needed to learn a new language(s) and culture from scratch. This alone gives a ground for potential conflicts though there is little to none examples of racism between Lin Kuei adult members? I mean, Lin Kuei used to look down on everyone who wasn’t one of them all the same, with special hatred for Shirai-Ryu - not for being Japanese (different ethinc group) but just for being Shirai-Ryu.

The adepts were trained by older warriors and looking at Sub-Zero’s origin (MK9), some adepts trained with family members (Kuai Liang and Bi-Han and maybe even under their Grandfather’s eye?) and teacher (Sifu?) could train more than one student at the same time.

In a way, those coming from the lineage of warriors could be from the start at better social standing than those who were “no ones” or came from far away lands and needed to earn respect of others. Those blood-related to clan members either developed specific powers during training or at least possesed special DNA that could be passed down to the next generation. So, even if those children weren’t the best of best fighters, they still have something valuable to the clan.

At the same time, again, Sektor doesn’t seem to have any special privileges, not once in game(s) called his father as anything other than Grandmaster and in general, he did not have much presence (respect?) between other warriors. I mean, he freely spoke only with Cyrax who in the end did not listen to him at all and almost always fell silent if there were more people around. So yeah, how big an impact on social dynamic between fighters had their blood-ties is not sure.

I’m not gonna talk much about the life of adepts (and there is a lot to say about potential pathologies and harm done to the kids), but they for sure were the lowest rank in (warrior) hierarchy, at least until they proved their worth.

So, the Lin Kuei warriors could be separated in three categories, from lower social rank to the highest:

adepts (in-training, maybe assisting in missions under the watchful eye of their superiors),

warriors (the one earning income),

veterans (teachers)

and the circle was completed.

(For some reason, the circle of Lin Kuei warrior life resembles the “Three-field system” but I have weird associations, I guess).

Household?

When we talk about the Lin Kuei clan, the first association that comes to mind is its warrior nature. But with such a large organisation, warriors are just one social class rather than the majority. Because someone needs to feed them, cloth, arm, heal, which seems logical to assume that there were other specializations that keep the clan running.

I mean, Lin Kuei is an independent faction that as far as we know, has no ties to any earthrealm government. This alone suggests to keep that independence the clan have to possess their own source of food, water, medical supplies and access to other necessary resources, so no enemy could besiege their strongholds and starve them and so on.

⇒ The medics will be for sure an appreciated branch of the clan. And yes, warriors to some degree must have medical knowledge (if not to save people then at least to know how to successfully kill them) but at the same, with so many specific genes and used in fight elements, some Lin Kuei members may have different medical needs than normal people.

⇒ Armorers (and smiths?) provide clan additional defensive equipment and weapons. And we know that even in modern times Lin Kuei barely used firearms and relied more on shurikens, knives and swords.

⇒ Scientists, computer experts and researchers, especially in modern times when C.I. Project became a thing, most likely playing a big role in the clan, fulfilling Grandmaster’s wish to change warriors into cyborgs. May not be liked by the traditionalist members of Lin Kuei, but favored by the leader (so be untouchable).

⇒ Farmers and craftsmen, providing the clan with the basic needs. I doubt they had much impact on social dynamics and may not even live on the grounds of the Lin Kuei Temple / Fortress. I imagine them living in the surrounding villages (or at the foot of the mountains?), giving the Lin Kuei food and handicrafts (and maybe even their own children?) as a tribute, and in return get protection.

My conclusion is that, Lin Kuei have pretty complex social structures in which Grandmaster and his closes circle administrate the whole system, warriors, depending on their age and expertises, are responsible for earning money and prepare the new generation to replace them, while household is there to keep previously mentioned groups alive and in the best condition. Everyone plays a role that helps to maintain Lin Kuei independence and reputation.

So, finally I get to the main part of the question about the dynamic between characters.

Who outrank who is a good question. The Grandmaster of course is above everyone else and so are the “ancient masters” / inner circle. Bi-Han seems to be one of the favored warriors by Grandmaster, the only(?) one confirmed to be the most cunning assassin and thief and the use of a codename associated with “ancient power” only adds to that impression. So, in regard to the named five characters (him, Kuai Liang, Smoke, Cyrax and Sektor) I would say Bi-Han outranked everyone. At the same time, he does not act arrogant against his fellow clansmen. Okay, to be honest, he seems to not interact much with anyone but that is rather the abrasive, asocial nature of cryomancer than anything else, really. And we have examples from various sources that Bi-Han wasn’t always rude to people around him. (Noob is another deal, but even then he has a more passive-aggressive attitude toward his brother than outright hate / arrogance).

Anyway, Bi-Han outranked the others. And yet, he does not seem to perform any special social functions - except maybe at Grandmaster’s command executing those who failed. In contrast, in MKX intro vs. Sonya, Frost was described by Kuai Liang as “chief among [female Lin Kuei]” which implies her high rank and responsible position in social structures.

One may wonder why Bi-Han most likely wasn’t given similar honor but to be an effective chief, the person must be available and close at hand. Going with Mythologies, the elder Sub-Zero barely came back from one mission (stealing map of elements) to be sent right away for another difficult task (stealing Shinnok amulet and side trip to Netherrealm) and then next one (Mortal Kombat Tournament). Of course, the game due to its limited time and space, won’t focus on realism such as making a proper preparation for the job but even if Bi-Han was allowed little rest between one and another mission, it really looks like he didn’t spend much time at Lin Kuei Temple. Thus there was no point in giving him any big group to oversee, if he wasn’t available to control what was going on between his subordinates. Also, he seems pretty familiar with Smoke and Kuai Liang’s close relationship but there are not many hints that he tried to do something about their breaking clan rules forbidding friendship.

Then again, there is a possibility that Kuai Liang, Smoke, Cyrax and Sektor did in fact belong to Bi-Han’s own “cohort” what could explain

A) why all the five characters are always so closely tied up to each other while the rest of clan members are just a background and

B) why with Sub-Zero’s death everything went to hell between them.

(And again, the amount of duties to female Lin Kuei could keep Frost from leaving headquarters too often, thus no need for partnership with anyone. Because of that, she grew angry at Kuai Liang for “holding her back” and at the same time not respecting enough to grant her the title of Sub-Zero).

Pragmatic resolution to solving inner conflict would be some kind of neutral judge (chief) and the fight for rank and position most likely happened under watch of superior(s). As in, official challenge, especially for top ranks like Sub-Zero. The official fight did not need to end with someone’s death but this could be one of rare situations when a warrior could kill the other fighter - or even the hated teacher / master? - without much consequence. Of course, Lin Kuei proved pragmatism is not always a priority but I strongly believe the clan structures were based on discipline and so arbitrary fights were also severely punished. What is the point of having warriors if they can’t be sent to earn money due to unnecessary injuries? Also, corporal punishment in itself shouldn’t be that big deal for society growing up in brutal ways since early childhood - which is why I suspect that the punishments were administered in public. As a form of humiliation, to force the guilty people to earn respect of fellow warriors again from scratch.

I suspect that warriors could be separated into smaller groups - basing on their special powers or family connection? - that competed with each other. Age could also regulate how one person should act around the others; for example, like youngling around veteran or fully trained fighter. Not sure how this rule could relate to those representing “household”. Were there laws protecting them or could they be bullied/killed on whim? Could warriors even be involved romantically with “servants” / lower class? The good thing from such affair could be the birth of children given to the clan once they were old enough and well, sex with “outsider” in itself can be a good way to relieve the warriors growing tension / stress resulting from living in a brutal environment without complicating things between companions. To be fair, some warriors could have romantic / intimate relationships with each other as well but most likely kept them secret to avoid punishment.

There is also a matter of who and how chose warriors to represent Lin Kuei at Mortal Kombat Tournament. I mean, Bi-Han was always the first choice, supported by the first game and Mythologies but did he choose Sektor and Cyrax as his companions or they naturally were chosen as part of his group or did Grandmaster assign them to Sub-Zero on his own? Dunno but keeping the five named Lin Kuei warriors together through the course of years really makes me think they came from the same, for a lack of better word, a cohort.

Cryomancers most likely stuck together (Bi-Han and Kuai Liang) and Smoke tagged along. Cyrax looks like an easy going type of person who isn't afraid to speak his mind so I wouldn’t be surprised if he were either on good terms with most clan members or pissing the rest while human Sektor, in contrast, is much more introverted, or even withdrawn from social interaction. This is of course only my subjective feeling, but he lacks a dominant presence to make a big impression. Not like the older Sub-Zero or Cyrax. Then we have Tundra!Kuai Liang whose loyalty belongs first and foremost to an older brother than the clan itself and to honor Bi-Han he will get into all sorts of dangerous problems and conflicts not caring for consequences at all. A behaviour that may not sit well with Sektor (even more, if he never had such a strong bond with own father/other people?). Sektor and Kuai Liang have a long history of ideological conflict and I suspect they truly could agree only about not giving up Cyrax’s remains to anyone and whatever was going on, protect the body at all cost.

Interestingly, as much as Kuai Liang and Tomas or Kuai Liang and Cyrax were close and on good terms (especially after the fiasco of C.I. project), Bi-Han and Sektor seem to be much closer to each other. If not in the stricte emotional sense, they at least share the pride in Lin Kuei and strive for perfection (manifesting itself in accepting their drastic changes for example). Even with limited sources, the storyline never(?) put Sektor and Bi-Han against each other, either as humans or cyborg and wraith and I strongly suspect there may be something much deeper about their relationship that lack of interaction on screen could suggest in the first place (x)(x).

Then we have tradition vs technology.

This most likely is a modern issue that could be the basis for serious inner conflicts between warriors. Those taking jobs in Outworld for sure must be powerful fighters, especially since technology is not something working well there. Bi-Han in most if not all sources was a traditionalist who didn’t use much or outright refused to use technology and I wouldn’t be surprised if he worked in Outworld frequently (especially Bi-Han in the newest movie was presented as a close associate of Shang Tsung). For the weaker warriors, advanced technology could be a life-saver. Then there is the whole Cyber Initiative that divided (and ultimately destroyed) Lin Kuei. For such a project, the clan either worked with independent / private researchers and cybernetic experts or actually had its own specialists (another possible social group?).

From MK9 we know Cyrax spoke in public against Grandmaster’s plan. In Defenders of the Realm, Smoke and Kuai Liang run from the clan at the first occasion to avoid such fate. Logically thinking, Sektor (supporter of the advanced technology) should not get along well with Bi-Han (stubborn traditionalist), the same as he fell out with Cyrax, Smoke and Kuai Liang. And yet there is not much evidence suggesting any big conflict between them. Of course, Sektor could simply not speak against his superior(?) the same as he argued with Cyrax but in all fairness, I doubt Bi-Han’s lack of use of technology was a secret not openly critiqued by others. I mean, even comics!Kuai Liang said about his brother that Bi-Han was “stubborn in many ways, refused to utilize modern technology on his missions. A shame, really. He was among the Lin Kuei’s finest --although fast becoming obsolete”. If Sektor and Bi-Han (and the rest of the group) worked together on joint missions, the issue of technology would come sooner than later. Though I suspect that no matter what Sektor would say, Bi-Han outstubborn him anyway. On other hand, it looks like only Sektor needed/chose to use advanced technology (flame thrower) while the rest relied on their special powers. In that case, being Sektor between gifted people for sure was a hard deal.

So, if I have to rank them I would say Bi-Han → Sektor & Cyrax who most likely were at least a bit higher than Kuai Liang (younger cryomancer) and Smoke. In case of conflict, I think as long as it was possible, they solved their problems among themselves. Bringing authority (Grandmaster, one of chiefs(?) or Bi-Han)’s attention was never a good idea because it could lead to public punishment / humiliation. Bi-Han may or may not knock some sense into others if the inner conflict gets out of hand or at least told them into face how idiotic they are (and he is pretty famous for insulting/mocking even those he shouldn’t. Like Quan Chi, a powerful client. Which is why I doubt he would tone down his natural abrasiveness. Especially not for an idiot that actually deserves it ).

And yet, whatever conflict was between those five characters, they still stayed loyal to each other. At least until someone outright broke one of the most punishable laws, like leaving the clan.

For example, Cyrax and Sektor argued about C.I. project - and most likely it was already an ongoing argument between them. Cyrax even was “among those speaking out against the Grand Master’s plan”. Not a good thing for their partnership yet Sektor still vouched for Cyrax when Shang Tsung had his doubts about the man. Or how Bi-Han changed sides during Tournament (MK9) - otherwise his fight against Scorpion would have zero sense - and maybe he did discuss the course of his action with his fellow clan members. But whatever he told or not what was going on, Cyrax was absolutely ready to kill Scorpion to avenge fallen cryomancer (“Scorpion will pay for this!”). Then we have Smoke not abandoning Kuai Liang even though he was already turned into Cyber Sub-Zero and attacked his friend and of course furious Tundra interrupting the Outworld Tournament and literally demanding from the Emperor to bring him Bi-Han’s murderer to kill. Hell, even Noob and Cyber Sektor stick to each other despite everything that happened.

Those five were a really loyal group, weren’t they?

So, in general:

the social structures of Lin Kuei were diverse and complex,

the punishment was harsh and deadly - in some cases, executed by a fellow warrior in public.

Bi-Han most likely had a high position in clan hierarchy but he wasn’t outright called a master

and there is possibility Sektor, Cyrax, Smoke and Kuai Liang worked under his command.

Most of the Lin Kuei members share blood ties to some degree but experiences and skills seem to outrank any family bond. In contrast to friendship, keeping touch with family (within the clan) is rather not forbidden. There may be a conflict between friendship (a choice) and family matters (a fate / tradition of serving Lin Kuei to uphold).

Kuai Liang and Smoke broke clan rules forbidding friendship (and Bi-Han did nothing about that?).

Cyrax most likely were familiar with Tundra and Smoke enough to like / respect each other. In the case of Tomas, the additional factor for keeping together could be the fact that both were born as outsiders (different ethnicity, lack of blood ties to clan).

Cyrax and Kuai Liang had ideological conflict with Sektor, who in turn seems to be on good terms with Bi-Han.

Bi-Han on the other hand seemed to not have any conflict with the four named warriors? Kuai Liang was his brother (and there is no example he was abused in any way by the older sibling, I think?), MK9!Smoke may not be on a first name basis with Bi-Han (didn’t call him in game as anything else than Sub-Zero or Kuai Liang’s brother) but he was accepted as Kuai Liang’s close friend. At the beggining of Tournament, Cyrax was seen on Sub-Zero’s right side and there is the scene-parallel (with Sektor cut off from the frame, the impression is that we were shown the honorable/”good” Lin Kuei) and he showed protectiveness toward Sub-Zero.Then there is Sektor who somehow get along with Bi-Han (and Noob) without any complaints or problems. Of course, Smoke, Cyrax and Sektor could be smart enough to not get in any open conflict with abrasive Bi-Han. Kuai Liang is a whole different matter, I guess.

The named characters in fact didn’t need to like each other but they were taught discipline and loyalty to the group from the start. Though it would be really hilarious if the most abrasive cryomancer with little to no social skills was in fact the one that keep them all together and was a bridge between strong-willed/hotheaded Kuai Liang & Smoke, independent Cyrax and blindly loyal, withdrawn Sektor.

I’m not sure if such a mix of strong personalities was the norm between warrior groups or was it just Bi-Han’s luck to get involved with duos of Tundra-Smoke and Sektor-Cyrax at some point. Anyway, this is my take on social structures and dynamics between Lin Kuei.

Hope it satisfies your curiosity!

[divine-regret-index-j]

Most roguelike hybrids these days hardly get around to personal history between given characters and their obstacles, simply due to having little character in the first place. Some standouts, like Going Under and Hades, manage quite well with thematically-estblishing context for banter. 東方虚舟 ~ Sapphic Starseas Abyss, letting one play as mostly incident sources versus the incident resolvers and sages of Gensokyo, alas, has very few directly personal relationships. One of those exceptions warrants a fair more words for pre-fight than most will otherwise get, even if I'm not greatly experienced with dialogue...

----

----

Her Transcendence had seen her around before, but never gottten around to a direct reunion, to the inevitable confrontation. She'd recognize her former finest operative Hata no Kawakatsu any time, anywhere, in any form. So of course nearing the end of the journey there she was, directly guarding the barrier around the satellite's ruins, lying in ambush under a mere two sublayers of reality.

The Crown Prince shine-slashes through the veil and exposes Matarajin-sama in much later towering resplendence, with myriad elemental arms and nested splitting god-robes, though they're still seated in their sanctified wheelchair. She speaks:

"You may have gathered that I'm much more dramatic these days, so forgive me for the cliche even as we're all alone: you left me behind."

In measured response Miko takes out a flask from her sword-belt, downs her regular hormonal brew, and gestures with it.

"We both left humanity behind, ascending through gender and mortality... though, you seem to have done much better for yourself after all those other emperors. A clandestine divinity of the arts and fates for the infirm and impoverished, so I've learned. You did more for the people of our nation than I ever did."

"You and them merely reshaped the country. I sheltered countless hearts and lives from strife and dwindling faith for centuries!..."

The Sage of the Destitute suddenly shifts and softens from a snarl to a sigh. The Crown Prince flies over and reaches in for a hug.

"Ceaseless administrative duties are always hopelessly exhausting. We meant the best for everyone even if our personal lives drifted away from them all."

"We used to be something."

"We can still be something, my shining star, if you're willing to share... and maybe if you let me through."

"We can talk plenty about your last wife, our child, and that misfortunate ark, once you're held captive for tea, Miss Rising Sun."

Okina's starry lips smirk as her substitute hands slam into the ground, pushing the Prince back with raw providence reverberating down to the soul.

Her Transcendence smirks back unharmed. She did always prefer her partners to be anywhere near as fiery as she is.

BGM, ZONE 30-XYZ BOSS-C: Necro // Hybristo - Future Lost. CC-BY 3.0.

[randomnameless]

This "truth is more important than anything else" thing really pisses me off too. Of course we don't learn what happens to the surviving nabateans after Rhea's reveal at the end of claude's route, and we don't learnt what people might want to do to flayn, or to the sleeping macuil when they learn they can craft golden weapons from their remains

Yep!

I've watched a really... odd movie, once upon a time, where a Mother dies and tells her twins to search for two people their long-lost older brother and their father.

Things happen, and, iirc, the daughter says at one point usually 1+1 = 2, but in their case, 1+1 = 1 ; the son raging at their dead mother, asking why the fuck did she tell them to discover this truth.

What is more important, truth or peace?

Rhea picked "peace", and hid all of Gloucester's actions under the rug, even if it meant hiding her culture, her family and, well, herself for 1k years. Her "peace" breaks when, mostly, the "truth" she hid was distorted and used as a fuel to send a red emperor at her doorstep.

We do not see anyone picking "truth" and living with the consequences in the game - given how Fodlan's humans since to be cut out from the same material as Jugdral's humans, I don't think Flayn, even if she ends up being Queen of Faerghus or Queen of Almyra, is never going to be worried about some schmuck wanting to cut her arm to make a new zweilhander.

It started as a random thought/theory, but became a headcanon - as with everything regarding that guy - but I HC Wilhelm erased some clans, in his "conquer Fodlan" operation more willingly than others, instead of assimilating them in his Empire, if the clan, or anyone from that clan, knew how to "craft Golden Weapons".

It'd be a nice opposition to Rhea, who lies but still hopes, if a human discovers the Truth, she isn't going to be murdered because humans will stop seeing her as something to be looted (that priest in the Abyss Library certainly did) - even if the cons of her lies is to remove the tree hiding the forest, and acknowledge some people have super powers. Humans being Humans, they use this to discriminate and ruler over people they deem inferior.

Willy, the human (and Birdie!) would slaughter instead of lying, so technically they are not "hiding the truth", they are making sure no one knows it and lives long enough to share it. The Fatal Mistake (tm) would be Wilhelm himself, as his descendants were not trustworthy enough to know this secret, and they were used by Agarthans.

Honestly, I would have thought Ao3 might have had more fics about a post FE16 Fodlan where Hanneman (or someone else) built technologies and materials making Nabatean body parts obsolete, no one would need to slaughter them if you could buy a shiny toothpick at your local Walmart !

but it wasn't meant to be

[swtorpadawan]

20. alone, finally (micro story prompt)?

Author’s Notes: Warnings for sexual content. This story takes place sometime in the future - sort of a flash-forward. Taken from the “Send me a number and I’ll write a micro story using the word or phrase” Tumblr prompt, ‘alone finally’. Thank you, @raven-of-domain-kwaad ! Sorry I couldn’t keep it “micro”. )

I’ve finally done it. Kira Carsen thought to herself.

The red-headed not-quite-a-Jedi-anymore was lying face-down on her beach towel, basking in the sun’s rays. She could hear the waves of the ocean crashing peacefully nearby, a pleasant reminder of her tropical environment. Her sun-goggles offered protection for her eyes her deep blues tinted green from the lenses when she bothered to open them. Her bikini had been discarded onto the beach towel next to hers, so confident was she that she was one of just two sentient beings on this planet at the moment, and it freed her from any concerns about avoiding any tan marks against her fair skin.

I’ve finally learned the trick of how to relax by doing absolutely nothing. Her lips smirked, pleased with herself.

Of course, she’d had some… encouragement to get to this point. A certain fatigue had set in, and her body was a bit worn out. After all, yesterday had been a very busy day for her. And then she’d been busy again last night. And then once again this morning before she’d started sunbathing. Twice, in fact.    

Kira had found this world in the Unknown Regions years ago, back when she’d been running with an anti-Zakuulan resistance movement. She’d been surveying planets for potential base locations from where she and her comrades could strike at the Eternal Empire. She’d ultimately rejected this world as a candidate, as there was absolutely no infrastructure to speak of. It was also too remote; the rebels had wanted to operate in hiding, but still with the capability of striking at Zakuul’s supply lines through accessible hyperspace lanes.

But she’d never forgotten this planet. Or its magnificent beaches, and lack of any hostile fauna. It was beautiful. A paradise. Its like Rishi, but without the pirates, the Revanites and the bird people, she observed.

And now, years later, her long-held secret had paid off.

I’ve found a planet where nothing will try to kill us. She pursed her lips in contemplation. Where we can finally be alone together. At last.

She’d have to pick a name for this planet, Kira considered. And a name for this island. And a name for this beach. If she really were the discoverer of this world, then doing all that should be her responsibility.

Just not today. She had more important things to do at the moment.

Kira honestly intended to get up at some point from her sunbathing and to do something exciting. Maybe she’d bust out their hoverbikes from the cargo bay so they could use them as jet skis. Or maybe she’d follow through on her plan to turn those spare bulkhead panels from the ship into surfboards. She’d never actually been surfing, but it certainly looked exciting on the holos she’d seen. Or heck – maybe the two of them could just spar on the beach with their lightsabers. That could be fun, especially if they waited for the moonlight in the evening. That certainly fit Kira’s idea of a romantic night.

These are all good plans. She thought proudly to herself, as her head lay contentedly down on her crossed arms.

She felt him approach her through the Force because of course she did. After these last two days, she doubted either of them would ever lose track of the other again, carbonite prisons be damned.

“You’re going to get sunburned.” He gently chided her.

Groggily, she let out a sigh then lifted her head from her arms to look up at Corellan Halcyon.

The man who had once been called the Hero of Tython, the Battlemaster of the Jedi Order and the Outlander was looking down at her with a bemused expression. Water dripped down from his wet hair and body as he glistened in the sun; he’d been swimming in the ocean for nearly two hours, almost as long as Kira had been laying out in the sun. She watched fascinated as a particular drop of water rolled down the muscles of his broad chest and abdomen down towards his swimming trunks, causing Kira to lick her lips.  

As much as she enjoyed checking him out when his body was glistening like this, she inevitably felt her eyes drawn down to the fourth finger of his left hand.

The band around the finger was ornate, etched with tiny engravings invoking Tython and Odessen, along with the word ‘Eternal’. The metal itself was fairly non-descript; a careful examination by a metallurgist would have revealed that it was actually composed of an alloy of natural materials from several worlds, none of those metals being regarded as particularly precious among the various jewelers of the galaxy.

That wasn’t important to Kira. What mattered to her was what the ring represented.

It meant that Corellan Halcyon was hers, and hers alone.

She absent-mindedly fiddled with the diamond ring wrapped around her own finger with her thumb as she smirked up at him.

“Well, you did quite an impressive job rubbing me down with sunscreen earlier.” She mused, her head tilting towards his towel where the bottle of Alderaanian nectar-scented lotion lay beside her bikini and their lightsabers. Playfully, Kira wiggled her oiled butt up at him. “I feel safe enough from the sun, tough guy.”

Corellan Halcyon’s eyebrows bopped up as it was his turn to admire Kira’s body. He let out a slow exhale as he crouched down beside her… only to find himself ambushed as Kira’s hand reached out and grabbed him by the neck, pulling him towards her for a long, passionate kiss.      

There was no crisis to worry about. The Eternal Alliance back on Odessen would keep the galaxy safe without their famed ‘Alliance Commander’ for a few more days at least. At Kira’s insistence, Teeseven was the only one who knew how to reach them, and it would probably take the Emperor himself returning from the abyss to compel the droid to contact them.

Corellan’s body grew rigid at the contact for only a fraction of a second before he melted into the kiss, wrapping an arm around her. She felt a brief tinge of guilt for startling him like that; she’d chosen this planet not just because it was beautiful, not just because they could be alone, but because Corellan – who had seen enough fighting over the course of his adulthood for twenty lifetimes – had once told her that he had never been to a world where he hadn’t used lethal force to defend himself or others. She knew how much that had worn on him and wanted him to feel like he had seen at least one planet where he hadn’t been forced to kill anything or anyone.

A planet where he could just be… him.

But as she felt his body and his soul start to respond to her touch and his strong arms tightened around her, she knew she’d made the right choice. Here, on this beautiful, unnamed world in the unknown regions, the only thing ambushing him would be her.  

Wasn’t stuff like this what honeymoons were all about? Kira smirked as the kiss finally broke. She playfully pushed him onto his own towel.  

“Here.” She grinned, turning herself onto her back and tucking her arms beneath her head to leave herself completely open. Corellan was practically gawking at her now, eyes widened, unable to look away and looking like he was quite out of breath. She was charmed by his reaction: The two had made love hundreds of times, but he still looked at her like it was his first time seeing her this way.

“I think you might have missed a few spots when you oiled me up this morning.” Kira teased, noting that she’d still been wearing her bikini at the time. “You can make that up to me now, I think.”

Dutifully, attentively, eagerly even, Corellan reached for the bottle, applying ample amounts of the lotion to his hands.

“Yes, my lady.” He answered gallantly, returning her grin.

Kira let out a sigh and closed her eyes as he set to work, lavishing attention on her with the same dedication with which he did everything else in life.

Corellan Halcyon didn’t do anything by half-measures she’d learned long ago. Even relaxed, at ease and happy, this was who he was.

This was the man she had married two days ago.

She felt her legs parting as his skilled and oiled fingers teased her, then gasped as he leaned in and placed a soft kiss just below her naval. Then another gasp escaped her lips as he kissed just a bit lower, still…

Kira sat up suddenly, reaching out and grabbing at his shoulder and gripping him a bit harder than she’d intended. He paused in his ministrations of her body, looking up at her questioningly.

“Know what, tough guy? It’s your honeymoon. You’re over-dressed.” She smirked as she glanced down at his shorts. “Lose those.”  

As Corellan smiled and moved to comply with her command, Kira laid back and watched contentedly.  

Relaxing by doing absolutely nothing is overrated. she thought to herself.

Kira never did get around to learning to surf that day.

She couldn’t complain.

Author’s Notes : I’ll do the wedding story at some point. Honestly, though, it’s a huge thing.