So far as I know, we still don't know the cause of the Mourning. The other day I saw an Eberron motivational that likened Rorschach to a Master Inquisitive. Resultantly, there was a cross-circuited neuron in my brain, and... well... yeah.
What if someone did the math and realized that the then-current population of Cyre was less than the estimated death toll of their projections for the Last War's remaining duration?
What if that someone were mad enough to conclude, by their devil's arithmetic, that every one of those people thus fell into the realm of 'acceptable losses'?
What if that mad someone were brilliant enough to know exactly how to engineer the mysterious and horrifying deaths of those citizens in order to shock the nations of Khorvaire into peace?
What if that mad, brilliant someone also had enough power to bring this plot to fruition?
What if they did?
I'm thinking of stealing the Big Bad plot from Watchmen to use for the Mourning. I'm not sure whether I'll use it for a Last War campaign in which the party tries to prevent the Mourning, or if it'll just be a backstory revelation, but it's definitely how I want to roll until Keith tells me how it really went down.
I'm here to pick brains. I can come up with my own ideas, but I know I can get a richer creation by opening it up to the floor. Taking the above premise, who plays the role of mastermind? Some existent character, or someone new? Is it a conspiracy? How high up does it go? How do they do it?
I imagine the perpetrator choosing their own nation of Cyre because, if they targeted another nation and were caught, it would only exacerbate the war further, but I'd love to hear your take on it.
Any thought you might have would be appreciated.
There is a lot of potential for who could be behind it, but in my opinion, the Dragons or Argonessen seem like good fit - not willing to wipe the continent clean to end this horrible war, but more than willing to obliterate a single nation and shock the lesser races to their senses.
preventing the Mourning is like taking one of the best parts of the setting away.
I agree completely! I said that the party could try to prevent the Mourning. :evillaugh
I agree completely! I said that the party could try to prevent the Mourning. :evillaugh
Aha, touche! That's what I like to hear
I agree completely! I said that the party could try to prevent the Mourning. :evillaugh
Just make sure that the ritual is done say, 35 minutes before the party arrives
There is a lot of potential for who could be behind it, but in my opinion, the Dragons or Argonessen seem like good fit - not willing to wipe the continent clean to end this horrible war, but more than willing to obliterate a single nation and shock the lesser races to their senses.
Why would they take such care?
After all. they jad no qualms about wiping out all of xendrik, sowing it with salts, and posting guardians to make sure NO CIVILISATION EVER APPEARED AGAIN!!
Just because the giants played with magic.
Oh.. and that time that elf lady and her dragon hubbie thought it could be nice if everyone got along?
They wiped out the whole HOUSE.. not just one clan.. or family mind you. THe whoile friggin House of Vol!
I'm pretty sure they'd just wipe Khorvaire if our nagging annoyed them. :D
Taking the above premise, who plays the role of mastermind? Some existent character, or someone new?
The Lord Of Blades. He engineered the Day Of Mourning to end the war and free the warforged.
The Lord Of Blades. He engineered the Day Of Mourning to end the war and free the warforged.
I was actually considering something along these lines (though, perhaps, heading in the opposite direction along them). After all, perhaps the most important part of the villain's plot in Watchmen is that there was an identifiable other which was to blame. With the Mourning, of course, there's no definitively culpable party.
Perhaps whatever mad artificer brought about the Mourning created the Lord of Blades (or is, secretly, the Lord of Blades) as a red herring, a fall-guy that would give the people of Khorvaire a foe against whom to band together in unity. The mastermind was already willing to slaughter the entire nation of Cyre; after that, engineering the genocide of a race of living constructs is practically negligible, especially if said mastermind (perhaps as an artificer who was in on the ground floor of their creation) never regarded warforged as real people to begin with.
Hell, maybe this individual set into motion the mass-production of warforged in Khorvaire with the sole secret intent of creating a pervasive, inhuman 'threat' to pin the Mourning on.
Mmm, webs within webs. This looks like it could get really interesting.
I mean, he IS pretty awesome, and was the instigator of the truce talk at Thronehold.
A lot of people seems to believe that Breland could have won the war if they haden't started the peacetalk up..
Plus Boranel is working toward creating the first democracy. He thinks out of the box, fto give his land - and maybe the world? - its best future.
He could be working with Merrix, funding the experiments towards the warforged.. who was probably created in the main forge in Cyre..
It's logic, cruel and it works. Kinda like blowing up a country to teach the world that war is bad.
Don't know.. just a thought.
:evillaughI would suggest doing this in three parts.
1) Before the Morning with a party who doesn't manage to stop it or find out who is really behind it.
2) a new party after the war that is investigating the Mornland and starts to get too close to the truth.
3) a party of Dark Lanterns who are trying to stop an assassination of the king. It turns out that the first party, from part 1, are trying to get revenge. The look on the players faces when they realize that their old characters are the bad guys should be worth it alone. And when they come to understand that they aren't the bad guys after all, that should be great!
However, this idea will seriously change the tone and landscape of the setting. I wouldn't go for the big reveal until you've been playing for a while and are looking to seriously shake things up.
I mean, he participated in Thronehold, and is a big advocate of the treaty, iirc.
Only problem is, everyone already knows OOC that he's an evil vampire...
It would be Cardinal Krotzen or some other nasty bit of work, and then we loose the heroic aspect again.
Also Ozy was in peak physical condition despite being 40 or so. Sounds like another win for Boranel. The Old Bear.
As for secret genius I don't think we need an INT of 25 - 30. Ozymandias was the height of human perfection. Doc Manhattan represented the SUPERhuman. With age modifiers and upgrades at level up I'd put it at 20 to 22. There's always magic items in DnD too. I think most Monarchs if not all should have enchanted crowns with bonuses to diplomacy, cha etc. It's a minor tweak. I never thought of Boranel as stupid anyways. It's just that he's famous for things that don't involve intelligence. He's been typecast as the typical fighter. It'd just be a strength he keeps hidden a bit below his belt. To that end he feeds the popular image of him as more of a fighter than a great philosopher. This let's others underestimate him but I'm sure his political opponents have wised up he's more than "guy people want to have an ale with."
Wicked powerful magic users? To have created the Mourning? Nah. If I remember his backstory correctly Old B was an adventurer. Specifically in Xendrik right? He could have found something there. An eldritch machine of some sort most likely. Perhaps in another smaller Mournland location. He never mentioned his discovery of course. It was too terrible especially with a war going on. The temptation for that sort of power too great..... Then the war drags on and on. He loses a son (or was it two) and he succumbs to the temptation to finally end this terrible war. He goes back (or sends Bulwark with an elite team of his most loyal and trusted oldest friends probably the guys who adventured with him then liquidated to keep their silence of course just like in Watchmen) to retrieve the eldritch machine... the rest is history.
I still like Boranel more but Merrix is another possibility. Famous, Rich, Genius, Artificer, Runs/Owns a nation spanning business. Ties to the Warforged and Cannith is always floated as a possibility behind the Mourning. But he lacks the popularity of Boranel. Most players instantly like Boranel for no other reason than his public persona and are immediately suspicious of Merrix for the same reason. No good for recreating the Watchmen twist.
So who's Doctor Manhattan?
So that would make Jaela 7 at the time. Though for a nice twist her first accurate prediction could have been "Cyre will be obliterated and it's people scattered to the four winds". Of course at 994 YK nobody is going to believe a seven-year-old saying something like that. A couple of weeks later however... how better to cement your role as Speaker? It also adds a hint of tragedy, if people had listened to her perhaps the disaster could have been prevented.
However, this idea will seriously change the tone and landscape of the setting.
That's the thing. I'm not sure I want to do that. Yes, it would be a totally viable choice, but I don't think I want the entire setting to be plunged into gritty darkness. I think vilifying Boranel would be too large a step in that direction.
Merrix D'Cannith looks like a much better option to me. After all, Ozymandias wasn't a leader. He was a businessman. In order to make it sufficiently shocking to the players, of course, I'll have to make Merrix somewhat endearing and so seemingly benign that one cannot help but underestimate him. Ozymandias' peers seemed to regard him as an ineffectual sell-out, or at the very least that's the impression the narrative gave us of him.
I think there'll be enough of a shocking payoff when the players realize how much they'd underestimated Merrix, and just how much the man behind the facade had been willing to do in the name of peace. That plus the scope of the crime should be shocking enough without making the setting's closest cousin to Santa Claus into the devil.
(This entry should have appeared a handful of posts back; always make sure you clicked 'post', not 'preview'. :nonono
That's the thing. I'm not sure I want to do that. Yes, it would be a totally viable choice, but I don't think I want the entire setting to be plunged into gritty darkness. I think vilifying Boranel would be too large a step in that direction.
Well since that should come at the end of the campaign you can just reset the setting afterwards.
I still like Boranel more but Merrix is another possibility. Famous, Rich, Genius, Artificer, Runs/Owns a nation spanning business. Ties to the Warforged and Cannith is always floated as a possibility behind the Mourning. But he lacks the popularity of Boranel. Most players instantly like Boranel for no other reason than his public persona and are immediately suspicious of Merrix for the same reason. No good for recreating the Watchmen twist.
Although he would be the least likely suspect for it. His house got creamed by the Day of Mourning. The Treaty of Thronehold screwed Cannith's production of Warforged (his main interest). His fellow rivals for the head of House Cannith are as suspect (or more) as he is and are legitimate threats to him. Who would suspect Merrix would do that to himself?
Mr. Celsius, you make a mighty good argument for Boranel. Personally, I'm a gnome fanboy. :P
Although he would be the least likely suspect for it. His house got creamed by the Day of Mourning. The Treaty of Thronehold screwed Cannith's production of Warforged (his main interest). His fellow rivals for the head of House Cannith are as suspect (or more) as he is and are legitimate threats to him. Who would suspect Merrix would do that to himself?
Well Ozymandias too sacrificed much. If we give Merrix the same noble intentions as Ozy then he would sacrifice his family and more for the greater good. Perhaps he had no other choice. Whatever eldritch device caused the Mourning may not have been portable and Cannith could only build it at their HQ? And/or to remove suspicion from Cannith at least that it was done deliberately.
And how much did it really affect Merrix? He still makes Warforged treaty be damned. He got control of a large slice of Cannith's resources/facilities/laborers etc. which is still formidable where before he had access but no control.
hmm. i just got an idea you could use Merrix in the role the PC would be fartest from suspecting. as a hero
Well Ozymandias too sacrificed much. If we give Merrix the same noble intentions as Ozy then he would sacrifice his family and more for the greater good. Perhaps he had no other choice. Whatever eldritch device caused the Mourning may not have been portable and Cannith could only build it at their HQ? And/or to remove suspicion from Cannith at least that it was done deliberately.
Or perhaps it was simply a matter of tactical sacrifice; he could have built it somewhere else, but that ran the risk of discovery. It's easier to build a weapon inside of a country than to smuggle its components into another, after all. And yes, it would further serve to obfuscate his responsibility, which would be important for the purpose of keeping the secret.
And how much did it really affect Merrix? He still makes Warforged treaty be damned. He got control of a large slice of Cannith's resources/facilities/laborers etc. which is still formidable where before he had access but no control.
Is it confirmed fact that Merrix is still making Warforged, or is that simply described as a common rumour? I can see his fellow Cannith cranking out illegal Warforged for their own ends (mostly money, I'd imagine), but since every Warforged created only extends the 'war against the machines' that he engineered, I'm sure there comes a point of diminishing returns in making more, by his numbers. Unless he planned for that, and his family's illegal creations are within the margin for error.
So the question is, is Merrix really making Warforged, or is it just a rumour he spreads so that he seems to be doing what he would be doing? Hell, maybe he is making illegal Warforged for that very reason; it'd be suspicious if he weren't. Can anyone think of any more engaging purpose?
Okay, so here's the general plot outline I have in mind. Suggestions for improvement are, of course, very welcome.
✦ Decades before the end of the Last War, Merrix d'Cannith the Younger came to the logical conclusion (either through genius intellect or perhaps with the aid of a prototypical eldritch thinking engine of some sort) that the Last War could not end of its own accord for at least another century, more likely several more. Despite the security this would mean for his house, Merrix vowed secretly to create peace, and constructed a plan by which he could do so.
✦ He immediately green-lit the production of his own son's design for a truly sentient construct; it had been trapped in the development phase as Cannith tried to find a way to keep its intellect but remove its free will, but in order for his plans to come to fruition, Merrix knew they had to begin mass-production now. Besides, potentially disloyal Warforged, and the fear that could inspire in the races of Khorvaire, was just what he'd need.
✦ Merrix immediately began work on his greatest and most terrible creation; the device which would obliterate his homeland. Decades in the making, he worked in a secret forge manned only by Warforged slaves. He hid the secret project behind other secret projects, and miraculously nobody found out what he was really up to.
✦ In the final years of the conflict, House Cannith cracked the 'free will' barrier; they were able to create Warforged with specific personalities, and obedience to particular causes. This was not publicly announced, as it was viewed more valuable as a clandestine option for wealthy buyers. Merrix the Younger used this new technology to build what may have been his second-greatest creation, a Warforged more powerful, more brilliant than any that had come before. Ingrained into its very soul was a hatred of the races of Khorvaire, the 'knowledge' that it was responsible for the incipient Mourning, and a need to rally and lead its fellow Warforged in bloody revolution against them. He called it the Lord of Blades.
✦ When he completed the creation that would destroy Cyre, Merrix sealed his secret lab, imprisoning hundreds of Warforged slaves, along with the Lord of Blades, deep below the nation's surface. This was a kindness, for though it would take them the better part of a year to claw their way to daylight, they would be shielded from the ravages of the Mourning.
✦ On the Day of Mourning, Merrix left in no great hurry for some business for which he was needed outside of Cyre. In his wake he left his family, his friends, all the people he could not risk warning for fear that his secret would be lost. He also left orders with a Warforged slave to activate a device it didn't recognize at a particular time of day. The Warforged did so, and the Mourning took Cyre.
✦ However much Merrix might have wanted to die with his kin at the culmination of his plot, his work wasn't over. As its only conspirator, he had to see it through to the end. He grieved, oversaw his share of House Cannith's recovery, and pretended to be furious when the Treaty of Thronehold was signed, but everything he did was with one eye turned toward the blasted ruin of his home, the Mournland he had created. It was an eye of remorse, but also of expectation.
✦ Not long after Thronehold, Merrix's entombed Warforged escaped their deep prison and came together with others of their kind who now lived in the wasteland that had been Cyre. The Lord of Blades wasted no time in gathering the scattered surviving Warforged -- numbering in the thousands -- and creating a unified people. Creating an army.
Now, I see room for a dramatic happening, unimportant to the flow of the timeline but telling and powerful in itself; Merrix the Elder uncovers his son's plot, or at least enough of it to be able to ruin everything. When he goes to his son to reason with him, Merrix the Younger apologizes to his father and unhesitatingly murders him. He conceals his father's death in the Mourning, accelerating his plans slightly in order to do so.
So, the Lord of Blades is a deliberately-manufactured red herring. He believes that he caused the Mourning, and will loudly proclaim such when he attacks Khorvaire. According to Merrix's plan, the Lord's silence up until this point has allowed a period of unity and peace, now when he comes forward it will tie up the loose end of what happened on the Day of Mourning, and give the nations of Khorvaire the satisfaction of standing together in vengeance.
(Note that I'm not suggesting a total Warforged uprising; the Lord of Blades was built to be a minor threat, and will only be leading a minority of Warforged. Nonetheless, hostilities by a legion of Warforged combined with blaming the Mourning on them would likely be enough to amend the Warforged rights granted by the Treaty of Thronehold and see them all captured and dismantled in the name of the greater good.)
Unfortunately for Merrix, one thing has not gone according to plan; the device he built to cause the Mourning was not destroyed in its activation. Perhaps he simply built it too well, perhaps at its core was alien technology from Xen'drik he didn't fully understand, or perhaps there was enough of it left over for the Warforged to rebuild it. Whatever happened, the Lord of Blades now has control of the single greatest superweapon Khorvaire has ever seen, and a hankering to use it. Fortunately, it's too large to be moved, right? Oh, but aren't there rumours that the Lord of Blades is overseeing the construction of a gigantic Warforged? Troubling indeed.
So there's potential for a current-day campaign as well. The players could be Merrix's agents, working on a need-to-know basis, learning the whole story over the course of their adventure. Perhaps Merrix even goes along with the party, risking a journey into the Mournland despite his advancing age, determined not to see his work to save Khorvaire prove only to be its ultimate destruction.
Oh, and if the 'eldritch thinking engine' idea flies (even a genius could need help processing the countless variables of a centuries-long war), what if it turns out to be the true threat behind it all? The Lord of Blades scavenged it and, for whatever reason (programming damaged by the Mourning, newfound sentience wanting revenge) it shows him where the device that caused the Mourning is, how to repair it if necessary, and how to use it. Hell, maybe the thinking engine still had the old 'peace' objective in its programming, but had come to the conclusion that Khorvaire could only find peace in death. In this version of events I see the Lord of Blades as a powerful warrior and charismatic leader, with the eldritch machine as the true sinister intellect behind this latest threat.
That's what I'm thinking, anyway. The stuff in bullet points I have pretty clear in my head (but it's not set in stone), while the rest is just sort of off-the-cuff ideas. What you you folks think? Anything you'd change? Add? Remove? I'd love to hear.
EDIT: By the way, THANK YOU SO MUCH, Keith, for a setting so rich and exciting that I can have this kind of fun in and with it. This has been the first time I've felt the joy of cracking open my 3.5 books, paging through to find this bit, opening another book to cross-reference that bit, (all with that mad gleam of creation in my eyes that was once the domain of character building) since I started playing 4e. Thank you.
Okay, so here's the general plot outline I have in mind.
I love this. Thankyou.
If I steal it, I won't use the thinking machine. Perhaps an information-gathering machine (like Ozymandias's wall of TVs), but a thinking machine seems to cheapen the antagonist's intelligence.
I love this. Thankyou.
Thanks! I'd say Keith Baker, Alan Moore, and Studio Foglio (I've been reading a lot of Girl Genius lately) should get most of the credit. I just happened to be the guy in whose brain their ideas crashed into each other. ;)
If I steal it, I won't use the thinking machine. Perhaps an information-gathering machine (like Ozymandias's wall of TVs), but a thinking machine seems to cheapen the antagonist's intelligence.
I was worried about that myself, but I think it could work all right. Honestly, there are so many environmental, sociological, statistical, economic, and other factors involved in creating an accurate projection of a centuries-long war that it damn near taxes believability with a supergenius like Ozymandias, much less a mere genius like Merrix. I don't think it necessarily detracts for him to be brilliant enough to build a machine that does the mental heavy lifting for him.
Also, plot-wise, I'm leaning toward the thinking engine being the true third-act villain. The party confronts and defeats the Lord of Blades (obviously, we're talking epic campaign here), thinking they've kept him from unleashing the Warforged God-Engine upon Khorvaire, only to see it rise up from the sand of its own accord and set off toward the nearest nation. That's when they find that not only was the Mourning Device built into it, but so was the thinking engine that told the Lord of Blades how to do so.
Cue a final bout of action as the party has to board the lumbering titan, fight their way through its internal defenses, and deactivate its sinister intelligence once and for all before it makes it to a city. Hell! Maybe once he sees that the abomination he helped to create means to destroy everything, not just the humanoid races, the Lord of Blades sides with the party to bring it down.
Again, none of this is set in stone, and anyone can take whatever they want and leave the rest. Just thinking out loud to share ideas and see what we can come up with. I don't even know what my own final draft will be at this point. I'm having too much fun exploring the distance between the idea and its final draft to be in any hurry to narrow things down. ;)
Is it confirmed fact that Merrix is still making Warforged, or is that simply described as a common rumour?
For us DM's it's canonical fact(with the eternal caveat we can change whatever we like to no longer be fact) For players it's a common rumor. For the regular inhabitants of Khorvaire the rumor is that Cannith is still building warforged but less foolish people realize that's just fearful whisperings and paranoia.
Thinking-Machine=Xulo?
I was worried about that myself, but I think it could work all right. Honestly, there are so many environmental, sociological, statistical, economic, and other factors involved in creating an accurate projection of a centuries-long war that it damn near taxes believability with a supergenius like Ozymandias, much less a mere genius like Merrix. I don't think it necessarily detracts for him to be brilliant enough to build a machine that does the mental heavy lifting for him.
I don't have the book in front of me, but Stormreach: City of Storms talks about the Caldyn Fragments, a series of translations and interpretations of the Draconic Prophecy by a human scholar. IIRC, the Caldyn fragments prophesy a time of great upheaval followed by peace (or at least some experts interpret it that way).
Perhaps Merrix got a hold of the Fragments, interpretted the prophecy into statisical data, and came up with his conclusions that way. Why use a super-computer when you've got the brainpower of dragons?
I don't have the book in front of me, but Stormreach: City of Storms talks about the Caldyn Fragments, a series of translations and interpretations of the Draconic Prophecy by a human scholar. IIRC, the Caldyn fragments prophesy a time of great upheaval followed by peace (or at least some experts interpret it that way).
Perhaps Merrix got a hold of the Fragments, interpretted the prophecy into statisical data, and came up with his conclusions that way. Why use a super-computer when you've got the brainpower of dragons?
Because the brainpower of dragons is less likely to hijack the Becoming God and go on a rampage of destruction across Khorvaire? :D Actually, if I wasn't simply more keen on the eldritch thinking engine (I'm rather liking the idea that it has an unknown sinister origin, perhaps an artifact of the Daelkyr, and that it's been pretending to be a mindless number-cruncher for House Cannith until just such an opportunity as this*) I'd be all over this. Shades of Megatron and the Golden Discs, intricate strategy made possible through unerring prophecy.
*EDIT: Holy crap! What if it was lying to Merrix when it made the projections about the war?!
I was toying with a similar idea myself for Eberron. I'm thinking about a campaign with a 3 acts structure:
- Act1: During the war. The PCs are soldiers of one of the armies involved in the conflict
- Act2: After the war. The PCs become cover operatives working for one of the shadow war organizations (e.g. Dark Lanterns)
- Act3: Upon discovering a massive conspiracy involving their own organization the PCs become rogue agents/rebels, acting independently to thwart the machination
This would broadly match the Heroic/Paragon/Epic progression.
The climax of Act1 would obviously be the Mourning. Here I would love to confront the players with this huge moral dilemma between stopping the war or saving the nation of Cyre. I think this will make for an excellent roleplay situation, where the players would really need to decide and act according to their characters ethos rather than their own.
I understand this could have a big impact on the rest of the campaign and the setting itself, but I'm willing to put this at stake. If even just a single character in the party decide upon letting the Mourning happen chances are that's how the events are going to unfold anyway.
*EDIT: Holy crap! What if it was lying to Merrix when it made the projections about the war?!
Shoot, I took that for a given. Play enough D&D, and you realize everyone is evil or tricked into doing evil deeds.
That's very a good campaign seed/plot you have here.
Thanks.
I was toying with a similar idea myself for Eberron. I'm thinking about a campaign with a 3 acts structure: ... This would broadly match the Heroic/Paragon/Epic progression.
I like that structure as a story device, and will definitely be stealing it. I've been giving some thought to the campaign that would be culminating with the revelation of the Mourning plot, and I like the idea of the tiers being discernible not only mechanically, but story-wise. I want my players to look back on level 21 as the moment '
just got real'. MrCelsius, I say go with the Eldritch Thinking Machine. Your intuition have got you to this point, so I say keep on rolling.
Well, my intuition and the support and collaboration of you fine forumfolk, for which I am grateful. But yeah, I think I will keep rolling. Expect a new post in this forum outlining the campaign idea that's grown up around this plot.
Shoot, I took that for a given. Play enough D&D, and you realize everyone is evil or tricked into doing evil deeds.
Maybe I'm just too naive for this DMing business... ;)
I'd recommend using a Quori/Daelkyr/aberration/psychic monster to be the thing that wiped out Cyre. Merrix could have found out that the creation forges were originally built to produce weapons to counter the psychic forces of dream/nightmare. And using that knowledge, he tapped into something even more alien, the Far Realm.
http://forums.gleemax.com/showpost.php?p=15213255&postcount=730
This thread is late to the party....
Yes! That's the one. I was up until stupid o'clock reading those motivators, passed out, and woke up thinking of a Watchmen Mourning. I completely forgot about that motivator in particular, and could only remember a Rorschach/Master Inquisitive one (or maybe I conflated yours with another :confused
.So there you have it, folks! Xaxor planted the original idea seed in my warped and faulty brain. To paraphrase the saying, a good DM borrows, a great DM steals! I'm only interested in stealing ideas; credit I happily pass back to Xaxor.
That aside I have to say some amazing stuff Mr Celcius, you've taken an amazing idea and dovetailed in nicely into the Eberron setting. Now we just have to figure out which character gets to be Dr Manhattan?
Expect a new post in this forum outlining the campaign idea that's grown up around this plot.
Said post to be found here for those who are interested. Since I'd rather not spoil Watchmen for people who opted not to click this thread, I'd appreciate if nobody specifically back-referenced to this thread in that one or commented openly on the Watchmen connection in the other. Your input is still very much appreciated, of course. Thanks.
What if someone did the math and realized that the then-current population of Cyre was less than the estimated death toll of their projections for the Last War's remaining duration?
What if that someone were mad enough to conclude, by their devil's arithmetic, that every one of those people thus fell into the realm of 'acceptable losses'?
What if that mad someone were brilliant enough to know exactly how to engineer the mysterious and horrifying deaths of those citizens in order to shock the nations of Khorvaire into peace?
What if that mad, brilliant someone also had enough power to bring this plot to fruition?
What if they did?
I knew I'd never see Watchman because I'm too lazy, but I decided to avoid the spoilers of this thread until now, when I decided what the heck. I just read this, and I hope you realize that this isn't so much the plot to Watchmen, as an actual event. The US's official reasoning for nuking Japan twice was to force Japan to surrender, as there would be less deaths.
Now we just have to figure out which character gets to be Dr Manhattan?
Perhaps that Warforged guy from the novels who has a body made of metal shards?
In the Dreaming Dark novels there's a mysterious NPC who appears to be a warforged, with his body made out of a cloud of shards of metal. Goes by the name Harmattan. I'm not sure if the survives the third novel though. Someone shoul ask the Hellcow.
Finish the book bro, he is a Warforged, abit, a highly unique one...