scrape_r_rational/data/cache2/2lobc0.md

## The Two Year Emperor - Ch69: of the End

* Author: u/eaglejarl *
* URL: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9669819/69/The-Two-Year-Emperor
* Score: 31

* Created: 2014-11-08T14:25:18

### Post:

[Link to content](https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9669819/69/The-Two-Year-Emperor)

### Comments:

> **u/eaglejarl** [+8]  (an hour later)
> 
> Oh, by the way everyone, I need to own up:  /u/drageuth2 was the one who came up with the idea for black-hole-time-dilating Neklos out of the way. I just figured out how to make it not-suicidal.  I had forgotten to add the attribution, but it's up now. 
> 
> *bow to the master*

>> **u/drageuth2** [+2]  (4 hours later)
>> 
>> To be fair, the black hole plan I came up with was more convoluted, more dangerous, and designed for _Afi_.  I would have never thought to try it against a god.  You've taken a decent idea and turned it into a completely brilliant one, so you deserve just as much credit!

>>> **u/eaglejarl** [+3]  (5 hours later)
>>> 
>>> What *was* your original idea, anyway?  I forget.  I just remembered that you had proposed this idea with a black hole, but not the details.  I think it was in [this old thread](http://www.reddit.com/r/rational/comments/2a2vrk/q_if_you_were_jake_in_the_two_year_emperor_what/) but I couldn't find it.

>>>> **u/drageuth2** [+2]  (5 hours later)
>>>> 
>>>> I think the meat of it was to get Afi into a dimension-locked portable hole, PAO a singularty into it, and then close the hole before the gravity from the singularity reaches the entrance via a readied action.

>>>>> **u/eaglejarl** [+3]  (5 hours later)
>>>>> 
>>>>> Ah.  So, basically this, then.

>>>>>> **u/drageuth2** [+2]  (5 hours later)
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Basically, but my way leaves you with a hazardous portable hole that has to be disposed of, lest someone opens it and destroys the world.  And Neklos can probably get Afi out, whereas your way _takes care of Neklos directly_ and no other gods are gonna intervene on his behalf.  The good ones won't touch him, and the evil ones would rather take over his schemes for their own purposes.

> **u/bulls55** [+7]  (9 hours later)
> 
> So is Suzy the most powerful mortal on the planet? I mean she did beat one if not the most powerful god in the universe even if she didnt kill him, that at least should give her a collosal level up. By the way does anyone know how much experience one would get by beating a god?

>> **u/Quietus42** [+8]  (13 hours later)
>> 
>> >   By the way does anyone know how much experience one would get by beating a god?
>> 
>> I'm pretty sure the answer is "All of it".

>>> **u/JosephLeee** [+3]  (17 hours later)
>>> 
>>> Enough to become a god?

>>>> **u/Quietus42** [+1]  (17 hours later)
>>>> 
>>>> I would think yes. Unless other gods step in a cheat her out of it.

>>>>> **u/JosephLeee** [+4]  (17 hours later)
>>>>> 
>>>>> Actually, given the time dilation, I don''t think she will ever get the XP.

>>>>>> **u/frodo_skywalker** [+6]  (18 hours later)
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Although she doesn't need to kill Neklos to get XP, just defeat him. Which it looks like she has.

> **u/None** [+10]  (an hour later)
> 
> ***Woah.*** GOAT move Suze. Not quite sure how they survived, or what the hell that thing was that she flicked at Neklos, but this might be the most excited I've ever been for a new chapter.
> 
> And where are the others? Were Suze and Jake the only survivors from that room?

>> **u/eaglejarl** [+13]  (an hour later)
>> 
>> GOAT move?
>> 
>> They survived because Suze totally speedbagged the rules.  Specifically, here's what she did:
>> 
>> 1. Pull a spell component from her pouch. (free action, takes zero time)
>> 1. Cast Plane Shift (standard action, you only get one per round)
>> 1. Cast Celerity (immediate action, provides a readied action to cast another spell)
>> 1. Using that readied action, cast PAO to create a black hole.
>> 
>> The way readied actions work is that they interrupt another action zero time before that action happens. Because of this, a series of actions and readied actions resolves last-to-first.  So, here's what actually happened:
>> 
>> 1. The PAO went off, creating a black hole which would have trapped them in time dilation (which is what happened to Neklos)...
>> 1. Zero time later, the Plane Shift went off, dragging Suze and Jake (whom she was holding on to) out of the room and back to the Prime Material...
>> 1. Zero time later, as they were in the middle of Plane Shifting, she threw a piece of antimatter into the room.
>> 
>> Where did the AM come from?  Well, every wizard has a [spell component pouch](http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Spell_Component_Pouch).  "[A] spell component pouch is assumed to [contain] all the material components and focuses needed for spellcasting, except for those components that have a specific cost, divine focuses, and focuses that wouldn’t fit in a pouch. "
>> 
>> The material component for the spell [Major Creation](http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/majorCreation.htm) (which is based off of [Minor Creation](http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/minorCreation.htm) and therefore has the same material component) is "A tiny piece of matter of the same sort of item you plan to create"  So, if you want to use Major Creation to produce antimatter, that means that your spell component pouch somehow contains antimatter...but hasn't blown up because *rules*.  A spell component pouch isn't magical, so it wasn't disrupted by the Disjunctions that the heroes were hit with back in the Receiving Room.
>> 
>> The reason for the AM was to destroy the gems that were trapping everyone's souls (and material bodies), and then to destroy those material bodies.  With them dead, they can be resurrected from outside the hole.
>> 
>> Neklos isn't dead, and he will Plane Shift out of the black hole and back to the Prime Material next round.  Of course, what he thinks of as "next round" will be several trillion years (or more) in the outside universe....
>> 
>> EDIT:  I should have mentioned:  the reason she was able to do all this before Neklos could do anything was because she caught him in a [surprise round](http://www.d20srd.org/srd/combat/initiative.htm).  He wasn't aware that she was a combatant, so he was caught flat-footed and unable to take any actions.

>>> **u/None** [+5]  (an hour later)
>>> 
>>> GOAT: Greatest of All Time
>>> 
>>> For some reason, in my first read-through, I totally missed the colons in that phrase. Now it makes sense. Thanks for the extra explanation, too: that "Zero time later" interruption thing is extremely abusable. Glad to see it used well.
>>> 
>>> Gods can't time travel, right? Neklos is gonna be *pissed*.
>>> 
>>> Amazingly thought-out, as usual. Thanks for another fantastic chapter, based /u/eaglejarl!

>>>> **u/eaglejarl** [+6]  (2 hours later)
>>>> 
>>>> > Gods can't time travel, right? 
>>>> 
>>>> Nope.  
>>>> 
>>>> >Neklos is gonna be pissed.
>>>> 
>>>> And he's welcome to tell the great(3||||||3)-grandchildren of the Big Damn Heroes all about it.  :>

>>>>> **u/Putnam3145** [+4]  (a day later)
>>>>> 
>>>>> > 3||||||3
>>>>> 
>>>>> Assuming those are supposed to be up arrows... I think that's an exaggeration. I mean, it's gonna be a long time, but that's a *really really really really really really* big number you posted there, at least when it comes to generational timescales.

>>>>>> **u/eaglejarl** [+1]  (a day later)
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> At the event horizon of a black hole, time stops completely. inside a black hole, no one knows what happens but it's probably similar. Even if Neklos ever gets to act again, the universe will probably have ended.

>>>> **u/Chronophilia** [+1]  *sci-fi ≠ futurology* (8 hours later)
>>>> 
>>>> >Gods can't time travel, right? Neklos is gonna be pissed.
>>>> 
>>>> Shailos did a little bit of causality violation to resurrect Jake, but it was apparently very difficult (even just to reach back a few hours) and was probably related to his portfolio somehow.

>>> **u/None** [+3]  (4 hours later)
>>> 
>>> [deleted]

>>>> **u/eaglejarl** [+2]  (4 hours later)
>>>> 
>>>> The point was exactly to get rid of his soul.  His soul is permanently bonded to the Godshard, which gives Neklos power over him.  He had no way of getting the shard out on his own, and no way to get rid of his soul completely.  Basically what he did was to make a lifeboat for himself by copying himself into a different body, then destroying the original one.  The new one has no soul and so it can't regenerate at the phylactery the way Afi can.  In fact, it can't heal *at all*, without the help of a complicated ritual that requires lab tools.  Still, it's better than being permanently under Neklos's thumb.
>>>> 
>>>> Best of all, Neklos is *absolutely certain* that Afi is dead; Afi's soul is sitting right there in his hand, after all.  He'll never bother looking for a copy of Afi elsewhere.

>>>>> **u/None** [+1]  (5 hours later)
>>>>> 
>>>>> [deleted]

>>>>>> **u/eaglejarl** [+1]  (5 hours later)
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> > Does the shard have some influence over Afi even when Neklos isnt puppeting him or something?
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> It hasn't been stated but it might.  Even if it doesn't, the team winning wasn't certain; Afi wanted to be sure.

>>>>>>> **u/None** [+1]  (5 hours later)
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> [deleted]

>>>>>>>> **u/eaglejarl** [+1]  (9 hours later)
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> Well, the immediate plan was just to get himself out from under Neklos.  After that, he'll start looking for ways to get his soul back, if there are any.

>>>>>>>>> **u/notentirelyrandom** [+2]  (a day later)
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> I'm not familiar with Lich King time scales. Is it feasible to just wait a few trillion years for the singularity to evaporate and then just take the soul from a Neklos with zero worshippers?

>>>>>>>>>> **u/eaglejarl** [+4]  (a day later)
>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>> Well, liches don't age and are tough as hell to kill so, in theory, yes.  In practice they *can* be outfought and are still subject to accidental death.  This usually isn't a problem for them because if killed they just regenerate back at their phylactery (where their soul is).  The Afi-lifeboat-created-by-Mindscrape doesn't have a soul and therefore doesn't have a phylactery, so he can't....
>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>> Oh, hang on.
>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>> Humans can go through the ritual to become a lich and make a phylactery.  So, if lifeboat-Afi PAOs into a human, he could do the enlichment ceremony, which would give him a soul and a phylactery.
>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>> That's just nuts.  And I love it.

>>>>>>>>>>> **u/drageuth2** [+2]  (a day later)
>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>> Yeah, didn't we once have a conversation about how Afi himself probably has _multiple_ phylacteries, because he could PAO himself human and repeat the lichdom ceremony?

>>>>>>>>>>>> **u/eaglejarl** [+2]  (a day later)
>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>> Ah, yes.  We did, thanks for the reminder.

>>>>>>>>>>>>> **u/drageuth2** [+1]  (a day later)
>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Way I figured it when I was first reading, that's why Afi agreed to the plan so easily.  He only argued with them so that he could keep up plausible deniability and divert them from figuring that out.

>>>>>>>>>>>> **u/MoralRelativity** [+1]  (a day later)
>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>> Are you sure that the lichdom ceremony *creates* a soul if the human is without one?

>>>>>>>>>>>>> **u/drageuth2** [+2]  (a day later)
>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>> I don't think the lichdom ceremony creates one, I think PAO does it.
>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Biggest hint I can see for that is that undead beings become susceptible to spells like programmed amnesia and mindscrape once you PAO them into a mortal body.  I think those spells might work by altering the soul along with the mind since they can do things like change alignment.  Undead normally can't be effected by these things not because they're _mindless_ (Afi would probably have a few choice words for you if you claimed that) but rather because they're _soulless._ So that might indicate that they get a soul when they're in the right body.
>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Another bit of evidence: Neklos is using PAO to create humans, and then ghouls to drain them and turn them into more ghouls.  The ghoulification process and undead creation in general (especally the creation of intelligent undead like vampires, who probably make up the priesthood of Neklos) probably requires a soul to be consumed/corrupted.  So the PAO-people probably have souls.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>> **u/eaglejarl** [+3]  (a day later)
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >  I think those spells might work by altering the soul along with the mind since they can do things like change alignment.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> They do.  It was stated a few chapters ago that Mindscrape has a spiritual component, which is why it can change someone's alignment.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> > Neklos is using PAO to create humans, and then ghouls to drain them and turn them into more ghouls. 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Technically *Afi* is doing that.  Neklos wants him to, of course, but needs to keep some plausible deniability.  Even the other Death-oriented gods would jump on him if he were caught doing it himself.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>> **u/MoralRelativity** [+2]  (a day later)
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Thanks for sharing your reasoning. It seems sound to me.

>>>>>>>>>>> **u/None** [+2]  (a day later)
>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>> [deleted]

>>>>>>>>>>>> **u/eaglejarl** [+3]  (a day later)
>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>> Feh.  You and your stupid rules-knowledge, ruining all my fun.  :P

>>>>>>>>>>>>> **u/None** [+1]  (a day later)
>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>> [deleted]

>>>>>>>>>>>>>> **u/eaglejarl** [+1]  (a day later)
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> A ring of wishes won't supply XP (I got caught out on that earlier); you'd need to use a scroll of Gate to summon something that will grant you an SLA wish. (You can't cast Gate either, since it burns XP.)
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Other than that, I love this.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> **u/None** [+1]  (2 days later)
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> [deleted]

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> **u/eaglejarl** [+1]  (2 days later)
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> > Find a psion
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> No psionics around, I'm afraid.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> As to the Wish / XP / SLA thing -- if you need to have the XP in the ring, just Wish for a RotW that has XP in it and Bob's your uncle.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> As to moving bodies...one of the tricks with D&D is that just having the knowledge isn't good enough.  You also need to have the levels, which you only get through XP.  Afi switched into an Ice Assassin of himself, so he didn't give up much (if anything) in the way of spellcasting ability (his body had the spell slots).  Shifting into, say, a 1st-level commoner?  Unclear whether it's the body's spell slots or the mind's spell slots that matter.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> **u/None** [+1]  (2 days later)
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> [deleted]

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> **u/eaglejarl** [+1]  (2 days later)
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Well, it's not specified anywhere if the class abilities are part of the mind of the body. Absent RAW on the issue, I would choose "whichever makes a better story".

>>>>>>>>>>> **u/None** [+1]  (2 days later)
>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>> How can he just get another soul?  Doesn't he have one even if it's in a black hole?
>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>> Is a soul without an owner a  just a commodity waiting to be linked to a mind?

>>>>>>>>>>>> **u/eaglejarl** [+1]  (2 days later)
>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>> There's currently two Afi's. The original is(*) stuck in a black hole. His soul is in a Phylactery somewhere, probably outside he black hole. 
>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>> The other is a copy of him in the soulless body of an Ice Assassin. 
>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>> (*) probably, anyway. Jake wasn't looking as he Plane Shifted out.

>>>>>>>>>>>>> **u/None** [+1]  (2 days later)
>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Cheers.  Guess I missed that part, does make sense.  Keep up the good work.  I really look forward to the weekends and my email update for a new chapter.

>>> **u/ansible** [+2]  *The Culture* (2 hours later)
>>> 
>>> That all probably needs to be in the author's notes somewhere.
>>> 
>>> Well done!

>>>> **u/eaglejarl** [+1]  (3 hours later)
>>>> 
>>>> It's going to be discussed between the characters next chapter

>>> **u/Gauntlet** [+2]  (9 hours later)
>>> 
>>> Well that was super well thought out. I'm wondering if Suze is going to end up Empress in ~1.5 years. But I have the dreaded feeling that she's going to get too close to ascending at some point into the goddess of badassary and the other Gods erasing her before it happens. 
>>> 
>>> Also kind of wishing that Suze was called Suzy instead. Then we could have gotten the line "Suzy do that thing!" before kicking Neklos into next week.

>>>> **u/eaglejarl** [+3]  (10 hours later)
>>>> 
>>>> > Well that was super well thought out.
>>>> 
>>>> Thanks.  You have *no idea* how much time I spent figuring out all the little fiddly bits on that.
>>>> 
>>>> > "Suzy do that thing!" 
>>>> 
>>>> I don't recognize the reference and my Google-fu is failing.  Explain, please?

>>>>> **u/Gauntlet** [+1]  (10 hours later)
>>>>> 
>>>>> There's a character in Legend of Korra called Zhu Li who is essentially Suze. Zhu Li is is as far as I can tell telepathic as her boss Varrick need only say "Zhu Li do that thing!" Zhu Li then invariably does that thing. 
>>>>> 
>>>>> ["Do the Thing!" compilation](http://youtu.be/Uvw0t7SpKKQ).

>>>>>> **u/None** [+3]  (16 hours later)
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> You know, mayhaps I shall watch this show, after all.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> I was a little put off by the ending of the original avatar (No, Aang. Sometimes, you needs to kills the villain. To death. So that he dies. Really.), but perhaps LoK will be less irritating.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> If I might pick your brains, is Korra as annoying as Aang with the whole "Thou shalt not ~~do cool things~~ kill", and/or is she annoyingly proud of being the Avatar? Those two are pet peeves, so I need to know how prevalent they are so I know how strong a drink to nurse with each episode.

>>>>>>> **u/Kodix** [+2]  (17 hours later)
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> I really, really enjoyed the original Avatar (even though you're right about the ending, but eh. Kid's show.), but I can't bloody stand Korra. Watched one season of it, and just couldn't get into it.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> > and/or is she annoyingly proud of being the Avatar
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> She is. Very annoyingly so.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> >is Korra as annoying as Aang with the whole "Thou shalt not do cool things kill"
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Not really. She's a bit of an opposite of Aang in this respect. Which ends up an annoying flaw, also, because she just comes off as a dumb brute most of the time. 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> But that's my gripes with it. I suggest you watch the first season and decide for yourself.

>>>>>>>> **u/Gauntlet** [+1]  (17 hours later)
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> You really need to keep watching. Korra and the entire cast show great development. It's as if the events in their lives actually mean something to them. There's much less "I'm the avatar deal with it!" and more "Am I relevant in the present world?" 
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> Each season has gotten better and fixed many flaws from previous seasons. I ain't watch TV while doing something else so I tend to not really see the flaws.

>>>>>>>>> **u/ArisKatsaris** [+1]  *Sidebar Contender* (21 hours later)
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> I felt that Season 2 was slightly worse than Season 1 (which itself was slightly worse than the first series), but Season 3 was marvellous, and Season 4 looks to be as good as 3.

>>>>>>>> **u/bbrazil** [+1]  *NERV* (20 hours later)
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> Season 3 is where it hit it's stride. Season 4 is strong so far.

>>>>>>>>> **u/GeeJo** [+1]  *Custom Flair* (2 days later)
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> While comparisons to A:TLA are a bit passé at this point, I'd say Korra's Season 4 is about on par with the *average* of ATLA, while Season 3 is up there with the best of it.

>>> **u/Drexer** [+1]  (2 hours later)
>>> 
>>> Won't the time dilation slow down the time to their deaths too? The fastest death they would suffer would be from the energy from the matter-antimatter reaction reaching them in (distance from them to the antimatter when it starts reacting)/c which might be very small in terms of their referential, but would still be slowed down to infinity as it is inside the event horizon.
>>> 
>>> Or are we using here another definition of destruction due to antimatter?

>>>> **u/eaglejarl** [+5]  (2 hours later)
>>>> 
>>>> I'm assuming that gravity propagates at light speed.  The AM was created between the black hole and the gems, so the radiation from it will destroy the gems before the gravity reaches them.

>>>>> **u/Drexer** [+2]  (2 hours later)
>>>>> 
>>>>> Ah right, I forgot that detail. Yeah that should work and properly prevent any other problems.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Carry on with the awesomeness.

>>>>> **u/Solonarv** [+1]  *Chaos Legion* (2 hours later)
>>>>> 
>>>>> You're correct on gravity propagating at light speed.

>>> **u/Quietus42** [+1]  (13 hours later)
>>> 
>>> Wait, how did Suze throw antimatter? Wouldn't the antimatter explode on contact with her?

>>>> **u/JosephLeee** [+3]  (17 hours later)
>>>> 
>>>> Well, it is in contact with her hand for a zero amount of time, so it probably won't harm her.

>>>> **u/eaglejarl** [+2]  (19 hours later)
>>>> 
>>>> It's imprecise what "prepare spell components" means. I decided that throwing it was a legit option, since certain spells require you to throw something.

>>>>> **u/Quietus42** [+1]  (19 hours later)
>>>>> 
>>>>> Also, as /u/JosephLeee pointed out, it was in contact with her hand for zero amount of time.

>>>>>> **u/biomatter** [+1]  (4 days later)
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Not only that, I thought it was just being explained away kind of like how shopkeepers can give you a ton of clay, but not be able to lift that amount.

>> **u/Solonarv** [+1]  *Chaos Legion* (an hour later)
>> 
>> The thing she flicked at Neklos was probably antimatter osmium.

>>> **u/eaglejarl** [+1]  (9 hours later)
>>> 
>>> Yep.

> **u/notentirelyrandom** [+5]  (2 hours later)
> 
> "Colborn died in plan M. I liked plan M."
> 
> IS THIS A LEVERAGE REFERENCE?

>> **u/eaglejarl** [+4]  (2 hours later)
>> 
>> Ayup. I'm glad someone got it.  :>

>> **u/Lugnut1206** [+1]  (5 hours later)
>> 
>> Oh gosh how did I miss that

> **u/None** [+5]  (18 hours later)
> 
> Now Suze become Death, the destroyer of the worlds

> **u/Sceptically** [+3]  (20 hours later)
> 
> Hmm. Death was just defeated through the proper use of secrets and knowledge.
> 
> It looks like the new goddess is really working for them...

> **u/JackStargazer** [+3]  *Primordial Apologist* (an hour later)
> 
> So. [spoiler] (#s "Suze DID go through the FLEJA! And then it was purposefully kept from people! Plans within plans were the obvious choice, with their own memories erased. Likely Programmed Amnesia on Suze to allow her to act here. I know they weren't all dumb enough to believe that they wouldn't be Mindscraped upon entering Afi's lair.")
> 
> [spoiler] (#s "My question then is: what about the souls of the rest? A trapped soul is still Dead after all those explosions. They need to be resurrected now even if the traps were annihilated.")

>> **u/eaglejarl** [+3]  (an hour later)
>> 
>> Suze:  yep.  :>
>> 
>> The others:  see my big long response to seraphnb below.

> **u/Solonarv** [+3]  *Chaos Legion* (an hour later)
> 
> Quite the *Mindscrape* abuse there.
> 
> That's a really large singularity, isn't an event horizon with a radius of [~20 AU](http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=schwarzschild+radius+for+1+billion+solar+masses) a bit much?
> 
> I am, as always, suitably impressed.

>> **u/JackStargazer** [+11]  *Primordial Apologist* (an hour later)
>> 
>> Yeah, I'm not seeing how that didn't just implode the whole pl....
>> 
>> Wait a minute. Plane Shift. They were on a demiplane. Afi's base is on its own demiplane.
>> 
>> They just effectively annihilated it. 
>> 
>> And that didn't kill Neklos right away, because if it did he would have seen it coming weeks in advance.
>> 
>> But when you are that close to an event horizon **time slows down.**
>> 
>> So if Neklos can see death 20 weeks in advance, the time dilation on that plane, within METERS of a 1 billion solar mass singularity must be on the order of millions to one at least. Anything inside there won't die - to the perspective of the outside multiverse - for centuries, even maybe millennia.
>> 
>> And the osmium, that was through FIRST, before the singularity took effect. So it will destroy the gems, and perhaps sever Death's hand, but not kill him. 
>> 
>> Then the time dilation hits. The Plane Shift was part of the defining action, which Celerity was used in response to, so the Celerity effect happens a plank time length before the responding effect. That's not enough time for the gravity waves or time dilation to propagate to Suze/Jake, so they escape before it takes hold.
>> 
>> Jesus, this is a convoluted combination of real world physics and D&D magic action economy manipulation.
>> 
>> **Bravo.**

>>> **u/eaglejarl** [+5]  (an hour later)
>>> 
>>> *bow*

>>> **u/Solonarv** [+1]  *Chaos Legion* (2 hours later)
>>> 
>>> Actually, I'm not entirely sure how time dilation works inside an event horizon, since the slowdown goes to infinity as you approach the event horizon form outside.

>>>> **u/eaglejarl** [+7]  (2 hours later)
>>>> 
>>>> As far as I know, *no one* knows anything about what happens inside an event horizon.  AFAIK, there aren't even theoretical treatments of it.  (Kerr has a theory about being able to use spinning black holes for time travel, but I don't believe that he covers what's happening inside the event horizon.)
>>>> 
>>>> Since it's unknown, I chose this interpretation because it makes a good story.

>> **u/eaglejarl** [+4]  (an hour later)
>> 
>> Well, it's trapped inside an extradimensional space, so it won't actually be that big.  (And it won't affect the outside world.)
>> 
>> As to why so big...it's to make sure that it doesn't evaporate anytime soon.  Probably wouldn't matter anyway, but Jake [REALLY wanted](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill) [to be sure](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ItsTheOnlyWayToBeSure).

>>> **u/autotrope_bot** [+3]  (an hour later)
>>> 
>>> There Is No Kill Like Overkill
>>> ----
>>> ____
>>> There are some opponents you want to defeat. There are some opponents you want
>>> to kill. Then there are some opponents you want to [ stab babillion times
>>> ](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SpamAttack) , followed by
>>> unloading an [ M61 Vulcan Gatling gun
>>> ](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MoreDakka) , [ carpetbombing the
>>> entire area ](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/StuffBlowingUp) , [
>>> spamming ](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BeamSpam) the corpse
>>> with a combination of [ Wave Motion Guns
>>> ](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WaveMotionGun) and [ Kill Sats
>>> ](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/KillSat) , [ nuking
>>> ](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NukeEm) , then [ standing on them
>>> while dancing horribly before falling on your back (on them)
>>> ](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ConfusionFu) , and [ just to be
>>> sure ](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ItsTheOnlyWayToBeSure) ,
>>> driving them into the ground with a jackhammer.
>>> 
>>> [Read More](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill)
>>> ____
>>> *I am a bot. [Here is my sub](http://reddit.com/r/autotrope)*

>>> **u/Solonarv** [+2]  *Chaos Legion* (2 hours later)
>>> 
>>> For the record, a 1-solar-mass black hole has a radius of about [3km](http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=schwarzschild+radius+for+1+solar+mass) and takes 2 * 10^67 years to evaporate, which is 1.5 * 10^57 time the age of the universe.
>>> 
>>> 1 billion solar masses evaporate in 2 * 10^94 years, or 15 * 10^84 universes.
>>> 
>>> One solar mass *might* have been enough, but you can never quite be sure :D
>>> 
>>> Also, Wolfram|Alpha is the best.

>> **u/None** [+1]  (an hour later)
>> 
>> For the record, 20 AU is about 1.835 billion miles

> **u/Zephyr1011** [+3]  *Potentially Unfriendly Aspiring Divinity* (a day later)
> 
> What were their original plans? This does not seem to have been one of them

>> **u/MoralRelativity** [+2]  (a day later)
>> 
>> As someone pointed out in this thread it could have involved Programmed Amnesia. They planned it. And forgot it. And Suze remembered it at the right time.

>>> **u/Zephyr1011** [+3]  *Potentially Unfriendly Aspiring Divinity* (a day later)
>>> 
>>> Word of God says she was badass alone

>>>> **u/MoralRelativity** [+1]  (a day later)
>>>> 
>>>> OK, good to know.

> **u/puesyomero** [+2]  *The Culture* (9 hours later)
> 
> So Death is not dead, can other gods move in to his domain and replace him even if he is not 'really' dead? does Suze get first dibs on it? ;)

>> **u/eaglejarl** [+6]  (9 hours later)
>> 
>> That would be telling.  :>

> **u/MoralRelativity** [+2]  (13 hours later)
> 
> I'm thoroughly enjoying the Y2E. Every chapter keeps getting better and better. Thanks /u/eaglejarl!

>> **u/eaglejarl** [+2]  (19 hours later)
>> 
>> You are most welcome.

> **u/None** [+1]  (an hour later)
> 
> Okay, so now I think that Suze is Jacob. And Jacob is Ice Assassin.

>> **u/JackStargazer** [+1]  *Primordial Apologist* (an hour later)
>> 
>> Jacob cannot learn spells. What just happened had to be the result of a high level spellcaster, since all magic items were disjoined.

>>> **u/Zephyr1011** [+1]  *Potentially Unfriendly Aspiring Divinity* (an hour later)
>>> 
>>> Could he not have Mind scraped someone into being him though? And that person could spell cast. Say an Ice Assassin of Suze

>>>> **u/JackStargazer** [+2]  *Primordial Apologist* (an hour later)
>>>> 
>>>> That's a lot more convoluted than just having Suze do what he tells her to after going through FLEA and having the memory of that erased from everyone (including her, with a programmed end state) so that everyone would consider her a non-threat.

>>>>> **u/eaglejarl** [+3]  (2 hours later)
>>>>> 
>>>>> [For the record,](#s " none of the Big Damn Heroes knew about this.  Remember when Suze said "hey, I want to go get some magic items"?  She got them, but she also went and got herself FLEA'd without telling anyone.  She had Programmed Amensia'd herself not to know that until she got in front of Afi.  The Disjunctions that got dumped on them in the Receiving Room took out the Programmed Amnesia, but that was AFTER the Icefis had Mindscraped everyone.")
>>>>> 
>>>>> Oh, and:  no 'J' in FLEA.

>>>>>> **u/None** [+1]  (2 hours later)
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Wait, so was this at all part of Jake's plan? She was acting by herself? I'd figured Jake had told her what to do, then Amnesia'd himself and her and etc. But if it was her own prerogative, then a Flobovian just out-munchkined both Jake *and* Neklos. That's ... Wow. I look forward to what she does in the future.

>>>>>>> **u/eaglejarl** [+4]  (2 hours later)
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> [She was](#s " acting by herself, yep.  She knew the 'singularity' thing because she read it on the paper that Jake passed around.  Everything else she pulled off on her own.  She totally out-Munchkined everyone.")

>>>>>>>> **u/Zephyr1011** [+1]  *Potentially Unfriendly Aspiring Divinity* (3 hours later)
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> Piece of paper?

>>>>>>>>> **u/eaglejarl** [+2]  (4 hours later)
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> Last chapter.  
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> "At my gesture, Suze produced a sheet of carefully-folded paper from her Belt of Many Pouches and passed it around. Everyone was very careful to open it only the tiniest bit to make it as hard as possible for anyone scrying us to see what was written on it."

>>>>>>>>>> **u/biomatter** [+1]  (4 days later)
>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>> Wait, so which parts were Suze-original-guaranteed™ and what was the original plan? Was the plan to catch Neklos in a singularity the original plan, they just got caught off-guard and Suze clutched the round for them? I just don't understand in what context she could have read about singularities, sorry I'm dumb.

>>>>>>>>>>> **u/eaglejarl** [+1]  (4 days later)
>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>> Yes, the original plan was to use a singularity to time-dilate Neklos; they just didn't think that one person could do it.  In part that's because they were contingency-planning for the case where Afi / other people attacked at the same time they were getting into it with Neklos.  In part that's because they figured that Neklos would use Celerity to beat the initiative of whomever tried to cast the PAO and might be able to Celerity multiple times in a round, so they would need multiple people with Celerity in order to beat him out.
>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>> They did not anticipate that Neklos would take them all out in a surprise round at the beginning, or that Suze would take Neklos out in a surprise round at the end.
>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>> EDIT:  She knew about singularities because back in chapter 68, just as they were getting ready to leave for their meeting with Afi, Jake passed around a piece of paper telling them what to do.  The writing on it was not explicitly revealed, but it was something along the lines of "when I give the signal, you cast PAO 'thingy to singularity of one billion solar masses.'"

>>>>>>>>>>>> **u/biomatter** [+1]  (4 days later)
>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>> Thanks for the clarification :)

>>>>> **u/Zephyr1011** [+1]  *Potentially Unfriendly Aspiring Divinity* (2 hours later)
>>>>> 
>>>>> Fair enough, but it is still a possibility, rather than impossible

>>>>>> **u/JackStargazer** [+1]  *Primordial Apologist* (9 hours later)
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> We've got Word of God that Jake will never be able to get levels however, because otherwise he'd instantly win everything.

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