scrape_r_rational/data/cache2/2mdy5l.md

[SPOILERS] - [BST] Crowdsourcing plot points for "The Two Year Emperor, Book II"

• Author: u/eaglejarl *

• URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/rational/comments/2mdy5l/spoilers_bst_crowdsourcing_plot_points_for_the/

• Score: 14

• Created: 2014-11-15T16:15:12

Post:

This thread contains spoilers for the next chunk of The Two Year Emperor and for chapter 71. Hit the back button if you don't want them. Also, pardon the Wall o' Text(tm)

With that out of the way....

Today's chapter (#71) marks the end of Book I of 2YE. (Really it marks the end of book III, if you go by wordcount!) I'll be doing a sequel and, taking a leaf from andor3333's thread, I'm soliciting input for plot points that might fit into this work.

Here are the various plot threads I have in the wind at the moment:

• Jake works to turn Flobovia into a transhumanist paradise, all the while battling the efforts of the entrenched power structure who are desperate to maintain their own positions of privilege.
• Suze, now the Goddess of Death, needs to learn her job fast while holding off challenges from all the other gods who would like to take her power for their own.
• Albrecht attempts to rebuild the Union of Anundjå, but a billion leaderless undead and the empire-building heads of the other Redoubts get in the way.

Things I would like to see in the comments:

1. Which of those plot threads you find most interesting
2. Suggestions for other plot threads
3. Suggestions for things that might happen inside each of those plot threads
4. Ideas for what sort of rules the gods play by among themselves.
5. Anything else you care to suggest.

So far, the Stupidworld gods have told me that they have these rules:

1. There are Overgods who don't involve themselves in day-to-day affairs but will step on gods who cross certain boundaries.
2. Gods occasionally fight each other and the winner gets the loser's portfolio. This happens very rarely; in general they keep their fights to proxy wars for worshippers. It's rare because once gods start fighting directly it's a no-holds-barred situation and allies tend to get dragged into the mix, causing an outright War In Heaven. As a result,

Among the things that the Overgods will step on a god for:

1. Not maintaining their portfolio
2. Creating worshippers ex nihilo

I'll be editing this post as time goes by to put up new canon information that comes out of the discussion.

EDITS:

1. Now taking suggestions for Flobovia's new name. :> (Although I find myself tempted to indulge in a little casual sadism and leave it unchanged....)

Comments:

u/alexanderwales [+11] Time flies like an arrow (an hour later)

The big problem is that you're near the limits of what is allowed for by D&D. The economy is essentially nonexistent, everyone is near their max attainable level, and all forms of stat boosting have (presumably) already been used. Even the average person has +11 to every single one of their stats thanks to a combination of inherent/enhancement bonuses (and another +15 to one stat by getting to level 60). They all have enough levels to be capable of doing epic level things, but there aren't epic level rules, meaning that for the most part, people are capped out.

What you really want to avoid is the characters forgetting about the tricks that they know. Your main cast has a huge bag of tricks, and while it can get repetitive for the audience to see the same trick used a second time, there needs to be some justification for not using it. Writing a conflict between Albrecht and the undead would be difficult to make believable, given how outclassed the undead currently are. To a lesser extent, the same goes for Jake transforming Flobovia.

You can limit things somewhat through godly interference (especially now that the war is over - maybe they were being a bit permissive in order to win), I guess - but with Serial Escalation, that's doesn't tend to be very satisfying.

It's probably obvious from this that I think Suze has the most interesting plotline, and the most interesting external (other gods trying to screw with her) and internal (not wanting people to die) conflicts.

If you want other subplot ideas:

• Why have we not seen any druids? I get that they're not terribly powerful, but they've got Awaken, which is one of the most transhumanist spells out there! Sure, it costs XP, but XP isn't an issue anymore, so the only thing stopping a rogue druid from turning every tree in the forest into another druid is time - and since you can run Awakened plants/animals through your own FLEA/POPE, it goes exponential. A month in, you have an army of a billion creatures, and though they might be Good, their Good might not be the same as yours.
• Nuclear proliferation is a problem - a fight between mages probably ends with both parties dead. How do people handle the fact that pretty much everyone has a high capacity for lethality? Or do they not care much because of True Resurrection, which should be working properly now that Suze is in charge?
• Is there a moral obligation to bring people back from the dead - even those who have been dead for two hundred years? I can imagine a struggle between those who want to bring every dead person back to life and those who are content to let them rest.

u/eaglejarl [+5] (2 hours later)

Is there a moral obligation to bring people back from the dead - even those who have been dead for two hundred years?

I was actually thinking about this, and noticing that Suze, as Goddess of Death, can cast True Resurrection as a free action, and presumably has an effectively infinite caster level.

You're right about people being capped out. There are escalation potentials -- decide to take on the entire species of dragon, go attempt to clean out Hell, etc. I suspect the majority of antagonists would be other people, though -- Alice wants X and Bob wants ~X and they are both equally powerful.

Also, it could be fun watching the gods get run ragged trying to stop all the rule violations. It could even lead to a Rage Against The Heavens scenario.

u/Empiricist_or_not [+1] Aspiring polite Hegemonizing swarm (23 hours later)

Is there a moral obligation to bring people back from the dead - even those who have been dead for two hundred years?

Of course there is if not from Suzy, then from Jake who would start the Sobernost if it doesn't start on it's own from the populace of Flobovia.

Perhaps a better question is what happens when all of the people who went through the flea start thinking for themselves knowing that the emperor made up a plan that turned a servant into the greatest of the undergods. This is a singularity scenario, so the interesting question is what do common people come up with when they can start using spells to give themselves good ideas.

u/OffColorCommentary [+5] (3 hours later)

For your plot points, the Flobovian one doesn't sound any good. The Landguard could just Mindscrape all the nobles into submission within a couple minutes. Less brutal solutions would require more effort and thought than that, but not that much. Albrecht's plot sounds good; other than Afi being happy to retire (with a gigantic empire of his own), there's still all the other liches and the team hasn't really figured out a way to handle them.

Suze's plot sounds the best, though I'd like to avoid direct god combat entirely and focus on proxy battles for worshipers. She and probably Arros can auto-win direct god fights now with singularities, and otherwise the power level prevents interesting writing about clever solutions (divine powers are so strong that using them in a clever way is just an informed ability). Neklos was a god of both Death and Undeath so I'm interested in how she's going to manage those two separate issues and balancing them. It might even be good to make her the main character now.

D&D-wise, I'd like to see some Druids. They have access to spells including Awaken, Timestop, and Shapechange, and their Planar Shepherd prestige class is the most broken thing in D&D when used with planes that have time dilation properties. Artificers are also classically one of the most powerful (see old char-op tier list) and haven't had any screen time.

EDIT: Neklos's domains pretty clearly included Death and Undeath. Why give both to a new god instead of having separate gods of the two?

u/VorpalAuroch [+1] Life before Death (a day later)

Artificers aren't core, so they're not-appearing-in-this-fic.

u/OffColorCommentary [+1] (a day later)

Didn't they use some stuff from Archivists earlier?

u/VorpalAuroch [+1] Life before Death (a day later)

Archivists are in the SRD, I think.

u/OffColorCommentary [+1] (a day later)

Nope, the Archivist is from Heroes of Horror.

u/fortycakes [+1] (4 days later)

Re: Arros/Suze auto-winning god fights: as long as the target knows what's coming, they can escape by using a Celerity'd escape spell out of the range of influence, as long as there's no ward blocking it.

u/ajuc [+5] (10 hours later)

If Suze is successor to the deadboy does all undead worship her now? She should be the most powerful then, and Herrun second most powerful? I guess other gods won't be happy to be pushed away from power by newbies?

Can you get promoted from god to overgod? Do overgods depend on gods beliefs and worship? Are there over-overgods?

BTW: how many levels do you get for being in a party that defeated a god? Because I think Jake and friends will be a little OP if the challanges will come from mortals.

If I was any god besides Suze I would mindscrape all the mortals there to be safe from another blackhole.

Also - how many mindscrapes can one FLEA enhanced archmage cast in a day? Because assuming it's N, you can do Recursive Mindscrape Buerauocracy having mindscrappers at all levels of N-ary tree beside the lowest one (for all the others), and have utopia complete with total mind control using minimal resources (just hire the first level of the mindscrapers tree).

It even works for N=1, but the whole population would need to become mindscrapers and the tree would be degenerate.

Hell, mindscrape + flea allow for ultimate virus:

Minscrape 1 person with this algorithm:
    always do what Jake tells you to
    when someone ask you "FOO" you answer with "BAR"
    go to FLEA
    become archmage
    learn mindscrape
    ask everybody "FOO" and mindscrape the first N persons that doesn't answer "BAR" with this algorithm

Wait for a while - you have your utopia. When you infected the whole world you can tell them all to worship Suze.

God-holocaust and worldwide mind control in one spell. So broken...

As a bonus your land is inhabited with people that constantly

• Foo?
• Bar.

with each other.

You may want to tweak the algorithm to allow for some other activities (like maintaining the FLEA and running the country), that's left for the reader as an exercies.

Actually in a world with mindcontrol and big amount of magic-users such virus spells should already exist, even if lack of FLEA makes the infection rate slower.

u/eaglejarl [+2] (23 hours later)

Do the undead worship Suze?

Probably yes and, even if not, she still gets a 'charge' off them just existing.

Making the world better by violating every mind in it? That's kinda dark.

Can you get promoted from god to overgod? Do overgods depend on gods beliefs and worship? Are there over-overgods?

No, no, and no, respectively.

BTW: how many levels do you get for being in a party that defeated a god?

A lot. Or none. I haven't decided. It's one of those things that makes the XP system go "tilt!" and I'm not sure how to handle it yet.

u/Zephyr1011 [+1] Potentially Unfriendly Aspiring Divinity (a day later)

Does that mean Suze will be of equivalent power to Neklos then?

u/eaglejarl [+1] (a day later)

Yep.

In theory, at least. There's a learning curve on how to use divine power; Neklos had climbed it long ago, while Suze is just starting.

u/fortycakes [+1] (4 days later)

Can deities in your interpretation of the divine rules grant people Divine Rank 0 and all the benefits that come with that? (Especially the immortality, though if that fails you could Polymorph people into Elan, who have no maximum age but are otherwise humanoid and slightly psychic)

I ask because Suze making Jake into Saint Jake of her religion seems like something that might happen, assuming he can have divine ranks.

u/eaglejarl [+1] (5 days later)

Elan: bleh, psionics. Doesn't exist. Bleh.

Divine Ranks: As far as I can tell, the only way to normally get a divine rank is by being invested with one as a divine Proxy. I can't actually find a RAW way of gaining DR0.

I'd say that no, gods can't grant DR0, although they can Proxy someone to DR1. Giving out Proxies reduces their own DR, though, so it doesn't scale.

In any case, I wouldn't allow Jake to get divine ranks. He's outside the system, he doesn't get to have the really cool toys.

u/MadScientist14159 [+4] WIP: Sodium Hypochlorite (Rational Bleach) Eventually. Maybe. (5 hours later)

Obvious things:

-Suze immediately seeks an alliance with Loki and Herrun because not doing so is idiotic. They welcome her because they like her and they like having powerful allies and she will be powerful once she knows the ropes. Herrun's potential to Go Full Tattletale will act as a deterrent for direct action against Suze.

-Flobovia is now in the precarious position where their leaders are pretty good friends with one god (possibly three, but the other two are tricky), but the leaders bodyguards worship a completely different god who may be working against Suze indirectly. I foresee Shailos revoking the Landguard's paladin status at a critical moment.

-Jake will create a utopia. Munchkins gonna munchkin.

-Jake doesn't like death. Suze now controls death. Jake and Suze are friends. Either Jake will persuade Suze to stop death from happening, essentially becoming a mortal (you know what I mean) again, or Jake and Suze are going to have a pretty vicious fight at some point down the road. Or maybe Suze will create a utopian afterlife and everything will turn out great.

u/Zephyr1011 [+1] Potentially Unfriendly Aspiring Divinity (a day later)

The Landguard have 20 levels in a lot of other classes. Losing their paladin levels would reduce their effectiveness, but they would still be pretty damn powerful

u/Traiden04 [+3] (4 hours later)

Right off the bat I see l lot of the gods going after Suze to make sure that she adheres to her spot as Goddess of Death. I do not see Suze as one who would enjoy her position as the taker of life, but I am wondering if Jake could try and help her fulfill her duties as Death Goddess by setting up a resurrection cycle for those that pass into death, a la Hindu lore. She also now is as powerful in information gathering as she could learn the secrets of those that die as Neklos did.

I would also like to second the comments already mentioning the fact of Awaken and Druids. If food is just bought there should be no reason for any people to kill animals any more for food.

Jake himself knows a way now to kill gods, or at least brainwash them. He was told so by Herun. The very first thing would be to spread the knowledge of how people should think of Death so that Suze can retain her sanity and not fight against the expectations of all who worship her. That is likely the first thing we might have to truly worry about.

Edit: Crap, no creating worshipers ex nihilo will preclude using Awaken to create a worship base for mass rewriting of the gods personality through changing the majority of those who worship them. the Overgods would not take kindly to that kind of action.

u/None [+2] (4 hours later)

I suppose that's a question of how far 'ex nihilo' stretches. Worshipers created by Awaken already existed before being Awakened, they just weren't quite worshipers yet.

u/notentirelyrandom [+1] (4 hours later)

The Overgods don't allow gods to do it. If non-gods do it, well, Afi mass-produced undead and a lot of them worshipped Neklos, so maybe they don't mind.

Of course, the regular pantheon might not be happy about it.

u/xamueljones [+3] My arch-enemy is entropy (12 hours later)

I think you'd be better off writing about all three threads. The first reason is because I'm selfish and I want to read about everything you might write about 2YE. The second reason is that if you get writer's block, you can torture us with a cliffhanger and switch to a different character (Jake, Suze, or Albrecht) for a change of pace. The best stories I have ever read are ones with multiple story lines interleaved together.

If you absolutely have to chose, I'd suggest going with Suze dealing with other gods and only touching on Jake and Albrecht due to them being in charge of her worshipers and killing off the undead respectively.

Keep in mind that if Jake is going to be dragging Flobovia into a transhumanist utopia, there's no reason to stop at making everyone super powered adventurers. Make them all into gods who sustain each other through worship. This keeps them in check since if anyone god tries to dominate others, everyone can just stop worshiping them...mindcontrol would be heavily guarded against.

u/drageuth2 [+3] (12 hours later)

I think it's a pretty common trope in pantheons like this (and at the very least, I'm pretty sure it's true of ol' Boccob himself) that the God of Magic has very few direct worshippers... but is very powerful anyway.

Is that the case with Arros?

Exploring something like that, and why such things happen, that may be a very useful thing for Suze. Maybe it's the result of 'unintentional worship' or something (Arros claims magic as his domain, thus all acts of magic are acts of worship, whether intended as such or not) or maybe it's just the natural result of some part of the universe empowering a god in the same way as worship.

Hell, maybe that's how Overgods are made. Gods take something 'squishy' that needs a lot of manual playing around with, like warfare or bards or something, while the overgods are the clever ones who take up gravity or the strong nuclear force as their domain.

Maybe Suze can claim Entropy as part of her domain, and thus become immensely powerful simply from the stars doing their thing and the steady tick of time, without needing a horde of undead.

u/Prezombie [+3] (a day later)

Jake is clearly against death in the sense of destruction of mind, but the gods are for death in the sense of a drastic change of state upon reaching -10 HP. Suze definitely needs to experiment with her portfolio, and see how drastic a change to death she can create. If she can change the RAW of dying, there could be no limit to how many negative HP a being who wants to live could hold, and death could simply be a free action. Even a minor change, like dying at -100, would save many lives.

If the RAW are still in place, something like an epic level world-wide spell focused on recording everyone's engrams, and housing their souls on the PM plane until they decide to go elsewhere would be somewhere to start. Make a new monster type, free willed ghosts which have no vulnerabilities or attacks.

How about the alignment of all those undead worshippers? It's a pretty big deal, especially since Herrun's spilled the beans on how much the worship can change a god. her top priority should be altering her worshipper's alignments, or failing that, removing them completely.

I'd be willing to bet a good number of the liches would be willing to alter alignment if their new god commanded it. I'd absolutely love to see the millennial king being told to put on a helm of opposite alignment, and him telling Suze that he's already lawful good.

u/None [+2] (20 minutes later)

Before anything else, I'd like to say I fucking love your work and no matter what you decide to focus on I suspect I will enjoy it massively.

That said, my personal preference would be for Jake and Al to formally ally with one another and use their combined resources and intelligence to steamroll the resistance on Flobovia and rapidly make it the 'seat' of a new transhuman paradise-empire. Once they're established, they could easily become a massive source of power and influence for the gods they favor, including Suze.

I really just can't see the Flobovians representing a threat to Jake in combat or politics with his anti-deity minmaxing tech and the support of Al, plus the Landguard.

Also, Jake really needs to get around to renaming Flobovia. Like, within the first paragraph of book two.

u/Zephyr1011 [+2] Potentially Unfriendly Aspiring Divinity (49 minutes later)

1: All of those plot threads sound interesting. Personally I think I'd most prefer the first because Jake is awesome.

2: It might be interesting to see Suze try and start her own religion properly, if she does not inherit Neklos'. Coming up with a doctrine, the structure etc. Could also be combined with Drifa finding a new purpose, after being rejected by Amilsandre.

3: A lot of Jake's changes seem like they'd have a great impact on Flobovian society, which could be interesting to explore. The FLEA, and magic item mass production seem utterly game changing.

I am unfamiliar with 3.5e, but if there are any spells to take control of undead then that would be insanely powerful for any warlord in Anundja. Are the lich kings going to just retreat though? I would've thought at least some would try for conquest, and they would retain control of their undead. Does Suze's portfolio give her power over undead as well?

u/eaglejarl [+4] (2 hours later)

As a point, Afi now has a complete readout of RAW and modern science in his head. He knows it all exactly as well as Jake does.

u/xamueljones [+1] My arch-enemy is entropy (3 days later)

Blink...blink Ever read a sentence where you just stop thinking for a few seconds due to the sheer horror?

u/eaglejarl [+1] (3 days later)

Awww. So sweet.

u/fortycakes [+1] (4 days later)

Does this also mean he has a copy of Jake's value system and reasoning for arriving at it?

u/eaglejarl [+1] (4 days later)

Yes. But it's knowledge without personal attachment -- I view it as something like the Brainopedia (a giant reference work that sometimes volunteers answers) instead of having another person integrated into your own consciousness.

u/puesyomero [+2] The Culture (2 hours later)

some ideas come to mind.

• i'd love to see how the Suze/Jake dynamic changes now she is the embodiment of a couple things he really hates (deities, people dying, powergames) and how she reacts while being in a position of power over the nobles that wronged her and over Jake.
• Albrecht's struggles meshes well with Jake's and Albrecht is still flobovia's (please change that name) strategos. I see more sense in Albrecht staying in flobovia giving the troops a much needed R&R. besides a nation is made by it's people not the territory and a transhumanist paradise seems like a good staging point for an eventual campaign
• jake doing the body shuffle like afi to be able to get levels and remain behind when its time to leave stpworld for earth (maybe give human!jake a rejuvenation , a bunch of platinum, and amnesia?)
• afi leading a coalition of liches into a more pragmatic, less unnecessarily evil undead nation. (dark mirror to jake's flobovia?/ perhaps pressured by more merciful Suze?)
• space exploration! anyway keep the great storytelling and any plot can be good.

u/None [+2] (4 hours later)

Now taking suggestions for Flobovia's new name. :> (Although I find myself tempted to indulge in a little casual sadism and leave it unchanged....)

You must leave it unchanged. Please don't let that comedy go away.

Alternately, change it to something equally stupid – Jaketopia, anyone?

u/Muskwalker [+2] (a day later)

Flepopia, after the FLEAs and POPEs. >:)

u/clawclawbite [+1] (an hour later)

On the way to #1, Jake may need and want to create and spread the basic concept of Science!

Does he get a God to pick it up as a portfolio? Herun? The god of magic (Magic and Science is a badass combo)?

With more time, create new spells for being able to do Science?

u/PeridexisErrant [+1] put aside fear for courage, and death for life (4 hours later)

Or start the Bayesian Conspiracy, so the portfolio can go to Herrun Lokisdottor.

u/bulls55 [+1] (6 hours later)

It looks like the plot points you have planned could actually work quite well together and could fit into a single arc or book. The story could start with Jake working with Albrecht to turn Flobovia into a transhumanist paradise partially based on the former union of Anjunda and trying to expand into the lands that been taken over by the liches and kill all the undead so they can be ressurected. The problems start when the nobility of flobovia and the churches feel threatened by the sudden changes by Jake and Albrecht, the newly empowered citizens who have gone through the POPE and the FLEA, and the consequences of allowing the rest of the citizens of Flobovia to gain such massive levels. Then there are the gods who feel threatened by the mortals ever increasing power especially after the defeat of a fellow god and now want to severely limit what they are capable of including how much magic they can have. Meanwhile Suze along with other gods and ascended mortals including Arros want to be able to do more help the mortals but must face opposition from the other gods who want to return to the status quo, gain more power by taking their positions or those that want to destroy the world so they can start over with their followers and become the most powerful god. Now our heroes both god and mortals must work together to prevent a civil war, a literal war in heaven and the destruction of most life creating a world where the remaining gods battle to the death for the top spot.

By the way I have a suggestion for a new name for Flobovia. I think renaming the nation trans meaning across or beyond would be meaningful in a story of transhumans.

u/CeruleanTresses [+1] (10 hours later)

It would be cool for all of those threads to be happening at once, but maybe with the primary focus on one. I think I'm most interested in Suze's POV, personally.

u/xamueljones [+1] My arch-enemy is entropy (12 hours later)

Flobovia needs to be renamed the Bayesian Conspiracy. The best conspiracies are the ones that everyone knows about.

u/Chronophilia [+1] sci-fi ≠ futurology (2 days later)

Singularity story. The average Flobovian commoner has just seen what Jake was capable of, even without being able to personally cast spells or gain XP. The average Flobovian commoner is now a 20th-level archmage and a 20th-level some other stuff too, with the aforementioned +11 bonuses to all stats, making them physically and magically Jake's superior.

The average Flobovian commoner is going to realise that they're capable of the sort of world optimisation that Jake just pulled off. Why should they remain affiliated with Flobovia now that the war is over? Best-case scenario, they all cast Genesis and go play in their own private universes, eternally young and needing nothing from the rest of the world. Most likely scenario, Jake has to scramble to figure out how to prevent idiots from scouring the planet with anti-osmium and black holes. He's got... what, ten million people capable of casting Polymorph Any Object by now? It only takes one person who thinks they've got a good enough reason. The surge of general goodwill that comes with winning a war might buy him some time, but it won't be long before people remember how much they hate each other.

Maybe Albrecht can offer some advice, from his time in post-singularity Anundjå.

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

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u/Chronophilia [+1] sci-fi ≠ futurology (2 days later)

Afi doesn't want to take over the world. If he wanted to do that, he could have waited until Neklos killed off Jake and co. and the world was fully conquered before using his get-out-of-jail-free card.

Afi's clever enough to seek to ally himself with Jake wherever possible. They'll never be friends, not in the way Jake and Loki and Albrecht are friends, but their goals overlap fairly well.

u/None [+1] (8 days later)

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u/Chronophilia [+1] sci-fi ≠ futurology (8 days later)

Yes. What does that have to do with it?

u/None [+1] (8 days later)

[removed]

u/Chronophilia [+2] sci-fi ≠ futurology (8 days later)

I don't think that's required. Taking over the world for your own benefit would be an Evil act, but you can be powerful and evil without megalomania. From the SRD:

Good characters and creatures protect innocent life. Evil characters and creatures debase or destroy innocent life, whether for fun or profit.

"Good" implies altruism, respect for life, and a concern for the dignity of sentient beings. Good characters make personal sacrifices to help others.

"Evil" implies hurting, oppressing, and killing others. Some evil creatures simply have no compassion for others and kill without qualms if doing so is convenient. Others actively pursue evil, killing for sport or out of duty to some evil deity or master.

People who are neutral with respect to good and evil have compunctions against killing the innocent but lack the commitment to make sacrifices to protect or help others. Neutral people are committed to others by personal relationships.

u/None [+2] (8 days later)

[removed]

u/Chronophilia [+1] sci-fi ≠ futurology (8 days later)

Not a need to destroy/kill everything, just a lack of concern for any destruction/death that may happen in the course of accomplishing your goals.

u/chaosmosis [+1] and with strange aeons, even death may die (19 days later)

Jake should start planning for his return trip home. Getting himself more permanent stat boosts or knowledge that will survive the return, carrying magic from one universe to another, or figuring out how to allow unrestricted transport between universes. This would probably anger the Overgods, but seems worth it.

If Herrun and Loki start behaving less altruistically, I think that would introduce some interesting complications.

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