Disparation: Sentinels of the Realm

General GTG Fan Fiction
#73

The Vengeful Legion

Baron Ivan had battled Sir Paul XIII countless times, with each struggle always ending in defeat for the vile villain. The Baron concluded that it was Sir Paul’s allies, the Fellowship of Freedom, who had been the cause of his failures. So he devised a plan to gather a fellowship of his own. He sent summons to all of the scoundrels of the realm, imploring them to come together and unite under one banner, and to finally vanquish their shared foes. The Baron knew, however, that that would not be enough. He still wanted to deal the killing blow to his eternal nemesis, but none of his miraculous inventions had hitherto been able to best Sir Paul’s mystic gifts. Thus Baron Ivan turned to the Order of Revocation, which he was secretly the leader of. With their help, he concocted an alchemical elixir which he hoped would mimic Sir Paul’s gifts.

Sir Alexander was a loyal soldier to a kingdom that had been at war with the Alliance of Kingdoms for quite some time. The war was not a traditional conflict, as there was very little actual fighting; rather, it was an escalating race between the two sides, each trying to become more powerful than the other. Some of the scholar-mages of Alexander’s kingdom had uncovered an arcane stone possessed of unknown magical properties. Alexander, being an exemplary warrior, was chosen to attempt to attune to the stone, and hopefully gain some manner of enchantment from it. At first there was no sign of a magical boon, but eventually Alexander discovered that he had gained the ability to temporarily mesmerise the minds of others. The thralls he could create lacked much agency, however, and were not useful for anything but creating a swarming mob. Alexander’s new ability was quickly put to use. Shortly afterwards, though, he was mortally wounded. His kingdom managed to preserve him by causing him to fall into a deep slumber. They kept him that way while they searched for some way to cure his fatal wound. But before such a cure could be discovered, the kingdom started crumbling from the prolonged conflict with the Alliance. The group that knew of Alexander eventually died out, and he was forgotten.

After months of preparation, Baron Ivan was finally ready to begin his War of Vengeance. He had perfected his elixir and gathered a veritable army of knaves and rogues. He assembled them atop his Aerial Fortress, an ingenious flying machine powered by steam and hot air. He had also recruited an elite force of villains that, with him, would take on the Fellowship of Freedom directly. It consisted of Baron Ivan himself; Sir Steven the Grave, a former knight and rival of Sir Tyler, whom Baron Ivan had given a dose of his elixir; Lady Cassandra, a noblewoman who had secretly been a thief until she was exposed by the Wraith of the Woods; Krystal, a reckless alchemist who had been apprenticed to Dame Meredith before she stole a dangerous prototype of her sandals of swiftness; and Sir Alexander, who Baron Ivan had discovered in his slumber and awoken. Together, Baron Ivan’s Vengeful Legion would visit vengeance upon the sentinels of the realm!

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#74

The Enclave of the Ancients was created by Jansa Vi Dero, the last member of a forgotten race. The Enclave was an immense island, far away from any inhabited lands. Jansa used her people’s considerable magical talents and relics to scry for members of other dying civilisations and bring them to the island, where her magic could halt their ageing indefinitely.

Tarogath was the last of the Procitorians, a reptilian race thought to have draconic ancestry. He lived in the Enclave of the Ancients for an uncountable number of years. But when he saw that the same threat that had destroyed his people was looming over the Alliance of Kingdoms, he decided to flee from the Enclave’s protection. With him, Tarogath took many of Jansa’s ancient artefacts (without her permission). He sailed to the mainland and began to use those artefacts to create several magical cataclysms. He specifically targeted the ley lines of the land, wreaking much havoc upon the natural balance of the world.

Sir Nigel of House Lowsley was a brave knight and brother of the magistrate Sir Hugh. Both dabbled in astrology, and one night they saw a stream of starlight fall to earth. The brothers went to investigate, but were both incapacitated by the raw magic of the event. When Hugh awoke, he discovered that he had been imbued with astral magic, and that Nigel had seemingly disappeared. In actuality, while Hugh had received power, Sir Nigel had been cursed with star madness. His mind was flooded with the terrible secrets of the unknown heavens, that which man was not meant to know. Nigel went mad from the revelation. He fled into the wilderness before Hugh awakened. Nigel heard the whispers of nameless things, and learned that he had gained the ability to conjure hideous, tentacled blasphemies.

Kaargra the War-Fanged was the master of the Bloodsworn Colosseum, a massive arena-ship that sailed from port to port. At every stop, Kaargra and her Bloodsworn Gladiators would raid the port and abduct those who showed promise as warriors. They would then be forced to battle the Gladiators and each-other in the Colosseum. Kaargra herself was a skilled warrior, as well as a blood mage, which allowed her to magically bind Gladiators to her service.

Long ago, a spark of power was planted deep underground. It waited for years while it grew. Eventually, it burst forth from the ground, having created a form of stone for itself. The stone beast immediately began destroying the countryside. It wrecked any settlements it came across, and slew any who resisted its inevitable march. The beast’s form was mutable; it took on the elemental aspect that would best suit its current opposition. It could set itself ablaze, it could grow tendrils of tree-limbs, and it could even transform itself wholly into water or æther.

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#75

Having failed to write up my original ideas for this project in time, many of them are now obsolete, so here’s a quick recompiling of what remains uncovered by either Fjur’s or my versions of the fantasy-refluffed SOTM. For the moment, the two haven’t diverged enough that I feel the need to create my own distinct version, but it’s likely that will happen eventually, as it did for a similar project I worked on involving Star Trek where the other person’s ideas were not fully compatible with my own.

So, we’re basically left with Fanatic, The Scholar, Ambuscade/Stuntman, Akash’Bhuta/Thriya, Apostate, Miss Information, the Celestial Tribunal and Champion Studios, all of which are fairly superficial in the adjustments they need. I can work on putting some copy together for these at some future point when I get bored, but overall I’d say that the work Fjur has done so far has been largely sufficient, and this whole project is more at the part of needing fanart than requiring further writing to plan it out.

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#76

I imagine that her default size is around that of an ogre (≈7’-10’), but she can grow larger, as well as shrinking to tall human height (≈6’). And she probably possesses the ability to shrink as small as her Universe 1 counterpart, but uses it less often and more discretely, so most folks don’t know that it’s something that she can do.

CANON.

Yeah, I agree. I was never super happy with Exterior. I also considered External. Enigmatic? Evil? Envious? Egregious? I’m open to suggestions; what do y’all think?

Yeah, I’d go so far as to say that her race is wholly amphibious., being able to breathe air and water equally well.

Yep, I don’t think I’m going to do a write-up for WM, as he’d just show up and put on some vaguely medievalish-looking clothing (likely knight’s armour or jester’s garb).

True. Perhaps he’d have an equestrian obsession instead?

I agree that a better name is possible, but I’d want it to match the monotony, unoriginality, and uncreativity of The Block.

Perhaps that hermit is Aata’s long-lost sister Arataki?

Agreed, although I did already discuss Ambuscade above. The various Akashes would be nigh-identical, likely with the only change being that she’s an “elemental” rather than a “spirit.” Fanatic and Apostate would be nigh-identical, although I’m not sure whether this timeline has Christianity or not. If not, I’d likely rule that Fanatic is aware of her true nature as an extraplanar spirit. Or maybe she’s just a bona fide angel? Or perhaps she’s simply a mortal warrior who draws power from the Host? The Scholar would be practically the same, although I wonder what to do with his houseboat. I could see it being replaced with a wagon, a cabin, or just a more appropriate variety of boat.

Here’s my remaining list of characters that I’m planning to write:

  • Guise
  • Benchmark
  • Miss Information
  • Chokepoint
  • The Celestial Tribunal
  • Magmaria
  • Madame Mittermeier’s Fantastic Festival of Conundrums and Curiosities
  • The Slaughterhouse Six
  • Greazer Clutch
  • Champion Studios
  • Fort Adamant
  • The Maerynian Refuge

My workload’s gotten a touch lighter recently, so I expect to finish those (relatively) soon(ish).

Thanks!

True, although I have almost zero idea about how to go about that, beyond just asking the forum at large.

#77

'Tis been many fortnights since I last put pen to this tome, but now I shall once again take up my task of chronicling the inhabitants of this fantastical land! We shall resume with two heroic figures, although both are less deserving of that title than many of their peers…

Joseph was a wandering minstrel—he would go from town to town, regaling the villagers with tales of brave heroes. He would never fail to mention his contributions to those heroes’ exploits, of course, despite the fact that anyone asking the heroes in question about Joseph’s “contributions” would likely find that they would characterise him as more of a nuisance. Nevertheless, Joseph continued to “aid” various courageous warriors in their battles (mainly by standing on the sidelines and composing “good” lyrics about how he saved the heroes from their dastardly foes). One day, however, Joseph was strolling through the city of Megalot when a statue dislodged itself from its perch atop a citadel, and plummeted down towards him! Joseph was sure that he would be quashed, but he reflexively held up his arms to shield himself from the falling statuary. Miraculously, Joseph felt a surge of strength and somehow managed to deflect the statue away from him. Amazed, Joseph tested the limits of this newfound power, and eventually discovered that he could morph his own form into any shape or appearance that he could imagine, provided it was roughly humanoid. Joseph could even give himself forms that possessed far greater strength, speed, agility, or vitality than any normal mortal. Joseph was at a loss to explain his newfound power—yet that did not stop him from finally actually joining other heroes in their battles and quests, although his annoying tendencies persisted. Joseph would learn much latter that his powers were the result of him being descend from the royalty of an otherworldly Court of Fey—he was, in fact, a Changeling. And so he took to calling himself King Joseph, the Hero of a Thousand Guises.

Sir Randal was the son of minor nobility—his family lacked any real power, and were really simply wealthy gentry. Nonetheless, Sir Randal excelled in all pursuits that he attempted—and he attempted all pursuits befitting of a modern gentleman like himself. Randall went on to master fencing, archery, hunting, falconry, calligraphy, poetry, dance, smithing, history, literature, and countless other fields. He also possessed exceptional charisma, and so was phenomenally popular with the laypeople. And yet Sir Randal still felt that he could be doing more with his life. His desire was granted when the Order of Revocation came to him; they had invented a fantastic suit of armour for him, and bequeathed it to him as a gift. The armour was truly marvellous—it was fitted with a myriad of clockwork devices as well as being enchanted with magic. It had pistons that enhanced Sir Randal’s strength and allowed him to jump great distances. It was armed with contraptions that could fire bolts or arrows with the strength of a ballista, or hurl alchemical solutions at foes. With this suit of armour Sir Randal resolved to put his extraordinary skills to use fighting treachery and knavery wherever it might strike. What Randal did not know, however, was that the Order of Revocation had placed a curse upon his armour. They could see all that Sir Randal saw through his helm’s visor, and more terrible still, they could subtly influence his behaviour while he wore the suit…

#78

Evelyn of the Moor had always possessed a unique talent—she could hear the voices of the earth, of rocks, of trees, and of streams, and she could speak back to them. All of these things spoke to Evelyn, and they told her of their imprisonment and subjugation by humans. So, when she had grown into adulthood, Evelyn began her crusade. She used her ability to speak to raw, inanimate materials to manipulate them into fighting back against their human captors. The brick and mortar and lumber of houses and walls, and the metal of arms and armour—all listened to Evelyn’s commands, and all were utilised by her for her mission.

Aminia II was the loyal seneschal of the Fellowship of Freedom. She acted as stewardess of the Tower of the Fellowship, in addition to handling all of the clerical and administrative matters that allowed those brave heroes to continue their righteous fight for justice. However, one day when Aminia was taking stock of the enchanted artefacts that the Fellowship had confiscated from various dastardly villains, her gaze became entranced by an Orb of Prophecy. In the clear, crystalline form of the sphere, Aminia saw her own fate—being crushed under collapsing rubble while the Fellowship that she had so loyally served were occupied rescuing some nameless peasants. Aminia was enraged that her so-called friends would one day forsake her, so she chose to pre-emptively visit vengeance upon them before they could. Aminia knew all of the secrets and weaknesses of the Fellowship, and put that knowledge to good use as she sabotaged their quests from the shadows.

Aminia’s schemes were all unfolding perfectly—the Fellowship had been failing, and no one suspected her involvement. Her run of luck ended, however, when Kimberly the Sage, a skilled archer possessed of mystic sight, managed to see through her ruse and alerted the other heroes of Aminia’s betrayal. Thus Aminia had to go on the run from the Fellowship. The final confrontation betwixt Kimberly, the Fellowship, and Aminia occurred in one of the vast buildings of Lord Pike’s Alchemists’ Guild in the City of Rooks. The battle had caused significant destruction to the structure, and so the Fellowship had to pause their fighting momentarily to evacuate the endangered alchemists. Kimberly took that moment, however, to fire an arrow at the weak-spot of a support beam, causing that section of the ceiling to collapse, burying Aminia.

#79

The Justifier is back from the dead, but may not have the time, energy, or frankly the heart to resume his previous project of either contributing to OR contradicting what you’ve been doing here. Just know that me and my temporarily resurrected ghost will be following along with everything you do here, as time permits us such amusements in our new existence.

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#80

Thanks; it’s nice to know that this stuff is acknowledged by at least one person. I’ll do my best to keep it entertaining.

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#81

I’m still reading them with interest. Looking forward to adaptations of Necrosis and Grimm in the Realm. “We heard you like fairy tales, so we put a fairy tale-teller in your fairy tale!”

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#82

I’ve been greatly enjoying them. Just not being that good at creativity I haven’t had anything detailed to add. Sorry if that gave a poor impression; I’m genuinely having fun reading these.

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#83

Thanks, @Thunderbird and @Jeysie. I appreciate your confirmations of readership, and my apologies if my initial reply to The_Justifier came across as ungrateful.

No worries. That’s certainly not required—the knowledge that folks are enjoying this little project of mine is satisfaction enough. : )

Hmm, I hadn’t thought about the new Disparation characters yet. My knee-jerk thoughts are that Æternus and the Demon Twins are unchanged—save for superficial details—like the Argent Adept, Fanatic, NightMist, and GloomWeaver, as demons are already very fantastical. Those other two villains, however, I’ll have to put some thought into. Fantasy-Necrosis will definitely be at least moderately different. Regarding Grimm, though—fairy tales are thematically closer to fantasy than supers comics are, but still rather different. Then again, from what little we know of him, Grimm’s schtick seems to be stories—he simply specialises in folklore.

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#84

Oh not at all, my dude. “Is anyone listening/liking this” is a very, very common thing to worry about when you’re a fan creator (or I mean, when you’re a pro creator too, heh). Don’t feel bad about it.

If anything, it’s good to sometimes have the little reminder that speaking up when you’re happy is as important as speaking up when you have a criticism. Gotta let people know what they’re doing right, too.

Grimm I think is maybe essentially a bard in the actual historical envisionment rather than the D&D approach. Back in the days when people thought a bard coming up with a story about someone could actually curse people or change reality.

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#85

Oh, you have Terror Tower and I assume the Fey Court and werewolves are pretty much the same so I figured the next step since you’ve covered most old material would be the brand new stuff. Necrosis seems like he can easily be another mad alchemist, not necromancer exactly although the name is nearly right on point.

@Jeysie may be onto something with the reality-warping bard angle for Grimm. You could go a little meta if that’s the right word and have him tell stories set in the “present” canon universe, framed as a medieval vision of the future.

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#86

Thanks. : )

A very good point, that.

Correct. I do plan on covering all the (significantly different) new-to-DE decks; the new Disparation ones simply hadn’t crossed my mind until you brought them up. And yes, Apex, Alpha, the Fey-Court, and Diamond Manor are all relatively unchanged.

He seems to be a combination of the two, really: he uses alchemical solutions to raise the dead. A Necralchemist! Or an Alchomancer! . . . I’ll work on it.

Indeed. Perhaps, because Grimm is in a world that more aligns with his schtick, he is more powerful than his Universe 1 counterpart. Or maybe he tells actual history rather than made-up tales, but then twists them somehow… There are certainly many possibilities with him, so I’ll have to mull it over some. (I should also probably listen to his podcast episode—I haven’t yet as I’m behind.)

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#87

I don’t really know Grimm’s deal, but I’m reminded of the novel “The School for Good and Evil” by Soman Chainani, which has a fantasy setting in which children read storybooks full of fairy-tale characters, but then get abducted to the titular School so that they can learn how to be the heroes and villains of future such tales, with the implication that all the classic Disney stories are past generations of this cycle. Perhaps your version of Grimm is doing something similar.

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#88

Perhaps. Frankly, I don’t really know much of his deal either. The Disparation update on him was fairly enigmatic about his origins and capabilities, and—as I’ve mentioned—I haven’t listened to his episode, which presumably elaborates somewhat on his nature.

The again, there is the possibility that he’s something like DC’s Phantom Stranger (but Evil), and doesn’t have any single definitive backstory or very defined powers—just nebulas inscrutability.

#89

You could also power source swap Grimm like my suggestion for Ra. Instead of the ancient teller of ancient stories that neatly fits into the fantasy milieu you could make him a high-tech space alien record keeper. Who of course gets involved because “history” is supposed to follow the patterns he expects to see. He could also be some kind of alien documentarian press ganging heroes into being reenactors. Since in the fantasy world becoming The Woodsman or The Prince is more like in modern media when the protagonist becomes George Washington for a Revolutionary War episode or the Red Barron’s rival in a WWI episode.

#90

Well, I’ve thought of a term that describes Grimm’s modus operandi and also makes him sound even more creepy - nonconsensual LARPing.

Slightly different than Wager Master’s shtick where the heroes can see right through his ruse but decide to play along to get rid of him faster. I get the sense that Grimm uses some degree of mind control (total villain power as we’ve established) since the heroes actually believe at first that they are the characters they’re portraying.

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#91

That is an intriguing idea, @Sea-Envy. However, I am hesitant about adding another high-tech alien character beyond the Egyptians.

One of the main reasons that I was convinced to go that way with Ra and the others was because two different readers (you and @The_Justifier) both independently suggested it, and so I thought the coincidence too great to ignore.

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#92

You’ll nary meet a sailor who’s not heard tell of The Tribunal. An yet, no one can tell ye from whence she comes. On those nights when the stormclouds grow ‘specially dark, she appears, seemingly out o’ the air itself! She’ll sail up to an unexpectin’ port or seaside town, and some o’ th’ folks there will just get up an’ start walkin’ towards ‘er! It’s as if they be entranced by a siren’s call… An’ they’ll swim on out to The Tribunal and climb aboard, an’ they’ll stay there fer a time. Fer how long? Well, that be anyone’s guess. Sometimes it be days or weeks, other times only an hour or two… An’ not all o’ those who go come back to tell about it! But those who do come back, they say that aboard that eerie ship, there be all sorts o’ ghosts an’ spectres an’ phantoms! An’ these spooks, they question th’ poor folks who got dragged up there. It be like same nasty, phantasmagorical trial, they say. An’ then once theses spooks be done wi’ that, an’ after they send th’ folks home, sometimes they just up an’ leave! But oftentimes, they do nuthin’ like that. No, me matey, instead they’ll take The Tribunal and send ‘er straight at th’ town, an’ her prow, it be like iron! And it’ll cleave th’ town in two, wreaking all sorts o’ terror an’ destruction! An’ some o’ the legends say that The Tribunal’s even done that to entire island civilisations!

There exist a range of mountains so high that their peaks remain bound in ice and snow all year long. And yet, amongst those mountains rest a ring of eternally active volcanoes; and within that ring lies the valley of the Magmarians. The heat from the volcanoes keeps their valley blisteringly hot, despite the frigid clime of the surrounding slopes. The Magmarians are an enigmatic people; only a rare few have ever managed to decipher their language. Some folk have called the Magmarians trolls, or elementals, or dwarves, or imps, but none of those terms are quite accurate enough. The Magmarians somehow seem to be composed of living magma,* and the only sustenance they require is the consumption of magma crystals that naturally grow from the lava-flows of their home. The Magmarians are also adept practitioners of elemental magic tied to fire and to the earth, and they have been known to craft their unique crystals into powerful charms or totems. They have shown reluctance teaching these crafts to outsiders, however. What’s more, there have been rumours that the Magmarians are somehow related to the mysterious Old Man Frost, perhaps as elemental opposites to his icy nature. Attempts to ask him about this connexion have thus far failed, with Frost becoming agitated at the mention of them.

Madame Mittermeier’s Fanciful Fair of Carousing and Cavorting was once a vibrant gathering that toured the realm and brought celebration wherever it went. That was many years ago, however, and now Madame Mittermeier nor any of her entertainers have not been seen for quite some time. And yet, sometimes when the sun has set and only the dimness of dusk remains, travellers may happen upon the fair. All the fair’s lanterns and torches are ablaze, and yet it appears entirely deserted. But if one wanders through the empty grounds long enough, one may chance to see some truly unusual sights—apples that juggle themselves, swords that fence against one another, instruments playing all on their own, bows that shoot all by themselves, costumes that dance and perform with no one wearing them, and many other, equally strange and bewildering sights. Most who see such sights, however, do not live to tell the tale. Count yourself lucky if you do…

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