Lawnmower Boy

Wow.  Andor was really good...why can't all SW projects have this kind of writing....

Finally saw Black Adam.
 
That was not good.

[BEGIN BOXED TEXT]
Tephra, That Was Anadem
The nearest shadowland to Riwa lies almost 100 miles south of the plateau, along a now-unused spur of the Diamond Road.
 
Once there was a valley between two knots of mountains, its rich soil watered by several small streams. Here was built Anadem, City of Flowers. A high volcanic mountain overlooked the flower-scented city. The folk of Anadem prayed to Heaven in gratitude and joy.
 
Then the volcano erupted so violently as to destroy its eastern flank. A deluge of burning ash swept over the vale of Anadem in minutes, killing everything and everyone. The people had time only for brief prayers. None were delivered, for the gods are weak and inattentive; but many of the people became ghosts. Their death-prayers carried Anadem into the Underworld.
 
The city’s name died with its inhabitants. By day, the valley remains a desolation of barren gray ash where nothing moves except the wind. At night the city of Tephra appears, gray and white gables and towers rising in the starlight.
 
Many among the living and the dead believe that someone in Anadem must have sinned a great sin to offend the volcano’s god. Others suggest the god envied Anadem and destroyed the city out of spite. No one can ask the god, for no one has seen him since the cataclysm. The remains of the mountain, half a mile shorter than before, snarl toward Tephra like the jaw of a skull half-buried in the ground. Its former name is cursed and unspoken. Instead, men call it Anadem’s Pyre.
 
The ghosts of Tephra do not cultivate their ghostly ash-fields or otherwise pretend that they still live. They know they are dead. They could scarcely pretend otherwise, given the seared and seeping ectoplasmic flesh exposed by the blackened, flaking remnants of spiritual skin. The ghosts hate the living out of envy. They still pray, but now they have only one prayer that they offer to Oblivion: May all gods burn.
[END BOXED TEXT]
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Further explanations of references you can't figure out are available on request.
 
Dean Shomshak

Holy War
Tawia of the noble Darhune family dons the regalia of war: a breastplate, a skirt of leather strips, bracers, greaves and helm. Last she dons the silver-gilt mask of a desert jackal. The sisters in her martial order dress likewise, with masks of vulture, lizard and leopard. Tradition says that women must not fight in war, so they wear the visage of beasts instead. In their own chapterhouses, the male nobles don similar panoplies in the colors of their orders: Storm Knights in blue and white, Flame Knights in red and orange, Stone Knights in gray and brown, Maize Knights in green and yellow, and River Knights in green and blue. They paint their faces in their order’s colors instead of wearing masks. The warriors march from their chapterhouses to the plaza and shout, “Riwa and Qoba! Ruhollah and the Risen King!”
 
Similar ceremonies take place in Dolawi. The kings spent a month scheduling the war. Deaths among the aristocracy left both cities short of slaves, for nobles must not go alone to the Black Earth. A war enables the nobles to re-stock.
 
Meeting in battle, knight shouts challenge to knight. They wager handfuls of conscripted peasants on their duels. Tawia wins ten soldiers as slaves for the Darhune. Only the bravest dare to wager their own lives: The victor shall sacrifice the loser to his ancestors.
 
The second day brings the melee. Knights charge at the common soldiers of each city, striving with bola, net and mace to capture additional prisoners. The conscripts bear only padded clubs.
 
On the third day, the two kings duel. Ruhollah loses and so must give 100 of his subjects to the king of Dolawi.
 
“My ancestors demand more,” says King Fodjour. “Double or nothing? I know it’s irregular, but what can I do?” King Ruhollah allows that his ancestors say the same, but suggests they simply duel for another 100 soldiers. Perhaps they shall break even.
 
Secret Conquest
Indeed, lately the ancestors demand more every year: more incense, prayers and blood, richer funerals even for the common folk, more beasts and slaves sacrificed at the death of nobles. More wars. Everyone complies. No king would dare seem stingy: He would offend his ancestors and weaken his claim to inherit the Risen King’s reign. Instead of making war once every few years, Qoba has fought two wars already this year.
 
Nobody points out that the Risen King’s law does not include Riwa’s ritualistic slave-taking wars. When the Risen King departed, the lords of the seven cities elected a new high king from among their number. Sore losers turned to civil war. Kings and nobles sacrificed prisoners to strengthen their ancestors, which the ancestors endorsed for their own benefit. The Riwans eventually gave up on high kings, but the wars continued.
 
Limited contact between the living and the dead also means that no Riwan has yet figured out that the new demands don’t come from their ancestors. In fact, the First and Forsaken Lion conquered Riwa-of-the-Underworld four years ago. Most of the Riwan ghosts now labor in the Deathlord’s prayer mills. He destroyed any noble ghosts whom he could not break to his will. Many of the ghosts who manifest in the mortuary ziggurats are imposters.
 
In each city, bogus ancestors tell kings that ceremonial wars are not enough. They should train their knights and soldiers for real wars, marching north and south along the Diamond Road. Dutifully, the kings obey. Already, some launch raids against nearby tribes and villages, capturing entire populations for slaves and sacrifices. They want to be ready when the Final King appears to forge Riwa once more into a great nation… from mortal faults set free.
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Dean Shomshak

Riwa
 
About midway between the Lap and Gem, the Diamond Road crosses the plateau of Riwa. Let the caravan move on; linger instead in the plaza of Qoba, one of Riwa’s seven cities. Listen to the bard, descendant of ancient princes, as he sings the Riwayana, epic repository of the country’s history, heroes and lore
 
Four times hath Riwa risen, ruled by mighty kings,
And four times hath it fallen through the faults of men.
An Age of Gold by glory gained, and lost through treacher’s guile.
An Age of Silver subsequent, built and lost for love.
A Dragon Age of toil and greed, by plague its vices purged.
A new law from the Risen King, by zealous pride undone.
A Fifth and Final King shall come: Hear now the prophecy!
When Riwa rises ne’er to fall, from mortal fault set free.
 
The Riwayana has five books, each taking a full day to sing, but the fifth book is not yet written. Today, the bard sings only a brief passage from the fourth book as a way to introduce Qoba’s king.
 
Blood and Soil
King Ruhollah stands on the high dais before his palace, his body painted black and a maguey thorn in his hand. He thrusts the spine through his earlobe, smears his hand with blood, and raises it high. A priest hands Ruhollah an ear of maize. The king then drives the thorn through his tongue and spits blood onto the dark soil that covers the platform. Finally, he lances his own manhood. He collects the blood in a small bowl and dribbles it over the skull of his grandfather. Thus does Ruhollah enact the covenant of the Risen King and proclaim himself the rightful heir: He hears the words of his ancestors, repays the earth for its life-giving bounty, and acknowledges that life comes from death. The charcoal on his body shows that his flesh comes from the Black Earth and to that darkness must return.
 
Colors of Earth
Riwans treat black as the color of both life and death. Strips and dots of Black Earth run along the seasonal streams and ancient qanats that bring water from the mountains. Here the Riwans plant squash, beans and maize. When Riwans die, they return their bodies to the Black Earth to nourish the soil with their flesh and the vital force of their lower souls.
 
Yellow Earth surrounds the farmland. This land is too dry for crops but supports sheep and goats. The half-nomadic herdsmen are not quite respectable in Riwa, for they do not live on land sanctified by their ancestors. Still, they can return to their native villages each year to perform the sacred rites. Yellow is the color of wild things, the world without humanity. Shrines to elementals are painted yellow.
 
The Fire Mountains to the west are the Blue Earth, the sky-land that brings water. Blue is the color of Heaven and a suitable hue for shrines to gods; an auspicious color, but not as good as black.
 
To the East, the plateau ends in a maze of canyons, knife-edged ridges and badlands. Beyond this Ragged Edge stretches the great Southern Desert. Riwans call the desert the Red Earth, the evil land of sandstorms and raiders where death brings no life. Ancient fortresses guard the passes through the Ragged Edge. All seven kings should send troops to the fortresses, for so commanded the Dragon Lords of old. The watch sometimes fails because the modern kings of the city-states cannot agree about which fortress belongs to which king. Some Riwans, especially those living near the Ragged Edge, volunteer. Such wardens cannot be conscripted for other battles.
 
The seven cities of Riwa are Borsuna, Dolawi, Orzad, Qoba, Resht, Uda and Wegál. Of the ruined cities, the most important is Aman-Ri, first and eternal capital of Riwa. Nothing remains of the Golden King’s palace except the great stepped, circular mound that supported it. Nevertheless, every king of Riwa since his reign — both high kings of old and the rulers of the schismed cities of today — crowns himself on the mound of the Golden King. They could not rule otherwise, or at least not rule in Riwa.
 
The Pact of Life and Death
Riwans build shrines to placate various useful or important spirits, but they reserve true reverence for their ancestors. They bury their dead in the Black Earth with clothing, food and ornaments for the afterlife. After ten years, Riwans exhume the bones and pack them in clay jars.
 
Wealthier Riwans use urns molded with death masks of the occupants. The jars of poor Riwans merely have a face sketched on the side. In return for prayers and offerings, Riwan ghosts bless and protect their living descendants. Few Riwans encounter ghosts, though. The Risen
 
King taught this covenant of the living and the dead, but also said that each should stay in their own world. Riwa has no shadowlands, so few ghosts have easy access to the living in any case.
 
Matters are different for nobles. Each city has several noble families. The nobles rise and fall in rank based on the number and power of their ancestral ghosts: The aristocracy of the living echoes the aristocracy of the dead. The royal family just has the strongest cohort of ghosts. New deaths can swell that cohort; Lethe shrinks it. Dynasties shift over the decades.
 
The ziggurat of the noble dead dominates a Riwan city’s plaza, overtopping the palaces of the living. Each tier of the ziggurat has crypts cut into its sides where black-glazed urns rest on altars of diorite, receiving sacrifices of incense, grain and blood. The royal family claims the higher tiers and crowning spire. The sacred ziggurat enables the dead to visit their tombs when mortals sacrifice to them, and so advise their heirs.
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Dean Shomshak

Leave me alone!

"I brought you more food" Kori fed the girl that was hiding in the cave, "Are you SURE you saw what you saw?"
"They threw me off the boat, when they realized I had overheard too much," Mary had been a stowaway, hoping to get away from abusive parents. The yacht she slipped onto had been everything a poor girl from nowhere important could dream of, "But I overheard them talking, about robots that might one day kill even THEIR kind, and how it needed to be nixed or better yet, put to their plans to bring their kind of peace to this world."
"Robot? It's sure not Grandpa, he's tough, but not that tough" A frown broke out on the saffron skinned girl's features "And Lois is great! She's a robot NOW but...well, it's complicated. But she would never hurt a family member."
Yet the descriptions given made it clear that it was her Uncle and Aunt who had nearly killed Mary or rather left her out to drown. If Kori hadn't found her floating on the water, Mary would have died. Kori meant to take her to her mom or dad, but Mary told her story then, and Kori, at Mary's request, had hidden her here, in the very cave where once a hero had taken haven before putting an end to the schemes of the bad guy behind the Omin Droid program.
Then it hit Kori, "The Omni droid program! they were suposed to get smarter and more dangerous each upgrade!  Mom has the tech now but Uncle and she have argued in the past.." A sinking feeling hit her belly, "Mary? I have a bad feeling about this."
Like any teenager, Kori turned to texting for a solution, "I'm caling my brother" His picture showed on the screen.
"He's cute" Mary blurted, then blushed.
"Gross," Kori informed her. As she tried to get a warning to her brother that something sinister might be going on..
***
Sadly, Mark knew far too well what was going on. the ambush on his parents had been quick and brutal, now while Lois was playing decoy to buy Mark time to get Calvin to safety, the man who hoped to be called Invincible struggled with the superstrong 'stupendous man' who wanted to chip in.
"BETRAYAL! Not even cool betrayal, because it happened to us!" Calvin wailed, "That's my mom! You gotta let me go... I can fight! I got a tiger!"
"Calvin, shut up ..." Mark said in a panic as omnidroids co-opted and controlled by his traitorous uncle and aunt swarmed the island, "I gotta find Kup, let him get you to a safe place so I can join the fight!"
Though  with mom and dad both sucker punched and down, Mark wasn't sure how he and his sister in law could possibly hold on. Then he saw his granda. Good. Maybe he could help fight!
****
"I don't blame you, Lois," Zarda said as she pursued the tornado producing reporter, "You've escaped fragile mortal flesh, but your mind is still that of a lesser. You need guidance. My Husband and I plan to use the tools humanity would use on us on them instead, but instead of destruction, we'll bring order!"
"this story is so over done, my editor may ask me for NEW material," Lois said. Powerful as she was, she was outmatched here if hands actually closed on her!
 Hyperion came at her from the other side! She took a breath she no longer save to express her worry. She was about to get her robotic body caved in!
And then Hyperion look a blow from behind, as Invincible came in rushing to the rescue "You rat bastard! How could you betray your own sister?!  your family!"
Hyperion backhanded Invincible, knocking him to the Earth, "I'm protecting you all, and if some ambitions are filled as well? So be it. Stand down boy, you're a half blood, and it shows!"
***
"Let me go, let me go," Stupendous man cursed in Kup's driver seat, "I can help."
"Imagine how I feel?" the truck said, "But sorry kid, you're still too young for super battles."
Suddenly a streak of light went out from the edge of the island.
"No far, even Aunt Kori gets to fight!" Calvin observed.
Kup had no heart, but somehow it still ached at the idea of Kori going INTO danger when he had to protect another. Hang on there, Little Starfire! he thought.
****
Mary was miserable. Kori's phone showed had somehow kept the video conference going with Mark's, and like his sister, he had dropped his phone. But she got glimpses, sounds, of how the fight was going. It wasn't going well!
"If only I could help..." She looked around the cave. It was better than watching blood rain down from Mark. She didn't know the guy, but she knew he was being brave!
But there was nothing in this cave, not anymore. Apparently at one time it had had skeletons of fallen heroes.Then she saw something, etched in a wall, a message
IF YOUR CAUSE IS PURE and GOOD: SAY MY NAME...
and below it was a name
Mary tilted her head, and whispered it in confusion.
***
Lois lay twitching on the ground, one of her arms ripped off.
Invincible had held up surprisingly well against his Uncle, the Hyperion! But when Lois was taken out, it became two on one again and  Mark was a mess!
"Stand down!" Zarda commanded.
"Screw yourself," Mark suggested only to be rewarded with a slap that drove him through a wall.
"Someone's released the Kraken," Hyperion cursed, "I'm sending the omnidroids after it! "
Another wave of omni  droids came out, only to be engulfed in energy as Kori defended her pet!
Zarda sighed, "Time to finish off Mark. Sweet boy, but he is only half worth while." She raised her boot to crush him.
Something moved with the speed of a god and hammered Zarda from the side knocking her away "Remember me? Probably not. I remember you."
Mary looked older, she was definitely stronger! She was pissed!! And she was a marvel!
She was cute.. in a bad ass way, Mark thought as he kicked out his aunt's kneecap!
Zarda howled.
"Stupid boy,"  Hyperion cursed, "You can't win."
"We don't have to win, we just have to hold on until..."
Heat Vision struck Hyperion straight on.
"Until Mom and dad wake up," Mark said.
"You're in trouble now," Kori declared!
"Can I help pound them? PLEASE?" Mary asked.
"I made a friend, mom!" Kori beamed "Can we keep her?"
The evil Uncle and Aunt ...didn't fare well after that. Omni bots or no.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Unsorted Kin #3: Hyperion (Squadron Sinister) Lara's Brother

Option: Zarda aka Power Princess (squadron Sinister)  - Hyperion's wife

Option 2: Mary Marvel

Oh, sadly, I think I can explain that one. Some of them, the attitude is fetus = baby. Baby = Innocent. Criminal however, has done something wrong, not only can criminals be punished, they deserve to be. These same folks avoid nuance much like unclevlad said.  So the 'let the punishment fit the crime' is a forgotten aspect of it. Just punish. Babies though? Innocent of crime, so even if a danger to the mother, well, too bad. The mother had sex, and that, like crime, has consequences by golly. It's an easy attitude to take if you have no personal skin in the game as it has the benefit of not requiring too much thought, AND you get to feel morally superior at the same time.   Sadly this attitude often skips the virtues of empathy, thoughtfulness, and humility.
 

Angry Librarian Tells Off Right-Wing Pro-Censors

As many as the GM wants, of course!
 
But I would prefer just one, to keep a distinctive style.
 
Example: Fencing. If you've seen The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, remember the scene where Tom Baker brings the statue of Kali to life as a six-armed golem armed with swords, fighting Sinbad's whole crew at once? Or if a big stone statue seems like it ought to have 40+ STR, how about a cockpunk robot fencer with a rapier, or Darth Maul's two-bladed lightsaber?
 
But this classification does not require actual Martial Arts as a game mechanic. It just means the character principally fights HTH but doesn't depend on raw STR for damage. Like, say, an ungodly fast robot -- hey, let's add the Kali golem's six arms, just for fun -- but each hand delivers a powerful electrical shock when it hits.
 
Dunno if the CU has any technologists who would build anything so fanciful, but I could see Zorran the /Artificer building magitech constructs like this.
 
ADDENDUM: Ah! Now I know. Doctor Crandall Herzog, later to become the Overbrain. He used to supply technical services to various criminal and terrorist groups and secret government programs. If somebody paid him to build robot martial artists, he'd shrug, take their money, and do it. I dare say he was a bit wackadoodle even before becoming a disembodied brain.
 
Dean Shomshak

Palatka is just an hour away.