MS: Operation Desperation
Lore forum
Posted on June 5, 2019, 12:31 p.m. by RicketyEng
In which our intrepid heroes seek to complete the final stages of Operation Desperation - the plan to re-unite the guilds. This story brings us pretty much to the end of Act 2.
DemonDragonJ says... #4
In today’s story, Rat seeing Hekara’s corpse definitely added emotional drama to the plot, but her returning to life produced a mixture of reactions from me; one on side, this game has the word “magic” in its name, so a character being able to return to life is not a major surprise, but, on the other side, it also reduces the emotional impact of that character’s death. Also, I thought that WotC had a policy of characters who die remaining dead, so that the shock of their death is not lessened.
However, the fact that Hekara was no longer able to see Rat was definitely a harsh moment, so I do hope that either Hekara regains that ability, or Rat can overcome that emotional trauma.
I see that Exava is the second-in-command of the Rakdos guild, other than Rakdos, himself; I presume that Judith and Massacre Girl are other high-ranking members of the guild.
During the assembly of the guild leaders, Lazav revealing that he had been present the entire time was played as humorous, but that is a very sinister ability, so I wonder how anyone can trust anyone else when someone has that ability.
The ritual to revive Niv-Mizzet was awesome, and I am certain that it would be vsiaully impressive if that scene were ever made into a movie. Niv-Mizzet was great in his fight against Kefnet, but the fact that he seemed to be exhausted after only that was very anti-climactic, so I hope that he recovers soon and can continue fighting.
June 5, 2019 6:07 p.m.
RicketyEng says... #5
Hekara returning from the dead in this case is not the same as bringing someone like Domri Rade or Gideon back to life. She was a character we hadn't really met before (I guess we did meet her very briefly in Rat's version of events) and so all we know about her comes from how the other characters feel about her and her death. Furthermore, I would argue that her no longer having the ability to notice Rat makes a very moving change from a loss due to death to a very different kind of loss for Rat. She may no longer be dead, but there are still very lasting and meaningful effects of her transformation.
As for Niv-Mizzet, yes his burst of energy followed by exhaustion was surprising when I first read it. I guess being resurrected like that is something like when the Doctor regenerates and needs to sleep it off while the process completes.
June 5, 2019 8:23 p.m.
I mean it's not entirely surprising
The whole point of the ritual is that it would give Niv The powers of the Guildpact and revive him.
He then proceeds to not use the law magic he now is infused with and instead opts to use raw dragon strength against a giant metal bird
Considering nothing in the Guildpact power-set includes prowess and stamina in a glorified fist fight It kinda makes sense that simply using his brawn and not his brain would tire him out.
June 6, 2019 11:10 a.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #7
windlnk, why would Niv-Mizzet use physical force, when he is one of the most intelligent beings on Ravnica? That was very out-of-character for him.
June 9, 2019 8:24 a.m.
DemonDragonJ I never claimed That part of the story made sense only that after he Used his body as a battering ram to break off Kefnet's arm I'm not surprised he passed out.
It is weird that he did that. Especially since he then immediately Annihilates him with a flame breath right after so he could have just started with that.
It honestly all just feels like a Second Vitu-Gahzi Death, Where at least the good guys lived this time and killed big bird off but a really cool Character just kinda sits there looking cool for a few seconds before being left to rot.
June 10, 2019 2:02 a.m.
RicketyEng says... #10
Niv-Mizzet isn't actually the cause of Kefnet's lost arm.
Who actually did it? Show
June 10, 2019 9:14 p.m.
RicketyEng Okay while technically he wasn't the one who lopped off that arm He did still take off his other hand in the story
"But the new and supposedly improved Firemind spread his wings and launched himself up toward the monster. The dragon's golden wings glowed with a golden light, and his upward arc sheared the God-Creepy's fist off at the wrist. It landed like a boulder ten feet behind us, shaking the ground but doing no further damage." (Direct copypasta from the linked story page)
So while it's not the whole arm It doesn't really change the fact that Niv Used his own body as a giant sword to Chop through the Bird instead of just roasting him into a puddle from the start.
June 11, 2019 2:18 a.m.
RicketyEng says... #12
Ah, I forgot about the fist, thanks.
So the issue is that Niv used physical force? Why do you think that is outside the character of someone who is still a dragon?
An alternative explanation is that maybe there wasn't enough time to melt Kefnet mid swing as he was about to crush everyone; neutralize the immediate threat then overwhelm its source.
June 11, 2019 8:34 a.m.
That could be it But that still raises the question of why he didn't just immobilize him with law magic since he is supposed to be the new living guildpact with access to all the of the abilities that comes with it, including the ability to immobilize/destroy those that threaten the guildpact (The fact that Bolas decided to take out that power at the start proves that it could be effective against him and his minions)
Escpecially since Kefnet Never once seems to be able to acess his magic during the story (another plot hole that bugs me since he should be able too since all the regular eternals can use magic)
I just feel like the writer's left out a lot of character abilities so that they could make the characters fit the narrative they wanted to tell better.
RicketyEng says... #2
I enjoy the geometry of the leylines at least as much as Teyo.
June 5, 2019 12:34 p.m.