HR:
“And in his memory, and in honor of his (involuntary) sacrifice, this circular portal shall be named, the Ferris Wheel. It is a truly fitting title, because it will enable me to give you all the run around.”
There’s two types of bravery: one that comes from rebelling against fear, and one that comes from acknowledging fear and overcoming it. The first is always stupid, as it is intentionally misguiding yourself, even if that sometimes works out (much like playing how playing the opposite of your hunches in blackjack is no better than following your hunches). The second is usually not, as it lets you move beyond instinct and think.
You know, being a cultist would be so much more appealing if my god were as understanding as HR and had an awesome mustache. We’d have people signing up by the droves just on the sheer charismatic pull of that glorious facial hair.
Kind of reminds me of the Bank robbery scene at the beginning of Nolan’s The Dark Knight, where every goon thought he was the one that would survive, or the 1989 Batman’s “Bob, remember, you are my number one guy” scene. HR’s channeling some Joker there, either way.
Ulak – all you’ve been believing has been a lie.
By the way, I’m GOD. Bow before me.
And for Pete’s sake see a dermatologist before that acne gets even worse.
Having your god making a personal appearance, absolving you of your sins and telling you he needs you will cut short all these pesky crisis of faith.
However, that will make it tricky to run away next time.
@ Jean-Luc / Rosetiger12
Blood, indeed, or some mix of life force, fuels the portal, at least in the Guilded Age universe. Wasn’t HR avatar summoned through this very portal following the *ahem* donation of Ulak’s friend? http://guildedage.net/comic/chapter-22-page-22/
I wonder what they’re doing with the portal this time. Summon more berzerker demons? Or another one of those monsters that deleted Rachel? Or perhaps HR or someone else is leaving this time?
I’m still not following H.R.’s line of thought here. He seemed to have a very good grasp of the Allegory of the Cave, and what it would mean to reveal forbidden (meta?) knowledge to those without access. That they may be put to death, like Socrates was. And yet, at every turn, he seems to revel in telling people in the game that he created that he created the world, and should be treated like a god. Syr’nj (possibly the world’s most active champion of peace) did not believe him- and attacked him JUST LIKE THE CAVE-DWELLERS IN PLATO’S ALLEGORY. Can H.R. truly not see the mistake he is making? Why repeat his actions with Ulak? Knowing what he knows about the refusal of the game to follow his wants, and about the fate of the people who escape from the cave and later return in The Republic, why does he do this? It seems like the kind of obvious mistake someone of H.R.’s apparent intellect would notice and remedy quickly.
I’m still not getting why all the cultists are so quick to obey him and accept that he’s a god, when so far he’s proven to be just a human with glowy eyes and and magical ability only slightly better than your average magic user.
I don’t think they see him as a god, just as their leader — and that’s probably because his likeness, Brother Homon (who, as far as they can tell, is the same person) was accepted by their old leader as some kind of visionary or prophet. Considering that Brother Tom planned his own death by the hands of Byron, he may even have named Homon/H.R. as his successor.
Judging by Ulak’s expression, this is the first time H.R. has referred to himself as a god in front of him. The only other time he’s done so since arriving in Arkerra is in front of Syr’Nj. It’s not unlikely that the other cultists didn’t hear him over the din of the battlefield, or if they did, that they thought he was just playing mindgames with Syr’Nj.
This looks like it comes apart a lot easier than LEGOs do though. I just had a great upgrade idea. Put roller logs in the base, and then bind the outside of the portal stones with iron bands or rope. With the Glyphs all around the outside, you would have a “Wheel of Misfortune!” Then HR could get his sacrifices by advertising for ‘contestants.’ Everyone’s a Whiner!
Glad to see HR never lost his essential managerial skills, even after years of limited contact with his front line workers.
Ferris re-ignited his interest in his valued employees.
Then he killed Ferris.
HR:
“And in his memory, and in honor of his (involuntary) sacrifice, this circular portal shall be named, the Ferris Wheel. It is a truly fitting title, because it will enable me to give you all the run around.”
Good one. :)
Amen.
Well, he’s not wrong. A keen sense of self-preservation does denote lateral
thinking skills.
Anecdotally, some of the bravest guys I’ve known have been idiots.
Some. But not all. Not even many, maybe.
:-)
There’s two types of bravery: one that comes from rebelling against fear, and one that comes from acknowledging fear and overcoming it. The first is always stupid, as it is intentionally misguiding yourself, even if that sometimes works out (much like playing how playing the opposite of your hunches in blackjack is no better than following your hunches). The second is usually not, as it lets you move beyond instinct and think.
I’ll agree to that. Some people also achieve good results while terrified.
I’m not sure if they’re brave, but I respect their durability.
You know, being a cultist would be so much more appealing if my god were as understanding as HR and had an awesome mustache. We’d have people signing up by the droves just on the sheer charismatic pull of that glorious facial hair.
Hence, Hitler’s popularity
No, he had a wimpy little moustache – Stalin’s was much more inspiring!
Not ready to die, but ready to kill your friend at a moments notice. Oh, karma will get him…
Well of course. If he didn’t kill his friend at a moment’s notice he would have died and, as already mentioned, he isn’t ready for that.
I’d wager around 93.7% of people who kill others are themselves not keen on dying.
87.9% of all statistics are made up on the spot
74.6% of the time, these made up statistics are totally accurate.
I’m 256.2% certain that your all only 85.4% correct.
Ah I am getting a clearer picture of what HR is craving with this God ambition thing. Not working with Sryng but at least Ulak is buying in.
And the Eli Whitney or Henry Ford of this world will go on unknown for his contribution to death portals.
Chevron seven locked?
Well, HR has glowing eyes and thinks he’s a god, so his body is probably controlled by a Goa’uld…
Kind of reminds me of the Bank robbery scene at the beginning of Nolan’s The Dark Knight, where every goon thought he was the one that would survive, or the 1989 Batman’s “Bob, remember, you are my number one guy” scene. HR’s channeling some Joker there, either way.
“No. No no no no. I permalink to thenext commenter.”
Ulak – all you’ve been believing has been a lie.
By the way, I’m GOD. Bow before me.
And for Pete’s sake see a dermatologist before that acne gets even worse.
Next Comic: SG-1 enters, blows everyone away with P90’s. The World is saved and we finally get the Stargate MMO that we always wanted
With Teal’C dual-wielding M249s. :-)
“Indeed” – Teal’C
So what is this stargate powered by, the moon?
Why it’s powered by MAGICS of course.
Mystical
Alters
Given
In
Cultist
School
It only functions when they pay off their student loans.
Firstborns just weren’t cutting it, so they jumped up to student loans.
Probably blood.
Friendship. Yes, really.
Having your god making a personal appearance, absolving you of your sins and telling you he needs you will cut short all these pesky crisis of faith.
However, that will make it tricky to run away next time.
@ Jean-Luc / Rosetiger12
Blood, indeed, or some mix of life force, fuels the portal, at least in the Guilded Age universe. Wasn’t HR avatar summoned through this very portal following the *ahem* donation of Ulak’s friend?
http://guildedage.net/comic/chapter-22-page-22/
Homunculus was summoned, not H.R. Homunculus just looked like H.R.
I wonder what they’re doing with the portal this time. Summon more berzerker demons? Or another one of those monsters that deleted Rachel? Or perhaps HR or someone else is leaving this time?
I’m pretty sure he intends to summon Carol.
Didn’t think of that. But isn’t she needed where she is to keep the company running?
“Hair-reh guude! Vaahd eh deeh?”
“Yah unskar yah vis-teh deh.”
I’m still not following H.R.’s line of thought here. He seemed to have a very good grasp of the Allegory of the Cave, and what it would mean to reveal forbidden (meta?) knowledge to those without access. That they may be put to death, like Socrates was. And yet, at every turn, he seems to revel in telling people in the game that he created that he created the world, and should be treated like a god. Syr’nj (possibly the world’s most active champion of peace) did not believe him- and attacked him JUST LIKE THE CAVE-DWELLERS IN PLATO’S ALLEGORY. Can H.R. truly not see the mistake he is making? Why repeat his actions with Ulak? Knowing what he knows about the refusal of the game to follow his wants, and about the fate of the people who escape from the cave and later return in The Republic, why does he do this? It seems like the kind of obvious mistake someone of H.R.’s apparent intellect would notice and remedy quickly.
I’m still not getting why all the cultists are so quick to obey him and accept that he’s a god, when so far he’s proven to be just a human with glowy eyes and and magical ability only slightly better than your average magic user.
I don’t think they see him as a god, just as their leader — and that’s probably because his likeness, Brother Homon (who, as far as they can tell, is the same person) was accepted by their old leader as some kind of visionary or prophet. Considering that Brother Tom planned his own death by the hands of Byron, he may even have named Homon/H.R. as his successor.
Judging by Ulak’s expression, this is the first time H.R. has referred to himself as a god in front of him. The only other time he’s done so since arriving in Arkerra is in front of Syr’Nj. It’s not unlikely that the other cultists didn’t hear him over the din of the battlefield, or if they did, that they thought he was just playing mindgames with Syr’Nj.
To have this revelation, after stabbing your best friend in the back… the guilt must be killing Ulak.
How did that crane boom double in length like that?
It looks like it can be slid back and forth by the way it’s attached.
SUCH CHARISMA. He could have rolled a 2 and still pulled that off. Not a 1 though.
I wonder if HR thinks Tectonicus is “made up”….
Of course. He wrote the a.i. for the thing.
In another world, in another time, this guy would have invented Lego(TM).
This looks like it comes apart a lot easier than LEGOs do though. I just had a great upgrade idea. Put roller logs in the base, and then bind the outside of the portal stones with iron bands or rope. With the Glyphs all around the outside, you would have a “Wheel of Misfortune!” Then HR could get his sacrifices by advertising for ‘contestants.’ Everyone’s a Whiner!