The Open Door (megacrossover)

[Academia Nut]

Yes. Yes it was a Cpl_Facehugger cameo. His suggestion of a betentacled commissar was too funny to pass up.

"My name is Commissar Hugger, and you will obey me."

*Snicker*

"Oh, some of you find my name amusing do you? Well, it is short for Facehugger, and..."

[Five minutes of unspeakableness later]

"Anyone else care to question my authority?"

[Jonen C]

I've been beginning to suspect that worshiping Tzintchi (and, possibly Tzeentch) is less a question about the plots and manipulations and more about being crazy prepared enough to deal with the fallout...

[EarthScorpion]

I've been beginning to suspect that worshiping Tzintchi (and, possibly Tzeentch) is less a question about the plots and manipulations and more about being crazy prepared enough to deal with the fallout...

Really, does it only have to be one of them? It's really more about the fallout being the initiation of yet another plot, to be even more precise.

Academia Nut, I have to say that I love both this and its prequel. It's what finally presuaded me to register for this site, lurking as I have since the start of Armageddon. It's just... brilliant.

Although I would love to see the gods if they discovered the world of Cthulhutech, which is in its own way a NGE crossover (but with quite a few of the incompetancies removed). It's an RPG, in which the pilots of the mind-shredding organo-mechano-mecha must take mandatory counciling. And I'd suspect that they'd hold the New Earth Goverment in higher regard than the Rapine Storm, as the latter is too much like the Old Gods.

But, of course, you have proved time and time again that you're far better at coming up with mind-screw twists and strangeness that just works than I could ever be, so I'm just sitting and waiting for the next glorious update.

[Jim Starluck]

Academia Nut, I have to say that I love both this and its prequel. It's what finally presuaded me to register for this site, lurking as I have since the start of Armageddon. It's just... brilliant.

Somewhat the same for me. I haven't read more than the beginning of Thousand Shinji, but this one has really caught my interest, more for seeing the various denizens of the multiverse react to this brand of Chaos than anything else. To the point that I start wondering how some of my characters would react...

[Academia Nut]

Well, the whole idea of The Open Door started as a 'Wouldn't it be amusing if...' that has since spiralled completely out of control. Same with Lars, only on a more microscale.

Also, I'm tempted to start throwing out random plot gibberish including actual planned plot points and see if you can spot them. Simply as an experiment in judging just how twisted my mind is. But I will refrain for now because I need to come up with some weird ones first.

[Firethorn]

And yes, that was a Jaeger accent there. Haven't seen that image before, since I was thinking of this one at the time. I dare anyone who knows about 40k commissars and Girl Genius Jaegermonsters to look at that picture and not laugh at least a little.

Now that's a HAT!! Is it mounting a V-6 to help power the speakers?

[Academia Nut]

Well, it does have the exhaust pipes, and I'm sure its got a hemi in there. That or some sort of nuclear powered drive to control the bolters. But yes, that is definitely a hat forged by a Heterodyne for a favoured jaeger. A really favoured jaeger.

[A Social Democrat]

I like where your going with this, however I have some more or less reasonable requests: put in the g-man in, Kane, Adrian Shephard. This is just a simple request, and you can ignore it if you like. However, the transuniversal union (the combine) might be good to add to the story as they are a credible threat because they want to rule the multiverse.

You know you have inspired me with your fic to one day write a massive crossover involving the combine invading various other universes. When (and if) I write it, I'll be sure to cite you.

[Aranfan]

The Combine might be a bit too high end for this fic. We don't actually have enough data to tell what level they're at. We know it took them 6 hours to beat modern day earth. But that's pretty much it.


Edit: How close is Skuld to regaining her divine glory and undoing the spell that the Drow lady put on her?

[Academia Nut]

Let's just say that when the Time of Troubles hits there are going to be some non-canonical openings in portfolios.

Also, Ao knows a fair bit more about the overall structure of the multiverse than most of the gods in the Forgotten Realms. Dun dun dun! Plot!

[dragon]

Let's just say that when the Time of Troubles hits there are going to be some non-canonical openings in portfolios.

Also, Ao knows a fair bit more about the overall structure of the multiverse than most of the gods in the Forgotten Realms. Dun dun dun! Plot!

Well at the end of the series AO is talking to his superior, which could be just about anything or anyone.

[Academia Nut]

Let's play spot the plot twist! What will happen in the future?

Is it:

a) Lars and Skuld's child goes on to have an affair with Grazz't while helping him overthrow Demogorgon and the spawn of that unholy union goes on to depose Pale Night as the scariest being in the multiverse?
b) Lars is banished to the Nine Hells, goes nuts, starts eating souls and devils until he's a daemon prince and then starts beating the shit out of everything in his path before overthrowing Asmodeus and claiming the Nine Hells in the name of Chaos while telling the demons to go be posers elsewhere?
c) Through a series of events Shar loses control of the Shadow Weave to Skuld, who is protected by Lolth just so she can also steal the Underdark from Shar's portfolio and by Mask because he's a dick like that. Shar throws a massive fit, but does expand her loss portfolio significantly.
d) A summoning spell goes awry due to wild magic and hundreds of entities from the Far Realm pour out but immediately swear allegiance to Lars for being the scariest outsider around. Lars is exasperated, but uses their powers to undo the spell on Skuld before taking a pipe wrench to Menzoberranzan
e) Aruvixa gains control over the Weave after Mystra dies due to an experiment gone awry. The whole damn thing erupts into a massive war between the gods over the sudden shuffle in the power structure as an evil drow gains control over the Weave and Corellon and Lolth go head to head over the whole affair
f) Lars hits Lolth with a high explosive round and then, by the 'you kill it, you keep it' clause that seems to go along with godhood, suddenly finds himself in charge of the drow and fighting off the other parts of the drow pantheon who are pissed that mommy is dead... except for Ellistrae who is pissed that she isn't the one who did it and someone like Lars is in charge, but isn't exactly quite as aggressive about the whole thing
g) Lars and Sharess both get drunk. Lars discovers he has a litter on the way

Only maybe one of these is true... although now that I think about it a couple of them are pretty damn awesome and might get used in one form or another

[von Neufeld]

Let's play spot the plot twist! What will happen in the future?

Is it:

a) Lars and Skuld's child goes on to have an affair with Grazz't while helping him overthrow Demogorgon and the spawn of that unholy union goes on to depose Pale Night as the scariest being in the multiverse?

Seems a bit too far future. Also, is BG II part of this FR, which would make Demogorgon imprisoned?

b) Lars is banished to the Nine Hells, goes nuts, starts eating souls and devils until he's a daemon prince and then starts beating the shit out of everything in his path before overthrowing Asmodeus and claiming the Nine Hells in the name of Chaos while telling the demons to go be posers elsewhere?

Not very likely, since it binds Lars in one place that doesn't seem very interesting for a long time.

c) Through a series of events Shar loses control of the Shadow Weave to Skuld, who is protected by Lolth just so she can also steal the Underdark from Shar's portfolio and by Mask because he's a dick like that. Shar throws a massive fit, but does expand her loss portfolio significantly.

Now this sounds more likely, but I suspect that you have her replacing Mystra instead.

d) A summoning spell goes awry due to wild magic and hundreds of entities from the Far Realm pour out but immediately swear allegiance to Lars for being the scariest outsider around. Lars is exasperated, but uses their powers to undo the spell on Skuld before taking a pipe wrench to Menzoberranzan

Interesting, but not twisty enough to be likely.

e) Aruvixa gains control over the Weave after Mystra dies due to an experiment gone awry. The whole damn thing erupts into a massive war between the gods over the sudden shuffle in the power structure as an evil drow gains control over the Weave and Corellon and Lolth go head to head over the whole affair

The whole war part doesn't sound plausible, since AO is likely to step in and put an end to it.

f) Lars hits Lolth with a high explosive round and then, by the 'you kill it, you keep it' clause that seems to go along with godhood, suddenly finds himself in charge of the drow and fighting off the other parts of the drow pantheon who are pissed that mommy is dead... except for Ellistrae who is pissed that she isn't the one who did it and someone like Lars is in charge, but isn't exactly quite as aggressive about the whole thing

I like this one, and thinks it fits your writing style the best.

g) Lars and Sharess both get drunk. Lars discovers he has a litter on the way

It's a bit like retelling a joke, not likely.

Only maybe one of these is true... although now that I think about it a couple of them are pretty damn awesome and might get used in one form or another

My vote is that f is the most likely. With parts of c + e + f as a runner up.

[Robo Jesus]

You know, seeing as how they're in Menzoberranzan, I'm surprised no one has thrown out the joke "Rock fall, everyone dies."

[Academia Nut]

Yeah! Fan art!

[TheClueless]

My apologies, in advance, if my post annoys anyone. I'm afraid my inner geek's gotten the best of me, for the moment.

Let's play spot the plot twist! What will happen in the future?

<Snip!>

b) Lars is banished to the Nine Hells, goes nuts, starts eating souls and devils until he's a daemon prince and then starts beating the shit out of everything in his path before overthrowing Asmodeus and claiming the Nine Hells in the name of Chaos while telling the demons to go be posers elsewhere?

As amusing as it sounds, I don't think that Lars would be a "New School" daemon (prince) if this took place. Given the sheer inbalance - towards the Dark Side - that this kind of diet would give him, he'd (IMO) be an "Old School" daemon (prince). Which means that this version of Lars would make a high priestess of Lolth look like a pacifist petitioner of Eldath.

c) Through a series of events Shar loses control of the Shadow Weave to Skuld, who is protected by Lolth just so she can also steal the Underdark from Shar's portfolio and by Mask because he's a dick like that. Shar throws a massive fit, but does expand her loss portfolio significantly.

This one actually made me go "Hmmm...". Mainly due to your previous comments that there are going to be some unexpected openings at the end of *this* Time of Trouble. But more on that later.

d) A summoning spell goes awry due to wild magic and hundreds of entities from the Far Realm pour out but immediately swear allegiance to Lars for being the scariest outsider around. Lars is exasperated, but uses their powers to undo the spell on Skuld before taking a pipe wrench to Menzoberranzan

Possible. Definately possible.

f) Lars hits Lolth with a high explosive round and then, by the 'you kill it, you keep it' clause that seems to go along with godhood, suddenly finds himself in charge of the drow and fighting off the other parts of the drow pantheon who are pissed that mommy is dead... except for Ellistrae who is pissed that she isn't the one who did it and someone like Lars is in charge, but isn't exactly quite as aggressive about the whole thing

This is my favorite one out of your choices, and it seems to "fit" the story - and poor, poor Lars - the best. The poor guy just doesn't seem lucky enough to have a wild and passionate night with the goddess of physical pleasure and ladies of the night. (Even with the "I'm pregnant?" complication.)

As of the (end of the) ToT, Lolth was considered an Intermediate diety. Her portfolio was : assassins, chaos, darkness, drow, evil, spiders.

The other, current members of the Drow pantheon on Toril are: Eilistraee, Ghaunadaur, Kiaransalee, Selvetarm, and Vhaeraun. And, as you stated, *none* of them will be jumping for joy about having Lars replace Lolth. Not that they won't be happy that the she-spider's finally gotten what was coming to her.

As such, all but Eilistraee will automatically want to kill Lars and take all of his new portfolio away from him. Failing that, they'll try to reduce Lars' power by trying add part(s) of Lars' portfolio - which in some way tie into what they already have - to their own.

Vhaeraun is the second "nicest" ( ) of the drow gods. If he had his way, the drow would live in peace and harmony with each other *and* with the surface elves (and probably the half-elves too). Of course, all of the other race would be their slaves, if they were allowed to live, and all of the elves (inc. the drow) would worship him.

The idea that *someone else* would kill his mother and take up her power/portfolio will not go over well with Vhaeraun. As he's the drow god of thieves, Vhaeraun would be in the best position to take the "darkness" part of Lars' new portfolio away from him. He's also a contender for the "assassins", "chaos" and "evil" portions of the portfolio.

Selvetarm is Vhaeraun's son. (He raped a goddess who passed on a bit after giving birth.) Selvetarm was still trying to figure out if he was going to be good or evil when grandma convinced him to kill a demon lord, and thus become a demigod. That this would turn him towards evil, and cause Selvetarm to be Lolth's slave, was somethign that grandma forgot to mention.

Given Lars' luck so far, Selvetarm will regain his free will with Lolth's death, but will remain an evil drow in his outlook. As the drow war god (and given his appearance), he's in the best position to take the "spiders" away from Lars. He'd also be a contender for the "assassins", "chaos" and "evil" portions of the portfolio.

Kiaransalee is the drow goddess of necromancy and revenge. She's a contender for the "assassins", "chaos", and "evil" portions of the portfolio.

Ghaunadaur is a "primordial" type of evil god, and his portfolio includes both outcasts and slime. He's a contender for the "chaos" and "evil" portions of the portfolio.

Eilistraee, the only good drow diety, might go after Lars since he is a soul-eating daemon. On the other hand, given her history with Selvetarm - before her mother enslaved him - she might try to bring Lars "into the (moon) light". Particularly if Ao rules that Lars' alignment is Chaotic Neutral (and not one of the Evil alignments). She'd be a contender for the "chaos" portion of Lars' porfolio.

Of course, even if Lolth does die in this version of the Time of Troubles, she isn't the only diety who does. Bane, Bhaal, Gilgeam, Ibandul, Myrkul, Mystra and Ramman all die as well. Plus, no one has ever replaced Auppenser as the (human only?) god of psionics, even though he's been dead for centuries. Even if none of the other gods bite the bullet in this world's version of the ToT, that's still quite a bit of divine power that gets redistributed.

In the trilogy - and the sourcebooks- this is how it turns out, as of the end of the Time of Troubles:
Cyric takes up the mantles of Tyranny (Bane), Murder (Bhaal), and Death (Myrkul).
Midnight takes up the mantle of the Weave/Magic (Mystra).
Tiamat gets a boost from killing Gilgeam (IMO), but the Mulhorandi dieties do their best to profit as well.
Shar gets to kill a potential rival, and add Caverns to her portfolio, by (quietly) offing Ibandul.
Hoar gets his revenge on Ramman, but Anhur is the one who gains in power.

The first thing that comes to my mind is, Skuld's current connection to the Weave. IMO, this makes her a serious contender for replacing Mystra, instead of Midnight.

However, I don't like the idea of breaking up the Cyric/Midnight grudge-fest. Then I remember that while Azuth is the god of Wizardry (studied magic), that I couldn't think of a deity of Sorcery (instinctive magic). So, maybe Mystra becomes the goddess of Sorcerery, while Skuld becomes the goddess of the Weave itself. Or vice versa.

The next thing that comes to my mind is that Ao might think that a daemon - given his (or her) psycher abilities - would be able to take over for Auppenser as Toril's patron of psionics.

The third thought that comes to mind is that Lars has already detected the Shadow Weave - which puts him in a very small group on Toril right now. And he is "eating" for both himself and the unborn daemon he's carrying, so he needs all the energy he can get, right?

For that matter, since Shar hasn't "formally" announced that the Shadow Weave is hers (even *after* the ToT), it would probably be even easier for Lars to claim it....

The fourth thought that comes to mind is that there's nothing preventing Lars from giving part of his portfolio to his child, if he chooses to. Well, other than the desire to ensure that the child will do a good job and be able to survive the competition.

Finally, who else can see Lars try to tell Ao that he's touched by the offer of becoming a god of the drow, but he couldn't accept without getting his bosses' approval first. And Ao - nasty SOB that he is - just smiling and saying that he's already contacted them....

The Clueless

[Aranfan]

Something just occurred to me. Lars and Skuld are in D&D right? What's to stop them from coming across a portal and ending up in Planescape? Maybe running across the Nameless One and Crew?


Just throwing that out there cause I'm playing Planescape Torment.

[Satori]

I'm pretty sure Lars has no desire to meet the lady of pain.

[kingdragon]

I'm pretty sure Lars has no desire to meet the lady of pain.

Doesn't that describe most women?

[Singular Quartet]

I'm pretty sure Lars has no desire to meet the lady of pain.

Doesn't that describe most women?

I know it describes Skuld if she has her Mallet...

[LadyTevar]

I'm pretty sure Lars has no desire to meet the lady of pain.

Doesn't that describe most women?

I know it describes Skuld if she has her Mallet...

Obviously you have never been to Sigil.

The Lady of Pain rules Sigil. Period. Everyone knows this, and no one is stupid enough to say otherwise. Anyone trying to claim ownership of Sigil vanishes the second they make the claim.

While not a Goddess herself (?), The Lady has the power to forbid any Deity from entering Sigil. Gods who try to cross her end up Dead, in every Plane of Existence across the Multiverse. People who try to worship the Lady of Pain as a Deity end up in places where death would be a very welcome release that never comes (possibly with those who tried to claim Sigil).

You do not fuck with the Lady of Pain. Sigilites hide when they hear she's walking the city. If she notices you, it's usually a Very Bad Thing. At best, you get 'asked' to do a very dangerous, usually deadly task for her, that probably seems to make no sense whatsoever. No one wants to know what happens 'at worst'.

[White Haven]

That's what made it so 'oh crap...' when the Lady mazes you in Torment. Hmm...mysterious figure who makes deities her bitch...remind anyone of Ao?

[TheClueless]

That's what made it so 'oh crap...' when the Lady mazes you in Torment. Hmm...mysterious figure who makes deities her bitch...remind anyone of Ao?

Well, neither of them would win the "Nice cosmic entity of the year" award, IMO.

I mean, even if you agree with Ao - that all of the gods on Toril deserved a spanking - the Time of Troubles showed that he didn't really care much about the mortals on Toril either.

Personally, I agree with the character "Nalifan", when it comes to the gods (at least of Toril) and Ao. (It's among the chapter quotes for "The Whirlwind", a great (IMO) story by Imperial Overlord that can be found on this site.)

The Whirlwind: http://bbs.stardestroyer.net/viewtopic. ... d#p2173724

The long and short of it is, that Nalifan feels that there's one overriding rule that everyone below Ao (IE: everyone) on Toril *has* to follow. "Obey. Or else."

The Clueless

[Xon]

The Lady of Pain is vastly preferable to Lord Ao. Sure, she has some strict rules but there is a lot to be said about no having the monkeys known as D&D Gods interfering in your life(these guys give the Roman/greek gods a run for their money for fuckedup gods).

As Academia Nut had already demonstrated, living in Abeir-Toril without at least 6 ranks in player character levels is practically suicide. And that is squarely to blame on the magic system, specifically the Goddess of the Weave with a fucking death wish and Lord Ao for putting her there.

Depending on where 'souls' go when they die, Sigil not having a 'wall of faithless' (it is specific to Abeir-Toril) maybe a plus.

[SITB]

When people die in the Planescape 'verse they are turned into petitioners; which basically mean that they reform on the plane closest to their aligment (or the plane of their god) and take the form of the being that usually inhabits in this place.

Anyway, Skuld is a goddess and the Lady Of Pain doesn't like gods running around mucking about in Sigil. Thus, if they do land there, won't it be a very short trip? (That, and the fact that all the Norse gods already exist in PS and thus Skuld already exists in that 'verse.)