Part 37
Update # 35: ABBADON'S INNARDS.
As you all can see, it is a gross organic dungeon place. It is horrible.
Wikipedia posted:
According to the Gylfaginning part of Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, Níðhöggr is a being which gnaws one of the three roots of Yggdrasill. This root is placed over Niflheimr and Níðhöggr gnaws it from beneath. The same source also says that "[t]he squirrel called Ratatöskr runs up and down the length of the Ash, bearing envious words between the eagle and Nídhöggr"[2].
Snorri does not specify what kind of being Níðhöggr is. All he knew about him seems to come from two of the Eddic poems; Grímnismál and Völuspá.
Kind of wormlike, eh?
Oh boy! No stairs!
Yes. This is a GODDAMN teleporty dungeon.
A gross teleporty dungeon. I hate it.
See? Stepping on the enxt room brought the party to a new room.
Urgh.
Double urgh.
Screw this!
After spending more than 10 minutes entering the same rooms (goddamn teleporty dungeon), I decided to add markers in the teleporter places.
After a little while of not documenting maps (only two floors more), the party finds this:
It is Madam! She is still alive!
Ayup.
Well, Madam certainly looks like she is in trouble, what being stuck in a horrible wall of DO NOT WANT and all.
And apparently, it worked.
So, the Champions?
And she is gone.
Damn.
Kerberos did not care. Maybe he has accepted Aleph as his master now. He won't mind being fused, I am sure.
The EXIT. What may be beyond this organic door?
Map
Oh my! It's the Slum area!
Well, the Elders are dead, and you won't last much longer in Abbadon. Or maybe you will. Seems like it is only marginally faster than the Sarlacc.
Oooh. A Jakyou Manor!
That is great and awesome. Time to FUSE like one has NEVER FUSED BEFORE.
Behold! The demonic list! There are many, many different combinations to be made!
First, a Triple combination!
Barong!
Wikipedia posted:
Barong is a character in the mythology of Bali. He is the king of the spirits, leader of the hosts of good, and enemy of Rangda in the mythological traditions of Bali. Banas Pati Rajah is the fourth "brother" or spirit child that accompanies a child throughout life. Banas Pati Rajah is the spirit which animates Barong. A protector spirit, he is often represented by a lion, and traditional performances of his struggles against Rangda are popular parts of Balinese culture.
The lion barong is one of five traditional Barong. In Bali each region of the island has its own protective spirit for its forests and lands. Each Barong for each region is modeled after a different animal. There is a boar, a tiger, a dragon (or serpent) and the traditional lion. The lion is the popular one as it comes from the Gianyar region where Ubud (the home of tourist viewed ritual) is located. Within the calonarong, the dance drama in which the Barong appears, the barong responds to Rangda's use of magic to control and kill her to restore balance.
Looks kind of dsilly, doesn't it?
Now let's fuse these two...
To form a Morrigan!
Wikipedia posted:
The Morrígan ("terror" or "phantom queen") or, less accurately but still used in some texts, Mórrígan ("great queen"), (aka Morrígu, Morríghan, Mor-Ríoghain) is a figure from Irish mythology who appears to have once been a goddess, although she is not explicitly referred to as such in the texts.
She is usually seen as a terrifying figure. She is associated with war and death on the battlefield, sometime appearing in the form of a carrion crow, premonitions of doom, and with cattle. She is often considered a war deity comparable with the Germanic Valkyries, although her association with cattle also suggests a role connected with fertility and the land.
She is often interpreted as a triple goddess, although membership of the triad varies: the most common combination is the Morrígan, the Badb and Macha, but sometimes includes Nemain, Fea, Anann and others.
Then these three... To form a...
Haniel!
Wikipedia posted:
Haniel (Heb. הניאל "Joy of God" or חניאל "Grace of God"), also known as Anael, Hanael or Aniel, is an angel in Jewish lore and angelology, and is often included in lists as being one of the seven archangels. Haniel is generally associated with the planet Venus. The name Haniel probably derives from Hebrew hana'ah, "joy", "pleasure" (qualities associated with Venus) + the suffix -el, "God".
And then the Haniel and Ganesha to create a...
Loki! The Lie Smith! The Trickster! The asshat that kills Balder!
Wikipedia posted:
Loki is Thor's half-brother.
Loki or Loke is the mythical Fire-giant/deity of mischief in Norse mythology, a son of the giants Fárbauti and Laufey. Loki also had two brothers (Helbindi & Byleist) of whom nothing is known. He is described as the "contriver of all fraud". He mixed freely with the gods for a long time, even becoming Odin's blood brother.
Despite much research, "the figure of Loki remains obscure; there is no trace of a cult, and the name does not appear in place-names."[1] Sources inconsistently place him among the Æsir; however, this may only be due to his close relation with Odin and the amount of time that he spends among the Æsir.
Like Odin (though to a lesser extent), Loki bears many names: Lie-Smith, Sly-God, Shape-Changer, Sly-One, Lopt, Sky Traveller, Sky Walker and Wizard Of Lies among others.
The composer Richard Wagner presented Loki under an invented Germanized name Loge in his opera Das Rheingold. Loge is also mentioned, but does not appear as a character, in Die Walküre and Götterdämmerung. The name comes from the common mistranslation and confusion with Logi (a fire-giant), which has created the misconception of Loki being a creation of fire, having hair of fire or being associated with fire.
The trickster character is a complex character, a master of guile and deception. Loki was not so much a figure of unmitigated badness as a kind of celestial con man. He would often bail out the gods after playing tricks on them, as illustrated by the myth in which he shears Sif's hair and then replaces it, or when he is responsible for the loss of Iðunn's apples of youth and then retrieves them again. Loki is an adept shape-shifter, with the ability to change both form (examples include transmogrification to a salmon, horse, bird, flea, etc.) and sex.
In some stories, Loki is conceived of as a fire spirit, with all the potential for good and ill associated with fire. However, this view may be due to linguistic confusion with logi "fire", as Loki's primary role is predominantly associated with Odin, typically as Odin's wily counterpart. That said, there is a story in Gylfaginning in Snorra-Edda where Loki competes against a jotunn called Logi in an eating competition, and loses miserably when Logi has not only eaten all the meat, but the bones and the tray as well. Later, it turns out that Logi was in fact not a real jotunn, but wildfire given a lifelike appearance by magic.
Yet another explanation of the name and hence the character, is not that the word Loki is related to the old German verb lukijan, connected to the closing of a ring (to lock it). Thus, the word is connected both to the action of "locking" circlets, and hence to "travel by crooked paths", something that might well be an apt description of a trickster god.
Loki was the father (and in more than one instance the mother) of many beasts, humans and monsters.
Having liaisons with giantesses was nothing unusual for gods in Norse mythology—both Odin and Freyr are good examples; and since Loki was actually a giant himself, there is nothing unusual about this activity. Together with Angrboda, he had three children:
Jörmungandr, the sea serpent;
Fenrir the giant wolf preordained to slay Odin at the time of Ragnarök;
Hel, ruler of the realm of the dead.
Loki also married a goddess named Sigyn who bore him two sons: Narfi and Vali. (This Vali is not to be confused with Odin's son with the giantess Rind). To punish Loki for his part in Balder's death, Odin turned Vali into a rabid wolf who proceeded to tear Narfi's throat out. Narfi's entrails were used to chain Loki to a large rock until Ragnarok.
While he was in the form of a mare Loki mated with the stallion Svadilfari and gave birth to Sleipnir, the eight-legged steed of Odin.
One story in the Hyndluljóð states that Loki ate the heart of a woman and proceeded to give birth to monster whose name is not given.
Kaneko's design for both Loki and Odin are rather MEH.
Then these two to form...
An Undine!
Why an undine?
Well, it is simple, really. It is needed to advance the Maou demons One Class.
So...
Loki + Undine
=
Voila!
Astaroth!
Current roster.
Sucks to be them.
Oh wait. Aleph is also WITHIN Abbadon. Sucks to be Aleph.
Within the Slums, behind the Gaia Church, one is able to find...
MEKATA.
Notice: It was not really intentional. All Aleph wanted was to advance in the Abyss.
They were clearly asshats.
The... Truth?
Well, that was certainly effective.
Those archangels were effective and efficient.
What truth will Mekata reveal?What is the great mystery of Aleph?
Uh huh. So far we've known that for quite a while.
Aww. How altruistic.
They gave up. In just 30 freaking years.
Aleph = DA SAVIOR.
That would explain the flashbacks.
And then she died.
And then Aleph killed him. And kept the Arcadia project running without a savior.
And is still alive, being madly in love withthat nonhuman girl.
Some bodyguard. The bastard THREW ALEPH OFF THE BUILDING.
And Aleph survived without a scratch. That must show Aleph's incredible Messianic powers somehow.
Do tell! We are all on the edge of our seats!
Uh huh. So the others are clones, right?
So Aleph has a mother! Who is she? WHO?
So... Aleph is really... Less than 1 year old?
WHAT.
Nope.
All is clear.
What's with Hiroko's reaction?
...
...
...
...
Let's see that again.
WHAT
WHAT
WHAT? WHAT?!
.................
WHAT
So Aleph is... Mekata's grandson?
Oh what the hell what.
It is explained.
Hiroko was looking for her son. Mekata dissapeared with the baby Aleph. Made him grow. Erased the false memories ad dumped him in Valhalla. THen...
What.
Next time: Abbadon dies.