#london and other london outstanding mercenary group

[just-an-enby-lemon]

Grizzop: I love all my friends the same. Of course I have no favorites.

Also Grizzop: Oh, we have the fey one ...wait no dragon... yeah, rich guy, sorcerer... Hamid! And the Afrodite one, very pink, very huggy, also a paladin like me... Azu? Yeah Azu. And of course Sasha, I love Sasha, she is great, super cool, amazing with knifes, I just really like her. Sasha is the best.

[vampyreblogger]

[mcskullmun]

London and Other London Outstanding Mercenary Group (we were working on it for quite a long time) my beloved

[loverboybrightsideghost]

THE LONDON AND OTHER LONG OUTSTANDING MERCENARY GROUP

[angryducktimemachine]

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"London and other London Outstanding Mercenary Group.

I don't know morse code so I'm using a translator. I hope you're having fun anyway. I really really love podcasts and your art is amazing. have a nice day."

Aw thank you so much!! This was so fun to do, haha I read "London" and I was like "oh???" And then I got to "and Other -" and it clicked for me that was amazing.

[evilkitten3]

so is the thing that attacked them first in the gardens supposed to be the same kind of thing they fought in the catacombs or...?

[scrambled-eggsed]

A bunch of nonsense regarding Rusty Quill Gaming

Could possibly be shaped into an actual theory by people smarter than I am (by which I mean - please add to this! I'm tryna figure out the mystery, at least partially, and more opinions are always valued):

Gonna open with my main point and say that I think Persephone is really important to everything we don't know about the cult of Hades, and thus possibly the whole campaign. This is basically a few points about that idea.

[continuing below the cut because it gets a bit long]

We saw in the ancient Rome sidequest that the temple that was fitting for Hades was actually a temple for Persephone. Hades wasn't really popular, and we didn't see any evidence that confirms that he was being worshipped at all.

I think Alex may have hinted a bunch of times that the entity that gives Zolf his powers isn't just the concept of hope, and from a narrative perspective I think Persephone fits really well into this.

The party is currently trying to figure out a strange seed. And, y'know, Persephone was the Goddess of Spring, essentially, right? Plants, flowers, the sprouting of seeds? And if it had anything to do with the simulacrum, it would make sense that it would be metallic (I realise that this is a longshot but it just sort of makes sense, and possibly could make more sense when the party gets to Svalbard and gets more information about the seed).

Edit after 180: The Garden of Yerlik is described as “the garden where one can follow the path from life to death and back.” That sounds A LOT like Persephone.

A few pieces of info, or lack thereof, I don't know where to fit into all of this:

According to Azu's knowledge (I think Alex gave this info right after Barrett told LOLOMG about the cult of Hades), the cult of Hades were the main corrupters of Rome. However, as I said (and also assuming I remember correctly; again, feel free to comment, add or correct me), we didn't see any worshippers of Hades back then, right? (I would like to say that the whole thing with the evil Paladins [according to the wiki, it was the cult of Mars] who also freed the dragons was never really clear to me [why did they do it? also it went sort of wrong, right? like the dragons burned the commanding officer or smth] so if anyone actually understood that part, Please Help)

Wtf does Wellington's son got to do with all of this. This is unclear to me because A) I don't know how British aristocracy works, and I think that could have some relevant information and B) so far, Alex has named the Real Important npcs after real historical figures, with a few similarities between the character and the historical figure (for example - Oscar Wilde is a witty writer, Marie Curie and all the others from Prague are the equivalent to well-known scientists and academics, Guy Fawkes caused trouble with gunpowder (Guy Fawkes is really interesting bc she was also Byron's sister, which leads me to my next point -)) and that's why I think he's not just Wellington's son but is based on an actual historical figure - the question is who. All things considered, I suspect it could explain why it all started in London and seems to be based there.

We don't actually know what the cult of Hades' goal is. According to Barnes, the infected are just trying to infect as many people as possible and basically spread the infection and take over the world, but what would they even gain from that? I saw people saying this links to Mr. Ceiling but I really don't understand how that could be.

Tesla and the simulacrum. Just in general. We don't know how the simulacrum fell into Edison's hands (maybe It's the same thing that happened with the lightbulb in our world, but I highly doubt that, considering that Tesla was also responsible to the flooding of London (which is another thing I don't understand. Other London seems to have existed for a while - decades, at least - but as I understand, the general idea is that Tesla is still very much alive, and fled to America (or maybe is just on the run in general) with Eda Lovelace and another person I think?, so he's either an old man now, or not human, or I have misunderstood) and therefore was more important in that world than he is in ours. Unless there's Tesla lore I'm not aware of, in our world or the campaign's). Also, where does the simulacrum link up with the cult of Hades? Which leads me to my next point:

As I recall, the cult of Hades were the ones in charge of the factory in Damascus. Why? Was this another part of the taking-over-the-world plan? The simulacra were a replacement for the workers, which could mean that they were just looking to increase efficiency, but the riots in London have already started at that point, so they knew the world, and with it the economy, production and distribution, were gonna crash. Maybe they just wanted to replace the workers so they wouldn't be lacking the workforce when they got infected, but surely other robots could do that, and not specifically the most advanced and expensive ones out there.

Based on the whole idea of this post, every point concerning the cult of Hades also relates to - where does Persephone fit into all this? How did Hades replace Persephone? Where did Persephone "go"? Since the gods are real and pay some attention to the world, how does Persephone feel about all this? My guess (which is based on a hunch, which is based on pretty much nothing) is that Hades has taken over the role of "main god of the underworld" and everything done by the cult of Hades is supported by him, and Persephone Does Not Like This and is subtly helping those who try to reverse this, through Zolf and possibly other ways (I may have listened to Hadestown way too many times, but there is something to be said about Persephone basically making the world regrow and heal after every winter - and so perhaps also after a metaphorical winter, where it isn't necessarily winter but it's just a terrible situation that people somehow get through?)

EDIT: Cannot BELIEVE I didn't think about this earlier - did the Meritocracy attempt to erase Persephone? (Assuming she is actually relevant,) The only trace of her seems to be the Garden of Yerlik in the northern wastes, and Cel keeps saying that it's really weird how they were the only one who have already known there were people living there. Did the Meritocracy tell everyone that there's nothing in the northern wastes because they didn't want people to stumble upon the Bear Cities and see that garden? This also seems plausible because pretty much the only creatures who know exactly what happened in Ancient Rome are the Meritocrats, so they would be the only ones to know that Persephone was an important God back then. Also (and again, can't believe I didn't think about this earlier) this could tie in directly to why everyone thinks the cult of Hades were at fault for the fall of Rome - they were probably the ones to spin the story thay way. So basically, do the Meritocrats have any other motive that we don't know about? (Currently the last ep to come out was 180 so I might edit this again once the next one releases) Also I assume there’s some connection to the Cult of Mars but I can’t say exactly.

[jamouratov]

oh my god. oh my god! i love these idiots beyond belief!!

[littlebluejaydraws]

all heart

trying to work out my azu design

[spirallavatar]

lolomg I care you very much

[srapsodia]

They deserve some rest ;;

--

[supplemental] I headcanon that Grizzop moves A Lot even when he's asleep, so whenever they sleep like this he keeps hitting and kicking everyone. Sasha almost stabbed him the first time it happened (but she got used to it, and eventually feeling him moving brought her comfort)

[sapphireswimming]

What's one piece of media that you've loved this year, and why would you recommend it to others?

ahhhh well I couldn't just pick one, so in addition to these, some underrated new-to-me highlights from the past year include:

Rusty Quill Gaming (2015-2022) - 221 episode actual play podcast

The Erasing the Line campaign follows members of the London and Other London Outstanding Mercenary Group (or LOLOMG) as they realize that their mission to recover the world's first self-replicating automata has further reaching ramifications and more worrying connections than they ever could have predicted

GM'd by Alexander J Newall (with several players also from The Magnus Archives) and set in an alternate 19th century where Albert Einstein is a scatter-brained professor of teleportation, Rome is The Worst, romance novels are plot important, and favorite antagonists include blokes and/or lads, squizards, and Mr. Ceiling. Fantastic world building, some of the most excellently crafted angst I've come across in a long time, and just a real joy to listen to. Complete

The Rise of Phoenixes (2018) - 70 episode Chinese live action show

Feng Zhiwei is swept into court life without knowing her true identity, and into the plans of the patient, cunning Sixth Prince Ning Yi, reentering the palace after an unjust imprisonment since childhood and determined to obtain vengeance for his murdered mother and brother

A gorgeous production with incredible sets, costumes, and cinematography. Really well developed characters and a carefully intricate plot full of political intrigue, realistically rising stakes, choices with consequences, shifting alliances, murders, and betrayals. Reminiscent in parts of The Count of Monte Cristo and The Scarlet Pimpenel. The last few episodes weren't quite what I'd hoped (I think when it started deviating from the book it was based on?) but until then every single moment of it was *chef's kiss* for me

Second Star To The Left (2021) - 10 episode podcast

Gwen Hartley and her fellow scouts are sent on one-way missions to explore and prepare new planets for potential settlement, with only a faithful bot at their side and a scout minder back at HQ to provide long-distance support and a connection to home

I discovered this show through co-creator E Jade Lomax (of Beanstalk, Stay?, and Harry Potter rewrite fic fame) and it's every bit as good as expected. Makes excellent use of the medium. Poignant sci-fi filled with exciting discoveries, the power of story telling, adorable robot companions, unforeseen disasters, frantic troubleshooting, wishing you could do more to help, and realizing that sometimes you can do more to help and the way to do that is crime

The Terror (2018) - 10 episode miniseries

Envisions what might have happened to the crews of The Terror and Erebus during the failed 1845 Franklin Expedition to find the Northwest Passage as they're beset by misfortune at every turn - faulty provisioning, poor leadership choices, mutinous crew members, and supernatural forces beyond their understanding

Incredibly well done, about as historically accurate as they could get, and with new layers of foreshadowing, symbology, and parallels at every turn. However. There's so much supernatural horror, wilderness survival, gore, death, and cannibalism that I can't, like, actually recommend this to anyone I know? Like, it's very good but it's also just. So Much so if you're thinking about starting this one, please know what you're getting into first

"Season 2" (The Terror: Infamy) is a completely separate, unrelated mini-series set in an American settlement camp during WWII

Mononoke (2014) - 12 episode anime

Follows the unnamed wandering medicine seller as he encounters mononoke and investigates the supernatural events they cause until he uncovers their motivations and the knowledge necessary to exorcise them before it's too late

Apparently a spin off of the horror anthology Ayakashi: Samurai Horror Tales, it's a collection of five stories that combine mystery, folklore, history, horror, and the supernatural. It's impressively stylized and theatrical, and has one of the most unique art styles I've ever seen animated. A very interesting watching experience. Subbed only

The Mechanisms' Ulysses Dies at Dawn (2013) - 1 hour musical

A re-imagining of The Iliad and Odyssey set in a labyrinthine city controlled by Olympian mob bosses who will do whatever it takes to get their hands on the mysterious weapon in Ulysses' secret vault, which is rumored to threaten their ill-gotten immortality

My favorite (so far) of The Mechanisms' musicals. They're a UK group styled as an immortal band of space pirates, whose shows incorporate their roles in retold legends set across distant galaxies. They're extremely imaginative and clever, especially in the way they rework traditional folk songs like The Rocky Road to Dublin for Heracles' backstory and Poor, Wayfaring Stranger for one of this show's closing numbers. The Narrator is played by Johnny Sims of The Magnus Archives fame

[arianwells]

London & Other London Outstanding Mercenary Group, formerly known as The London Rangers (We're Still Working on the Name) 

Past and Current members.

[sandyxandy]

a final sketch before the finale

[ID: A pencil sketch of the London and Other London Outstanding Mercenary Group, excluding Bertie MacGuffingham, from Rusty Quill Gaming. They are lined up, backs turned to the camera. From left to right, Cel Sidebottoms holds a bomb, Sasha Racket holds a knife, Zolf Smith holds a glave, Grizzop drik acht Amsterdam stands with a bag of arrows, Hamid Saleh Haroun Al-Tahan stands with his dragon wings folded, and Azu holds her axe. The text in the middle reads: We’ve got this. /end ID]

[cairnsteward]

[ID: a digital sketch page filled with scribbly grayscale drawings of the London/Other-London Outstanding Mercenary Group, including a bust of Azu in her armor, smiling skyward, a tiny full-body doodle of Hamid floating with dragon claws and tail, and half-body sketches of Zolf (standing with his hands in his coat pockets and apparently zoning out) and Cel, looking to their right with startled posture. abstract shapes surround everyone: hearts around azu, rectangular wiggles around zolf, zigzags around cel, and flames and the word "wow!" next to hamid. end ID]

just for fun!!!!!!! i love them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[incorrect-rqg]

Hamid, a native Egyptian: We're the London and Other London Outstanding Mercenary Group!

The American-born person living in Japan: ...

The woman born and raised in rural Kenya: ...

The man born in the West Country that only ever lived in London for a few months: ...

The Irishman forced to assimilate into British culture to maintain his reputation: ...

A literal dragon who has never been outside of Japan until a month ago: ...