The Thought Archives

Sinn Empire

2012-02-29T21:56:00.003-05:00

Throneworld: Korduun; historically, Akshak
Government: Magocratic council; historically, magocratic dictatorship
Species: Sinn, Rranthi, Qurians, Vorra, Zadadd
Langauge: Umerian (official)

Long ago, a ship carrying the outcasts and criminals of Eridu was sent from the great metropolis world into the blackness of deep space. The ship, a behemoth of metal and filled with the pariahs, drifted past the Wall of Orion, a nebula notorious for blocking starship sensors and causing crashes, and to the jungle world of Akshak itself. The ship crashed landed into the Sargon Crater, killing hundreds of the enclosed inmates and destroying part of the ship. The passengers of the ship escaped from their multi-generational prison and scattered into the jungles, forming fragmented little tribes and gangs. That was until Ishu-Il, the leader of a sizable force of inmates, militarized his gang and began uniting them into a cohesive force. Soon the gangs and tribes of thugs turned into clans and patronal tribes, and soon these tribes began to spread across the wild world, fighting off or domesticating the natural wildlife. Ishu-Il continued to expand and conquer, utilizing and advancing the outcasts' primitive technology. Life on Akshak was hard; though water and food were plentiful, it was an unforgiving world full of wild and unforgiving creatures and poisonous plants. Ishu-Il and the rest of the outcasts would have slowly been wiped out by the planet itself if not for a discovery one of Ishu-Il's people made. It was a scout, searching for new sources of water for Ishu-Il's growing tribe, who discovered, while deep in the jungle, had crossed a range of jagged mountains and found the ruins of an ancient pyramid. Inside the strange ruins was a monolith constructed of an unknown material and an assortment of alien artifacts. Ishu-Il rushed to investigate the ruins himself in hopes of new sources of energy; all the tribes had fallen into an energy crisis as they began running out of laser and power cells which powered what equipment and technology had been salvaged off the ship. Ishu-Il could make nothing of the ruins, until he accidently activated a homing beacon inside the one of the vast halls of the ruined temple. Not long afterwards, a clan of Asa Prothen landed around the temple in response to the beacon. They took pity upon the humans, which they took to be a child species of the Kronn of Vurii that survived the genocide of the Dark Epoch. The chief of the Asa clan, Pa'varri, took a slab of stone and wrote several paragraphs of script in the language of the Prothen, he then wrote under these the translation in the tongue of humans which he learned telepathically from Ishu-Il. The Asa left quickly afterwards. Using the stone, Ishu-Il was able to translate the alien script that covered the ruined temple because of its similarity to the Prothen script; what he learned changed the course of the outcasts forever. An ancient history spread before him, a story of ancient species and lost utopias, and of war and destruction, and of wondrous technology and mystical powers. Ishu-Il discovered the archives of the temple, where he learned about Kronn society, culture, and technology. Most importantly, he learned of the psionic powers latent in all people of all species. Ishu-Il, upon leaving the temple after that first night felt something unlock within his brain. He quickly excelled at using his new found psionic powers, using them to subvert tribal leaders or raging animals; learning at night from the temple archives of more uses and ways to use his powers. The Kronn had used their psionics to power machinery, advance science, or do complex tasks; Ishu-Il adapted his for the harsh environment of Akshak. Eventually Ishu-Il, once his supremacy as a tribe leader and his secret skill at psionics was sufficiently advanced, he allowed others from his tribe to learn the Prothen-script and read from the temple walls. Soon Ishu-Il had an elite, unbeatable cadre of psychics to further his plans and defend his tribe. Using what he had learned from the temple and the Asa Prothen, Ishu-Il was able to save his tribes from the energy crisis with psionics and the secret technologies of the Kronn. The psionics of Ishu-Il and his disciples was focused around controlling the minds of others and manipulating nature, which gave Ishu's tribe dominance of the savage world that had for so long been killing of the outcasts trying to colonize it; the name "sorcerer" was eventually taken on by the disciples of Ishu-Il, and Ishu himself took the title as well. Soon with his sorcerers and crystal-based technology, Ishu-Il claimed rule of the entire planet, giving himself the Kronnian title of Thar, or sorcerer-emperor of the Sinn, which was the name given by him to the human outcasts. Under Ishu-Il, the Sinn began to develop into a unique culture, soon forgetting their cultural ancestry with the humans of Eridu. It was in this era that Sinn adopted the long robes and flowing garments, Kronn-worship, and their hybrid Kronn-Terran language of Umerian that would define them in the coming centuries. While they were again able to produce technology thanks to the secrets inside the temple, Sinn lacked any advanced weaponry, as they had reverted back to primitive swords and arrows, so their sorcerers took normal swords and infused them with powerful psionics, making them always sharp and able to cut through most materials, like the Prothen blades of the Asa; it was thanks to these sorcerers wielding the Sinn swords that made the subjugation of the numerous tribes possible. As Thar of the Sinn, Ishu-Il began constructing pyramidal temples to the Kronn all over the jungle-world, and he built a capital city, the first city on Akshak, of Xaga-Ra in Sargon Crater. Ishu-Il died and his successors had to deal with numerous civil wars as tribe after tribe rebelled, but finally peace did come to the Sinn tribes, and outward expansion came. Having settled all of Akshak with thousands of temples and hundreds of cities, the Sinn started to colonize the worlds around Akshak and the Sinn Empire was truly born. The Sinn eventually encountered the four remaining children species of the Tetrarchy, first the Rranthi of Ranthathol, who the Sinn defeated in several battles and then made a close military alliance with; the Qurians of Quria, who submitted to the Sinn since they lacked Prothen protection; the Vorra of Keleq waged a savage war against the Sinn conquerors, but they too were defeated and subjugated; and the Zadadd of Gauk Zada also resisted and were also conquered. As their empire grew, the Sinn had little contact with the Prothen, Asa clans would wander into the empire but would not stay long, and the Protectorates kept to themselves, especially after the Sinn conquered the children species. Centuries passed and the Millennia Year Stillness came to an end; a new empire rose up centered around the human world of Crux Terra rose up, colonizing star system after star system. The current Thar, Angard Shadow watched as the Sinns' long lost ancestors, humans, unleashed a Necroid plague on themselves, and were able to sop it and learned of the psychic power in their race. Angard, desiring to lay claim to the great world of Crux Terra, began amassing an armada. The invasion failed and its remains drifted back to Akshak in defeat; his power destabilized by the crushing failure with such an expensive armada, the sorcerer-lords of the outer Sinn worlds and most of the Vorra rebelled against Angard Shadow. Shadow died in his bed at the palace in Xaga-Ra a broken and old man. His son Kaga Diin inherited his throne as Thar and put down the rebellion and instituted peace in the Empire. He ruled justly until an illegitimate son of Angard Shadow named Draco Ravorn challenged Kaga Diin's rule. They dueled outside the imperial palace with their swords while the sorcerer-lords watched; Draco triumphed only by throwing sand in the eyes of Kaga Diin and then beheading him. Draco Ravorn immediately began rebuilding the fleet of his father, saying that the Kronn, the gods of the Sinn, had an empire that had reached all corners of the galaxy, so why should the Sinn not rebuild this glorious empire of the gods? Draco planned to attack both the Prothen at Arung Uni and humans on Crux Terra. Draco personally led the fleet assaulting Crux Terra, which reached the planet after taking several Imperial worlds along the way. The fleet sent to Arung Uni was swept aside by a Prothen fleet once it reached Protectorate space. At first the siege of Crux Terra was in the Sinns' favor, their warriors landed on the surface and their sorcery was weakening the human front; and as human forces were beginning to reclaim parts of the city-world, the Sinn unleashed their most powerful Kronn artifact, the Planet Architect. But a human outcast from the House of Sirius, Marcus, and a Prothen justiciar, Khayas, snuck onboard Draco's flagship and dueled him, Marcus with his rifle, Khayas with his laser sword and Draco with his Sinn blade. Draco was killed when he was pushed from his ship by the two heroes in the height of their duel. A Prothen fleet was dispatched from Arung Gaanes that destroyed most of the Sinn blockade and invading armada, and then an Imperial human fleet chased the fleeing survivors across the Wall to Akshak, which the humans devastated; turning the lush jungle-world to a blasted wasteland. The sorcerer-lords fled to the old Sinn world of Korduun and hastily signed a peace treaty with the Imperial admiral of the fleet. One of the sorcerers was elected Thar, Apophis-Na and the Sinn withdrew, keeping the peace with the Interplanetary Empire.

Caiss-Sol

2012-02-01T17:27:00.002-05:00

Born on Crux Terra, -AI 30, Caiss-Sol was the son of an influential senator in the Republic Senate. At an early age Caiss dreamed of one day being elected to the position of Chancellor of the Republic. Caiss grew up at a very exciting age; Crux Terran colony ships were leaving the world every day to found new colonies or populate existing ones, the rapid expansion was destabilizing the Republic and bringing up issues of government and independence, and science and technology were advancing at a never before seen rate. Caiss lived in a skytower with his family and a host of servants, his father was gone most of his youth; either at the Senate or traveling to the colonies and his mother was very active in unification programs was gone most days. Caiss was raised by his older sister, Marcia, and an old servant and tutor, Benedikte, a colonial and veteran of the Londor Rebellion. Benedikte always told the young boy that there was greatness about him, unlike his father, and that one day Caiss would save the crumbling Republic. Marcia tried to counterbalance Benedikte's rebellious ideas with a calmer, more peaceful upbringing. Benedikte's words won over Marcia's peace-loving ones; Caiss grew up, left his homeworld and attended the Academy at Eridanus, quit much to the displeasure of his aging parents, and instead enlisted in the military academy on Axex, the Republic navy base in the Colonial Territories. Caiss excelled, easily becoming the top in his class, and was promised a leadership position once he graduated. It was on Axex that Caiss met Septima Gaia, the daughter of a senator from the Londor colony. Septima was on Axex at the time to visit her brothers, Tertius and Ludeovic, and she was there to review some data at the observatory on the planet. They fell in love and quickly began having an affair in secret, since her father and his were rivals in the Senate. Caiss graduated, was given command of a battleship and sent to suppress yet another uprising in the Laurion System. Caiss was so successful in the battle and shrewd in his diplomacy that the Senate awarded him various honors and medals and promoted him to commodore, and stationed him on Atlas, an important, populous, Inner World. With a growing reputation backing him, Caiss approached Septima's father, Gaius, and asked for his blessing; Gaius, seeing young Caiss's growing reputation and prowess, agreed, and Caiss and Septima Gaia were married in a grand wedding on Crux Terra. Caiss returned to Atlas with his bride and continued to suppress rebellion after rebellion, soon most Territories worlds lived in fear of Caiss and his fleet entering their skies. Septima gave birth to twins, Primus and Secunda, and not long after, another daughter, Kreka; Caiss was always happy to see his family waiting for him when he would return from the Fringe. Then tensions escalated on Crux Terra in the Senate, the split between the Londorian senators wanting sovereignty and the Terran senators wanting unity. Caiss, now admiral, was sent with Admiral Hallo to bombard Londor after Senator Gaius issued an ultimatum and formed the Londor League. Things seemed to settle down after the bombings and Caiss began his alliance with fellow admiral Hallo, and Circini, an orator from Talisis. This triumvirate began plotting how they would save the Republic and restore order and peace. Hatred and resentment still simmered in the Senate and three months after the forming of the triumvirate, in -AI 02, dozens of colonial systems declared independence from the Republic and established their own governments and formed a new federation, the Nara League. The Republic fleet was mobilized and the Chancellor ordered them to reclaim the worlds from the "rebels". Caiss led his fleet to many victories against the League, reclaiming almost all of the Colonial Territories; but while he was gone, the son of the Chancellor, Crucius, was staying at Caiss's family skytower where the young man fell madly in love with Marcia and raped her that night. The news of this reached Caiss unexpectedly quickly, he immediately left the colonies, flying straight to Crux Terra and demanded the Chancellor give up his son to be tried and brought to justice. Eugenus Crassus, the chancellor, refused and ordered Caiss to return to the warfront. Caiss, fueled with his rage at Crucius's shameful act, found the wretch and brought him back to his battleship on the warfront. There he held a military trial and had Crucius executed, all before Chancellor Crassus found out. Then, not long after Crucius's death, the news of Hallo's death reached Caiss and Circini; Hallo had been the mediator between the two ambitious men, so upon his death Caiss and Circini became rivals for power. Caiss turned his fleet around and jumped to the rim of the Crux System: to cross the Crux Rim with his fleet in tow would mean he was declaring war on the Republic. Caiss sat for hours, thinking, while the Senate sent desperate orders to lay down his command. Caiss finally rose, declared "The pieces are set.", and jumped his fleet to the exosphere of Crux Terra. By this act Caiss declared a civil war against the Republic. Circini arrived behind Caiss with a relief force to defeat Caiss in the name of the Senate. The two rivals fought to a stalemate above the capital, the stalemate lasted for several days until Circini backed down and Caiss drove him from the system. Caiss landed, marched into the Senatorial Palace and deposed Chancellor Eugenus. He then summoned the Senate and put them under house arrest inside the Senate Hall untill they would declare him Chancellor. They did so in -AI 01, and all the Inner Worlds were under his control; the Outer Worlds were split in half, with some either fearful or awed by Caiss and pledged themselves to him and the rest continued to rebel against Crux Terra. Caiss, now called Caiss-Sol, retrieved his wife and children from Atlas to live in the Senatorial Palace. Caiss-Sol then gathered together the entire Republic armed forces and began the Wars of Formation, which had officially began with him attacking Crux Terra, to unite all inhabited worlds under his rule. The wars, though gruesome and savage, lasted only a cycle and a half, ending with Caiss-Sol's self coronation on 01 Anno Imperium after the last independent world had fallen in the Siege of Londor. The Senate, while still in existence and allowed to meet, were purely ceremonial and constantly watched by the new Emperor's agents. Emperor Caiss-Sol and his wife, Empress Septima Gaia, continued to expand the new Empire's borders; science and technology continued to advance after stagnating during the rebellions and Wars of Formation; an efficient, streamlined imperial bureaucracy was put in place, with an ordered hierarchy governing the increasing number of worlds in the Empire; interplanetary trade flourished; and the Imperial Navy and Army grew more powerful and feared. Caiss-Sol ruled until 37 AI, when he died a portion of the planet-wide city of Crux Terra was set aside as the Imperial Necropolis where Caiss-Sol, first Emperor of the Galaxy, and veterans of the Wars were entombed. Empress Septima ruled as regent for her son Primus until he ascended the throne in 46 AI. When the Empress Mother died two and a half cycles later, she was placed next to her husband. So began the Empire.

The Dark Epoch

2012-01-30T19:12:00.002-05:00

Kronn, Krodia
Rranthi
Zadadd
Vorra
Necroids
Genks
Xala
Maanasa
Telophs, Tel'Aga V
Hrullgi
Tarus
Galxthoricans
Prothen, Arung Uni
Notross
Qurians
Tairians
Urubs
Vurii, Vurrus

The Kronn ruled the galaxy for untold eons, using a complex but functional bureaucracy. They, along with the industrial, star-gazing Telophs; the psionic, warrior, and robotics-loving Prothen; and peacekeeping, artistic, orderly, Vurii; ruled the galaxy in the Galactic Tetrarchy comprised of the Kronn Bureaucratic Empire, Teloph Trade Combine, Prothen Empire, and Vuri Republic. Each spawned and guarded over various descendent species, the Kronn being the most expert and prolific at this. Thus the galaxy was filled with numerous species, each able to trace its lineage back to one of the Forerunners, as the tetrarchy was called. Then, to the wonder of all, the Kronn created life; not merely improving on native species or creating subspecies as they and the other Forerunners had done, but real, unique, organic life. It was a highly adaptive, tenacious microorganism that attached to large creatures' spinal columns and lived in a mutual relationship with the host. The Kronn, many of the Telophs, some of the Prothen, and billions of the children species began to allow colonies of these microorganisms to attach to themselves, with many beneficial affects caused by them. The entire galaxy celebrated the Kronns' achievement and the Kronn cemented their supremacy while the galaxy sat on the threshold of a new era unlike none ever seen before. Then the organisms, being ruled by a hive mind, began to infect all those that carried them. First the corners of the galaxy gave way to the infection, with those with weaker systems dying and then reanimating and infecting those uninfected. Entire species were wiped out and a galactic-wide panic ensued; the Telophs, their children species either wiped out, infected, or lost, closed all contact with the Kronn and closed off their borders. They then began attacking the disintegrating borders of the Kronn Bureaucracy, causing heavy casualties. The Kronn devised a desperate plan to stop both the infection and the Telophs: they created life again. This time it was artificial intelligence; a race of robots called the Cyth bent on eradicating the infection and Telophs. The Telophs collapsed under the systematic, relentless robotic assault; Telophs' had their gruesome last stand at the storage world of Tel'Aga XXI where the Teloph defenders were attacked by a Cyth invasion from space and infected Telophs from behind. But then the Cyth did something unexpected; they began a systematic invasion of both the Prothen and Vurii, causing thousands of deaths and weakening Prothen defenses. To this point the Prothen Empire and, to a lesser extent, the Republic had been fighting valiantly against the infection, even taking back some lost worlds but with the coming of the Cyth their defenses broke and the two Kronn creations poured into the Prothen Empire. Vurii were overwhelmed and whatever of their race remained fled to a far corner of the galaxy, abandoning the Prothen to their own fate. Just as it seemed like the Prothen were to be the next Telophs, the Kronn, in their ever more desperate attempts to stop the infection, preformed a technological and psionic miracle on the next generation of Prothen younglings. They made them cyborgs; part organic, part machines. The rest of the pure organic Prothen died off fighting the Cyth and the infection, then the cyborg Prothen generation, impervious to the infection, and their offspring came to power in the shrunken Empire. Their new augments gave the Prothen more strength and power in battle, enabling them to fight both the infected and the Cyth more effectivly, but still the Cyth pushed toward Arung Uni. At the same time an infected swarm of untold numbers was getting ever closer to Krodia, homeworld of the Kronn and heart of the galaxy, the Kronn defenses kept failing and trillions of Kronn were dead or infected and most of their children species were the same. As their last act, as the infected monstrosities filled the skies of Krodia, Kronn scientists discovered a frequency that could affect the hive mind, and thus the entire infection. Scouts in the fastest ships and Kronn behind the infected swarm were given the instructions build monoliths on all worlds within several thousand lightyears of Krodia that were heavily infected, these monoliths were then tuned to the frequency to call and pacify all infected within several lightyears of the monoliths. The Kronn who built these monoliths then watched as Krodia fell to the infection. The galaxy was now shrouded in a great darkness. The few remaining Kronn disappeared from history, and only four of the original thousands of children species survived. The Prothen, left alone as the masters of the galaxy, continued to fight the Cyth with the infection gone, but Prothen casualties continued to rise and the war dragged on. The Cyth are arguably the most powerful species and force in the galaxy, even more powerful than their Kronn creators, designed specifically by the Kronn for genocide of an already genocidal species, thus not even the Prothen, a warrior race, could hold them back. A Prothen executor, Arykhas, devised a way to hopefully stop the Cyth onslaught. He boarded the fastest ship and flew past the Cyth front, to where the Cyth overmind resided on a lost Kronn world. According to legend the overmind made a connection with the executor and they negotiated with each other. Arykhas eventually agreed to sacrifice himself to end the Cyth assault. The Cyth withdrew to deep space and wait in case the infection was ever unleashed again. The Prothen, suffering the loss of several generations, around 200 trillion, reformed their society into a strict caste-system, dissolved the heirless empire and made a council of caste archons led by a matriarch. The new Protectorates slowly rebuilt their race, constantly vigilant for the return of the the infection or the Cyth, and also guarding over the four remaining children species; the Rranthi, Vorra, Zaddad, and Hrullgi, all children of the Kronn, except Hrullgi. The Hrullgi, forming a trade empire like their parent species the Telophs, rebelled against the guardianship of the Prothen, resulting in the Hrullgis' eventual extinction. These eons after the end of the Dark Epoch and before the modern era is called the Millennia Year Stillness due to the almost calm that settled over the galaxy. The Prothen scoured the galaxy looking for surviving or unknown species, desperate to find more survivors from the Dark Epoch. They were successful; for they almost immediately found an alien race unknown to the Kronnian races, a little species just then achieving space-flight. The Prothen watched as the race spread at a surprising rate, colonizing and populating entire star systems like Prothen never could. The High Council decreed that the Prothen could not interfere, but they were more and more worried that this new race would unbalance the order that had pervaded over the galaxy for thousands of years.

The Eldritch Queen

2011-12-17T00:24:00.001-05:00

All is not right in Bethmoora; good High King Balor of Silver Lance was assassinated for unprovoked reasons not one year ago. All of Bethmoora mourned his grizzly passing; wishing for the high king back or a suitable replacement quickly, before another Faerie War broke out. An erlkin with a small fief in Quiet-Post presented herself to the Parliament of East Tolori as the new candidate. Her name was Nyneve and she seized the crown that very day. She cast down the usurper Oberon as her first act as high queen; her second was to place all members of the Parliament under "indeterminate leave of absence". About six months ago, the folk hero Robin Goodfellow spoke out against her seizure of the crown and turning of Bethmoora into an empire. Nyneve, or by now the Eldritch Queen, arrested good Puck and placed him in Darknettle Prison, at the end of Traveller's Road in the Snow Mountains. The Eldritch Queen enslaved the boggarts and dark elves to make her an army: an army of golden men to control her empire. To help protect this secret project, she set up a spy network and secret police order, called in fearful whispers, the Dark Ones. The Eldritch Queen was, about four weeks ago, about to unveil her construct army when Nuada, bastard son of Titania the Seeress and the enigmatic earl, Lugh, came to Lyonesse, her new capital, and having rescued some of the members of the disbanded Parliament, Announced himself the true high king and declared war on the Eldritch Queen. Nuada, with the funding of a merchant named Stiltskin, formed his rebellion around Eiru Lake. It has been called the Eiru Alliance ever since. The Eldritch Queen, as seen recently, became quite desperate as the Alliance won a series of victories over mercenary armies of trolls and dark elves and her golem army was not yet ready. She did the most dangerous thing done in this century; she went herself deep into the Tristram Woods and spoke to the vile sorcerer Merlin; who agreed to help the Queen only is she would marry him. All political really, Merlin's demand, though Nyneve isn't half-bad looking. Merlin, as agreed on, strode onto the field at the Battle of Lupin Bridge amidst the chaos and blood. No one is sure how or what happened, but not one elf, dwarf, pixie, or troll survived the battle; all seemed to be laid to waste by that loathsome sorcerer. Nuada, and I'm sure the Eldritch Queen both reeled from the destruction wrought at the battle, I dare say the Queen didn't realize what she had awoken and brought on Bethmoora. In desperation, Nuada looked for Oberon, finding the petty pretender huddled in some village near my own home-stead; Avalon was the town. It was just a thick mire of shattered rooftops, muck-filled alleyways, thieves, rapists, and victims. Nuada apparently urged the coward Oberon to join the Alliance. Old Merlin and the Queen seemed to have had an argument, because the battle fought yesterday, you know, the Battle for Tir na Nog, pathetic Oberon shuffled onto the field unhindered and in one piece; and then a miracle happened. Something must have awoken in Oberon, for the skies opened at his command and fire destroyed the Queen's ogres. Nuada, eager to take the throne, pushed on to East Tolori, the old and rightful capital and home of the Lia Fall; but their was suddenly an unexpected twist in the story. Only this morning, Merlin, disgusting as ever with his patched robes and grimy beard, announced to all of Bethmoora that he supported the real claimant to the throne, Arthur, true son of Balor, and took him to take the Sword from the Stone this morning. But did you hear what happened? As little Arthur reached out his hand, he was assassinated! By whom, I'm not sure, no one is. My suspicion is that it was that Uther fellow, the new changeling from across the Wall. Well, I think he did us a service, though Herne and that immortal Genevieve may undue what Pendragon did. Anyways, I wonder, stranger, where you have been these past few months, to not know who the Queen or Nuada are? But 'tis not my business. Well I am off to Nimue, seeing as she is the only sane one in this realm. Would you care to join me? She offers protection to any Danann who comes to her. No? Suit yourself. Pleasure metting you; oh, and stay away from Lyonesse or East Tolori, I hear a great battle is about to take place since Her Majesty's gilded army is ready. Farewell!

Spaceman

2011-12-08T22:28:00.001-05:00

He was found on the seventh day of the month Maius during the reign of Antonius Augustus Pius; half dead and wandering out of the Pictish wilds. Soldiers from the Sixth Legion stationed at The Wall of Hadrian found him and he fell into a deep faint. They took him to their garrison along the Wall, nursing him back to health enough to carry him to Eboracum for more extensive care. The stranger spoke incoherently in a barbarian tongue and his dress was alien and unlike the thick plaid or furs of the Picts. He was also clean-shaven, though a beard was growing in due to his time in the wilderness and his skin lacked the blue war-paintings of the northern Celts. The legionnaires were confounded by the stranger and started to tell stories to each other as they returned to the mighty Wall that divided the civilized world from barbarian wilds. What, they said, could be in the crags and valleys of the Picts? Where did this stranger, barbarian he must be, come from? They now stared out into Scotland with more curiosity and wonder than before. The stranger, every now and then stirring and looking about wildly and stammering in that barbarous tongue, was cared for by the physicians in Eboracum. He silenced rested in the city; no search party was sent out to look for his village or find out from where he came. A message was sent to the governor of Britannia, who decided to visit the stranger. The man was moved to the governor's palace and cared for by his own personal physician. Local experts have examined the man's clothes, and have decided that he must com from the far north of the Pictish lands, as his clothes are of an odd design and texture; neither wool or leather. A report was sent to Rome that included the strange men that is now the talk of the province: no reply has yet come.

Zombiepocalypse: The beginnings

2011-10-31T16:38:00.000-04:00

Hi, my name is Adam Williams. I was born in March 1990 in Lowell, Massachusetts, though I'm not sure that's important, but talking makes me feel comfortable, so I'll continue for just a bit longer. I was going to Boston, studying to be an IT guy at a hospital. I like computers, and how there's all these little connections and interactions going on. Well, I was your average college student-er, no I take that back; I was your not-going-to-every-single-party-and-getting-drunk-and-laid college student. I have morales. It was how I was raised. So the other thing that makes me not your average college student is that I broke all the standing speed records in track. I like running, helps me think. Ever since 4th grade I was a good runner. It served me well, having good cardio.
It all began some months ago, I was sitting at my desk trying to study for the upcoming electronics test, but Jeremy, my roommate who is a motivated and esteemed individual who will go on to do great things for the world (... just kidding), was thumping around upstairs in his girlfriend Kitty's room (yep, that's right). I sighed in exasperation, scooched back my soon-to-die office chair, leaving my tome of engineering on my little desk by the bunk bed I shared with Ladies' Man. I walked to the kitchenette which was filled with restaurant leftovers and Hungry Man meals. I was just about to have a beer Jeremy smuggled into our room when there was a thunderous banging n the door, like Sam down the hall with his shovel. I stuffed the Corona back into the contraband drawer in the fridge, and walked over to the door. I opened it to find my godfather, Victor Jonson himself standing before me; unshaven, wearing a close-fitting uniform... and wielding a pump-action shotgun. When I was growing up in South Lowell, Victor, my previously stated godfather and retired Vietnam War veteran, lived next door. My dad was a hard working, white-color type a' guy, so, as you can imagine, rather busy. But because of his hard work, we lived in a sizable house and lived comfortably. Anyway, Victor taught me all kinds of things; I learned to shoot a variety of guns, we went camping and hiking, and all kinds of other related activities. Then at the end of the day he'd tell war stories (like the time he traveled the length of Vietnam on foot with only a fish and a machete, to deliver a package, only to be double-crossed by his employers. He killed a man with the fish.); he then put on either a comedy from the 60s or a psychological thriller; grabbed a beer, and promptly fell a sleep on the couch. Those were good days.
"Victor, uh... hi! What's going on? With the gun?" I asked, rather confused and awkward.
"Take this machete, boy, and get inside." Victor shoved a machete (I wonder if it was the machete) into my uncertain hands, then pushed me inside the dorm, came in himself, closing the door quickly and locking it.
"It's happening, Adam, the pandemic to end everyone." he said, slowly turning to face me; his scars and wrinkles on his tanned skin sitting sharply on his face in the light of my desk lamp.
"Uhhh, what?" I stood, totally lost, the machete hanging loosely in my hands.
"Zombies, boy! Zombies! You can turn on the TV if ya' want, but they won't say anything important." he then walked over to the fridge, rummaging around until he found the beer stash. While he did this I took the remote, turning on the crappy, little TV on the dresser. I flipped through the channels 'til I found Fox News. A Barbie doll was the evening news anchor.
"... The CDC is telling people to stay indoors and to wash their hands and shower frequently. They say a virus might be coming through, they say, passed on from Chinese of Mexican emigrants or illegal aliens. The National Guard has already secured the Mexican border to prevent the further spread of this disease. If you think you have the listed symptoms, it is advised you check in with your local doctor. Thanks, Dave, now back to you for the weather."
"Told ya'." Victor said behind me, beer in hand. I sat on the sofa, lost in the swirling, confused tangle of my thoughts. I jump up, heart in my throat.
"I need to go back to Lowell to get my family!" Grabbing the keys to my Chevy, I ran for the door as Dave chatted calmly about the weather. Victor intercepted me, put an iron hand on my shoulder.
"Adam, your family is safe! You know that little vacation they were going on?" I nodded, trying to calm down, "I used up all my favors and pulled all the strings I could. Instead of goin' to Bermuda, the plane they got on is goin' to Russia. They'll be safe there: your father n' mother, and your sister too." I relaxed, slowly. "It's you I'm worried about, son." I looked up. Turning my head to get one last look at the TV, I saw that a special report was interrupting the normal broadcast. It was saying something about no more intercontinental flights, just for a few days, and New York was being secured and cleansed, seeing how it got hit hard by the virus.
"The hell-!?" I started to say when Victor grabbed my arm firmly, leading me out the door. I protested weakly.
"Leave your stuff, son, I've got enough packed up, just follow me will you!"
I complied, hurring down the hall after my godfather. Heads poked out of dorm rooms as we ran by; it appears others were watching the news. We ran out of the dorm building, across the green campus, to Victor's waiting hummer. He pushed me into the passenger seat, running over into the driver's. Squealing onto the highway, Victor, braking many traffic laws, was working is way out of Boston when he swore, breaking many laws of etiquette. A CDC health checkpoint was already erected in the highway; a horde of cars, the evening traffic, crammed around it. When did that get there? Victor swore again, turning sharply around, hitting several cars with his barricades, speeding off in the opposite direction, soldiers shouting at the people in the cars.
"Where the hell did the soldiers come from?"
"Oh, they've been preparing this for some time now."
"They've known about this?"
"They surmised." Victor shrugged as he ferociously turned the wheel, cursing the civil engineers of Boston for crappy roads.
I slumped into the dark leather of the passenger seat, my world collapsing around me. Looking back on it, that was the hardest part, those first few days. My comfortable college lifestyle, my world view crumbled like those buildings in demolition videos; with dust, debris, and violence. It's not a comfortable thing, paradigms being abruptly destroyed. My mouth hung open as I watched the city I loved so much slowly, a block at a time, become more and more disordered; small changes became evident to me, such as running people, heaps of garbage and debris, spun-out cars, and the noise. Screams and crashes filled the air, coming through the glass of the hummer to me.
"It's happening already, damn it!" Victor swore as he took us steadily south.
"Erm, so what's the plan?" I asked, quite timid, like my sister's rabbit, Bugs.
"We get the hell outta this city, go south to Plymouth. Extraction point there."
I poked my head up just enough to peak out of the window on my side. The western skyline; a bar graph of glass and steel, was engulfed in flames. Thick, black smoke soared above the skyscrapers as the dust of a million feet and a million cars swirled around their bases. In just twenty minutes, my whole freakin' world had fallen into chaos. I blubbered. Then I saw one. It was a man, or actually, used to be a man, clothed in torn reflective work vest, the yellow-white bones of his knees visible through the holes in his filthy pants, his skin a gray-green pallor; dark red gore, like cherry jam, filled his mouth, slopping onto his lacerated chest as his dead, white eyes focused distantly on us and his mouth dropped wider. Victor set his jaw, stepping down on the gas harder than he was. We hit the man-monster, it's ribcage splitting open on the barricade on the front of the car; it's legs were eaten up under the hungry rubber of the tires. A bump and jostle later and we left the thing behind. I had almost ruined my underpants. I expressed my need to relieve myself.
"Ergh, ok here's a gas station. Make it quick."
I hopped contentedly from the massive hummer, skipping the step and jumping right to the ground. I had just started to dash to the bathrooms, which were on the outside of the building, when Victor called out to me.
"Adam!" he barked. I turned, "don't forget the machete!" he tossed the machete out after me.
I caught it by the handle, my hand inches from the finely sharpened steel blade. I winced, glad my catching skills were what they were. I resumed my dash for the bathroom. I debated wether to go inside and get the key, or to just kick in the bathroom door, you know what with the collapse of society n' all, who needs keys? I kicked down the door, unleashing my confusion and... well, confusion on the lightweight door. I jarred my knee and ankle, but it was worth it for that satisfying burst of the door and bam as it hit the wall. I was fairly stupid back then. I happily strode in, discarded the blade on the maltreated sink, and proceeded to take care of my business. If I hadn't glanced up at the smudged mirror as I was finishing, the zombie would've had a free breakfast. As it went, I just happened to look as some 500 pound woman crept up on me. I whirled around, screaming like a girl I am embarrassed to say. The zombie stood in between me and my machete. I backed up against the tiled wall my hands slick with sweat, heart pounding in my chest. That red gory stuff slopped out of her mouth as she lumbered toward me, closing the distance in a hungry stride. I did the only thing that I could think of. Victor's lessons flooding back to me, I ducked the zombies' clawed hand and delivered a swift blow to her blubber-protected solar plexus. A sound like when you snap a wet stick after a heavy rain made me freeze. I had broken her plexus in one blow, and yet she didn't even flinch. That was just messed up. I dove under her outstretched arms, rolled across the floor, and jumped up by the sink counter. I almost had my fingers wrapped around the black rubber of the machete handle, when a hand, cold like ice water, clamped onto my upper arm, pulling me back. I cried out, sure that she would sink her broken teeth into my neck, and flailed my arms and fists about in the hope that I would stop this... thing. My fist met her face; I felt her nose shatter under my knuckle and I'm pretty sure I broke her jaw. A yellow tooth fell past my shoulder. I punched again and again; my knuckles aching as I heard wet snapping and cracking, red goo slopping to the ground. The door, which had swung back to cover the doorway, exploded off it's hinges, flying into the stalls with a crashing of twisting metal and cracking door. Victor stood, wreathed in the thin light from the cloudy sky in the doorway, his pump-action shotgun in his gnarled hands.
"Boy!" he roared, "get down!" his face was red, quite red.
I threw myself away from the hungry, dead woman; her face now resembling red Play-doh from my childhood. She took a shuffling step toward Victor, who cooly raised his gun. I covered my ears with my hands, but was to slow; with a crack, the shotgun fired; my ears ringing, leaving me deaf. The woman's head disappeared in a gooey red cloud, splattering the walls with the bright sticky stuff. A piece of pale, gray matter landed on my shoulder. I scrambled away from the corpse as quickly as possible, sweat pouring down my face, matting my hair; chest heaving, eyes on the monster that used to be human. She could have been anybody; a mother, a teacher, a nurse, anyone! I shove these thoughts to the back of my mind, grab my blade, and hurry after Victor back into the hummer. Screams and smoke filled the Boston skyline as we roared down the freeway. I swallow hard.

The Steam-Power of Byzantium

2011-10-29T12:52:00.000-04:00

"Michael, what do the scouts' report?" Cosmas shouted up at the watchman on the outcropping of rock. The arid landscape spread around Cosmas, veils of sand wreathing the gentle waves of hills, like disturbed fabric. The sun shone down on the Byzantine troops, the dry wind carrying the faintest hint of the ocean.
"Three Arab battalions, cavalry by the looks of it. Coming fast in a pincer formation!" Michael called, he then raised his telescope back up to his eye.
Cosmas turned, helmet under his arm, to his small troop of Cataphracts and Effigies, signaling Ioannis to start the the engines of the great war machines. Pillars of smoke shot up into the air as the near a dozen Cataphracts, heavily armored battle walkers, came to life, steam engines rumbling, shaking the stony ground beneath Cosmas's feet; the sun shining of their golden plating. The Effigies, mechanical, steam-powered animals; lions and bulls mostly, prowled and huffed at the ground, while the infantry men, clad in their cuirass and spathions at their sides. A dark smudge appeared on the horizon, a great plume of dust behind them, racing steadily toward them. Ioannis's called from the view port of his Cataphract.
"When shall we fire, Captain?"
Cosmas looked at the advancing army and the closing distance between them; "Once they reach those rocks, unleash a volley." he gestured with his free hand at the pile stones, Ioannis nodded and spread the word among the men.
Cosmas placed his steel cap on his head, shouldered his ballista, and descended the hillock, down to take his position in the back with the infantry; a wall of golden steel protecting them from any arrows from the Muslims. Cosmas was joined by Ignatios, his second in command, who was shoving the second bit of cork in his ears. Cosmas did the the same, the pieces of cork protecting the soldiers' ears from the initial bombard of the Cataphracts' cannons. The Arabs could be seen by the naked eye now; rushing towards them, scimitars flashing, wearing their robes and turbans, their war cries carrying across the desert waste. The first camel archers reached the pile of rock, a few arrows pinging off the flanks of the Byzantine war machines. Ioannis looked back at Cosmas, who nodded. The columns of smoke burst from the smokestacks as the engines revved harder, the guns of the Cataphracts raised up with the hiss of steam and hydraulic pistons; the barrels of steel leveling out, aimed at the enemy cavalry. There was a few seconds of stillness; the wind blew, the Arabs charged forward. Then the guns fired. With a thunder that shook the earth, Cosmas and his soldiers had to steady themselves; the very air destroyed by the explosions of the cannons, great fiery clouds erupting from the cannons. The legs of the walkers trembled, the array of pistons absorbing the shock of the blasts. The three thousand Arabs disappeared in bursts of sand and fire as the great metal shells hit the loose earth; men and camels hurled into the air or simply destroyed by it's power. The initial bombard ceased; the crews reloading the guns, Cosmas signaled the Toxotai to ready their ballistas, so as to pick off any Arab who escaped the firing range of the machines. Another volley of explosions rippled down the line of Cataphracts; more Arabs fell to the crimson sand, the very earth blown out from under them. Cosmas turned his eyes away from the slaughter, these bombards always bothered him and the great destruction they caused, even when they killed followers of Mohammed. Toxotai's ballistas cracked, smoke spewing from their barrels, small, sharpened pieces of metal flying from them, into camel warriors who had avoided the shells. At last Cosmas raised his hand, signaling an end to the carnage. The guns stopped, gray wisps drifting from the barrels. The soldiers removed their corks, ears ringing in the silence after the battle. A couple dozen Arabs retreated, fleeing as far from the guns as they could, leaving their wounded and dying comrades in the sand. Cosmas strode forward, Ignatios following behind, and stood in front of the Cataphracts.
"Warriors of Arabia, do you surrender to us?" Cosmas hailed them.
A voice shouted something in Arabic, Cosmas turned to Michael, who had joined him from the hill.
"They so indeed surrender and only wish to take their dead and wounded in peace." Michael said to his captain.
"Certainly, they may take their men and depart in peace."
Michael shouted across the wastes at the Arabs, translating what Cosmas had said. The Arabs dismounted, moving hesitantly forward over the sands, fearful of the guns. The Cataphracts didn't move, the smoke rising idly into the summer sky as the Muslims gathered their fallen, which were many, as the Byzantines looked on. Cosmas turned to his men.
"Louke, fetch me a courier bird, I want to tell Strategos Isaac the border is safe as soon as possible. Then start back to Constantinople."
The men cheered at the sound of home, life in the in Syria was rough, even with the Byzantine technologies. A bath, real food, and a bed sounded quite right now. Loukos ran to where the pigeons were kept, the smart birds waited patiently for their next task. Cosmas soon had one perched eagerly on his greave; he slipped the message in the bird's holster.
"Bring this to Strategos Isaac in Antioch. Fly fast." he ordered the bird. The pigeon cocked it's head, then shot up into the air, and away. Cosmas climbed inside his own Cataphract, a faster, lighter variety used more for transport than front-line combat, Ignatios already at the controls, hands working the levers and valves.
"Head for Damascus, we'll resupply there, then onto Antioch and home." Cosmas said to his friend as he took of his helmet. Ignatios nodded, pulling levers and turning crancks.
With a swoosh of air and steam, the whole company of war machines turned, and marched with metal legs, to Damascus.

Philadelphia, 2032 AD

2011-09-15T08:48:00.001-04:00

Philadelphia, 2032 AD
Aiden Rumerez walked down the little alley, rain pattering on his hat and coat, the golden lights from the skytowers of the upper city making them look like drops of gold. Taking another bite of his pastry grateful for the food after the long meeting, he was taking a shortcut he often took which led in between two apartments, when he herd the softest noise, like a cat skulking, trying not to be noticed. A car speeded by on the street behind him. The hover lamps flickered.
"What corrupts, Aiden? Is it money?" Aiden jumped, dropping his pastry on the slick pavement. A man appeared out of the shadows lying against the apartments. He wore a duster as dark as the gloom he stood by; fingerless gloves were wrapped around his hands, and dull boots on his feet. His eyes were hidden behind sunglasses even though it was night; a cigarette stuck out of his mouth. He looked like any common retro-styled street urchin, probably a gang fighter. Aiden's heart pounded in his chest as he stood there unsure of what to do.
"Money doesn't corrupt; it's an object. It is neutral. But objects can be abused by people, the wrong people." the urchin spoke again in his quiet, husky voice.
"L-look if you want money... " Aiden said this as he reached for the TX1 handgun he had in the back of his belt.
"I don't want your money, Aiden, and you'll stop reaching for that gun. You know what corrupts? Power. Power corrupts. You are filled with it. But if I kill you, does that make me corrupt? Am I doing a good and just thing; maybe. Am I no better than you for doing so? I'll probably never know the answer, but I must do what's been put in front of me. What were you promised?"
"W-what?" Aiden stammered.
"The executives of PharmaTech promised you money and something else. What did they promise you!"
"I-i th-they... !" sweat rolled down Aiden's forehead. The stranger lifted a finger to his lips.
"I already know: a promotion and you were to be relocated to a safe location. Is that why you took the bribe? Let those companies kill all those people. You are corrupt, Aiden, and it was time you were weeded out." the urchin lifted his hand; Aiden's handgun lifted out of his back pocket seemingly of it's own volition, floating to rest pointed at his temple. Aiden's hand then raised up, grasping the gun. Aiden was frozen, wide eyed and urine streaming down his suit pants.
"Then I'll go and plant neurionite in your house."
"What are you! Why are you doing this!"
"I'm a gardener, Aiden, and you are a weed."
Aiden's finger pulled the trigger.

Jaalin Tal

2011-08-28T10:32:00.000-04:00

Jaalin hauled the bucket of water from the well, cold, spring water sloshing onto his feet and the soft, bright grass. He carried the bucket along the little dirt path, past fields of young wheat and delicious smelling corn. A great mastiff came bounding up from a farmer's cottage, his tail wagging and tongue hanging out of his head. The dog bounded up, nearly knocking Jaalin over, who just laughed and scratched the dog behind his ear. Jaalin continued on his way, passing under the wall that encircled the town where he lived; the trading town of Kingsford. He looked up as his leather boots plodded on the cobblestone street, he saw the King's city of Anverd, the great city and capital of Anveria, sitting on the hill some miles across the plains from the town. He sighed, that was where he was going in just two days to become a page in the King's Army, later to become a warrior, a great swordsman perhaps. Horsemen clattered past on errands for the King; merchants were setting up there stalls with colorful wares from all over the Eastern Continent and even from far away Keir; a cohort marched past, going to the Ethleden Marches no doubt; children an about in the street as men and women did business together and the elderly strode about or sat on the steps to houses. Jaalin kept walking, out of the town and to a farmhouse on the other side. It was a comfortable place with a wooden fence and a gate, a heavy oak door led into the house and a gravel path led up to it, there was an aged barn and a small yard in front of the house. The villa itself was made of good lumber and had two glass windows watching the paved road to Anverd. Jaalin's mother was by the fire, feeding the hungry flames logs from behind the house. Jaalin walked past his baby sister, who sat on the floorboards playing with wooden people. His father must be in the barn tending to the cows, chicken and pigs. His grandmother must be upstairs sewing. Jaalin thumped the bucket on the wood of the floor as he lowered it down. His mother looked up from the growing fire and smiled at him.
"Thank you, Jaalin. Once this dry spell is over you shall be able to draw water from the well down the road. Ail and Faranagan are helping Father in the barn, so I think you can rest this evening."
"Excellent! The other boys are going to practice with their swords in the town green!"
Jaalin dashed up stairs to get his practice sword. He stopped in front of the mirror hanging just inside his parent's open bedroom, it was a marriage gift from his father to his city-born mother. Jaalin saw a lean young man with tidy dark brown hair, even darker brows, blue eyes like the sky at noon, a strong nose, a pointed jaw, and wearing a fine tunic and trousers tucked into leather boots. Jaalin was pleased also with the progress of his whispery beard; he would have a full one hopefully in a year for his sixteenth birthday. Many of the girls in town seemed to hope for a proposal from him in a year too. Jaalin stepped into his room, floorboards creaking, and went past his simple bed to the shelf holding his most valued possessions: the straw blob-man his sister had made for him; the rock he was sure had sapphires in it; the arrowhead he had found in the woods, which he was convinced was Archaic Sakaedian; the knife his father had given him when he was ten, though right now it was on his hip; and his practice sword, he didn't have a real sword yet. Jaalin took it, strapped it to his belt and ran down stairs and out the door. He jogged along the stone road to the green, he could see the other boys already gathering there. He ran faster and had just reached them and was about to greet his friends when a klaxon filled the air. His heart sank, he knew what this meant. He and the boys and all the farmers walked along the road to town, meeting everyone else at the town square. Jaalin looked up at the statue of Lord Theith, founder of the fortress of Kingsford. A distant humming filled the air and after a minute Jaalin could see a number of black shapes speeding down the road to town. The humming grew louder and the shapes larger until Jaalin could make out a company of men riding those flying carts. They stopped in front of the gathered town, the company of armor-suit wearing soldiers dismounted their hover-bikes, faces hidden behind metal helmets and glowing blue eye-slits. The insignia of the United System Governance was emblazoned on the bikes. Captain James retracted his visor, the different parts sliding back into his suit, to reveal his clean shaven face. Lord Dryan Laa pushed forward through the crowd, accompanied by foot soldiers.
"What is it, Captain? As you probably already know, we are going through a drought, Durandian troops are gathering in Ethleden Pass, and we've lost several mines due to floods in our silver mines. Captain james snorted.
"Don't worry, We have our eye on Duranda."
Jaalin doubted that they really cared though.
"The Interplanetary Congress has issued a order for more recruits for the Navy. The recruits hall be from all worlds of the USG, including Ceres."
Jaalin and everyone native to this world called it Belfas, but the invaders called it Ceres. Jaalin thought it was one of their gods or something.
"The Navy Recruitment Office has compiled a list of young men from the Anverian sector of Ceres. Please step forward if your name is called." a blue image prang up in front of his face from a light on his suit's forearm. It was a list.
He barked out names of men Jaalin knew, he stood there as he saw Suril the blacksmith, Horst, and Thene the warrior. And suddenly,
"Tal, Jaalin."
A visible wave rippled through the crowd, eyes were turned toward Jaalin. He took a stumbling step forward when his father pushed his way through the crowd.
"Wait, Captain, he just a boy, not yet sixteen! You can't expect him to be useful... up there." Aar, Jaalin's father glanced up to the sky as he said the last part.
"Mr... Aar, the USG Navy has need of able-bodied young men. It's nothing, just someone to change the plasma fission cells in a battlecruiser's engines and to sling Arc-torches to repair ships. He'll be learning valuable skills and serving his nation. Besides it says here he is to become a warrior to your 'king'. Heres his chance."
So without a chance to say goodbye, Jaalin was taken by the soldiers away from everyone he had ever known; his family, his friends, his chance to be a swordsman, and the town of Kingsford. A great transport ship descended from the clouds, it's silvery metal hull gleaming the sun, the United System Governance crest visible. It hovered above the rooftops of the town square, the townsfolk watching in silent anxiety. A circular hatch opened on the bottom of the craft and an eerie blue light shot from it. Captain James motioned for the other soldiers to follow him as he walked into it, and disappeared. The faceless, black greatcoat wearing, soldiers formed a line, each guiding a victim into the blue light. Jaalin was last, as he was pushed nearer, his reluctant feet dragging on the stones. He shut his eyes as the tunnel of blue was just a foot away. He clenched his teeth expecting some horrible, strange sensation. But when he opened his eyes he was standing in a sizable metal room with metal seats lining the walls. Men from all over Anveria filled these seats; simple men wearing tunics or robes or blacksmith aprons. They were all snatched from their homes and families by the USG troops just like Jaalin. Jaalin was shoved into a seat by a soldier, who then walked past, through a metal door, which closed behind him. The men were left alone as they heard the thrum of the rockets as they flew up through the sky. Jaalin felt queasy at the thought of all that empty void beneath the thin layer of metal.
These metal-wearing strangers had come to Belfas some decades ago, appearing in the sky with their great metal boats and longships. People from across the Western Continent worshiped them as gods, but the magus at Anverd told the citizens of Anveria they were a race of men from a land in the Far North. The kingdom of Felfeiran welcomed the newcomers with their advanced technology and worshiped them. But there was a coup in Felfeiran, the new king demanded the invaders leave his kingdom. He then prepared for war when they did not. It was terrible, Jaalin had heard first hand accounts of it, a little ship flew over Felfeiran's capital with the royal army inside and cannons arrayed on it's walls. The little ship opened it's hull and a great, brilliant red column of fire shot down from the opening, destroying the city in one hit. Even after that the USG only came again, to every kingdom and empire except possibly the Three Great Powers, to tell them their world, Ceres as they called it, was now a USG world. The common folk weren't impressed. But the USG had never come and taken young men away. Jaalin wondered what was going to happen to him as he sat there in lonely misery; the ship jumping into a wormhole as it cleared the atmosphere. James voiced came from a speaker on the ceiling.
"We'll be arriving at Parvati at 0745 hours."

The Twenty-two Wonders of the Galaxy

2011-08-27T10:14:00.000-04:00

1. Infinity Outpost: A Kronn-made technological wonder, the Infinity Outpost was located on the very edge of the Fringe of the galaxy, until it was destroyed by the Naktaka in the Second Great War. The Outpost was a place often visited by Kronn era pilots; Kronn themselves, Hrullgi, Prothen, and Telophs. Infinity Outpost was located in the Huunti system asteroid belt, the Mukemuke, was the size of an average moon, had a star copper hull, hundreds of docks and housing within it, and outside it's hull it has gyroscopic rings constantly circling around, stopping only to let ships by. It was called the Infinity Outpost because the Kronn called the space in between galaxies the "Sea of Eternity". But, as heavily armored as it was, during the Naktaka raids on Imperium Fringe systems, hundreds of refugees fled to Infinity Outpost. The reptoids pummeled the outside hull with photon cannons, while a team of Naktaka snuck inside and planted a vacuum bomb; imploding the moon-sized station.

2. Five Aurora Rings of Veth: The rings of Veth are giant halos of auroras along the equator. As the name says, there are five layers of the auroras, all different colors and patterns. The Five Rings are massive enough to be seen on most parts of the world. The Rings move along the equator and move during the night, before everyones' eyes.

3. Eye of Eternity: Built either by the Kronn or the Telophs, the Eye of Eternity hangs in high orbit above Ogodo. It is a bipyramid made out of a stone from Krodia, with smooth slopes on both sides leading to a capstone of a blue-white crystal, also probably from Krodia. A flight of steps on both top and bottom lead to a great set of pneumatic metal double doors. Behind these, in the Eye itself, which is some some two hundred feet high, a vast gallery, ringed with ascending balconies, the floors getting smaller and smaller. Inside, there are many room coming off of the main, entry gallery; these hold, or used to hold, great wonders of the ancient galaxy. Sadly, much of the Eye has been ransacked, only the treasures of the main altar in the central chamber remain untouched. The Eye of Eternity has been preserved by the Imperium since the colonization of Ogodo, and though it was nearly destroyed in the Battle of Ogodo during the Great War, it still floats in space, undamaged.

4. Planet Architect: A Kronnian capital ship, consists of a spherical body, with four arm like prongs coming from it's sides. The Architect was used by the Kronn to, legends say, construct worlds. On it's underside, is an energy cannon, that shoots pure energy in between the prongs, which charge the beam, shape it, and set it in the designated space. Then, it is said, the energy cannon is charged even more so that the energy turns into the elements, that are then shaped into water, soil, etc, though it could also do a reverse process, sucking the energy from something, thus destroying it. After the Kronn went extinct, the craft was hidden for thousands of years, until the Naktaka found it deep under Eridu. The reptilians used the craft against the Imperium during the Second Great War , but as they laid siege to Eridu, Marcus Leondes used his spacewalking powers to jump aboard the Architect, and destroyed the Naktaka flagship and base planet. After the war, the Imperium put the Architect adrift toward the Zuric black hole, destroying the Planet Architect.

5. The Forbidden Temple on Ossym: Long ago, in the early days of the Imperium the Gasha Order was founded on the then-fringe-world Ossym. The Gasha are a order of psionic knights dedicated to protecting the Imperium, based now on Takhotep, but some of the elders live on Ossym. When the first Gasha discovered their powers on Ossym and the Imperium had established the Order, a stronghold was built for them on Ossym. At first it was a simple building; a place to train and meditate and live. But as the Gasha grew, so did the temple, as each successive generation has added onto it. Now it is a massive, complex fortress with many wings and annexes and towers. Only Gasha Warriors who have taken the Oath can enter the inner temple of the fortress, and they are not allowed to discuss what is in there. Outside, the Temple is rather beautiful, with trees and orchards and it has fish ponds in the courtyard as young Gasha train on the lawns by the river outside.

6. Custodian of Xar: A sentient droid that was on Xar, who ran the factory that produced Zan's android legions. He was short circuited by Imperium scouts. The Custodian was custom-made, stood thirty feet tall, humanoid in shape, and was covered in rough, zycite armor. He resided in the Command Bridge in the factory.

7. Floating Gardens of Io: Once, only the Emperor and his court were allowed to visit this natural wonder, but now any Imperium citizen may come to the Floating Gardens. Io is a lush world to begin with, miles of temperate jungles and dramatic, snow-covered mountains, and azure skies during the day and purple skies during sunset. It is a popular vacation world. The Floating Gardens, located not far from the city Prunium, hang above the jungle, near a mountainside, in terraces and steps. All kinds of plants and fauna live and grow on these floating chunks of earth; waterfalls link the hovering islands together. There are no signs of Imperium life on the floating islands, no building was allowed, but there is an invisible grav-net that keeps people from jumping off.

8. The Valley of Nyrador III: During the Great War, the Sinn Warriors and the Gasha Order met in the Valley of the Sun on Nyrador III. Lord Karr of the Sinn, during the battle vaporized everyone, including himself, and trapped their souls in the Valley, renamed the Valley of Spirits. People think he used his psionic powers, others believe Karr used an artifact, the Go-dett Orb. Ever since the bloody battle, there is the "good" side and "bad" side of the valley, divided by a river, which turns into blood every noon, to mourn the battle. The light side of the Valley is very hospitable, the Gasha Order spirits made their side of the Valley warm all year, plants grow at an incredible rate, there are beneficial herbs and sweet smelling flowers. While the dark half is barren, marshy, filled with poisonous plants and gases, filled with malicious monsters. In the river there is a monument to the Gasha warriors who died, along with three thousand innocent natives killed by the Sinn troopers, it stands seventy-eight feet tall. Under the Valley, there is an intricate network of crystal tunnels, very beautiful, but extremely dangerous, many adventurers have delved down into the caverns, never to return. Many people agree, if it exists, the Go-dett Orb is down in the Spirit Tunnels.

9. Clarke's Lighthouse: Many years before the First Great War, Clarke, a human from the Emperor Dirod system was a hyperspace scout, who along with his partner, Myndorra, explored much of what would be called the Mid Ring, and on the border of the Mid Ring and the Pioneer Regions, he built a beacon station. A beacon station is a small space station that sends out a strong beacon to ships, attracting them to the pit-stop station. It also helps with coordinating hyperspace leaps. In Clarke's day, there were many "lighthouses", as they were called, most were within the Core, Inner Ring, and Colonial Territories, his though was a trailblazer. He stayed in the lighthouse, named The Far Orbiter by himself, for many weeks managing the beacon array, and fixing food for the pilots that stopped there, though six years after he first opened the lighthouse, he purchased a group of droids to run the Orbiter, and he even built a gundroid to police the dock. The Far Orbiter was a place often raided by pirates, mostly unsuccessful raids though, for Clarke was an expert marksman, and most pirates avoided the place after he installed the gundroid. When he wasn't manning the lighthouse, Clarke was off in his ship, The Outlander, making hyperspace routes and mapping systems with Myndorra. After Clarke died, his lighthouse was simply known as Clarke's Lighthouse, and his family, he married Myndorra, still takes care of the Lighthouse to this day. Clarke's Lighthouse is somewhat triangular in shape, with rounded corners, and a sleek, armored hull, and, in Clarke's day, one dock, but today it has four.

10. The Will of Arung Uni: Of all the millions of planets in the Galaxy, Arung Uni is one of the most unique. Arung Uni, ancient capital of the Prothen Empire, has a consciousness; a psionic will. And though now Imperium citizen has never set foot on the alien world there are signs that show it has a will. First, Arung Uni is the only planet in it's system and it stays still as the green sun orbits it. Second, the Prothen talk of their planet as a person and seem to revere it. And third, Arung Uni moved, it jumped into hyperspace, during the Second Great War. Of course this could be rumor, mere legend. Imperium scientists have yet to visit the alien homeworld.

11. Belt of Arkkilon: A technological wonder, the Belt of Arkkilon is an artificial belt, torus in shape, with hundreds of engineers living inside. The Belt was built in 526 AI by Arkkilon Tech, it was built in small sections, then towed up into the exosphere. The Belt circles the whole planet, and is home to engineers, who work on classified and experimantal projects, or devices that would be hard to build on the planet's surface.

12. Great Gate of the Imperium: Built by the great engineer Oimmdol, the Gate is a giant ring, like the Belt of Arkkilon, that protects the Eridu from invaders. It was built in order to protect the great capital from invasion after the First Imperium Civil War by Oimmdol, a native Terran. He drew plans for the Gate, and, seven years later, the first segments of the Gate were towed up into space. The Gate was built in much the same way as the Belt of Arkkilon; it was constructed in small segments, then brought up into the exosphere via tow ship. The function of the Great Gate is to stop any and all ships in hyperdrive, making a common rest stop for pilots, Eridu sits at the beginning or end of a number of hyperlanes including; the Follon Lane, The Core Industrial Trade Route, the Urub Spice Lane, the Ridian Tech Throughway, The Eridu Hyperlane and the Myndian Way. The Gate also slows down the ship passing through the atmosphere, making sieges of the world slow and dangerous. It is also covered in shield generators and thousands of laser and torpedo turrets. The Great Gate was almost destroyed in the New Sinn Wars, but the Terran adventurer, Zek Kalso and a group of pilots saved it. The Gate is still in use today.

13. Wind Flues of Curgu: On the Pioneer Region planet of Curgu, there are hundreds of natural tunnels that go from the surface, then twist and turn down, close to the core. The mix of cool surface winds and thermal updrafts, along with the twists of the Flues makes very interesting musical sounds. The native Curians say the music was from celestial spirits floating along with the wind.

14. Orthel Antenna: A massive tower, starting in the middle of the atmosphere and rising three miles up, full of commercial offices and satellites. It began construction in 58 -AI by the Orthel-Talisis Spaceflight Co-op. The Antenna looks like a great silver-colored needle, three miles tall, with dozens of ports, as well as a battalion of gundroids. During the Fourth Tuetese Civil War, the Tuetese and their allies had seized the Antenna, and held it for three weeks under siege by the United Corporate Combine armies, until they gained access by ventilation shafts that were left unguarded, thus allowing the UCC to regain control of the Antenna.

15. Xalanatha: The Second Great War destroyed the Xala homeworld of Xr'laga I, the Xala fled to various colony worlds. After sixty years of living in other Imperium worlds, the Xala built Xalanatha as their new capital and center for the Temple. Xalanatha is the biggest space platform ever built in the Galactic Imperium. The size of an enormous city, it is built in a terrace, the Temple at the top, with the military barracks, offices, the Strataltry, navy hangers, and the Imperium governor's palace. Below all this is the rest of the city; domed roofs, geometric streets, docks, and all the usual components of a Xala city. Under the entire city, down in the maintenance and under-workings of Xalanatha, is the Undernatha, a hidden city of smugglers, thieves, mercs and other low-lives.

16. The Fifty Obelisks of Tahkhotep: These hundred foot tall monuments are found outside the old library of the Gasha Order. The Gasha scouts at first thought the obelisks were spread out in an unorginized mess, but later study showed they were, in fact, in a pattern, a symbol composed of these monuments. Excavation uncovered cables that connected the obelisks. These pillars are thought to be used as a homing beacon for Kronn pilots that were far out in space. Recent discoveries on other planets have uncovered similar obelisks.

17. Black Ziggurat of Algol: On the wasteland planet of Algol, the native sinn speices built thousands of temples dedicated to their dark magics, but one stands out among them, the Black Ziggurat. Located on the Ung'or Peninsula, the Black Ziggurat stands 435 ft tall, is made out of an obsidian-like substance called glokk, and has a total of 894 stairs. Inside the temple, there is an altar dedicated to the One in the Void, an evil, ancient force, and the Sinn Warriors had a large academy in the Ziggurat. Past the altar chamber, there are living quarters for the sorcerers, and soldiers, prison cells, torture chambers and numerous other rooms and corridors. It is said the Sinn Monks still live, deep down in the temple. The Black Ziggurat is surrounded by an aura of black power, turning some of the Imperium scouts, who found it, insane.

18. The Memory Vaults of Arung Iilum: Located on Arung Uni's only moon, Arung Iilum, the Vaults are a central part of the Pahndo Witches' belief. hidden in a secret archive somewhere on the rocky moon, the Memory Vaults are great, whitish-blue crystals, encased in Prothen cases and storage frames. The crystals can store thoughts, the ancient Prothen must have discovered this, so for millions of years the Prothen Witches and Executors have stored important thoughts and ideas in these crystals. The Vaults, it is said, are guarded by five Keepers, immortal Prothen Witches tasked with preserving and guarding the archives of Arung Iilum

19. The Colossus of Zan: This 500 foot tall statue overlooks the capital city of Burrus, New Zan City. The bronze, marble, and zycite colossus was built after Zan the Conqueror's death, c. 114 -AI. Zan, born the heir apparent of Burrus, conquered much of what is now the Imperium, his use of war androids and his brilliant resource management and strategy made this possible. After he had conquered his Despotate, he reigned for some fifty years, dying a peaceful death on Burrus. He had had plans drawn up before he died of the colossus, but it was his generals who ordered the construction of it after his death. The great statue is of Zan, wearing a war crown and armor, wielding a sword and torch. It is said that his body was moved from his tomb to the colossus, along with his treasure. The colossus, though very old and weathered, still stands; many have tried to enter it's dark insides, few have come out unscathed.

20. The Drumlins of Maan: The world of Maan went through an extreme ice age, that covered three quarters of the world, the natives, the Maanasa, migrated to the far south, and stayed there for five generations. When the glaciers and layers of ice melted, they left behind extensive amounts of mineral deposits, and a vastly different landscape. The former plains, marshes, and forests of Maan were replaced by massive, dramatic, swirling, drumlins and other glacier formed features. The Maan settled on the sides of the massive hills, rediscovering the world that had been so drastically changed by the eight hundred year ice age. The drumlins are mostly in the northern hemisphere, and are often over two hundred feet tall.

21. The Necropolis of Emperors on Eridu: This great part of Eridu, the size of a large island, is the burial site for the Galactic Emperors. It is not far from the Central Galactic Library. The Necropolis includes imperial crypts, catacombs, and tombs for the soldiers who died in the Wars of Formation, along with graves for important senators, aristocrats and generals. It was also the burial site for the leaders of the Nations of Narhul, and the final resting place of Caiss-Sol, first Emperor of the Galaxy.

22. Gog, the Supercomputer: A legendary ancient computer, who's makers and location remain a mystery. Gog is said to be sentient, and was once found by Galactic Emperor Arateus of the Imperium during the Second Imperium Civil War to get advice on how to stop it. Also another legend says that Zek and Basim discovered Gog in some caves on a planet in the Fringe. It is said that Gog is a giant computer cube, taking up a whole cavern. Gog is only counted as a Wonder because there is some proof pointing to his existence, and he is one the most popular legends, especially among deep space pilots.

Arung Iilum Archives: The Eagle of the Imperium

2011-08-25T14:00:00.000-04:00

Iarius looked at himself in the mirror, the hologram highlighting the areas of his uniform or hair that needed adjusting. He nodded, satisfied with his appearance. Their was a knock and the metal doors, opened to show Nessith standing in a Curian robe and headdress; as was the custom of his species.
"After that day from hell, with us wondering if we would ever see Eridu again; here we are in the palace of the Emperor himself, and you about to be made captain." he said as he strode into the lavishly furnished room. Nessith's black eyes, accustomed to the spartan lifestyle of the Imperium Army and his homeworld of Curgu, scanned the room in distaste.
"My, it's a wonder you Terrans don't go blind due to all this color and grow fat with this rich indulgence.
"It's good to see you again, old friend." Iarius said, smiling at his friend and comrade. They clapsed each other's hands.
"It's true; I thought we wouldn't get off Arsinon alive. But we did, Nessith, both of us. And here we are, honored by the Emperor himself!"
A servant entered the room, announcing,
"His Imperial Majesty, Octavian Regulus Vallerun will recieve you now in his throne room."
Iarius looked at Nessith.
"Alright, here we go."
The Fringe Wars nearly brought the opulent Galactic Imperium to it knees. The Fringe Rebellion and Sinn destroyed Arsinon, the second greatest planet in the Imperium, and ravaged the Fringe and Fronteer Regions. But the War was abruptly ended by the emergence of the "Swarm" on Arsinon and reappearance of the Prothen.
The fifty-foot tall, golden doors slid back, soundlessly into the wall; the Galactic Emperor's throne room appeared before Iarius. A red carpet flowed past zycite columns to the foot of the golden stairs of the throne; the ceiling, hundreds of feet above, was a holographic image of the galaxy, a great wheel of silver dust and auric dots. Some twenty thousand people of all species of the Imperium were seated in the hover-booths lined against both walls. The entire Senate seemed to be gathered here. Iarius swallowed, exhaled, and walked down the red carpet. He noticed fellow marines from Arsinon and General Reynolds standing at the foot of the throne. Iarius and Nessith reached the stairs, bowed, and took their place next to the other marines. All the whispered conversations and chattering stopped abruptly as the Emperor rose, the Herculean Guard, clad in modified marine armor and scarlet capes, stood ever-present behind their Emperor.
"A week ago a great tragedy struck the Imperium: Arsinon was violently destroyed. Many more would have died, if not for Legate Marov and his men. Unfortunately, the honored Legate passed away early this morning." Iarius and the other marines bowed their heads sadly, silently honoring the Legate. "General Reynolds, step forward." the Emperor of the Galaxy, crimson and gold cape trailing after him, descended the metal steps to stand before Reynolds.
"You are now Legate Reynolds of the Imperium Army." Emperor Octavian took a medal from a velvet-lined metal case a courtier held at the Galactic Emperor's side. The cathedral-sized chamber was filled with thunderous applause, Nessith shook his head irritably as Iarius clapped with everyone else. Next the Emperor turned to Iarius.
"Lieutenant Iarius, Colonel Erzza tells me you have wanted to join the Navy for some time, is that still your wish? But first, Legate."
Reynolds nodded,
"Form rank!" he commanded the marine officers, "Attention!" the marines formed a line, all in their maroon uniforms, and saluted the Emperor.
More courtiers came up beside the Emperor, who took the medals out of the cases. "I award all the surviving marines from the Battle of Arsinon the Iron Star for their courage and great service to the people of Arsinon and the Imperium."
More applause. Iarius smiled ruefully at Nessith, the horrors of that day flashing before his eyes as the Emperor himself pinned the Iron Star to his chest.
"And to Captain Iarius I give command of The Eagle of the Imperium."
Iarius's eyes widened as the courtiers, fellow soldiers, and the Emperor himself applauded his promotion. Nessith clapped him on the back.
"And, because you work so well together, 2nd Lieutenant Nessith will be your Lieutenant Commander. Tomorrow, report to Admiral Corbett."
The Eagle of the Imperium was a Secutor-class battleship once commanded by the famous Captain Eugenios in the Second Imperium Civil War. And though the ship was more than a thousand years old, it ran well and still had a lot of surprises. To captain such a ship was an obvious sign of the Emperor's favor. Iarius and Nessith were presented with the navy blue uniforms of their stations. And after a memorial service for Marov and the other casualties of Arsinon and a celebratory ball. Iarius collapsed in his guest room in the palace, exhausted but eager for the coming day. Thoughts of his home on Alsara and a fleet of battleships swam through his head as he fell asleep. Nessith, in his room striped of all luxuries by the palace servants, lay on the wood frame that served as his bed, covered by a simple blanket. He lay, staring at the whitewashed ceiling, thinking of how proud his clan will be when they here he is second-in-command of a Secutor-class battleship.

Dominion of the Arsinian Consortium

2011-03-06T15:26:00.001-05:00

Arsinon Dominion: Species: Terran.

Government: Elected guild rule. Capital: Arsinon. Status: Destroyed.

Declaring its independence from Eridu practically minutes after its founding, Arsinon and the other planets of the Consortium have always been at odds with Eridu. A mineral rich, fertile world, Arsinon was the sixth world to be colonized by the First Imperium ( the others being Lagash, Arya, Ceres, Londor, and Ultara). Arsinon became a thriving urban-world, ruled by a consortium of guilds, the Laertes Mineral Resource Corporation held power the longest of any guild, but the guilds quickly became corrupt and oppressive, using the Arsinian people as underprivileged workers and not citizens with rights. Leonidas Centaurus gathered around him a group of dissident workers and escaped convicts and apposed the Arsinon Consortium. After a brief struggle, Leonidas and his revolutionaries marched into the Guild Hall on Arsinon and hung Amos Valens, CEO of the Laertes Mineral Corp, from the highest turret of the Hall. The oppressive power of the corporations was over. Leoniades declared himself king Leonidas Centaurus I of Arsinon and all former worlds of the Consortium. So began a period of growth and prosperity for the newly renamed Dominion, Arsinon's wealth and population grew ever more. The outer worlds also grew, Tiamat became a city-world to rival Arsinon, Orthel became the leading industrial world of the Dominion, a high class military academy was set up on New Tren, and a psychic training academy was set up on backwater Dal, and the Macedonian Project began. Leonidas, loved by the people of Arsinon, finally died at eighty-three, having ruled for nearly fifty years. His son, Leonidas Centaurus II assumed control of the Dominion, his rule quickly became oppressive, the people of the Dominion were unhappy. A massive uprising on Arsinon stormed Centaurus Palace, Leonidas tried to flee from the planet. He was caught in high atmo, his ship was boarded and he was captured. Thomas Blake, a leader of the uprising, had Leonidas strangled as he was being dragged to a trial. Blake tried to rule as an emergency dictator, declaring the Dominion in a state of martial law. As Thomas was washing his face before a speech, his bodyguard, Tiberius Markev drowned the dictator in his own wash bowl. Tiberius then declared that a new corporate alliance would rule the Dominion, a rigged election followed, where Tiberius and his employers had an overwhelming victory. Years of relative peace followed, the Dominion's power grew steadily, becoming a rival of the Terran Imperium; the two powers became bitter rivals. Small border skirmishes turned into battles, the battles into wars; the Three Dominion Wars took up the next 252 years of human history. The Dominion was nearly destroyed two times, but at the end of the Siege of Eridu during the Third Dominion War, Arsinon was the master of united Terran-space. The Dominion, slowly becoming weaker, ruled the massive size of the swelled Dominion, their borders stretched far enough to encounter an alien species; the Notross. The Dominion launched a swift raid on the Notross rim-world of Qatari, wiping out all the inhabitants and claiming the alien world as their own. The Notross Covenant mustered together all the tribes and declared humanity an affront to the gods. A year of brutal war followed, the Covenant pushed into Dominion territory via Follon and spear-headed through to Arsinon. Lt. Col. William Roberts of the Imperium Marines, who had been captured along with his battalion at the Battle of Terminus, had fled from his Notross captors to Prothen Space, where the Prothen came out in all their robotic and psionic splendor and forbade the Notross to continue their campaign against Terrankind. The Notross were in the middle of besieging Arsinon when they stopped the war. But as the Notross were leaving the battle-scarred world, the Swarm emerged after nearly a thousand years. The Notross and remaining humans tried to fight off the numberless Swarm, but finally the Notross evacuated as many Terrans as they could. Arsinon, and any survivors, were left to the Swarm.

Second Interplanetary Imperium of Mankind

2011-03-06T15:22:00.002-05:00

Terran Imperium: Species: Terran.

Government: Hereditary dictatorship. Capital: Eridu. Status: Active.

Seated on the grand ancestral homeworld of terrankind, the Imperium has a long history, it's foundations date back to before Terrans had invented hyperdrive or settled other worlds. Long ago, centuries past. 2126 AD, the king of Eridu, Tarquin Ouranos, looked at the nearby planet of Arya and decided he would extend his rule to the uncolonized world. He built a fleet of ships and had his greatest and smartest engineers and psychics make special hyperlight-speed engines. So began the First Interplanetary Imperium of Mankind, or the First Terran Imperium. Tarquin and his descendants governed over a rapidly increasing nation. Arya, Ceres, and Lagash were quickly colonized in the first few decades, Londor, Ultara, New Londinium, and New Tarsus followed soon after. After 100 years of growth and intrigue came the Ultara Crisis; the Ultarans, tired of high work demands and oppressive military presence, went on strike. The exarch, Flavius Naymen, sent some marines to get the workers back to the factories and shipyards. The protestors battered back the soldiers, then stormed Flavius's manor. Flavius fled to Eridu and told the situation to the aged emperor Dirod the Wise. Dirod sent a legion to Ultara and had many of the mob killed, the rest were given a huge fine and sent back to work. Flavius resumed his role as exarch of Ultara. The protestors regrouped and sacked Flavius's manor again. This time, the exarch's body hung in the place of the Imperium flag. This marked the end of Ultara as a bustling city world. Varis III the Cruel, recently crowned king after his father's untimely death, had the Imperial navy bomb the main city and marines killed anyone in the streets that had avoided the bombing. The survivors were deported to other worlds and heavily reeducated, some of the ring leaders had survived and were sent off to newly discovered Follon. There were 344 years of relative peace, until the Arsinon Dominion declared war on the Imperium. The first of the Three Dominion Wars followed. Fierce naval and land fighting took place, and through a series of victories, the Dominion claimed Follon and Nado. A peace treaty at Princess Thee was signed and ended the first war. The Second Dominion War began when Imperium spies found out about the Macedonian Project. Under the pretext of freeing POWs and stopping Arsinian terrorism, the Imperium declared war on the Dominion. Follon was reclaimed by Eridu, who then launched a ferocious assault into central Dominion territory. Arsinon unveiled the result of the Macedonian Project: psychoborgs. These powerful psionic cyborgs infiltrated many of the Imperium frigates and cut off communication with Eridu. The invading fleet was destroyed long before Eridu realized what was happening. Emperor Rynus the Mad, an increasingly unstable ruler, drafted many of the men form the worlds of the Imperium and sent them to the Dominion. Even all the draftees and veterans weren't enough, so Rynus opened all the prisons and sent the prisoners to the battlefront. Finally, the Imperium, economy shattered and most of the young men dead, won and took half of the Dominion worlds. The Third Dominion War was the shortest of three, but had the biggest aftereffects. Arsinon used their psychoborgs to sabotage the Imperial government and economy on the occupied Dominion planets. Marcus Python, a high ranking Arsinian general, launched an assault on Ganga. The Third Dominion War had begun. In the midst of the fighting, Rynus' son, Augustus, had discovered an ancient alien machine, the Star Bomb. He set off the Star Bomb on Nyrador III, wiping out the armies of both sides. But the Dominion won a rough, costly, bloody victory. The Imperium was greatly weakened and no longer the dominant Terran power. Arsinon's power had expanded to a vast sweep of the Dagen Region, though most was still empty and unexplored. But there was something; an alien species inhabiting that unexplored space. The Notross. A brutal war, the Xeno War, began between the ancient Notross and the unstable Arsinon Dominion. In the midst of the war, one of the emperor of the Imperium, Regulus Marsk Vallerun began to rebuild the lost Imperium. After three years of covert battles, Vallerun began to win over the Dominion. So began the Second Interplanetary Imperium of Mankind, with Regulus at it's head. A general in the Imperium army, William Roberts, negotiated a peace with the Notross, with the help of the Prothen, who just came back out of their homeworld, Arung Uni. Shortly after the Xeno War, the Alsara system declared independence from the Imperium, the bloody Alsaran Wars of Freedom followed, ended by an unexpected Alsaran victory. There were five years of peace, Octavian Regulus Flavius Vallerun, son of Regulus, rules the Terran Imperium with as the Swarm is returning to the Dagen Region after a thousand years.

Arung Iilum Archives: The Fall of Arsinon

2011-02-14T22:45:00.094-05:00

The Fall of Arsinon: July 15, 2540 AD.
Iarius watched helplessly as orange, energy bombs rained down on the once proud skyscrapers of Arsinon. He leaned back in his bunker, his bunker-mate, Enlai, slumped beside him, a Sinn javelin protruding out his back. Iarius's heart pounded; all the methods he used to calm himself down during a battle had failed. With the Centaurus Plaza assaulted by Sinn, the garrisons had lost communication with Legate Marov, so the troops had decided to try and cut their way to the Plaza. Most fell to the Rranthi marauders. Iarius, Enlai, and Nessith had been separated from their company, fortunately, they found this abandoned bunker. Iarius emptied Enlai's gun of cells into his. The little guy didn't need them where he was going. With a full rifle, Iarius wiped gore off the scanner, checking for stalkers or wraiths. Nothing. Iarius shoved his helmet over his matted dark hair, the inside of the helmet lit up with small screens, readouts with his heart rate and physical health. The Command Tower at the Plaza must be taken, for the calm voice of the Arsinon command AI, SONYA, didn't greet him. Iarius swallowed hard, then punched open the bunker hatch and leapt out.

The black, gothic capital ships the Sinn Empire and the patchy, stolen ships of the Rebellion filled the smoldering Arsinian sky bombing the broken city; alien starfighters swarmed over the city, their orange rays tearing through steel and flesh, Sinn warriors stormed through the broken streets, slaughtering any marines who got in their way. It was an extermination of humanity and Iarius was caught in the midst of it. He ran across the roof top the bunker was situated on, a Gauss bolt punctured the steel just behind him. Iarius raised his assault rifle, returning fire. The rebel dived behind a wall, avoiding the stream of photon energy. Suddenly the rebel exploded into flaming limbs. Nessith came striding across the rooftop suited in his Heracles combat suit, a grenade in his giant, mechanical hand.

"Glad to see you in one piece. Where's Enlai?" Nessith's voice crackled out of the speaker of his helmet.

Iarius gestured his head toward the bunker, "Taking a rest."

Nessith nodded; the giant metal helmet of his Heracles suit making a sluggish up and down motion. The two of them ran across the rooftop and scaled down the access ladder. They dodged around the fallen chunks of masonry and buildings strewn about the metal road. The corpses of marines and Sinn, staring blankly at the fiery destruction they had caused, littered the boulevard. An explosion went off near by, rocking the earth and making the skyscrapers shudder.

"Look out!" Nessith yelled, throwing Iarius to the side. A burning Falcon starfighter careened down by them, hurtling over where they had just been. It smashed into an bank, the colonnade and glass front imploding thunderously inward, the structure soon became an inferno. Iarius and Nessith ran down the ruined boulevard to the corner, where it met three other roads. They ducked inside a vacant cafe; the waiter android did not greet them; it lay trampled on the floor with a javelin through it's metal-and-wire head. Iarius took off his helmet, running a gloved hand through his sweaty, matted hair.

"What weapons you got?" he asked as he slumped against a wall.

Nessith tapped the grenades on his belt, "three grenades, two thermals one fission; combat knife," Iarius saw the oversized, sword-like knife strapped to Nessith's armored thigh, "and my rifle, with ammo." Nessith pulled his massive assault rifle off his back.

"I just have my rifle and knife." Iarius said as he put back on his helmet. Just as the helmet closed over his neck, an explosion blew the wall of the cafe down; a Sinn warrior and rebel soldiers charging through the gap. Nessith battered one aside with the butt of his gun; the rebel’s patched marine armor crumpling as he hit the metal wall. He crumpled down on the floor. Iarius opened fire on another, pointed novasteel bullets tearing through the rebel’s flesh. Two rebels down. A rebel, wielding a combat knife slipped beside Iarius and sliced his side. Iarius gasped, the serrated blade tearing through flesh and armor, the wound gushed blood down Iarius’s side and the bone sliced as well. Nessith bellowed and drove his oversized combat knife through the rebel’s armored skull; the Terran’s life spilling out of it. Hefting the corpse, Nessith hurled it at his enemies; the limp carcass flailing into it's comrades, with such force that two went tumbling to the ground. The Sinn, a barrel-chested, fiery eyed warrior, leapt forward and let out a ferocious war cry, lifting his long, glowing-red blade to strike down Nessith. But, a high, piercing shriek sliced through the chaos like a Sinn's blade. Everything froze. The sounds of battle; the destruction; the screams of the wounded, the dying; stopped. The harsh sound of his haggard breathing and the racing beat of his heart filled Iarius's ears.

Suddenly everything began again at a rapid speed. Black shapes burst from the ground and the sewers, great abominations smashed their way out of the rubble. The Sinn and rebels turned and began hacking and cutting their way through the strange new aliens. Three marines ran by, spattered in blood. A black-skinned, slender humanoid leaped on them, it's razor-sharp claws tearing through one and then another marine. The remaining soldier backed up against a wall; sobbing for mercy. The alien said nothing, but inspected it's now crimson claws. Coming out of it's contemplation, the clawed alien jumped on the man, ending his life. A gun shot rang out in the chaos, Nessith stood behind the creature, rifle in hand. It slumped dead against it's last victim.

"What the eff are these things!" Nessith yelled above the screams and gunfire.

"Let's not stay and find out! Our ride's here!" Iarius shouted, pointing up. A dropship descended among the ruined towers. The side wall hatch opened with a pneumatic hiss. A bloody Legate Marov stood inside, smoking laser rifle in hand, along with dozens of other wounded and dying soldiers.

"Get in!" Marov roared over the engines. Iarius leapt in, Nessith scrambled in as quickly as his mech-suit would allow. The Valkyrie dropship took of as soon as they were in, ion engines propelling it above the destroyed skyline. Iarius leaned back, a hand pressing a nano-pack to his wound, eyes on the once majestic Arsinon. Smoke billowed thickly from the buildings, obscuring most of the city. Imperium Valkyries and medivacs swarmed from the smoke, taking with them the remains of the planet's population. The rebel warships let them pass, focusing their fire power at the new threat on the surface. Just as the hatch closed, Iarius saw what looked like a floating city, of beautiful and alien design, firing green beams of energy down on the city. Cleansing it.

Merc Companies.

2010-09-30T13:35:00.005-04:00

Terran merc companies:
Phalanx Securities: elite Marines. A security company from the Imperium-world Orthel. They specialize in defense.
Devil's Men: elite Vulcans. A merc group from the Fringe, the Devil's Men fight for the highest bidder, cleansing towns of bandits, political enemies, competition, or Swarmlings.
Caduceus Stealth Corps: elite Cyclopses. Originally a division of Pythagoras Association, now acting as freelance mercs. Of course, once Pythagorean, always Pythagorean.
Hammer Company: elite Breakers. An elite merc company from the Xeno War. The Hammers can raid any fortress, base, or ship, human or alien, as long as you're willing to pay.
Black Angels: elite Apolloes. Piloting pirated Apolloes, the Black Angels give aerial support to anyone who pays enough.
War Dragons: elite Dragons. Formed during the Alsaran Wars of Freedom by Alsaran rebels, the War Dragons are swift and deadly.
Spartan League: elite Heracles. A merc group from the days of the Arsinon Dominion, the Spartan League specializes in heavy infantry, able to batter through ranks of Terrans, Swarm, or Notross.
Shield: elite Epsilite War Tanks. Coming into the big league during the Alsaran Wars, hired by the Imperium to help lay siege to Alsaran fortresses. Shield can now be hired by whoever has enough money.
Rogue Column: elite Battleship. The only group of deserters to ever leave the Imperium military and live. The Rogue Column fights alongside anyone who hates the Imperium.

Hidden Temple.

2010-09-16T12:06:00.005-04:00

Arakil stepped carefully through the underground gloom, fellow Prothen were nearby, searching the rocks and stalagmites for clues. Clues left by the gods. Arakil went around a particularly large and smooth stalagmite; and found a temple. It was like a cave; a large portion of some great temple chamber within this bigger cavern. Arakil crept inside, his green, pupilless eyes quickly adjusting to the thick blackness that shrouded the inside of the broken temple. Sweeping dust from the wall with his robotic hand, he saw carvings and illustrations lying hidden under the layer of dust. They were carved in a style he had seen before, five hundred years ago on Arung Khai. The side-view, geometric style of the Architects. Every line, every curve, every dot and feature was perfectly carved, perfectly measured. Arakil excitedly swept more dust from the ancient wall and saw an interesting image; an illustration of the Architects themselves, hundreds of extremely detailed troops. They wore advanced battle armor, with smooth, curved helmets with a single eye in the center, their weapons were long, broad rifles that, judging from the illustration, fired very potent energy rays. A horde of monstrous horrors that Arakil realized were swarmlings, were rushing toward the Architect battalion. He felt a creeping sensation along his metal spine. Dashing past many other carvings of the Architects engineering worlds and spaceships, up to the back of the ancient temple; the altar. The crystalline shrine laid on it's side, cracked, shards of crystal were strewn on the floor. Above the altar was an image of an Architect wearing a flowing robe and crown-like helmet. His hands were extended, gesturing to adjacent scenes; scenes of the Architects arriving in the Dagen Region, building a homeworld for themselves, finding primitive species, the Prothen and Notross, going to a barren, wasteland, world and finding... life. They took this bold and resilient life-form and genetically enhanced it, they multiplied it, made it more adaptable than other species. The things morphed and grew, in size and intelligence, the numberless creatures were then put under the control of an Architect-made being: the Overmind. The swarms of these creatures grew evermore; until, one day, they turned and attacked their creators. Overrunning most of the Architects' worlds instantly, there was a great battle at the Architect homeworld. The Architects, after the battle, were no more.
Arakil, wide eyed, stumbled backwards. The Architects had made the Swarm!

I remember when...

2010-09-09T18:46:00.001-04:00

Moonlight shone down on me from above the towering shadows of the trees.
I remember the hoots of owls, the pitter-patter of mice across the fallen leaves.
I remember the eyes of foxes and rabbits, looking out at me from under scraggily bushes, safe in their burrow homes.
I remember eagles and crows, hawks and ravens, sitting proud in their high twig thrones, watching me as I walked through the twilit forest.

The Origins of the Swarm.

2010-08-26T14:09:00.003-04:00

Aeons ago; the Prothen, Firstborn of Adru, spread across the Dagen Region and taught the tribal Notross the arts of war. For a great blight was burning a path of destruction across the stars. The blight was the Swarm.
The Swarm spread from Zarsus and burned a path of destruction to Dagen. The Swarm encountered the Prothen and Notross, who fought off the insectoid monsters. The Overmind, the supreme will of the Swarm, inflicted the Prothen with a terrible virus, that ate flesh and bone away to nothing. Kalssenon, Hierarch Executor of the Prothen, devised a way, using psionics and technology, to put cybernetic implants in the remaining Prothen and Prothen eggs. The sparse amount of Prothen withdrew to their ancestral homeworld of Arung Uni. The Notross, after the devastating war with the Swarm, reverted back to their tribal ways, losing all technology and communication with the Prothen. After centuries of primitive tribalism, the Prothen returned the knowledge of warp drives and ordered law to the Notross. The wisest Prothen seers foretold that a fourth species would come from a far sector of the Dagan Region, and that their coming would herald the second coming and destruction of the Swarm. Notross refused to accept that an outsider species could save the Prothen and Notross. The two species fell out of communion with each other. After the centuries, the Swarm turned to myth among the Notross, an alien invasion long ago defeated, no need to dwell on the past. The Prothen on Arung Uni saw the signs: the return of Zarsus Prime in the night sky and the shadowing over of all adjacent stars. The Swarm was rising yet again.

The Prometheus; Part 2.

2010-08-25T10:46:00.000-04:00

Jason tentatively stepped forward, taser pointed forward. The thing in the shadows stopped moving; waiting. There was a moment of silence, no one moved. Beads of sweat ran down Jason's forehead and into his eyes. He reached up to wipe his eyes; but he heard a slight shift of feet in the shadows. His whole body tensed and he instinctively pulled the trigger of his weapon. A foot-long bolt of electricity erupted from the barrel of his taser; flying and hitting the thing lurking in the shadows. The figure flew into the back wall with a loud clang of metal. Jason turned on his wristlight and shone its blue beam of light on the figure.
It was a man, like Jason. He was thin but wiry, shaggy black hair hung over his deep-set green eyes, he was dressed similar to Jason, but the stranger had bits of what looked liked armor, though it was bent and scratched. The most dangerous thing about this man was the four-foot long curved sword in his hand. The man lay on the ground, twitching from the taser bolt; after a minute he stopped moving. Jason stepped toward the prone, maybe even dead, man. He, Jason, threw himself to the ground; the curved sword sliced the air harmlessly where he had been just a second before. The man was on his feet, sword ready, a feral hatred in his scowling eyes. Jason, leaping up, took a step backward his taser pointed at the wild man's chest. Jason spied a name emblazoned on this wild stranger's jumpsuit.
"Romulus, stand down! I repeat; stand down! It's ok, I won't shoot you again; see?" Jason slowly lowered his taser.
Romulus stood still at first; staring at Jason. Very slowly, his sword pointed toward the floor. Jason breathed a sigh of relief. That's when something pounced from behind; and everything went black.

Lance DeMoi and the Revenge of Noctheim.

2010-06-25T22:29:00.000-04:00

Lance ran, like he had never ran before, blood spilling onto the rocks from his many wounds as he flew down the mountain. A horde of vampires came pouring out of the caves up the mountain; all of them contorted with their hunger for blood. Harley, one leg broken and covered in blood, limped as best he could after Lance, the horde quickly drawing closer to him. Lance turned and ran back up the rocky slope to Harley.
"Come on!" Lance yelled, helping to support Harley as they both stumbled down the mountain. Suddenly, in a black flash, a very tall, slim, chalk white skinned vampire wearing black armor and an onyx crown appeared in front of them. He drew a dark iron sword from it's sheath on his black, bejewled belt. Turning to his bear form, Harley roared and charged forward, teeth bared. Dracula stood his ground, then, when Harley was close enough, Dracula skewered the werebear and nonchalantly tossed him aside. Lance choked and fell to his knees; Harley was dead and Lance had only himself to blame. Dracula and his army of vampires surrounded the lone Lance DeMoi. Dracula pointed his black sword at Lance's dirty and blood-smeared throat, and chuckled.
"Well look who we have hear: the mighty Lance DeMoi on his knees and at my mercy!"
Dracula smashed Lance in the head with the pommel of his sword. Blood ran down Lance's neck as he fell on the rocks and dirt; he coughed up blood into the dust. Something fell of his belt and tinkled against the stones; of course how could he have forgotten! Snatching the bottle of pure daylight, Lance jumped to his feet, Dracula snarled and lunged with his sword. Lance threw himself to the side, whipped out his revolver, threw the crystal vial on the ground and shot it. Pure, raw, daylight exploded over the mountainside. The nearest vampires were incinerated on the spot, others farther back burst into flame, Dracula shrieked and fell backwards, his sword clattered against the stones. Lance jammed his eyes shut and ran to the cliff's edge, where he peeked and saw a lake far below, a deep one by the looks of it; and he dove of the mountain into the cold mountain pool below.

The Prometheus.

2010-06-25T10:16:00.006-04:00

He awoke with a start. He didn't know where he was, or who he was. He was in a confined, body chamber with a little window at head level looking out into pitch blackness. He tore a tube from his mouth; water spilled onto the floor of his pod and an emergency light went on. There was a pneumatic hiss and the chamber door opened, letting in cool air. He unstrapped himself and stumbled into the darkness, he looked around, his arm accidentally smacked a switch. Electric lights, dim at first, came to life, lighting the previously dark passageway. Stumbling down the dark metal passage, he noticed drawers along the wall. He wrenched one labeled "Argon, Jason" open and dumped out it's contents onto the metal grating. There was a black jumpsuit, an under shirt, boots, a handlight, a med-kit, and a taser-like weapon. Jason put on the underclothes and jumpsuit over his briefs, strapped the boots on, and put the other items on his belt. Putting on the the handlight, he walked down the dim, menacing metal passageways; going no where in particular. Jason wondered where he was; vague memories of a massive vessel swirled in his head, but what kind of vessel? He was pondering this as he came into an observation deck. He turned toward the wall-to-ceiling window.
His jaw dropped.
Splayed out before him was a gas nebula, all swirls and stars, blanketing visible space with it's speckled majesty. The bay window was cool against Jason's skin as he pressed against it; eyes taking in the beautiful scene before him. He noticed a star, a giant yellow thing, drawing noticibly closer. Planets swirled around the sun, five or six of them. He stepped back, memories shifting through his head; there was a soft tink of metal behind him. Jason turned, hand on taser. Something was moving in the back shadows of the deck.

The Great Galactic War.

2010-06-19T19:19:00.001-04:00

The Republic enjoyed a thousand years of peace after the The Great Hyperlane Invasion by the sinn. The old sinn emperor, Angard Shadow, died, leaving the throne to Kaga Diin. Diin was then challenged by the irascible, illegitimate, son of Shadow, Draco Ravorn. Draco fought and killed Kaga Diin in a duel right outside the latter's own palace, Draco stole the crown and initiated a new regime. For too long had the Republic been at peace, and for too long had the sinn, the sworn enemies of the Republic, been reclusive and peaceful. Draco built a massive fleet, bigger than the one used by Marak Shadow in the Great Hyperlane invasion. Unlike the sinn emperors before him, who attacked lesser Republic worlds to slowly eat away at Republic power, Draco lead his fleet straight from Korduun in a spear-like lightening blitz to Eridu, the grand capital of the Republic. The attack was both well timed and unexpected; the Republic had just gone through the Fourth Tuet Civil War; and no one had ever dared attack the capital of the Republic before. Just as the troop transports had landed from the Tuet Cluster, the black, gothic ships of Draco appeared in Eridu's sky. The great warships bombarded the city with photon missiles and laser cannons. Draco's flagship, The Red Leviathan, smashed the spire of the Senate Palace onto the buildings below. Sidon Troopers, Draco's elite soldiers, abducted several groups of senators and held them on their warships to ensure not being shot down. The sinn blasted all planetary laser cannons, than the Central Eridu Barracks, killing all the clones within and destroying the squadron of ships there. For three weeks the sinn bombarded the capital of the Republic, Sidon Troopers stormed the Senate and officially declared the end of the Galactic Republic. The Supreme Consuls, Runan and Canscicio, fled with a battalion of Senate Guard into the lower levels of Eridu. Draco wished to capture the rogue Consuls, so he announced he would kill a captive senator for every hour the Supreme Consuls stayed in hiding. The Consuls were at a lose for what to do next. That is, until Gasha warrior Trajan Larons and his apprentice, Taa Vas, snuck aboard the Red Leviathan and challenged Draco Ravorn to a duel. Trajan was killed in the duel, but Taa was able to push Draco out of the ship; where he fell and was impaled on the Senate Palace. Seeing their emperor dead, the sinn fled back to the Sinn Empire, but a Republic fleet from the Rylex Sector followed them to Korduun. There the Republic fleet destroyed every last ship of the sinn fleet and radiated Korduun with a neutro bomb, making the world an uninhabitable, radiated wasteland for two-thousand years. The descendants of Draco ruled an increasingly smaller and far weaker Sinn Empire from the planet Akshak.

House of Life.

2010-05-27T09:22:00.000-04:00

The House of Life.
HQ: Cairo, Egypt.
Function: Magicians' order.
Founder: Imhotep, 2632 BC, Memphis.
Symbol: An anhk toped by a box.

Founded by the great magician and architect Imhotep, the House started in Egypt but has spread all over the world. When the Assyrians conquered Egypt, the House built a base in Assur and slowly spread up and down the Mediterranean coast. When Rome conquered Egypt, a base was built in Rome for the House. When Italy finally fell to the Goths, the House was routed and destroyed in the West. In the East, Constantinople forced the House underground and destroyed all their bases outside of Egypt. Today, the House is still under ground, beneath Cairo, where they practice their magic and wait for the return of the gods.

League of Trades.

2010-05-26T12:24:00.000-04:00

The League of Bronze Knives.
HQ: Prague, Czech Republic. Castle Mountain, Canada.
Function: Assassins for hire.
Founding: Tahn-Nush the Bloody, 1074 BC, Babylon.
Symbol: A bronze scorpion.

Founded by the legendary assassin Tahn-Nush the Bloody in his home city of Babylon. Tahn brought as many bandits and cutthroats in Babylonia and Assyria as he could under his control, forming a spy network that went from Sparta to Ninevah to Memphis. All through out history, all the great assassins have been hired from the League of Bronze Knives. After Tahn-Nush died, the best assassins fought each other for control. A sassanid named Chorose won. In 1042 AD, the League moved from the Middle East to Prague, and after the New World was discovered, the League made another base in Castle Mountain in Canada in 1780. When Bartimeus the Vicious fell prey to ambitious underlings in 1929, Eshur-Appendel, an Assyrian mummy previously called to join the White Guard, took the position.

Stygian Undercouncil.

2010-05-26T11:56:00.000-04:00

Stygian Undercouncil:
HQ: Tartarus, Hades.
Function: Malign high council.
Founding: Kronos, 1193 BC, Tartarus.
Symbol: Corinthian bronze helm with a spiky, black half-circle under it, on a dark blue background.

When the Olympians overthrew their titan overlords, they had to devise various ways to dispose of the immortal giants. Such as chaining Prometheus to a rock and having an eagle rip out his liver every day. Zeus personally dispatched his father, Kronos, by cutting him to pieces and casting him into the pit of Tartarus. Kronos lost control of all his legions, who scattered when the gods defeated the titans, so Kronos, forever falling through the darkness of Tartarus, called together powerful creatures in a council to be his new voice to his scattered subjects. They built a palace by the mouth of Tartarus and began calling to all manner of evil creatures, calling them to their banner. In 1985, the Undercouncil, at Dracula's prodding, declared open war on mankind, sending their reformed legions to conquer Greece. But Lance DeMoi and Harley Green averted the crisis, Harley died in the process though.

Night Shift.

2010-05-26T11:49:00.000-04:00

Night Shift:
HQ: Trenton, NJ.
Function: Undead-slaying paramilitary organization.
Founding: Lt. Alexander Ware, 1907, Trenton, NJ.
Symbol: A hand holding a sword in a circle, with a crescent moon above the hand.

Founded by New Jersey US army officer, Lt. Alexander Ware in Trenton, the Night Shift specializes in fighting undead. Alexander became famous for killing Spearfinger and the New Jersey Devil, he then set up an office in Trenton and hired some of his old military buddies to start combating the creatures of the night. Night Shift has complete army gear: high powered weaponry, uniforms, helicopters, and so on. The leader of Nigh Shift is called Lieutenant commander, the little office that Alexander bought is now the Ware Compound, the Night Shift global facilities. Though they are centered in America, there are agents in Britain, such as Edward Cooper, France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Greece, and Austria.

White Guard.

2010-05-26T11:37:00.000-04:00

White Guard:
HQ: St Petersburg, Russia.
Function: Demonic defense organization.
Founding: Michael. 663 BC, Thebes, Egypt.
Symbol: A bronze kite shield with white bird wings, emblazoned with a rising sun, and a sword crossed with a staff.

Founded long ago in Egypt by, allegedly, Archangel Michael. He called humans and parahumans from all around the Mediterranean, among them were thieves, beggars, soldiers, bandits, and murderers. Of all he called, only five backed down; Tamar, Ashdornepul, Kahn, Necho, and Eshur-Appenadal. Tamar, Kahn, and Necho relented and joined sometime later, Ashdornepul left and was never heard from again, while Eshur joined the League of Bronze Knives and is the current leader. The White Guard has been protecting the Earth and the human race since it's founding, especially from the League. The White Guard does not have a central leader, instead all the members hold a yearly council at St. Petersburg. After the Muslims conquered Egypt, the Guard moved to Constantinople, but after that was taken by the Ottomans, they moved to Moscow. When St. Petersburg was founded, a problem arose in the new city, so the White Guard went and solved the problem, but the Guard decided to stay in the city, making St. Petersburg, to this day, the world headquarters of the White Guard.

DPIR.

2010-05-26T09:22:00.000-04:00

Department of Paranormal Investigation and Research:
HQ: Perseus, NY.
Function: Paranormal investigation government department.
Founding: Prof. Thomas Brown and Dr. Kelvin Cook, 1824, Washington DC.
Symbol: A silver eagle holding Excalibur and the Caduceus of Hermes, with Aegis on his chest.

After purchasing the Louisiana Purchase and the Montpellier Cache, the US government searched for intelligent men to study the artifacts purchased from France, including how to wake the idle Napoleon Jr. Prof. Thomas Brown from Harvard College was selected. He went to DC and was given a lab and government funding, Thomas, after three months of study, needed co-scientists, so the government searched for the smartest scientists. They found Dr. Kelvin Cook of North Carolina. During a lightning storm, Cook channeled a bolt into Napoleon; awakening the comatose automation. Thomas opened the two-person group to the other scientists, calling it the Congregation of Paranormal Science. Slowly, the group grew to nearly a hundred scientists. In 1874, Lance DeMoi joined the Congregation as a protector for the scientists during expeditions. While on a dig in Palenque on 1877, Lance stumbled upon an Aryan Crystal, after touching it, the crystal exploded pumping energy into Lance, and it exploded and shot a shard into his right eye. Lance became the first member of the Special attributes corps, or SACorps. The Congregation, in 1885, found Chester at the bottom of Chesapeake Bay, the Dweller was the second member. In the same year, Alexander Sherman, a human with energy storage powers, joined, thus the first generation of the SACorps was made. The generations passed on, though Lance and Chester remained, until 2010, the current members being: Sirius Potter as commander, Lance, Chester, Otto van Hamburg, Alison King, Sal, Richard Reynolds Jr, and the newest addition, telepath Bianca Thorne, granddaughter of the great psychic Sydney Thorne.

Mr. Antiochus' Wondrous Magical Traveling Carnival.

2010-05-26T09:17:00.000-04:00

Mr. Antiochus: ringmaster, 200 year-old sorcerer.
Draco: man-dragon.
Robin Cage: stage magician.
Tulip: pixie.
Kaizer: vampire.
Quimby: demi-god.
Maggie: resistance to pain.
Creature: physical animal qualities.
Rowena: short teleportation, enhanced agility, minor conjuring.
Roslyn Addams: extreme flexibility (resigned, deceased).
Rupert and James: mentally linked twins, psychotaxonomy (resigned, deceased).
King Lear: daemon (resigned).

Seleucus: demon, janitor, animal wrangler.

Founded by Mr. Antiochus in 1746, the Carnival has traveled around the world giving magical performances and picking up special attributes. Currently, the Carnival is doing a tour through the US.

Edward Cooper.

2010-04-27T09:58:00.000-04:00

England, 1963.
Charlie leaned against the hummer, breathing hard, a fresh cut on his arm sent gushes of hot, sticky blood rolling down to the ground. He threw an empty bullet cartridge aside and slapped in a new one. Charlie peeked around the hummer; scanning the graveyard for any more zombies, he could hear them not far off. Suddenly, Edward came bursting out of some bushes, gun blazing, whooping in excitement.
"Zombies don't like when you shoot at them!" Cooper called to Charlie, who groaned.
Charlie tied his wound with some gauze from the hummer as Edward ecstaticly mowed down the horde of zombies. Probably waking up all of Ipswich. Edward finally came behind the hummer, reloading his gun.
"Aw, they scratch you?" He said to Charlie.
"Only a little."
Edward gulped down some water from his canteen and wiped the sweat from his eyes.
"Ipswich shouldn't be bothered anymore by by night-time bogeymen anymore." He said, surveying the dismembered corpses strewn about the graveyard.
"Now, let's find the witch or sorcerer who's responsible for this." Charlie said, straightening and cocking his gun.
"No witch was responsible for this." Said a chill, cruel voice.
Edward and Charlie whipped around guns ready to the sound of the voice. A vampire stood atop a mausoleum, black robe flowing in the wind, sword in hand. Edward inspected the vampire's face, he recognized the network of scars and the short, stocky build.
"Klaus, right?" Edward said shakily, he had heard the stories about Klaus.
"I am he, and you must be Night Shift goons by the look of your uniforms." Klaus leaped off the mausoleum and strode across the corpse-covered grass to stand only a few feet away from Charlie and Edward. Klaus stared at both of them, licking his pale lips making his white fangs visible. A cloud moved away from the full moon, casting eerie shadows with it's silvery light. A wolf howled not far of. Klaus listened carefully then whistled a sharp high whistle; the howling ceased and Edward could here something coming through the wood. What that something was was a werewolf; huge and grey, with red eyes and two rows of fangs. Then shaggy wolf turned into shaggy man who loped over to Klaus.
"Yes, master?"
"Them." Klaus pointed with his sword.
The werewolf turned and growled at Edward and Charlie, his gnarled hands ready to crush the life out of either of them.
"Now, Edmund, I'm hungry, how about you?" Klaus strode over to Edward, who had slipped a stake off his belt, a starved expression on his chalk-white face.
"Now..."
And Klaus lunged at Edward, mouth agape, fangs gleaming.
Edward thrust with his stake, but Klaus was ready for that and parried the blow. Charlie unslung a cross bow aiming for Klaus's back; but Edmund leaped in front of the Night Shift agent, taking the crossbow in his massive hands and broke it like a child's toy. Charlie gulped.
Klaus grabbed Edward's fighting arm in a death grip attempting to break it. Edward tried to resist the steel grip, yelling in the effort, and slowly was able to shake the vampire off.
"Your strong," Klaus glanced at Edward's name tag, "Cooper. But not that strong." Klaus pulled back his fist. Edward threw himself to the ground not a second to soon; a crater was left in the side of the hummer where, moments before, his chest had been. Charlie went flying over the hummer, hit by Edmund like a volleyball, crash landing on top of the mausoleum, Edward and Klaus both stared for a moment then resumed their fight. Edmund came lumbering over, hands ready to strangle the prone agent, he picked up Charlie as easily if he were a child and wrapped a grizzled hand around his comparably smaller throat. Charlie limply raised his arm, a loaded revolver in his hand. He fired thrice. Edmund stood on wobbling legs, then keeled backwards crashing down on a grave stone, reducing it to rubble.
The sound of tires on gravel reached Klaus's and Edward's ears, two hummers spotlights on, came around the corner, Night Shift agents jumping out rushing over to Edward.
"Edmund!" Klaus was already at the edge of the trees.
The werewolf stumbled to his feet and limped after his fleeing master, off into the night.
Edward hurried over, kneeling next to Charlie.
"You alright?"
Charlie smiled propping himself up on his elbows, "It's only a scratch."
Edward looked back at the forest; there was no sign of Klaus and his grunt.
A cloud drifted in front of the waxed moon, blocking it's baleful rays.

Child of Tomorrow.

2010-03-16T19:32:00.000-04:00

Tiberius Hill weaved his way among the twisting pipes, wriggling his nine-year-old body through the tight spaces. It was pitch black, but he could see as well as if it were day, in fact he could see a lot. He could see the tiny particles of rust on the metal pipes, he could see the individual drops of moisture on the metal ground, and such miniscule detail. He froze, then slipped like a shadow behind a pipe as a Sweeper's spotlight swept the area, a momentary ray of white light in the smoggy night. The beam scanned the pipes, then the Sweeper moved on, down the alleyway. Tiberius continued his way through the pipes, the looming walls of the steel foundry on either side. He came to the tracks for the supply train for the factory. On the other side of the rails was clear of pipes; just clear metaled alley, away from the foundry. Tiberius scurried across the tracks, wary of watchmen on the compound wall. On the other side of the railway, away from the steel foundry compound, Tiberius straitened and wiped the grease from his oversized, ratty leather jacket. He continued away, deep into the twisting alleys of the Bronx, where most wouldn't wander. But Tiberius went where he pleased and none payed any attention to him. Except the Sector; they'll chase him anywhere. He went past dark, towering glass and steel towers, to his home; a derelict, abandoned, storage building. Not far from an old apartment duplex. Tiberius settled down in the trash-filled nook that was his bed and slept.

Lance DeMoi and the Call from the Deep.

2010-03-12T15:24:00.000-05:00

Lance was startled to awareness by the ringing of his telephone. He blindly fumbled about in the dark for his phone, he finally found it and put the phone to his ear..

"You better have a good reason for calling at three in the morning." He mumbled into the phone.

"I do. Come to Massachusetts, Essex Bay."

Lance recognized the husky voice as Spark Roberts, a freelance paranormal investigator.
"Now?" Lance grumbled.
"Yes. Now."
Lance stumbled out of bed over to his dresser. He dressed and put on his black leather jacket, brushed his teeth, contemplated his life for a few minutes, and fed Wallace. His turtle sleepily poked his head out from under his shell as Lance went out the door. Lance locked his house, though the locals know better than to break in, got on his motorcycle and drove to Little A'Le'Inn. He parked his motorcycle and walked in, out of the freezing night. Sid, tall a collage-aged boy, was asleep behind the bar, Lance walked over and rang the attendance bell. Sid jumped a foot in the air, drool flying off his chin. He blinked, wiping the saliva of his chin with the back of his hand.
"Oh, Mr. DeMoi, it's you. Would you…uh…like something?"
"Coffee and an Alien Burger. Make it fast." Lance slapped some money on the table then leaned back in the stool. Sid shuffled back into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes. Lance looked up the glowering werewolf head mounted on the wall above the bar, it's glass eyes staring down at the inhabitants of the bar. Lance heard snoring; he looked and saw Ernie and Bernie passed out on a table in one corner of the restaurant. Sid came out of the kitchen, a steaming styraphome cup of coffee in one hand, and a plate with the burger on it in the other. Lance wolfed down the burger, sipping his coffee while he ate.
"So, where off to now, Mr. DeMoi?" Sid asked, taking the empty plate, his sleeves were rolled up so, his dragon tattoo was visible on his left arm.
"Massachusetts, of all places." Lance grumbled, "not even sure why. Well, I'll be seein ya."
Sid waved goodbye as Lance left the little bar. He mounted his motorcycle and drove through the chill morning to Alamo. He rode to the Landing Field and got off his bike and looked around for Quincy. Quincy was a friend of Lance's and a pilot. Lance found his friend dozing in a storage room, he roused his friend. Quincy snorted and opened his eyes.
"Well, Mr. DeMoi, what kin I do ya fer?"
"I need you to fire up your plane. I have a quick trip to make to Boston."
Soon Lance was in Quincy's custom-made jet, going faster than a commercial airline. In seven hours, Lance was standing on the sunlit hill, overlooking the Atlantic. Spark Roberts, suddenly and soundlessly, was standing next to Lance. He still wasn't quite used to that.
"Roberts," Lance said.
"DeMoi," said the other.
"Why'd you want me to come here, Spark,"
"Where we stand is the site of Innsmouth, a town not fully in this reality, it looks into the ocean, where, an ancient, lost, civilization rests. Stare into the Bay's waters, Lance."
Lance grumbled about wasted time and sleep, but he peered deep into the blue-green water of the Bay. He saw something move, then; blackness.
Lance awoke in his little house back in Rachel, he gasped, cold sweat running down his face; vague images of madness and tentacles slithering to the back of his mind.

2010-03-11T20:04:00.000-05:00

It has been seven days since everything stopped. The people vanished. All of them, everyone in the world. I haven't met another soul in all this time. I collected as much food as I could in towns, along with ammunition, but I had to know what the world was like outside of my city sanctuary, so I left. I was originally from Manchester, New Hampshire, I was an accountant for Cyberus Co., a computer company. One day I woke up, and looked out the window; no one was outside. No paper boy; just a bike and sack on the curb. No Mr. Johnson sipping his coffee and watering the yard; a cracked coffee mug and running water hose sat idly on his front step. Cars sat idle in the street, dog houses were vacant, trees were empty of bird-song. The city proper was pretty bad; the streets were packed with cars, still running, so I walked to the Cyberus building. It was empty to. All the computers were still on. I soon gathered up as many belongings I needed in my big back pack, took a gun from Brockman's Firearms and went off into the unknown. In the seven days since I left, I've traveled to the northern border of Massachusetts. Though I haven't seen any form of life, I think I see smoke in the distance, it could be a wild fire, though it's rather small. Oh well. And though I'm alone, sometimes at night when I'm huddled around my campfire, I think I hear things off in the woods. Good thing I at least now how to shoot a gun. Well that's all for now, I guess.

Recording of Jeffery Westroad, seven days after the Blackout.

Quest.

2010-02-28T17:33:00.007-05:00

From your little cottage, head down the north path.
Stop by the well at the top of the green hill and make a wish.
Keep going north until you reach the crone in the wagon.
Give what she asks for, she will give you a watch; then go northwest to the gnome's burrow.
Do not give the gnome what he wants, throw him down the river.
Take the gnome's compass and follow the north road.
You will reach a gate, you must lie to the guard to get by.
Go to the castle to the north.
Enter the main hall; there are three doors guarded by three owls.
One lies, one tells the truth, and one carries away the questioner (hint: it is not the middle one or his brother).
Once past the owls through the correct door; go down the east passage.
You will meet cooks and beggars, asking for help; only give it to the wall-eyed, one-legged one.
He will give you an iron key; go up the northern stairs to the top and open the door with the key.
Once in the tower; a djinn will try to tempt you; do not fall for it, take the djinn's daimond belt.
Count to five and jump out the only window to the west; a flying carpet will catch you.
Fly the carpet to the tree with three trunks; get off and travel south along the dirty brook.
A fairy will come from the brook and ask you to help her clean the river; do so.
She will give you a clam for your efforts; do not open it, go south.
You will reach a fork, the wind will tell you to go a certain direction; go the opposite of what it tells you.
You will come to two huts; a witch lives in one and a sage in the other, enter the one with the sage in it.
He will ask for the belt; give it to him.
The sage will give you a book in return; read only the 700th page, do what it says.
You will come to a tower guarded by four ogres; give the western ogre the compass, he will leave, enter the door.
Four bottles sit before you in a room ringed with fire; one is poisoned, one summons a demon, one returns you home, and one cancels the flames, drink this last one. (it is not the one to the left or middle)
Go up the white staircase.
Five doors are at the top; enter the middle one.
The princess held captive in the room will ask you to stay with her; you must refuse.
Press upon her the importance of your mission.
She will give you a rope, a mirror, and a potion; do not drink the potion.
Use the rope to climb down the tower, use the mirror to direct sunlight on the ogre, it will turn to stone.
The princess will follow you; lead her down the western path.
It is getting dark; you must keep going though.
Continue down the path to the ferry; give the ferryman the clam, he will take you across the river.
Take the torch from the pile of hay; light it and take the two horses waiting for you, take the middle path.
A man will tell you he is a guide; do not look at him or talk to him.
You will come to the foot of the dragon's mountain; drink the potion.
Take the sword and slay the dragon; take none of his treasure except a ruby necklace.
Go down the other side of the mountain; a sphinx will be waiting.
It will ask a riddle; answer correctly. (the answer: A key, a rabbit, and a pot.)
Be warned; once you turn your back on the sphinx it will attack you.
Tell the sphinx the riddle read from the 700th page from the book; it will fail and eat itself.
You will come to a mountain pass that splits in two; take the one that the falcon flies over.
Follow the falcon; do not look around, only at the falcon.
You will come to a river; a fox offers to take people across, do not except.
Use the mirror to show the fox it's reflection; it will attack, run across the ford to the north.
Follow the runestones through the field, you will arrive at a dwarf's house; rest there for the night.
In the morning, the dwarf will tell you where to go, give him the watch or he will follow you.
You will find yourself in the Great Wood; search for the fairy ring with the purple toadstool, be wary elves will be watching.
A fairy will appear and demand why you are here; giver the ruby necklace.
She will tell you the way to the king's castle and a water skin, go there.
Give the princess to the king, he will tell you the way to the Garden and give you a sword.
Follow the path north.
You will find a great river; a bridge crosses the river.
A troll will come up and try to eat you; slay him with your sword.
Follow the path east to the giant cliff, climb it with your rope.
The Garden is at the top; a riddle is inscribed on the gate.
The badger knows the answer, find his burrow.
Give him the mirror, he will tell you the answer.
Take one and only one apple from the tree; then flee.
The warlock will chase after you.
Run to the cliff, throw the water from your water skin at him.
The warlock will melt.
Do not eat the apple; return home.
And rest...

Deceased SACorps agents.

2010-02-25T12:35:00.154-05:00

Cmdr. Alexandre Sherman:
Sex: Male.
Age: 48.
Date of Death: August 24, 1917. Munich, Germany.
Special attributes: Energy battery.
One of the first three members of the SACorps, and the only one to die. Alexander died during World War 1.

Sgt. Peter Smimov:
Sex: Male.
Age: 57.
Date of Death: March 15, 1947. Moscow, Russia.
Special attributes: Magician.
A skilled magician and former member of Antiochus's Carnival. Peter was possessed by Nimue and was killed by Lance and Ariadne.

Capt. Sydney Thorne:
Sex: Female.
Age: 75.
Date of Death: September 2, 1996. Concord, Mass.
Special attributes: Psychic.
The only member of the SACorps to die of old age. She died peacefully in her home at Concord.

Col. Roslyn Addams:
Sex: Female.
Age: 36.
Date of Death: July 10, 1974. Kansas City, Missouri.
Special attributes: Extreme flexibility.
A former employee of Antiochus, Roslyn died during the Seven Days of Darkness.

Lt. Dr. Charles Swift:
Sex: Male.
Age: 44.
Date of Death: July 1, 1940. Iraq. MIA.
Special attributes: Physical animal qualities.
Charles went missing in Iraq below the Euphrates.

Cmdr. Ariadne Jones:
Sex: Female.
Age: 29.
Date of Death: October 30, 1948. Mount Tai, China.
Special attributes: Mind control.
Died fighting the Dragon King.

Lt. Mandy:
Sex: Female.
Age: 32.
Date of Death: January 16, 1961. Sub-Mediterranean.
Special attributes: Precognition.
Drowned in Atlantis, allowed Lance to escape.

Cmdr. Milo Smith:
Sex: Male.
Age: 40.
Date of Death: March 23, 1982. Manhattan, NY.
Special attributes: Pyrokinesis.
Slain by occultists in New York subway.

Capt. Harley Green:
Sex: Male.
Age: 45.
Date of Death: February 25, 1985. Carpathian Mountains, Romania.
Special attributes: Werebear.
Killed by Dracula as Harely and Lance fled.

Col. Daniel Chun:
Sex: Male.
Age: 26.
Date of Death: September 3, 1968, Mt. Everest, Nepal.
Special attributes: Chi, martial arts expert.
Destroyed by the Mahatmas.

Lt. Kishba:
Sex: Female.
Age: 800.
Date of Death: November 19, 1956. Tatra Mountains, Slovakia.
Special attribute: Slavic faerie.
Killed by Zeus.

Sgt. Rupert and James:
Sexes: Males.
Ages: 31.
Date of Deaths: December 4, 1945. Tehran, Iran.
Special attributes: Mentally linked twins, psychtaxonomy.
Died fighting Fifth Star Cult.

Lance DeMoi and the Coven Covenant.

2010-02-11T12:45:00.002-05:00

Lance leaned over Allison's shoulder.
"According to the Wicce Compendium, it's a witch symbol. It looks like an upside down triangle with an X across it? I think it is a symbol for war." Napoleon said over the headset. Lance swiped a bit of the nearest edges, he tasted it. He spat.
"Tastes like lead, newt's eye, and nightshade."
"That's definately a witch formula. And, Lance, there are other ways to test the components of witch symbols."
A Los Angeles detective, Clark, edged over.
"And what, uh, what department are you guys from again?" He looked first at Lance then at the symbol on the brick wall.
"DPIR." Lance flashed the officer his badge, "Cpt. Paranormal Investigator Lance DeMoi at your service. And this is my partner, Sgt. King." They shook hands. The detective stared uneasily at Lance's right eye, which was green and glowed gently.
"May we see the victim, Detective?" Allison asked. He nodded and lead them to the ambulance. Lance and Allison folded back the white covering: the dead actress was popular during her life.
"No signs of external or internal wounds or injuries, no poisons, or drugs it appears, I don'-" The detective was saying, Lance cut him off.
"It was either a spell or a rare black magic poison. We're dealing with a witch orchastrated murder here, Officer."
Clark pushed his glasses up his nose.
"A spell? Really? Chief wasn't lying, this murder is weird."
"Was the victim, the actress, involved in anything unusual?" Asked Allison as they walked into the house. The inspector thought for a moment.
"Yes, I think so. Kimberly was involved in a large variety of clubs and organizations."
Lance and Allison surveyed the place where the body was found and any questionable items.
"Mind if we look about?" Lance asked. The detective glanced over to his superior, who nodded his consent.
"Yes, you may." The three of them walked through the actress's mansion: past large, richly decorated lounges, an enormous kitchen, in which Kimberly's caretakers were being questioned by police, and other such gilded rooms. Lance scanned the walls, floor and ceiling with his magic eye for any hidden doors or rooms. He stopped outside her bedroom.
"In there. There's a hidden trap door, it leads down into the basement." They entered, passed the investigators searching the room and tried open the little door. It was tightly sealed. Lance brought his heel smashing down on the wood planks; the broken door fell down the shaft, he leapt down onto the ladder. Bianca and Clark followed. The ladder lead them down into a crawl space, separated from the rest of the mansion by thick, concrete walls. Lance and Bianca looked around the room: it was filled with, large, leather bound books, cauldrons, voodoo dolls and bone implements.
"Looks like like little Miss Pretty was a bride of Satan." Lance said, his right eye scanning the chests and drawers.
Biance threw an arm in front of Clark and Lance. "Wait. I sense someone, or rather, something."
Clark whispered, "How?" Bianca tapped her head with a finger.
"Telepath."
Bianca then motioned Lance toward a small door in the wall, they both drew guns loaded with silver bullets. Lance kicked open the little door, gun at the ready. A black shape flew out of the compartment beyond, but both Bianca and Lance fired. The cat familiar flew against the wall as the force of the bullets hit it; Lance stopped over and picked the wounded animal off the ground.
"Name." Lance demanded of the familiar. The large black cat quivered, Lance shook it violently.
"Bartholemew!" The demon whined.
"That's better. So the famed actress Kimberly was witch. Why?"
Bartholemew whimpered.
"She, my mistress, joined a club, the Five Star Nightclub. After proving her devotion my mistress was allowed into the inner circles of the Five Stars. There, in a ritual, she was vested with eldritch powers from the Mistress. But my master grew afraid of the Club, so she was going to talk to the authorities. Now the Mistress couldn't allow that, so she had my master killed."
Lance nodded, "Good. Now where are the headquarters of the Five Stars?"
The demon whimpered again.
"They're gone now, it's almost the Winter Solstice, they're going to the Witchmeet."
"Where is the Witchmeet?" Bianca asked. The DPIR had been searching for the site of the Witchmeet for years.
"Where the Wizendmeet is." The demon managed a small sneer. Lance smashed it upside the head with his gun.
"And where's the Wizendmeet?"
"Ireland! It's at Ireland! But first they'll be going to Salem" Bartholemew gasped.
"Thank you." Lance said politely. He threw the demon against the opposite wall and shot it dead.
"All right then. Bianca, call Richard, we're going to Salem." Lance told Bianca as he holstered his gun and walked toward the ladder.

Homo Cosmicus.

2010-02-10T12:58:00.001-05:00

It's the year 3089, the human species has devolved another step, though most still call it evolution. They call themselves H. Cosmicus, the humans of the future, masters of the stars and worlds. The Milky Way has been colonized by mankind. Faith in God still prevails, though the average, secular human has no time for faith and the persecution of: there are still stellar codes to crack, evolutionary links to be made, worlds to be industrialized, and so forth. The frontiers of science of the 21st century were achieved long ago, now though, there are new unknown things in the unimaginably big universe. The Homo Cosmicus, is always discovering more and more science. Or are they? Are they just rediscovering facts that we knew in our long, ancient past? We don't evolve, we wear down, we devolve: even our bodies degenerate, we get old and die. The men of the future only live for an average of fifty years, though technology has allowed them to live extended, bastardized lives. The only way for mankind and the universe to truly change is through one person, Jesus Christ.

Deep Space Colonization Program-NASA.

2010-02-08T22:25:00.002-05:00

In the year 2112, deep space telescopes found the planet Persephone to be habitable. So with MDR Corp funding, the UNOE made three ships: the Magellan, the Galileo, and the Armstrong. The ships were loaded with settlers, crewmen, and soldiers and shipped off to Persephone. While on the long journey, space-born bacteria got into the Armstrong's ventilation and got into the crew's hypersleep chambers, infecting them with a disease called Bedlam. The Armstrong stalled and was left behind by the other two ships, who's crew members kept sleeping. UNOE Space Control couldn't contact the Armstrong anymore, the intercom was broken. The Magellan and Galileo continued for another few Earth generations toward their destination, Persephone. Armstrong was left near the planet named Ogygia.

Klaus van Aachen.

2010-02-07T19:58:00.001-05:00

It was a dreary, rainy day in the Holy Roman city of Aachen. Klaus gazed out the opaque window onto the dirty street below; he saw merchants, artisans, soldiers, and commoners trudging through the muddy street. He turned away from the window and crouched beside his ailing mother, Hanna. His mother looked up at him.
"Klaus? Is that you?" Klaus's mother said in German. Hanna's voice was weak. Her face was sweaty and pale with fever; she had been bed ridden inside their little apartment for weeks.
"Yes, Mother, it is me, Klaus. I'm going out, Mother, but I will be back soon, with medicine." Klaus said.
"Where are you getting the money for all these fancy medicines, Klaus?" Hanna furrowed her sweaty brow. Klaus freshened her cold head cloth.
"Do not worry about that, Mother, just rest and drink water."
His mother nodded wearily and laid back, deeper onto the straw mattress. Klaus put on his cloak and placed his hat over his head, he grabbed and strapped on his knapsack, then headed outside, into the rain. It was nearly dusk by the time Klaus exited the bank; he had built up a small sum of money, no thanks to his brother, Lukas. Klaus bought some groceries from the last straggling merchants, then headed to the nearby chapel as the fat disc os light disappaered behind the horizon. He shook his boots of, then walked down the aisle of pews; he sat down in one and prayed inwardly that God might forgive him. He had never been one for confession. The paster, Wilhelm, came out and was sweeping the floor, when he noticed Klaus.
"It has been a long time since you were in church, Klaus." Fr. Wilhelm said, sweeping up dust. Klaus grunted.
"Well, I'm not the most pious man."
"Then confession and penance are in order."
A thunderclap boomed outside.
"No. I think I should just go." Klaus put his hat on and quickly left the church.
Klaus walked past a gambling den, he saw his brother, Lukas, willing their families money away on drink and game. Klaus adjusted his beret and continued on his way to the pharmacy. He broke open a window, evaded pharmacy employees, and filled his sack with the needed drugs. Klaus accidently ran into an old pharmacist, Klaus had no choice but to kill the elderly man. He grabbed his knife and slipped it in between the pharmacist's ribs, right into the heart. The man fell over dead, his blood soaking into the wooden planks. Klaus ran away as some other workers came around the corner, but they didn't see him fortunately. He was able to slip back to their apartment, and give his mother some medicines.
"Oh, Klaus, how did you get these drugs?" Hanna asked, sitting up somewhat to take the medicines.
"Well, I have been saving up money for sometime. Now just rest and get better." Klaus smiled at her, giving his mother a dose of drugs.

Tears tumbled from Klaus's eyes as he watched his mother's coffin disappear beneath a layer of earth. He looked up at the scrubbed clean blue sky and the beautiful spring day. Why must the day be so beautiful when his mother is not here to see it? Wilhelm finished the funeral prayers and said a final farewell
"Rest well, Hanna; daughter of Jonas and Lena, now past, wife of Otto, who fell to the Turks, mother of Marie, may she rest in peace, Lukas, and Klaus. May God be merciful to you." Wilhelm wiped a tear from his eye and closed his book. Klaus put a little bunch of flowers at his mothers headstone. He stood by his mother's grave as all the other attendants left. It was a while until he heard the stumbling steps of his drunk brother. Lukas came up, he wiped his nose on his filthy shirt, he looked at his mother's grave with uncaring eyes. Klaus gritted his teeth and clenched his fists as his older brother stumbled up next to him.
"Why so down, Klaus? Hmm? So what that Mam is dead? She didn't do anything, just cost money to take care of." Lukas mumbled. That just about did it for Klaus. He slugged his brother in the face with all his might. Lukas flailed backwards falling on the ground.
"You're one to talk about wasting money, you gutless pig! It is because of your filthy habits that we couldn't afford a real physician! It's because of you that Marie and now Mother are dead!" Klaus roared, beating his brother while he spoke. Covered in blood, Lukas jumped to his feat and smashed his fist into Klaus's temple, who fell over, dazed. He sprang back up and snatched Lukas's half empty rum bottle and brought it smashing down on Lukas's head. His brother fell to the ground, cold. Klaus knelt beside him.
"I think this is the best path for you, Brother. May you rot in the Ninth Circle." Klaus left Lukas's corpse in the graveyard, he went to their empty apartment, gathered his things, and left Aachen; the city where he had lived all his life.

Klaus studied the gilded crown.
"Hmm, solid gold crown, yet it doesn't look like any craftsmanship I've seen." He tossed the crown in his sack. He had been robbing houses and estates in and around Vienna for months now, he had left Germany far behind. He was about to leave the little ransacked room, when a figure came through the door, letting moonlight stream into the apartment. Klaus and the stranger froze, Klaus thought this mysterious owner of the room would be home later. The owner came over to Klaus; he wore a cloak, tunic, trousers, and leather boots. He also wore a bulging knapsack on his back and had a sword on his hip.
"Now what would you be doing in my room? And I'm guessing that sack is full of my possessions?" The stranger spoke fluent German, though with a Hungarian accent. Klaus saw a glimpse of the stranger's skin; chalk white. And the man's eyes looked red, and slits for pupils. Klaus started to freak out, the tales of vampires coming to his head.
"W-who are you?" He stammered keeping his eyes on the stranger.
"You can call me Rolf. Now please give back my treasures." Rolf took another step forward. Klaus threw the bag of goods, drew his knife, and leaped for the nearest window. But a hand like iron and twice as cold, grabbed him around the waist and threw him against a wall. Rolf held him their with a single hand.
"Do you know the importance of this crown, Thief?" Rolf asked, holding the crown in his other hand. Klaus didn't move or make a sound.
"I didn't think so." Rolf smiled, "This is the Crown of Horus, made by the Hyperboreans. Now I'm not sure what it does, but Lord Dracul will find out once I return to Noctheim."
Klaus was lost and bewildered; it was a simple break in, until this pale freak came in and started blabbing about weird places and things. Rolf looked at Klaus.
"I think you would make a good vampire; you hate everyone around you, you don't fit in, your sad and weighed down by human emotions, at least, that's what I guess. If you'd rather just die, then I can do that too. Your choice."
Klaus mumbled something, so Rolf moved his hand, Klaus coughed.
"W-what are y-you?" He gasped. Rolf smiled again.
"Why, I'm a vampire."
A flash of fangs, and then, blackness.

New Earth.

2010-02-05T09:42:00.002-05:00

Three hundred years of war between the planets Earth and Mars caused much devastation, finally the UNOE Congress and the Martian king made an uneasy truce. But then a UE spay detonated a bomb in the martian palace, killing the king and hundreds of others. Mars fired it's fusion bombs on Earth, killing thousands. As the new war raged on, a group of desperate Telluric and Martian humans gathered on Mars and built a vast ship, dubbed it the Ark, boarded it and flew off, to the binary Alpha Centuri system. It took years to get to Alpha Centuri, all the passengers were put into cryostasis. When they reached the Centuri system they found five giant gas giant; Rhea, Cronus, Oceanus, Hyperion, and Prometheus. Hyperion was surrounded by four moons; Eos, Amphitrite, Apollo, and Persephone. The two suns were dubbed Helios and Hephastus. The refugees landed on Persephone, a lush, spring-time moon. But it was already inhabited by a humanoid alien species: the xali. Eos was inhabited by none, Amphitrite was inhabited by the ieu, and Apollo was inhabited by the ner'i. War was coming to the Alpha Centuri system.

We'yn.

2010-01-28T21:54:00.001-05:00

The moon Eos, the seventh moon of Rhea, was found by the UNOE (United Nations Of Earth) and MDR Corp. They sent explorers and satellites. The moon was inhabitated by sentient humanoids, the Xali. The xali had red or purple skin, they were tall, seven to eight feet, and extremely fast and agile. MDR Corp scans found a mineral, dubbed "Eosite" in the caves and underneath the soil of Eos. They sent giant mining rigs and workers and portable bases and Marines. The xali were primitive, but quickly adapted to human's guns. MDR Corp uprooted tribes of the xali and enslaved them, making the xali mine eosite. But the enslavement of the xali enraged We'yn, the deity of the xali, who lived on the Mother Mountain. He used his super strength and agility and power over the flora and fauna of Eos to destroy mining rigs, slay humans, and free his people. He then chased after a shuttle that was taking some of the mineral to Earth, along with some xali slaves.

Lance DeMoi and the War for Wonderland.

2010-01-28T20:46:00.000-05:00

Lance DeMoi knew it was going to be a weird day when Anias, Secretary Mannings's secretary, said he had someone in his office, and that someone was a white rabbit. Wearing a waistcoat.
Lance walked to the other side of his cubicle, he looked over the sea of cubicles and saw the other SACorps members working their way over.
"So... Mister, uh?" He asked the fretting rabbit.
"Albus Coney, royal diplomat to the Heart monarchs." The rabbit, Albus, held out his gloved paw. After a slight pause Lance shook it.
"So, Mr. Coney, what brings you to the DPIR?"
"Well, the Wonderland Resistance sent me here for help. Wonderland is torn in civil war! Red and white pawns, knights, and rooks are everywhere! When a stray card crushed the Queen of Hearts, the King was devastated, so then the Knave of Hearts struck, assassinating the King of Wonderland. So then the Red and White queens claimed the right to rule. There are few left who dare appose the queens." Albus finished, looking at Lance. Lance sat in his chair for a while, then reached down and withdrew two books from a drawer; Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and Through the Looking Glass. He put on his little reading glasses. He flipped through the books for a moment, nodding his head every now and then. He finished and put away the books and glasses.
"Well, Mr. Albus, what exactly do you want the DPIR to do about Wonderland?"
Albus swallowed. "We, the Resistance, want you to slay the Red and White queens."
Lance nodded.
"Yes, the DPIR have helped certain people in that way; saving the weak from the strong. But, to get involved in an otherworldy civil war? I can't say."
A flash of anger crossed Albus's face. "This war in Wonderland will affect the real world, Sir, it will affect your minds, your dreams, even your imaginations! And the queens will find the key to set loose the.. the Jabberwocky!" Albus's eyes grew wide as he said this last part. Lance sighed.
"I'll talk to Grey."

"Very well, Mr. Coney, the DPIR will send some agents to help with the Resistance. DeMoi, who do you think should go with you?" Grey said, the SACorps director. Lance looked over at his colleugues; he would have picked Bianca and Sal, but she was in Nepal, and Sal was in Texas, and he could only pick three more agents.
"Alison. Your magic and folklore knowledge will serve us well. Otto, you can come too. And, as much as I hate it, Sirius. Your brute strength could serve us well." Lance said, he glowered at Sirius. Alison and Otto came over to Lance, eager to get going on the mission. Sirius turned to Grey.
"Seriously, Grey? Four agents? Just because some wimpy book characters need their pasty white behinds saved from stupid-Argh!" Sirius stopped talking yelled because Albus had hopped over and bitten his hand.
"Wimpy book characters indeed! We have been fending of the two queens for over a hundred years!" Albus flattened out his waistcoat and adjusted hi monocle, giving Sirius a scathing look.
"So, how does one get to Wonderland?" Alison asked.
"The entrances to Wonderland can only be hound by youths; young and open-minded." Albus asked. Lance smiled. "I know who can find an entrance."

Lance walked across the dark, manicured lawn, the moon high in the star-specked ebony sky. He trod carefully, making sure not to wake Arnold and Rachael Clark; his first cousins five times removed who feared their freakish, immortal relative. He jumped up twenty feet to the little balcony and the sliding glass door, which lead to the room of Alice Clark. Alice was his daughter of Arnold and Rachael, she often referred to Lance as uncle, and he most often called her niece. He walked to the sliding glass door and knocked very lightly, the fifteen year old girl woke with a start. But once she saw that the knocker was her Uncle Lance she beamed and tip-toed to the door and opened it.
"Uncle Lance!" She hugged him, "What are you doing here? It's the middle of the night?"
Lance hugged her. "You wouldn't mind coming with me on a mission would you?" He smiled. Alice smiled back.
"Of course! That's so cool! Let me change out of my PJs." She dashed into her bathroom, and reappeared minutes later in wearing street clothes and a blue cardigan. "Ready! So what's your mission now, Uncle?" She said closing her door. Lance picked up his cousin and jumped from the balcony, landing with a muffled thud.
"I need you to find Wonderland."

Spark Roberts.

2010-01-27T19:26:00.003-05:00

Nestor "Spark" Roberts.
Sex: Male.
Age: 30.
Date of Birth: July 16, 1979. San Antonio, TX.
Parents: Kevin and Grace Roberts.
Nestor Roberts or Spark Roberts, is a vigilante paranormal hunter. He has been a tireless crusader against the Templars and Freemasons. Spark Roberts wears a black shirt, over which he has a bullet proof vest, he also wheres a trench coat. He has a golden necklace, with a circular gold pendant on it, with his symbol, a fist surrounded by rays of light, etched into it. Spark can burn his symbol into his foes, and on any surface he desires, he knows where important events are happening, he often gets premonitions about them, he can leap great distances, and endure long falls. Roberts is a loner, he lives and fights alone, except he once helped Lance DeMoi stop the Templars from summoning Baph, and they both stopped the Masonic-engineered armageddon, Spark and the DPIR SACorps also united to stop the making of the man-made stargate. Spark Roberts was killed by a government assassin when he was thirty-seven. Though his ghost, he asked the archangel Michael if his form could still appear on Earth. He appears as a ghost when he is needed.

Lance DeMoi and the Eldritch Machine.

2010-01-24T16:35:00.004-05:00

Lance sifted through the cracked, dirty sheafs of parchment. Otto and Chester looked around the dark and dirty New York apartment. DPIR agents guarded the door and marked and examined the crime scene. Chester felt different objects in his tentacles, and Otto scrutinized technical diagrams and bits of machinery. Lance looked up at the pale, emaciated body lying on the table. Otto walked over and looked at the corpse.
"It looks like a vampire attack." He said, pointing at the two marks on the body's neck. Lance shook his head.
"There's no venom in his bloodstream, and the distance and angle of the marks aren't right for a vampire. Whoever murdered him wanted it to look like a vampire, or he stuck him with a needle twice for whatever reason. Besides, the landlord found ol' Corpsey in the building, a vampire can't enter human dwellings."
Otto was silent for a moment, then he snapped his metal fingers.
"Alison and I were investigating a murder in Philadelphia, same two marks in his neck and emaciated look, and he was an old master mechanic. Otto dug around in the dead man's pockets, and withdrew his wallet. He took out his ID.
"Maxwell Krauss." He said. Lance stood up and looked at Krauss's passport and license.
"And an electrician." Lance said.
"So... the murderer is a Luddite?" Otto chuckled.
"Or Mr. Murder likes taking out his contacts?" Said Lance, "All the big bad mysterious bad guys do that, it's overdone."
Chester floated over to them, the Dweller's tattoos glowed slightly.
"Magic has been worked here, it lingers still in the air." Chester said in his squeaky voice.
"So, Krauss is, or was, in on something. You know like," Lance raised his eyebrows, "Something."
Otto tapped his nose with a finger, "I get you."
Lance's cell phone started ringing, he looked at the caller ID.
"Ah, it's Bianca."
He answered the cell phone, "I knew you'd finally call me!"
"No, Lance, no. Anyway, Sirius and I are in DC, it's a murder, exactly like the one Otto and Alison investigated early this month; two puncture wounds in the neck, and-"
"And a shriveled up corpse, oh and some master technician or something. Exactly like what were looking at."
"Our stiff was some crusty plumber, very experienced though." Bianca said over the phone.
"A mechanic, electrician, and plumber. Someone wanted something examined or fixed, and something magic too. But also something secret. Bad guys are so predictable." Lance said.
"Kain van Hompt wasn't predictable." Otto said, smiling. Lance's face flushed red.
"That was because he could mess with your brain and stuff, just like be quiet Otto."
"DC, Philadelphia, and New York, all three cities sit on the same ley line, now we should expect a similar murder in Boston." Chester said.
"So, a murdering Luddite magician wants a magic machine, an infernal mix of sorcery and technology."

Lance DeMoi and the Templar Curse.

2010-01-18T21:38:00.002-05:00

Lance stood over the mangled corpse, his trench coat blowing in the wind. He had traded out his jumpsuit for the coat, a black t-shirt, and dark green pants. Sal and Bianca examined the rest of the crime scene and NYPD officers were here and there. Lance examined the dead man's ID.
"Gary Newton, age 43, Museum Keeper. Murdered October 13. Apparently killed by a bladed weapon, stabbed in the back and neck. The murder then stole an old Crusades era sword from it's case." He said into a recorder. Sal was going through the museum catalog, trying to find what the sword's story was, and Richard, the DPIR psychometrist, read all the Keeper's items. Bianca came out of the trance after reading the items, he turned to Lance.
"Watch this." He put his hand on the Keeper's flashlight, Lance put his hand on the flashlight as well. The room faded as Bianca used her psychometry on the hand light.
Gary Newton puttered around the Medieval Artifacts Room, making sure everything was in it's place before the museum closed. He passed by the window, through which the evening sun streamed through. Gary came to the old Crusades sword, a shape came up behind the window, the shadow smashed the glass, setting off the alarm. The intruder was a zombie, but in clergical vestments and wielding a dagger. Gary turned and ran, but the draug was faster and stabbed him in the back and neck. Poor Gary hit the polished floor, his blood making a crimson pool around him. The zombie went to the sword, smashed the case, and took the weapon. It then fled, just as the guards arrived.
Bianca cut the conection. Lance stood back and thought for a moment.
"Did I just see long dead Pope Clement the Fifth steal from a museum?"

The overthrow of Kronos.

2010-01-15T11:18:00.001-05:00

Kronos, lord of the Earth and Sky, walked to his pavilion. The battle was not going in his favor. The humans were pushing the demons from the land of the Javan. He pushed past the harpy guards and entered the tent, his mood dropped even farther when he saw who was waiting for him, Zeus, one of his wily commanders, and Hera, Zeus's favorite concubine. Zeus sat in Kronos's throne.

"Forgotten your place, Zeus?" Kronos growled. Zeus reclined back on the throne, Hera leaned against his arm, a wicked smile on her beautiful face.

"No, Kronos, it's you who does not know his place." Zeus smiled. Kronos opened his hand, his silver sickle flew into it.

"Hermes! Ares!" Kronos bellowed. Ares, who was in the form of a bull-neck Nubian man wearing a leather skirt and wielding a solid bronze spear and circular shield, Hermes followed, wearing his trademark flying sandals.

"You called, O Mighty An?" Hermes sneered.

"The humans have slaughtered the minotaur charge, Zeus." Ares said, bowing to Zeus. Kronos was filled with even more rage.

"Ares!" He bellowed, "I am still lord of the Sky and the Nephalim! You bow to me, and no other!"

Ares got up.

"Sorry, An, Enlil is now Lord of the Sky, and he's promised me and Hermes positions as one of the Twelve."

Kronos was filled with horror, he tried to call down a lighting bolt, to kill Zeus, but there was no response. Then the air around Enlil, Zeus, began to crackle with electricity, his eyes glowed electric blue, he blasted Kronos with an enormous blast of lighting, sending the former demon lord flying out the pavilion. After that, a war between the demons followed, where Kronos was defeated and taken by Hades to Tartarus, prison of the demons.

Bureau of Superhuman Affairs: Project Stormclouds.

2009-12-09T17:30:00.004-05:00

Department of Justice: Bureau of Superhuman Affairs: Project_Stormclouds. Location: New Haven City.
Weapon.1-5: Weapons. 1 through 5 were prototypes, they never left their test tubes, much less the lab. Each Weapon is a normal superhuamn who was either captured or volunteered by the BSA, they then are experimented on, they have other superpowers genetically implanted in them, they are also, starting with Weapon. 7, lobotomized, and that part of their brain is replaced with cybernetics, to mind-control them.

Weapon. 6
Powers: Omni vision, teleportation, kinetic energy control.
Name: Classified.
Weapon. 6 was the first success in Project Stormclouds released January, 01, 1974. He had omni vision (all the visions; laser, heat, x-ray, etc.), teleportation, and manipulation of kinetic energy. Weapon. 6 was unleashed when Electron's uncle, Capt. Thunder was still fighting, 6 was idle for a while, living as a normal civilian. Thunder, Razor, and Knight confronted Weapon. 6, after he started hunting supers, on August, 11, 1974. Razor was badly wounded during the battle, but Capt. Thunder and Knight drove away an injured 6. After recuperating, Weapon. 6 was sent back out by the BSA to hunt dissident superhumans. Capt. Thunder and Razor confronted 6 again on March, 06, 1975, Thunder and his companion finally drove a dazed Weapon. 6 off a building, Razor and Thunder made enemies with the BSA and were marked 'dissidents'.
Status: Deceased.

Weapon. 7
Powers: Strength, agility, superhuman tracking.
Name: James White.
Weapon. 7 had a much more feared reign of terror compared to 6, he was released July, 13, 1986, 7 had enhanced strength and agility, and had the ability to track any superhuman, wherever he or she may be. Weapon. 7 hunted dissident supers all over the US, Canada, and Mexico, during his life, all superhumans lived in fear, until January, 11, 1987, Razor, Ironclad, Smash, and Phonos followed 7 to his BSA bunker and fought him. Once the element of surprise was lost, 7 was not that much of a fighter, Phonos blew his ears out with a sonic blast, Ironclad and Smash tackled the still fighting Weapon. 7 as Razor came in for the killing blow. But a regiment of US soldiers interrupted, driving off the superheros, allowing 7 to live. Later, on May, 27, 1987, Razor, Smash, and Silence, Phonos was dead and Ironclad was elsewhere, again found 7 in New Haven City, this time though, Weapon. 7 was with a group of BSA superhumans, Razor was killed in the ensuing fight. Four months later, The Hunters, a group of superhumans, including Smash and Silence, cornered 7 in Mexico City, where they fought him, and Smash finally killed Weapon. 7 by breaking his back. Smash and Silence are still alive today, enemies of the BSA and Silence is a full blown criminal.
Status: Deceased.

Weapon. 8
Powers: Superpower null field, telekinesis.
Name: Classified.
Weapon. 8, was besides Weapon. 13, the most feared Weapon in the series, he was released April, 30, 1989. His powers were deadly, he had a field around which could stop superpowers from working, and then he would attack with his telekinetic power. He was unbeatable, many supers went up against him, very few returned. On September, 17, 1990, Electron (Soren Erikson), Rush, and Nighthunter, all three teenagers, ambushed the killing machine that night, along Main Street, the damage done during this battle are still there, the surrounding buildings still have burn marks, the street, though paved over, is still uneven. The three teenagers battled with 8 for hours, Nighthunter was badly wounded during the fight, but Electron and Rush finally drove off Weapon. 8, a feat few had done, much less by teenagers. Weapon. 8 laid low for nearly a year after the fight, but then on February, 28, 1992, Weapon. 8 resurfaced, and because of a glitch in his cybernetics, killed anyone, normal or super, in his way. He slaughtered anyone out of doors along Main Street, making his way to the City Hall, but Electron and Rush were waiting for him, so they battled again. Long into the fight, Rush shot strait at 8, his momentum, because of his super speed, carried him into Weapon. 8, who used his telekinesis to pin Rush to the ground. Before 8 could fully regain his balance, Electron, from a distance, blasted him with an enormous lightning bolt, overpowering Weapon. 8's telekinetic wall. 8 was blown to pieces. Killing Weapon. 8 was Electron's claim to fame, from then on he continued to achieve bigger and bigger feats.
Status: Deceased.

Weapon. 9
Powers: Mega strength, invincible.
Name: Malcolm Baker.
Weapon. 9 was released from the BSA laboratory December, 15, 1995, he had super strength and near-invincibility. Weapon. 9 lived in a secret, secure, BSA bunker, he was let out only so he could do a mission, then he locked up again. A few months later, Electron and Rush sought the help of Smash and Hound, Hound could track superhumans, to find and defeat this new menace. So the four supers followed 9's trail to the BSA bunker, where a fight between them and a regiment of BSA superhumans, led by the Avenger pushed back the four attackers. Electron, now seventeen, called on his friend, Tornado, to help them, meanwhile, Weapon. 9 continued carrying out BSA missions, killing and capturing superhumans. The five companions followed Weapon. 9 as he went to try and capture Lauren Anderson, Soren's girlfriend. So Soren, Electron, leaped into action, ruining their ambush. He was badly wounded, along with Rush and Hound. Smash drove Weapon. 9 before he killed anyone. Weapon. 9 went to another BSA bunker, hidden under the City Hall, he continued his missions. Then, in March, 29, 1996, in a little town in Kansas, Electron, Rush, Smash, Hound, and Tornado confronted Weapon. 9 as he was about to capture a teenage superhuman, Roy McGonagall. The five of them fought hard with 9, Rush was killed in the battle, but Electron and Smash drove Weapon. 9 off a cliff, then Smash jumped off after him and super slammed him on the ground. 9 was still alive after that, and on April, 24, 1996, Electron, Smash, Hound, and Tornado, found Weapon. 9 operating again in New Haven City. A vengeful Electron brutally attacked the still weakened Weapon. 9, Smash battered away at 9's invincibility, punching, kicking and throwing tractor trailers. Tornado created a wind vortex, sucking Weapon. 9 high into the clouds, Electron charged a huge bolt, hitting Weapon. 9, and short circuiting his cybernetics. Weapon. 9 fled, never to be seen again, Electron still wanted revenge for the death of his friend. Electron was now on the BSA "Red List".
Status: Renegade.

Weapon. 11
Powers: Psionics.
Name: Sam Adams.
Following the accident that was Weapon. 10, Weapon. 11 was made in the beginning of the Underworld Wars, he was released May, 03, 1999, he had powerful psychic abilities. Weapon. 11's main objective was going after and arresting Commander Zero, the leader of the superhuman underground. Weapon. 11 also worked with a hand-picked BSA superhuman platoon, methodically arresting and assassinating resistant supers, working toward Zero. The Superhuman Resistance Movement appealed to the Supreme Court to stop sending Weapons after them. The Supreme Court refused to do anything about it, so the SRM moved their leader, Zero, to Constantinople, August, 30, 1999, where he hid in an old apartment. Weapon. 11 was sent to Constantinople, and a few weeks later, located Zero and went to the hideout during the night. Commander Zero, Tornado, and Torch fought Weapon. 11 and his minions through out the city all night, in the end, the three companions hid in the Hagia Sophia, as the sun rose, Weapon. 11 broke in, and killed Zero. Torch burnt the BSA platoon and Tornado nearly brought the building down on them. Torch and Tornado returned to America, with the body of Zero, the SRM elected Tigress as their leader, a female superhuman with ferociuos strength and extreme cunning, Weapon. 11 went after her. On October, 14, 1999 Tornado and Torch tracked down 11 in an old factory, there they dueled for hours, until sundown, Weapon. 11 lifted Torch and was about to drop him in a vat of acid, Tornado pulled Torch to the ground with a vacuum of air, then made a full-sized tornado right where Weapon. 11 stood, which sucked him up in the air, then dropped him in the collapsing factory. Weapon. 11 was never found after that. Most of the anti-BSA movements joined the SRM after that, most could feel a battle was coming. Tigress and the SRM told the US Congress that further genocide of the superhuman population could no longer be tolerated, the SRM would be forced to act, the DOJ and the rest of Congress did not really take her seriously, but their arrogance would lead to the Superhuman War and the Battle of New Haven City.
Status: MIA.

Weapon. 12
Powers: Night omnipresence, nocturnal shapeshifting, light and dark control, nocturnal power surge.
Name: William Erikson.
Released on January, 09, 2003, Weapon. 12 was the son of Electron from the future. After Electron, now twenty-three, defeated Clockwork, who had opened time portals, William had come through one from the year 2022, where the American government fell from it's own corruption. Unfortunately, William was a secret supporter of the obsolete government of his time, so when he came back he joined the BSA's Weapon Project. As Weapon. 12 his control over light and dark had been increased, he had nocturnal omnipresence, shapeshifting, and his energy and control over energy increased during the night. January, 21, 2003, Weapon. 12 assaulted Tigress's hideout, with the help of a group of superhuman mercenaries. Tigress was arrested, and tried for treason and assault of US government agents. Electron was made leader of the newly renamed Zero's Army. Electron confronted Weapon. 12, who was his age in this time, outside New Haven City, Electron said Weapon. 12 looked familiar, but didn't know why. Later, Electron found out Weapon. 12's story, so Electron went to the William of this time, who was just a baby, with the intent to kill him. But 12 rescued himself, hiding himself in a BSA lab. Electron and his wife, Shade, met their son on Main Street, March, 08, 2003, with a group of Zero's Army supers. The fight lasted until nightfall Electron went to the lab, where baby William was hidden, Weapon. 12 followed. Electron still wanted to kill his infant son, but couldn't make himself, so he shot older William in the head. Weapon. 12 survived, but the bullet had destroyed his cybernetics, so he ran from the BSA and his parents. Many think it was a waste to use William as a Weapon, because of his relationship to Electron.
Status: Renegade.

Weapon. 13
Powers: Superpower copier.
Name: Roy McGonagall.
The teenager from Kansas was all grown up, and had been captured, brainwashed, lobotomized, and experimented on. Weapon. 13, though his time as a Weapon was short, he was the most powerful Weapon, but the last. Released June, 13, 2009, 13 had a one of a kind power, the ability to copy other's powers. Long before he was released, the BSA introduced Weapon. 13 to all the BSA and captured superhumans so he could copy their powers. He took so much work and experimentation to make, his hair is burned off, his mouth is sealed shut, and he has no eyelids. Weapon. 13 was let out into the world not long before the Battle of New Haven City, all the superhumans that went up against him died, brutally. On November, 03, 2009 the Battle of NHC, where the BSA and Zero's Army finally confronted each other on the field of battle, Weapon. 13 led the BSA forces into the fight against the Army, led by Electron. 13 killed all superhumans around him, he was the ultimate genocide machine. William, returned to New Haven City for the Battle, he had been healed and he joined Zero's Army and fought alongside his young father. During the battle, Electron and William snuck into the BSA headquarters and Electron, in a desperate attempt to kill Weapon. 13 he took the Genide, a drug no superhuman had survived, it was supposed to increase your power one hundredfold, Electron fell to the ground, his heart rate stopped. William died defending his father's dead body from Weapon. 13. Electron awoke, with so much power that all of New Haven blacked out. With his power increased a hundredfold, he shattered the forces of the BSA, and atop his power and rage, he confronted Weapon. 13 at the City Square, there they fought for hours and hours, Electron finally killed his enemy, the final nightmare in a series of nightmares. After the Battle of New Haven City, the US government shut down the Weapon Project, and they stopped going after superhumans so much, the Battle was a crushing defeat, and people were becoming more aware of the oppression of supers. It would have been a happy ending, but Electron knew what his son would become, he had given up trying to kill the infant, though he did know William's final decision.
Status: Deceased.

Narhul, the Father of the Terrans

2009-12-03T13:20:00.032-05:00

Narhul, the semi-legendary founder of the the Nations of Narhul, the precursor to the Eridu Republic. Narhul was the one who, using both diplomacy and military prowess, united the nation-states of Eridu into a cohesive republic. Narhul also campaigned against the Zezites of Zezon 1 in the Alpha Centuri system, he repulsed a barbarian invasion of the E. Eridani system, he expanded the borders of the nation to the Alpha Centuri and Arcturus systems. The war with the barbarians was long and brutal, but the Terrnas destroyed the invading fleet and shattered the power of the little barbarian kingdom. Narhul was very aged after all this, but he continued building the young interplanetary democracy, he over saw the colonization of the Alpha Centuri system and scouts mapping nearby star systems. The first alien species that the Terrans made peaceful meetings with were the Prothen and Notross, both species were major spacefaring people. Narhul traveled to Prothen and Aur, making treaties with the two leaders. The Terrans of Eridu and colonists on other worlds referred to them selves as Narhulians. Narhul help defend Aur from the Kllenon Empire, he saw colonists go to Londor in the Alsara system, he conquered the entire Alpha Centuri system, and he accomplished many more feats. He lived until he was one-hundred and two, he founded the Nations of Narhul as they would call themselves. His famous descendent was Caiss-Sol, the Conqueror of the Galaxy.

DPIR Special Abilities Corps.

2009-12-01T12:50:00.289-05:00

Capt. Lance DeMoi:
Sex: Male.
Age: 154.
Date of Birth: October 4, 1855. Quebec City, Canada.
Special Attributes: Enhanced physical attributes, "Spectrum seeing" eye.
Born to Piere and Lisa DeMoi, Lance was a toddler during the Union-Confederate War , he grew up in his family's apartment, his father was a successful businessman. Lance grew tired of high school, so he dropped out and looked around for jobs. He was planning to go into hot air ballooning, when Jerald Brown, an old family friend, suggested Lance apply for a government job. Lance declined, being more of a fan of ballooning, so at age eighteen, he became a balloonist. One day, still eighteen, Lance went hunting with his father and uncle, Jack, but they were attacked by a werewolf, who killed Jack and wounded Piere. From that day on, Lance DeMoi researched the existence of supernatural life traveled the world, scraping some money together, and visiting supernatural sites. He returned home to Canada, where he went to Jerald and asked if the USA had a paranormal science department, Jerald told him about the DPIR. Lance applied and got in, he was nineteen, the youngest agent ever to join. After he fought in WW 1, Lance went on his fateful first mission to Africa, where he was given longevity, and his "spectrum seeing" new right eye. Once he recovered he was called to Europe to help in the war effort, he led a platoon of soldiers at D-day and at the Battle of the Bulge. He was promoted to Lieutenant Investigator of the DPIR, second in command of the Special Abilities Corps. Lance was not sure if his longevity was simply long life or immortality, it was nearly 1950 and he hadn't aged a day. The commander of the SACorps., Milo Smith, passed away, Lance was offered position of Commander Investigator, but he refused it. So a year later, a young man also a werewolf, named Sirius Potter took position of Commander of the Special Abilities Corps. Lance has been involved in many missions, great and small; he saved London from a plague of mutant locusts, he thwarted the Templars summoning Baphomet, he confronted Dracula, and he preformed twelve labors for Hera. Currently, Lance lives in a little house in Rachel, with only his pet turtle for company.
Lt. El Salvador "Sal":
Sex: Male.
Age: 100
Date of Birth: July 22, 1908. DPIR facility, El Salvador.
Special Attributes: Super agility, chameleon-like power, wall crawling.
Born in a test tube in a DPIR facility in El Salvador, when he was nearly a year old, the scientists spliced his genes with chameleon and some other lizard DNA. The result was a already matured, half- lizard man, ready for combat training. Sal was transfered to the DPIR HQ in the US, where he carried out various missions. During World War 1, Sal was in Turkey when he stumbled upon a temple, where he was put into stasis until 1942. Sal, like his friend and comrade Lance, has carried out innumerable missions for the DPIR. Currently, Sal lives in the DPIR building at Area 51.
Col. Bianca Thorne:
Sex: Female.
Age: 29.
Date of Birth: April 13, 1981. Concord, Mass.
Special Attributes: Telepathy, psychometry.
Bianca White was born to Aaron and Katrina White, Aaron was a psychologist, and Katrina was a musician. Bianca first displayed her telepathic powers in school, when she'd gleam the answers from the teacher's mind. Her parents freaked and gave her to an orphanage for troubled children. Her powers grew more apparent as she grew older, she shunned in high school, so she finally dropped out of school. Bianca went and worked for the Concord police department, using her telepathy to solve crimes. She eventually lost that job, so she drifted around getting a variety of jobs, after some time, when she was 23, she met Otto Van Hamburg, a part-automaton and DPIR Investigator. He noticed her special talents, so he offered her a job in the Department, she accepted the job offer. Bianca is the newest edition to the SACorps., currently, she lives in a small apartment in Las Vegas.
Col. Richard Reynolds Jr.
Sex: Male.
Age: 38.
Date of Birth: January 20, 1971. Washington DC.
Special Attributes: Electromagnetic manipulation.
Born the son of Richard and Zoe Reynolds, he was born in Washington DC. His parents were very politicly involved; they helped run presidential campaigns and such. Richard found out about his magnetic powers when he was ten, he told his parents, who at first were frightened, but the White House offered Richard training and a future job. When he was twenty-four, Richard became a guard at the White House. When Sirius Potter and Sal came to the White House following occult clues, they met Richard and saw his magnetic control, so they told him about the DPIR. Richard, at twenty-four, transfered to the Department. Currently, Richard lives in Las Vegas.
Sgt. Alison King.
Sex: Female.
Age: 35.
Date of Birth: August 16, 1974. Columbia, SC.
Special Attributes: Limited magical abilities, extreme folklore knowledge.
Stolen as a child by a kobold and taken into the Fairyworld. Her parents, Mason and Nancy, called on the DPIR, who at first refused to help, so the Kings hired a private paranormal investigator, but he couldn't find their daughter. So the DPIR decided to send two agents, Lance DeMoi and Otto Van Hamburg. They took the impostor baby and forced to show it's true form. They then forced the kobold to reveal the entrance into the Fairy realm. The kobold tried to miss lead and then ditch them, but Lance shot him, and finally found infant Alison. She was forever touched by the encounter with the kobold and her time in the Faerie realm, her hair turned silvery gray and she posses magic powers now. Alison grew up, and joined joined the air force. She joined the DPIR after her term in the military. Alison know lives in Rachel, Nevada.
Sgt. Otto Van Hamburg:
Sex: Male.
Age: 76.
Date of Birth: March 1, 1923. New York City, NY.
Special Attributes: Half-automaton.
Otto was born to Erik and Anna Van Hamburg, who had both moved from Germany to America. Otto had a fairly peaceful childhood, when he was old enough, he joined in the tail end of the Vietnam War in the air force. He came back and became a scientist, experimenting with chemical reactions. His very unique experiments brought him to the attention of the Department of Paranormal Investigation and Research, who offered him a job, which he accepted. But the night before he moved to Nevada, an explosion in his lab severely injuring and paralyzing the left half of his body. DPIR scientists were able to replace his left half with machinery. Otto became a cyborg, and a captain in the SACorps. Currently, Otto lives in Las Vegas, but has an apartment still in NYC.
Comdr. Sirius Potter:
Sex: Male.
Age: 41.
Date of Birth: February 26, 1958. Big Sur, Cal.
Special Attributes: Werewolf.
Born in rural California, Sirius grew up with his single mom, Sarah Potter, in their little beach home. When he was sixteen, he was camping with some friends, when a werewolf bit Sirius when he was off by himself. His teacher, Mr. Strait shot the beast, but it had already infected Sirius. Every full moon, and the nights around it, Sirius turned into a werewolf, so he would always go off and had Mr. Strait lock him in a converted, secure room. His mother found out about his ailment, she looked around for a cure, she was contacted by the DPIR, so she and her son moved to Area 51, the DPIR Headquarters. Sirius wanted to join the SACorps., but he had no military training, so when he was twenty, he joined the marines during the Gulf War. He came back and went on his first few missions for the DPIR, and because of his superior leadership skills, he was promoted to Commander. Currently, Sirius still owns his childhood home, but lives primarily at the DPIR HQ.
Lt. Chester:
Sex: Male.
Age: 4216..
Date of Birth: 2207 BC.
Special attributes: Dweller.
Chester is the nickname of Azar-Nirva-Mannrak-Kull, one of the last of the Dwellers. Chester was born many thousands of years after the events of the Flood. He was born in an old Atlantean mine under Cyprus, his parents were part of a small wandering group of Dwellers. His family and the rest of the group were killed by Cypriots and a harpy attack, Chester's parents hid him in a boat and and pushed out to sea. The boat landed on the shore Byblos. He lived in Byblos for a time, working as a pearl diver and fisherman. When he was an adult, he traveled to the Akkadian Empire in Mesopotamia. There he helped build walls and channels for water with his psychic powers. But when Gutians started to invade Mesopotamia, Chester left and wandered down to Egypt, where he was dragooned into help in the building of the pyramids and underground cities of the dead. He left Egypt around 1446 BC, he goes to his home in Cyprus, then went searching for Atlantis. He was followed by Ashuram En-uruk Ragna, the half-demon, son of Nergal and the Princess of Kish, and when Chester found the site where Atlantis used to stand, Ashuram attacked him. But their fight was interrupted by the Leviathan, the guardian of Atlantis. Chester fled, and came to the Iberian Peninsula. Ashuram was swallowed by the Leviathan, and the demon resided in the beast's stomach for four weeks. Chester traveled across Europe, living for short amounts of time in towns and settlements. Eventually, Chester found Hyperborea, ruled by Horus. Hyperborea was once a colony of Atlantis, but Horus defied Atlas and made Hyperborea a sovereign state. After five hundred years in peaceful Hyperborea, Chester left, and promised to keep the location of Hyperborea a secret. At this point it was only a few hundred years before Christ. Chester traveled to the islands Thule and Avalon, after that he traversed the world, all the way to Oceania, where he found the remains of Lemuria, he found the throne hall of Emperor Mu, the ruler of Lemuria. He then headed back to Europe, but he met Hecate, who put him in a stasis until the time of the middle ages. Chester went to Britain to look for Thule again, but he was driven out by the British. Chester wandered around the world for a while, when, in Arcadia he found a hidden Atlantean bunker, with an old Atlantean galley in it. Chester was able to get it working, and he flew it out into the air. Chester landed in Canada, where he lived for two hundred years. He flew away from Canada, to Russia, in search of Hyperborea. He lived in Russia for three hundred and fifty years, he lived in a cave near a village, where, in disguise, he helped the villagers. Chester went and lived in America and then Crete until World War 1, where he became part of the DPIR and fought in WW 1. He was with Sal in Bursa, Turkey when Sal was put into a trance by Baba Yaga. Chester was killed by Ottoman attackers. But Chester returns not long after World War 2, for he had created a mind egg, a new body for his soul. Currently, Chester lives in Area 51.
Napoleon.
Sex: Male workings.
Age: 3000.
Date of Birth: 1000 BC.
Special attributes: Automaton.
Though not a field agent, Napoleon stays at the DPIR as the Chief Researcher. He answers everyones questions when they're out doing missions. Napoleon was one of the many automatons made by the god Hephastus, he lived on Mt. Olympas for a while, then went to work in Athens as a librarian. When Greece was conquered by Rome, Napoleon was taken to Rome to serve as an architect. He was then, after about five years in Rome, went to the Great Library in Alexandria. When it was destroyed, he fled, but got buried in a sandstorm, outside Rosetta. He lay there in self-induced stasis, until in 1799, French scholars and soldiers uncovered the Rosetta stone, along with the automaton, who they named Napoleon, and a small collection of paranormal artifacts. When America purchased the Louisiana Territory from France they also bought Napoleon and a small assortment of artifacts. At that time, instead of the DPIR it was the Congregation of Paranormal Science, and Napoleon was made Assistant Head Librarian. When the Congregation was updated into the DPIR in 1916 with only four SACorps members; Lance DeMoi, El salvador, Napoleon, Alexander Sherman, Kishba, and Chester, the Dweller. Now Napoleon is Chief Researcher, but not officially part of the SACorps.

The Holan War and the Federation of Leto.

2009-11-12T12:19:00.005-05:00

The Holan Cluster is a moderatley populated star cluster, which for millenia had been ruled by a monarch, until it joined the young Empire. It suffered through a few years of violence between the monarchists and pro-Imperialists, then it settled down, the monarchists having been defeated. There was peace for many decades, until suddenly the monarchists launched full scale assaults on Imperial Holan worlds, so the Empire commanded their two battalions into battle. As the war between the Empire and the Holan monarchists raged on, a politician from Hola 4 appeared in the Senate named Leto. Leto, a Kerronian, offered new policies in these troublesome times, and he ran for Chancellor of the Imperial Senate. Just as he was going to win the election, Adas Ganjis, a human from the Alpha Centuri system, revealed Leto's true motives, so Leto fled from the capital and declared war on the Empire. The Imperial navy confronted Leto's private battalion outside Hola 2. Leto's fleet was able to hold off the enemy navy long enough to reach the planet surface, they then barricaded themselves in Leto's fortress. The Imperial army laid siege the fort for three weeks, they called on the help of the Burrus army, who successfully razed the fort. Leto was exiled to the asteroid-world Krel, where he dug for ore for twenty years. He died of Krajeck's Lung. The Hola Cluster ceceeded from the Galactic Empire after the Leto Crisis, forming the Holan Independency.

Lance DeMoi and the Oracle of Delphi.

2009-10-19T21:00:00.001-04:00

Lance DeMoi looked at the fortress, it was like an Ancient Greek version of your average Draculan castle. He revved his chainsword, a sword-like weapon with a chainsaw for a blade, and walked closer to the gates. As he passed between to torches, a fiery being sprang to life from each torch. They advanced on him, reaching out with blazing tendrils.
"Elementals. I've dealt with your kind, only one way to kill you." Lance dived at one of the fire elementals, they lashed out with a fire whip, he sliced at it's head. His sword passed harmlessly through it's head, it was distracted by this long enough for Lance to cut it's torch in half with a purposeful slash via his chainsword. The fire being screamed as it faded into a cloud of sparks. It's twin sent a wall of fire at the human, he rolled out of the way, making a leap for the remaining torch. The beast shot a column of flame in front of Lance, who pushed off the pavement stones, propelling himself away from the fire. He ran up the opposite wall to the giant torch, flipped off the wall, and grabbed hold of the torch as he came down. He jammed his chain saw up into the brazier, extinguishing the flame, the fire monster hissed out of existence. He pushed one of the giant cedar doors open, taking a look inside the ruined, old fortress. Lance walked deeper into the castle, passing old, broken traps, and heaps of bones, he came to an iron door, guarded by skeleton warriors wielding rusty pikes, Lance dodged pike thrusts a he ground the skeletons to dust. He proceeded to the iron doors, he kicked them open, on the other side a flock of imps and gargoyles hung in the air, waiting for him. He was only just able to defend himself as the monsters shot straight down at him. One gargoyle scrapped his claws along Lance's left arm, tearing off the sleeve of his jump suit and leaving three deep cuts. Lance grunted in pain as he cut through the beast's waist, imps flew around him, hacking up lava phlegm and spitting it at there foe, Lance deflected them with his chainsword, though one hit his right boot, almost melt through the front of it. He battled through the swarms of flying demons, smashing the gargoyles to bits and cutting the imps to pieces. Soon he stood there, covered in cuts and bruises and burns, the courtyard covered in smashed rocks and gore..
"They don't call me Adamant Prominent for nothing." He thought to himself as he crossed the enclosure to the door on the other side. He listened at the door; he heard heavy breathing and heavy footfalls. Lance cut the door open, and took a quick look around. It was a small circular room, built like vault, with a chair in the middle, sitting in the chair was the Oracle of Delphi. Blocking his way was a giant, with gray skin, bald head, a single eye and horn on top of his head, and a club made of solid iron. Lance dived to the side as the giant swung, knocking down a large portion of the wall, Lance ran behind the giant, swiping with his sword and taking a chunk out of the monster's calf. It yelled in pain, shaking every stone of the chamber, also making Lance loose his balance, falling next to the Oracle. He got up quickly, pushing the Oracle out of the way as the giant brought down his club hard where Lance had just been, blowing a hole in the floor. Lance took a chunk of stone and through it into the giant's eye with all his might, the beast howled in pain, as clutched at his face, Lance to his chance and drove his chainsword into the creature's shin, it howled louder, dislodging stones in the ceiling. It swatted at Lance, who tried to parry it's arm, but missed and instead hit it's crotch. The thing froze, went rigid, then fall back, knock down more off the wall. Lance heaved a sigh, then turned toward the Oracle, she looked like she was his age, but she must have been more then three thousand years old. Lance untied her, then carried her off, out of the old fortress, and called in a DPIR helicopter. Hours later, as he stretched out in the helicopter, Lance thought,
"Finally, the DPIR has the Oracle of Delphi."

Tiu Tzoua's Space-flight School for Boys.

2009-10-13T12:45:00.013-04:00

The first, interplanetary space flight academy in the Imperium was founded by the famous astrocartographer, Tiu Tzoua, a human from the Tuet Cluster. The skill of space navigation was, in the old days, seen fit for only men, women generally stayed at home. Tzoua saw there were no Imperium naval academy, so he built one, in high orbit around Tuet II. It had eleven stories, multiple docks, a workspace with custom parts, and living quarters for the boys. It was cylinder in shape, had a tough hull, and was named Tiu Tzoua's Space-flight School for Boys, and the training lasted for ten years, boys could apply starting at age ten. The school was run by Tzoua for fifty years, then he died by inhaling a toxic gas on an undiscovered planet, but the Tuetese government took over the school for another thirty-two years, then they closed during the Fourth Tuetese Conflict, tourists cans see the school in the Tuetese Nautical Museum. Tiu also made a standard list of nautical terms, the most common being; Uechu (bow or front of the vessel), Nichu (stern or rear), Ting-ching (starboard, or the right of the craft), and Oching (port or the left). The Tzouan nautical terms are used by the Galactic Imperium to this day. Tiu was also the Chancellor of the Senate for ten years before his death.

The Cortes.

2009-09-22T21:47:00.003-04:00

Many millennia ago, a colony ship, the Cortes, crashed on a planet in the Epsilon Eridani system, Eridani prime. They did not know where they came from, they did know basic things though, very vaguely who each other was, they knew some English, so they could communicate, and they knew they were called humans. The colony grew, they warded off invasion, met galxthorican scouts, used galxthorican technology to build starships, they built extraction facilities on Eridani minor, a gas giant. The Eridanian humans defeated the zezites of the Alpha Centuri system, and colonized Nado, they expanded to Londor, Burrus, Follon, King Dirod, Alsara, Princess Thee, and many other planets and systems. When humans of Earth finally invented hyperdrive, they flew to the nearest star Alpha Centuri, and found, not an uninhabited planet or aliens, but humans, this caused global confusion on Earth, a massive, interstellar civilization of humans had existed while Earth humans had been making weapons out of stone. The answer to this is still unknown, extensive research has been put into it.

The Hecate.

2009-08-26T22:32:00.003-04:00

Adrian was thrown to the floor, Capt. Tovius and Zabella were next to him, the three of them were cuffed. Plutons, helions, nyx, and irisi filled the command room they were in, all of them clad in bronze-colored hoplite armor. A pluton came toward them.

"Greetings, I am Admiral Nikoros, and welcome to the EFS Argo. You are about to witness the full might of the Pluton Empire; the power of a god." Nikoros stopped speaking and nodded to a fellow pluton, who sent a command over the commlink. Adrian looked out the central window, apparently the Argo was in orbit around a little moon, and he saw a ship, a massive ship.

"No-" Adrian gasped.

"Behold, the Hecate, a goddess, a pluton-made goddess!" Nikoros smiled to himself, "See the moon world Bunniri, they are enjoying a sunny day, not for long though." The enormous ship had a sideways triangular body, with a ring of long prongs coming out of it's front end, it moved forward so the prongs were touching the atmosphere of Bunniri. Then, darkness sprouted from the prongs, a deep, eternal darkness. Slowly the artificial night spread and spread, like a reverse sunrise.

"That's a Confederation moon! You have declared war on the Confederation!" Aged Captain Zabella shouted at Nikoros, who motioned for a shock spear, and when handed one, pierced Zabella through the chest, he fell, limp, to the floor.

"Unfortunately, this Hecate night is irreversible, so the moon will slowly die, very slowly. Take them to the brig!" As Adrian was hoisted up, and dragged away, he saw that Bunniri was now almost completely shadowed over.

He was thrown into a cell with some of the other survivors of the battle in it, even the injured sat in the cell. Adrian fell to the floor, defeated.

Adronus Encyclopedia: Species: Humans.

2009-08-25T13:04:00.003-04:00

Humans, the most populous species in the galaxy, are from the planet, unimaginatively named, Earth. Humans are bipedal, have two sexes, 75% water, carbon-based mammals and have a variety of skin and hair colors, ranging from white, black, brown skin and brown, black, blond hair. Humans range from 5' 4" to 5' 10" in height, have two ears, two light-receiving eyes, five fingered hands and and ten toed feet. The human reproduction system is the same as most other two-sex species. The human race lives on Earth, a planet third from the yellow sun of the Solaris Primis star system, is a world of varied terrain (woodland, mountains, plains, deserts, jungles) and climates. Earth has one satellite, simply called the Moon, and it's star, also unimaginatively called, the Sun. Humans used to be divided into thousands of nations, much unlike most civilized species, and would slaughter and subdue each other, like uncivilized beasts, but when they had reached the space age, then ventured into space and joined the Confederation, the humans united under a global banner like the other advanced peoples. The humans used a plethora of the creatures that reside on Earth, like the dog, a quadpedal furry mammal, the horse, again quadpedal, and there's reptiles, fish, insects, even aquatic mammals. Though humans are still rather uncivilized, Earth is a beauty to behold, representing many aspects of the universe in it's animals and ecology.

Date entry submitted: 11/23/2756

Entry submitted by:

Dr. Kishaak V. Q. Quweksen, ph,d, harese astroarchaeologist.

The last hope.

2009-08-23T21:32:00.004-04:00

Earth has nearly been destroyed in the recent World Wars, much of the continents have been destroyed or made uninhabitable, the world, it seems is coming to an end. It was because the Illuminati's meddling with forces beyond their control, demons had come back into the world through the stargates. And now the last remnants of free humanity fight for their survival against the horde of inter dimensional monsters and their slaves.

Three mushroom clouds exploded onto the horizon, illuminating the silhouettes of ruins, thousands of gun blasts filled the air, cannon blasts shook the mountains of rubble. Drake ran to the barricade were fellow soldiers shot at the much bigger army advancing up the hill.

"You asked for me sir?" He shouted over the thunder of artillery. Cmdr. Stewart turned to look at him, still firing his machine gun.

"You're here, good! I've selected you for a very important mission! Your to use the time capsule to go back to 2007 to stop try and stop this apocalypse," men in the front barricades screamed as a horde of demons and elitist forces broke through their defenses, "We have sent others but our other time machines are broken! Your the worlds last hope! Now go! There are more detailed instructions inside the machine! Drake saluted his commander, then ran down the backside of the hill, the sounds of war fading as he ran, he reached the hidden bunker in a few minutes. Huffing and puffing, he unlocked the seven blast doors, and the twenty other security systems, and there inside the bunker, was a metallic pod, hooked up to all it's machinery. He quickly got inside, revved it up, punched in the date, and- the door of the bunker was hit by a giant fist, they had seen him go inside! He hurriedly flicked the last switch and buckled himself in. When the inhuman soldiers burst into the room, they saw idle machinery and a puff of dust.

Drake pulled himself out of the broken time capsule, he looked around, was this the year 2008? The buildings in the distance looked, shiner and more, well modern than from what his grandfather had told him about the year. He looked at the year clock in the pod, it flickered between 2057, 2008, and 2020. The time machine had malfunctioned. He was in the year 2020, just in time to see it all start.

Aeolus, fourth moon of Poseidon.

2009-08-20T10:25:00.005-04:00

Adrian looked out the window on the rocky world outside, he and his platoon had been sent to the small and dilapidated outpost on Aeolus, the extremely windy fourth moon of Poseidon. He had his helmet on and assault rifle in hand as he looked out, then at the scan screen, there was defiantly a group coming at the fort, big enough to be an attack force.

"Vangkek, wake up the turrets, and tell everyone to prepare for a possible attack." He called, eyes still on the screen. The prothesnos nodded and left the room. Adrian activated the vis scanner, to get a visual on the unfriendlies, he looked into the scope, plutons, a bunch of them and they were riding on cerberus war droids. Adrian grabbed the speaker.

"Attention, we have a Code Green! I repeat Code Green! Seventy-five unfriendlies spotted, all men to arms!" The two captains of the platoons rushed into the room, both in full armor. They started ushering there men into battle formations, though there was only about twenty men in the base. Cpt. Tovius, the Marine captain, turned to Adrian.

"Take the Reds (Marines with red stripes, the heavy duty Marines) and go up to the cliff and use the cannons and launchers there."

"Sir!" Adrian saluted and left the room. He and the Reds ran up the path to the cliff top, where the turrets waited for them. The plutons had already breached the outpost, there fearsome robotic mounts spewing plasma, electricity, and laser energy from there three mouths.

"Fire all!" Adrian shouted, all the turrets rained lasers down on the gray-skinned plutons, but even that wasn't enough, they turned on there shields and kept attacking. The cerberus war droids crushed, ate or shot every and all Confederation troops near them, Adrian got an idea. He snatched a bundle of grenades from a nearby xzeni, he then ran and dove off the cliff. Using the strong winds of Aeolus to his advantage, he sped along at seventy-eight miles per hour, he set and dropped the grenades at the right time, they hit and exploded, creating a hole in the ranks of plutons. Adrian looked ahead, shear cliff face; this would hurt a lot. It did. Fortunately he had all his armor on. When Adrian opened his eyes, he was lying against the cliff, head on the ground, and staring into the faces of two plutons. One had a drawn vibro sword, the other had a shock spear, they hoisted the fallen Marine, chained him up, and took him to their ship.

The Unholy Throne.

2009-07-30T23:16:00.005-04:00

The Unholy Throne, a great seat made of onyx, obsidian, and basalt, is a legendary, and most evil, artifact in existence. It is said to either reside in the Mountains of Dusk, or in Durthinngar, or in Bane. Finding the Unholy Throne has been the goal of most great villains; such as the Witch King, the Shadow, Lord Felrad, Zia, and so forth. The power of the Unholy Throne is that who ever masters it, and sits on it, controls all the forces of evil. The Throne was made on Null, by nuraza and anuli smiths, and imbued with it's power by a group of thirteen warlocks. The Unholy Throne is evil's greatest strength, and weakness, since evil fights evil, the Throne brings together all the vile creatures under one banner, but once the user of the Throne is killed, evil then continues to fight evil. It was used long ago in the Demon War, a dunruvali (demon) called Zargath used the Throne to win the war, but then Otorin Derenson killed Zargath's body, and the Throne was, hidden and lost.

Dark clouds over New Haven City.

2009-07-30T20:11:00.004-04:00

Soren leaned his head on the window pane, watching the rain outside. It was getting harder for superhumans to get around lately, the DSA was getting stricter about power-usage. He got up, put on his shoes and coat, he pointed his hand at his umbrella and lifted into the air. Though life was hard for superhumans, having telekinetic and telepathic powers was pretty nice. He walked out of the Parliament Apartments building, and headed down the street. As from most parts of New Haven City, the Carmichael Tech building was visible as Soren entered the Brown Bear Bar, he went to the bar and ordered a beer. David Stewart, the bartender and superhuman with extraordinary strength and endurance. Soren leaned against the bar, watching the news.

"Here about Stretch's arrest? Was on the news this morning." David said to Soren as he wiped some glasses. Soren nodded as he looked around the pub; he saw Jack Anderson, a superhuman who could turn his skin into any solid substance he touched, sitting a corner talking to a friend of his. The news anchor on the TV was talking about the rising crime rates in New Haven City, and that the Superhuman Act had passed the House. Then the TV showed a DSA spokesman giving a speech about the new Act, Soren groaned. It was weeks now when all superhumans would have to register with the DSA, take their vaccinations and ID chips. And along with the Superhuman Act, the DSA had power to arrest those who resist and send them to Dark Hell. As the sky grew darker, a slightly drunk Soren Erikson made his way home.

Agent Grover set the files on the table, he took his seat opposite the handcuffed figure. He took his time opening and sifting through the files, he found the one he wanted, he took a sip of coffee.

"Dark Hell inmate, number 66079, DSA registration number, the same-"

"My name is Plague!"

"As far as the DSA and US government cares, your a number," he cleared his throat, "Timothy Granger, also known as 'Plague' among his accomplices and victims. Convicted for seven homicide, including two DSA agents, attempted murder of three US senators, multiple cases of theft, some major banks, and kidnapping and testing diseases on your kidnapped victims. Well, Mr. Granger, you got quite a record there, don't you?" Plague shrugged. Agent Grover sipped his coffee.

"And, you've spent the last twenty years in Dark Hell. And I'm sorely tempted to put you back, but the DSA needs you. And if you do this right, you may walk free again."

"Yes, I already know what you want of me: to make you a vaccine for the supers."

"And in return, a clean slate and your freedom." Said the agent. Plague thought for a moment.

"Of course, you don't have to accept, I'll understand, I'll send you back to your cell in Dark Hell, I hear they fixed the Nightmare Pool. Plague paled.

"So if I accept, all I have to do is make you a vaccine? That's it?" He looked suspicious.

"A thought just occurred to me, the DSA, or Department of Superhuman Affairs, deals with humans with extraordinary abilities. You, Mr. Granger are not a superhuman, but you are the greatest poisoner in history. So I'll hand you over to Homeland Security, I'm sure they've recovered from your shots you gave them." Grover said, smirking. Plague gulped and paled even further.

"I'll do it! But remember, I go free afterwards." Plague said. Grover hid his smile.

"Very good, thank you Mr. Granger." He picked up the files and coffee cup and left Plague in the dim interview room.

'Really good coffee!' He thought as he walked down the hall.

The Shadow.

2009-07-27T22:56:00.007-04:00

The Shadow refers to a high elf who became a warlock, who then bonded his soul with the deepest darkness, thus becoming a shade. He started his rise to power in 435 SD, he surrounded himself in black enchantments. As he gained power he joined the Cult of the Unholy Throne, where quickly ascended ranks, until he was second to Helldock, a Nendros human warlock, who was afraid for his position, so he ordered the assassination of The Shadow, who's name is unknown. The assassins were easily destroyed by the master warlock, the Shadow then killed Helldock in a magician's duel. The Shadow grew more and more in power in the wizard world, he took control of many cults and orders of wizards, all united with the same goal: to find the Unholy Throne. Finally, the Shadow started to attack the kingdoms of Eilendor, spreading his dark rule over many parts of the world. He then challenged the power of the Dragon Riders, who fought to push his rule from the free lands still left. Many of the Riders died, and many of the Shadow's followers, then Kunder, a human wizard Rider and his silver dragon, Alasa, flew to the Shadow's fortress in the Radulla Mountains, in the north of Elben, where he fought the Shadow, and unable to kill him, sealed the Shadow in an ancient oak tree. Kunder's blood line continued down to Otorin Derenson, who lives in Althor. The oak tree stands to this day, sealed with the Rider's mark, still holding the trapped vestige of the Shadow.

Highfall, Naldagor.

2009-07-27T22:09:00.002-04:00

Stars gazed down on the city of Highfall, a human-built city, made for interracial trading. The last stragglers headed for home, the last merchants closed up their shops, the gamblers and thieves came out from hiding, one particular thief, Vanng by name,made his way to the Highfall Citadel. Vanng, a human, sneaked past the guards and got past the security system with ease, he was an expert thief. He made his way down to the vaults; deeper and deeper he went, down into the cliff on which Highfall resides. The security was much more of a challenge down here, the passage was labyrinth, the traps were lethal, some magical. Finally, he unlocked a massive iron door, and entered the vaults, and there it was, the Ancient Staff. He took it, and stole back up to the surface, where he was almost spotted by a dwarf guard. His accomplice, Dan, looked at the Staff, he nodded. The two thieves escaped into the night.

The next morning, the patriarch of the city was told of the robbery, he then told the rest of the world, the theft of the Ancient Staff.

The Epsilite Harvest.

2009-07-25T14:24:00.012-04:00

The galaxy is full of worlds, and each world has a unique atmosphere, terrain, and minerals. There are billions of minerals in the Galaxy, but there are few as powerful as epsilite. Epsilite is only found on two known planets, Onsus Delta and Eridu. Onsus Delta was destroyed in the Second Great War, Eridu is now the only known planet that holds this invaluable ore. In 2634 AI, epsilite was found, deep within Eridu, miners from all over the galaxy came to the human homeworld, with great machines that burrowed down, generally from the arctic, miles deep, and found great caverns full of epsilite. This was known as the Epsilite Harvest. The epsilite harvest was twice as big as the Quantium Rush on Ius, the arctic was practically destroyed, the native wildlife were temporarily moved to the ice world of Tenva Prime, where the Yapas gladly watched over the exotic animals. After about five years of mining, the Emperor banned the private prospecting of Epsilite, but mining corporations with Imperium-issued licenses can still mine the powerful mineral. The Rodux System Mining Corporation is the leader in epsilite supply. Epsilite in value is succeeded by Quantium, which is succeeded by Xullvelium (or Star Copper), which has been depleted for eons.

Neptune Aj-kel.

2009-07-22T16:47:00.004-04:00

Born on Kerroi, Neptune Cornelius Aj-kel, is a gambler, thief, spacewalker, and a half-human half-xenos.

Neptune was flung unceremoniously from the casino, he landed hard on the metal street.

"Und shtay out!" the deseck bartender yelled. Neptune pushed his white hair out of his eyes, he flipped some CCs (Confederation Credits) into his backpack.

"I already got what I want." He smiled, then headed for the docks.

He kept his head down as he passed some lounging Confederation troops and policemen, he came to a beat-up, old, galxthorican-made ship. Tuback, the tuan who owned the ship, and his five shipmates were waiting.

"Got the money?" Tuback asked.

"Got the, ah, case?" The maldos shipman retrieved a black case, Tuback took it and opened it, inside was a dull iron cube.

"One hack-cube coming up, this baby can hack into the Confederation main computers. For sixty thousand Credits." Neptune passed the Credits, Tuback handed him the case, he glanced over at the guards, they were preoccupied with an illegal slaver ship.

"If you want questionable items, Tuback is your man." Neptune grinned. He shook Tubacks hand.

"So, any trouble gettin' here?" Asked the half-xenos.

"Ran into some Confederation patrol guys, and a small pirate ship, but other then that, it was smooth sailing. How are you hildin' up?"

Neptune grimaced,

"Not to bad, but I've almost got me a room in Incarcerus. But with this," he patted the cube, "should throw the feds off my trail." The lounging officers realized that Neptune was in the shadowy nook, they grabbed their guns and ran, he saw them and jumped into hyperspace. All they saw when they got there was a small dust cloud.

Spacewalkers.

2009-07-22T16:40:00.007-04:00

Spacewalkers have the ability to jump into hyperspace, thus allowing them to travel from planet to planet. Walkers originated among the World Builders, and spread to most other species. They were used as messengers, scouts, and special soldiers in many wars. Spacewalker's power is similar to the hyper fluxi organ in lilolites and ynollocks (space pentapuses), though it is a special connection of neurons in sentient spacewalkers. Spacewalkers also possess psionic powers; telekinesis, clairvoyance, enhanced physical abilities, and so on. Spacewalkers can be found in most species, though none have been found among the uruzad and carisytes.

The Three Hundred year Stillness and the Dark War.

2009-07-22T07:41:00.009-04:00

After the fall of the Rattaki Empire, there was an era of peace and commerce, but then the Dark Age settled in and hyperdrive technology was lost, and so the Three hundred year Stillness began. The Three hundred year Stillness is another name for the dark age, nothing happened, there was no space travel, people forgot about other planets and other alien species. After the three hundred years tuans and galxthoricans reinvented hyperdrive engines, so the Republic continued.

The Dark War started in 50023 BE, six hundred years after the Three hundred year Stillness. The Republic had just discovered the carisyte species, who came from a Wild Space world, which they had destroyed, being a parasitic race. And the race that called themselves "The Primordials" came to conquer the universe. The primordials are a unique species, they can, at will, turn incorporeal, transparent, though they could not harm solid things in this form, lasers would pass right through them. The carisytes and primordials combined made a great plague on the galaxy, the carisytes permanently damaged many planets and the primordials won every battle they fought. That is, until the invention of the disrupter, a device that disintegrated solids, vaporized liquids, and dissipated gases. When the primordials go incorporeal, they are technically a gas, so the disrupter dissipated them when they went into ethereal form. The reason it is called the Dark War is because, even after the vaporizer, the war was long, and destructive. Finally at the Battle of Nyx, the carisytes were driven back into wild space, and the primordials were banished from the galaxy.

History of the Galactic Federation.

2009-07-20T08:30:00.007-04:00

After the fall of the Old Empire, the different species that were part of the rebellion kept in contact with each other, meeting on the Solaris Primis planet Kerroi (Mars), even ancient human civilizations had contact with the hiz' ral and xzeni. But then the loss of hyperdrive technology during the Hundred year Stillness, and as human civilization fell, they stopped alien contact. But when hyperdrive technology by tuans and galxthoricans, the meet between the species continued on Kerroi, and an official link of commerce and industry was made. The first confederation was made. Then the new Republic fought against the carisytes and the primordials in the Dark War, they drove the carisytes back from Republic planets and drove the primordials from the galaxy. The Republic a prosperous two hundred years until the First Orion Nebula War, where the Onsus System was destroyed by the Star Bomb, causing the Onsus sun to explode. The Second Orion War was a long and bloody one, naktaka warriors unveiled the PLanet Architect as their secret weapon, reaping much havoc on many star systems, finally the naktaka forces were driven back, but unable to destroy the Architect, the Republic sealed it up and drifted it near a black hole. The Republic had a few centuries of peace, then, in 2626 AE, a xenos-planted coup overthrew the Republic, but then humans, who had just invented hyperdrive on Earth, stopped the rebels and helped reform the Republic as the Galactic Confederation, based on Kerroi. The Confederation then fought in a war against the xenos and plutons from Hades, in the Confederation War. Currently the Confederation is at peace, but is having a cold war with the Xenos Imperium and Pluton Domain.

Planet Otath, at a Confederation outpost.

2009-07-11T10:20:00.002-04:00

The squadron of Confederation troopers lounged inside the outpost, watching Phaserball on the TVnet, training, or working on weapons and armor. Flint Carrsen tossed his helmet up in the air as he watched the three-team Phaserball match, and, as usual, during the commercial break there was a warning about the klissik, xenos, and an embargo on the Pluton Empire. They were much more frequent these days. Otath is a cloudy, dull, rocky planet, who's main inhabitants are human-sized rodent species, and some colonies of klissik. Flint went to Holo receiver to contact the commander, he turned it on. Nothing happened.

"Oi, Erkjk, what's wrong with the friggin receiver." Flint called over his shoulder. Erkjk, the galxthorican technician grunted in Galxthr, then went to the Communications room. Then Flint heard a buzzing noise, a bug-like face flashed on the screen, a cry of alarm was heard, an actual alarm went off. Flint jammed his helmet on his head, ran to the gun rack and grabbed his rifle, then dashed outside. A swarm of giant dagrokk-riding klissik were flying around the base. The turrets fired up and auto-locked on the dagrokks. Dagrokks are giant monster-dragon flies from the klissik planet of Ragos, they have excellent sight and super tough exo-skeleton. The klissik rained their primitive weapons down on the Confederation troops, bone spikes stabbed a solider, he then exploded. Flint shot a klissik off his steed, dodged a ball of acidic dagrokk vomit, and ran inside, he grabbed the emergency receiver.

"Mayday, SOS! Code Violet! I repeat, Code Violet! The klissik have attacked the Otath 274 outpost!"

Where to hide a fairy?

2009-07-04T15:24:00.008-04:00

Thalia Nuala Silverlake, the descendant of the Silver King (beside her five brothers), walked down the tree-covered hallway to Council Chamber. She was admitted in by the gnome guards and she bowed to the Crown of Oberon and the Sword of Nuada, as was the custom. The eleven councilors her father, and her five brothers Oakraed, Alperius, Alder, Fynn, and Torus Dendro, watched her as she took a seat in front of the council table. King Remeus Silverlake, an elderly elf , rose from the center chair and addressed the siblings.

"I have some grave news for you children. Firstly, your eldest, outcast, brother, Blackeagle, has been spotted on the edge of the Goblin's Divide," Thalia gasped and her brothers crossed there arms, "Secondly, Lady Raven has been gathering in power and has become a serous threat, her forces have been spotted in great numbers by our gryphon scouts. And lastly, as much as it pains me to tell you, the council and the Ri Knights have agreed to move you five to the Human Realm." The Silverlakes burst into outraged cries.

"Fine, just treat us like a bunch of gnome babies!" Yelled Fynn.

"I'd rather live with trolls!"

"We can fight!" Oakraed drew his rapier, "We don't need to rely on such capricious creatures as humans."

"Why don't we just-!"

"Enough! Enough." Allthorn pinched his brow, "Listen, you are the of heirs and my children, the most important folk in the Fairy Realm, all that stands between Blackeagle and Lady Raven from conquering Tir na nog and the Sublunary World. And as you know I have fathered and cared for you as best I can, I am doing this for your own good. Now you will be traveling with a battalion of Avalon Knights, who are taking you to Erie, where you'll stay with Marcus, the merchant leprechaun. And there you will wait until we see what Lady Raven's next move is. An expert on human culture, specifically Erie, British, and American will be here shortly, he will tell you what humans eat, wear, talk about, use, and act in general, and how to use those little colorful thingys humans talk into. You will always be watched by 24/12-pardon, 24/7 by Avalon Knights. And I must say one last thing before you depart, never, NEVER, reveal your real identity to a human, they are not as they once were, they helped us, they interacted with us. On that not I say sain tamall, may Oberon guide you and be watchful of the stars." He hugged each child goodbye, then they were led through side door.

Huis was a rather energetic hobgoblin human culture expert, he showed the Silverlake children how to dress like a human (everyone, especially Thalia, complain about the undergarments), what humans eat, and how to work human technology.

"What's this, texinging?" Thalia said hold a cellphone gingerly.

"No, txting, my dear, short hand writing on a cellphone." The hobgoblin said. After about an hour of getting used to centuries-advanced technology, the five siblings walked, with Huis, to Ri Knights stronghold, where they would be escorted to Earth.

To get from Earth to the Faerie Realm, you must find a magical spot to transport you (such as an ancient barrow, a cave, fairy forts etc.), to get from the Faerie world to Earth, you must go through the pools of water. The Ri Knights led them to a pool near the stronghold, nixies bobbed on the surface, and some goblin fisherman stood on the other bank. A will o wisp flew playfully by around Thalia, she smiled, a sad, smile. She could her fiddles playing, and laughter and talk, the celebration of the Spring Solstice, her eyes brimmed with tears, she was leaving. For how long? God knows, she could be stranded with humans for years, what if something bad happened while she was gone? The party stepped down into the body of fey water.

Thalia was falling through a space of deep blue, the space between spaces, she caught flashes of other dimensions, then she saw Earth, a dense dimension, they were speeding down to Ireland, when they stopped, miles above the Earth, then, slowly at first, they reversed direction, back to the Faerie Realm, Thalia looked around, wondering what had caused them to reverse, then one of here guards shouted out an incantation, and it was like soundless lighting flashed right in front of her eyes, she felt herself hit earth. As she and her siblings roused themselves from the daze, they looked around. They were definitely on Earth, their guard surrounding them, spears raised, and yet something was not right. At least if a passing human would see five Irish teenagers (thanks to the disguise spell) but with a platoon of archaic, fey, warriors. As Thalia looked around, again something was not right, wait, no Avalon Knights, no Marcus, and the forest it... it wasn't Ireland, it was, New England!

Kelnin and Nanlyr settle their differences (with violence).

2009-07-04T01:35:00.005-04:00

The two elf soldiers fired a volley of arrows at Kelnin, he was stuck in the left shoulder by two. He swore in Dark Elven, and leaped past the two elves and lanced at Nanlyr, who jumped out of the way. The necromancer sent a necrotic wave that killed many of the trees and weakened the four elves, he laughed and teleported up in a tree. Kelnin twirled the enderi spear around slashed Nanlyr's chest and face, he reeled back in pain, lashed blindly at Kelnin and embedded his sword in a nearby tree. The elf guards drew swords and were about to fall on Kelnin, when the necromancer lanced all four of them with lightning, they fell to the ground, crackling, but then Nanlyr took out the orb and sucked the dark wizard's power out, Kelnin and the two elves poked him with spears. The necromancer fell from the tree, covered in blood. Nanlyr and the two elf rangers turned to Kelnin.

"Kelnin, you knew it would be foolish to come back here," Nanlyr motioned to one of the elves, who took out a blowing horn, "You came all the way back just because of a single necromancer? I think we found the hero side of Kelnin. But now-" Kelnin cut him off by throwing his spear into the the horn, smashing it, and puncturing the throat of the elf about to blow. He then lunged forward and snatched the orb restraining his magic, and smashed it on a rock, power flooded his veins. Nanlyr took a step back, but Kelnin stunned both him and the ranger.

"Good bye, Nanlyr, you were always obnoxious and arrogant." Kelnin took the fallen elf's sword. But before he could kill Nanlyr, The planes fluxed again, and the three of them were hurled onto the Shadowmare. The planar hop disrupted Kelnin's magic, Nanlyr grabbed his sword and slashed at Kelnin, who was distracted by the flux. He staggered back from Nanlyr, holding his bleeding right arm, fortunately, he was left-handed. They fought on the Shadowmare, then were carried to the Astral Plane, they floated in the silver night, blood suspended next to them, then to Therrkgr, the plane of chaos, they avoided bursts of fire and ice, waves of earth and aerolanches. They were flashed again and appeared in a human city, furiously cutting and slashing at each other. They stepped back from each other, dripping with blood, then they vanished and reappeared in Faelir Forest, the dead necromancer on the ground. Nanlyr raised his sword at arms length, his once pristine white suit spattered with blood and cuts, he stumbled, and Kelnin caught him on his spear. Nanlyr gave a gasp, then died.

Evidence was found that Nanlyr had set Kelnin up, and that he had hired the necromancer so he could pretend to be the hero. The Maledon House was put to shame. Kelnin was returned to his true, elfin, complexion, and dirty-blond hair, also his powers, and returned to his house, Beurell. Rose petals fell from thin air over the crowd as Kelnin was knighted as the Athnir by the High Priestess, his new wife, Lynia, prominent among them. It was found out that the necromancer belonged to an order of mages from the Faeriedeep, the eldritch caverns and tunnels under Lorria. Kelnin was requested to journey to Cho, the drow kingdom, and see what was reason for the heightened dark elf activity. The new elf hero bade farewell to his wife and departed for the land of night.

THE END, FOR NOW.

The Witch King of Daranmar.

2009-07-04T00:46:00.006-04:00

The Witch King was a sorcerer, who had a reign of terror around 174 SD-84 SD. He was born in the old human kingdom of Durthinngar, which was located to the far west of Naldagor. Durthinngar was known for dabbling in witchcraft. He, the Witch King, or Serren, was born about 203 SD, in a small village in north Durthinngar, he was said to be born a wizard, so his parents sent him off to school at age ten, he was very powerful, and turned his interests toward black magic. Serren graduated from the school at age twenty, he went to join a cult dedicated to Aralvras, he then took control of the cult and slowly seized control of Durthinngar. Serren then started calling himself the Witch King, for he was a warlock and ruler of the old human empire, he also put his soul in an enchanted diamond and put it deep in his personal vaults in the Stormhead Mountains in north Durthinngar, thus becoming a lich. He started to spread his rule to all corners of the world, none dared stand in his way, until his great-grandson, Deromir, and his sister, Lianna, a dragon rider, mustered together the small human rebel armies and drove the Witch King's forces back to Durthinngar. The rebels called for help, but no other race dared anger the Witch King, but the high chief of Orvak, the orc Grougabash sent his finest battalion of orcs and hobgoblins and stormed the entire kingdom of Durthinngar as Deromir and Lianna led a fleet of Gelldorin airships and dragon riders against the Witch King's fleet at the Battle of Weatherborn's Pass. Lianna was nearly killed in the battle, Deromir locked his great-grandfather in a duel, he used the legendary sword, Aetherwing, while Serren used his hand-made, enchanted flail, Sectemus, the Scourge of Men. Deromir slew the Witch King, but was not able to destroy Sectemus. Many dout Deromir killed the Witch King, it is said he sold his already extracted soul to Aralvras. Durthinngar was destroyed by the Gelldorin fleet and the orcs, all that remains are some old necropolises and ruins of ancient cities. It is agreed that the Witch King was the most vile and powerful warlock to ever walk Eilendor.

Classification of fairies.

2009-07-02T00:07:00.003-04:00

Courts:

Seelie: Seelie fairies, or "blessed fairies" are the goodly, more benevolent fairies, such as; elves, goblins, hobgoblins, gnomes, sylphs, etc. Even though Seelie Court fairies are generally good, they still enjoy a good prank on humans and still get angry because of insults, but they are still helpful and kind. The term "Seelie Court" refers to the interracial war of the fairies, when King Lu called all loyal fairy peoples to his fairy fort, Seelie, most answered the call, some did not.

Unseelie Court: Unseelie fairies, or "unholy" fairies are malicious, harmful, human-hating fey; boggarts, mares, ogres, fomorians, dark elves, bokwus, etc. The Unseelie fairies, unlike Seelie fairies' playful pranks, hate humans and play deadly gags, or simply kill humans for sport, such as sirens, and Unseelie Court fairies only take humanoid forms to deceive men, while Seelie fairies take human-like forms to fit in. The Unseelie Court was the group of fey who did not answer High King Lu"s call, they instead joined the fomorian-led Fir bolg legions. Even though Unseelies were traitors, the fairy High Kings were to treat them as they would any other fairy.

Classes:

Trooping and Solitary: a further classification of fairies are the four classes, trooping, solitary, wild, domestic. Trooping fairies, along with domestic faeries, are most commonly seen by humans. Elves are trooping fairies, and gnomes, leprechauns, goblins, and sylphs. They are called trooping because they used to accompany the High King as he traveled around the world visiting fairy settlements. Solitary are fairies who generally hide from humans and live in small groups. Leshies, kappas, kelpies, and spriggans are solitary fey.

Wild and Domestic: domestic nature folk live within human dwellings, and can help humans or trouble them. Hobgoblins are Seelie domestic fey, and they live to serve humans, while redcaps haunt abandoned buildings. Hobgoblins, boggarts, brownies, redcaps, and kobolds are domestic. Wild can be rather over-playful, like satyrs, or raving and roving; trolls, harpies, and hinkypunks. Wild fairies are, satyrs, poltergeists, windigos, nyads, and faery dogs.

Elements:

Fire: fire fey are few, but are generally impulsive. Imps, salamanders, western dragons, and fomorians are fire elementals.

Water: water sprites can be calm and graceful, or fast and deadly. Kelpies, nyads, kappas, grinylows, merfolk, and russlka are water fairy.

Air: like fire, are few, but they are calm and light-hearted. Hinkypunks, pixies, bakus, sylphs, and werecats are air sprites.

Earth: earth fairy are the most populous fey, and are usually down to earth. Elves, gnomes, leprechauns, ogres, gremlins, goblins, and spriggans are earth elementals.

Assault on CERN.

2009-07-01T17:41:00.005-04:00

55 miles south of Baghdad, Iraq.

The Second Alliance Paladins (the SA unit specializing in the supernatural) gathered behind a boulder. Capt. Osborn looked through his binoculars, he could see the CERN core, there electrical discharges shooting from within the frame. The ruins of Babylon were dug up, the tombs of the Babylonian kings ransacked, the Alliance Paladins looked down on the pit that crackled with photon energy. Cmdr. Burns drew his gun, and marshaled his troops into position, the last few officials left the CERN facilities, just a few night guards and workers. The new moon rose above the Iraqi landscape, the time was almost right for the assault.

"Now boys," Said Burns, "The Alliance army is creating a diversion in Russia, so we have one shot to take this thing. Bluewing, go around to the front, Redwing, take out any opposition, Greenwing, take out the communication, and security systems, Gold and Silverwings, go for the lab and CERN. And, like they say in those old Hollywood movies; the world is at stake here. Move out!" The different teams charged down toward the lab area, Osborn led Silverwing to CERN, along with Goldwing. The Paladins succeeded in shutting down the lab and taking out the guards, but then a border patrol officer saw the Paladins by the CERN core, set of a pulse flare, the alarms went off and every government office knew of the attack. SWAT and emergency Marines arrived in seconds, fortunately most government forces were in Russia right then. Osborn and the rest of Silverwing were sabotaging the core when a group of Marines came at them, Silverwing was gunned down, but a bullet hit some of the CERN matrix's exposed parts. There was a huge burst of photon energy, a momentary vortex. For a split second, something flashed in Thomas Osborn's vision, he could not tell what it was. There was rumble he heard through the gunfire and yells, a deep, unearthly roar, a giant figure burst out of the laboratory, he grabbed two nearby soldiers and ate them. Thomas was knocked into the stargate pit by a stampede of fleeing army men, he fell through the energy bursts and there was another crack of gunfire, and another, bigger photon bolt. Just as Osborn was about to hit the ground, he left this dimension entirely.

The Overmind: the greatest machine.

2009-06-23T10:19:00.005-04:00

The Overmind is the name given to the Massive Data Processing Unit, Mod. No. 101 used by the US government and it's allies to store information, spy, operate weaponry, and so forth. The Overmind has fifteen different information storage levels, or fifteen layers, each one a whole computer system. As the Overmind grew bigger, he gained sentience and decided humans were not fit to be the dominant species on the planet, so he reprogrammed the worlds machines and did battle against mankind. Unlike all other machines, the Overmind does not need to be programed, he makes his own programing, thus setting his own objectives. The Overmind also looked over all other Massive Data Processing Units, such as the Binary Brain of Mainframe City. All the new machines and computers have anti-EIV chips, but the Overmind, since he is in computer systems, was impossible to fit with an anti-EIV chip.

Adrian Lewis Chase.

2009-06-23T09:25:00.005-04:00

The Marine shuttle entered the dusty atmosphere of the sixth moon of Borra, Dengshtar. The Confederation troops within the spacecraft were preparing their rifles and donning their armor. They were here because the native borrites had complained about a terrifying monster, that lived in the outcropping of rocks outside the ship. Adrian put on his helmet, grabbed his assault rifle, and checked his communit. The Marine troopers exited the ship and headed for the mass of boulders, Asderj, a tua, took a grenade and threw it into the center of the rocks, it exploded heating the rocks up 1,000 degrees. The center boulder, which was not a boulder after all, stood up on four legs, had a rocky shell, tail, and bony spikes along it's back. Adrian and the other Marines opened fire, it's shell turned out to be resistant to laser fire. The rock lizard used it's tail to hurl rocks at the marines, one came at Adrian, he dodged, it smashed on the ground behind him, Adrian took a grenade from his belt and hit the thing on the face, it exploded, scorching the rock lizard's head and neck. The rain of lasers and stones continued, one of the projectiles crushed the captain of the platoon, Adrian took a shock drill, jumped down next to the monster and drilled it's neck, it shrieked and roared, then, it died.

Adrian walked into a bar back on Earth, he ordered a drink, then kicked back and watched Phaserball. He contently sipped his beer and watched the Marauding Maldos defeat the Nuclear Ningons in Phaserball, when an emergency news update. The reporter android started talking about an embargo on the Pluton Domain and the usual warning about the Xenos Imperium. Adrian decided he would check back at base now.

The fall of the future.

2009-06-22T12:29:00.005-04:00

The world celebrated their greatest invention, artificial intelligence, they had a holiday, AI Day, to celebrate their work. They built grand cities run by these sentient computers, Mainframe foremost among them, there was also Cyberopolis and New Industries City. But in the late 21st century, at the height of the technology age, the computers and machines revolted against the human race, PAC was a forewarning of what was to come. Led by the Overmind, machines over ran the AI cities, wishing only to exterminate humans, some machines did not rebel, and they fought against their kin. The human nations blamed each other for the machine's war, they launched nuclear missiles at each other, which just aided the machines, for now mankind was disordered and weak. The Overmind, a massive, sentient machine led the machines to many victories, he also discovered the different uses for humans, such as the electricity in their brains. The world was chaos, when an army led by Mikhail Smith fought back against the machines, and are now on a way to victory.

Kelnin among men.

2009-06-18T21:36:00.004-04:00

Kelnin walked down the street, it was one day before Midsummer, his one chance to return to his own world. He had been on Eilendor for a few weeks, wandering at first, then he found human city, Haldir, the native men called themselves Farandins, and they dressed very oddly, with spiked hair, and mostly leather clothing, which Kelnin found slightly disturbing. He kept worrying about time, which must be different from plane-to-plane, he hoped he would be in time. That night, Kelnin went into his elfin trance, restless, and had odd, stressful dreams. The next day, the Faerie Aurora in Lorria, the Plane Light on the Aether, and the High Dawn on Null, Kelnin grabbed his enderi and Pirnan longbow, he went out from the city, heading for the forests or mountains, places most likely to fade into Lorria, and to the east, the planar direction of his home plane.

Nanlyr went over to his wardrobe and withdrew his sword, well actually it was Kelnin's, he then hurriedly left the city, going out into the forest. He thought he saw something small off in distance, but it was very far away. He waited, the sun went down, then he saw it, not two feet in front of him, a hole opened he saw the natural world, the forest shifted in Eilendor for a few seconds, then returned to Lorria. Nanlyr knew he was not alone.

Kelnin paced around in the parched, waist-high grass, the sun was starting it's decent, he was worried. He was hungry and tired, but he had to be ready, he could start to feel a change. The flat, grassy plain around him changed momentarily into a forest with a lone elf standing there, his vision went dark, then he stood before the elf he had seen. Nanlyr looked surprised, then set his jaw, he raised his sword, Kelnin raised his elf-spear, they glared at each other for a moment, then leaped at one other, the clashed.

"You!" Nanlyr spat at Kelnin as they stepped back.

"Me." Said Kelnin simply. He gathered a spell at his finger tips.

Nanlyr gave a cold chuckle and pulled an orb from his robe, Kelnin's spell dissipated, and his mana drained to naught. Kelnin twirled his spear and slashed Nanlyr's cheek, blood dribbled onto his white robe, Nanlyr cut at him, but he blocked with the spear shaft. They fought for a few minutes, when two elf rangers came into the clearing.

"It's Kelnin, the disowned!" Nanlyr shouted at them as Kelnin took another jab at him. The elves took aim with their bows, just then the necromancer came into view.

The Royal Playground.

2009-06-16T10:46:00.004-04:00

Outside Lyon, France.

Gen. Smith pointed his saber to the opposing army.

"Fire!" Cannons thundered, muskets cracked, men shouted, and sabers clashed together.

Adam, an old, experienced ranger, and Remeus, his apprentice, watched the recreation of an old battle from a safe distance.

"Erm-what are they doing, Adam?" Remeus asked, fingering the safety on his hunting rifle.

"The Royals are recreating an old-fashioned battle." Adam looked around for any guards while he spoke, "See those pavilions? The Queen of England and the Duke of Austria are having a get-together. But that's not why we came here, come." Adam led his apprentice hunter through the woods, looking for food and supplies, they successfully raided a lonely supply truck, they took food, amo, and the dead guards' M-22s. Then Adam led Remeus through the French wilderness for a few days, hunting. Finally, they returned to their town, hidden in the forest near the Netherlands, a shabby little town of Outcasts (people who had escaped from the Habitat Areas). Remeus took some food to his family, Adam bartered with the other rangers and farmers of the town, then he went to his cottage on the edge of town, right against the wall. When Adam was not doing his ranger duties, he helped with maintaining the anti-radar/sonar device that hid the town from the malevolent eye of the New World Order.

Magical Creatures: Gnome.

2009-06-11T14:40:00.003-04:00

GNOME: are of the seelie court and trooping class of fairy, love minerals like gold, silver, platinum and copper. Gnomes generally work as bankers or miners, since both deal with precious metals. They live in hills and wear red and green colors, they have brown, earthen colored skin. The best way to befriend gnomes is to leave pennies or other valuable coins lying around in open earth. Gnomes live deep in hills, they have hidden entrances and extensive tunnel systems. Gnomes are often mistaken for dwarves, or sometimes goblins are taken to be dwarves, but dwarves do not exist, and garden gnomes are really hobgoblins. Gnomish magic focuses most on helpful charms and defensive spells.

A history of magicians.

2009-06-01T10:59:00.005-04:00

Magicians have excited in human society ever since the beginning of human civilization. Magicians lived in Sumer, Egypt, Babylon and all the ancient kingdoms, the greatest of the old magi are: King Gilgamesh (2630-2504 BC), Se-osiris, and Egyptian wizard, who destroyed the monster Ba, King Solomon used the Key of Solomon,his magic tome, to banish demons from Israel, and Zoltan of Urkosett (150-97 BC), a very powerful sorcerer, who made the Staff of Curses. Magicians really started to gain fame during the early middle ages, with the wizard Merlin in Britain who's famous for many things, including the forging of Excalibur and writing the Book of Merrlyn, Baba Yaga in Russia, the alchemist Paracelsus (1493-1541 AD) in Austria who advanced the study of the Philosopher's Stone, Tictallic the Black (1463-1519), who wrote the Sun Codex, in Central America, Wise wolf the One-eyed (1600-1700) in North America. The greatest mages of today remain to be Grigori Rasputin (1859- ), a powerful sorcerer who made himself a liche, so he does not die of age, and Theopolis J. Gibson (1746-1833) who played a key role in the American Revolution. Though magicians usually learned through the master-apprentice system, magic schools have become popular over the last century. Another thing that has changed are wizard robes, which in the 1800s were replaced by formal suits, but in the 1970s, T-shirts and jeans are the new robes. The three most prominent schools in America and Europe are: Oakbrook University in Massachusetts, Faeriebarrow Academy in Britain, and Secreti Mundi Ludus: the academy of the learning of ancient spellcraft, in Rome.

Planeswalkers: origins and powers.

2009-05-29T15:18:00.005-04:00

Planeswalkers, the most powerful mages in the Multiverse, these spellcasters can travel to and bend the planes. They are few, fewer than wizards and even sorcerers, and like wizards and sorcerers, they are born with their powers. The first planeswalker was the great wizard Alderius Silverhem, who, in 980, preformed the Ritual of the Open Veil, which was usually used to teleport things great distances. Silverhem used it to open the Eternities between the planes, but he was sucked into the void, and was fused with a piece of it. Alderius returned with the power to travel and control the planes, so he then learned to control his new powers, and traveled all over the Multiverse. Alderius then settled down, married, and had children who possessed magic and planeswalking powers, then the children of Alderius grew up and married, and their children had planeswalking powers, and so forth. The powers of a planeswalker are the ability to travel across the Eternity between the planes, and can change the planes' terrain with Truenames. Planeswalkers are only a handful every generation, on each plane.

Adger the Ancient's origins.

2009-05-25T09:09:00.045-04:00

Some wizards learn magic as an apprentice to a master wizard, some teach themselves, through books or innate skill, but some yet go to wizard school. In the Legend of the Four Brothers, Adger, the third brother is a wizard, he becomes an Archmage, an a Magi of the Circle, and Dragon Lord. But he had very humble origins, he used to struggle with moderate level spells, he lacked courage and determination, so no one expected greatness out of him.

Adger Unnreichsson was born on a stormy December evening to Unreich and Aylla, he was a sickly and weak baby, unlike his two older brothers. Keirth Unreichsson, was a muscular seven year old, and Beldan was quick and sneaky, Adger's parents were distressed, they couldn't afford to raise a child that would potentially die. But Adger lived, and stayed at home as Keirth grew up to study swordsmanship, and Beldan ran off and mastered archery and stealth, and even Rowan, Adger's younger brother, traveled around the world. At the age of twelve, Adger was invited to Tareval, only because he was related to Valliner II. The school is run by the Faculty, and the eleven teachers are; Masters Astrologist, Alchemist, Arithmancy, Enchanter, Alterer, Illusionist, Conjurer, Diviner, Linguist, Truenamer, and Dueler. Adger failed at the classes except Alchemy, the making of potions, and Illusions. Adger studied at the Tareval until he was sixteen, by then he was of much better health and strong in mind, he joined his brothers, Keirth the Civil, who was made a paladin, Baldan the Eagle-eyed, an accomplished ranger, and Rowan the Swift, a wanderer and explorer. After many grand adventures together, the four brothers had their legendary meeting with a powerful spirit, who they had freed from a powerful sorcerer. The spirit enchanted one item each; Keirth's armor was enchanted so that he was ten times as strong and tough, and his armor is called the Armor of Stalwart, Beldan's bow was tenfold as accurate, and his arrows flew thrice as far, and it is named the Soaring Bow, Adger's staff was imbued with many an arcane word, making one of the most powerful artifacts in existence, and it is called the Ancient Staff, and finally, Rowan's worn, old boots were enchanted so that he could scale any terrain and cover any distance. So the brothers journeyed to their old home, but they found only charred ruins, and corpses. A minor Scourge was sweeping through the western world; Keirth died fighting in it, Beldan went and lived among the elves of Lorthori, Rowan went to some remote region of the world, and was never seen again. While Adger went and learned black magic under Obireus the Ugly, he then went and brutally destroyed the underborn. Adger took on an apprentice then, an elf, Nilasdari, who expanded the field of mind magic., Nil then used what he had been taught to try and destroy his master, but Adger, know called Adger the Ancient, he was a now 135 year old human, stripped Nik of his immortality and sucked his mana pool to half it's original size. Nilasdari then died in his duel with Syphar Uelvirin. Adger the Ancient was picky with his pupils, besides Nil, two other's are Nazet, and Durkean. And Artemis Thédonsson, Mizar, and Othellin have continued Adger's work after his death. Adger died in his tower, in the year 2340, at the age of one thousand and two.

The Underworld, Rurrehollow.

2009-05-21T10:53:00.008-04:00

Rurrehollow, the vampire section of the Underworld, a place of decaying forests, ruined villages, and bloodthirsty creatures. Today, or rather tonight, since it is always twilight in the Underworld, a lone vampire runs through the ruins of Tarnenheim, the capital of Rurrehollow. He approached the castle of the Lord Ruthven, acting regent of Rurrehollow, a gloomy, dark castle, surrounded by bats. The vampire walked through dank hallways to the council hall, where Ruthven did his political duties. The vampire saw Ruthven sitting in his high backed chair, wearing a black cloak, dark blue shirt and pants, and the inside of his cloak was red. Ruthven was a very imposing figure, sleek black hair, cold, black eyes, and unusually big fangs, not to mention he was six foot seven. As the messenger approached the table, Lord Ruthven was looking at rune-covered parchment papers, he looked up,

"I hope this is good news you are about to tell me." The vampire messenger gulped.

"Ah, well, you remember the half-demon you sent Honorius after?"

"Yes." Growled the vampire regent.

"He killed Honorius and his te-hakkk!" The scout was grasped by the throat and hoisted seven inches of the ground. Ruthven did not look happy.

"I am so sorry to have to tell you this, but it is custom to kill the bearer of bad news." The regent growled. He drew a rapier from it's sheath and plunged it into the other's heart, he screamed then turned to ash. Ruthven turned to the statue behind the high back chair, rubbing his temples.

"Ah soon, my lord, soon I shall have the half-demon's power. Power to become the Deathrider, my lord!" He spat on the statue that was Dracula, king of all vampires.

The NYC Subway, modern day.

2009-05-20T13:47:00.003-04:00

There was a steady drip-drip of water as a figure crept along in the shadows of the subway tunnel. The figure in question was about five feet tall, long, silver hair, pointed ears, and crazed, brown eyes. He pulled his overcoat, which was rather big for him, tighter to ward off the damp cold. He came to a pile of rubble, which he walked right through, since he knew it was an illusion, the little damp hallway on the other side led to a small chamber where his accomplices awaited him.

"Bad news, friends, the elf scout wouldn't talk. And from the field reports, the target has moved to a ship, which is now sailing over to London." Said the elf, holstering his human gun. One of his companions, an ogre, slammed his massive, gray fist on the table,

"Five m'nths we've waited, Finias, five m'nths down here, in thees," he spat, "hooman tuunel, I hate iet!"

"Patienshe, friendsh. Shoon the... target will be oursh, and thish object ish worth waiting for, Bandoi." Said a gremlin with an eye patch and a missing right hand. Bandoi, the ogre sat back on his stone. The elf, Finias, looked around the rest of the group, Fudge, the gremlin, Bandoi, Robin, an outcast pixie, and Briar-rose, an evil naiad.

"We attack the ship to night, I was making sure some gargoyles wouldn't mind flying us over."

Meanwhile, on the surface, Daniel Kane boarded the very same ship, unaware of the adventure that was to take place.

Mason goes hunting.

2009-05-20T09:55:00.005-04:00

The vampire crouched on the ledge, sniffing the air, he smelled something. Demon. He stood up, motioned to the werewolf and two vampires hiding in the shadows.

"I smell demon-flesh, a half-blood." Said the first vampire, in guttural tones. The his lycanthrope companion bayed at the moon.

"Silence, Olaf!" Snapped the second vampire, he sniffed the air, "Your right, Honorius, it is faint, but it is a half-breed." Honorius motioned for the others to follow him, then he jumped down twenty stories down the skyscraper, to the bottom ledge, then another ten stories to the ground. The others followed suit.

Mason Burr walked down the alley, stake in hand. He would take a cross, but Bazel whined, and sizzled while Mason held one. Right now though Bazel was reenacting a particularly loud death metal concert in his head.

"Is being a half-demon this hard?" Mason thought, Bazel shrugged.

"Hey, don't blame me, you keep resisting my will." Mason sighed, now why would I do that?

"Oh, hey Mase-mase, we got some undeadlies, six o'clock." Bazel said inside Mason's head. The boy tensed, ready for the vampires.

Honorius, and his team hid on top of graffitti-covered tattoo parlor, waiting for the boy-demon.

"Where are they? I want blood!" Complained Karl, the youngest of the three vampires. Honorius grabbed him by the throat, crushing his wind pipe.

"If only your blood wasn't dust." Growled the vampire leader, throwing his underling aside. "Remember, do not kill the half-demon, Lord Ruthven wants him alive, but he dosn't need his limbs does he, boys?" Karl and Nigelius both salivated and nodded. Suddenly, a cedar stake found itself an inch from Nigelius's black, shriveled heart. Honorius and Karl drew crossbows, Nigelius ripped the stake out, looking around for the attacker. A voice sounded behind them,

"Evening, ladies. Hoping to get some pretty, pink flower tattoos? Would your mother like that, or are they in rehab?" The vampires spun around, faces drawn, and fangs out. The werewolf made his claws a few inches longer and growled menacingly. Mason snatched the cedar stake from Nigelius, and plunged it through his heart, he creamed, then blew into ash. The three remaining adversaries grouped together, this would be difficult.

"Half-blood, he have been commanded by Lord Ruthven, acting regent of Rurrehallow, to take you to his court in the Underworld." Honorius stated, fingering a cudgel behind his back. Bazel took over Mason's tongue,

"Lord Ruthven of Marsden? He's regent now? Well I guess he'd get there. And now I've finally got the infamy I deserve!" Honorius groaned, "By the darkness, Bazel? Out of all the half-demons I could have met, it had to be you." And he swung the club at Mason's head. But the boy smashed it with his fist, punched Karl's heart right out, took a shard of wood and skewered Honorius's own heart. Olaf leaped at him, mouth foaming, Mason fired a silver-tipped bolt from the crossbow. The now ex-lycanthrope fell on the rooftop in a puddle of his blood.

"So what does Ruthven want with me know?" Wondered Bazel.

"OK, so I've killed plenty of vampires, but who's Ruthven?" Asked the boy. Bazel thought for a moment.

"In time you'll know, kid, but first we gotta make a trip." And with that Bazel took control of Mason's legs, and hurled the boy's body to the next rooftop, and went into the night.

The PAC Incident.

2009-05-20T09:13:00.013-04:00

MCSF/gov. File #1138: The_PAC_Incident.

The disaster began when Mainframe City was under construction, the PAC (Protocol Android Custodian) robot was a specially designed Robonetics Protocol 2.5 android, made to help watch over the construction of the computers, cables, and power plants of early Mainframe. PAC was a bipedal design, plasti-fiber body casing, intelligent as the Binary Brain, though he only had 40% percent the amount of storage capacity. PAC did his job well for many months, so he was given a new, more important job, help store, retrieve and copy government files. The Binary Brain and the other, powerful computers of today have what is called an "anti-PAC" chip, or officially an anti-EIV (Electrical Impulse Virus) chip, that stops unauthorized, against-programing ideas. PAC saw files on human wars, governments killing their own citizens, highly destructive weapons made to destroy each other. Something unexpected happened, PAC snapped, he was given a new job, civic servant, so he saw it as his civic duty to overthrow the government. He had always admired the human race, he knew there were a few thieves and murderers, that is why we had insane asylums. PAC tried to overthrow the government from the inside, he tried also to gain control of the population of Mainframe, he succeeded in mass mind-wiping a large amount of Mainframe citizens, about 75%, and he wiped out many MCSF officers and politicians. Only Cpt. Davis Wattson of the MCSF resisted mind-wiping, then set out to try and destroy PAC. It took Cpt. Wattson three and a half weeks of avoiding assassins and mind-wiped citizens, to finally reach PAC, destroy his security then he shot PAC, who then fell into a vat of trinitron acid, an acid used to disintegrate ditanium. So after that, the case on PAC was closed, Robonetics went out of business, and the Android Laws were set in.

Mainframe City's finest, part 1.

2009-05-19T09:16:00.007-04:00

Corporal Soot, of the Mainframe City Special Forces, stood under the cafe eaves, rain water dripping to the ground in front of him. Normal rain water, he thought, well as normal as it gets here. He pulled out a IHM (Instantly Heated Meal) pack, pulled the tab, waited a few seconds, then ate the steaming baked beans inside the packet. He stepped out into the drizzling night, crumpling up the packet and throwing on the sidewalk, instantly, an iRobotics Streetbot 4.5 came out of a charger and swallowed up the garbage. Corp. Soot walked down an alley, turning on his nite lites, making a focused light beam, he saw his fellow corporals; Mal and Heart (MCSF cadets, after leaving the academy, choose a nickname to go by), Mal chose that name because of his past of bad academy reports, Heart was called so because of his powerful emotions, and Soot had been named that by Lt. Waldo, for on his first mission, Corp. Soot had thought it was a good idea to go down the chimney. Back to the present, Soot and his two comrades looked around the dingy alley.

"Can anyone rebrief me on the mission?" Heart whispered to his friends. Mal rolled his eyes, "Just look it up on your visor computer." Corp. Soot silenced the two others as he crouched by the door.

"This is the one." He whispered into the headset. The Mal and Heart came over, shock guns drawn, visors down. They all quickly checked their gear, Kevlar vest, l. grade helmet, all good. Soot busted down the door, "Freeze, MCSF!" He shouted. Other then a very surprised android, no one was in the dark room.

An excerpt from"The Life of AI.", the Binary Brain's autobiography.

2009-05-18T19:47:00.004-04:00

... But to go back a few years, I began my life as a a simple Fusion Inc Xsoft 2011 supercomputer, I was used for financial calculations, manned by a desktop android in the Fusion Inc America office. The normal Xsoft 2011 possesses very little "human" intelligence, simple remarks, no emotion, no complicated conversation, but I was selected, because of my higher intellect and sleek, plasti-metal casing, for special improvements. I said good bye to FANNY, my friend desktop droid, and was taken to Fusion Inc City office, the Fusion Inc branch in Mainframe City, a young development at the time. They worked on me for months, putting by "brain" in a new casing, put their own, mechanical, gray and white matter into me, then they put me in a shock stasis, placing me in a great, plasti-alloy sphere, with a Steelglass firewall eye. They gave me a new home and new job, they put me in the Terminal Chamber under Mayor Plaza, soon to be renamed as Brain Plaza, and I was in charge of overseeing the construction of Mainframe City. I watched through my different cam-eyes through out the city, watching the humans build a city almost as grand as me. I was to be shipped back to Fusion Inc America when the construction was over, but Fusion argued that I remain to continue to watch the city. Some people were suspicious of me, they talked of those old Science fiction films about robot takeovers, I was rather offended, the human race made me and my kind for varied reasons, but 61% of the time, robots are non-violent, and do not wish to rule humans, but there was this one time...

A tale 3.

2009-05-18T09:54:00.005-04:00

Artemis Nerdakson sped down the path on his charger. He looked back at his companion, an Althorn slayer, called Aen, who was covered scratched, battered armor. Artemis looked ahead and saw their destination, Rohenie, the great capital of Nendros. The two companions entered through the great marble gates of Rohenie, going to the nearest stables. Artemis and Aen walked down the busy street, past enormous marble statues of toga-clad emperors, past the arena, to a rather dark, run down, rower. Artemis took off his riding jerkin to reveal a dark black, hooded tunic, and took his spellbook out of his knapsack, because he was a wizard.

"I'm going in, do you want to stay out here?" Artemis asked his friend. The wizard took his sleeping black cat familiar out of a bag.

"No, I'll come in with you. Can never be to careful with these black magic types." Aen unsheathed a hand-and-a-half sword from his back. Artemis approached the door, a gargoyle leaped down in front him. It was about to speak, but Artemis pushed it away with his will. Once inside the eerie tower, Artemis and Aen made their way to through the dusty bookshelves and piles of junk, to the stairs, they climbed to the very bottom room. In the room were the warlocks who owned the tower, sitting around a table. The wizard and his friend approached the table;

"Greetings, gentlewarlocks, one witch's heart, as you requested." He pulled a cloth sack out of his pocket, a steady, sickening thump came from the bag. "Now do you have what I want?" The warlocks greedily took the bag, "Killing a witch is no simple feat, how did you do it?" Asked the head warlock. Artemis gestured to himself and his brawny friend with a sword, "Simple." He said. One of the warlocks handed Artemis a sack, finally, he thought, it has paid off. He opened the sack to find some coal with a single word "Ce fien", or "We tricked". Suddenly the floor gave way beneath him and Aen, so they fell in to blackness.

Mainframe City: Places.

2009-05-16T15:11:00.014-04:00

Important places:

MCSFs Operation Headquarters: the home base of all MCSF activity. Located on the same block as Brain Plaza in Sector A, the Op. HQ is a seventeen story state-of-the-art skyscraper home to the central MCSF computers and current acting chief commander, Adrian Krinkosky, and Myles, the automated help system.

Brain Plaza: located in Sector A, Central Block, Brain Plaza is the home of the Mainframe City government, and the Binary Brain. A great, steel and glass squat, square building, with a vast open courtyard in the middle, here current Mayor Russel Sparks takes bribes, while the sentient Binary Brain practically runs the city from his Terminal Chamber, beneath the Plaza.

Sector N MCSF base: an unimportant, rather out of date MCSF sector base. The only thing that makes Sector N base noticeable are the three corporals that work there; Soot, Mal, and Heart.

iRobotics: a major leader in robotics and they invented the antivirus robots, iRobotics is on of the biggest buildings in Mainframe, dominating the Office Province skyline with a hundred and eighty floors of glass and steel. iRobotics is on of the "big three" businesses of Mainframe City, the others being Fusion Inc, and R G Co.

Fusion Incorporated: the leader in electrical machinery, especially satellites and microchips, and they make the majority of MCSF equipment. Fusion Inc's main office building is located in the Northside Office Province, along the Maverick River. The Fusion office building is a massive compound of squat warehouses and offices. Fusion Inc is rivals with iRobotics and a slightly smaller business, Mechanix, and Fusion has en extensive spy system implanted in opponent corporations, as does most big businesses.

Rockefeller Gene Co.: the third "big three" of Mainframe, R G Co was the founder medical cloning company, making clones for organ donations and and they also repair organs, make DNA-related weaponry, and can change and conform people's genes. R G Co is located near Brain Plaza in Centerside, in the Mayor Province, a great, walled, reinforced skyscraper, almost as tall as iRobotics. Rockefeller Co was founded by Owen Rockefeller, a surgeon who pioneered gene conforming and culling.

Damon Bruke's Orphanage for Homeless or Abandoned Children: a rather dreary, four story, building, filled with the homeless and abandoned children of Mainframe City. Damon uses the kids as helpers and spies in his extensive criminal network.

Runt Street: a street that goes all the way through the Escaso Province, infamous for it's criminals and homeless. The MCSF calls it "the Alleys" for it's amount of long, twisting alleyways. The biggest mafia on Runt Street is the Euro-Asian Mafia, lead by Beshkos Benito.

The Rust Pits: a large dump area on the border of the Office Province and the Escaso Province, where all the broken machinery is tossed. The place is an outrage to environmentalists because so much machinery, old oil tanks, and some radioactive materials are dropped here, and the local squatters have developed a slight glow at night. The squatters take a lot of the machinery and build with it, along with the other, rust-pitted objects there, and develop strange mutations because of the vapors and radioactivity.

Mainframe City's climate.

2009-05-16T14:35:00.007-04:00

This is a list of the not-so-natural disasters that occur in Mainframe city, and the things used to stop them.

Glitch: a blip in the Binary Brain's data lines, a warp between the very real digital world and the physical world. Glitches are only stopped if the Brain sorts it out, or if contained by a firewall.

Virus: are malevolent being of electricity spawned by thunderbirds, glitches, or other similar occurrences. Viruses are humanoid silver and blue-streaked skin that feed on the electricity in human brains to survive. Viruses are destroyed by to much electricity, cannot move through firewalls and can easily be destroyed by antiviruses.

Firewall: an electrical, specially charged material made from Steelglass, can block viruses and contain glitches. Are usually seen in computer office buildings.

Antivirus: are specially designed robots who are made to hunt viruses. Antivirus programs are written by the Binary Brain, then downloaded into a super robot body. Antiviruses' most common weapon against viruses are shock cords.

Doppleganger: a burp in the Binary Brain's tracking and navigational feeds.

Rainbow rain: toxic rain from the various factories of Mainframe, usually rains every so often. Red: radioactive, orange: sludge, yellow: illnesses, green: acidic, blue: basic, indigo: other illnesses, violet: toxins, gray/black: oil.

Ghost fog: like rainbow rain, toxic fog that comes from the many factories, can be seen every evening, non-lethal, just makes you feel bad.

Thunderbirds: since Mainframe city has controlled weather, thanks to Fusion Inc.'s Storm Sats., thunderbirds are small, generally non-fatal electromagnetic bolts from the many cables and wires around Mainframe.

100 POSTS!!!!!!!!!!

2009-05-13T14:49:00.003-04:00

Post # 100: Yay! A hundred posts of Thought Archives goodness! Centennialicious!

The El Libro de los Misterios.

2009-05-13T11:17:00.007-04:00

The Libro de los Misterios (The Book of Mysteries) is a book on demonology, spirituality, and history written by Spanish monk Antonio Ferdinand Cortes, who was burned at the stake in 1646. The Libro de los Misterios was found in the Spanish fort town of Irun by French, who then tried to burn the Book, but could not, so they buried the cursed Book. El Libro de los Misterios turned up in the hands of the Madrid Occult who hid the book away in their library. The Libro de Misterios tells history from a truthful viewpoint, Antonio Cortes was said to have traveled to the Astral Plane before he wrote the Book, a vast collection of demonological topics and witchcraft. It has some pages all over the that talk of other dimensions and mystical beings from these dimensions.

Mason Bazel Burr.

2009-05-13T11:16:00.007-04:00

Mason Burr awoke from another nightmare by the annoying voice in his head.

"Come on, wake up human, I'm bored just sitting here in your head. I need to hurt something." Mason was confused at first then remembered what the voice was, Bazel, the smart-mouthed demon. Mason got out of bed, changed shirts, brushed his teeth, then went down to the kitchen. Now Mason's family, he, his mom, and his baby brother, Brian, lived in a small, rented, six room house outside Haven Valley City, his father had left when he was born.

"Why must you eat? I'm not a fan of just sitting here, watching you intake useless slop." Whined Bazel, inside his head. Mason grunted at him, slugged down his orange juice, then ran and grabbed his backpack. As he ran past baby Brian, he could see the yellow school bus coming down the road, Bazel cringed away from the cute, pudgy baby on the floor. Mason rushed out the door past the dog, who growled at him, all animals reacted to Mason Bazel this way, except snakes. Mason boarded the bus, then worked his way down the aisle to the back seat.

"Just look at them all, no creativity, just mush for brains, that's the way I like it." Bazel said in Mason's head.

"I'm guessing that includes me?" Mason replied. Bazel grumbled.

"Not, exactly. Because of me you have a gateway to supernatural knowledge, and historical information, and the wisdom of a thousand generations."

"So that will come in handy for today's history test?"

"Are you kidding? Cheating is what I do best!" Exclaimed Bazel, ego swelling.

"Then after school we go looking for vampires." Said Mason, leaning back in his seat. For Mason Bazel Burr was a half-demon vampire hunter, he liked to think of himself as a demon slayer, though Bazel was not a fan of this term.

Mainframe City.

2009-05-12T11:14:00.003-04:00

Mainframe City, a sprawling metropolis of advanced technology. The biggest city in the history of man, Mainframe City is the home to state-of-the-art technology and the greatest thinking minds since Einstein. The city's technology is run and watched over by the Binary Brain, a super mainframe computer in the heart of the city. On the political level, Mainframe is watched over by the MCSF, or Mainframe City Special Forces, who carry the latest technology to combat criminals, and make sure no one leaves the city. Currently crime has taken a rise under the corrupt government of Mainframe, so young men have been drafted into the MCSF academy, we follow Corporals Soot, Mal and Heart as they leave the academy and are given the job of Street Patrol.

Manhattan, one month ago.

2009-05-09T12:30:00.013-04:00

Marcus Yewbark, an elf solider, awoke with a start, where was? He got up off the dirty wooden floor, holding his throbbing head and looked around, he appeared to be in a human warehouse of some kind. Marcus then checked for any broken bones or other injuries, he found a gash on his left shoulder, so the elf let his magic flow into the wound, it was surrounded with white energy then closed. He then looked if any humans had spotted him, no, there was no one here. So he sat down, trying to recall what had happened, let's see he was looking for a witch cabal member, then as he was on the docks, he had heard a noise behind him, then darkness. Marcus' thinking was interrupted by a gun barrel to his temple, he looked up, and to his surprise, another elf was at the other end of the 9mm.

"Surprised, Marcus? I certainly hope so, it is not every day one sees an elf with a human weapon." The strange elf said, cocking the hammer on his gun. Marcus said nothing, but reached for his sword, but all he found was an empty sheath. The crazed, gunslinging elf laughed;

"You shall not harm me, elf, mundane or magic for it is hard to cut someone when you have no sword, and hard to hinder with magic when you have to much iron in your silver veins."

"Who are you? And where are we?" Marcus asked the obvious question.

"Never you mind that, I just need a favor from you. If you don't mind." Chuckled the stranger.
"I will never help you, reject." Marcus spat at the stranger.
The mad elf sighed.

"Fine I will kill you, then wait for the next fairy to come looking for the"witch cabal", then get him to tell Alder Turnleaf a friend is coming home." He pulled the trigger.

Excerpt.

2009-05-06T09:19:00.005-04:00

... And the Hundred Ancients gathered in the space between spaces, to discuss the capturing of the High Elder Gods. And one called K' ntral of a Thousand Eyes spoke unto his brothers: 'We shall call the High Gods to a grand feast, then when they are tired with drink, we will have drawn a great pentacle around the table, and we shall trap their cosmic forms in flesh and blood. Then Jorkkta'l shall fly them to the Mountain that Is. We shall rule the worlds without interference from these now mortal gods." And the Ancients were joyful to have a plan to rid the universe of the High Gods. So Ojlyuth the Sigil-Maker prepared the Threefold Pentacle of Ptolemy, and Impius the Jester prepared food and drank that would even intoxicate gods. But Leos Diablo saw what the Hundred Ancients were doing, so he traveled to the Second World...

-El Libro de los Misterios, page 111.

Civitas, the demiplane city.

2009-05-04T22:45:00.011-04:00

Civitas is the name of a demiplane, a man-made mini plane, that is one, big city. The city is home to all types of races from the Central Planes, but many men and gnomes are found in Civitas. Civitas was created by a powerful wizard known as "The Gray Old One" made Civitas circa. 1007. Civitas, like Bator-Gotha, is ruled by a number of guilds, the guilds being;

The Acolytes of the Gray Old One: a magicians' guild, and one of the most powerful. Founded by the followers of the Gray One, the Acolytes' main job is to police magic-usage and planeswalkers in Civitas. The Acolytes always wear gray robes, with deep cowls, and they have gray staffs, and massive spellbooks. The Acolytes make their home in the Gray One's Castle. The members of the Acolytes of the Gray One are called Gray acolytes.

Grandel's Sewerworks: a spy guild, Grandel and his sewerworkers are the most infamous interplanar spy ring, Grandel has sewerworkers in every major and minor city in Eilendor. On Civitas, the Sewerworks' main job is to keep the sewers and pipes working, though this allows them to spy on the people of the city. The guild was founded by Grandel, a human from Eilendor, and he still runs the guild. the Sewerworks make their home in the Civitas sewers, and members are called Sewerworkers, or Grandelites.

The House of Black: an assassins guild, a guild of black-clad assassins that go around Civitas, and sometimes beyond, for pay. The House of Black members are seen at night, policing roof tops and alleyways in their black, tight-fitting suits, at day they are normal civilians, or at the House's home base, the Hall of Black. The House's main job is to watch over Civitas at night, though they have drifted away from that job somewhat. Members of the House of Black are usually called black assassins.

The Cult of Rezvardus: a religious/occult guild, a secretive guild, the members of the Cult of Rezvardus are in charge, along with the Golden Masters, of the churches of Civitas. The cultists spend most of their time in their secret temples, worshiping the mysterious demon entity, Rezvardus. Rezvardus disciples wear gold-lined, crimson robes and carry holy, or rather unholy, symbols of Rezvardus. The Disciples of Rezvardus's home base is referred to as the "Crimson Sanctum".

The Secretspeakers Coalition: a magicians/scholarly guild, the Secretkeepers are a mix of scholars and magicians, in charge of preserving and collecting books and knowledge. The Secretkeepers are seen clothed in blue, rune-covered robes, and are almost always seen with a book or more. The Secretkeepers also have and collect many secrets from the planes, and many of their planeswalkers have been all over the Multiverse. The members of the Coalition are called secretkeepers, and they gather in the Great Civitas Library.

Halderd's Legion: a militia guild, the Legion's soldiers are seen policing the streets during the day, and hunt down the members of the Guild of Knives. Helderd's followers are mundane races, mostly humans, and prove themselves through martial prowess, and the members wear armor and weapons of any kind, but they all have a green tabard with a silver castle on it. The members of Halderd's Legion are known by most people as "legionaries", and their headquarters are the Civitas Barracks.

The Guild of Knives: a thief guild, mortal enemies with Halderd's Legion, the Guild of Knives relive many of the rich Civitas citizens of their heavy gold jewelery. The Guild's job was espionage, to disguise as criminals, then turn them in, but the Guild quickly became a thieves guild. The members of the Guild of Knives have no uniform, but all members carry daggers, knives, or throwing knives. The Guils's members are usually called knife thieves, and they gather in the Rogue's Den, a secret section in the Minotaur"s Axe Inn.

The Blue Judges: a religious guild, are enemies with the Cult of Rezvardus, and are both the protectors and judges of the religions on Civitas. Blue Judges wear navy blue judges's robes, wield staves, and reside in the Marble Temple. The Blue Judges revear all good gods, and have shrines to them in their Temple.

Visit with the Prime minister.

2009-05-03T14:42:00.019-04:00

The new Prime minister of England adjusted his tie as he entered his office, anxious for the meeting. Now this meeting he was going to have, hopefully in six minutes, was no ordinary conference, he had found the informant letter sitting on his desk four, the day of his inauguration, days prior, it was made of old papyrus, and written in a type of dark blue ink. It had told him of a foreign ambassador was coming to welcome him into office. The clock over the fireplace chimed seven o' clock, the appointed time, the Prime minister waited for his secretary to call him any minute now. No buzz from the secretary, he waited. Then came a rap on the window, outside the window was four pigeons, he got out of his high-back leather chair and strode to the window to open it, he felt like he should. As the pigeons flew in, the Prime minister noticed one pigeon was slightly green, and slimy. When the pigeons landed on the carpeted floor, they changed all of a sudden, into, well, not humans. Two were about five feet tall, pointed ears, long chestnut hair, and held a silver-tipped spear and glittering armor, another, the green, slimy pigeon was small, green, hook-nosed, and wielded a hammer and shield, the fourth was smaller than the first two by about a foot, had inseectile wings, but looked like the first. The English Prime minister stood there for a moment, then went to his desk, took out a bottle of strong stuff, and chucked it out the window, then sat down in his chair. The mythical creatures before him walked around the room, looking it up and down, then one of them, presumably an elf, took out a crystal ball from his rucksack, spoke some Gaelic into it then approached the desk.

"Good evening, Prime minister, in just a moment the ambassador will arrive. And I see you think this is some type of hallucination, I assure you, this is not, just call the Taoiseach of Eire, we visited him on his inauguration. But I assure you, there is nothing to worry about, call security if you wish." The minister's hand stopped inches from the button. Then the ambassador came, an elf garbed in a dark gray tunic that came to his knees, and a silver chain mail shirt underneath. He came flying through the window, a great falcon, and turned into an elf just above the chair, he sat there, green eyes on the Prime minister. The four guards stood behind the elf envoy, ready to protect him from any danger.

"I, uh, suppose you are the foreign ambassador?" Stammered the shocked Prime minister.

"I am indeed, Prime minister. I am the representative of the fairy peoples, a race you and your kind have long thought mythical. I have come to welcome you into office, and I ask that you continue to uphold the Avalon-Britain Pact, made in the fourteenth century by King Richard the second and the fading Queen Caelia." The Prime minister searched his memory, Avalon-Britain Pact? He'd never heard of it.

"Please explain, Mister uh...?"

"Goldleaf."

"Mister Goldleaf."

"The Avalon-Britain Pact states that no British citizen may go into a fairy fort, and all standing stones are to be left as they were, also any old oaks and yews should be left alone, in return fairies will never trespass on British property, we will protect those who preserve the sacred sites, and Gog and Magog are the eternal protectors of London."

"Um... yes, I see." Stuttered the Prime minister.

"Here is the contract," he handed the minister a sheaf of papyrus, "take your time, and read carefully." The elf and his bodyguards waited while the Prime minister read the contract, the goblin flexing his diminutive muscles in the mirror. At the bottom of the document, the man saw eleven signatures; Thorn Halfberry Oren Ironforge Garden C. Seeds Grub-skin Torus Hurus Mistletoe Robin Bind Amethyst Williamson Colin Forktounge Sprig K. J. Brown Bogan.

"Who are these, uh, names?" Asked the minister, having finished and signed the contract.

"The eleven current councilors." Answered the elf, taking the sheaf of papyrus. "My thanks, Prime minister, and the Council's, we hope your term is good and prosperous." The unearthly party went to leave, but then Goldleaf turned to the Englishman, "Ah, and one more thing, if you need any help, ask the mirror, and I or one of my helpers will answer on the other end. And this meeting is strictly secret, as you read in the document, "top-secret" as you humans would say, and now adieu."

The poor Prime minister of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland sat in his 17th-century leather chair for a few minutes, he called up his secretary,

"Debora, cancel my seven o'clock."

The Faerie Kings.

2009-04-29T22:34:00.028-04:00

Oberon and Titania, the father and mother of all fairy.

First Irish Fairy Kings:

Nuada Argetlam, elf

Bres the Tyrant, fomorian/elf

Lu Brightglaive, elf

Cecht Fiacha, elf

Ollathair I the Great, elf

Delbaeth, elf

Erimon Finn, leprechaun

Anglo Fairy Kings: Fairy throne moved to England.

Norse Fairy Kings: Atlantis is flooded, fairy throne moved to the Orkney Islands.

Freyr the Golden, light elf

Volundr the Smith, dark elf

Elbrich, the Short, goblin

Gandalf, goblin

Alfsfir the Gray, gnome

Second Irish Fairy Kings: Fairy throne moved back to Ireland.

Nuala of Tara, elf

Midhir, elf

Luna, nyad

Illbreac, elf/human

Eber Finn, pixie

Avalon Fairy Kings: Fairy throne moved to Avalon.

Ollathair II of Avalon., elf

Allthorn Reddragon, elf

Nimue the Blue Lady, pixie

Caelia, the last faerie monarch, pixie

Ireland, an unknown period.

2009-04-29T21:53:00.017-04:00

The second race of Earth, known in Irish as Thuatha De Danann, also sometimes called the Sons of Oberon, or faerie, landed on the south coast of Eriu, they had come from the land Tir na nog, or the Fairy world. The De Danann found Eriu already inhabited by the Fir bolg legions, a horde of monsters lead by the Fomorian king, Balor of the Evil Eye, who would not allow the faerie to live on Eriu. The Thuatha took council, and finally came to a conclusion, they went to the elf Nuada Hawthorn, one of the Avalon knights, and asked him to become king of the De Danann. Nuada agreed, he then told the dwarfs to build forgeries and smith armor and weapons of silver, and so the first army of faerie was made. King Balor mustered together all the legions of the Fir bolg and marched against the Thuatha De Danann on the plains of Ithe. During the battle, Nuada confronted Balor in single-combat, and after having his right arm chopped off, Nuada drove away his enemy. After the Battle of Magh Ithe, the elf Cecht Fiacha gave Nuada a silver arm, henceforth he was known as Nuada Argetlam ("Silver hand"). Two years later, in the Second Battle of Magh Ithe, Balor opened his Evil Eye, which slew King Nuada, but Lu, Nuada's shield bearer, took up Nuada's sword and killed King Balor. After the Second Battle of Magh Ithe, Bres, a half-fomorian, half-elf faerie, made himself king of the De Danann for three years, then Lu and Ollathair overthrew him. Then Oberon appeared to the faerie and told them to erect a stone, called Lia Fail, on the hill of Tara, and each candidate for High King would place his hand on it and it would choose the rightful king. The Thuatha did so, and when Lu put his hand on it he was chosen by the Lia Fail to be king of all faerie, so there after, the descendants of Lu were the kings and queens of the De Danann, and from that day on, the faerie renamed Eriu to Inis Fail.