Godlike – The Wanderer

   The world of Godlike explores the adventures of low level superhumans in WWII, with the tagline “You are larger than life. But the war is larger than you.”.

   By default, however, it focuses almost exclusively on the soldiers – men who manifest special powers under great stress.

   War places other people under stress as well. It’s especially hard on the very young, who can do little but flee when war overtake them – either into whatever refuge or welcome they can find, or into their own imaginations, or both.

   What of the talents who originate there?

    The youngster was imaginative.

   He scrawled childish tales of other worlds, of other lives, of turning corners to discover new and wondrous places and alien vistas. Like many of the other children at the orphanage, like many humans who have nothing, he lived in his dreams.

   When the bomb detonated down the street, the collapsing roof of the old building threatened to take even that from him. Unlike the other terrified and injured children, however, this child’s desperate rebellion and will to escape found an outlet. The crushing force of falling stone and brick expended itself upon unresisting air, as a small and fragile body vanished into other realms.

   Fortunately, while sequence is enforced, the flow of time does not correlate between the worlds.

   After an unknown length of time spent growing into his powers, The Wanderer returned to the instant that he had abandoned, to aid and rescue the friends of his youth.

   The Wanderer possesses two basic abilities – the power to transverse the dimensions and the power to tap into the vital energies of other realms, infusing them either into his own body or into the bodies of others. While others – lacking his natural advantages – can only be healed by such forces, he can so infuse himself with vitality as to ascend to a higher state, in which he enjoys a variety of heightened abilities. If “slain” in that state, he will revert to normal, human, levels of ability – although, if it’s been long enough since he was last “slain” to build up his power reserves, he may be able to regain his heightened state almost instantly.

   Unfortunately, while he can effectively teleport himself, visit other dimensions, and move other persons and objects across the dimensions, he cannot travel backwards in time within any one dimension. He can, however, return to a dimension at the instant he left, regardless of how much time he spends elsewhere. This is quite convenient when he needs to take some time off or work on a long project.

   The Wanderer uses the General Talent Experience rule, rather than TOG Commando Training. This gives him +7 Skill Points, +20 Will to spend according to the “after the game” rules, and a +1 bonus to any single Stat. That’s not nearly as good as the TOG Commando Training, but it means that he’s not hopelessly far behind in dealing with other talents.

   Attributes (12): Body 2 (Initial 1 +1 from General Talent Experience) (5, +1 Wound Box to Torso and each limb), Coordination 1 (3), Sense 1 (3), Brains 4 (7), Command 2 (5), Cool 3 (6).

   Skills (20 + 7 due to GTE):

• Body: Athletics 1, Brawl 1, Health 1.
• Coordination: Dodge 3.
• Sense: Sight 2.
• Brains: Education 4, Electronics 1, First Aid 2, Language 3, Mechanics 1, Medicine 2, Native Language 4 (Free), Navigation/Dimensional 2, Navigation/Land 1.
• Command: Inspire 2.
• Cool: Mental Stability 3.

   Talent Basics:

• Quirks (up to 5): Never admits to his true name or nationality (1), Drags companions into his complicated extra-dimensional lives (2), Occasionally undertakes weird missions on behalf of the “higher dimensional powers” (2). He also tends to spend his time rescuing refugees (without any particular favor save for generally rescuing children first) and assisting against major menaces by providing near-instant training – simply taking the group to be trained to another dimension with their instructor (or, with a successful Dimensional Navigation check) to a dimension where an instructor is available) and returning them moments later by the time in their original dimension, but that’s less a quirk than simple practicality.
• Will Base: 2 Command + 3 Cool + 9 (remainder of base 25; all of his powers except Dimensional Transport started at 1D) +5 (quirks) +1 (Cool 6) = 20
• Talent Powers (16 Initial Will + 20 from General Talent Experience):
  • Dimensional Transport (2D + 2 HD, 6) (Attacks, Defends, Robust, Useful Outside of Combat, base cost 5/10/20): Nathan is free to move himself and others across time, space, and dimensions (use the teleport chart to determine his cargo capacity). Unfortunately, he is limited by causality; he cannot ever appear in a world earlier than his last appearance there (-1/2/4), he can only reach dimensions with natural laws that are essentially identical to those of his home dimension (no mythic realms, ones without death, or ones which greatly expand on his powers, -1/2/4), he can only describe his destination in general terms until he has been there at least once (-1/2/4), Expensive (-1/2/4), Special Effect; tends to fall into a GM-defined identity and role upon arrival in a new dimension.
  • Extra Tough +1 Level (4)
  • Healing (2D + 2HD, 6) (Base 3/6/12): This includes the ability to enhance the bodies self-repair abilities enough to add in Rejuvenation (can restore youth – removing aging, degenerative diseases, and genetic damage, +1/2/4), Regeneration (can restore lost limbs and organs, +2/4/8), and Curative (can remove diseases, etc, +1/2/4) functions, Can’t Interfere (-2/4/8), Go Last (-2/4/8), and Interfere (-2/4/8).
  • Alternate Form (2HD, 4) (Base 5/10/20), Endless (+1/2/4), User may invest up to (Base Cool x 10) Will in advance to allow quicker recoveries from “Death” (+1/2/4), Regenerative (form automatically recovers (width of a check made using the Alternate Form dice pool) boxes of damage of any type every minute, +2/4/8), Cannot be Voluntarily deactivated (given the “Endless” ability, and the fact that the user does not actually take damage until the Alternate Form goes, the only way for him to deactivate his powers and return to “normal” is to “die”, -1/2/4), Expensive (-1/2/4), Backfires (-2/4/8), Mental Strain (-2/4/8), Loopy (-2/4/8).
    • Hyper-Body 3D (Linked to Alternate Form, -1/2/4) = (1/3/6).
    • Hyper-Coordination 2D (Linked to Alternate Form, -1/2/4) = (1/3/6).
    • Hyper-Sense 2D (Linked to Alternate Form, -1/2/4) = (1/3/6).
    • Hyper-Brains 3D (Linked to Alternate Form, -1/2/4) = (1/3/6).
    • Hyper-Command 3D (Linked to Alternate Form, -1/2/4) = (1/3/6).
    • Hyper-Cool 3D (Linked to Alternate Form, -1/2/4) = (1/3/6).
      • In his “alternate form” The Wanderer is tall, dark, mysterious – and quite human looking, albeit of no identifiable nationality or race. This allows him to fit in almost anywhere, in virtually any dimension.

Yseult Shadowrun – Dust of Ages Part VII

   Everyone was in agreement: if they were going to work in the catacombs, they had to take out the serpent-thing. You never knew when an animal would turn at bay instead of being driven off, they had no idea of how it could be contained (or even IF it could be contained), and nobody wanted to work in the catacombs knowing that – at any moment – the damned thing might pop out of the rock and dissolve you.

   Of course, the idea of some fabulous treasure was in the back of everyone’s minds. If somebody had managed to put the damned thing here as a guardian, and had arranged to sustain it across five thousand years of low magic, then it had to be protecting something pretty damned important.

   Well, it seemed to breathe air, so it wouldn’t want to go below the water table. It didn’t seem to want to leave the high-magic zone or to go too close to the surface. It was willing to chase drones and magical watcher-spirit lures. Ergo, they should be able to steer it into an ambush.

   A weapon of the prior age against a beast of the prior age. A chemsuit, an elemental-booster spell, an anti-corrosive coating, and poison on her already-enchanted blade, her own inhuman cybernetic strength, the best protection-spells her mages could maintain, a selection of high-powered modern weaponry set up for a crossfire and to drive it forward with explosions, some drones for fire-support – and instructions for her allies (who would be well back down the tunnels): if she went down, they should abandon their positions and pull out as quickly as possible.

   If she could get it coming out of a tunnel quickly enough, and she was waiting to ambush it, she might be able to slice it in two for a fair part of it’s length. Surely that – along with modern explosives – would be enough to kill the damn thing.

   They had to lay down a lot of irritating chemicals, and expend several more of the cheaper drones – and there were one or two close calls during a day of careful maneuvering – but Yseult eventually wound up lurking next to the tunnel the serpent-thing was currently sulking in.

   Sending in all those low-powered spirits to pester it had made it pretty cross.

   It took several nerve-wracking attempts with minor spirits – evidently they had made it tired – before the thing came bursting out like a small freight train.

   She wasn’t that hot with a sword, but this called for brute strength, not finesse.

   Fortunately, Karma was with her. [And the player was quite willing to spend some of it].

   Unfortunately, the damned thing turned out to be tough as hell.

   That wasn’t too surprising for a creature that tunneled through rock and was coated with acid that readily burned through stone. Her blade opened a massive gash – slashing open one side of it’s mouth and leaving a gaping wound along it’s side. It twisted and flailed, spattering blood that ate great gaping holes in the stone. Fortunately, it was now semi-blind on the side she was on – so it’s first reflexive burst of acid-spitting had merely annihilated three more drones while a stray drop had burned a hole through her amateur caver’s shoulder – easily fixable later, but enough to make him fall back now.

   Of course, the blood-spatters were rapidly burning through her chemsuit and armor. Fortunately, she’d twisted to the side quickly enough to avoid most of it [with very good dodge and body checks] and the last traces hissed against the outer plating of her heavily-cyborged body as the acid – mostly expended against er chemsuit and armor – did little more than superficial damage.

   Well CRAP. It was only wounded – and perhaps more dangerous than ever!

   Rush in, duck under it’s flailing head, and drive her blade deep into the creature, bracing herself against the floor to ensure that she impaled it? Yeah, maybe if she’d been a video-game character with five extra lives; she could see how that would end. It might die, but she’d wind up being covered in acid that dissolved stone as quickly as a man could walk.

   Another slash from the side was (somewhat) safer, but was less likely to kill.

   Sulahafa sent the combat drones in to cover her retreat – although she did manage to throw a pouch full of poison into the gaping wound as she frantically dodged splattering acidic blood and the holes it had burned into the floor.

   She barely evaded another splattering of blood as the poison hit the wound and the creature convulsed. A good thing she’d fallen back…

   She added her own explosive pistol bullets – targeting the existing wound – to the hail of fire from the combat drones. Her allies triggered the explosives back behind the creature to keep it from retreating; it might have been wounded enough to stay quietly out of the way while they worked – but there was no knowing how fast a currently-unique awakened beastie could heal.

   She never knew how she managed to avoid the stream of acid it spat at her. Time seemed to slow [as the player burned three karma rerolls on Yseult’s dodge] but she’d evaded it somehow, as it burned through the stone behind her like a combat laser through mist. Faint memories of her otherwise long-forgotten chemistry class screamed “supernatural!” at her – like she didn’t know. At least – judging by how much blood it was losing – it wouldn’t be able to keep this up for long.

   Still, the bullets were mostly bouncing off the thing’s scales… Invulnerability too? The only magical weapon they had was her sword!

   The thing took out three of the remaining drones at one shot with a spray of acid. Evidently a thin stream wasn’t it’s only weapon.

   If she didn’t kill it, it was beginning to look like none of them would get out of the catacombs – especially if it had more unrevealed abilities! She should have taken that “no one had caught more than a glimpse and lived” thing a bit more seriously!

   It was a vertebrate though… A clear head, jaws, fangs, and eyes, skull – now notched where she’d slashed across it – protecting the brain.

   She hoped that Nassor and his apprentice heard her call for them to reinforce the protective spells around her as much as they possibly could [which called for a Leadership check; she caught a glimpse of one peeking around the corner, hopefully to establish line-of-sight for spellcasting] – and went in to try and sever the spine at the base of the skull. Her sword was easily long enough for that – and its power was definitely wide awake.

   She tried to stay on it’s blind side – and blessed the engineers who’d provided her boosts. It took far more than human agility to get close to the thing while it was thrashing and splattering acid like that. She put everything she had [her last several rerolls and her full enhanced strength] into the one attack…

   Her full strength, karma, and a two-handed swing backed by the spirit of the blade was just barely enough to drive the sword home between two vertebrae, severing both the spine and some major blood vessels.

   The convulsion hurled her across the room – the last remnants of her chemsuit and armor peeling away from the acid covering the things body – and the impact against the wall didn’t help a bit. Her systems were reporting a LOT of failures, acid damage, right hand and forearm dissolved, cyberarmor mostly gone, synthskin covers gone, cyberleg internal damage, internal injuries…

   It was a good thing that Nassor had a healing spell – and that she’d taken out that very expensive cyber-insurance policy.

   Still, the bloody snake was in worse shape than she was. In fact it seemed to be dissolving.

   She really hoped that there weren’t any more of them about.

   Nassor was pretty sure that the thing was down and out – but there was something very weird about it. The fact that the body was dissolving fast was no surprise given the amount of acid in it, and the fact that it’s magic was dissipating was only to be expected – but he and his apprentice were still getting an impression of anger. Their tour guide looked rather upset about that, and had added something about “immortal wrath” and the “twelve hours of the night” to his muttering about Apep and Set and Osiris and Thoth and such.

   Yseult asked him if he knew of a prayer or something of that sort that might help keep the thing down.

   The man agreed to try praying to Osiris and Set to hold back the wrath of Apep as they defended Ra in the Hours of the Night.

   The sword however… It seemed a bit larger (if no heavier), was warm to the touch, and had little veins of light moving in it. Wait, the thing was supposed to get more powerful as you fulfilled it’s requirements. Had “slay a major monster” been one of them? That seemed fairly likely somehow. Too bad the spirit of the sword couldn’t just tell her what to do to activate all its powers – and that the “being aided by the bear spirit” thing didn’t seem to work well with all the cyberware.

   Too bad there wouldn’t be anything left of the body to show off, but the way it was eating it’s way down into the stone, it wouldn’t be safe to touch it anyway.

   She stuck the little statue of Osiris with the funny inscription they’d found under the temple by the hole in a memorial/sealing effort. It couldn’t hurt. The mages said that the thing’s spirit still seemed to be hanging around – but they weren’t ancestor shamans, and had no really good way to communicate with it anyway.

   The bear spirit of her blade could tell him that the serpent-spirit was entangled in some really BIG binding – but that it would probably take a week or two to form a new body.

   Evidently the thing had been guarding the area for a very long time indeed.

   That was kind of sad somehow. Perhaps they could set it free so that it could actually rest in peace? Presumably it was bound to something somewhere… The tunnel system it had bored out was roughly circular; if it spent it’s time within range of a binding it might explain that – although the circle also roughly matched the edge of the elevated magic zone, at least now that they were underground. It didn’t always reach the surface for some reason.

   There were tunnels that headed for the center – but all of the detections and the geological surveys had said that there was nothing there except rock. It had even seemed to be something of a magical dead zone: there were magic centers under several of they pyramids, and under a couple of the temples – but under the sphinx, which was roughly at the center, there was nothing.

   Wait; at this point that was unusual – and so it was well worth investigating.

Eclipse d20 – The Number Lords of the Manifold

   Here we have a template for some of the “minor” villains of the Manifold Campaign – the Number Lords of Battling Business World. Some information on their realm, and notes on some of the Greater and Lesser Number Lords can be found Here. Statistics for Terry Jenkins – the current Champion of the Numbers – can be found Here. Finally, the Occult Accounting skill they provide can be found Here.

   The terrible Number Lords like to see themselves as the incarnations of rationality, logic, and order in the universe.

   Unfortunately, the notion of mathematical concepts having avatars at all – much less incarnations with supernatural powers to manipulate reality – is pretty irrational.

   That fundamental contradiction is at the root of the madness of the Number Lords.

   This is another extraordinarily powerful race for +1 ECL – although it does benefit massively from the fact that, in the Manifold setting, attribute bonuses are purchased for half price. On the other hand, it isn’t really suitable for player characters: a race which is inherently mad, can’t use most items, has little use for treasure, and can’t really interact well with more conventional entities, has a hard time fitting into most groups. For that matter, the Number Lords have a hard time fitting into reality, and cannot even appear in more rational worlds.

• Self-Development:
  • +8 Intelligence (24 CP).
  • +4 Wisdom (12 CP)
  • +4 to any one attribute (12 CP)
    • Note that, in the Manifold, attribute bonuses are purchased at half cost; in other settings these bonuses should be halved.
• Nightsight: Occult Sense/Darkvision (Rather like Neo’s view in “The Matrix”) (6 CP).
• Celerity, with Additional Movement Mode (Flight, 30′) (18 CP).
• Enthusiast, Specialized in Skills for Double Effect (two floating skill points) (3 CP).
• Intellectual Focus: Augmented Bonus/may add their Cha Mod to their scores in Intelligence-related skills (6 CP).
• Magic Resistant: Resist/+2 bonus to Saves versus Spells (3 CP).
• Mathematical Hexcrafting:
  • +6 Base Caster Levels, Specialized in Hexcrafting, Corrupted/displays unnaturally alien magic when used (12 CP).
  • 6 Hexcrafting Card Slots, Specialized and Corrupted/Destructive Side Effects, Must drain Charisma from others to regain powers, Narrowly “themed” deck (mathematics / physics, exchanges, etc). 6 points/card base, net 2 points/card (12 CP).
  • The mathematical powers of the Number Lords are normally based on Intelligence – which almost always qualifies them for two bonus card slots and makes their spells rather difficult to resist.
• Witchcraft: All Number Lords have basic Witchcraft (18 CP) with three Pacts – Karmic Links (to fulfill their need for balance), Vampirism (their touch drains 1d4 Charisma, both restoring their psychic powers and fulfilling the prerequisites for them to regain their hexcrafting slots), and Duties (must respond when properly invoked), for (-18 CP) – and a net total of zero.
• Inherent Magic: Innate Enchantment, all abilities unlimited use-activated, personal-only (x.7 cost) where applicable. 15,000 GP base value (16 CP).
  • +2 Intelligence (1400 GP).
  • +2 Charisma (1400 GP).
  • +2 Wisdom (1400 GP).
  • Immortal Vigor I (+2d6 – effectively 12 due to at-will use, +2x Con Mod HP, 1400 GP).
  • Warding Rune (1 + Caster Level/3, +4 max, resistance bonus on saves, 1400 GP).
  • Skill Mastery (+3 to Intelligence-based skills) (1400 GP).
  • Shield (a barrier of lesser numbers) (2000 GP).
  • Unseen Servant (2000 GP).
  • Obscuring Mist 1/Day (A cloud of lesser numbers) (400 GP)
  • Cause Fear 1/Day (400 GP).
  • Calculate (Instantly solves a mathematical problem) 1/Day (200 GP).
  • Call to Mind 1/Day (400 GP).
  • Mage Armor (a cloud of lesser numbers) 1/Day (400 GP).
  • Cause Fear 1/Day (They are eldritch abominations) (400 GP).
  • Hypnotism 1/Day (Talking Shop) (400 GP).
  • Sleep 1/Day (Talking Shop) (400 GP).
    • Immunity/Stacking limits when combining innate enchantment effects with external effects (Common, Minor, Trivial – only covers L1 effects, 2 CP).
    • Immunity/Dispelling and Antimagic (Common, Major, Epic, Specialized and Corrupted/only protects innate enchantments that provide personal augmentations, 9 CP).
    • Immunity/the normal XP cost of Innate Enchantments (Uncommon, Minor, Trivial [only covers first level effects at caster level one], Specialized/only to cover initial racial abilities, 1 CP).
• Template Disadvantages: Inept (Charisma-Related Skills), Compulsive (Attempts to eliminate “unnatural” power sources), Poor Reputation (Insane godlings), for a net -10 CP.

   That has a net cost of 126 CP – pretty pricey. Fortunately, the entire package is Specialized. The Number Lords are pretty obviously inhuman (they’re floating numerals), apparently lack limbs (they can’t wear things, although they can manipulate objects as if they had hands), and speak in a sourceless voice which seems to echo horrifying inside the listener’s heads. Perhaps most importantly, they’re incapable of using magical or psionicly-powered items of any kind – and are fundamentally crazy. They can use technology, but rarely find any that’s suitable. They often cannot even MANIFEST in rational worlds… That selection of difficulties reduces the net cost to 63 CP – a +1 ECL template.

   Technically, the Number Lords should probably have a selection of Immunities to represent the “fact” that they have no normal metabolism, need not breathe, and so on. On the other hand – following the conventions of the comics – that’s only partially true; things like gas will affect them whenever the game master feels that it’s amusing and – in the Manifold setting – they can usually be assumed to be using their equivalent of Smartclothes (which provide a great deal of protection from that sort of thing), just like everyone else.

Yseult Shadowrun – Dust of Ages Part VI

   So; equipment for exploring a set of ancient, partially-submerged catacombs filled with sinkholes and possibly with deadly, highly-magical, awakened predators from a prior age. A lost world of ancient perils!

   Oh good LORD. NOW she knew why all this seemed so familiar! Ancient Egyptian magic, giant snakes, hidden catacombs, haunts, curses, and lost temples full of undead… You saw the computer updates of all those ancient pre-trideo “b-movies” on late night trid! They were full of this stuff!

   And… those productions had all been – however loosely – based on old stories and myths. Exaggerated to allow for the presence of actual, working, magic. Meant to seem almost plausible to an audience – and successful enough at it that they were still being preserved and watched a century later.

   Just how old were the underlying stories? Was there something to all the stories of racial memories or prior incarnations? Did certain stories or magic seem “plausible” because metahuman minds knew the practical rules for magic on the same instinctive level as they knew the physics of walking and throwing?

   Well, at least that could give her ideas about things to prepare for anyway.

   Lets see; guns, explosives, blades, rope, climbing and spelunking gear, flares, breathing apparatus, food and water, light sources, first aid kit, extra medication for her damned nut allergy. She usually carried some of the survival gear anyway… Inertial mapper and tracker (ah, good, those functions could readily be chipped into her internal electronics; that might be very handy even after this trip)… Satellite Phone! With spare batteries and some relay units for calling out from underground areas. Worthwhile if she was going to keep heading into the mountains and wilderness even if it was bulky – almost too big to cup in her palm. A lot of the rest would be easier to pick up locally, back in Egypt.

   A rigger would probably have to be a local hire. He or she would need quite a few, or perhaps a lot of signal-relays, if they were going to penetrate very far underground. Perhaps The Ninja? One of the group was a drone expert…

   Nah. The Ninja was also notorious for reckless magical experimentation, and THAT was something that she did NOT need on this trip!

   Time to hit up the fixers.

   Fortunately she got back to Egypt with nearly two days left to do some shopping and recruiting in.

   The hard part turned out to be cutting down the gear to what she and her recruits could reasonably carry along. Thank god for enhanced strength. Besides, there was nothing better than providing good supplies for people to make them think highly of you – and anything in the way of survival gear that didn’t get used promptly would keep.

   As far as the rigger went, she offered 50K, with a 25K allowance for any damage incurred to his or her drones, although she was requiring a secrecy clause and a non-looting clause and notification that the job required an acceptance of basic underground hazards, a contract period of up to three weeks, and a few other details to be discussed at the meet… After all, she didn’t want to give away too much information to anyone who wasn’t seriously interested in the offer.

   Those other details, of course, included the location, the possibility of there being a big magical snake to be avoided, and the prospects of possible unknown dangers – even if all the likely traps would probably be several millennia old. Presumably it wouldn’t be like being up against a modern security system.

   She would have preferred getting someone she knew, but runners disappeared and changed aliases all the time. It was pretty hard to say who was who, but her fixers could presumably get her in touch with some reasonably reliable riggers. That sort of thing was, after all, their job.

   She wound up hiring “Sulahafa”, a rigger who mostly used cheap crawler drones – but had a lot of them and a lot of cheap relay units already.

   A trio of other locals – two who’d worked on digs before (one a digger and amateur caver, the other a decent archeologist’s aide and Gaza tour guide), and one magical dabbler Nassor had brought in (a light-duty combatant/lookout with some enhanced senses) – filled out the group.

   Hmm. She had a few minor bids on the auction – but no big bites yet. Still, there were two weeks left – and a lot of people liked to wait until there were only minutes left for some reason.

   So; maps and surveys in hand, well stocked with equipment, and having hired a set of local guides, it was time to start considering access routes for getting into those caves.

   There were some flooded passages near the Nile, several funerary temples near the great pyramid, caves on the edge of the plateau the pyramids were on, and several possible access shafts – albeit mostly sand-choked.

   Well, they had plenty of drones. They simply send some probes down the dozen most likely-looking entrances.

   The underwater passages were pretty mud-choked, but got into the main system the fastest

   The caves were nearest to the higher-magic areas that had been plotted on the maps, but were convoluted and awkward.

   The access shafts weren’t really open, and would take a good deal of digging to pass through; too much sand had sifted in across the centuries.

   The Funerary temples weren’t very magical, but might be a compromise. They might also be a complete red herring; most of them were apparently special-purpose only.

   She had the drones focus on the underwater passages – even if that did limit them to submersible models – and had them look for better entrances once they were in the main system. Nassor could help them get in underwater if nothing better was found.

   The initial explorations went reasonably easily; some areas had been mapped already, and it wasn’t too hard to link up some of the mapped segments. A fair portion of the caves appeared to be natural; the plateau was limestone after all – and evidently the paleoclimatological people were right and it had used to be a good deal wetter in Egypt.

   It was still eight days before they had a decent general layout: there were rocks to move, passages to unblock, and sand to clear. At least a few areas were almost sealed off by rockfalls – and some cautious personal exploration and mapping had established that high magic sites included the area beneath the Great Pyramid, the Temple of Menakaure, and the Tomb of Hemon. Fortunately, so far, it had only been drones that had been lost in collapses.

   Hm… the Temple of Menakaure was the most easily accessible. The Tomb of Hemon seemed to be built on fairly solid rock, although there might, of course, be passages below it.

   They took in a couple of drones to run point and tried the Temple of Menakaure. Fortunately, the place was open to tourists – although the inner section was usually blocked off. Of course, they had permission to investigate from the Department of Antiquities.

   Oddly, while there seemed to be access to the lower levels of the temple via an old well, there was almost nothing living down there; even the traces of bats were scarce.

   It looked like the cavern had been full of water on and off for quite some time, even if it was currently dry. There were some carvings left, but there were only traces of old paint on them and on the walls except for the parts that were above the usual high water level.

   Most of the inscriptions seemed to be calling on various gods and goddesses for fertility and rain, a strong secondary theme was invoking the protection of the dead and their intervention in daily life for those who worshiped here. That was a little odd – usually it was the gods who intervened, not the dead – but the invocations were even older than the usual run of temple inscriptions and fragmentary to boot. A faith that old could be expected to have a lot of local quirks.

   As for the magic… The entire area seemed to have a slightly elevated magic level, but most of it seemed to come from the floor – at least according to Nassor and his aide.

   She had the drones spread out and look for any nearby routes down – although it was pretty obvious that simply heading downslope into the caverns would get them started. The route was rough and irregular for the most part – although there were some spots that looked odd; most of the route was through limestone bedrock – but parts of it looked worn away naturally and smoothly, while other parts seemed quite rough. The worn parts looked like normal water-wear, but the irregular spots, however, seemed to have been artificially worked. Apparently by primitive chisels and hammers.

   Oddly enough, the chiseled areas ran all around the edges of the room, all in a band about three feet off the floor. They seemed to be spaced fairly regularly, and there were traces of old paint on them where they were above the water. There were a few other items; some bits and pieces of worked stone, a broken lamp, a short rod made of hammered copper, a small statue of Osiris with a brief inscription, and a selection of offering-bowls for food offerings. Evidently some sort of religious ritual was once conducted down here – and probably forgotten when the water rose and partially flooded the chamber.

   Osiris… God of the underworld and of resurrection, the keeper of souls, guide and guardian of the dead, one of the major patron gods of Egypt. Unlike most of the animal-headed gods, Osiris was normally portrayed as a human mummy who rose again from the underworld.

   Blast it; something seemed important about that, but she couldn’t say what. The nebulous thought was going to bother her until it coalesced!

   They kept the drones out ahead. The caverns became much more irregular as they headed down, but seemed to open up into a network of smaller tunnels. Those tunnels were a bit strange though; they looked water-carved, but they were rather too regular for that. All of them were about three feet across, although they went up and down quite irregularly.

   They were trying to locate a path that went underneath the floor of the first cavern – on the theory that they might be able to locate a magical gradient or source of some sort – when they abruptly lost a drone; no signal. It might just have turned the wrong corner though; it wouldn’t be the first time in this confounded maze of twisting little passages, all alike… Not to mention that they were small enough to be a terrible pain to get through.

   They reviewed the last sensor feed while they waited to see if it would pull back after losing contact and come back into range.

   The signal quality was poor – all that stone again – but Sulahafa ran some image-enhancement on it… It looked like there might have been something moving towards the drone – small and fast, but not bulletlike – just before the signal went out.

   The drone didn’t come back into contact. It was either down for the count or it’s return route had been blocked by a collapse.

   Trouble was, it wouldn’t be the first time for that either. A good thing the blasted crawlers were so cheap. ON the other hand, there might really be something alive and dangerous in the tunnels.

   Well, they had some spam and some jerky; perhaps they could put out some bait? It was meat of a sort – and they had lots more drones.

   They set up a relay chain, with each one further back keeping the one ahead under constant observation and with the recall signal ready to go.

   It took a good deal of careful probing around before they caught a momentary glimpse of something large and grayish shifting around in one of the tunnels. The view from the next drone showed the one that had gotten line-of-sight on the gray thing pretty much disintegrating – the central core of the unit seemed to simply vanish and the rest rapidly collapsed into liquid.

(Yseult) “Does anyone know what might cause that?”

   The amateur archeologist/tour guide was muttering something about “Apep” – but hopefully the thing wasn’t the incarnate deity-principle of destruction, even if the reports DID indicate some sort of giant snake!

   They pulled back a bit to review their information.

   They were roughly beneath the causeway to the pyramid of Khafre, just above the Mastabas and the Rock-Cut Tombs.

   They had one glimpse of a gray serpent-like thing, which didn’t show much detail even under magnification. Of course, light-amplification tended to wash things out a bit, and thermal imaging wouldn’t show much on a presumably cold-blooded creature. They got to work on image-enhancement and continued looking at their data in the meantime.

   Hm… the few higher-magic areas they’d mapped seemed to form a (very) rough circle – well, OK, you could draw a circle around the irregular blobs, which was universally true, but it still gave her that impression. Could the magic be radiating from a central point? The Eye of Ra?

   No; if it was doing that, there would be a gradient with a highest point nearest the center. There had to be additional factors.

   The high magic areas continued beneath the Pyramid of Khufu, Queen Hetephere’s Tombs, and the Village of Nazlet. Still one hell of an area to search.

   They sent the second drone back up after the first one, keeping it very quiet and slow so as not to attract the serpent-things attention.

   There are a few bits of the first drone left – mostly special-alloy components. There was also a hole drilled deeply into the rock; if that was a trace of whatever-it-was that the gray thing had used, it had gone straight through the drone and into solid stone like a bullet through cheese. The remaining bits of the drone appeared to be slowly continuing to dissolve, but didn’t show much in the way of thermal traces. Some sort of supernatural acid? Nothing natural would dissolve metal and rock so fast that it would bore through them instead of splashing.

   Image enhancement showed that the serpent-thing had almost filled the tunnel. It might or might not have eyes, but it definitely seemed to have fangs. It moved reasonably fast, but a hoverdrone or rotordrone (if there had been room for one) could easily keep up with it unless it was capable of a lot more speed than it had shown. Whatever had struck the first drone would have been much faster.

   The tour guide was still muttering about Apep.

(Yseult) “Nassor? Can you set up a barrier together at the entrance of this tunnel that would trap anything physical that tried to get out of it?”

(Nassor) “Yes – although any barrier can be broken, and my assistant here is a fairly minor mage. We can certainly slow most things up though.”

   She had them work together on that, and got ready to try and chop the bloody things head off with her sword if it did pop out – but, for the moment, that was pure precaution. They needed more data, and the easiest way to get that was to expend a few of the cheaper drones – even if her rigger did want an extra fee to cover that.

   Well, she couldn’t blame him for that. Incidental damage was one thing, this was likely to use up a lot of drones.

   It cost them a dozen drones – and apparently irritated the creature – but they got some good shots eventually. It was some sort of giant serpent, about three feet across, probably a good hundred feet long – and apparently somehow capable of boring through rock almost as quickly as it moved through an existing tunnel.

   They found that out when it emerged from the rock next to one of the drones and apparently destroyed it on contact. Well, at least that explained why it fitted the tunnels so neatly. It wasn’t good though; the damned thing could take out armored drones in a fraction of a second, both at range and by merely brushing against them, and it could pop up anywhere at all.

   Oh joy.

   Yseult asked for ideas.

   Sulahafa suggested that – given the things evident destructiveness – they move back a bit and send in more drone-chains to see if there was more than one. After that, rigging some self-destruct charges on the drones might be in order; it did seem to be a living, physical, creature – so enough large explosions should do it in quite nicely.

   The tour guide was still muttering about Apep – and he suggested calling on Osiris, god of reborn life, Set, god of darkness and warriors, and Thoth, god of knowledge. since they escorted Ra safely past the great serpent in his journey through the underworld.

(Yseult) “Great idea I suppose, but just how would we go about doing that? And please keep in mind that we need it simple, short, practical, and with some way of telling in advance if it worked or not”.

(Guide) “Urm.. Call the museum or get a priest? I mean, the thing does seem a lot like Apep.”

(Yseult) “Ok, what’s ‘Apep’ anyway?”

(Guide) “Apep is one of the main menaces of the underworld: a giant snake that inhabits the darkness, passing where it will. Each night it challenges the passage of Ra to resurrection, and each night it is defeated by Thoth, Set, and Osiris. It’s gaze is annihilation. Set, of course, is a mighty warrior, who cannot die. Thoth brings magic and strength through wisdom. Osiris simply provides his blessing as lord of the underworld.”

(Yseult, after considering) “Well, hmm. It seems to me that we have magic. The information from the drones might be considered a blessing, along with possibly trying to blind the thing before it gets to us.. I am probably capable of fighting blindly if it is its gaze that kills.”

   OK, even to her that didn’t sound convincing.

   Nassor was just as doubtful.

(Nassor) “I wouldn’t bet on the “gaze of death” being too literal; the dissolving drones and the small and high-but-not-bulletlike speed approaching object suggests a spitter. It’s probably supernatural, but that might also be how it burrows through rock; limestone does dissolve easily in acid. Perhaps chemical-protection suits? They might help some.”

(Yseult) “Hmm, it would take a long time to go and get some though… How well could you replicate the effect of chemical protection suits with magic?”

(Nassor) “I’m afraid that doing that would take a rather specialized spell, and it’s one that I don’t have. Perhaps we could fall back a bit and try to go around the thing? Personally, I’d rather not get dissolved by some giant awakened snake.”

   Well, there was some justice to that position.

   (Yseult) “Could you draw it to this (indicating the tunnel opening) opening with your magic? If you could entice it or infuriate to the point where it was moving too fast to dodge I might be able to stand to the side and split the thing in two with it’s own force of movement. If that worked it would never even see us. Would you like to try it? Perhaps with a bit of basic telekinesis to float some food down the tunnel? Do you feel safe with that plan?”

   It rapidly became apparent that no one felt safe with that plan. They might be willing to give it a try with some persuasion, but in the dark, in cramped tunnels, and up against an unknown paracritter that might have inspired stories about a malevolent god for thousands of years, it was kind of hard to feel “safe”.

   They opted to try for more information instead. Nassor had that short-range clairvoyant spell and they could send back to Cairo for some snooper-drones. It would take a few hours to get them, but they were cheap and reasonably effective.

   They had a better report the next day.

   It looked like the creature somewhat resembled a worm; it both spit some sort of super-acid and secreted it from it’s skin – which was what allowed it to move through rock. It’s digestion seemed to be external; it moved over the puddles it’s acid left to absorb nutrients. It seemed to be an effort for it to secrete enough acid to move through the rock though, and so it seemed to prefer sticking to the existing tunnels. It was probably elementally linked, most likely with water.

   Well, if it absorbed nutrients though the skin, it should be vulnerable to external toxins. Could they hurt it by simply strewing salt or some such junk in it’s path? Divert it with a pile of food? Simply map around it and see where it hung out and if there was more than one? Perhaps put an opposing elemental effect on her blade?

   Another day worth of careful mapping gave them a number of good places – where it spent the most time – to try and poison it. At the moment, it looked like it mostly hung out in or near the flooded sections, where the river water washed food into the caves. It had to need magic though, since it never left the general high-magic area.

   OK, they should at least have a way to make it uncomfortable and make it move – it had to have some equivalent to a sense of taste – and with any luck they could push it into a place of their choosing, where it would at least be uncomfortable or tired.

   They began to set up their hunt.

Yseult Shadowrun – Dust of Ages Part V

   The trip had been relatively uneventful, even if she had had to make a lot of special arrangements to get the artifacts from the crypt and her own gear through customs. Still, sealed shipping sufficed for most of it; it wasn’t like she normally carried anything heavier than a pistol and some flash grenades.

   Making sure she was throughly presentable had been quite a bother in itself – but she also made quite sure to arrive good and early; past services or not, this promised to be nerve-wracking.

   Getting in to see Dunkelzahn was something of an ordeal in itself; her own systems were good enough to get some idea of just how many technological probes and sensors were being focused on her in the lobby – and it wasn’t like she could detect the layers of magical security that were certainly there. Security was a bit surprised at some of the artifacts she was bringing along to show him – especially the spirit-bear sword from the reptile-folk crypt – but approval came back down the line and they let it go.

   Of course, given that Winterknight was currently targeting dragons, she wouldn’t be surprised if her “personal meeting” was with some sort of projection or simulacrum – and if it was, she probably wouldn’t be able to tell.

   Well, it looked like him – but the old wyrm could make anything look like anything if it suited him. This would be her first in-person meeting with a dragon from the previous age of magic. At last she’d see if they were as formidable as she’d heard.

(Yseult) “I found some rather interesting ruins in Egypt that you might want to know about. Unfortunately, I cannot tell you exactly where they are because I currently have an auction going – but I can provide you with clear video feed and pictures of them. In exchange would like whatever you’re willing to tell me about the Old Catacombs of Egypt under Giza. Perhaps over a friendly game of Go? Go is a hobby of mine, and I am just curious how I would fair against a dragon.”

(“Dunkelzahn”) “If you wish. Go is often diverting – although the ruins of the old Kaer are more sad than interesting. Still, my information on the “old” catacombs is not of great consequence either: after all, they were mostly created while I was asleep.”

   “Kaer”? Were those the winged things? If so, that would imply that there were “new Kaer” – she didn’t believe that Dunkelzahn (or any stand-in the old wyrm would be willing to put up with) would use sloppy phrasing. Perhaps it was the draconic name for the crypt itself? As a member of a group? But if that was what it was, how had he known?

   Wait; she’d provided the information that she was running an auction on the location of some “interesting ruins”, and Dunkelzahn was known to take an interest in old stuff. It would have been easy for him to check if he hadn’t looked at the auction before – but did that mean he was running a continuous mental link with a team of research deckers or some such? Fast enough to do research for him while he’d… stalled for a second or two by answering the bit about “Go” first. Damn.

(Yseult) “So, have you actually seen inside those ruins before then? As for no great consequence I am looking at making an expedition into the catacombs and any information would be useful.”

(“Dunkelzahn”) “The Kaer? Not that one in particular – we used our own methods of creating shelters – but many races and nations created Kaer’s some eight thousand years ago. Some survived. Others, sadly, did not.”

   OK, so it was a generic name for that kind of shelter – and left an open question; what had those “many races and nations” been hiding from? What could have wiped what was evidently an advanced civilization – even if it was one based on magic – away so throughly that the archeologists and historians had virtually no clues as to it’s existence?

(Yseult) “Would you be interested in seeing the video footage I have then? The main thing I was wanting to find out about the catacombs was if there were things from the last age of magic that might be down there. I’d hate to face something like that unprepared.”

(“Dunkelzahn”) “Oh, information is always of interest. Now, the contents of a Kaer could be very dangerous – especially if whatever killed it was trapped there. That happened surprisingly often; self-sacrificing people were capable of great feats at times. There might be other information there, especially about old magics – but that is the rightful heritage of the people of this world, and – despite how some of the others feel – I will not hide it from them once they find it.”

(Yseult) “I have in fact been inside that particular “Kaer” as you call it. There was some sort of supernatural horror there that killed everything it touched – rather horribly – and which, once it had been unleashed, required the concerted efforts of a great many powerful magicians and considerable military force to take out. Furthermore, one of the objects inside managed to make one of the younger dragons pass out appon touching it.”

(“Dunkelzahn”) “Ah, that would be that bit of excitement down in Egypt, with all the powerful mages being hauled together, the unconscious young dragon, and the mysterious swath of death? I do like the Matrix by the way: a good search engine and a few questions, and things that would have taken years to find out just drop into place! Now, a life-eater was a very minor entity by the standards of horrors, and would have been drawn to the river as the largest source of life in the area – which would nicely narrow down the location you’re auctioning if that mattered to me. I would recommend more caution in the information you give to others though, or you may wind up with nothing to sell.”

   Was that a gentle reminder that he’d already figured out everything she had to tell? Confounded dragons. Thank god none of her clients or competitors were anything like a dragon; give them a couple of sentences, and you might as well turn over your notes, your private journals, and your secret account numbers…

(Yseult) “Ahh, Well, if you were to find the place then – depending on if you told anyone else or not – it might not matter. Aside from that, any information you provide on the catacombs might well be worth more than what I can get out of the auction – and so I would just post that someone had placed a bid with me personaly and that I was taking down the auction.”

   Oh BLAST. If she’d been working for someone, she wouldn’t have been auctioning the location – and she’d just as good as told the old wyrm straight out that she was on the trail of something in the catacombs that she believed might be worth MORE than the contents of a buried city of an extinct race from the last age of magic!

   At least the old wyrm didn’t seem inclined to try and stop her…

(Yseult) “Thank you for the tip though.”

(“Dunkelzahn”) “Oh, you are welcome.”

(Yseult) “So, as you have demonstrated, the Matrix is dangerous to use when transmiting certain information – and the Kaer might very well fall into that branch of data. I shall keep that in mind. Meanwhile, would you like to see the video footage and pictures I have?”

(“Dunkelzahn”) “They would be of some interest.”

   Further conversation and commentary revealed that – while “Dunkelzahn” had no reservations about the spirit-bear sword, there were some weapons and devices from the last age that he wouldn’t want anywhere near him – although, surprisingly enough, the crystal device that had rendered that young dragon unconscious so promptly was not among them…

(“Dunkelzahn”) “Oh, the Rithod? It’s not a weapon; it’s just a magic-focusing device used to feed power into other effects. You just have to shield against it properly. Your young dragon friend had never seen such a thing however, and tried to probe it with a spell – which simply gave it an opening to drain his magic. A solid knockout blow to a magical creature of course. A good thing you took it away promptly; it would have started doing serious damage in ten or fifteen minutes and a few hours in contact with it would have killed him. He owes you one, whether he’ll ever admit it or not.”

   Well, it probably would be a lot easier to get a young dragon to admit that he owed someone a favor than it would be to get an older one to admit something like that. Some of the young ones were trying to prove themselves, but others were quite sensible.

   “Dunkelzahn” was rather interested in the information about the child-mummy – enough so that he was reasonably communicative about the catacombs and her basic query – what might have survived until three thousand years ago with with enough magic to start the goblinization processes?

   Blast it! She was losing the Go game too – and she was a master and it didn’t look like “Dunkelzahn” had more than a passing acquaintance with the game. He really was just that much smarter than she was. It was a better showing than she’d expected – but she’d also expected him to actually know the game.

   Dunkelzahn’s information on the Catacombs was mostly from public and museum sources, although he’d apparently had some experts do the research – and did note a few details about some structures he heard of in the area from the last age.

   The mummy description was, however, a different matter. That had obviously been a reptilian transformation – probably to the flying lizard-folk species – and that was a late transformation which required a great deal of magic. In fact, it required more magic than was available even now – and from the fact that there was a “blessing” known for it in the lizard-folks old script, it wasn’t unknown. No likely energy reserve would have been radiating such power more than two thousand years after the magic levels hit zero – so there had to be an active source to supply it. There was only one possibility for that; a functioning metaplanar gate that was maintaining it’s own magic level. Such as thing normally required constant maintenance however – which would argue for either a very long-lived survivor from the last age of magic OR an ongoing order of magi of some sort – given the setting, possibly a priestly order.

   It also would probably have defenses in place to prevent interference. The question would be what it was powering, what was maintaining it, and what protections were in place.

(Yseult) “Do you have any advice on how I should prepare for a trip into ancient catacombs that are rumored to be inhabited by a large snake-like guardian?

(“Dunkelzahn”) “If it is a millennia-old high-magic area, and no one has reported any details on this snake or such an area, it’s likely that no one has gotten a good look and lived: ergo, it would probably one of the more powerful snakelike creatures – or perhaps more than one. The most dangerous snakelike creatures are the ones with elemental venoms. Those can dissolve, incinerate, petrify, or electrocute you with a single hit, and can usually both secrete and spit their venoms. I would recommend using good environmental armor, taking along some allies, and – preferably – being assisted by someone who can run a considerable number of remote drones in relay and use them for mapping and fire support.”

(Yseult) “Thank you Mr Dunkelzahn. For both the information, the advice, and the game; all were most intriguing. If there is anything that you would like to arrange for me to do for you I will be more than happy to help you out – for a proper exchange of course.”

   There. Hopefully she could get out of this without owing the old wyrm any major freebies. He had a reputation for paying of course – but it was awfully hard to say what a dragon would consider a fair payment, and they ALWAYS had their own agendas. Besides… offering your services to the powerful was always a good idea in information gathering and it WAS her business.

   Security escorted her out.

   Well, she had nearly four days before she needed to be back in Egypt. Time for supplies, research, and allies. She’d need a good rigger with some rather specialized gear…

Federation-Apocalypse Session 107b – Disturbing Resets

   In Kadia, Ramira Al’Fatim of the Bronze, Mistress of Technology and Networking, was still trying to adjust… Her mate wasn’t just a dragon. He was a god – if apparently still a “minor” one – who controlled entire universes.

   While that definitely went a bit beyond just being a “good prospect”, he was actually still inexperienced enough to be fairly easily manipulated – and to be unused to being pursued by females. That was luck enough to use up a lifetimes supply. How could that even be POSSIBLE? Could Ailill possibly have been so busy – or perhaps so isolated amongst his slaves – that he had never spent much time with females that he didn’t already own?

   He certainly had hardly a clue about data security. What few things he apparently considered secret were adequately blocked from direct access – “Core” apparently had excellent encryption and security processes – but there WERE methods of finding out about things other than asking directly! For every secret you wanted to hide, there were hundreds of associated facts, statistics, and secondary secrets that had to be hidden; you needed to hide enough things to keep anyone from deducing the underlying patterns!

   About the only things in the dimension that people weren’t freely told about were the origins of the young dragons in the dragon-stables (although it was pretty obvious to any dragon who was familiar with Ailill’s harem in the Dragonworlds where THEY came from – and why Ailill was so nice to them and gave them so many privileges), that many of the Neodogs were Thralls, Ailill’s current project and strategies, the meme-research, and people’s personal information!

   Well, OK, there might be some stuff that was still being hidden from her – it wasn’t like she’d had time to analyze everything – but STILL. What is WRONG with these people? Secrecy was a vital part of any sizeable operation! Otherwise anyone could just log in and snatch a lifetime’s work! But how could she change that? This “Core” was based on openness. She wasn’t sure she could conquer a lifetime of computer indoctrination, no matter how obedient the Thralls and the computer systems were! They just didn’t have the reflexes for security – although the ones on rescue operations and such didn’t talk much.

   Well, perhaps there was hope. Ailill was making SOME effort to keep the big items secret – and he hadn’t done too badly in the Dragonrealms, although part of that was simply that his presence there seemed to be pretty intermittent. At least he was keeping the big things under wraps. There was hope for him!

   She set out to introduce security training courses, starting with the Thralls and passing it on down the chain. You had to implement these things in steps!

   Were there any of them who were actually familiar with data security? Ailill did recruit from all over the place…

   Ah. Some of the Thralls from some of the Techno-Anime worlds had reasonable ideas about data security. They might be lowly (if enhanced) humanoids, but they were better than nothing! She smiled a nice, toothy, smile, ordered them assigned to her department, and started in on getting them trained up to her standards. Core might have some astoundingly sophisticated programs, but they had no notion of magical or psychic data security.

(Ramira) “We have too much open information around here. Infiltrators and hackers could steal it, so I want to set up some network security. Some data-barriers and access restrictions will do to start with; a lot of the general information – and anything that’s already open-access in Core itself – might as well stay that way, but I want you to get started on limiting access to anything related to Ailill’s operations to what outsiders actually need to know! Make sure that the personal information is still classified, block anything which might lead to people figuring out that Ailill can enthrall Neodogs and nonhumans, bury EVERYTHING related to the meme-research, make sure that the numbers of Thralls are SEVERELY understated, and set up an AUTOMATIC classification – subject to review – for incoming information and new projects! Then work backwards from newest – where less has already leaked – to the oldest of his projects! That won’t be enough, but it is better than nothing to start with!”

   Bother. She’d need to designate security levels for information and set up additional priority lists. At the moment, a lot of that information was already somewhat hidden – but with data security, a single leak in the wrong place and you might as well not have bothered in the first place!

   Hm… Perhaps she should make all but the most dangerous, well-traveled, or purely commercial gates secret so that Ailill had escape routes in case something happens. Maybe for that chubby thing he traveled with too, though she wasn’t sure that it could open gates.

   His less savory activities – by human standards – should be kept a secret outside of Kadia and the Core, the better to attract new people too. For that matter, she set up a publicity department, to play up the more beneficial things he did. It looked like most of the Thralls had orders to show off their powers and benevolence a bit, but there was no organized advertising or public image campaign except for some (extraordinarily bland!) business-side advertising in Core and a few of the nearby realms…

   Fortunately, there were plenty of Thralls to assign! She had to give Kelsaru credit: she’d really gotten the recruiting disclosure-and-induction end of things moving, and wasn’t doing badly at arranging the business offices to offer access to good markets and recruiting territories – but as a powerful telepath from a race of powerful telepaths, she wasn’t big on secrecy, however good she was at psychology and finding ways to explain things to people!

   Hmm… They might want to keep just how Kadia’s metaphysics worked under wraps as well. That was proprietary information after all – although that might be a bit impractical. It was also enough to state that the fey were present. How were people from fey-shy fantasy realms going to react when they heard that Ailill had more-or-less created a local population of them and had deals with fey from other realms?

   Hm. Some of her rivals offspring should be available through the school – and on the markets after being washed out. She’d keep an eye on them – and start having the washouts trained in data security! That would be mildly amusing, they should be quite capable of helping manage the Thralls, and that way, she could set up more effective data security for her beloved!

   She put in the purchase order, and soon had a fair collection of hatchlings – mostly metallics of course, just like her rivals. A bit frightened of course… On inspection she had four golds, two silvers, twelve bronzes, and seven coppers. They mostly seemed to be healthy little hatchlings – although one of the young male bronzes did seem to be a definite runt. It looked like he was either cursed or had just turned out badly. A genetic flaw perhaps?

   She had him tested. He was definitely flawed – incapable of properly focusing his power, and the excess had damaged his health. He’d need to have a lot of his power artificially drawn off to be healthy… Other than that he was fairly strong, and his endurance would be good if his magical problems were corrected – but he’d still be a washout.

   Ugh, this was not what she wanted in her security specialists at all! He’d be a decent bodyguard or pet for a mortal, a reasonably serviceable harem guard, or a pretty good familiar/magical battery for a mage.

   Well, she knew who was becoming a power battery! The boy whimpered a bit when she ordered him transmuted into a smaller form, but that was all the better as an example to the rest…

(Ramira, to the others) “Guess what! You’re not dying today! Instead, you’re going to become good little computer security specialists. Or power batteries. It’s really up to you.”

   There was a brief pause than a chorus of “Thank you Mistress!”.

   Most of them turned out to be bright enough, although the coppers (at least) weren’t very naturally disciplined. They all seemed to be quite dedicated though, rather more than simple fear would explain; it didn’t seem to vary with how recently one of the sillier ones had washed out either… Oh. It was that pleasure-conditioning; it’s was what she wanted, and so working hard at it made them feel good.

   She’d had her doubts about that policy, but it certainly did seem to work.

   Sadly, owning some of her rival’s offspring was less satisfying than she’d thought it might be. It wasn’t much of a triumph over them when they had freely given them up… Of course, she might be able to do something about them more directly after she’d consolidated her own position a bit.

   While she was investigating, it was time to take a look at what made Kelsaru tick – other, of course, than her imminent clutching.

   Hmm… Kelsaru liked to keep humans in their place, was fond of really BIG business deals (and was a bit impatient with small deals), and tended to rely a bit excessively on her telepathic powers – which were pretty impressive. As a Crystal Dragon she was a definite rarity – but there didn’t seem to be any good reason why she was still hiding it. Did she just not want to be bothered? Was she worried about some ambitious dragon cutting her up for spell components? Was it simply that she was participating in Dragonworlds society, where gem dragons were almost unheard of? It did help hide her special powers…

   It was also possible that Ailill simply liked the look; he did favor the form of a red.

   She picked up some better telepathic defenses and went looking for a business deal that would appeal to Kelsaru.

   Well, she had a special interest in some of the Cyberpunk realms, and in the Dragonrealms, minor interests in computers, and strong interests in rare magical elements and magic. Stuff that she tended to call “True Earth”, “True Fire”, “True Air”, “True Water”, and Orichalkum (not an especially uncommon word in the magical realms unfortunately). She had a special interest in items that acted as foci in rituals for major changes and transformations and she had a few dozen of her own dragonslaves out acting as representatives.

   Well, there are a lot of links to exotic realms around Kadia… Where could she find that stuff?

   Ah… Kelsaru had been so busy organizing Kevin’s trade offices that she’d missed a possibility; there had been a recent reset in one of the cyberpunk-magic worlds, and a flood of the stuff was due to become available there shortly as the magic level rose again.

   Perhaps she could corner the market there…

   She dispatched some of her own slaves to undercut the competition and offer some of the goods that the realm would have a few years in it’s own future – just before the reset point. Cyberpunk worlds almost always needed supplies and such.

   Not all that dangerous a world really. Low to mid-level magic – not all that powerful at once, but with few usage limitations. It was powered by a locally-defined source – “astral” energies – and was a strain to use, but an experienced mage could channel power pretty much indefinitely. There really weren’t much in the way of countermeasures, or even methods of weakening it or defending against it either, thanks to that same localized power source. Well, that was a bother, but all the general powers should work against it just fine anyway.

   It had fairly standard cyberpunk level technology, some heavy weapons available – although not really like the starship weapons of the Dragonworlds – and some elder dragons, albeit not too many. It looked to be an old gaming universe.

   It would be best to favor the cybernetically enhanced dragons when deploying, to make sure that they had antimagical measures, and to warn them that elder dragons might be about.

   Why was she doing all of this? She turned some Thralls loose on it. She couldn’t do it all herself anyway; she didn’t want to leave the harem during her pregnancy.

   The Thralls eventually dug up a large pile of ancient sourcebooks – but no special method of local magic-damping outside of local countermeasures though. On the other hand, most of the local elder dragons were identified – along with a lot of the local notables and private information for the setting. There was a long list of the various major players and corporations, their primary interests, many of their secret projects and resources, which were involved in which aspects of the economy, event timelines, points of vulnerability – all the stuff a game would need of course.

   THAT was bloody convenient. Of course, that timeline also explained the constant resetting – and that meant that any attempt to seize control would simply fall apart when the realm looped back to it’s beginning…

   There were several routes – mostly through Anarch – so she wouldn’t need an Opener. It looked like the quickest route would be Crusader New York – Anarch Los Angeles – Realm Seattle. The first two gates were only about ten miles apart, although the Anarch-Realm gate would require traveling to Anarch Seattle. That should be handleable…

   How could she have been so silly? With the reset the local timeline had dropped back to “2063”, and was progressing through it’s cycle again. The minor events would change with interference of course – but the major stuff should stick pretty closely to the books – which meant that she had reliable foreknowledge of what was going to happen!

   So… within a month or so a major comet would pass, the magic level would surge, and quite a number of sites would suddenly become rich in magical materials. She could be the first major dealer in magical elements!

   She went looking in the sourcebooks for some of the ones that Kelsaru was interested in, and found that there was an entire sourcebook on the magical materials rush. There was a timeline of deposits, notes on who had owned them initially, descriptions of the conflicts over them, and notes on the difficulties in exploiting them.

   A few were owned by various dragon elders – who knew about them in advance from experience in previous magical cycles – but quite a few were new and just waiting to be purchased in advance when the sites were cheap. Now THAT would be an efficient use of her funds! It would take a month or two to pay off – but then she’d have ownership of quite a lot of material.

   Still, why hadn’t Kelsaru found out about this? Did she have some sort of block against it? Or did she know and was working in secret? Were the sites cursed, or did she just not want to attract the elders’ attention?

   Wait. The local dragons tapped astral or psychic energies by pure mental power, tended to be self-interested rather than bound to “good” and “evil” like the dragons of the Dragonworlds, they manifested their powers without gestures, components, or invocations, and were all shapeshifting. The sites apparently weren’t cursed, and the local dragons apparently weren’t capable of dimensional travel – or at least they weren’t in the sourcebooks. Of course, anyone who got a soul tended to break the pattern…

   Hopefully that hadn’t changed; gaming realms usually stayed faithful to the source material – and the reset had been VERY recent. Maybe Kelsaru didn’t want to administer the area or had secrets there?

   Wait… There was a hatchling named “Kelsaru” mentioned in one of the later adventures – and the local dragons were a lot closer to the Geml Dragons than to the conventional ones – physically weaker, but with much greater mental powers.

  Well, that explained it… It was unlikely that the new hatchling (due in a few years – and was that ever weird) would be ensouled. Apparently hardly any of the local dragons were, although there were the usual scattering of ensouled humans about. Not too many though.

   So: was it bad memories? Simply being distracted by clutching? Having bigger concerns at the moment?

   Well, to be fair, the thought of the Dragonworlds resetting had never entered her mind either. That was food for thought. What would happen if she was there at the time? Would she see the world change around her? Be changed herself? Find that her concerns were unaffected but nothing ever seemed to change otherwise? Would her soul wind up in some other dragon or person? Perhaps she would simply not yet have been born?

   OK, she didn’t want to pursue that line of thought either – and she was suddenly more than a bit reluctant to visit home again. A good thing she was in Kadia!

   The entire line of thought – at least in conjunction with her home – was uncomfortable enough to fully explain why Kelsaru wasn’t pursing the notion.

   Getting an early interest in the relevant sites – and knowing just when they were going to pop up – made it easy to skim the cream. By the time the data security systems were up and running (simply not explaining everything to everyone who asked helped a lot) she had a plentiful supply of magical elements and even plenty of that “Orichalkum” stuff.

   Kelsaru had clutched by that time; she was, after all, several months ahead of her – and was getting seriously involved in events again.

   She dropped by to show Kelsaru her inventory – and discuss it’s origins – just to see her face.

(Kelsaru) “What? How could you do that? All those sites were exhausted decades ago! There’s nothing left there… Wait a minute…”

   Ramira smiled. It was nice to have an edge on one of her few competitors. After all… while Ailill was quite fond of Meara, she was just a Thrall. Lysira did the harem managing, but had few responsibilities outside of that. Tanis was more-or-less on the bottom, mostly because Ailill preferred to stress the fact that she had summoned him (which had apparently annoyed him), only to wind up as his property. There were a few other Thralls about – but that still left her second – just behind Kelsaru.

   And Kelsaru was pretty obviously in shock. She’d just realized that the dragons that she’d considered rivals as a kid weren’t even hatched yet – although they would be soon. She could interfere with things that had happened before they were even born.

(Ramira) “Well, what do you say? I supply you with those elements, and you make me co-consort.”

   Kelsaru considered… That didn’t actually cost her much – especially since she was sure that Kevin favored her emotionally – and Ramira had just pointed out some very important information. Still, she wasn’t letting any concession go that she could manage.

   The bargaining was tight, and she got some concessions and a clear division of responsibilities in return – but it was a deal.

   Ramira sighed… It was a good thing that she’d gotten those anti-telepathy charms – and that becoming one of Ailill’s consorts had given her some psychic powers of her own. Kelsaru had a VERY powerful mind… Still, at least she have something to hold over Kelsaru’s head now – and, fortunately, Meara and Lysira didn’t seem very competitive; they were just devoted to Ailill. Only she and Kelsaru had joined up without previously being owned. Of course, others might try to do that… she’d have to watch out for new free competition then.

   Hm. Had Ailill been looking at anyone outside of the harem? He was pretty busy – but there were dragonesses attempting to move in on him in much the same way that she had – and Ailill seemed to be fairly easy prey for any female who acted attracted to him without being owned first.

   Perhaps she could use that… He seemed to like the metallics best, especially golds – although that was a classical attraction for a red: claiming some gold females – especially ones who picked a red over a gold – was about the biggest display of power-dominance-attractiveness a red could manage. He almost seemed bored with reds other than Kelsaru, who wasn’t really one. Of course, he’d had hundreds of reds for years.

   She checked what was going on in the dragonworlds…

   Hm. There were currently two golds in pursuit of him. No surprise really… He had the power and wealth and charisma. Even if he hadn’t met that many, and there’d be strong social disapproval – since that whole chaotic evil/lawful good thing applied (which was also what made it such an accomplishment of course) – you’d have to expect a rebellious youngster or two (or perhaps someone who hoped to influence his school).

   And that kind of rebelliousness – or perceptive opportunism – was often symptomatic of having a soul.

   She had the Thralls check – and one of the two did. A girl who’d just barely hit the “young adult” age category. There were a few more phantasms who got uppity in the cells of course – but as slaves-to-be they didn’t really count.

   Ah, she could help the girl get into the harem in exchange for some future favors and support…

   Ramira sent for the girl. She could evaluate her in Ailill’s stead.

   Hmm… Psychic defenses not too impressive… She was slightly arrogant for a gold, apparently used to being more magically powerful than her peers, had summarily dealt with three unwanted suitors, and was trying not to show that she was impressed with the apparent extent of Kevin’s resources. Quite good looking, if – as an early young adult who wasn’t yet used to her growth spurt – a bit gawky.

   Well, her powers were impressive for a young adult gold, but nothing like Ailill’s – after all, he was a god! – and he’d almost certainly consider the arrogance as something to tame (not that he should have any problems with that!). Her assets weren’t bad for her age, although they were mostly derived from the three suitors and two rivals she’s dealt with. Her parents would be a bit embarrased if she wound up with Kevin of course – and that alone might be worth telling her to stay. Her magical speciality was Conjurations – especially possessing entities. She was good at channeling spirits, knew ritual magic and pacts, and might have some spirit-based powers.

   Now that speciality might be useful! She didn’t think that anyone else in the harem had any powers in those fields…

(Ramira) “I’m not sure when he’ll be back, but I’ll put in a good word for you when he does. What’s your name?”

(Varindyera) ” Varindyera! And yours?”

   It looked like she was trying to find out where she was in the pecking order; she had to know that before she could try to move in on it – although she also seemed inclined to assume that she’d have more personal power than Ailill would later on, and thus will have an edge in the relationship. Under normal circumstances she’d probably be right.

(Ramira) “I am Ramira Al’Fatim.”

   Might as well give her a little test. Hopefully she’d done at least SOME research first!

(Varindyera) “Ah, security is it? I have no intention of challenging your lord… I believe you can trust me on that!”

   Hmm, very good. Very, very good indeed. She hadn’t felt any contact. Evidently the girl had either done her research or was relying on perception alone. She did seem to be assuming that a pregnant female dragon in Ailill’s establishment was pregnant by him – but that was hardly unreasonable for dragons. It wasn’t like there were any other intact draconic males around.

   Of course, that was one reason why she advocated data security around Kadia and everywhere else Ailill was operating! She didn’t want people knowing what they were getting into when they challenged him!

   Ailill would appreciate the thought later; the only thing that hads kept his powers fairly quiet in the Dragonworlds was his often not being there.

(Ramira) “Anyhow, if you wish to speak with him, he really is out on business. You can wait if you like.”

   Ailill was actually available fairly shortly – but that left Ramira with time for some negotiations.

   It was obvious enough that Varindyera would LIKE to be the dominant female, and in charge of everything while Ailill did all the fighting. In practice, she’d like to be in charge of the school; she thought it was a gateway to a lot of influence with the next generation. She was trying to hide that ambition – but she was still short on psychic defenses.

   Well, that wasn’t too likely to conflict with her ambitions! She would not be overly concerned; they might even be able to work together until their egos inevitably clashed!

(Ramira) “I’m very good with technology. If you support me in my disputes, I’ll ensure the hatchlings have the best educational devices available. It really would be for the best. We metallics have to stick together.”

   Varindyera was willing to go for that approach. After all, Ramira didn’t seem to have conflicting ambitions at the moment; she wass leaning towards politics, and Ramira was leaning towards control of the technology.

   Ramira was pleased… She might even be able to get some prototype testing in! The Core educational programs were very good – but they also worked very hard at defusing a lot of normal draconic instincts.

   She saw to it that Varindyera had a comfortable seat, set up a romantic dinner (showing off a few of the finest slaves and some of Ailills resources) – and a room if Ailill decided to keep her or offer her one – and notified Ailill of the potential new addition.

(Ailill) “Oh? How did that happen? I haven’t been back to the Dragonworlds in weeks… Was someone determined or clever enough to trace things back to Kadia?”

(Ramira) “Actually, I checked for suitors there. You were so busy that I thought I should save you the trouble.”

(Ailill, looking a bit disappointed) “Were you selective, or was there only one?”

(Ramira) “There was only one ensouled among them. But she’s a gold, and she has some conjuration ability.”

(Ailill) “Well now! I shall just have to meet her!”

   Ah, he was definitely a bit predatory there. Truly a red!

   Ten to one, Varindyera would be taken and impregnated inside an hour.

   The girl was a bit shocked later on, but that was of little moment. She had been a bit shocked herself…

   Afterwards Ailill was very pleased with himself, and in a very good mood, and very pleased with her as well.

(Ramira) “What do you think Ailill?”

(Ailill) “A very pleasant little conquest! A bit young and inexperienced, but it was good to bring her to my attention! She’d likely have wound up in the cells if no one had noticed her poking around, and a willing concubine is always much more satisfying than a slave!

(Ramira) “Well, I always seek to please you!”

(Ailill) “And a thoughtful and excellent job you’re doing! Is there anything I can do for you?”

(Ramira) “I was trying to calibrate the Teacher devices for draconic society. Would you like to see my work so far? I think you’ll be pleased!”

(Ailill) “Certainly!”

   She’d been busy revising the program a bit – stressing separate courses for slaves and more tolerance for dragon instincts, along with more emphasis on combativeness and getting ahead than the default Teacher – not difficult considering that the defaults placed very little stress on either.

(Ailill) “Now, I intend – if they’re willing to accept – to provide my offspring with the same skill and power package I give the servants. It’s a good starting place I think.”

(Ramira) “A wise choice. The taste of power will encourage them to behave and earn the improved set.”

(Ailill) “It has been busy here in Kadia… I must get back to the Dragonworlds sometime. Do you too have unfinished business there?”

(Ramira) “It wouldn’t hurt to check on my portion of the holdings.”

(Ailill) “Hm… I know that glint! You have someone there you’d like to put into their place don’t you?”

(Ramira, coquettishly) “Maaaybe…”

(Ailill) “Aw now (tickle) who is it? Old rivals? Annoying relatives? Inferior suitors that you want to humiliate?”

(Ramira) “Well, that phantasm gold was VERY stuck up! I think she needs a lesson!”

(Ailill) “Ah, a few old rivals you’d like to see among the servants with their hatchlings?”

(Ramira) “Definitely. We need to clear the chaff!”

(Ailill) “Well, we shall have to see about arranging it!”

Recordings from the Holocron of Kira Keldav – The Festival of Masks

   Here we have another player contribution (with some fairly trivial editing) to the Star Wars setting – in this case, an upcoming event on his home world that he hopes to use to allow a quick visit home, despite the common belief that he’s a Sith…

   It occurs to me that the Festival of Masks back in Crevasse City is about to come up. Provided we finish with the Sith base in time, it would make the perfect cover for trying to sneak onto Alderaan. We could load the Nightraptor with a big selection of alcohol from Archegeph and try to get in as a vendor. If I used a mask, some hair dye, and some plain clothing, I would probably be able to walk the streets unnoticed. Especially since my hair has grown out some over the last eight months. I am sure the Glithes would be most displeased that their festival would allow me to sneak back into the city. Dorothy’s parents have never really liked me anyway. I will admit, it would be a major scandal if I was caught.

   Heh, this has me thinking of some of the previous festivals. Each year we would sneak off at night to see what the adults got up to, and when we got old enough, tried to pass ourselves off as adults. Dorothy was good about being able to find ways to sneak us in. I suspect it was the fact her parents were the head organizers. Inevitably some of us would get caught though. Mother would get so furious over us sneaking out like that.

   This was supposed to be the year all of us could legally attend the evening portion of the festivities. Nichel was finally officially adult, and therefore was legal to do everything – not that something so trivial ever stopped us. Officer Larson was continually be on the hunt for us, it got to be a tradition of hide and seek. Last year I had dyed my hair black while Nichel bleached his hair as white as he could. Larson tried to catch Nichel for being too young to be there at that hour, but only caught me. Now admittedly I was not old enough for that drink in my hand at the time, but Larson was too distracted to check that. Nichel and I apparently looked enough alike that Mother was thrown for a loop when she saw us that morning.

   The games were fun, although they always seemed to be either far too easy or way too hard. The contests were another matter though. Those were always fun to watch and participate in even if I couldn’t win most of the time. I remember the allegations the one year that someone was trying to cheat using Force powers. I don’t recall whatever came of that other than a major investigation resulted.

   Another fun activity we would engage in was trying to catch a glowbug of every color we could find. We would put them in jars and keep them in our rooms until they popped. The resulting color pattern on the jar was always unique and would glow when a black light was inserted inside. Each of us now have fifteen of those jars stashed away, unless someone’s lost some or mother threw mine out while I’ve been away. Arguments would break out each year between us on what constituted a different color. I think it was eight years ago when all the glowbugs in Sabrina’s jar decided to pop within a four second timeframe in the early morning hours. Scared the hell out of her, and the rest of us couldn’t stop laughing for a week afterwards.

   At first we purchased masks from one of the stalls around town, but over the years we began to make our own. It was amazing how creative some of the others could get with making their masks. Mine typically looked like it was done by a small child, while Nichel’s looked like it was professionally done. Guessing who each other was at the festival was almost always easy, we knew each other too well for something like that to fool us for long.

   Costumes were another matter. While not really required as part of the theme of the festival, a significant portion of the participants dress up each year. None of us were any good with fabric, so we all typically bought something from one of the tailors around town. Some of them could get quite elaborate, including the designs of artist Aaroneirro Arullie. His would be these long flowing designs that could change color depending on lighting and mood. Very cool I must admit, but way beyond my meager allowance. Always told myself I would have one of his costumes one day. Everything seems to come down to a matter of money.

   There was always plenty of food and drink about. It was practically impossible to go hungry during the festival. Some of the cooking competitions would get rather silly though. It seemed some of the chefs were purposefully trying to get the weirdest ingredients from across the galaxy that they could. Most of it was edible, although I felt better off not knowing what was in some of the food I was eating.

   Sigh, the last festival seems like so long ago, yet it has only been a year. How can someone look forward to something and yet dread it at the same time?

   The Festival of Masks

   Crevasse City, Alderaan

   The Festival of Masks has been a community event that has been held annually for the last fifteen years (and informally, and on a smaller scale, for many years before that). Sponsored by the Glithe family, the week-long Festival has become a major event for the city and becoming increasingly known across the planet. The upcoming Sixteenth Annual Festival of Masks aims to be the biggest one yet.

   With Crevasse City built into the side of a cliff, much of the city streets are shrouded in shadow and darkness. Artificial illumination lights the streets during most of the year, however during the Festival the lights are turned off and the festivities begin. Illumination is provided by batches of bioengineered “glowbugs” released during the festival. Although actually a form of fungus, these creatures have been designed to emit light in a variety of colors through bioluminescence. Once they reach the end of their short lifespan, the creatures explode with a soft pop and emit a small cloud of colorful (if infertile) spores. Batches are released periodically during the weeklong event to keep the streets lit.

   The city is decorated with soft glowing lights and candles, fireworks are set off with regularity, and the streets are kept clear of vehicles. Musicians, performers, artists and more fill the streets with music, dance, food, drink, and shows throughout the week. Games and contests are held in a wide variety of fields advocating friendly competition with a “Champion of the Mask” chosen each year. The “daylight” hours are geared to be family friendly with the late night hours having more mature entertainment scheduled in age restricted areas. The organizers and Security ensure the festivities remain clean and safe though.

   One of the central themes to the festival as a whole though is the masks. Worn over the face, these masks “hide” the identity of the wearer and allow him or her to join the ranks of the faceless masses. They come in a wide variety of colors and styles, although metallic ones are most common. One of the most common effects of wearing one is many people find themselves more outgoing and social than they would otherwise be due to the supposed anonimity. More than a few couples have met while wearing masks at the festival.

   Common games and contests include, but are not limited to, foot races, feats of strength, costume competitions, dancing, singing, and improv. Massive and complex fireworks display have become the norm and are becoming more extravagent each year.

Star Wars – Jarik Alder, Physican-Gambler

   Here we have a preliminary version of a new character for the Star Wars game…

   Jarik Alder

   Jarik has a gambling problem. A LARGE gambling problem. One that’s left him quite a few thousand credits in debt – and led him to slip off his home planet, working a tramp freighter under an assumed name.

   He slipped ashore, and took a new name again, on Archegeph – but found that disguising his gambling habit was a lot harder than changing his name. After yet another string of losses, he was pretty nearly flat broke – and it was beginning to look like taking almost any route offworld would be a good idea.

   If that meant hooking up with some lunatic travelers, as long as they possessed their own space ship and he didn’t, that was just the way it was going to have to be.

   Jarik is a tall and solid (6’1″, 225 lbs, age 27, brown hair and eyes) human without much otherwise in the way of distinguishing features – although he’s short of luggage at the moment, and consequently appears more than a bit rumpled and worn. He isn’t the best kept of people, if for no other reason than the he’s moving around too much.

   Disadvantages:

• Major Debts (-3): Jarik owes QUITE a lot of money to the criminal underworld in general, and to Marthak the Hutt in particular. In addition to those obligations – which he is currently hiding from – he starts off with a mere 10 credits.
• Gambling Fever (-3): Jarik finds it very, very, difficult to resist betting, getting in on a game, or looking up a game if there aren’t any immediately apparent. That’s why he starts off with only three major items of equipment instead of four – and will find it very difficult to hang onto money.

   Special Talents:

• Force Sensitive (0): +1 Force Point, more vulnerable to the Dark Side.
• Active Force User (3): Gains three skill points worth of Force Skills, is highly vulnerable to the Dark Side, and is subject to remarkable coincidences.
• Three bonus Skill Dice (3).

Dexterity	2d6
Knowledge	3d6	Languages +1d6, Streetwise +1d6, Survival +1d6
Mechanical	2d6	Animal Handling +1d6
Perception	4d6	Bargain +1d6, Gambling +2d6, Sense Motive +1d6
Strength	3d6
Technical	4d6	Demolitions +1d6, First Aid +2d6, Medicine +2d6

　

Special:
Force Sense	+2
Inner Control	+2
Manipulation	+2
Force Points	2
Experience Points	0
Credits	10

   This build actually requires twelve experience points rather than ten – but, given that the game is currently on session five, allowing a couple of extra experience points seems reasonable enough.

   Major items of Equipment:

• Advanced Medical Kit, with expert-system assistance (+2d6 Medical and First Aid Skills).
• Twin Blaster Pistols.
• A Survival Vest – +1 armor with a breather mask and various basic survival-kit items.

   Contacts:

• Marthak the Hutt – notably, the same fellow to whom he owes a great deal of money.
• Shivas Qorbin – an interstellar bookie.
• Sair Heckmann – Jarik’s father, or supposed father, and a rather mild and quiet person.

   Plot hooks:

• Jarik is massively indebted to the Hutt’s.
• Jarik is related to one of the major figures in Republic politics or – perhaps – to some major figure of the Sith War. For good or ill, that individual is currently unaware of the relationship.

   Enemy:

• Marthak the Hutt.

   More detail is in order on all of this of course – but that is the nature of preliminary characters, and more material can easily be developed during play as it becomes apparent how the character fits into the group and the setting.

Star Wars – Randu Palait, A.K.A. “Shipwreck”

   Randu Palait – more commonly known as “Shipwreck” (he’s actually managed to be aboard three ships that have been shot down in the war and survived) – has been knocking around the galaxy for quite awhile. While his willingness to take the most dangerous jobs without complaint tends to make sure that he finds work everywhere he goes, he also tends to rapidly offend everyone he gets involved with – bosses, police, women, predatory monsters…

   Fortunately, he can get along with computers and droids – which is a good thing, since most of the time they make up most of his work team.

   Naturally enough, when he wound up stranded on a backwater like Archegeph – just because the locals had thrown him in jail after that brawl (it wasn’t like the fire, or the building collapse, even really had anything to do with him) – he went looking for an exciting new job.

   On a planet that was better than 95% oceanic, and was infested with giant, bio-engineered toxic jellyfish that ate ships, what could be more exciting than “Underwater Salvage Expert”? Even better, it paid extremely well and there was virtually no competition!

   Disadvantages (-6): Shipwreck is an adrenalin junkie, rather bellicose (suffering a -1d6 penalty on most social interactions and starting with no contacts), and can generally be counted on to have numerous minor offenses on his file within hours of arriving at a new planet – resulting in rather rocky relationships with the local authorities. Of course, his willingness – in fact, eagerness – to undertake the most dangerous missions around does tend to find him work everywhere he goes.

   Special Talents:

• Probability Twister (3): Shipwreck can take a +3d6 bonus on any skill or attribute roll up to three times per session – but will suffer a more-or-less delayed compensating stroke of bad luck shortly afterwards for each use past the first.
• Technical Intuition (3): Shipwreck has access to the “Technical Intuition” special skill, along with a one-die base in it, and may add one half of his score in it (currently +2d6) to his Demolitions, Electronics, Sensor Systems, and Shield Operations rolls.

　

Dexterity	3d6	Melee +1d6
Knowledge	2d6
Mechanical	4d6	Demolitions +1d6, Electronics +1d6
Perception	2d6
Strength	3d6
Technical	4d6	Medicine +1d6, Sensor Systems +2d6, Shield Operations +1d6

　

Special:
Technical Intuition	4d6
Force Points	1
Experience Points	0
Credits	000

   As a replacement character, Shipwreck gets to keep one-half of the prior characters experience – for a total of an extra five points. Given that he’s just completed a high-paying contract, he’ll be starting with 2000 credits rather than 1000.

   Major Items of Equipment:

• Demolitions Kit (cutters, demolition chargers, radio detonators, circuit testers, etc).
• Survival Vest (+1 armor, breather mask, assorted bits of survival gear).

   Shipwreck still needs a description, as well as his two plot hooks and an enemy – but that’s on hold awaiting more input from the player.

Yseult Shadowrun – Dust of Ages Part IV

   So how to find the Eye of Ra? It wasn’t likely that Hitoshi had found that and then given it up to chase down another lead. Unless it was something portable – and that didn’t seem likely; the stuff in the crypt certainly hadn’t been – Hitoshi probably hadn’t found it.

   There might be more clues in that temple near the sphinx – but it would be nice if there was some way to find the Eye directly. It might be three thousand years, but it had evidently been a major temple; surely it hadn’t simply vanished beneath the sands.

   She asked Nassor if there was some way that he could use the mummy to trace the energy source that had affected the boy? Or possibly trace the kids route? After all, some people were able to tell the last owner of an object and other things like that.

   Nassor gave her such a LOOK… OK, genuine magic shouldn’t have been available before the awakening, and life-powered magic left strong traces – but the traces were still three thousand years old. He could certainly look around the sphinx for similar traces of magic – but as for tracing the kids steps after more that kind of time? He was a mage, not a god!

   She really should have expected that; if there was some magical method of tracing the Eye, Hitoshi would almost certainly have used it instead of heading for the ship. Normal traces faded after a few days; evidently this life-powered stuff was different – but not THAT different.

   Nassor seemed a bit rattled by all this anyway. Well, he did work for the department of antiquities, and he had just seen a lot of his most fundamental beliefs about history overturned. A bit of shock was understandable.

   She asked him if anyone had looked for magical traces near the sphinx.

(Nassor) “Oh yes. Hundreds of times. Every year there are a thousand mages and would-be psychics, and such all over the place. They’re all sure that there’s ancient magic there. They swarm over everything that isn’t deep underground or seriously restricted and guarded. Nobody takes them seriously now if they ever did; they’ve been at it the 1950’s, long before the awakening. There are more half-assed attempts at spells done near the great pyramid and the sphinx than anywhere else on earth except stonehenge. Nobody’s ever tried to sort out that mess…”

   Yseult noted that the man was sort of slowing up there. In fact, he was starting to mutter slower and slower, until…

(Nassor) “Well, Crap!”

(Yseult) “What is wrong?”

(Nassor) “Well… the blasted tourists and wanna-be mages have muddled so many traces there, and been so blatant about it, that no reputable scientist has wanted to be associated with the place in decades! If there is something hidden under there, no one has been looking professionally since before the awakening! Still; it’s at least thirty square miles. Not a job for two people, nice as that might be.”

   Yseult sighed and started playing with maps. Maybe there was some sort of pattern to the locations that Hitoshi had visited? Several of the classic tourist sites around Gaza, then KV 5 in the Valley of the Kings – a pretty big tourist site on it’s own – then abruptly off to the site with the obelisk, then to the temple and the entrance to the lizard-folk crypt. At the crypt he’d taken some scrolls, and then headed out of Egypt. Had he simply wandered off from a tour group in KV 5 and stumbled across the beginning of the trail? In that case the prior sites would be meaningless – and he hadn’t had a local guide or (being a mage) the skillsoft programs to fill him in on the traditions about the Eye of Ra. So if he’d run a similar symbol correlation program… This might be the effective beginning of Hitoshi’s trail right here.

   Drat. Well, even if that was true, there still might be more details on what he might have found at the Eye of Ra – and it would be a secret well worth uncovering anyway.

   Besides, she wasn’t going to give up now! She – and possibly Hitoshi – were on the trail of some source of magic powerful enough to survive through much of the nonmagical era.

   So – reconstruction: Hitoshi might or might not have followed some leads she – working backwards – hadn’t found yet to KV 5. Regardless of whether or not it was on purpose, there he had (probably) found the traces of magic and followed them to the child-mummy. The scrolls with the kid, and (likely) a bit of symbol-correlation, had led two ways – to museums and scholarly papers (where there was little profit to be had) – or to the nearly-unexplored area around the obelisk and the fallen ship (even if Hitoshi hadn’t known what that was at the time). At that site, Hitoshi had done some digging at the sites of magical traces, found and investigated a lizard-person skeleton, and – most likely – had found a magical artifact (perhaps one of the spears that drew on the crypt’s power sources, like they’d found at the crypt) that was linked to the crypt-city. That link had led Hitoshi to the crypt – where he’d poked around and snagged some scrolls. In possession of those ancient relics, he’d promptly snuck out of Egypt and headed for Madagascar, from whence he’d departed by ship.

   That didn’t explain why Hitoshi had simply taken a few scrolls – but he might have just used some sort of finding-spell, or grabbed the first things that came to hand when some guardian had sent him running. He and his fox apparently weren’t eager to get into fights; his sister had said that he was mostly a social specialist.

   Of course, Hitoshi might have thought that the “Eye of Ra” referred to the Sun, or to any of several other things. He didn’t have a local guide, and he might have just run a symbol-correlation program on the symbols that were in a different style, rather than translating the whole scroll. Neither Hitoshi nor the fox could use skillsoft programs, so they probably couldn’t have simply read the scrolls without a lot of work. Ergo, there was a decent chance that the whole “Eye of Ra” thing had simply fallen by the wayside as far as Hitoshi had been concerned.

   Yseult looked at Nassor…

(Yseult) “Would you be interested in searching more locations with me? A bit under the table at first; you can reveal what we find to the world; I just want a good portion of the reward money.”

(Nassor) “Well… so far this has been fascinating. Whatever got you started on this trail has been well worthwhile so far.”

(Yesult) “Then I must ask that you wait until we reach the end of the trail before revealing anything.”

   Nassor was willing to go along with that – although that would eliminate the option of getting professional help with the mummy for the moment. He recommend leaving it alone in it’s case; they didn’t have the facilities for an X-Ray or CAT scan or anything.

   Yesult was agreeable there; the mummy didn’t look like it would be useful at the moment anyway. The fact that it existed at all provided most of the information that she’d needed…

   Unfortunately, fiddling with the maps had been pretty useless. With only three locations – and one of them probably random – there really wasn’t enough information to make anything but a line, arc, or triangle, and none of those were especially revealing.

   Throwing in the sphinx – with or without the crash site (which didn’t seem too likely to be a marker for anything) – didn’t do anything either. Neither did the small temple – minor and well-explored – which Hitoshi had visited just before coming to KV 5. Besides… it was on the wrong side of the Nile to make any kind of regular symbol.

   Oh well. The maps had been a long shot anyway. After all, the lizard-folk crypt would date back close to 10,000 years, the ship anywhere from 8000 to 20,000, KV 5 about 3300, and no one was too sure about the sphinx.

   Blast. They were going to need a physical survey unless she could turn up some more clues. Of course, magic detection was a lot like looking for a light; get a good angle or glimpse, and you could see it for a long ways. If it was under a lot of rock or something, it would be very hard to pick up.

   She asked Nassor if he could bring in anyone skilled at searching out magical locations – or if there was anyone who owed him any favors that he could call in to narrow down their search near the sphinx.

   Nassor said that he could ask a few friends – but that the only surface locations that hadn’t been extensively searched would be secure sites. Searching underground, in the catacombs, would be a major expedition.

   Well, it certainly looked like there was something of great – probably vast – magical power (or at least potential) down there. Anything that could provide enough magical power to induce goblinization during the bottom of the magic cycle must be unimaginably powerful. It might be a creature or an item or a location – but there was something. Still, at least thirty square miles to search… Had Hitoshi simply decided not to bother? She could eliminate a bunch of well-explored and well-classified sites – but who knew what was underneath them?

   Hm… It seemed inappropriate somehow, but she had a cell phone signal.

   The Valley of the Kings was well-explored, and had quite a lot of tourists and phones. It was just that no one yet had bothered with all the workmen’s tombs. After all, there were hundreds upon hundreds of them, and none of them ever had much of anything of interest inside – or at least they hadn’t up until now.

   She got in touch with a few of her more academic contacts and made them an offer on the most detailed set of annotated maps – both mundane and magical – that they could put together of the area around Gaza and the Great Sphinx. There had to be some sort of clues. Everything above-ground might be throughly mapped and surveyed – but no one else would have been looking in quite the same way, or with the particular facts she had. At the very least, she could eliminate some places.

   Hm… According to some of the sources, the Sphinx itself might be somewhat more than five thousand years old – interestingly, from roughly the last days of the last age of magic. There were tales of chambers beneath it, and miles of catacombs in the area – never entirely cleared of water and rubble – but they wandered all over the area.

   Nassor could use telekinesis to remove or hold back small amounts of water, and move a bit of earth – which would help with local explorations – but he certainly couldn’t handle the entire catacomb system. She knew better than to ask anyway; he’d already denied godhood once.

   Oh, now there was a thought; the Department of Antiquities was actually run by a bunch of retired ancient Egyptian gods in disguise. Too bad she wasn’t a scriptwriter; that’d be a trid series that might actually be worth watching.

   Anyway, there were a lot of theories about the Sphinx; there might be something in the literature or that the museum people would know. She ran a search on the for any more information on the layout of the Sphinx and theories about it.

   She should have known better. More than a hundred thousand pages. Even filtering out a lot of the crackpots only reduced that to twenty thousand or so. Claims of chambers under the Sphinx dated back for centuries, but a variety of sonic and radiation-based surveys had been done in the 1980’s and 90’s that demonstrated – quite conclusively – that there was nothing there but solid rock. There was a set of stairs nearby, going down – but they ended in a simple chamber and yet more solid rock, and had been reburied since 1995, since there was no reason to spend a lot of money to keep them exposed. A massive series of caves existed beneath the area however, and was supposed to be haunted by a giant snake – apparently first reported in the 1800’s, when the caves were first reported.

   One of the sources seemed especially promising… Some pre-awakening author named Andrew Collins…

   From the underlying geology, it is clear that Gizas subterranean caves reache the main pyramid field before disappearing beneath Giza’s southern hill, known as Gebel Gibli. I suspect that this rocky knoll is the original datum point, or survey point, from which the pyramid field took shape. I believe that the hill was seen as the primeval mound, the place of the first creation of the physical world – an attribution preserved even today in a name given to the site in Arab Egyptian folklore. This is Tarfaya, which means the “first place”, or the “place of beginning”, in that it existed before everything else.

   A previously unrecorded Arab-Egyptian legend speaks of the caves beneath the plateau as being guarded by a mighty snake named el-Hanash. It protects a great diamond that contains the essence of this underworld, and it will blind anyone who attempts to steal the jewel it protects. Yet one day someone, a chosen one, will come along and el-Hanash will blind them only in one eye. It will be this person who goes on to access the great jewel and learn of its secrets.

   I believe the core of this legend is very ancient indeed, and relates to the existence in Giza’s chamber of first creation of a power object similar to the lingams of Hindu tradition and to the baetyls and omphali once found at the center of temples across the Near East. Ancient Egyptian building texts on the walls of the temple of Edfu in southern Egypt speak of Giza’s underworld realm, named here as the Underworld of the Soul (duat n ba), as not only containing the mythical tomb of Osiris, but also a power object known as the bnnt (pronounced “bennet”), a word meaning “seed” or “embryo”.

   A separate tradition links this chamber with a power object called the benben-stone, a representation of which was once to be seen at Heliopolis, the ancient cult center of the sun-god Re situated just beyond what is today the city of Cairo. Such ideas might one day be verified through a proper investigation of Giza’s rediscovered underworld

   This is a (somewhat re-written) excerpt from Earthquest News, by Andrew Collins (August 2009). You can read the entire thing Here. Given that no one else yet seems to be able to find his mysterious underworld below the pyramids, I shall reserve judgement on Mr Collin’s theories – but I must give him credit for producing excellent game props, even if that isn’t really what he had in mind.

   Well, giant crystals, the single eye of the sun god, and a power-object related to the sun god Re (Ray, Ra, etc) might well be related.

(Yseult) “Would you like to share the glory – and possible riches – of exploring the underground caverns? Possibly with a few friends?”

(Nassor) “Well – at worst it’s a waste of time, at best it could be almost anything.”

(Yseult) “Alright then. I have a contact I need to go and speak with in person. Can I leave you here to prepare a suitable team of TRUSTED associates for exploring the caverns? I hope to have more information when I get back. It shouldn’t take more than a week… That’s all right? Good. Lets get out of here so I can go and come back quickly.”

   She needed a few more clues about the ancient world – and there was only one reliable source. The Dragons. They were certainly the last known survivors of the period if you didn’t count a few bristlecone pines and such.

   She’d run some of Dunkelzahn’s errands in exchange for a future favor or two – and a bit of information-trading should be practicable, even if the old wyrm would probably count getting in to see him as a notable favor in itself – especially given the fact that there was a terrorist group targeting dragons at the moment.

   At least reaching one of his public-relations secretaries was easy enough – even if she did give the impression that Dunkelzahn had known she was going to call, and already knew everything she wanted to say, but would be willing to meet in person just to oblige her since her information was “too sensitive” to entrust to satellite links – although such an appointment in Dunkelzahn’s impossibly crowded schedule was a much bigger concession than any possible favors she might have done merited.

   She’d been – quite expertly – manipulated into promising to reveal some of what she’d recently discovered in Egypt whether Dunkelzahn helped her out or not – and if the old wyrm had seen her online auction (which seemed probable), that might be enough for him to put everything together anyway.

   The blasted woman might be just as good at HER job as SHE was at detective work.

Kira Keldav Background – Families of Friends

   Here we have another segment from Kira’s player – who, having spare time on his hands, has been coming up with quite a lot of material lately.

   The Olath Family

   The Olath Clan of “Junk Planet Wars” and “Pimp My Droid” fame have a long history of tinkering and engineering. Loving to get their hands dirty and finding unusual parts is a central aspect of their lives. Members of the clan have been involved in many Republic engineering projects in recent years.

   The Alderaan branch of the family was a large one by most standards. Most people in Crevasse City could claim to know at least one Olath in their list of acquaintances. Nathan was simply the youngest of five children in his immediate family with a large number of first and second cousins.

   Nathan unusually chooses to hang out with friends as opposed to family during most of his free-time. Nathan also went against the norm for an Olath by choosing to specialize in software of all things. While Nathan receives occasional razzing over this, the clan ultimately supports him in his decision. It is just harder to show off a well written piece of code.

   Nathan’s choice of friends has received quiet support in the hopes that it is an indication that Nathan is socializing effectively outside the family. While the Olaths do not entirely approve of the group’s behavior at times, they view it largely as a phase the youngsters will grow out of.

   The Glithe Family

   The Glithe family specializes in providing unbiased political and strategic analysis on the Alderaan government in galactic affairs for various news outlets. The family name is even reputed to be descended from one of the original founders of Alderaan. Steeped in tradition and what they regard as proper behavior, the Glithes have not taken well to their only daughter’s choice of friends.

   Dorothy has taken particular care to see that her record is kept clean of any infraction that might look bad, but that has not kept her from spending as much time with her friends as she can to her parents’ annoyance. The Glithes approve of Dorothy’s decision to go into political science and hope that she may go far in her career.

   Attempts by her parents to get Dorothy to marry someone nice and traditional have not gone over well from the very start. Arguments are common and the Glithes have expressed great consternation over the matter.

   The Glithes have been strong and active members of Crevasse City society doing volunteer work, organizing events, and participating in festivals. The Festival of Masks, first started 15 years ago, has become one of their biggest community hits.

   The Bernelli Family

   The Bernelli family immigrated from Mer to Alderaan when Barcos was still a small child. Unable to find work locally, they proceeded to open their own restaurant specializing in Mer cuisine and exotic takes on local favorites. The restaurant business has done well amongst the local clientel and secured the Bernelli family a place in Alderaan society.

   The family has struggled with the higher gravity on Alderaan though. Barcos has done better than his parents, having been raised in the higher gravity most of his childhood, but still they have all suffered heart and blood pressure issues. Droids assist them with most of the heavy labor and strenuous tasks so that they may better focus on their cooking.

   The Bernelli’s have also approved of Barcos’s friendship with Dorothy, Nathan, and the Keldav’s, viewing it as Barcos integrating into Alderaan life. Cultural differences cause them to either ignore or overlook the group’s antics and quietly support them when the group gets into trouble. Indeed, the Bernelli’s restaurant has been a frequent hangout among them with the Bernelli’s trying to feed them at every opportunity.

   All in all, the Bernelli’s approve of Barcos’s choice to go into negotiating and diplomacy, viewing it as a proper calling for a child raised on Alderaan.

Yseult Shadowrun – Dust of Ages Part III

   For anyone who was wondering, yes – this investigation involved Earthdawn elements being carried over into Shadowrun. History doesn’t just vanish – and there was more than one route to survival.

   The Tomb of Ramesses the Great (what was the matter with these people? Just because it was a translation of a three thousand year old name, why should three or four different spellings all be considered valid?) was fairly impressive.

   OK, maybe her supply stockpile, and assorted preparations went a bit into overkill – but the way this case was going, she wasn’t going to swear that the tomb wouldn’t prove to be a gateway to a month-long trip through the Egyptian underworld.

   That didn’t keep Nassor, her newly-assigned government liaison, from giving her some sidelong looks.

   Well, given that the upper levels of the tomb were subject to regular groups of tourists, and that the whole thing was pretty well explored, he did have a certain amount of justification. Still, she really didn’t expect to find anything on the upper levels. If there was anything, it would be down in the lower levels – the areas that had been opened last, and so were less investigated.

   Still, Ramesses (or Ramses or whatever) the Great had a hundred or so children, and had lived to close to a hundred – and he’d buried an awful lot of kids and grandkids in his family tomb. The archeologists hadn’t even finished digging out the hundreds of rooms and corridors until 2048, and some of the lowest levels were still partially flooded – and apparently incomplete.

   It was a BIG tomb.

KV 5, Upper Levels

   Nassor reported that there were still psychic traces of grief after all this time… Of course, Ramses was a very strong personality, and he buried fifty or sixty of his kids here, and a hundred or so grandchildren. Who knew? Perhaps being worshiped as a god had given him some special power – or at least let him leave one hell of an impression. He’d certainly left enough of one on history, why not on the astral plane?

   Those traces were oddly mixed by current-day standards – but of course the ancient egyptians had some very strong beliefs about the afterlife. Still, that was nothing that others had not discussed and analyzed before.

   Yseult headed for the lower levels. They were partially flooded, although it was rarely more than a few inches on the floor, and had mostly been where the grandchildren went… The treasures had almost entirely been looted long ago of course, but most of the remains had been left alone.

   Unlike in reality, mummies were mostly left undisturbed in Shadowrun history. They never were really worth anything; the thefts were for gold amulets and such in the wrappings. Those weren’t usually used in Shadowrun history – and there were a lot more rumors of actual potent curses.

   Searching miles of corridors and several hundred rooms took a long time. There didn’t seem to be anything that had been recently disturbed – but one of the back rooms, carefully tucked away down a side corridor, was a little odd. The emotional aura there showed a lot of fear and panic instead of grief – but the room seemed to be unfinished, and looked as if it had never been used. Why such an aura? There didn’t seem to be anything in the place, and there was no reason for it.

   Hm. No hidden doorways, no apparent false walls, no traps – the archeological records showed nothing but a few bits of scrap material, probably washed in by the water, and a partial version of the usual book of the dead texts showing heavy damage. This last section of the tomb had apparently never been finished, and the burials had stopped when the construction had – probably after the death of Ramses.

   Nassor stated that there was a distinct impression of sealing charms and such – actual old magic. That was rare to legendary, since magic was pretty nearly impossible at the time. The room dated back to the lowest point of the magic cycle. Laying actual sealing spells would have taken a vast investment of the caster’s personal life energy. What could have provoked that?

   Inside, the aura was even stronger: panic, grief, guilt, relief, fear… all mixed together. The guilt was the worst though.

   There were hieroglyphics all over the place, although it looks like the painting was unfinished and damaged.

   Fortunately she’d picked up the skill programs to let her read them easily.

   There was plenty of real damage – but the underlying pattern of the areas that had been totally blotted out seemed oddly selective for simply not being finished. This inscriptions were missing the negative confession, the words for passing the gates of the underworld, and the words for opening the gates of life. According to the Egyptian beliefs – or at least the version she had on her skillsofts – if someone had been buried here, those texts would have led him or her into the underworld to be trapped there forever, denied eternity in the fields of the gods.

   There was no reason why anyone would have noticed that before of course; the hieroglyphs were repeated in every room, so who’d look closely at an unfinished set?

   There were a few chips of stone on the floor… Calcite, not matching the rest of the room, a bit heavy to wash into a dead end with water, one side polished and curved, bits of a jar or vase?

   Chips from a canopic jar? Had someone been buried here?

   Someone… feared or cursed enough to have been hurriedly encrypted, sealed with actual magic at dreadful expense, to have had the workers leave such an aura, and to have been condemned to eternal darkness – and yet someone who’d been formally mummified and buried in a royal tomb, even if it had been abandoned shortly afterwards?

   Oh, surely Hitoshi couldn’t have turned loose something out of those old “Mummy” movies could he?

   No, the archeologists had been in this room, and found nothing except the chips (which had been left in situ to await proper cataloging), long before Hitoshi had dropped by. The only thing that they might readily have been missed would be the psychic traces.

   She had another look for sealed pathways, false walls, or traces of a body. There were some bits of paint on the wall near the end of one text (just after the bit on spells of peace and comfort in the afterlife) that reminded her a bit of that pre-egyptian writing style from the crypt – but that was really reaching. It was only a symbol or two at best, and then only if you did a lot of mental reconstruction of damaged paint. As she’d more-or-less expected, there really wasn’t anything at all substantial.

   She had Nassor examine everything really closely as well.

   Outside of the magical traces being remarkably strong for their age and very distinctive (as might be expected from magic powered by personal life-force due to the low magic levels at the time, they carried a powerful personality-imprint of the mage who’d laid them) there was no more to be found. No magical concealment, seals, or anything else – not that any was likely after three thousand years with no active source of magic. There were faint residues of the usual curses and such throughout the tomb – but grave robbers, and thousands of tourists, had worn them to nothing long before the awakening. They might have been potent once, but the priestly curses of ancient Egypt were no threat these days.

   The other, nearby, rooms in the unfinished section showed no magical traces and few emotional ones. Evidently they really had never been used. No concealed walls there either; the rooms were carved out of solid rock – and the archeologists used some pretty sophisticated instruments these days anyway.

   Hm. Really distinctive magical traces. Missing body.

   Well, Hitoshi had apparently found SOMETHING that had led him to the crashed ship – and the only unusual clue she’d found had been the magical traces. It was a guess – but there weren’t that many areas of the tomb that hadn’t been examined by mages yet, and Hitoshi was a mage, not an archeologist or detective. Time to start a search of the area for odd magical traces – and to search the archeological records for unusual stray bodies and for areas that had yet to be examined.

   OK… The general opinion of the archeologists was that work on the tomb had stopped shortly after the death of Ramses; it was presumed that new tombs were started elsewhere, especially since the new ruler apparently didn’t feel obliged to make sure that each uncle and cousin got a burial in the valley of the kings. Some of the records from the period stated that with the death of Ramses, the tomb had become cursed, with a lost soul wandering it. The priests had supposedly intervened to lay that soul to rest, but the tomb was still sealed. Related areas nearby included a mummification workshop and a selection of several hundred minor tombs for deceased workers – most of them still unexcavated, since they were all pretty much alike and there was still much more exciting work to do elsewhere. Some were officially being preserved intact in case new and improved techniques were available later.

   Ramses successor, Merneptah, was said to have started his reign by disposing of a possessing demon, which had seized a young prince. No further records were found in that particular sequence had been found – but there were lots of fragmentary records from the period. Ramses had apparently had more than seventy sons, and about as many daughters, and had made funeral arrangements for almost all of them through his nearly 70-year reign.

   Hm. A “Demon”. A possible reason for a panicky burial, and sealing spells? And for the burial? A prince would deserve his burial, even if a “Demon” could not be permitted into the fields of the gods. Classical “Demons” might not – probably didn’t – exist, but presumably something bloody odd had happened.

   OK. If the missing body had been mummified there might be more traces in the mummification workshop – and it might be worthwhile checking the workers tombs as well. That would certainly be the easiest place to hide a spare body. Meanwhile, he could run a comparison search for any more specimens of the pre-egyptian text; the archaeologists had compiled a ridiculously massive database of scanned and photographed inscriptions.

   Nassor did find a few matching traces of ancient blood-magic in the mummification workshop – and was amazed that they had lasted so long. That should not have been possible! Millennia of no magic should have wiped such traces clean – just as should have happened in the tomb really.

   They started with the newest workers tombs. They’d have been open and easy to get into during the last days of work on KV 5, but were the furthest from the tomb proper – and so had mostly been left undisturbed. The nearer workers tombs had mostly yielded up what little information such tombs could give.

   There were indeed stronger traces at one of the last of the workers tombs. Even stronger than the traces in the tomb itself. It was unexcavated – but there was a crack about six inches long at one end.

   There wasn’t much to be seen in the dark – but the crack did look like it might go all the way through into the little workers crypt – and there were a couple of paw-prints, like some small animals had been in and out fairly recently.

   Fox pawprints. Hitoshi’s little pet again. Too bad teleportation spells were myths; one would have been so convenient…

   She had to settle for getting Nassor to use a shapeshifting spell on her. It meant leaving most of her gear behind, but at least her essence-bonded cyberware would shift – even if it would only be to normal flesh.

   They slipped in one after the other – even if it did take a lot of attempts to get the shapeshift to work on her.

   Dry and dusty, several ancient bodies long gone to bits of bone, apparently simply wrapped and put into the crypt. There had been no fancy embalming for the common workers. Basic human skeletons, fairly modest damage given the age, it looked like fairly robust specimens for the most part, mostly adult males, two children, three maybe-women.

   Well, most of the workers would have been unmarried males, so the demographics fit. Dying on the job was presumably something of an honor, since they were digging tombs for the pharaohs. Nothing there that hadn’t been in a hundred previous reports.

   But, carefully hidden away in a niche back behind the bodies of the workers, there was one small royal mummy-case (child-sized, and probably a boys judging from the face styling – with several sealing spells upon it), some calcite canopic jars (one chipped), and several scrolls of crumbling ancient papyrus. The mummy case looked sturdy enough, although the scrolls were obviously pretty fragile (making them a job for professional help or magic). The mummy case didn’t seem to have been opened or disturbed, although it wasn’t fastened down or blocked in.

   From the footprints and disturbed dust on the floor, a fox and a human had spent some time by the mummy case – apparently just looking, although it was possible that the scrolls had been disturbed a bit. If so, whoever had done it had abandoned physical investigation when the edges had started to crumble.

   Fortunately Nassor had a short-range clairvoyance spell (if was often handy in his job with the antiquities department; funny – it was often handy for Shadowrunners too). He could transcribe what was on the scrolls without touching them, and look in the mummy case in the same way – although he wasn’t a specialist in hieroglyphics, and couldn’t easily read them.

   What little he could make out was interesting indeed – and it looked like it would be safe enough to take a peek into the mummy-case. Nassor said that it was where the traces of old magic were coming from – definitely sealing and binding spells, along with an old curse – but that the spellwork was nothing but traces now.

   She stood back on guard while Nassor lifted the lid. He was was very careful not to damage anything doing it of course; he was with the antiquities department – but he wouldn’t have joined them without a big bump of curiosity of his own.

   One small mummy – but a very strange one. The head was badly distorted, it seemed to be hunchbacked, the legs were twisted, the hands were taloned, the arms… were just ODD. The feet seem to have claws as well. It looked like it had been mummified hastily; it was a bit of a sloppy job on the bandages.

   Well, Nassor’s reaction might be informative. In his job he’d probably seen a lot of mummies.

(Yseult) “Nassor? Is there anything odd about this other than appearance of this mummy?”

(Nassor) “Uhrm… What isn’t? The mummy case shows a human boy; this is anything but. The name’s been chiseled away. The mummification process looks royal, but who would dare do a sloppy job on a royal mummy? Why isn’t it where it belongs, down in the tomb – and the spell-traces do match. What’s it doing here instead of there? Who would have gone to this much trouble and then cursed this creature – whatever it was – to an eternity condemned to the underworld? Why are their small pawprints all over and some footprints from before us?”

(Yseult) “Do you think this is actually Egyptian?”

   Nassor didn’t hesitate there.

(Nassor) “Yes. It’s in a tomb from the right era, it’s in a classical, period, mummy case, it’s been mummified in the classical way. The creature may have come from somewhere else perhaps, but the preparation was definitely classical Egyptian – and it wasn’t like mummifying nonhumans was rare. They mummified cats and bulls and all kinds of sacred animals by the tens of thousands.”

(Yseult) “How should we pass this little nook on to the department? Right away, or keep it secret until we’re done investigating? This really might cause some trouble and I’d hate to be chased away from the trail now.”

(Nassor) “Tell the department? Hell yes! A nonhuman mummy from ancient Egypt? What a booster for book sales, museum admissions, and general tourism! Still… It can wait a day or so. I wouldn’t want to be interrupted now either – and the more we find, the bigger the reward and the more famous we’ll be!”

   Well, the idea of fame obviously attracted him. It probably would attract an academic.

(Yseult) “Would you rather be famous or rich?”

(Nassor) “Both – but famous is better. Once you’re famous you can GET rich.”

   Well, specialist mages made decent money anyway. She offered to let him have all of the publicity in exchange for more of the reward. He could take full credit for finding it – and she could stay out of the spotlight. She didn’t need media attention in her job.

   Nassor cheerily went for that.

   As for the scrolls… Transcribing would take forever when she had a perfectly good expert program to read the things. With Nassor’s mending and preservation magic to help it should be safe enough to (very carefully and gently) open and read them.

   It was…

• Scroll one was professionally scribed, and quite expensive – a full copy of the book of the dead, suitable as guidance into the afterlife.

(Yseult) “That is odd. The book on the walls of the little guy’s original tomb was incomplete, but this is a full copy.”

•  Scroll two was a special blessing from a priest of Anubis, promising a terrible curse upon whomsoever disturbed the rest of this mummy. It was a lesser version of the curses that were supposed to protect the full royal tombs – and a lot of trouble to go to.
• Scroll three was an apology to the gods, apparently from a woman, for disturbing the tomb her grandfather had built for his family. She could not bear to leave her son there, to be condemned to eternal darkness, simply because some curse had come upon him – so she broke the seals, and took his body, and placed it in a workers tomb, with a true copy of the book and a true blessing. She took all responsibility upon herself, and asked that any curses that befall apply to her alone.

   Well, that was sort of sad.

• Scroll four was a testimony from a priest, who had helped preside at the funeral of Ramses. Ramses surviving family had gathered at the appointed place – the “Eye of Ra”, where the next pharaoh would be chosen. One had received the blessing of Ra – but another, most unfortunately, was cursed and changed. His twisted body was, of course, taken from the Eye of Ra immediately, and screamed for a long time before he died. Still, the priest agreed, that whatever young Amon-Skor’s sin – if it was not the work of some demon and no fault of his at all – at age four it could not be so great as to deserve to be eternally cursed. No matter what his frightened father had said, death in torment was surely punishment enough. For the demon-touched there was an ancient script, which he had included – and there were several lines of pre-egyptian lizard-folk symbols next.

   Enough for the (very very limited) translation index she and her companions had compiled so laboriously at the crypt-city to get something out of. Some sort of blessing or well-wishing, something about the eternal light of the sun and endless skies.

   Well, that made sense for a winged quasi-reptilian species – but how had anyone remembered that across ten thousand years? Why would it be considered appropriate for the “demon-touched”?

   The symbol database did show two strong correlations: the pre-Egyptian symbols showed a match with the remaining bits of symbols from the monolith with the skulls under it at the site of the fallen ship in eight out of twenty-seven positions, with three partial matches where symbols were so badly worn that only a few scratches remained, and no mismatches; everything else was so worn that nothing could be determined.

   Secondarily, quite a few of the individual symbols matched up with untranslated symbols that were attached to some of the oldest versions of the ceremony of the Opening of the Mouth – a bit of ritual magic intended to allow the spirits of the dead to return to earth. A bit of magic out of legend – and Hitoshi had uncovered evidence linking it to a culture from the last age of magic and to the site of the crashed ship. Evidence that there might actually be something to it – or at least to an older tradition.

   Well, that explained why he might have gone after it. That kind of knowledge would be a lure for any ambitious young mage.

   The trouble was, it didn’t tell her much about where Hitoshi might have taken that information; she needed to know more about what the ritual might require – and about what had led him to KV 5. Oh well. Hitoshi had come to KV 5 from a temple near the Great Sphinx – so it was clear where the next stop after this would be if she didn’t turn up anything else.

   There weren’t any more matching symbols though; just standard hieroglyphs. No secret doors or sealed off areas or anything either – not that she’d really expected anything in a workers tomb.

   Nassor thought that the note about the “curse” during the ceremony at the Eye of Ra was bizarre – but the evidence of the warped body of some poor kid was right in front of them. Of course, there were a lot of bizarrely warped bodies and deaths during Goblinization – which this somewhat resembled – but it would take exposure to massive amounts of magic to do that, and there was no source of magic like that anywhere on earth during the ancient Egyptian period.

   Yseult only had a single word to add to that – KNOWN source of magic…

   Back into the databases to try and find out something about the “Eye of Ra” during the reign of Ramses the Great.

   Hmm… The “Eye of Ra” was supposed to have been in one of the older temples, associated with the Great Sphinx – but the location was now lost, possibly buried under sand or accessed through the catacombs under the sphinx. According to some records, the Eye had once been a part of the burial ceremonies for an old pharaoh and ascension ceremonies for a new one. It had been believed to judge those who were worthy and unworthy to stand before Ra. It was one of the primary gateways to Manjet, the Barque of Ra, and thus a way for the Pharaohs to ascend directly to immortality upon the boat of a million years.

   Well, that certainly sounded important – if a bit metaphysical. Still, they were dealing with ancient magic. It was time for more investigation.

Yseult Shadowrun – Dust of Ages Part II

   The adventures of Yseult were a spin-off from the main Shadowrun campaign – a complex mystery spanning thousands of years. Just the thing for an ambitious detective.

   Yseult considered… Moving a hundred tons of rock without breaking anything – or using modern conveniences like explosives or earth-moving equipment – was going to be a job, even with the aid of Kepikhait’s magic. Fortunately, he’d worked digs – and agricultural projects, construction work, and similar projects – before.

   Humph. Until recently, she’d have said that learning magic like that was a complete waste of a mage’s potential.

   Well, live and learn.

   She had Kepikhait send out some watchers to search for any open routes down – but didn’t hold out much hope for that. If there had been any that watchers could find, there probably wouldn’t BE any magic left to attract her: Hitoshi would have sent that fox of his down if he didn’t have a shapeshifting spell himself.

   Well, it would be a hell of a lot of work, but the pair of them could probably get down there within the day. A nuisance, but anything powerful enough to show up through that much shielding material was well worth knowing about – and probably saleable, even if it was nothing like the stuff going on in the crypt.

   Kepikhait had to agree. He might be a practical mage rather than a professional shadowrunner, but he wasn’t immune to the lures of wealth, power, and fame – and digging wasn’t as hard as a lot of other spells, you just had to keep concentrating.

   Once they got down there, it began to look like someone had dropped a huge pile of stone on top of some sort of building, also crudely carved from stone. Part of it had broken, and part of it had been driven into the local rock.

   That didn’t make a lot of sense; it should have shattered, the local rock had been in one piece instead of being weakened by internal tunnels. Instead, the local rock had fragmented – and the structure had been driven into the rubble. It looked like some of it – apparently what was sticking up, since it had been driven into the rock at an angle – had crumbled afterwards, contributing to the pile of loose stone which had concealed the rest of it.

   The semi-intact area seemed to consist of several areas full of smashed-up wood and odd remains on one side, and some benches with a scattering of bronze tools, some bits of crystal, a supply of bronze and copper ingots, and a small forge, on the other. What was left of the tools was fairly familiar, but hammers, files, and tongs were the same everywhere. The smashed up wood and such could be any kind of stockpile, it might have been boxes or shelves a very long time ago. Storerooms and some sort of workshop? Smashed-up shelves and boxes? The benches looked a bit like an traditional enchanters shop – or what might be left of one after a major impact and a few millennia of neglect.

   In the lowest area on the end there was a sizeable room, inscribed with many odd symbols, and with a massive chunk of crystal at the center – which was where the magic was coming from.

   Well, the massive chunk of crystal was probably another device that focused, amplified, and channeled magic, just like in the crypt. At least this one wasn’t active and trying to kill them.

   In fact, according to Kepikhait, it wasn’t doing much of anything at the moment – although he had to admit that he’d never actually seen anything like it. Despite a few rumors and trid programs, as far as he knew there was nothing like that for real. He could see why it hadn’t been found before – without a mage along, who would think to dig under all that broken rock? – but he couldn’t tell much about the crystal.

   He did offer to try throwing a minor spell at it. If it really was capable of absorbing and channeling magic, that might tell them something.

   Yseult was pretty doubtful about that – but a lot of careful mundane examination produced no particular results. It was held in place by a set of bronze hoops – a bit like an oversized jewel setting – and the pillar was an integral part of the floor. The fist-sized chunk of crystal seemed to be more-or-less unflawed, and there were a selection of mysterious symbols – although they weren’t much like the ones in the crypt. A different magical style or tradition perhaps?

   There did seem to be several repeating sequences though, radiating from the crystal. Something to help direct whatever effect the crystal transmuted magical energy into?

   Well… perhaps a small spell.

   She got her weapons ready, just in case – but all that happened was that the floor shook a bit, some rocks shifted, and there was a bit of a grind of rock against rock – all of it pretty subtle. She’d barely felt it – and it had seemed to come from all around her.

   Kepikhait had been watching. To him it looked like a kinetic spell, discharged into the structure – although it had obviously been far too weak to actually move it.

   Kinetic? Designed to move a building made of solid rock? That would involve vast amounts of energy. Wait… The corridors and floors were slanted, the structure seemed to have been driven into the rock – and if all the rubble had come from this “building”, it would have had to have been huge – and it would have had to impact with immense force. For even this much to survive, it would have had to have been far stronger than any natural stone.

   The crypt had contained a few depictions of flying ships… A huge one? Made of stone? Driven and reinforced with magic? But made of granite? Still, if the magic level had been high enough… It would be able to take a bigger hit of course… How powerful had mages been during the last age of magic?

   Powerful enough to build an entire civilization driven by magic – and to be driven into hiding in fortified crypts hidden deep within the earth.

   Had they been fighting each other, or had they been hiding from something even worse?

   If it had been a ship, something had brought it down. Very hard. Leaving dead humans and dead reptile-things. A boarding action? That would explain it’s current predicament.

   They cleared away the loose and balanced rocks before experimenting any more. They might shake something loose otherwise – but vibrating the place seemed harmless enough to go ahead with a few more experiments. She had Kepikhait gradually step it up, throwing bigger and bigger spells at the crystal.

   Sadly, either Kepikhait wasn’t powerful enough, there wasn’t enough amplification, or there were missing factors: he could get a bit of shaking, but nothing more.

   Still, it was proof of concept anyway.

   So Hitoshi had come here, dug up some ancient magical artifacts with links to the crypt – and had gone there to collect some scrolls. Had he known what he was looking for or had that been a random choice? What could have led him here?

   Next stop, the tomb of Ramesses the Great. She could notify the Egyptian government of her new findings – and tell them to send out a larger team and another mage. Who knew what kind of finders fee – or hush payment – she might be able to get?

   The government was perfectly willing to talk about that; they were curious as to what had led her to poke around at such an apparently-pointless location. They offered her a choice: 50,000 nuyen or 25,000 nuyen and a 5% cut on any net profits that resulted from new magic or useful discoveries recovered from the site. She went for the 25,000 and a percentage – but simply told them that her personal interests had led her to poke around at the site.

   Besides, that gave her an opening to ask for permission to explore the tomb of Ramsees the Great – just another “bit of intuition”.

   They gave her permission – but insisted on sending an official representative along – although they were quite willing to make sure that their representative was a pretty good mage.

Recordings from the Holocron of Kira Keldav – Session 5

   Here we have a somewhat-expanded and edited version of Kira’s in-character log for the fifth session of the Star Wars game.

   We were all back aboard the Nightraptor treating our wounds. Lazlo was unharmed – apparently being a LOT tougher than he looked – and I had managed to get by with only some small cuts and bruises. Most of the others required some medical treatment to recover though… Ben especially, since he needed quite a bit of time in the bacta tank. He seemed very injury prone, a wonder he had survived this long in the middle of a galactic war – but I finally had a few minute to take stock.

   Garyan was getting antsy in his tank. I was wary about Lazlo’s plan to soothe him by placing his weapons in the tank with him, but was outvoted. It was most disturbing when it actually seemed to work for a bit, but I could feel a sense of foreboding beginning to stir within me.

   Ben was having nightmares in his tank. Apparently nearly being eaten by jellyfish several times has given him fears of being immersed in a confined container of fluid. It was really beginning to disturb the kids too. Not knowing anything better to do, I tried to soothe his nightmares with the Force. My Master never really taught me anything like that except for use on myself. Trying it on Ben proved surprisingly easy. Much easier than I would have anticipated.

   Meanwhile, Telera was reviewing the sensor logs of the battle with the Sith and was laughing quite hard. Nice to see that at least something can break that perpetually calm exterior. When she began to wonder aloud about what precautions the Sith might be taking in the future, I had to laugh a bit too. I really suspect the Sith are going to learn all the wrong lessons from that battle.

   Is that one of the things that defines the Sith? Always coming up with the wrong lesson?

   Once the majority of us were done in the bacta tanks, we began to discuss how to deal with the bio-weapons still on the loose. The large crystal creature had managed to put all of us out of action for sometime by itself, even WITH Garyan firing missiles at it. I really didn’t want to get caught between several at once, even if they were smaller.

   One proposal was to let fish into the base and let the things wear themselves out against the fish. We would have to kill the lights to cut off their energy supply for that to work too. This struck me as too time consuming and haphazard to work well.

   Another suggestion was to try to starve them out by killing the lights and simply waiting. I wasn’t certain we could kill power to the lights without disrupting something else, plus the security droids were bound to interfere if we cut the lines directly. Ben’s calculations on how long the things could last without light varied so widely that we probably couldn’t rely on them. Plus who knew if the stupid things could hibernate or something?

   No, the simplest solution in my mind was to detonate a concussive blast next to them and shatter them. We were out of grenades, and I couldn’t readily move things via telekinesis outside my line of sight. So we were going to need to buy explosives and small underwater drones for delivery. The others quickly assented to the plan and we headed back to the surface to purchase the materials we needed. Fortunately Ben had some extra cash on hand to cover the charges. Well, considering what he’d charged the fix the Nightraptor, he should. The locals were rather mildly disturbed at our purchase of toy subs and explosives, but I chose to ignore it. Not much I can do about their opinion anyway.

   Explosives, and cheap little drones that didn’t even need to be refitted to carry them, were easier to get than I would have thought. Apparently depth charge fishing is quite legal here. I suppose the jellyfish make that somewhat reasonable, but my Alderaan sensibilities still chafe at the idea.

   By this time, Lazlo had finished repairing his fighter craft he was busy salvaging. He is going to have to replace the entire life support system though, as I doubt he can breath oxygenated water. We are going to have a small fleet of ships at this rate. I’m not sure if that is good or bad.

   Garyan was getting particularly blood thirsty. I hate to say it, but I have seen this all too often now. In his search for a bigger gun to use, he found out about the collapsium reactor we have stashed away. I immediately interposed myself between him and it, but Garyan was going to need something violent to distract himself with. Quick discussion led to the “plan” of leaving Garyan here with the sub explosives hoping he kills some of the bio weapons before he explodes. Meanwhile we would disassemble the collapsium reactor system permanently so nothing could detonate it. Sorry but I am more than willing to sacrifice a suicidal maniac for the sake of the planet.

   Alys volunteered to stay with Garyan and “help” out with things. She did get the override for the detonators from Ben though before we departed back to the surface.

   Back on the surface, it looked like the best bet for getting the lead and steel we needed was going to be the police auction on what was left of De’arc’s ship. Current competition was a kid with delusions of grandeur (at least I hope so), and some of the other port engineers looking for scrap of their own.

   Ben came up with a private offer to the engineers; he’d leave the planet in exchange for no competition on the bidding. Considering the distinct lack of markets around here, one additional starship engineer running around probably was making things difficult for the locals. The engineers quickly agreed to the plan and dropped out of the bidding.

   The group then bribed the kid with one of the derelict fighters Lazlo stole parts from. I really hope those stories of kids pulling an Anakin Skywalker and building podracers or fighters in their backyard are just legends. I really hate to think of the gap in ability between someone like that and myself. So far I haven’t run across anyone with that kind of ability, but the galaxy is large.

   Ben managed to win the bidding with the minimum bid of 100 credits. No doubt it helped that he was the only one bidding still. The auctioneer looked highly annoyed, but we didn’t do anything illegal. Their fault for not having a higher minimum bid.

   Alys’s report on Garyan’s progress came in about this time. In pursuit of a bigger bang, he had tied three drones together and found he couldn’t drive the thing with any accuracy. The drones hit a wall and became stuck. Seeing how the first batch failed, he strapped another three together and sent them off with similar proficiency. Those three collided with the wall and exploded. The explosion then triggered the first set and made a real mess of things.

   The security droids immediately determined that Garyan was an infiltrator and started trying to kill him. Garyan responded with more drones colliding with the droids for more big explosions. Alys had just shown up trying to figure out what Garyan was up to as more explosions went off. Garyan was now at war with the ancient Sith base for all intents and purposes.

   Back on the surface, Ben had purchased a droid called FL-17 to install the shielding we had just fabricated in place of the collapsium. It wasn’t intelligent by any stretch, but it didn’t need to be. Plus being simple kept weird program errors from radiation to a minimum I am told. I took Ben’s word for it.

   Doing the work in space made things safer and more isolated from major population centers. Zero gravity helps a lot when moving something weighing tens of tons. We had FL-17 go slow with the work as we didn’t want any premature detonations. I toyed with the idea of whether I could hit the hyperdrive button before something went catastrophically wrong, but decided I didn’t want to find out. We got the shielding in place, the collapsium removed, and the detonatinv system disarmed eventually. FL-17 was going to need repairs though according to itself. I couldn’t tell much difference before and after, but Ben said that it’s hands and external plating were pretty radioactively contaminated.

   The decision was made to chuck the collapsium into the far side of the local sun just to be on the safe side. We informed the locals to watch the sky and verify we had dismantled the stupid thing. Hopefully that gesture of good faith will do something to help our reputation here. Even though it went off shortly after entering the photosphere, at that range it was quite harmless. Hyperdrive tends to make you forget just how FAR away from their suns planets are.

   Garyan’s war with the Sith Base wasn’t going well. Alys had fled the scene (I don’t blame her either). Garyan was busily ramming drones into the security droids left and right before detonating them all in a kamikaze strike. We were able to rescue Alys after we got back – a good thing she’d taken along a huge supply of jellyfish poison this time – but I decided not to even bother searching for Garyan. Even if he was still alive (which everyone rated as damned unlikely given the explosion and collapese), we weren’t going to rescue him so that he could blow us up too.

   Sigh, his job was to destroy the bio weapons so we could loot the base. Instead he destroyed the base (or a portion of it) and turned the remainder of it hostile towards us. If he wasn’t dead I would be sorely tempted to smack him around with the ship mounted stun cannon.

   Surveying the damage, it looked like Garyan had managed to destroy a great number of the droids, several rooms of the base, corridors were now buried in mud, and the base was now exposed to the waters outside – although the internal systems had sealed off the remainder to contain anything that was left. Lovely.

   At this time the team the locals had sent to watch over us had arrived. This bunch was led by some guy nicknamed “Shipwreck” who specialized in underwater salvage operations. Hopefully a specialist in remote operations given the seas of THIS planet. We eventually found one of the escape shuttle ports and used that to get in. The base wanted new identification as Garyan’s little bout of suicidal insanity had convinced the system that the codes we were using were compromised.

   Ben tried his precognition again, looked puzzled, and then told Shipwreck to dress as a Sith for some reason and put in the next set of codes from the three that had originally seemed most likely to him. I got real perplexed as to what was going on. When the computer identified the code as the personal code for Darth Revan. I will admit that threw me for a bit of a loop until I remembered that the current Revan was merely the latest to take that moniker. The computer then asked for Revan’s personal identification verification code. Well crap, how were we going to figure that one out?

   I’d looked over the archived information – and from what I remembered of the guy, he liked forcing enemy ships to crash-land on hostile worlds with little chance of escape. The Republic would send expensive rescue missions to the worlds only to find very few survivors most of the time. A fine specimen of sapient life if there ever was one. What in the galaxy would he have used as a personal code word? Shipwreck proceeded to announce his own name to the computer system which took it as the password. At which point it became apparent why Ben had Shipwreck dress up as a Sith.

   I am going to be honest here. I really thought that whole routine about absurdly fortunate and unlikely coincidences in the holos was evidence of bad writing. Actually seeing that level of continuously fortunate circumstances happening before my eyes was disturbing me on a whole new level. Is this the precognition at work or something else entirely? It really makes me wonder about the chain of events that got me here from the Naichron. Was I just barely staying ahead of the bad luck until Ben’s ability to generate good luck started to overwhelm my own? Or were circumstances pushing me to be here this whole time?

   Damn it!

   Well anyway, “Darth Revan” had full administrator access to everything in the base. Shipwreck was looking for guidance on what to do next. I asked him to grant me identical access to himself so that we could get things moving. Computer informed us the “prior” bunch impersonated us well. They looked and dressed like us to the point of being virtually identical. I bit my tongue to keep from calling the computer an idiot and used my new authority to request a damage report and status.

   Four crystal things still running loose, but one of them was where part of the corridor had collapsed too in a massive series of explosions. Telera went to verify that it hadn’t survived and escaped. Several rooms destroyed, blocked or buried. Only fourteen droids remaining after the fight.

   Ben and Shipwreck stayed in the control room and prioritized repairs and maintenance. Containment of bio weapons was first, second was production of bio weapon countermeasures, and third was preparing the base for relocation. I went after the crystals myself this time after being provided with the requested countermeasures.

   Destroying the crystals was easy enough. I had the droids drop a small package of explosives next to the crystals. Remote detonation took care of things easily without putting myself or anyone else in danger. When I recalled that the things could be useful as a morphic crystal, I had the droids retrieve one stashed in stasis and put it in an aluminum box for Ben. He can tinker with it at his leisure and I didn’t have to worry about trying to catch one of the escaped ones.

   An argument sprung up over whether to keep the base or not. I was for keeping the base. Alys, Handell, and Ben were for relocating it. Lazlo was for leaving it as a pointless exercise. I wanted the research notes and the data archives. Ben wanted the manufacturing facilities. Alys wanted the notes on where dangerous monsters might be found. Handell wanted to use it as a safe hideaway to fall back to. Telera, 10CH, Khadim, and the kids had no opinion one way or another.

   We eventually agreed that keeping the current location was probably a bad idea; too many people now had a fair idea of where it was. Oh well, I am willing to accept being outvoted. We didn’t have the cargo capacity to ship all the base’s systems to another star system. So that meant somewhere in the current system then. I voted for a metal rich asteroid or something. Everyone agreed to that except Lazlo, who said it was stupid (he wanted to relocate to one of the few islands). We ignored him.

   Next I asked for an inventory on the Force weapons projects. I was particularly interested in the types of items, success rates, and issues found. After all, Force-based devices were supposed to be impossible!

   It mostly turned out that they still were, at least as far as the experiments here had gone.

   The first batch involved grafting Force sensitive stuff similar to bacta into a host as a sort of symbiont. Granted a short term boost in Force potential at the cost of the stuff degrading the user’s Force pattern. Death would follow inside of a year.

   Right, that stuff goes in the pile that will be thrown into the sun when we are done.

   The second batch was a set of chemicals/drugs that acted as tailored stimulants. This could increase Force ability for a time, but had the same limitations of all stimulants: addictive and ultimately degrading on the body and mind. Plus the fact that it could cause the user to go into an uncontrolled Dark Side feedback loop. These might be useful in an emergency, but I am not going to use them if at all possible – especially since most of them were for nonhumans.

   The third batch was a set of creatures that would hunt Force users and kill them. They were sterile and had a limited lifespan. Well at least the Sith weren’t completely stupid. More stuff to chuck into the sun.

   The fourth batch was a real piece of work. The Sith apparently took the brains from Force sensitives and carved away all the parts not related to Force ability. The remaining piece was then put into stasis. Sith would then attune themselves to the pieces and use them to project Force abilities. Prolonged use would cause insanity and all sorts of nasty things. Top priority for destruction in my opinion.

   The fifth batch was failed experiments. I didn’t have time to review them in much detail, hopefully I can review them at my leisure later. A negative result can be just as informative as a positive.

   At which point Lazlo called me while dressed in Telera’s, the kids’, and my robes. He seemed to be of the opinion that wearing robes is what gives us Force sensitives our power. He looked ridiculous. While I felt that his power had grown a bit in the last few minutes – possibly just from his confidence in his “theory” – I knew it had nothing to do with his assertion. I also didn’t feel like explaining to him why Jedi and Sith wear robes. He can learn that for himself.

   I turned my attention back to the Force weapons lab. Something was going to have to be done. As Telera and I approached the place, we could tell the place was roiling with Dark Side energies. Probably the result of four thousand years of tormented force-sensitive spirits being imprisoned on the edge of death. Just great. Entering ourselves was going to be dangerous. Telera was filled with righteous fury over the whole mess. Can’t say I blame her either. I elected to take the easy way out of this. Loaded up another droid with lasers and told it to enter and destroy the remains.

   Well that helped a bit, but the place was still seething with the Dark Side. Looked like we were going to have to purify it. Telera was hesitant to try given the malice within. I thought back to my time at the Trayus Academy under it’s oppressive aura and decided Telera wasn’t ready for that sort of thing. I volunteered to enter if Telera would teach me what to do. Hopefully my time and experience at Trayus would buy me time to complete the ritual without contamination.

   Telera looked at me like I was nuts for proposing such a thing but eventually relented. She vowed to do what she could to support me from outside.

   Once inside I could sense the folly of my arrogance. This place, while smaller than the Trayus Academy, was much deeper than it. I was going to get overwhelmed quickly if I couldn’t get through this soon. I don’t know if it was the Force, Telera, my own indignation, or something else, but I felt a massive surge of power as I completed the ritual and banished a large amount of the power. However it did feel like some of it may have only been driven away rather than banished.

   My fears were confirmed as we started getting reports of temperature changes, electrical discharges, and various power systems overloading. Plus I could feel some dark Force powers at work. We chased the reports and feelings back to the control room only to find that the door had been sliced open from the inside and the remaining shuttle gone missing. I asked Handell to follow whatever it was.

   A quick review of security cameras showed a humanoid creature kneeling at the control panel before it suddenly got up, sliced a hole in the door with a lightsaber blade and took the shuttle. Great, one of the spirits had taken over the bio weapon that had still been in the computer room and was now loose. Told Handell his primary priority was shooting it down, otherwise follow it. We would catch up with him later.

   I asked Alys if she had her own ship we could use. Apparently she did, although it was back on land. We had Shipwreck’s surface team pull us up and warn the local government while we headed back to shore.

   Handell was losing ground against the shuttle – well, the Nightraptor was fundamentally a freighter, not a military vessel – but the locals managed to get five fighters after it as well. Apparently they were a bit paranoid after the orbital battle a couple of days ago, and had everything they had ready to go on a moments notice. One managed to hit the life support system on the shuttle which unfortunately did nothing against the bioweapon. It escaped to hyperspace with one fighter in pursuit. Fortunately, that fighter was able to relay back a heading to the rest of us on where the shuttle was heading.

   Looked to be some backwater Republic world I had never heard of. Not much in terms of defenses since it was on the far side of the galaxy from the war. Luckily the shuttle didn’t appear to be very fast. Handell and the rest of us jumped close enough to Republic space to connect to the Galactic network. From there we tried to warn the Republic to shoot down the shuttle before it arrived. Hopefully they will listen.

   Telera sent a similar message to the Jedi as well. Her’s also included the line “I was watching and this wasn’t their fault”. Hopefully the Jedi and the Republic can get something there to intercept the shuttle before it gets to a world. Despite Telera, I am willing to bet the Jedi and Republic are going to blame me for this. I can’t seem to win or do anything right at times.

   Since there wasn’t anything more we could do on that front, we headed back to Archegeph. The locals were once again annoyed with us. Not much I could do there. We then went back down to the Sith base for final cleanup.

   In the arena/testing area we found there to be twenty one people being kept in stasis for bio weapon testing purposes. Quick check of the records showed three to be captured Republic soldiers, twelve to be kidnapped Falusian locals, and six to be Sith techs and guards with lacking performance. Well we decided to keep the Falusians in stasis until we could hand them over to one of their planets. The Republic soldiers we brought out of stasis and tried to explain what had happened over the last 4,000 years.

   Explaining that the year was no longer 19,463 but was now 23,749 did not go over well. I didn’t know what else to tell them other then the fact I could sympathize with being torn from my old life by the Sith. We asked if they would help us in the meantime with keeping an eye on the Sith in stasis. The Republic soldiers agreed, and we armed them with the spare weaponry and armor we had. On the bright side, if they could get their back pay from the Republic, they could all probably retire if they didn’t bankrupt the Republic.

   Releasing the Sith didn’t go as planned. Between the computer referring to Shipwreck as Darth Revan all the time and the Sith techs and guards being rather weak willed and spineless, we had no problem keeping them in line. Unfortunately they thought we were just more Sith Lords to be followed. Will I ever be rid of that blasted stigma? I did laugh when one of the guards announced that at least he was done with alimony payments. Some of these people may not be that bad of guys to have with us; it looks like the rank-and-file is the rank-and-file no matter which side they’re on.

   Right, we got them in line, and proceeded to prepare the base for relocation. We chucked all the dangerous nonsense into the Sun for disposal, but kept the records and genetic samples. Alys found us a decent asteroid nearby to relocate the base to. The relocation itself is going to take the better part of a month to complete with hollowing out corridors and moving equipment.

   When done, we are going to activate the system that floods the underwater base with magma to destroy it and what remains of it’s contents for certain.

   On the plus side, with some more work and some technical equipment, we could mount a hyperdrive to the asteroid and move it around as we need from system to system. If we can find someone with the right skills, we could even mount a repulsor system on it and hide the base in a gas giant within whatever system we move it to. We are going to need techs and engineers though to do that. Maybe we can quietly hire some from a backwater world in the Republic?

   The Festival of Masks is approaching and I need to return to Alderaan. Maybe the others can try and recruit while I return home. Besides I need to talk with the Republic sooner or later.

   I will have to give this some thought later though. In the meantime I need to help Telera with teaching the kids Force techniques. I can do that much at least, although I will leave the philosophy of it all to Telera.

Yseult Shadowrun – Dust of Ages Part I

    The crypt-city had been a fascinating discovery; older than the dawn of history, filled with the bones of a winged, saurian, race unknown to science, it’s ancient magics once more vital – and deadly – with the rise of a new age of magic, and buried a thousand feet below a small temple in the mountains of Egypt.

   She had barely escaped with her life. It was a damned good thing that a high-end party of shadowrunners had owed her some big favors, or whatever-the-hell it had been that had risen from the vault would be ravaging it’s way along the Nile right now.

   How the hell had a simple little missing-persons tracing job turned into such a mess? Even if the missing person was a magician? It wasn’t like being hired by a missing person’s relatives was much of a red flag…

   It’d been easy enough initially. It had taken a lot of computer power – but the transaction records had traced Hitoshi to Madagascar. A visit there had revealed that he’d shown up with a lot of odd scrolls in an unknown language, then acquired a small yacht, had stocked it for a long trip – and had dropped off the network, leaving one of the biggest collections of dead ends she’d ever seen.

   Well, the boy’s sister had been paying expenses and a generous retainer, so she’d started looking into the scrolls. Who knew? If she could find out something about what was in them, it might tell her where Hitoshi had slipped off to.

   Hitoshi had been working in Egypt under a standard licence from the Department of Antiquities – which he’d obviously cheated on – and his last stop had been a small temple, well-explored and notable for nothing except some unusual inscriptions. She’d gone to have a look just in case – and had found out that there Hitoshi had somehow unsealed a pre-human crypt buried beneath the old temple, waltzed in, extracted a dozen specific scrolls from the place’s library, and – with no major magical beings along to trigger the places defenses (apparently his pet shapeshifter-fox wasn’t powerful enough to matter) – had simply waltzed right back out again, slipped across the border, and headed for Madagascar.

   Yseult considered abandoning the chase; she’d barely gotten out of that crypt with her life. Still, the bonus for actually finding Hitoshi was pretty good – and, now that she was thinking about it, there might be quite a bit of profit in that crypt beyond the artifacts, scrolls, and orichalcum that she’d managed to slip off with. She wasn’t going back herself – you couldn’t spend your rewards if you were dead – but the information on the location might be worth quite a bit.

   She decided to trace him Hitoshi back for a bit. Perhaps she could find out what those scrolls were supposed to be – and there might be more salable secrets to uncover along the route.

   First up… She didn’t need to be hauling ancient artifacts around Egypt, and it would be best to auction off the location of that rather remarkable crypt to parties that might be interested, rich enough to afford the information, and capable of handling the place… Would it be better to throw in the antiquities – other than the easily-saleable orichalcum bars – as a package deal? Physical evidence was always better than photos.

   Hm. If she took all due precautions to set things up anonymously, she should be able to give it three or four weeks without any serious risk of someone else locating the place before the sale or sorting out her real identity. Images, of the crypt, of some of the pre-human writing, and of the artifact-samples, a general description of the traces of exotic magic that her companion had been able to make out, and some information on her own discoveries there.

   That should be more than enough bait – especially if she managed to attract the attention of a dragon. There was always the risk that one of her companions would leak the data – but she could probably get them to keep quiet easily enough. Hopefully they wouldn’t leak after the sale either; no one was impossible to find, and she’d get the best price using one of her identities that was known for reliability – and that was a pretty valuable asset in itself.

   She left that to run and got to work.

   According to the Department of Antiquities – who’s data security was not all it should be – Hitoshi had visited a modest, and long-abandoned, dig in the mountains just before the crypt. Ergo, he had probably found something there that had pointed him to the crypt – and perhaps had told him what to look for in it. Before that it had been a minor – and very well explored – temple near the great sphinx and the lower levels (requiring special permission) of the tomb of Ramesses the Great.

   She decided to start with the dig in the mountains – and this time to let a few of her friends know where she was going and to leave instructions to send in the authorities if she was out of contact for sixty hours. Loss of data security was less important than the loss of her life…

   She took supplies too. No more “trapped in an ancient crypt for four days with nothing to eat!”.

   The mountain dig had reported hieroglyphics in an unusual style, but rather fragmentary and very badly worn. Due to danger from local awakened creatures – and the lack of anything all that exciting that could be made of the fragments – the dig was abandoned. If she was going to poke around there legally she’d need a license.

   She got one; if she did need the authorities to rescue her, there was no need to set herself up to be arrested afterwards. That would mean that she’d have to turn over any major finds to the Egyptian government and keep records – but she wasn’t planning on any major digging anyway. The chances were that if she did find anything, it wouldn’t be in what they’d call the dig anyway…

   It wasn’t too long a trip, even if the tail end was a half a days hike into the mountains – but the site was singularly unimpressive. The granite shards were very old and weathered, but there was something wrong about it…

   Ah. She still had that high-end geology skill program loaded – and it was saying that the stone was a deep-growth granite: the crystal sizes were notably larger than wis typical for the area. That indicated that it had come from a formation that cooled very slowly. There were thousands of tons of rock here that didn’t belong in the area. It was all granite of course – so the archeologists probably wouldn’t have noticed – but why would ANYONE haul thousands of tons of granite up into the mountains when there was perfectly good granite all around them? It wasn’t like there was anything special about the stuff. It seemed to be just granite. It would have spent a very long time very hot and deep in the earth – but that would have been millions of years ago.

   That was life. No matter how well equipped you were, you never had the gadgets you turned out to need along.

   Yseult headed back to pick up a high-end geological test kit. She’d never had to put something like THAT on her expense record before…

   One trip and several thousand nuyen later, Yseult had a rock hammer, reference chips, a selection of test reagents, mohrs scale test stones, a flame tester kit, a grinder, a spectral analyzer, a microscope, UV lights in several frequencies, a density tester, a radiation meter, various minor photographic systems, some good magnifying lenses, and various other bits and pieces. If she needed electron microscope scans, crystal micrograph comparisons, or gem synthesis she’d just have to rent a lab. That kind of gear wasn’t too portable.

   She’d turned down the prospectors guides though. That wasn’t what she was after…

   She went to work on the granite. It was rich in feldspar, and matched with a section of the alps – but the radioactivity dating was oddly skewed. More radioactive than it should be, and yet it still showed as many millions of years older than the main mass in the alps that it matched by composition and crystal structure.

   Either a lot of magic or someone had taken the damned stuff time traveling – and she wasn’t going for that one until there was NO other explanation possible.

   Digging a bit turned up quite a few small chunks – but it didn’t look like normal weathering. The stratigraphy suggested anywhere from eight to twenty millennia: there wasn’t much to go by in a heap of rocks.

   She went looking for larger piles and pieces that looked like they were more intact. There were quite a few boulders, and when she started prying some up (thank goodness for cyborg strength!), some of them seemed to have oddly-smoothed undersides – although a lot of he others were just hunks.

   Hm… a roughly oblong pattern: possibly the remains of a really large chunk of material which had been shattered by a massive impact. What would do that thousands of years ago – much less haul thousands of tons of granite here and do it – was a very good question!

   Well, several piles of rubble near the dig had been cleared a bit judging from the color of the rocks where the darker undersides had been turned up. Some might have been refilled as well.

   So she was going to be digging after all!

   One massive chunk was oddly light; it turned out to be curved so that it was mostly hollow – and it seemed to be laying over a mostly-intact skeleton. A winged quasi-human and recently familiar, she’d seen quite a lot of those quite recently, down in the crypt. Well outside the limits of the original dig though – although not of the more recent poking around. No apparent magical symbols – but there were a few bits of metal, the signs of something long and thin having been recently pried out of the ground, a few recently disturbed bones, and some small canine paw prints – almost certainly Hitoshi’s shapeshifter companion.

   Something long, thin, and probably magical, since it had apparently drawn the attention of a mage and his shapeshifter-pet through the covering of stone. Another magical spear? There had been enough of those down in the crypt.

   Wait, hadn’t they been designed to draw power from the crypt? That would require some sort of astral link. It might explain how Hitoshi had found the crypt – but for that kind of investigation she’d need a magician of her own.

   With perhaps ten thousand tons of chunks laying about, there were plenty of other places to have a look. There were even other hollows… one had a bit of old wood under it, another a splintered mass of crystal – and the crystal had been, once again, disturbed by a small canine which had managed to get underneath without superhuman strength.

   Now she found herself wishing for seismic surveying equipment – sensors, the special-purpose computer, and the explosive systems.

   And a mage.

   In fact, more importantly a mage. Hitoshi was a mage, and he’d obviously found more than this. In fact, it looked like he’d dug up five or six other locations, although there was nothing remarkable about them that was apparent to her – and the hole sizes seemed to be fairly random. More traces of magic perhaps?

   Well, she’d never tried to work her way through a puzzle that might be twenty millennia old before, and it was proving a unique challenge. As long as Hitoshi’s sister was willing to pay and the clues held out, she’d keep on digging.

   So; back to inform the Egyptian government that she had indeed found something kind of odd at the dig site – that the granite was the wrong type – and to ask for an official ruling on whether or not items found outside the dig site and clearly not Egyptian in origin had to be handed over. Sadly, that was a definite “yes” (they’d do the evaluating and decide what was really Egyptian, thank you) – but another skeleton wouldn’t have been a very big addition to her little auction anyway (which already seemed likely to turn a pretty good profit). Secondarily, she could reset the countdown on her little emergency alarms…

   So. Mage or trained paranormal animal?

   She came down on the side of “Mage”. Trained nonsapient paranormals were too limited, unreliable, and expansive – and the sapient ones had all the disadvantages of a full mage and few of the advantages.

   So; yet another trip. Fortunately, it would probably be years before the government followed up on her report; she’d reported finding a strange skeleton and a lot of apparently out-of-place granite – and it would go on the list of weird amateur reports along with hundreds of others.

   Hell. She could get some academic credit (which would be a definite first for her) AND perhaps boost the auction price too! She got a good picture of the skeleton published in a reputable news source. That might draw additional investigation in a few months – but by then she’d be long gone and the auction would be over anyway.

   She hired one “Kepikhait”; he seemed competent enough – and her expense report acquired yet another odd item.

   All of the alpine granite showed traces of very old magic, and so did the mass of splintered crystal. The areas where recent holes had been dug mostly didn’t – and, in the two that did, the magic seemed to be coming from a scattering of crystal splinters (just like in the crypt again) and was pretty far gone. One area showed more magic, but getting to it would take some major digging. There were a few bits of human bone here and there as well, although they were badly smashed.

   Hm. Move a couple of hundred tons of rock, or look around some more. She could do it – but it would take a couple of days and would be a real pain.

   She decided to look around some more first.

   Sadly, the area was granite, not limestone: no cave networks, just areas where block-slippage had opened cracks and crevices. None of them were very deep, although she did turn up one with enough room to for a few people to get out of the sun. That one showed some traces of corroded metal, very old broken glass, and some shards of crystal. Of course, she only found those shards because she’d brought along a mage; the crystal showed magical traces, but it had been under five or six inches of compacted windblown dust. Centuries old at the least, and possibly dating back as far as the rest of the mess.

   The registry didn’t show much in the way of nearby temple locations either. There was a small fort that had once guarded a pass, an old quarrying operation, the inscribed stone slab that originally started the dig here, and a bunch of stuff closer to the Nile. None of the other sites matched the small temple that the crypt had been under, although there might be something similar near the fort but not yet found. That area was pretty rough.

   Well, the slab was handy to have a look at. It was really badly worn though: the few traces left were pretty much illegible… At least to her, however, the one or two symbols that could be made out looked more like the lizard-peoples picture from the crypt than classical hieroglyphics. The slab itself was of the local stone, but it had been intentionally smoothed on one side and set up on another slab. Quite near the pile of foreign rock, but not on top of it.

   Well, moving the slab without further damaging it was also within her strength – and it had already fallen from it’s original position anyway.

   Back upright, and in it’s original position, it looked rather like a marker to her.

  Moving both slabs revealed a small collection of human skulls, very old, fragile, and already half-crushed. The slab wasn’t indented – there had just been an area scooped out under it, which had apparently been filled long ago by soil creep, and the crushing might just be due to settling.

   A grave marker? Why just skulls? Marking the scene of some triumph or victory? Perhaps against some giant construct? But skulls alone… That sort of thing was usually for enemies. Two groups then, with humans on the losing side, probably against the winged things. But why the stone?

   No choice. She was just going to have to do some serious digging. Perhaps fortunately, Hitoshi had been more of a social specialist than an earthmover; whatever was down there probably hadn’t been disturbed since whatever had happened – and it had to be pretty powerful to show up through that much earth and stone.

   Well worth a look.

   Hm. She’d never really considered archeologists as fellow-detectives before.

Kesara Galano, Delusional Shadow Elf

   At the borders of two magical realms, the surging elemental energies of crystal and illusion had, coincidentally, struck a near-perfect balance once again – the chaotic energies briefly fused into a single entity.

   That was rare.

   This time the pattern was stable enough amidst the chaos of clashing power to hold for a few hours.

   That was far rarer.

   During that time, a young life came into being within the narrow borders of that zone of balance, and so took on the powers of both realms – and was strong enough to survive the surging and conflicting powers that now burned within it. Rather than dying in agony, the body changed to accommodate and channel battling energies that normal mortal flesh could never bear.

   That was a thing that happened once a century at most.

   Birthed in pain and chaos, ripping free of the remnants of her mortal shell, Matshibile-Gwachmas – a newborn dragonness – rose, a storm upon the land.

   For a time all went well. She rode the winds, took what she willed, and unleashed the energies of her double heritage upon those who opposed her. She found a lair, and grew in skill, subtlety, and lore. She collected powerful relics to focus and amplify her power – including a circlet, meant as a headband for a human, but suitable as a ring for her. It amplified her life force, raising her strength even further.

   Eventually, of course, a powerful group of adventurers rose up against her. That too was nothing new – adventurers always rose to oppose a dragon – but this group actually brought her down, releasing the accumulated mystical energies of several centuries. In the unstable realms of the mountains of chaos where she had laired, that created a number of temporary rifts.

   The circlet – designed to bond with and amplify the user’s life force – was also blasted free across the dimensions, carrying a fragment of her essence with it across time and space. Eventually, of course, it fell to earth – and, as is the way of items of power, it was found. It was worn, and used – and the fragmentary essence of Matshibile-Gwachmas merged with the child of another world.

   Eclipse – Level Three Twilight Isles Character: Kesara Galano, Delusional Shadow Elf

• +0 ECL Shadow Elves Summary (The full writeup is available over HERE).
• +2 Int, +2 Dex, +2 to Str, Con, Wis, or Chr (as per house), and +2 to any attribute.
• Low-Light Vision.
• May use Charms, Talismans, and four CP worth of Relics.
• +2d6 Hit Dice (treated as two rolls of “6”).
• +1 bonus on Saves. Additional +2 to Saves versus Spells.
• Skill Bonuses: +2 Search, +3 to all skills in a chosen group (as per house), may add their Int Mod to their scores in wisdom-based skills (Heal, Listen, Profession, Sense Motive, Spot, and Survival).
• Use-Activated Abilities at Caster Level One: Dancing Lights 1/Day, Detect Magic 1/Day, Faerie Fire 1/Day, Fast Healing 1 (for up to 16 points per day), and Magic Weapon 1/Day.
• They also gain unlimited use-activated caster level one use of any one first-level spell permitted by the game master (as per house). Spells such as “Cure Light Wounds” are available once per day per level instead of being truly unlimited-use.
• Shadow Elves are inherently enchanted, and can be readily spotted – and their houses identified – by a simple Detect Magic spell.
• Shadow Elves can only tolerate (Con) “points” worth of regular magic items – and the “point” cost of any given item is up to the game master (as a rule, low-level single-charge items are little trouble, spell storing items are only moderately troublesome, and permanently-active personal enhancement items are very troublesome). Annoyingly enough, this limit also affects temporary external spells – although their short-term nature means that the limit is increased by the user’s (Con Mod).
• The Shadow Elves are really quite formidable – but those magic item restrictions will pinch later on. Without those limitations they’d be a +1 ECL race.

   Kesara Galano (House Talents: +2 Con, +3 bonus on dexterity-based skills, and unlimited use of Weapon Master/Sabre, providing a +4 BAB with Sabres) was – like many Shadow Elves – more than a bit ambitious and ruthless even before she inherited fragments of a draconic personality. With her newly-enhanced talents she swiftly seized control of the household – and relocated it to an isolated spot on one of the most distant isles of the realm near one of the more active volcanoes. There she could have her slaves seek out the mystical ores and gems that such volcanoes occasionally threw up to build up her hoard while she focused on developing her own talents.

   Unfortunately for such long-term plans, the increasing activity of the volcano – along with the attacks on the realm – forced her out of her fastness a mere decade or so later on.

   Total available character points: 96 (Level Three Base) + 10 (Disadvantages) + 12 (Level One and Level Three Bonus Feats) +2 (Experience) = 120. 120 spent.

   Disadvantages: Insane (impossibly arrogant and competitive), Irreverent (considers “deities” more or less irrelevant), and Compulsive (incredibly greedy) (+10 CP).

   Basic Attributes: Str 12 (16)/+3, Dex 14 (22)/+6, Con 18 (26)/+8, Int 13 (21)/+5, Wis 14 (18)/+4, Cha 20 (24)/+7.

Base Power 12, Base Spell Points 9, Personal Mana 5.

   Basic Purchases (60 CP):

• Proficient with All Simple Weapons and Swords (6 CP).
• +12 Skill Points (12 CP).
• +2 on Reflex, Fortitude, and Will Saves (18 CP).
  • Reflex +10 (+6 Dex +2 Race +2 Purchased)
  • Fortitude +12 (+8 Con +2 Race +2 Purchased)
  • Will +8 (+4 Wis +2 Race +2 Purchased).
    • Additional +2 racial bonus versus Spells.
• 3d6 Hit Dice (6 CP).
• Hit Points 14 (Hit Dice; 6, 3,5) +48 (Magic) + 165 (11 x [Con Mod + Cha Mod]) = 227
• BAB +3 (18 CP). (+11 with Sabres – a type of Scimitar).

   Combat Notes:

• Initiative: +6 (Dex)
• Armor Class: 10 (Base) +6 (Dex) +8 (Armor) +8 (Shield) = 32
• Favored Weapon:
  • Energy Sabre: +21/16/11 (+11 BAB +2 Martial Art +6 Dex +2 Enhancement), 2d10+28 (1d8+10 base [doubled by Metamagic, raised to d10’s by martial art] +6 Dex +2 Enhancement), Melee Touch Attack, Seven Attacks of Opportunity, and Whirlwind Attack.
    • Energy Sabre is the arcane version of Flame Blade. As an arcane spell it only lasts three rounds per level, but it adds the user’s Dex bonus to hit and damage.

   Special Abilities (60 CP).

• Affluent (6 CP): 5 Charms, 3 Talismans, +2 Diplomacy, +2 Speak Language, +1 Skill Point per Level.
• Metamagic Theorem/Amplify, Specialized and Corrupted/only to apply Double Effect, only works on personal enhancements and magic related to the Jav-Sabok (healing, light, and life-enhancement effects), only for first and second level spells (2 CP).
• Streamline x4, Specialized and Corrupted/only for “Amplify”, only to apply Double Effect, only works on personal enhancements and magic related to the Jav-Sabok (healing, light, and life-enhancement effects), only for first and second level spells (8 CP).
  • Note that these two abilities effectively double the effects of her innate enchantments: This is a questionable tactic – they weren’t part of the original “enchantments”, and thus adding them later on is a bit iffy – but the player in this case is looking for a tank (because his characters tend to die a lot). Ergo, I’ll let it go this time around.
• Upgrade the innate immunity on the XP cost of innate enchantments to allow it to pay for first level non-racial enhancements. (1 CP).
• Added first-level Innate Enchantment spells, each at Spell Level One, Caster Level One, Unlimited Use-Activated, and Personal-Only where applicable: +2 to each Attribute, Mage Armor, Shield, and Immortal Vigor I (13,200 GP / +13 CP).
• Amplified, these will also provide some notable bonuses – but they’ll also put the character at a serious risk of magical overload she is not EXTREMELY careful about adding any additional spells to the mix. Shadow Elves are kind of vulnerable that way, even if this one happens to think she’s a dragon.
• Path of the Dragon, Specialized and Corrupted/only to generate effects related to the Jav-Sabok (light and positive energy effects), Shaping (2 CP), Dragonfire (Shields only, 2 CP), Eye of the Dragon (Triple Effect, may absorb 3x Int Score spell levels per day and store 6x Con spell levels, 6 CP), Pulse of the Dragon (2 CP), Heart of the Dragon II (double effect for L2 spell effects, two-thirds cost, 12 CP), Blood of the Dragon (2 CP), and The Dragon’s Bones (2 CP) (28 CP in total).
  • This allows her to cast tremendous numbers of first and second level spells, albeit within a rather narrow set of fields. She can absorb positive or negative energy spells as well and block large amounts of damage – albeit not very often.
• Create Relic, Specialized and Corrupted/only to (re-)create a specific set of relics (the ones noted below) if they are somehow lost or destroyed (2 CP).

   Personal Relics:

• The Tiara of Karwin is a band of milky crystal, carved – perhaps ironically – in the shape of a slender, stylized, dragon. Improved Advanced Augmented Bonus: The user may add his or her (Cha Mod) to his or her (Con Mod) when calculating hit points. Corrupted: The Tiara carries with it a scattering of the memories, attitudes, and old emotions of the previous owner, which may lead to odd compulsions, irrational responses, and minor insanity – requiring occasional DC 18 will checks to avoid acting oddly. 12 CP, or a 2 CP Relic.
• Ring of Winds: This simple one-point relic provides Reflex Training/the three actions per day variant – with +4 Bonus Uses, Specialized in Defensive Actions Only (6 CP, making it a 1 CP Relic).

   Skill Points: 22 (Int) + 12 (CP Spent) +2 (Wealth) = 36

Skills:	Total	Basis
Appraise	+11	6 SP +5 Int
Balance	+13	1 SP +6 Dex +6 Race
Climb	+4	1 SP +3 Str
Concentration	+10	2 SP +8 Con
Diplomacy	+15	6 SP +7 Cha +2 Wealth
Craft/Blacksmith	+7	2 SP +5 Int
Craft/Alchemy	+6	1 SP +5 Int
Knowledge/Arcana	+6	1 SP +5 Int
Listen	+10	1 SP +4 Wis +5 Int
Martial Art/	+19	6 SP +6 Dex +6 Race
Move Silently	+13	1 SP +6 Dex +6 Race
Search	+8	1 SP +2 Race +5 Int
Sense Motive	+10	1 SP +4 Wis +5 Int
Spot	+10	1 SP +4 Wis +5 Int
Speak Language	+10	1 SP +2 Race +2 Wealth +5 Int
Spellcraft	+6	1 SP +5 Int
Survival	+10	1 SP +4 Wis +5 Int
Swim	+4	1 SP +3 Str
Tumble	+13	1 SP +6 Dex +6 Race

　

   Sabre Master Martial Art (Dex)

   The formal style of House Galano, this art focuses on swift mobility, striking unpredictably from every angle, aiming for any vital point which presents itself rather than attempting to power through defenses. Blows should be struck swiftly – but they should never be targeted against an armored or otherwise resistant spot. He who strikes home first is by far the most likely to live.

• Requires: At least +1 BAB Specialized in Swords.
• Basic Techniques: Attack 2, Defenses 2, Power 2, Strike, Toughness 1.
• Advanced and Master Techniques: Combat Reflexes, Sneak Attack II, and Whirlwind Attack.
• Occult Techniques: Inner Strength, Ki Block, Light Foot, and Resist Pain
• Known Techniques (10): Attack II, Power II, Strike, Sneak Attack I, Combat Reflexes, Whirlwind Attack, Inner Strength, and Light Foot.

   Charms (5):

• Wraith Guantlets (turn the user’s hands briefly intangible, at a cost of 1d4 damage)
• Lore Scroll (provides Knowledge/Local +9).
• Peacock Fan (provides cooling breezes and drives off offensive odors).
• Sands of Time (allows the user to take time out to converse)
• Tinkerstone (casts mending cantrips)

   Talismans (2)

• Martyrs Blade (becomes +1 Ghost Touch for ten minutes when activated with 2d4 hit points up to 3/day).
• Wardstone (Negative Energy) Provides an extra save six times per week.

   Kesara – especially when she throws in a Haste effect and a Flesh Ward or Protection From Negative Energy – is absurdly and incredibly durable and dangerous in melee. This is quite intentional. In fact, I’ve stretched the rules in several places to allow it. The player’s characters have been making excessive demands on the parties supply of curative – and resurrection – magic. Ergo, one grossly overpowered build.

   On the other hand, she’s one of the few characters in the game who can be thrown into overload-poisoning with a simple curse or other relatively minor spell. Everything has it’s downside.

Federation-Apocalypse Session 106b – Down on the Pharm

   Back in Kadia, Mr Gelman had dark circles under his eyes again. Sending Thralls to look after Ruth was weighing on his conscience – even if they were sending regular reports and were doing the odd rescue mission on the side. It helped – and it wasn’t as if an executive from Battling Business World found anything disturbing in a report that ended in “and then I got killed, so I’m reporting in person before heading back” – but it kept reminding him that Ruth had taken along a child who could actually die, and be gone for good. Wolverine genegrafts (what a choice!) and a bit of healing cyberware might help of course – but what if it wasn’t enough? She had better protect the boy!

   He tried not to consider the possibility of him being a bargaining chip. He taught her better than that!

   He had the Thralls make a special effort on the boys behalf. If it came to a choice between letting Ruth and the boy, they were to save him. Ruth would wake up the next morning at home if she died; the boy wouldn’t.

   Over in the Linear Realms, Ruth was getting acquainted with the realm and giving the neodogs a hand in getting kids out – although the was having a bit of trouble adapting to a realm where casual violence wasn’t the norm… Still, given the current situation there it looked like – for a girl of her talents – there would be a simple way out even if she did get into trouble; the realm was in desperate need of good fighters – enough so that joining the military as a good prospect would get you out of a lot of things.

   Just like her sister in some ways.

   Gelman eventually managed to tear himself away from the reports. At least his wayward daughter seemed to be off on an over-idealistic kick about helping rescue other kids directly, rather than turning evil. It seemed that Kadia WASN’T corrupting her. That, at least, was a relief.

   That left him with those “high stakes games” to consider! Those stakes were a bit much!

   Hm… There are the two categories – the ones who paid for the privilege of playing, and the ones who got sentenced to play.

   Wait, sentenced? What was this, Pyongyang?

   It looked like… juvenile delinquents for the most part, as well as gangs that wanted to challenge each other. Out of each game with 60 or so players the top three won large prizes (if they were voluntary players) and the bottom three got twenty-year indentures to “simulate the possibility of a real death”.

   It said something (possibly bad) about his adjustment to Kadia and the Manifold that his first reaction was NOT to spew his latte all over the holographic display.

   He still wasn’t happy though. Now they were turning indenturing kids into games? They might all expect to live forever in Kadia of course – but twenty years?

   So; the persistent delinquents who resisted counseling were getting dumped into the games; if they won, they got modest prizes. The worst losers were indentured. The ones in the middle just got sent on their way – although if they didn’t take the warning they’d wind up in a game again in a few months. It looked like Kadia didn’t really have any corrective system for juveniles who didn’t respond to computer counseling.

   What, were Core children so well-behaved they didn’t know how to deal with that possibility?

   On further research, it actually looked like it; everyone in Core was raised by the computers, and was throughly used to being counseled by them – and any irrational tendencies were medically corrected in early childhood. It helped that there was really no escaping the computers, or observation, or instantly available restraints in Core. You couldn’t really con people who were used to consulting the computers, or assault people meaningfully, or cheat them, or really do much of anything naughty in Core.

   Core actually DIDN’T have a problem with out-of-control juveniles outside of the ones who wandered off into the Manifold – and THEY weren’t IN Core any longer!.

   So Kevin Sanwell apparently hadn’t considered the possibility of having to deal with juvenile delinquents, which was understandable – but that was what caused things like this to happen! Just like with that Ikeran boy and Dr Brenner!

   The place was so superficially reasonable that he kept forgetting… Kevin drew his administrative staff randomly from across the Manifold. How many upper level decision-makers did he have?

   He was on Business Management and Training, “Kelsaru” was on General Administration, and “Ramira Al’Fatim” was on Data Security. There are some Thralls – a few with “Offices” – who had started handling some stuff though – and a bunch of Neodogs who were running individual projects like “Meme Research”, “Bodyguarding”, “Meme Treatment”, “Uplift Operations”, and “Project Midnight Gardener” – among other areas. What did those mean anyway?

   Tabard wasn’t a major decision maker? Oh, wait a minute… Kevin had worked with him long enough to realize WHY Tabard shouldn’t be making major decisions.

   Or perhaps it was just that he was – like Kevin himself – generally on field operations.

   Apparently the high-stakes games had been introduced by this “Kelsaru” person.

   He came up with a quick proposal for a juvenile correctional facility and checked on setting up a meeting with her.

   She did seem to be available. In fact, there actually wasn’t much on her schedule right now – although she looked like she was in some sort of specialized establishment or environment right now – and… Abigail would be by there early tomorrow too? Why? What kind of establishment? What did a “Core Overlay Zone” mean? A communal household of some sort? And Kevin had his apartments – or possibly a small palace judging by the scale – there as well.

   A communal household and a palace? That sounded suspiciously like servants’ quarters – or a harem.

   Oh dear. The boy had been associating with Marty, and Marty was a spectacularly bad example – it had been pretty obvious that Marty had been keeping several girls around his apartment – and Kevin was a teenager. He’d better assume that it was a harem.

   But that meant… that Kevin was putting his girlfriends in charge of major segments of his organization? When he was operating on THIS scale? He’d never seen anyone go beyond normal nepotism to such an extent… Well, it would explain some of the erratic decisions!

   He sighed, shook his head, and asked Fern if she would like to come along. The device would have no idea of why he might want company on such a visit, but she would do for company anyway.

   Oh well. He’d seen that the boy tended to organize by grabbing the nearest person and saying “You’re in charge of that!” – but now that he’d been providing some guidance the boy had actually set up a training program for administrators, and he’d actually appointed a few managers with defined responsibilities, which was certainly encouraging.

   Wait… was the boy reluctant to make formal appointments because that would constitute an employment contract, and he couldn’t break his contracts? Surely any sensible contract would include a termination clause? Well, at least he wasn’t appointing villains… The trainees were mostly just somewhat bookish kids.

   He decided to wait until Abigail was visiting. At least that way he could be sure that there wouldn’t be an orgy or something going on!

   Unless she was planning something violent. Come to think of it, he’d better get in touch with her first.

(Abigail) “Hello there Gelman! What’s going on? And is there a good source for green food coloring out there? The Saint Patrick’s Day Wars have destroyed every bottle in New York and I need some for the icing! Blackie did get quite excited about participaing though, since he didn’t want to be driven out of Manhattan, even if it was only for a week.”

(Gelman) “Did you know you’re visiting a harem, Abigail?”

(Abigail, looking slightly embarrassed). “Well… Yes. It’s not exactly full of young women in veils though. (She dropped her voice slightly) Kevin’s one of those people who takes recreational medication, or whatever the equivalent is for people like him – and the young dragonesses are quite sensible! More so than almost anyone else I know!”

(Gelman) “Well, I suppose I shouldn’t be – wait, dragonesses?”

(Abigail) “Er… Well… Kevin seems to like being a dragon.”

   Gelman puckered… Was that technically bestiality? Well, no; Beasts are non-sapient. Alienality? It wasn’t exactly unknown in Battling Business World. Would it depend on whether or not they were all shapeshifters? That would be fine, if weird. Wait, if they all had souls, wouldn’t they all be fundamentally human? Never mind, he had business to do!

(Gelman) “Ah. I see. I will be joining you shortly. I have business there as well.”

   Abigail had spent too much time in close contact with Marty. For a moment, she looked at him quite doubtfully…

(Abigail) “Business?”

(Gelman reddened) “Actual business – not sex.”

(Abigail) “Ah, well, I really didn’t think that… It’s just… Marty… And I haven’t been able to hit him with a frying pan for two whole months!”

(Gelman) “Why not spar with Jenkins instead? Dealing with the reach will be good for you!” (He will winced, remembering just how nasty Jenkins could be with a naginata.

(Abigail) “It’s good practice, but it’s just not as satisfying! Although… It has seemed more appropriate since I met her ex-husband.”

(Gelman) “Oh Lord. Don’t tell me he started begging at YOUR doorstep!”

(Abigail) “He followed her over once. I gave him some cake; he seemed to need it… He did seem pretty pathetic!”

(Gelman) “Try watching his degeneration week by week at the bar. How many holes did they put in your exterior walls when she found out?” (He was almost certain that most of the holes had been Welshman-shaped).

(Abigail) “I couldn’t count – but the kids fixed them right up. It’s eerie the way they just do that sort of thing so casually! But that was what eliminated my food coloring stocks!”

(Gelman) “Anyway, let’s continue our discussion there. I’ll see what I can do about your supply situation.”

(Abigail) “I’ll see you early tomorrow then!”

(Fern) “Dimensional Roaming Charges now being routed to your expense account Mr Gelman!”

(Gelman) “Oy vey. Well, thank you for notifying me, Fern.”

(Fern) “I think they go under “Petty Cash” anyway Mr Gelman!”

(Gelman) “I keep forgetting. Are you still joining me tomorrow?”

(Fern) “Of Course Mr Gelman! And I found you a decorative alien secretary to help with your office work too! Very efficient!”

(Gelman chuckled) “Make sure you charge up, then. I’d hate to see you incinerated or worse.”

(Fern) “I would hate that too! I’m not under warranty any longer!”

   Gelman procured some packages of food coloring for Abigail – as well as a treat for an old but estranged friend he’d helped when he arrived off the boat from the United Kingdom…

(Gelman) “Oh dear!”

   That was the problem with upgrading one’s smartphone instead of just buying a new one!

(Gelman) “Well, good thing I can repair you. But let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”

   Was the Neitzchian is trying to manipulate the Numbers? Now THERE was a terrifying thought! So many of the Toonworlds illustrated ultimate futility fairly well. Now that he was out of it, it did seem that Battling Business World might fall into that category. Perhaps some sort of shadow war? Did Lord Zero want to move to Core? Wasn’t that a futile effort for a supernatural inhuman entity by definition?

   Well, he had those fire-proofing pills from Corrigan. It was impossible to give them to Fern, but he might need the fire resistance if he was going to visit a bunch of dragons!

   Wait… maybe it was possible to give some to Fern.

   Simply associating with Kevin had resulted in him developing a few special powers. That had been very, very, confusing until he’d researched the matter, and still was a cause for doubts. Kevin wasn’t evil incarnate, but the powers – at least according to what he’d found – meant that he was sincerely supporting the boy.

   He’d asked Sandy and gotten the same information that Ruth apparently had – that some Thralls DID worship Kevin, but that Kevin said that that was silly, since he gave them all the power he could in exchange for their indentures. People who simply supported seemed to be getting some power too, but Kevin hadn’t said much about that.

   Still, if that shift helped the young man run a more ethical and organized operation, he wasn’t going to fuss too much.

   At least that policy of “You can worship me if you want to, but it’s silly” was reassuring in it’s own eccentric fashion. Kevin wasn’t trying to pit himself against the LORD. The boy apparently even accepted the theology of the Unified Church – even if that wasn’t too demanding. He just seemed to draw a distinction between GOD and being a “minor god”. He seemed to consider it a technical term!

   Could he make them into a sapient-smartphone compatible form using his strange new powers? Perhaps a data chip conversion?

   It seemed that he could – although he might just be drawing on Sandy and Illona, who still had a lot more raw power than he did.

(Gelman) “All right, Fern. This should give you some protection from flame breath.”

(Fern) “Thank you! Please try not to get breathed on anyway though! It would ruin your new suit!”

   He was nearly distracted enough to miss the large, sweet-scented, multicolored flowering bush which snaked out a tendril and handed him his long-range uplink amplifier on the way out. He was used to bushes shooting thorns at him, not handing him helpful tools.

(Gelman, absently) “Oh, thank you.”

(Synthesized voice) “You are welcome Mr Gelman!”

   As he was heading out to the flit, he did a bit of a double-take and turned to Fern on his shoulder. (Gelman) “Was that a BUSH?”

(Fern) “Yes Mr Gelman! I finally found a source for decorative alien secretaries!”

(Gelman) “Huh. Well, good work. (Pause) Does it need to be trimmed?”

(Fern) “Not really Mr Gelman! It just needs fertilizer, soil, water, and light! The office systems are handling all of that!”

(Gelman) “Oh, good!”

   Just why had he feared her sapience so much? This was just fine!

   Kevin’s little – OK, rather enormous – establishment seemed to be mostly carved into a small mountain, with a variety of massive balconies and terraces, and was surrounded by some rather lovely gardens and wild areas. At least the boy seemed to have more class than Marty!

   A medium-sized gold dragon with a collar on it answered the door.

   Wait, how did a four-legged, entirely un-anthropomorphic, creature with no hands answer the door? They must rely almost entirely on telekinesis or magic or the local force-field systems to do things… He should have expected that; dragons were beings of magic, and he’d been thinking of humans with scales on.

(Gold) “Hello Mr Gelman!”

(Gelman) “Hello. Is Miss Kelsaru in?”

(Gold) “Yes Sir! Although I must advise you that she is a trifle broody at the moment!”

(Gelman) “Broody?”

   Depressed? Hmm, was there something going on between her and Mr. Sanwell?

(Gold) “She’s going to clutch soon, and – while that isn’t nearly as burdensome as a human pregnancy – it does affect her moods a bit Sir!”

   OH. THAT kind of “broody”. Er, well… Bother. It looked like he’d chosen the worst possible time to show up. No choice though… he’d have to risk it.

(Gelman) “May I speak with her?”

(Gold) “Certainly Sir! Right this way!”

   He went. Hopefully clutching female dragons were not as bad as delivering human women!

   Kelsaru turned out to be a red dragoness, currently curled up in a rather large (and apparently very, very, comfortable) room with a couple attendants and quite an assortment of gems and ornaments. It made quite a contrast to her attendants simple collars… She did look a trifle plump at the moment of course. She seemed to be issuing instructions for setting up a basic educational program for youngsters from primitive realms. Some sort of “outreach program” or some such. She sounded reasonable enough, if a bit impatient.

   Well, she couldn’t be THAT bad then!

   Still, he’d best get to the point then.

   Kelsaru, or course, had been busy setting up another recruiting tool. Now that she had the mass enthrallments so well organized, it was time to see about upgrading the supply side! The influx from the Linear Realms wouldn’t last forever! Still, Mr Gelman had been a marvelously efficient business manager; the shipping business had been bringing in a LOT more money now that he was managing it. If there was something bothering him, it was well worth taking some time out for him!

(Kelsaru) “Mr Gelman is it? What do you need?”

(Gelman) “I came to discuss the high stakes game and a possible alternative.”

(Kelsaru) “What, those? Well, having them publicly executed or some such just doesn’t have the deterrent value it did back home, jail is useless and unprofitable, physical beatings, torture, and maimings are out of style, and short-term indentures are hardly worth bothering with. What else can be done?”

   Oh crud! He hadn’t expected quite such a level of ruthlessness from a female and a mother-to-be. Still, perhaps he should have; she WAS a dragoness! He’d been going to suggest some kind of jail! He was going to have to (oh dear!) improvise! What was keeping Kevin from sticking them in his Enthrallment program other than not accepting in the first place?

   Well that was good in a way; it confirmed the “consent” principle for Enthrallment – and a twenty-year indenture WAS the term that usually seemed to be assigned to the kids who arrived as slaves, except for the ones that that horrible “Dr Brenner” sent in who got twenty hours (long enough to get cleaned up, settled down, and be given some introductory lectures).

   Bother… if they’d listened in the first place, they wouldn’t need discipline. Apparently it never HAD occurred to Kevin that he might get a substantial number of juvenile delinquents and troublesome gangers among the refugees. Had he even been consulted on coming up with a solution or was this another “taken care of while the boss is busy” situation?

   He was shaken enough to make a poor attempt to emulate Marty’s usual style, and blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

(Gelman) “Does Mr. Sanwell know about this?”

(Kelsaru) “What, that a small minority of the refugee children are misbehaving? Why bother him with trivia? If they can’t figure out how fortunate they are to be here, and behave appropriately, they ought to be slaves! But Ailill – or Kevin to use his local name – likes to give people lots of chances, so on the average they each get up to twenty! That ought to be far more than enough for any sophont!”

(Gelman) “Well, there must be a better way to handle this!”

   He wasn’t going to be blatantly impolite, but he made his distaste clear.

   Kelsaru could read those thoughts with no effort at all. Mr Gelman had the power, but he had no experience in screening his thoughts – or his body language. Evidently one of those humans who had objections to enforced servitude. Not too uncommon…

(Kelsaru) “Well, back home they’d lock them up and operate on their brains to install compulsion chips and prevent future misbehavior. I’ve never especially approved of that! It damages their ability to learn and function effectively too much!”

(Gelman, somewhat shocked) “Me either. But since jail apparently hasn’t worked for you, that scuttles my plan… Is Mr. Sanwell still out?”

(Kelsaru) “Well, Jail costs resources, and mostly just serves as an academy for criminals – or at least the ones I’ve seen do. And he’s still at some world called “Necropolis”. Apparently he felt it needed a lot of meddling!”

   Oh dear. Logical enough – as long as you considered human children as unimportant creatures to be dealt with en mass. He couldn’t approve of that – but he’d have to think more about the situation and probably notify Kevin of it. Did that arrogance go with being a dragon? She seemed a bit short-tempered as well, but that wasn’t too unexpected in a woman who’s apparently about to give birth. Well, at least he’d eliminated one worry. Regardless of her superficial form, Kelsaru was definitely a human being, even if she had been born a dragoness. It was the mind and soul which mattered, not the form.

(Gelman) “Hmm. Well, thank you, Miss Kelsaru. Good luck with the clutch.”

   He did hope that her hatchlings would be healthy, even if he suspected that he wouldn’t entirely approve of draconic parenting styles – even if it was a reaction to certain necessities, it was still an extremely high-handed one, and based on her own standards of behavior. She wasn’t making much of an allowance for habituation.

   The gold was waiting by the door.

(Gold) “Is there anything else I can help you with Mr Gelman?”

(Gelman) “Where is Ms. Saunders-Tabard? I’d like to speak with her as well.”

(Gold) “She’s speaking with the Lady Meara at the moment Sir! I shall take you there!”

   (Gelman) “Thank you.”

   Hm. Well, there hadn’t been any silks and veils or harem pants so far, unless some wall hangings counted as silks and veils. Mostly it had just been some jewelry and such to go with the scales. He was no judge of draconic beauty – but, just on the abstract level, there was certainly beauty there. No temptation whatsoever though, at least for him. Some people had very odd romantic tastes… Fern was doubtless finding this interesting, although she couldn’t possibly be getting the sexual connotations. Perhaps talking to the servant would be informative?

(Gelman) “How is Ms. Saunders-Tabard today?”

(Gold) “I believe she is doing quite well. Just down this corridor Sir! Can I fetch you anything?”

(Gelman) “Some setzer water, please… and a tiny chair for Fern here. (He hesitated briefly) Oh yes. And what has bought her here?”

(Gold) “I believe she first arrived seeking information on what Marty and Lord Kevin were doing, then found some of the young women congenial Sir!”

   Oh dear! She couldn’t possibly be wanting to be part of the harem could she?! I always thought she was more level-headed than that!

   Oh well. That did seem pretty unlikely.

(Gelman) “Where did you come from? Were you born a dragon too?”

   The attendant had apparently been a human English schoolboy of some sort, and had been recruited into “Lord Kevin’s” service some years earlier at “Hogwarts” (Really? Isaac loved those novels!), where there were periodic attacks by black magicians and the immortality – and shortcut on all the studying – was really attractive. He had volunteered for the assignment as an attendant when Kevin set up the harem a few months back.

   There wasn’t time for a very elaborate explanation before they arrived at a comfortable sitting room, where Abigail was casually chatting – and having tea – with a bejeweled gold dragoness.

(Gelman) “Good afternoon. I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

(Abigail) “Why not at all! We were just talking about recipes and exotic ingredients!”

   That really was quite a fascinating topic. Kadia offered many ingredients that were certainly unavailable in most places – and not a few that would normally be considered extinct or entirely mythical! Where else could you take a recipe that called for ambrosia, roast of triceratops, and salamander scale seriously?

(Gelman) “Here’s the dye to replace what Terry and Todd wrecked.”

(Abigail) “Oh thank you! The icing would have been entirely wrong without that! There are a lot of local green colorings of course, but I’m used to the standard ones! (Pause) You’d think that the two of them could be considerate enough to take the fight outside when I have things baking!”

(Gelman) “And here’s something for the poor man. I think it’s his favorite thing to eat with tea.” (Bara brith-Welsh currant bread) I think if you put it in your garbage, he’ll find it, and she’ll be none the wiser.”

(Abigail) “I’ll have one of the kids slip it to him directly I think. They’re pretty good at hiding things… Wait; have they been hiding from the truant officers? They must be! They never seem to go to school! Just wait until I get home!”

   Gelman didn’t have the heart to tell her…

(Gelman) “Have you told them to go to school?”

(Abigail) “Well, no! I assumed… they might not go anyway; they WERE assigned to bodyguard me weren’t they?”

(Meara) “They’re probably taking the courses on their Smartclothes. Kevin is quite strong on education!”

   Ah, he hadn’t thought of that! Of course they’d be doing remote education!

(Meara) “I don’t believe we’ve met Mr Gelman; I’m Meara Collins.”

(Gelman) “Ah, hello there. Ms. Saunders-Tabard is a good friend of mine.”

(Meara) “She has mentioned you a few times! I’m pleased to meet you!”

(Gelman) “Positively, I hope!”

(Meara) “Oh yes! She approves of you a good deal more than of Marty! Marty is a bit of a rascal I fear!”

(Gelman) “Rascal is too good for him!”

   They chatted for a bit, and he introduced Abigail and Fern to each other. Fern had a file on Abigail of course, but it was always best for sapient devices to actually meet people as well.

   Abigail concealed her impatience politely; she’d never been all that big on sentient devices. It went with being a chef; sentient kitchen equipment was a terrible hassle when cooking – it kept adjusting its settings to what IT thought was appropriate, rather than letting HER be in charge of the kitchen, and if the oven went on strike, she was screwed!

   Gelman hesitated a bit – but eventually asked how Julia was doing and – why Abigail was here!

(Abigail) “Julia’s been doing quite well – although I had to punish her for feeding three of her classmates who annoyed her to Blackie last week! She’s grounded until the end of the month!…

   Anyway, I’m here because it’s kind of refreshing to chat with several of the girls here, to trade recipes, and to get news of the universe… They have a very unique viewpoint!”

(Gelman, sighing) “Didn’t he see that coming when he GAVE her the dragon?”

(Abigail) “Marty never thinks things through! Besides… Blackie melted them down with his acid breath and then just slurped them up.”

(Gelman) “Ow. I hope he didn’t cause any damage during that brawl in your kitchen.”

(Abigail) “No, no… Julia and Blackie know better than to get involved with the adults are fighting!”

   That was a relief. After all, if Jenkins had had the chance, she would undoubtably have tossed her ex-husband into Blackie’s mouth, given the chance.

(Gelman) “Anyway… could you tell the thrall delivering Todd’s bread to tell him there’s a message in it? I don’t want him to accidentally eat it.”

(Abigail) “I’ll pass that on – and why are you visiting?”

(Gelman) “I was meeting with Kelsaru to resolve a problem.”

(Abigail) “Oh. I haven’t spoken to her much… She’s a bit cranky, and is one of the few here who was actually born a dragon. It seems to make a difference… It certainly would with Blackie anyway.”

(Gelman) “Is there something wrong with him?”

(Abigail) “Well… I was looking into how he’d behave if he was free and unaltered. It wasn’t very nice.”

(Gelman) “That’s too bad. I’ll see if there’s something I can do for him.”

(Abigail) “Well, it seems that the “Chromatic” dragons are just naturally unpleasant – and young males are the worst of all.”

(Gelman) “And, of course, you can’t let him around Julia that way.”

(Abigail) “I’m not sure I’d want him around New York City that way!”

(Gelman) “Definitely not. I doubt even the floorherds of Chicago could handle him.”

(Meara) “Chromatics are quite a handful… That’s one reason why Kevin’s offspring are almost all going to be metallics!”

(Gelman) “Well, that shows he has good sense… Not that Kelsaru’s all that bad. It’s just that young chromatics seem to be dangerous.”

(Meara) “Well, Kelsaru’s actually a rarity – she’s a Gem Dragon, she just likes to look Red because Kevin usually looks that way.”

(Gelman) “Interesting. I shouldn’t be surprised. She would try to please him.”

(Meara) “Well, we all try to please him! He’s actually very nice. For a dragon he’s even quite nice to the other dragons who attack him and try to steal his property!”

   Er… That probably wasn’t going to be pleasant from a human prospective – but he’d probably have to know.

(Gelman) “Er… What does he do to them?”

(Meara) “Well, mostly he makes them into harem attendants. Given that most of them would usually expect to be skinned, or made into magic items, or be otherwise permanently disposed of, that actually tends to draw more challengers… They know that losing won’t be nearly as bad as it would with most dragons.”

   Huh. Compared to the fates they otherwise would face, that did seem comparatively light. It was still enslavement – which he certainly wasn’t happy about – but it was a radically different culture from his own, and presumably they were out to do the same thing.

   My goodness, but he’d been lucky in the draw when it came to realms!

   Meara was still talking though…

(Meara) “He does like to think he’s being terribly evil there though. I think it helps him cope.”

(Gelman) “He definitely didn’t ask to be what he is.”

(Meara) “Well, you do have to watch shifting realms too… Identities can be terribly strong – especially the ones that include instincts or changes in species. And it is a lot of fun being a dragon on top of that.”

   Would it help him understand Kevin? Should he try it? He could probably do it – or get some help in doing it… No, no. He LIKED being a human. And who knows what damage he would cause in a dragon’s body? Still, he should at least find out what it involved. After all, ANYTHING could happen around here.

   Hm… It seemed that the “Dragonworlds” tended to give visitors draconic ID’s – that’s how Kevin had originally acquired one – and those tended to come complete with some very powerful urges, enhanced senses, heightened endurance, magical powers, and all the rest. Kevin sometimes handed out local Kadia ID’s like that. There were other worlds where you could be a dragon, but it was usually a lot more work. There were temporary transformations and mindlinks available if he just want to try it out of course.

   It did sound interesting. Maybe with Sophie if she was feeling bold enough. After all, mating was evidently a part of those urges – and a powerful part (especially for adolescents). Definitely something to consider for a romantic getaway. Contrary to what Tabard might believe, he was more than willing to experiment in the bedroom.

   He asked about Meara’s history too. After all, “Collins” didn’t exactly sound like a draconic name.

   It seemed that she’d originally been a human. She’d been born in a Core interstellar colony, but her parents had taken her and her brother on an unwise Manifold jaunt to a roman empire world. Kevin had bought her out of the arena, and she had asked for the Thrall-powers to avenge her parents and brother. She’d accompanied Kevin for eight years before he offered her this position if she wanted to have his kids. (Apparently he’d had one accidently and decided that he really liked being a parent, and promptly set out to become one a lot of times).

   Oddly enough, that did make him feel a bit better about Ruth… and about Kevin. At least he was trying to be a good father, if by draconic standards.

   Anyway, Kevin had set up a small Harem here, where he could easily create a Core overlay and maximize the chances that his kids would have souls. He’d made provisions for any that didn’t of course – but he’d rather they all did if he can possibly arrange it.

   Wait, what?

(Gelman) “That’s possible?”

(Meara) “It’s possible to improve the odds – in fact, I believe you visited Core briefly Mr Gelman? – that greatly increases the odds already. Being conceived, gestated, and/or born in Core all improve the odds as well, which is why we’re technically in both Core and Kadia here; Kevin has made this area – and several others – an overlay zone. There are a number of similar spots around for vacationing couples who need magic or otherwise can’t function in Core.”

   Gelman had to wonder if he could sell vacations in Kadia back in Battling Business World? It’s not like most of the locals would ask questions… gah, he had to stop that! What would happen if a stronger-souled person started asking questions?

   Well… maybe after he’d gotten Kevin’s business halfway organized. That would take decades at best, and he’d need a vacation himself by then!

   Gelman unconsciously put the disturbing notion of trying out being a dragon off into the distant future – along with his speculative vacation plans. There would be time for that later on. He absently accepted a refreshed drink from the gold attendant, who’d come back with tea and cakes…

(Meara) “Would you care to meet some of Kevin’s other concubines Mr Gelman?”

(Gelman) “Certainly, if Ms. Saunders-Tabard will come with me.”

   He didn’t want to upset Sophie – and having Abigail along would allay suspicions.

   The harem seemed to include eight young dragonesses – although only two of them had been born as dragonesses – and thirty or forty servants, about half of whom had been born as dragons. All of the concubines except Kelsaru were “metallic”, as were a solid majority of the servants. There were a few human Thralls around too, as servants and personal aides to the concubines.

   And everything scaled for dragons… My Lord, the facilities required for this! OK, it wasn’t like supplies were short around Kadia though, but it was still quite a production!

   Lets see… There was Tanis (apparently some sort of Egyptian noblewoman who had tried to summon a demon-god and got Kevin), Lysira (another who’d been recruited from Hogwarts), a girl from some roman empire world (possibly the same one that Meara had been rescued from), “Ramira Al’Fatim” (a born dragoness who had complained about him bringing an unsecured electronic system along), and a few others who were occupied at the moment…

   Fern was quite indignant about THAT. She said that her data security was WAY better than any normal computers! First you had to get past her data-barriers and THEN you still had to persuade HER that she ought to answer you!

(Gelman) “Please, Miss Al’Fatim. Miss BlackBerry is one of my finest employees, and she would never compromise security around here.”

(Al’FAtim) “I really doubt that! I haven’t met ANYONE around here who’s really sensible about data security!”

   Gelman bit his tongue. For all he knew, she came from a world where computer technology shamed Core. He and Abigail were actually learning to tell the rough ages and sexes of the various dragons apart by the time the tour was over though – on levels a bit more sophisticated than “jewels and ornaments = concubine” and “simple collar = attendant” by the time the tour was over though. Dragons did show a lot fewer signs than mammals did though.

   Abigail had never asked for a tour. It had seemed to her like it might imply that she thought they were a zoo or something, and it had never occurred to her to just ask to meet everyone.

   Gelman sighed. He wouldn’t put it past her. She was the most skilled chef he’d ever seen, but her experience outside her kitchen and home was a bit lacking. She wasn’t as bad as poor Sophie though, and both of them seemed to be getting better gradually.

   Strange though… It did seem to be a happy enough establishment. Of course, Kevin was one charismatic guy (er, dragon), and a harem wasn’t exactly a brothel – and it wasn’t like King Solomon, with his nine hundred concubines and three hundred wives (although that had always sounded greatly exaggerated to HIM, wouldn’t they all be killing each other -and probably him – over jealous feuds and impeding his governance? Could a bronze age king even build the facilities necessary for that at his capital? Surely that was an exaggeration!) – but even the attendants seemed pretty happy. Of course, that was understandable in comparison to the fates they’d escaped – and they apparently got a good deal of time off, and an allowance, both of which they get to spend in Kadia with it’s various facilities.

(Gelman) “Meara, where I’m from, there are people with the power to make others’ finances a living hell. Would their powers be able to reach Kadia?”

(Meara) “Probably not; one of Kevin’s rules is that curses, and most mental compulsions and modifications, and diseases and so on, all go away if you stay in Kadia for awhile.”

(Gelman) “Hmm. Then I’ve made a very good decision.” (He turned to Abigail). “DEFINITELY make sure that bread makes it to Todd’s office.”

   Besides… That was an “interesting” rule for a “Demon Lord” to institute. If the boy was trying for a bait-and-switch, he was playing a very long term game… Could you be so subtly evil that it was impossible to tell it apart from being good without hearing the rationale? Or was there somehow a distinction between “The Forces of Evil” and “The Powers of Darkness”?

   Was the distinction simply the difference between “the drives to survive and expand” and “the drives to survive and expand with malice”?

   Kevin did, of course, freely admit to his evil plan. Evil in human souls came with being young – ergo, to keep evil going until the end of time, there had to be a steady supply of new souls. Since new souls came from births in Core and from recent visitants to Core, Core must be maintained and the people of Core must continue to produce more children. The easiest way to make sure that they did was to support, feed, and care for them – and thus make them want to stick around and have large families. While that did ultimately profit the Light as those souls passed into ultimate enlightenment, it was the only sure way to keep the evil going!

   Gelman just was not sure that that was an evil plan… – despite Kevin’s insistence that it was “Very, very, evil!”. To him it sounded more like a plan to guarantee humanity’s survival with (rather thin) evil window dressing.

   Of course, everyone did agree that he was pretty picky.

   He wasn’t at all comfortable with the idea of keeping a harem, but the boy was a Gentile, and they did seem to be treated well. Keeping a harem of dragons was weird (as well as impressive), but that sort of thing WAS a habit of males in unrestrained positions of power. The dragon’s culture did seem to expect it – and it was even relatively small.

   Oh well. Was it proper to send presents when the eggs were laid or when they hatched?

   He asked Lysira. Apparently she’d spent a good deal of time in the Dragonworlds.

   It seemed that it was usually when they hatched, unless you were either absurdly rich or were trying to make an impression for some reason – in which case you sent gifts designed to give the hatchlings early advantages in the competition when they were laid as well. That was rather rare though.

   Hatching day gifts were usually for the mother, and were usually tokens; bits of jewelry, modest artworks, minor servants, tapestries, etc. Hatchling presents could be toys or items designed to help them compete.

   He’d have to see what he could find – and come up with a proposal for dealing with delinquent kids. Perhaps the colonization of some bucolic realm for the ensouled, maybe with phantasm support? A few years of herding or farmwork was a traditional settler…

   Oh dear. In the Manifold you could actually send people to live with Maw and Paw Kettle! or possible the Green Acres crew!

   Would that be awesome or torture?

   Well, hopefully Todd Jenkins would get his message. OK, it wasn’t much more than “Talk to the squirrels and come for a visit?”, but it wasn’t as if things could possibly get any worse for the guy where he was now. And maybe – just maybe – a visit would break the delusions of the former sanest person he knew!

   He’d do what he could to make sure that it worked.

Recordings from the Holocron of Kira Keldav – Return to Alderaan

   Well, it looks like if I survive the next few days, I may very well be heading back to Alderaan after being gone for eight months. It feels like another lifetime ago. Thinking about the others back home does make me homesick. Biggest fear I have is although I may return to Alderaan, I might never be able to return home again.

   I’ve changed, there is no doubt about that. I have also been aware that my friends have been changing too. We were all growing up, becoming respectable adults (well most of us). We weren’t drifting about, far from it. We still met on a regular basis and preferentially spent time with each other than with anyone we had met in our higher schooling. We were just no longer the band of kids continually getting into mischief around town.

   They were all well on their way towards new careers of their own. I struggled to find something to do with my life. With some encouragement and support from them and others, I was probably heading in the direction of joining the Security Forces. It wasn’t ideal, but life rarely is. Especially when you are as uncooperative as I usually am. I suspect we each would have married in turn, bringing spouses and children into our group. Bringing up the next generation of barely tolerated deviants as time went on.

   Then I proceeded to get captured by the Sith and develop Force powers. How do I go back after this change? I really don’t want to become like the Jedi, always reclusive, showing no emotion whether good or bad. Never mind the fact that I am now wanted by a lot of the major powers in the galaxy.

   Do they want me to return, or would they rather I simply stayed away now? Would their lives be simpler and happier if I never came back? These questions I have been trying hard not to face, and yet I am now forced to confront head on.

   I do not think things will go well. Mother and Father have likely assumed the worst about the rumors swirling around me. Sabrina will undoubtedly want to kill me, and Nichel will probably pull some crap about defending the family honor from me. Nathan is going to be intimidated and fearful. Barcos would probably side with the authorities and Dorothy will find somewhere safe to hide.

   Odds are good that any attempt to land on the planet openly is going to result in my arrest or detention. Landing covertly is only going to make matters worse when they inevitably catch me or find out I am on the planet. Not like I could go into hiding in Crevasse City for that matter either, I am way too distinguishable and too well known around town for that to work.

   Nonetheless, I have to get home, see that they are all safe and warn them. I am having enough trouble resisting the Dark Side as it is without having something happen to one of them.

　

   Reactions to the Letter Home from Friends and Family

   Marcus and Seren Keldav

He’s alive!

   Sabrina Keldav

So he is alive! I’ll kill him! How dare he make us worry this whole time. At least he had enough sense to run away from the Sith. But the rest of this nonsense I am hearing? Assaults on bounty hunter guilds, major estates, Jedi Temples, and rumors that he was part of the resistance on Telos, is he trying to piss off the galaxy?

I swear, when I get my hands on him, I will bandage him up to the best of my ability and then kill him.

   Nichel Keldav

Alright, I am impressed. Escaping from the Sith after being trained by them no less. Seems even they had difficulty controlling my brother. Now the fool should have run straight to the Republic the moment he escaped instead of this running around nonsense.

Heh, to think that Kira of all people may end up becoming a Jedi. Not that I expect the Jedi to have any more luck keeping him in line than anyone else has. I am sure this misunderstanding will get cleared up in the end. He did reject the Sith afterall.

   Nathan Olath

Can’t keep Kira down. I swear, I don’t know if he is lucky to be continually surviving these situations or if he is unlucky that he keeps getting into them repeatedly.

Now if he is on the run, it is quite conceivable that whoever is following him is leaving a trail somewhere. If he can learn how they are tracking him and who is doing it, he might be better off. It is worth looking into, and it can’t hurt him.

   Dorothy Glithe

I knew it! I don’t know how, or why, but I knew he was alive out there somewhere. And he has become a Force User no less! I always thought there was some part of him missing, maybe this is it? Someone has to inform the Alderaan government, try to get them to intervene, maybe even appeal to the Senator. Blast, I am just an intern at the moment, will anyone higher up listen to me? Gotta try.

   Barcos Bernelli

Good show. Breaking free of the Sith is no mean feat. Now his follow up from there appears to be severely lacking, but I am sure an understanding could be reached with the Republic given an opportunity to open dialogue. Of course, Kira is probably going to have a hard time trusting most anyone in the Republic right now. Perhaps it is time a friend try and step in, someone he can trust.

Recordings from the Holocron of Kira Keldav – Session 4

   Here we have one of the player’s perspectives on the fourth Star Wars session. We’ve already had the basic notes, but it’s always nice to see the players making a contribution – and the differences in prospective can be rather revealing. It’s best to try to keep those to a minimum though: when the players are effectively playing similar-but-different games it tends to lead to a great deal of awkwardness.

   Besides, the character perspectives are always more fun than the dry details.

   We had decided to split the group. Khadim, 10CH, and I would remain on the surface and meet or distract the coming Jedi and Sith. Telera, Handell, Lazlo, Alys, Garyan, Ben, and the two kids returned to the underwater Sith base to try and gain control of the facility. Ben’s attempts to to try and test out the codes we had gathered on the Sith battleship’s computer backfired quite literally when he shot at himself with the ship torpedoes. Ben had now found himself more or less trapped with a limited air supply and no way to contact the Nightraptor.

   Back on the Nightraptor, Lazlo and Handell were trying to decide why Ben felt the need to torpedo himself. They concluded that no Sith Lord could possibly be that self destructive, but even then, should they rescue him? As the debate onboard the Nightraptor ensued, it was decided that Telera and Alys would attempt to swim over to the battleship and mount a rescue effort. The kids would be left with Garyan and would try to get him to tell them about old war stories. At the time this sounded a lot safer than letting him find ways to keep himself occupied.

   Handell had pulled the Nightraptor away from the battleship when the torpedoes were fired. Those torpedoes were big enough to cause quite a bit of destruction and it took some careful maneuvering on his part to bring the Nightraptor close again with all the muck stirred up by the blasts.

   Ben decided that if he was to have any chance of surviving the next twelve hours, he had to rescue himself. He called up the map layout of the ship, and found that one corridor had been clogged with wreckage and the other was filled with mud. He figured it unlikely that he was going to be able to dig his way out. At which point Ben figured out that if the ship was able to recall the torpedoes, then the ship should also be able to send a call for help. He busily got the transmitter working again after he had disconnected it.

   At this point, Alys and Telera were about halfway towards the battleship when everyone realized that the series of explosions had drawn the jellyfish to the site. The amount of poison they had was not going to be sufficient for that many jellyfish. Lazlo proceeded to use the ship’s blasters to provide covering fire, while Handell tried to start up the ship slowly to prevent dissipating the poison too quickly. Alys and Telera took refuge in a crumbled warehouse, using the partial walls and roof to restrict angles of approach.

   Alys suggested that Telera use the Force to help keep the poison from dissipating, much to Telera’s shock. To Telera’s credit, I must admit there seemed to be something vaguely wrong with the notion of holding a cloud of poison around yourself. They were barely able to hold out long enough for Handell to bring the Nightraptor close enough for an escape as the jellyfish collapsed what was left of the roof. Lazlo provided heavy cover fire using the ship’s blasters again.

   Ben was going over what was left of the battleship’s weapons that could be controlled. Looked like he had an ion cannon (little good that was going to do him underwater), some torpedoes left, the anti-boarding system (electrifying the hull underwater wasn’t a good idea), and the ship purging system. Realizing the ship purging system would release toxins designed to kill water breathers, it might help keep the Jellyfish off of him. So Ben started the purge system.

   Now Ben tried to contact me using the battleship’s communication system. Here is where I learned of the events I just described, and found myself with a serious headache. I wasn’t sure what Ben was expecting me to do, considering I was a great distance away with no diving equipment and no boat to come save his rear. It also irked me to no end that now there were broadcasts going out from “The Shard of Devastation” to me. This wasn’t going to look good no matter what I tried. Little did I know, but the Jedi were already in orbit picking this up – plus bits about “inventorying weapons stocks” – from an ancient Sith battleship.

   The Shard of Devastation was now requesting instructions since the crew had “just been purged”. Ben told it to go stealth mode and bring everything to standby while he tried to make his way back to the Nightraptor. As he tried to dig through the mud, he failed to notice something digging in and was caught in a jellyfish tentacle. Promptly paralyzed, Ben was screwed in my opinion. Luckily the toxins from the purge system were having an effect, causing the jellyfish to retract it’s tentacle and him outside the ship. I heard much ineffectual groaning in the microphone and I was wondering what the hell was going on.

   Ben’s efforts to commune with the jellyfish and get it to not eat him were largely ineffectual. My experience has been that sort of thing only really works well with vertebrates or other complex organisms, and even then things are iffy when they are hungry and you are food. Telera and Alys, now that they were back aboard the ship, spotted Ben easily. Telera heroically managed to pull Ben away from the jellyfish using the Force. Alys provided more covering fire and Lazlo pulled Ben into the ship most athletically I am told.

   The kids were having a difficult time keeping Garyan away from the guns. He kept rambling on about the value of guns, blades, explosives and immediate violence, which I am sure is doing wonders for their upbringing. I am really going to have to do something about that, I am sure Telera would agree. At least they seemed to think he was crazy instead of getting hyped up with his notions.

   Back on the surface, I was about as prepared for the Jedi as I was going to be. I had my (makeshift) Jedi robes, a large hat to block the sunlight, a beach chair to lounge on, a big umbrella to sit under, an alcoholic tropical beverage with tiny umbrella, and had set myself up in the spaceport landing terminal just to make a point. Khadim and 10CH had hidden themselves in one of the warehouses to provide support should things turn sour. They could impersonate miscellaneous electronic equipment real well apparently.

   The Jedi came down in an over blaze of glory as they dropped multiple combat shuttles loaded with Republic soldiers all over the place. They busily tried to gain control of all the weapons and hostile ships in the area, which was a real easy feat considering there weren’t any. I watched with considerable amusement on the whole affair until the soldiers began leveling all sorts of weapons at me.

   I protested mightily at being disarmed, and turned their accusations of being a Sith back on them. After all, I hadn’t come to this planet with a small army, belligerently taking control by force, and taking people into custody just because they happened to be sitting there. The female Republic soldier that tried to handcuff me did not appreciate my comment that I was not into that “kinky” stuff and slapped me. It felt like high school all over again. At least I wasn’t handcuffed though, she seemed so annoyed that she forgot.

   The Nightraptor was now busily fending off jellyfish, but was able to escape readily now that everyone was aboard.

   As the soldiers loaded me into one of the dropships to head back into orbit, Khadim grabbed onto the outside of one of the dropships, dragging along a protesting 10CH. 10CH was definitely of the opinion that this was crazy, but Khadim is much bigger and stronger than 10CH was. Khadim even ripped off another missile launching pod to replace the one he lost some time ago.

   The soldiers ignored the damage to the dropship for the time being, believing getting a senior Jedi to interrogate me was more important. A trio of older Jedi in their forties or fifties I would guess arrived and began one of the most asinine interrogations I have ever seen. They acknowledged I did not feel like a Sith, although one of them figured I might have learned how to hide it. My protests that I have been doing this for only a little over eight months seemed to sway two of them. Although again that same one protested that I might be an ancient Sith Master that has learned to transfer my essence into my student and of course I would deny that.

   This led to the argument on whether or not me claiming to not be an elder Sith in possession of a young body was evidence that in fact I was. I called idiocy on this with the quip “Only secret ops would deny being secret ops”. The other two were inclined to agree with me on that. I further explained that we had destroyed the bio weapons we had found, had disarmed the collapsium reactor, and were wanting to dispose of the collapsium portion of it. I also explained, that if I was a Sith, I certainly wouldn’t have been sitting on a beach chair waiting for the Jedi to arrest me either!

   10CH quietly informed me over the commlink that he and Khadim had managed to sneak onboard. Well good, that at least gave me an ace up my sleeve should things turn sour.

   The argument was getting nowhere fast, although they seemed at least willing to believe that I might not be a Sith. The circumstances over the last eight months were just not in my favor. I was especially annoyed with the blank looks I got when I explained how to create an explosion using electricity and water. I finally got recognition when I compared it to a fuel cell. Score one for the high school and some college education. I am real glad I wasn’t raised in a Jedi Temple.

   Suddenly Khadim and 10CH arrived, 10CH had been knockout darting all the people on the way, and Khadim was still tugging along that missile pod. This led to an interesting standoff with dozens of Republic troops and Jedi training weapons on us and Khadim wielding a missile pod capable of blowing a hole in the ship. The Sith chose exactly that moment to arrive. The Shard of Devastation was (surprisingly enough) the first to notice, as the Jedi and Republic forces were busy with me. I announced that since negotiations had come to a halt, and the newly arrived Sith were an obvious danger to us all, that we call a truce for the duration of hostilities.

   Quick assent was had all around.

   Ben made one hell of a precognitive effort and directed the Shard of Devastation to where we were going to need it. Even if we did not know what we were going to need it for. Alys covered it in jellyfish and seaweed to help disguise it. They came up with the idea that maybe they could ram the Shard of Devastation into one of the Sith ships. It had limited drive capability, but wouldn’t need much if they could figure out how to lure a Sith ship close enough.

   The Jedi and Republic soldiers went to battlestations to prepare for the coming attack. We had nowhere to go, so I went to the bridge to see how the odds were after retrieving my lightsaber. Looked like we had a heavy cruiser, two light carriers, numerous shuttles and fighters. The Sith had some scout craft, two light cruisers, and a heavy warship. The locals were deploying half a dozen fighters and offers of alcohol.

   In my opinion, the Jedi could probably stall for some time, but the Sith were going to win unless something drastic happened soon. Blast, this was going to be the third time I would be on a sinking warship in the last eight months! never mind the fact that it was the first time that really caused this whole mess! Damn it, not again, I swear it will not happen again!

   Ben was busily trying to get the sensors on the Shard of Devastation working properly, and found he had to go outside to finish making adjustments. Alys and Lazlo provided covering fire and Ben was not eaten.

   For all my swearing not to let this ship lose the battle, I could not find a way to make the situation on the map improve. I was about to curse my fate when Ben and Handell asked if I knew of a way to lure the Sith down to the surface so they could ram the Shard of Devastation into it. I immediately knew what I had to do. There was only one piece of bait the Sith would take and only the Sith would be stupidly arrogant enough to fall for it.

   I asked the pilot of the cruiser we were on to take the ship down near the surface at the coordinates I provided. The pilot objected, saying I was outside the chain of command. Khadim wanted to know what the chain of command was. Admittedly, I went off on a tear then, lamenting that it was big idiots making decisions for little idiots under them, who in turn made more stupid decisions for the poor bastards that had to suffer the consequences. I could tell the commanding officer was seriously annoyed with me at that when Khadim misinterpreted my ranting.

   He recalled that the bounty hunters at the guild had referred to him as “the biggest idiot they had ever seen” back when they had asked him to take off the helmet. Khadim promptly declared himself in command. When asked on what authority, Khadim pointed the missile pod at them silencing dissent.

   The pilot began to take us down near the surface and was complaining mightily about how stupid this whole affair was as we would be an easy target. He did not seem the least reassured when I told him to be patient and trust me. Soon we were skimming the ocean surface with massive ship to ship fire going off all around us. The Sith followed us as I knew they would. They were so confident in their victory that it never occurred to them to wonder why the enemy was putting themselves into an even worse situation. Their arrogance cost them the advantage.

   Garyan “fired” the Shard of Devastation into the path of the Winter Victory almost perfectly. I am afraid to ask where he had been practicing that sort of tactic. As the two ships collided at about the speed of sound, there was a horrific explosion that could be seen for hundreds of miles as all the stored weapons on both vessels detonated. Handell managed to get the Nightraptor through the underwater shockwaves with minimal damage, and the Republic pilot managed to maintain control through it all – although the fact that he was barely subsonic himself doubtless helped.

   With the heavy Sith warship destroyed, the battle turned in favor of the Jedi. The Sith retreated shortly thereafter. The Jedi came to the bridge and demanded to know what happened. I gestured to the logs and let them see for themselves. The scene of a giant jellyfish draped in seaweed leaping out of the water into the path of the Sith was rather ridiculous looking I must admit. At first the one Jedi who’d come up with the “Ancient Sith Master” theory insisted that I had somehow had tampered with the logs in the short time it took them to come to the bridge. As it became apparent that that was nonsense, speculation ran rampant on how exactly I managed to arrange this.

   I got vague and mentioned I had the services of a precognitive to thank for helping to set it all up. The Jedi didn’t seem to entirely buy it, hypothesizing that I might have the legendary power of probability control instead. I made a copy of the logs to post on the galactic net the next time I was able to connect. I intend to utterly humiliate the Sith and bounty hunters chasing me. It’s about the only way I have to strike back at them in any form.

   The Jedi decided I wasn’t a Sith, and that maybe the elder Jedi weren’t as senile as even I had thought. The Jedi decided to respect the elders’ orders to leave us be and let Telera stay as a liason and guide. It seemed to bug them to no end the idea that they shouldn’t interfere. They cancelled the Jedi bounty on my head which made me happier. I couldn’t keep the smug look off my face as the Jedi grudgingly admitted I gave them a victory.

   They did inform me that my future was cloudy. While a precognitive in my presence would go a long way towards explaining that, they also said my future was especially clouded. The Jedi decided to speak of these events to as few people as possible then departed.

   Dropped back off at the surface, I awaited the Nightraptor to pick Khadim, 10CH and I. The locals were most upset over being “abandoned” by the Jedi and that we managed to cause that explosion that sunk the enemy ship. I tried to appease them, first by showing the stupid collapsium reactor had been disarmed and by telling them that we had been busily destroying bio weapons in the ruins. Plus we no longer had any Sith battleships to ram into anyone. That seemed to relieve them a bit, they were pleased that we were destroying the weapons, but were worried that we had found them in the first place. Oh well, can’t win them all. At least I think the locals believe we are not monsters.

   I got a shard of the “Shard of Devastation” to put in my room for the irony of it. Alys and Ben bought better protective swimwear to use against the jellyfish. Ben had gotten pretty paranoid about the things. I can’t really blame him. I bought more sunscreen and some drinks for the trip. That drink I had on the landing terminal was very good and now that the cooler on the ship was working, I felt the need to stock up. The girl behind the counter was cute, but was wary of the whole “Sith” thing I still seem to have going. At least she didn’t run off to the mountains screaming. Damn it, I am going to have to ask Telera for advice on not looking like a Sith.

   Cooler now fully stocked, we departed back to the Sith base. We were able to gain entry easily enough as the rest of the group had managed that earlier. We tried another one of the Sith codes we had purchased again with me relying on years of watching bad holos to guide my acting as a Sith. This time the code identified me as “Insert Sithy name here” who was apparently an inspector of some sort. I asked the computer for a full inventory of what was down here. After the list was read off to me, I then proceeded to ask what would happen if I found the weapons to be unsatisfactory.

   That led to the computer informing me that the weapons would be destroyed, along with the staff being executed for poor performance. Seeing how the staff was already likely long dead, I couldn’t see any harm in that. Although I had the nagging feeling this was going to haunt me somehow. With the dead staff thoroughly executed for the lack of progress over the last four millenia, I proceeded to declare the rest of the group replacement staff under me.

   I still didn’t have full rights to the place, but at least I could wander around without hindrance. The group distracted themselves getting the facilities to make new stuff for them as they broke the old equipment. Well, I suppose they have to amuse themselves somehow. I really need to get full rights so I can remove the blasted bioweapons and chuck them into the sun for safe disposal. Best to at least finish looking around for more surprises first.

   While they played with their new toys, I perused the inventory again. Wait, experimental devices that granted specific Force abilities? Also devices that enhanced existing Force ability and other stuff. As far as I knew, that was blatantly impossible. To manipulate the Force, one had to be alive. This was why there were no Force sensitive droids after all. Something was wrong here, and it made my hair stand on end. Either what we had was an entire armory full of unholy artifacts of the Dark Side, or some assumption that has held for twenty one millenia was wrong. If this worked, there had to be some reason why it hadn’t caught on.

   As much as I wanted to investigate that, we really needed to clean out the base and gain full control of the facility. We continued to explore the place and take an inventory of our own. As we swam down one of the corridors, Alys and I spotted something unusual on one of the walls behind us. I noticed a small difference in the color of the wall and Alys noticed the same spot reflected a glint of light suddenly. Instincts set in as I pulled out my shield and lightsaber. The others crowded behind me and Garyan swam forward looking for a fight.

   I asked the computer is there were any escapees around this area and was informed that there had been a total of four escapes from confinement since the base was abandoned. Two had apparently died from lack of food. One was elsewhere in the base, and one was here. Or at least part of it was here. According to the records and 10CH’s scans, a crystalline silicon based life form able to restructure itself on the fly. I seriously thought such things were legend. Lovely.

   It also apparently ate energy and could eat rocks. Vulnerable to kinetic weapons though. Well, I did have those throwing knives I had acquired. A telekinetic push with the Force should be enough to break the creature too. Garyan beat me to it though as he drew out a concussion missile launcher and took aim. The rest of us barely had time to swim further away before the crystal and Garyan attacked each other. Garyan was pelted with shrapnel and crystal spines while the crystal itself exploded in a hail of shards everywhere.

   I couldn’t begin to block all the pieces, although I did manage to get the fastest and largest ones. We all took several hits as we were pelted by debris. Ben was knocked unconscious again, and Garyan had taken heavy damage. Garyan also seemed insufferably pleased with himself. The computer was asking if we needed medical attention. I confirmed we did and got us back to the ship’s medical bay for healing. Looked like – while there were more of that species around the base – that was the largest specimen by far.

   Another query to the computer told me the other species on the loose was something that ate electrical energy hiding in the computer room we needed control of. Lovely thing about this one was that it could project stored energy into various energy weapons or shields. It could even mimic lightsabers.

   Wait! I remember Nathan telling me something about that. Something along the lines that one of the major hindrances to modern technology was the static nature of the crystals used in everything. That was the reason shield systems and other things couldn’t change shape readily like in the Holos. Alright so this stuff is alive, but it is doing something considered otherwise impossible. I may have to ask Ben his thoughts.

   Meanwhile I was of the opinion to find the easy way to kill these things. If we cut electrical power, how long would it take for these things to starve? Over a week apparently. Not sure I have that long to wait. On the other hand, cutting power before we killed everything in stasis is probably not a smart idea. Damn, looks like we are going to have to do this the hard way. Why can’t doing things the proper way be easy?

   Well one thing is for certain. I, at least, don’t have to explain to a Sith Lord why my commander and his heavy warship got eaten by a giant jellyfish while trying to capture one measly rogue apprentice. I would have liked to have seen the look on his face though.

Federation-Apocalypse Session 106a – Tombs, Pyramids, and Liches, Oh My.

   The quasi-Egyptian or -Mayan realm posed no immediate dangers – which meant that it was time to go through and try a magical gate. As reported, stepping through the gateway led to a stone chamber, built of monolithic blocks and lit only by the light spells of the thralls that had come threw a few minutes before. In the center of the room lay a sarcophagus wrapped in chains and shaking slightly. The walls were covered with hieroglyphics and the air was moist…

   Well, one thing they probably shouldn’t open – and they were either near enough to the nile (and far enough down) to get moisture or this was a rain-forest mayan realm.

(Kevin, looking at the hieroglyphics) “Hm. Daniel? Bard? you’ve got divination magics. Can you make out what they say?”

   Kevin could just see it now: “Whosoever readith this, and releaseith the magic embedded in the words, shall be forever accursed, responsible as they are for unleashing dread Apophis, scourge of worlds… Still reading? Well, OK, seriously then…”

   Marty had to chuckle at that notion. Pyramid builders with a sense of humor? Did even the Manifold allow that?

   Well, the glyphs really didn’t look Egyptian – but they were easy enough to (roughly) translate with a few spells: “We were unable to slay the monster, it took all we had to stop it from attacking us more. We sealed it away and laid it to rest at the most powerful nexus point in the great river we could manage. We also turned the strange magics of the nexus in on itself to better seal the monster’s powers. There is no treasure here to be found, only death. Please return the way you came and leave this place undisturbed. The river guardians shall watch over this place forever more.”

   Well, it looked like the locals had used the power-drain of the link with Necropolis to help restrain whatever-it-was in the sarcophagus. Not a bad notion – but it did meant that trying to gate from inside the pyramid to anywhere BUT Necropolis would disrupt the bindings at the very least. Still, they could probably gate from outside the pyramid safely enough.

   There really ought to be an exit somewhere. If Mr Shopkeeper had had a gatekeeper bringing him stuff, it pretty much had to be through ONE of the four gateways – and the asylum and the insane-robot-realm both sounded pretty unlikely. The dream-realm was possible of course – you’d just need a lucky break or two in finding a relatively stable route – but through here still looked like their best bet.

   Besides if the locals had any sense, they’d have left a route open for maintenance and people with repair-spells. The way that sarcophagus kept shaking, SOMETHING would give eventually.

   They went to see about the seal. Hopefully they weren’t underwater in an artificial lake, which would be a “River Guardian” of considerable efficiency.

(Kevin) “You know, if it wasn’t for the fact that a thousand things would undoubtedly go wrong the minute I turned my back for an hour, I’d take a week off. How about you Marty?”

(Marty) “Heh. Tell me about it. Now I know how the boss must have felt back home! But yeah, a week off would be nice.”

(Kevin) “Hm. I wonder if Kelsaru, Gelman, and the rest actually could run things for a bit? It’s just that – last time we were out of touch for a few days – that idiot Ikeran created a mess that we still haven’t entirely straightened out!… One of these days I must remember to smack him with a rolled-up newspaper. Thinking of him reminds me that I’ll have to check on what that Dr Brenner character is up to one of these days! He has got six Thralls under his command…”

(Marty) “Yeah, that guy’s definitely bad news.”

   When they got to the seal, it appeared to consist of a series of four separate barriers keeping the creature – and incidently themselves – inside the pyramid. There were seals for Air, Earth, Fire and Water, each of which would need to be nullified simultaneously to weaken the barrier. Each seal appeared to be focused on a separate glyph on the walls.

(Marty) “Oh, for the love of… Is breaking the seals the only way to get out?”

(Kevin) “Well, that is the point of seals… But they were meant to hold the creature. I bet there’s some way for other people to get out without breaking anything. Otherwise, why leave a message on the inside? Anyone in here to read it would already have broken the barrier otherwise.”

   Marty had to agree with that. He left Kevin to examine the magical stuff and went looking for secret doors, hidden passages, and similar arrangements.

   It looked to Kevin that the place was designed to hold any creature that did not have full control of all four elements – like most monsters and specialists, such as firemasters, sand magi, and all the rest. It looked like a fairly simple, if element-specific, counterspell directed at each seal glyph would lower the barriers – although they’d restore themselves in a few minutes.

   Meanwhile, Marty had found that – while the place DID look exceedingly solid and more than adequate to keep something in – there was a section of one of the walls that did not quite look right… The color of the stone there did not quite seem to respond right as the ambient light changed. It looked stable and real enough – but was a bit too slick to the touch. The surface irregularities didn’t QUITE match what your fingers reported if you were careful.

   Probably not the sort of thing some undead horror would be looking for – it might not even have the senses to find it – but a definite clue as far as he was concerned. It looked stable enough… Perhaps a concealed arch of some sort?

   He had Elera and Minel take a look. It was really nice to have them thinking clearly again! He hated to take them back to Necropolis still in ferret-form – but hopefully it wouldn’t be for much longer. It had to be like being drunk to the edge of unconsciousness. That was pleasant for a bit, but being stuck there would be no fun at all!

   Ah, a combination of a force wall and an illusion designed to match the surrounding stone. It looked to the girls like the effects were being maintained by the seals of the tomb. It might be possible to overload them with enough negative energy or a powerful counterspell, but that would be likely to disrupt or weaken the seals more or less permanently. It would be best to temporarily negate the seals, rather than to attack the barrier directly.

   Kevin had th four Thralls on beacon-duty take a brief break to set up a reinforcing barrier around the sarcophagus and set another four ready to temporarily suppress the seals; that would let them all in and out very nicely. The Thralls didn’t usually have elementally-based powers, but that just made it easier…

   The Thralls had to use spellweaving to augment their basic spells enough – the builders had tied quite a lot of power into the place – but it was straightforward enough.

   As the seals wavered, the false wall Marty had found shimmered and vanished. Behind there lay a long corridor slanting upwards , the stone was very damp and a little slick.

   They left the Thralls at the seals to make sure everything closed up again properly and went to have a look outside.

   Marty kept an eye out for traps. It was a burial chamber, after all… He found quite a few possible traps – several locations with slightly raised stones, very fine strings pulled across the corridor, and light sensitive panels. No sign of a giant ball of stone though. That was kind of disappointing – but he pointed out the possible traps to the others and took appropriate precautions – well, “appropriate” as far as “not setting things off” went. Personally, he would have preferred to follow the usual Battling Business World procedure and jump up and down on the triggers! Still, as entertaining as poison darts, pits with spikes, falling stone blocks, and scything blades were, they didn’t really have time to enjoy them properly at the moment!

   The corridor switched back on itself quite a few times on the way up. If they were in a pyramid, either it was a mighty big one, they’d started deep under it, or they’d be coming out near the top. And there was… Water dripping? This high up? Were they seriously under an artificial lake?

   The final landing was fast approaching, and so far they’d only had to dodge a few of the traps – mostly flurries of poisoned darts and arrows. They really hadn’t been a lot of trouble though.

   OK; the top landing gave on a large round stone covering a portcullis with a single raised stone on the wall to the right of it.

   Marty looked at it… Oh, that wasn’t fair at all! That was like putting a cake out in the open with a “FREE CAKE, FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED” sign!

(Marty) “Wonder what this does?”

   He promptly grabbed the stone, and pulled, twisted, pushed, and fiddled with it in several other ways! Stone ground on stone, the portcullis began to slide open – and water began spraying through it as a giant stone ball being pushed by the water pressure into the corridor was revealed!

(Marty, delightedly) “Found the giant stone, guys!”

   Kevin sighed and put up a force barrier of his own. It would be a temporary fix though… even if the barrier held, the water streaming in around the edges would fill up the corridor given time. Were the seals waterproof? Oh well. He and the Thralls had enough telekinesis to push the portcullis slowly back into place – and a sealing spell to fuse the edges should seal up the remaining leaks again.

   Meanwhile, Marty was hunting for another exit!

   Disappointingly, that turned out to be fairly simple: the ceiling above the stairwell concealed another passageway that led to a ladder going up.

   Kevin hung a sign on the stone knob that said “Danger! Do not press!”, and they headed on up – only to find another landing and another door. They could hear water flowing and the sounds of birds and insects on the other side. There was no stone button next to this one, although the doorway had several handholds that could be used to slide the stone to one side.

   Well, either they really had been a very long ways down or the builders were really paranoid. Would this door open onto a black hole with speaker playing outdoors sounds?

   Marty had the girls try a little divination first. The last door had been just a little embarrasing…

   They were near the tip of a pyramid that formed an artificial island in the middle of a river/lake system. The water flow was strong, and the pyramid showed signs of significant weathering. There was a city on the distant shoreline, and various magical signatures were darting around in the water. Still, it did look like they could gate safely just as soon as they stepped outside of the pyramid.

   Kevin began setting up some wards to make sure there would be no disturbances – and a trio of neodolphin heads popped up out of the water to have a look at them, complete with the typical ultrasound sonar-scans (as badly as those worked in the air).

   Marty waved and smiled.

   There were more ultrasonic sounds and one of the heads sank beneath the water, only to rise again near the edge of the pyramid. A translation spell went off…

(Dolphin) “Strangers from the pyramid, please tell us who you are.”

(Kevin) “Hello There!”

(Dolphin) “Hello humans! It appears you are not the hideous monster that was sealed within the tomb then. We are most pleased. What brings you here? Are you perhaps Manifold travelers?”

(Marty) “Yeah, we were just heading on our way out.”

(Kevin) “Yes indeed! I’m Kevin, this is Marty, and these (indicating the Thralls in Neodog forms) are Daniel, Gerald, and Bard. As it happens, there’s a gate in the tomb there that we needed to use – although we’ll be headed back in a few minutes I suspect. Is there anything you need since we’ll be shipping a few packages through?”

(Dolphin) “Well more smartclothes fibers would be nice; our young have been having to go without as our population grows. It’s a long trip back to the more technological realms given our limitations!”

   Well that made sense; without gatekeepers of their own, even with magic and psionics they’d have to do a lot of physical traveling to get back near Core.

(Kevin) “Well, that’s no problem there! How much would you be needing at the moment?”

   It seemed they’d be needing quite a bit. Given the number of young that implied, there had to be a considerable breeding population around… Probably several thousand along the river system. Well, they had an open environment, and were recently from Core, so there was no reason they shouldn’t have a population boom. That would settle down in a few generations (or they’d start having a lot of phantasms) without regular visits to Core, but they’d hardly been away from Core long enough for that to be a serious problem yet. Kevin had the Thralls in Kadia add some bales of dolphin-style Smartclothes to his shipment. The program differences were actually fairly minor.

(Dolphin) “Much appreciated. Although there is much space and food to be had here, the local humans aren’t especially technologically adept. We’re told that magic will not work well inside the pyramid itself. By the way, why did they build it in the middle of the lake? Seems awfully silly of primitive humans to do that.”

   Well, it looked like a magical gate would be no particular problem.

(Kevin) “I suspect that they wanted to use water pressure to help seal it. Practical enough if you want to keep out humans after all.”

(Dolphin) “I guess so, in some ways your species is very limited and in others not.”

   Ah, how wonderful it was to be able to conserve mana by substituting magic, even if such gates WERE far more limited! A very different feeling… more structured, better controlled – and limited to a few minutes and a radius of a few tens of feet. Good for personal travel and small caravans, and not much more.

   He had the Thralls in Kadia haul through their shipment of transuranics and smartclothes fibers. The gate closed moments later, leaving them with two extra Thralls and a pile of supplies.

   Kevin made a note to himself; make sure that magical-gate deliveries were well-organized and that the actual hauling was done by telekinesis. Otherwise he’d be perpetually sending Thralls back where they belonged.

(Kevin) “Ah good. Well, here are your smartfibers! Do you know what humans call this realm and that city by the way? This might be a good spot to set up a contact link.”

(Dolphin) “Thank you, I believe you humans call this the Amazon River Valley System. Seems to connect with the Nile River Valley system, Ancient Mississippi River System, and a few other related realms. The city itself is called “Water Brings Trade” in the local language. I believe that comes out as “Ensilee” or some such.”

   Quasi-Mesoamerican then. Well, it hadn’t really looked Egyptian. The locals might have some awfully rigid – and possibly quite unpleasant – local customs. They might not want to mention where they’d come from if they did visit. Besides… Marty wanted to know if the locals practiced human sacrifice; that’d be inconvenient for trading!

(Kevin) “Well, that should make it easier to locate on the maps! And you’re quite welcome on the Smartfibers”

   Well, doing anything else here would require more information about the place – and would be going even further out of their way. Lets see… Of the six Thralls they’d assigned here, four could stay on monster-security/pyramid operation/beacon duty for a day or two and the remaining two could scout out the area – one in dolphin-form and one to visit the city. The two extras could do some aerial scouting and survey the area and the river systems.

   At least going back down was easier than coming out; the traps and seals were meant to keep something in, not to keep people out.

   They made sure to give the Thralls a briefing on the traps and procedures while they were at it. No point in risking accidents.

   The area did seem like an interesting place – although, to be fair, the entire Manifold was full of interesting places. On the other hand, why was it that all the places they went, they wound up surrounded by undead?

   Marty got a bit sarcastic

(Marty) “Well, neither of us can permanently die. Other than rotting and nastiness, what’s the difference between us and them?”

(Kevin, peering at him quizzically) “Bad temper, lack of sympathy, often no souls, inherent malevolence, eating babies, etc, etc… It may not be entirely fundamentally different, but sometimes quantity really is a quality all it’s own.”

(Marty) “Yeah, that doesn’t sound like me, and it doesn’t sound like you for the most part.”

   Kevin looked a bit hurt at that. OK, he might be EVIL, but he wasn’t malevolent or anything!

   Back in Necropolis they told the shopkeeper that – if he and his family wanted to leave – the route should be fine, although there might be a short wait for pickup. Not too surprisingly, he was fairly enthusiastic about the idea.

   It was only a few hours until nightfall. They had enough time to get back to the city – especially since they weren’t burdened with cartloads of food this time and they weren’t that far out – but they didn’t have much more.

   The shopkeeper was glad to take them in for the night – and appreciated the layers of spell-protections they raised around the dimensional pocket. They even got to the Mrs and their two daughters – all ensouled, although the daughters were only four and six.

   The girls appeared to be a bit frightened. They’d heard a bit about their father losing his status.

   Marty had Yorick do tricks to distract them from that – and the Thralls conjured them some candy and toys. That got them calmed down for the night – however slowly it went by.

   Another night of dreamless sleep left them oddly restless and tired in the morning. They were definitely looking forward sleeping in a real bed in a saner world.

   Hm. The meeting would be in about two and a half hours – and the living sector was only about a thirty minutes walk to cross, even on foot. About fifteen minutes to reach the meeting… There was time for a little meddling.

(Kevin, Privately) “Marty? Should I try to offer all the living ensouled people a ticket out of here if they want one?”

(Marty, Privately) “Sure, Kadia always has room.”

   Kevin worked his own concealing spells – and set the Thralls to working additional concealment charms while he essayed an oratorical summoning directed at all the living, ensouled, humans within the city, offering them a trip out if they wanted it.

   That turned up a little more than fifty adults and children – mostly appearing to be terrified and anxious.

   Kevin offered them a free trip out; after all, they were pretty blatantly refugees. He was soothing, but brisk; they didn’t have a lot of time.

   They all went for it. They were eager to leave but nervous about being seen doing so… They sent them to the mesoamerican pyramid gate, with another group of briefed Thralls – the remaining dozen of the local ones – to supervise. They didn’t want to haul too many extras into Necrosis’s lab anyway – and that should suffice to make the brief trip safely enough, especially since they all had “invisibility to undead” rings.

   They did run into one especially nasty undead thing – perhaps some sort of guardian against such mass departures – but the Thralls managed to take it out with only one casualty (and free trip to Kadia with a bonus shopping trip). Fortunately they’d had their power words stocked up.

   Meanwhile, Kevin and Marty (along with the three Thrall-Dogs, Elera, Minel, and Kevins usual pocket-companions) headed for their meeting.

   Once there, the air quickly grew chilled – and Evanescence arrived shortly thereafter.

(Evanescence) “Ah so you decided to show then? That says that either you believe yourselves able to back your claims, or you think to bluff me. Which is it I wonder?”

(Kevin) “Why would we bother bluffing? It’s usually much less trouble to actually go ahead and do things.”

(Evanescence) “Some of the lowlifes around here believe that trying to con those above them may improve their lives, even if temporarily. While somewhat true, the retribution for such trickery is swift and painful.”

(Kevin, privately) “Marty? We had an implicit deal of sorts… Should we just give her the stuff? It would certainly show confidence.”

(Marty, privately) “Oh, I’m all for it.”

(Marty) “Well, so far only one of the gate-routes has proven readily usable – and that with some minor difficulties, since the local apparently do not approve of visits from your world – but one route is enough to start with… Here you go, ma’am.”

   Evanescence took the package from them and opened it – and they could see her eyes blaze with unholy fire when she was the contents.

(Evanescence) “Ah exactly what I was looking for, and only a 24 hour turnaround time no less. This should do nicely for my experiments. I can see much profit to be had in continuing trade with you in the future.”

(Marty) “We strive to provide excellent service.”

(Kevin) “Although I must admit that twenty-four hours is not always practical.”

(Evanescence, apparently slightly annoyed at that) “I understand. Now, for my end of the bargain, I am to get you into the lab so you may access the gate. The easiest method in my mind would be to frame the bunch of you for the recent disappearance of specimens from the city. I can take you into custody and have you brought into the lab. At which point, a guard will neglect to lock the cell and you are free to continue on to the gate following the directions I am about to give you.”

(Kevin, privately) “Well, that sounds workable.”

(Marty, privately) “Hey, I love jailbreaks! I broke out of the drunk tank all the time back home!”

(Kevin, privately) “There are lots of ways it could go badly wrong – but it’s quick, simple, and we can always resort to the big explosions and such.”

(Marty, privately) “I love explosions!”

(Evanescence) “Do you have any objections to this plan? If you do, better say so now rather than after I bring you into the lab?”

(Kevin) “It does sound workable. Is there anything you wish concealed? I can set up a selection of speciality effects if necessary.”

   They transformed their weapons, shielded them, and slipped them under the ferret’s collars. The Thralls should be enough to distract any deep probes anyway – and if a probe penetrated their cloaking abilities, they’d be in trouble anyway.

(Evanescence) “Your magical and psionic abilities are fine, but you need to conceal just how much power you are radiating. You radiate like the sun in the desert at the moment. Best to not let anyone know of your ability to open gates though. If asked, just claim to be a gatekeeper.”

(Marty) “Guess I need to hide my relics too.”

(Kevin) “Drat, again? I thought I’d damped that down. Spells must have worn off. Well, more damping effects for both of us and for the pets.”

   Evanescence watched Kevin layer his spells for a bit, then seemed to get frustrated and began to weave a spell of her own.

(Evanescence) “No, no, can’t you see just how badly you glow young one? You need to do it like this…”

   Marty’s power-glow was moderate at best – but Kevin’s personal powers were not the issue. His divine aura gathered about him, rather than radiating from him – but it was awfully hard to see from the inside and he never had really become aware of it.

   Kevin felt a powerful spell take hold around him, wrapping itself tightly around, and confining, some aspect of himself that he hadn’t really been aware of before. It felt tight, and it was really annoying. On the other hand, Evanescence appeared to be satisfied now.

(Marty) “Ma’am, what did you do to my friend there?”

(Evanescence) “He is leaking a great deal of divine power. I suspect he has no clue he is even doing it, given the current lack of form to it. To one like Necrosis or I, it shines a great deal and draws considerable attention to those who can sense it. Have you not seen people become fascinated with him and then start to spontaneously develop various abilities?… It is strange though; (to Kevin) your aura looks oddly familiar. Have we met before yesterday without my realizing it?”

(Kevin) “I don’t think so… Although I suppose it’s possible. And I do specialize a bit in giving people abilities. I’d figured that it was just an extension of that. Well, something new to learn all the time.”

(Evanescence, seeming to taste the air) “Yes now I am sure of it. You I have not met, but you have inherited power from someone I have. (Eyes narrow) But who now?”

(Kevin) “Several million demons originally I think.”

   Kevin didn’t bother to mention Xellos and Cedfion Basceol Darcia – or that he’d been an Opener, and DragonPath Mage, and a mid-range psychic, even before Ryan, or that he’d learned to tap into the Light afterwards – but he had taken the power of darkness and run with it, and it was certainly one of the most conspicuous aspects of his power.

(Evanescence, arching an eyebrow at that before realization struck) “Ah you are one of HIS fragments then? Ryan O’Malley has been continuously fragmenting his power for some decades now, trying to par away the aspects of it he does not like. That has kept him reasonably more human than most who have attained that level of power, but the cost is certainly going to be dear when it finally catches up with him. (She cracked a malevolent smile at the thought) I wonder what form exactly it will take? Only time will tell.”

(Kevin) “Oh, everything catches up to everybody in the end.”

   Marty frowned a bit. Why did he get the feeling that they’d have to deal with that when it happened?

(Evanescence) “Indeed, and while I would most enjoy seeing him get his, I shall probably not be able to. A pity. Oh well, do you understand the plan?”

   They agreed – and Evanescence pulled out a roll of parchment

(Evanescence) “Very well then, here is what I know of the layout of the laboratory. I have provided a list of the specimens most likely to be in your path, their associated abilities, and their respective weaknesses. I would help matters if you do not make it completely obvious that you know the exact path to take and the weaknesses of your opponents right off the bat. Pretend to be clever, not knowing. Understand?”

   They did.