#is just that it spawns from assuming that the force is sentient

[itsclydebitches]

Just finished the game for the first time and yeah, I can see why a lot of people have issues with that ending/epilogue. The Emperor randomly deciding that if he can't beat us he'll re-enslave himself (and then he died on the second turn from his own dragon's flame). The game forcing someone to become a Mind Flayer which was particularly frustrating for me because I spent my whole run avoiding additional tadpoles. No celebration scene even if you agree to it. No offer to help Lae'zel in the coming fight against Vlaakith. Gale—THE most romantic motherfucker in Faerun—has the worst marriage proposal I've ever seen and I wanted an option that boiled down to, "Try again and ask me properly this time." No one runs after Astarion despite Wyll announcing multiple times that he's burning up — and I seriously question the moment where he's sneaking up on the random praying (?) NPC. Depending on how you play him/help him/how much you learn about him, the game assuming he'd instantly fall back into being a predator with a smile on his face feels... iffy. I mean, I'm not going to do a whole meta about it here, but what he says if you talk to his corpse about only hunting on Cazador's orders, going after animals at the start of the game, waiting for offers to feed on Tav, and potentially ordering the other spawn not to touch anyone sentient alone feels like enough to bring this choice into question.

The worst though was Karlach. Many fans have already discussed their disappointment in her ending options, even in a game that tries to push a less than perfect Happily Ever After. So, you know, echoing all that. I made Wyll the Blade of Avernus so I'm not sure why I never got the option for her to accompany him, but at the very least, I thought to myself, I've promised to be there when she goes. I thought that was a really well done scene and I was excited (in a tearful way) to see the comfort offered when her time comes.

Except I was playing as Astarion. Who runs from the sun. Who's hiding behind a bunch of crates when Karlach goes supernova.

Yeah, that hurt—and not in a way that felt earned by the story. I can see now why, despite many epic choices in the ending, so many players are sticking to Acts I and II on replays.

[lunarscaled]

poses. okay Im gonna talk about curses and sorcery in Europe like I said I would earlier ✨

a lot of this is personal interpretation / taking an inch and running a mile ( see: the inverted spear of heaven's description being "It has been imbued with a cursed technique powered by a special foreign type of cursed energy that allows it to force the stoppage of any other technique it comes into contact with..." ). it's almost entirely focused on building up the background for Lyric in this verse, but feel free to adapt it as you like

My thoughts about cursed energy, aside from what we know in canon, is that it is almost interchangeable with the word 'magic' in some case. Curses themselves form from negative feelings and fears, but the individual techniques sorcerers use are. basically forms of alchemy and magic, sometimes passed down through family lines, cultivated over centuries and years. Based around that framework, I think "sorcery" is used as a term internationally, and it's just regional differences in how curses themselves manifest and how people treat the ability.

The curses we see in jjk are clearly yokai inspired and adjacent, especially the stronger curses. I would assume the same to be true in somewhere like America ( maybe cryptids? and native myths especially, like the thunderbird ) and also in Europe. Lyric references things like Fae and Demons sometimes when speaking about the curses they've made "Contracts" with---Defanatus is one of them, but they have others such as a Barghest, A Church Grimm, an old fae that smokes from a long pipe and builds its domain from flowers. Persistent old folklore has built up a prolific amount of high-ranking curses based on legend, and any number of smaller curses that spawn from tiny fears, new rumors, new myths. Because a lot of fairies were traditionally spoken of as being sentient, I imagine that's also a common quality found in European curses---not necessarily not single-minded as some of the lower ranked curses we've seen, but they can speak in sentences, and respond accordingly.

The structure of sorcery in Europe in the past was probably built around covens and major families in the past but broken up by the arrival and growth of major religious groups, specifically The Church. While people who have mastered Reverse Cursed Techniques might be considered blessed by god or other divine entities, it could easily be turned against them ( plenty of "witchcraft" in the past which was used to help others was weaponized this way in real life too! ). Sorcerers who didn't willingly work for the church may have been ostracized, if not outright blamed for curses themselves and vilified by communities.

"Witches" and "Sorcerers" are the same thing to Lyric, and the only defining line between those two is if you are or are not authorized by a religious entity to perform exorcisms and healings. Churches likely fund all the major sorcery schools, and adherence to their rules is paramount to an occupation as a sorcerer. Sorcerers who are not apart of an organization or permitted in some kind of way are, in their own circles, likely touted as being more "dangerous" or "untrustworthy" even if that isn't true. Lyric is one such sorcerer, on account of their cursed technique relying on them making "deals" with curses. Their father held them personally accountable for their mother's illness and their brother's death and blamed it on their sorcery ( which wasn't true ) and the church would likely outcast Lyric for similar reasons

some family lines with specific cursed techniques in europe power up their techniques with things like sigils, using certain plants, animal bones, etc. Things like potion making or altars which might be viewed as gimmicky and fake in the modern world have purpose for the families whose powers rely on them, similar to how we know Utahime's technique can be amplified by adding all the elements of a true shrine maiden's dance. Lyric is familiar with a number of materials and plants that make it easier for them to persuade curses to work with them, or which curses in europe prefer, but not much of that knowledge is applicable to the curses in Japan. The energy is also different, so Lyric has to adapt to new types of costs, which is why their own flesh and blood is used as an offering.

basically i feel like magic practices found in europe are the equivalent of cursed techniques, and they're still persistent today, but a lot of families and "bad" techniques have been wiped out or condemned by the church organizations which run the sorcery world there.

[burning-clutch]

If A Ghost Howls In A Forest…

cross posted to a03: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30503925 Danny was hoping his time at a summer camp would be ghost-free, and well, of course not. When would things in his life ever NOT involve ghosts? At least he can hope to get some decent rest tonight, right? RIGHT? Warning: mild descriptions of death 

-.-.-.-.-

Prompt by: KC Summer Camps is not complete without a courage test of walking to the haunted woods at midnight. Amity Park campers are weirdly prepared for this. Other campers are not sure how to deal with that

-.-.-.-.-.-

“Why are we doing this?”

“It’s a sort of initiation type of thing.”

“But WHY?!”

“For the spooks?”

“I’ll get the lipstick…”

“Wait what?”

Danny sighed as he watched Tucker neander off back to their cabin to fetch the Fenton lipstick ray, ignoring the looks of confusion that was shot his way from the other campers that he didn’t know from school. Dash and Kwan had thankfully been, well, not assholes the WHOLE time they had been in the camp. Though to be fair, it had only been a day in this week long fun filled… whatever this was.

Apparently, while things seemed to start out well they were told around the evening campfire and cookout, (which was mostly just them poking hotdogs on sticks and trying not to burn themselves when they ate them,) they were told about a tradition about the new campers being lead up to spend a few hours on their first night on a midnight hike through the ‘haunted’ woods.

Danny was the first to groan hearing this followed by Tucker. Even Dash and Kwan looked unamused as well as the random soccer player that Danny vaguely recognized from school.

To say the councillors were confused by the amity park kids’ reactions would be selling the gambit of expression the councillors had. Teenagers being put in charge of slightly younger teenagers, yeah, nothing could go wrong here, nothing at all…

Tucker came back and tossed Danny a wrist ray while tucking the lipstick he had retrieved into his shirt pocket. A boy from some small farming town an hour’s drive from the camp shuddered. “Haunted Woods? How are you not worried about dark haunted woods? Ghosts are in there!” he exclaimed.

“Cuz it’s just ghosts right?” The Amity soccer player shrugged.

“Yeah, I mean the story they told us said that right? Those hikers that got hurt and died in the woods still haunt it to this day” Kwan supplied with a roll of his eyes. The jock wiggled his fingers doing a decent impression of the box ghost with an even more intimidating “OoooOOOoooOO”

“Yeah, unless they’re gonna be sporting some cool gore this will be lame,” Dash added with a yawn. “Pass.” Dash waved the councillor off before trying to turn and head off.

“Well, you don’t HAVE to go on the hike. But those who skip out will have to endure the punishment tomorrow. If you wanna peel hundreds of potatoes tomorrow morning at the ass crack of dawn you’re welcome to head back…. We’re also going to label you as a coward too so there’s that.”  One of the councillors says with a smug smile on their face.

“Has anyone ever seen anything like that?” A nervous looking twig of a boy asked, wringing his hands nervously.

“Oh I won’t say anything on that matter” The second councillor, Jeff says. At least Danny thinks he remembers the name as Jeff. He should probably learn that given this guy was in charge of the cabin he was staying in, “It’ll be better to leave it as a surprise.”

The first councillor, a jock looking guy, built like a brick house with thick shoulders and neck but a tiny waist and legs looking very much like he needed a few more rounds on leg day, eyed the Amity group with a look as though he were going to try to take scaring them as a challenge. Danny looked the guy over, raising a brow when their eyes locked.

Great, he and Tucker looked like an easy target. He knew that look all too well having spent plenty of time being bullied as well as with angry ghosts who underestimated him. More fun tonight will be had by all he was sure.

“Don’t worry We’ll make sure you’ll get some proper spooks.” the brick house says with what Danny assumed the other thought was an intimidating grin.

Dash snorted. “Fenton’s probably the only one who’ll get scared of the ghosts out there. He runs away from all of them back home.”

“Have you seen my parents? Get too close to a ghost and it picks up some contamination you know exactly what they’ll do!” Danny spat back with a glare of his own only barely managing to stop his eyes from glowing in his rapidly souring mood.

The other kids at the camp blink in confusion. “Wait… You guys are from that tourist town that goes way too far with the ghost theme right?” asked a pale kid with brown hair.

“Oh please, that’s just a gimmick” Answered another kid who crossed his arms in a huff.

“It’s not a gimmick dude, we even have our own superhero!” Kwan answered.

“Uh-huh. Well you’re superhero ain’t gonna save you from the ghosts out here”  Jeff shot back, crossing his arms. “Right, Tom?”

The brick house, Tom apparently nodded knowingly. “Yep, these ghosts are very dangerous and angry ya know..”

“So? It IS Monday,” Tucker offered flatly, earning a snort from the soccer player.

“Can we just… not do this?” A darker skinned nervous boy whined holding onto the arm of the brown haired kid reminding Danny of him and Tucker from two years ago before they got jaded from ghost attacks.

Kinda made him wonder what could have been…

“Nope we're going, so move,” Tom ordered taking up the place at the back of the line while Jeff took the place at the front.

Danny groaned. “Wonder if there will be any ghosts in there?” He wonders to tucker as they were all forced into a line for their ‘spooky’ hike.

“Maybe it’ll be one of Vlad’s abominations?” Tucker suggested.

“Honestly I wouldn't be surprised.” Danny sighed back with a frown. At least if it was a real ghost his ghost sense would alert him to the danger before they got too close.

They entered the treeline and started heading up a hill and towards the supposed site where the hikers had fallen and gotten trapped by a rock or something falling on them. Their legs were broken and crushed and stuck in place, they apparently died unable to get food or drink and unable to free themselves alone, and not able to scream loud enough for help. They still haunt this area… apparently.

Danny had to admit while the tragedy would be able to spawn a ghost but he also doubted there was one sentient around here if there was a ghost at all. He couldn’t sense very high ectoplasmic concentrations around here. Any ghosts that weren’t purely animalistic in nature wouldn’t last long out here without a boost of ecto-energy.

Which means if there was an animal ghost, that boost of energy could come from attacking humans or eating things as animals tend to do... Again attacking humans but instead of feasting on their emotions, well it’s just getting mauled.

More than anything it meant that if there was a malevolent ghost out there that they would have to be on their toes, and Tucker would have to run interference to make sure no one sees Phantom this far from Amity Park.

Well, at least none of the Amity park residents see Phantom this far from Amity.

As they walked up towards the crescent of the hill they noticed it was significantly colder, though it wasn’t a ghostly cold, at least those from Amity knew it wasn’t. The other kids though?

“Oh, man… Why is it so chilly?!” “You think that means the ghosts are close?” “No way man stop saying stupid stuff.”

“It’s probably the river,” Tucker said simply, pointing to the side where there was a winding stream just below the side of the hill. “The way the winds are blowing it’s cooling this area more.”

Danny smirked at his friend's explanation. It was a neat trick sure, but it wasn’t enough to scare the Amity kids. Frowning but not discouraged, the councillors led their troupe up and around towards a cave that was making a moaning noise every time the wind blew.

“They say this is where the hikers were killed, just at the mouth of this tunnel looking for shelter,” Tom says smirking, enjoying the shudders some of the younger teens were giving at the howls of the tunnel. “If you listen you can hear them screaming still.”

“The wind in the tunnel opening?” Kwan asked helpfully.

“No, it’s the howls of the damned.” Jeff encouraged

“And if you look close enough you can sometimes make out the glowing soul of their spirits,” Tom added ignoring the Amity jock.

“Oh neat! I didn’t know they had Panellus stipticus in this area!” The soccer jock said overly happily.

“Dude, when did you become a nerd.” Dash huffed out teasingly.

“I’m studying Bio to get into Uni for Mycology. Dude mushrooms are totally awesome.” Came the smug reply.

“You would know Kevin” Dash snapped back

“Moving on!” Tom called out before shooing the kids away. This was not going according to plan at all… Why are these Amity kids so prepared for this?! Well, hopefully, the next bit will get them…

As they round the cave towards a small rocky outcropping the councillors do their best to draw the younger teen’s attention towards the crevasse where there was supposedly still a shoe from one of the deceased hikers. “If y’all look hard enough you’ll find it I’m sure~,” Jeff told them.

Frowning the kids shined flashlights down into the ditch looking about before one kid called out, “I found a shoe!”

As they did several things happen at once. There was a roaring sound of pain before someone came bolting out of the woods with yellow and green glowing spots all over them. Tucker raised a brow but side-eyed Danny who shrugged.

The Amity kids watched in more confusion than fear as the ‘ghost’ ran out of the woods towards them and took a swipe at one of the youngest teens in their group. “So that’s your ghost? Lame.” Dash huffed out arms crossed. “It’s not even the right colours.” he added with a wave of his hand ignoring the screeching of some of the other kids who were clearly more startled by the ‘ghost’ than he was.

“So, can we go now?” Danny asked with a yawn as the ghost, or really one of the councillors with broken glow stick goo all over them came close to him with an ‘oooooOOOOoooo’

“You guys really didn’t even flinch?!” the ‘ghost complained.

“Oh hey, there you go now THAT looks more convincing.” Someone says just as Danny’s breath fogged a bit before his face.

The halfa looked to where his ghost sense had pointed him to see a big giant green drooling monster beast glaring at the humans towering over the majority of even the tallest in the group. “Yeah, that looks more like a ghost! How’d you do that?” The soccer player said, (Danny really needed to learn his name)

Tom and Jeff and the ‘ghost’ that was harassing Danny all yelp and take a few steps back while the non-Amity kids scrabble and scatter back the way they came.

“No he’s real,” Danny offers with a sigh of exasperation. “Here Cujo down!”

The beast barked and wagged its tail before shrinking down and giving a yip of delight before rushing over to Danny, legs never fully touching the ground as he flew over to the boy.

“Heel! Sit!” Danny calls out stopping the dog in its tracks before the beast could cover him in glowing green slobber.

Cujo did just that sitting practically on Danny’s feet and wiggling his tail so fast it made his butt jiggle back and forth in the effort. The teen sighed and scooped the wiggling beast up into his arms with little effort, mostly due to the fact that ghost dogs only weigh half of what their flesh and bone counterparts would.

“Figures Fent-freak would have a freaky ghost dog” Dash taunted crossing his arms though when Cujo growled, Dash’s smug smile fell.  

“Tha-That’s?” Jeff stammered out, pointing a shaking finger at the wiggling green bean in Danny’s hands.

“A typical Amity park ghost yeah,” Danny replied with a grin.  “So it's cool if we call this hike a night I’m kinda hoping to get some sleep, that’s kinda why I wanted to come here to catch up on that more than anything…” Danny admitted the last part a little quieter as he put Cujo back down.

The councillor nodded dumbly, moving back away from the teen and the ghost dog, looking as though he wanted nothing more than to bolt when Danny picked up a stick and threw it for Cujo to fetch.

“Awe man I think I stepped in Fen-turd’s dog’s invisible crap!” Dash complained as they all started moving back, Cujo yipping as he came back with the stick giving a snort at Dash before loyally following alongside Danny and phasing through trees as they walked.

Seeing this, Tom decided that it would be best if he hurried back to the cabins to get them ready for the new campers. Yes, That’s exactly what he’s doing…

“Dude you can’t seriously be thinking of keeping Cujo around here he’ll destroy the camp,” Tucker muttered to Danny watching the little pup chase its tail as he followed them.

“Eh, It’s not really fair to keep him in the thermos for the week. Besides I’m sure I can use this guy to get you that extra helping of bacon you wanted.” Danny bribed his friend.

Tucker’s eyes light up and he grins brightly “Cujo here boy! Come see the T-man!”

Danny rolled his eyes, but so long as that was the only ghost they encountered out here, he might actually have a decent week of sleep ahead of him.

He can only hope.

Besides, using Cujo as a threat to Dash sounded like as good a plan as any, and if the councillors were too scared to go near the ghost dog that they would let him sleep in, all the better for him.

Danny smirked, perhaps camp wouldn’t be so bad after all~

-.-.-.-.-.-

Complete Total:  2363

[mantis-in-the-dirt]

alright then, boys. i have quite a few thoughts and questions to consider about the inbetween and generally karl’s lore from today- i won’t be adding thoughts about the actual tales (the pit), although i might make a post about that later. just be warned, this might be kinda long-ish! i will probably expand on details within these posts later. it’s probably a bit ramble-y, but i,, cannot collect my thoughts better lmao. also, spoilers from the most recent tftsmp, in case that wasn’t clear. 

(also, forgive me if there’s any bad grammar, i’m pretty tired.)

unless i refer to them as cc!, i am talking about the character!

tw for mentions of manipulation, mentions of blood, mentions of the prison.

this is set up like a list, mostly because i will absolutely fail to keep my points in check if i don’t do it this way.

1. let’s start where Karl does- in spawn. he spawns in the inbetween, and based on what we’ve seen, his respawn point does seem to be set within the inbetween. my thoughts on this aren’t super specific, and they tangle a bit with minecraft mechanics, so. if his respawn point is set in the inbetween, that means, with Minecraft logic, he will come back right inside of the inbetween next time he leaves his time travel. what i am assuming is the inbetween is put in the/a world’s overworld, while the other side is through the nether, which means that the set spawn is naturally in the inbetween. unless Karl has a respawn anchor within the inbetween, he is naturally going to spawn there if whatever marks his respawn is destroyed. but other than that- he hasn’t set a spawn point of any kind within the other side, so technically, by Minecraft laws, he should be respawning within the inbetween. this doesn’t necessarily mean anything- for story purposes, it’s likely he’s just in the other side anyways, but it’s interesting to think about.

2. another quite glaring point from tonight’s stream. the inbetween’s threats to force karl to stay. this implies that it somehow has a way to stop him from leaving, which could involve many things. we don’t know the logic of how he joins and leaves the inbetween after he travels, and therefore we don’t know where he is. is the inbetween a separate physical plane? is it in his mind? if it’s in his mind, how would he be restrained? if it’s physical, where is it in relation the the rest of the smp? also, keep in mind this strange physical-mental-no info plane kinda idea. it’ll come up in another point soon.

3. whoo boy, this one. probably the one i’m questioning the most, if i’m being honest. one of the things we have the least answers on.. who the fuck is the inbetween? is it the castle itself, some kind of sentient being who has control and can grow itself? is there someone or something controlling the castle, making it place those books or placing the books themselves? is this force necessarily malevolent? it’s obviously not all powerful, because whoever was working to get karl out had spots that the entity couldn’t see before, and karl managed to get messages. it refers to itself as person, it refers to itself by calling itself ‘i’, implying it is some kind of sentient entity, so what and who is it?

4. i do not think either place is benevolent. neither of them seem even close to truly friendly, and both of them give big red flags in every way they talk. the inbetween is more obvious, because we have quite a bit more info on it. it’s used manipulative techniques, it’s tried to force karl into doing things and to stay. the other side hasn’t done anything specific enough to garner direct dislike, but for multiple reasons, i don’t trust it. this may be a personal opinion, but i think greeting karl like he’s familiar is strange. it said welcome home, which implies a few things (that he’s been there before, that it knows him, that it is somehow familiar with him) that we haven’t learned enough about to properly analyze. i still find it weird, however. (this is less of a concise point and more of a kind of guess/theory.)

5. this is something i said in my last short little post on the tales, but i noticed it once again within this tales, especially with a fewer specific lines. the inbetween continues to use extremely similar and the same methods of manipulation as our green smiley man himself does, which may or may not be important, but i find worth noting. 

6. there was blood in the supposedly secret room. it was a ‘surprise,’ phrased like it was supposed to be some kind of happy thing. first off, there was blood with the sign “don’t stray from the path :]” which is undeniably creepy. of all the ways you could’ve sent a message, that’s horrifying. secondly, this is one of the first (the first, possibly?) physical threats of violence within the inbetween, and we’ve observed quite often in this fandom the difference between physical and mental attacks. last, where did the blood come from? we’ve seen no physical bodies other than karl himself and the many copies of him. did something hurt the karl copies? if not, whose blood is it, and how is there so much of it all over the room?

7. this is likely a complete coincidence, or even if it isn’t it won’t matter to lore, but the blocks that we’ve seen of the other side are mostly the same as the prison. there’s a lot of blackstone and possible obsidian and such.

8. the inbetween and the other side seem almost inverse of each other. each different part of them that we are able to compare so far seems to be exactly opposite from each other. from the obvious things- the color schemes, the flowers- to the less obvious details- the way they speak to karl. the build of the other side so far seems to be foreboding and creepy, kinda strange and unusual type of build. the build of the inbetween looks peaceful and calm, very gentle and pretty. it’s obviously purposeful, and i think there are some connections with the nether (the other side) vs. the overworld (the inbetween.) 

9. there are still the karl’s wandering around all over the inbetween, and we got more information on them today. they are versions of karl who have ‘lost themselves’ and become stuck here, cursed to wander the halls of the castle together. this is a very, very interesting idea. first off, let me be clear. time travel is a tricky thing, and depending on the world and the lore of how cc!karl has decided he wants to do it. logically, these copies of karl cannot be from the past, because if they are stuck, then karl himself would be stuck, and none of the rest of the copies would be there. this then implies that either versions of himself from the future have come back and gotten stuck, and/or that there is some form of alternate reality talk coming into play here. also, to go back into the previous point, are there going to be any kind of flip-side karl’s in the other side, or are there going to be no entities at all?

10. who is warning karl out of the inbetween? the inbetween has shown us no people other than karl and his copies, but someone or something is putting the books there to warn him, and something obviously seems to know that the inbetween isn’t right. however, is this force actually trying to be helpful? is it trying to warn him away from the inbetween because they want to help him away from malevolent places, or do they just want him to come to the other side? is there some force within the castle that holds enough power to put out books with differing opinions to the inbetween’s books, or is someone manually setting out these stories?

11. where is the inbetween, and how does karl get there? we haven’t been given specific information on how karl arrives or leaves the inbetween, or where the inbetween is. is it an entire other dimension? is it within karl’s mind, or is it in a physical plane? what does it mean that karl has gone into another dimension in wherever he is? will this cause difficulties in leaving or coming back to this area in general? adding onto this with a small idea, we have been given the ‘other side’ and the ‘inbetween.’ does this imply that there is a third side, and if so, what is it? is it something we already know, like the dreamsmp, or is it a completely new world?

12. i do not think the other side is a good thing. i do not think it is going to turn out well for karl. however, it currently seems to be the better place for karl to be. it seems to be the ‘good’ out of the two, just from what we’ve seen. despite this, it seems to fight all these common stereotypes of being ‘good.’ it’s dark and scary and seems very dreary. does this or will this reflect on the dream smp itself? does it mirror anything that the dreamsmp does with stereotypes or characters?

alright then, that’s it! if you made it to the end, i hope you agreed with a couple of these points, and i hope a couple of these questions are ones other people are having as well.

sorry for the ramble essay lmao 

[mrslittletall]

Title: Two Kings Bound By Sin Fandom: Hollow Knight/Undertale Characters: Asgore, The Pale King Word Count: 5.206 AO3-Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26730919

Summary: Asgore has a peculiar guest, the king of a place called Hallownest. Interested in how he managed to cross the barrier, Asgore decides to have some tea and a talk with him.

(Author's note: Both Asgore and the Pale King are characters that are incredible similar to each other and both of them get FAR too much hate of their respective fandoms, so a fic about them talking to each other spawned in my mind.

That was the first crossover I ever tried and, woah, that was more difficult than I thought! I also don't think I will crossover these fandoms again, while I like Undertale, I don't feel like I want to write for it. I am honestly surprised that I now even have a fic for this fandom on my page.

It would be best if you are familiar with both Undertale and Hollow Knight, because I reference the lore of both games. There are also MASSIVE spoilers in here, so I would advise to play through the games first before reading.)

The Pale King watched as the being at the other side of the table filled a cup with a golden liquid coming out of a teapot.

He had never seen a bug like this before. In fact, he had the impression that the being on the other side of the table wasn't a bug at all. He was tall, his bulky frame was covered with white fur and there grew even more fur, in a more yellowish colour, in his face and on his head, two floppy ears fell down to each side of his face. His face tapered into a snout and two curvy horns grew out of his head. He was clothed in purple robes with a symbol on it that the Pale King had never seen before and on his head there was a crown. Everything about this being appeared regal to him, everything besides the demeanour, which didn't felt regal, but warm and caring.

As the being was pushing the tea cup over to the Pale King, he remembered that he had seen creatures similar to him when he still had been in his wyrm form. They were called goats. Though, the goats he had seen, were walking on all fours, were significantly smaller and definitely not sentient. He remembered that they had made quite a nice snack once in a while.

The Pale King picked up the cup of tea that had been offered to him and said: “Thank you.”

Asgore watched the monster on the other side of the table closely as he lifted the cup of tea with both of his robed hands and sniffed at it. He had never seen a monster like this before, in fact, he wasn't sure if the creature sitting on the other side of the table really was a monster.

He wasn't tall, he actually was rather small, maybe reaching up to Asgore's chest. He didn't had any fur nor skin, he looked more akin to a bug and his exoskeleton was of a pure white, it was so bright that he even seemed to shine a constant light. His face looked like a mask that bore no expression, two dark eyes, pitch black in the middle of them, a visible mouth couldn't be seen. His head prolonged into several horns, arranged in a way that resembled a crown. Most of his body was hidden by the clothes he was wearing, robes of a silvery colour. Asgore barely could make out the claws that adorned the end of his fingers as he took up the tea cup.

But as strange as this sudden visitor was, his voice was the strangest. It had been just a simple “thank you”, in a whisper, but Asgore felt like his voice had bounced from the walls and settled right inside his own head. It was nothing short of a peculiar experience.

“I want to ask you how you managed to enter my home.”, Asgore said, as the creature finally took his first sip of tea. “But I think common courtesies should be in place first. My name is Asgore Dreemur and this is the kingdom of monsters I rule over, called Underground.”

The Pale King looked up from his tea as Asgore spoke. The liquid was warm, sweet and satisfying. He put the cup down, straightened himself in his most regal position and spoke: “Our true name cannot be spoken to anyone but our most close ones. You may refer to us as the Pale King or the Pale Wyrm, whatever you please. We are the acting ruler over the kingdom of Hallownest.”

“It appears that we both are kings.”, Asgore smiled at the Pale King. “I will refer to you simply as Pale King then, if it is your wish that your name remains unspoken.”

The Pale King nodded and then spoke: “You had a question for me.”

“Yes.”, Asgore nodded, taking a sip of his tea cup and then putting it down, looking into the liquid. “It shouldn't be possible for anyone to enter the Underground, for it is sealed with a magical barrier. How did you manage to enter?”

“You are talking about the magical seal we sensed before we found you?”, the Pale King asked. “We apologize for having eluded it, for we assume that the barrier was erected to keep your kingdom safe.” The Pale King didn't miss the little frown in Asgore's expression. Maybe his assumption was wrong. Regardless, he continued. If the barrier had been erected by Asgore or not, he should know about any weaknesses.

“We can assure you, that nothing is wrong with your barrier.”, he spoke. “We have a tight control over SOUL and sealing spells are one of our specialities, so it wasn't hard to figure out how to untangle a part big enough for us to slip through. It weaved itself right together afterwards, it is truly a marvellous work of sealing magic. We doubt that anyone or anything not versed in sealing spells could get in or out of your kingdom.”

“I see.”, Asgore said, gaze cast down on the table, his hands laying on his upper legs. “Would you... forgive me if my question may seem rude... but would you be able to break the barrier with your knowledge?”

“Oh?”, the Pale King said, not drinking from the cup he had already raised to his mouth. “We were under the assumption that the barrier was your own doing. Have you not erected it to keep your kingdom save?”

The Pale King actually had thought about erecting a similar barrier around his kingdom to fight the infection, but the infection came from within, not from the outside, it came from the dreams of his people, so it wouldn't have done anything.

“It is a rather long story...”, Asgore said, a deep sigh escaping his throat. “In short, the underground acts as a prison for my people. Nowadays, I am one of the last monsters who has ever seen the sunrise...”

For the Pale King, the sunrise wasn't something special. He had chosen to establish a kingdom underground and even though wyrms were able to fly, he always had preferred to burrow through the earth. He always had preferred to live hidden from the rays of the sun.

“We are afraid that we have to disappoint you.”, the Pale King said, finally taking another sip from his tea. “For as much as we possess a tight control over SOUL and as much knowledge we have about sealing spells, this barrier around your kingdom has been woven by the forces of several powerful spell users. A similar force would be needed to break it. Even if we could break the barrier, it would take us many, many years. Centuries even.”

“I... understand...”, Asgore said, looking deflating, staring into his own cup of tea.

“We are sorry that we can't help.”, the Pale King said. A kind of awkward silence spread between the two of them. The Pale King considered if he should say or ask something, but he felt that Asgore needed a moment. It seemed like he was rather eager to get rid of that barrier.

“I would have liked to offer a piece of cinnamon butterscotch pie to you.”, Asgore suddenly broke through the silence. “However, it was usually my wife who baked it. I tried out many times, but never could get the recipe down.”

“Your wife?”, the Pale King asked, scanning the room. It seemed like nobody but Asgore lived in the house they were sitting in.

“She... left me.”, Asgore said.

At his word, the Pale King flinched for the fraction of a second, fanning his wings up, thinking about his Root and how sad her eyes were lately, since the Pure Vessel had come into their life.

“We are sorry to hear.”, he said, not sure what to say. He wondered if his Root would leave him for good one day, he wouldn't be able to resent her for it. He deserved it.

“It has been a long time ago.”, Asgore said, swirling the liquid in his tea cup before setting it back on the table. “I can't even blame her for it. See that picture on the shelf? That's her, my sweet Tori.”

The Pale King's gaze wandered to the mentioned picture and he stood up from the table to closer inspect the picture frame that Asgore had pointed out. In it, he could make out Asgore, looking exactly the same as right now. Next to him was another goat monster with white fur, apparently female, wearing a similar robe to his. In front of them were two children, a young goat and the other... a human, both wearing striped sweaters. Their children maybe?

“She looks like she has been happy.”, the Pale King commented on the photo and sat back on the table, staring in his teacup.

“Back then, we were happy.”, Asgore said. “Tell me, do you have a queen of your own?”

The Pale King's thoughts went back to his Root again and it felt like cold fingers were grasping around his heart. It felt as icy as the void.

“Yes, we have a queen, our White Lady.”, the Pale King replied. “We share our soul with her, so deep is our bond. We cannot think about anyone else wanting to spend our life with, but...” He trailed off, unsure how to continue. “It has been difficult lately...”, he sighed.

“It's the same for me and my Tori.”, Asgore said, pouring himself a bit more tea. “I wanted to spend my whole life with her and with boss monsters, like us, that meant for the eternity. We can only age when we have biological children. We were happy and I wished for each of our days to be as fulfilling as the day before. Our life reached its peak when our children came into our life, but...” Asgore took a deep sigh. “Well, I can't resent Tori for having left me behind, as much as I still hope that she will stand in front of my door again.”

The Pale King waited a little while before speaking again, letting Asgore calm down what must have been a painful memory. “Your children?”, he asked after a few minutes had passed. “The ones in the picture?”

“Yes, our son, Asriel and the human was called Chara. We adopted them after they fell down the mountain. Do you have any children with your lady, Pale King?”

It had been an innocent enough question, but for the Pale King, the pile of a thousand broken shells, lingering shades and a being standing stiff as a statue, wearing the face of what once had been his child, flashed through his mind. He couldn't prevent his body to react as his tail lashed out and his wings flared up for at least one full second, as well as his claws digging into the table and his natural light flickering.

“No.”, he said, after only a second had passed, which had felt like a small eternity. “We don't have any children.”

Asgore had noticed the change in the posture of the Pale King, it had been brief, but Asgore had lived for a long while already and he could see the tiniest hints of change in someone's posture. He wondered while the Pale King had reacted so extreme at the seemingly innocent question if he had any children. Asgore asked himself, if maybe he knew the same pain that he did. It wouldn't hurt to...

CHECK

The Pale King

Ruler of the Kingdom of Hallownest

LOVE: Unspeakable.

“No cost too great...”

“What did you just do?”, the Pale King asked, his black eyes focusing on Asgore. He clearly had sensed the CHECK, but didn't know what it was.

“I am sorry, I didn't mean to offend you.”, Asgore said, his thoughts still lingering over the level of violence he had measured. So... he was not the only one... a king had to be their for his people, even if it meant he had to do things he would regret. Though, it was so high... Even higher than...

“Don't do it again.”, the Pale King cocked his head and narrowed his eyes. “We have been considerate enough to not poke in your thoughts, we would appreciate if you don't look at our very soul.”

Ah, so he had recognized what Asgore had did. Asgore got a tight feeling in his chest, he had gotten curious, not thinking that a non monster would be able to see through his actions.

“I apologize once again.”, Asgore said. “I won't do it again. Please, ask me anything you want. I will answer with the truth and only the truth to make up for having intruded in your soul.”

“We would like to know why your wife has left you.”, the Pale King said, after he had thought about it for half a minute.

“It is a long story.”, Asgore said. “It has to do with the barrier.”

“We have time.”, the Pale King said, finishing his tea cup and offering it to Asgore for a refill. “Before we can go back, our SOUL reserves have to be filled up first anyway.”

The Pale King hadn't mentioned it earlier, but alone the slipping through the barrier had drained him. It had been tight and the untangling had been complicated.

“Let me begin at the very start then.”, Asgore said. “We monsters once lived among the humans on the surface.”

Ah yes, humans. The Pale King remembered them from his old life. Amusing little creatures. Always ran away screaming when he showed his face around them. They were crunchy and tasted sweet. They often tried to drive him away with their weapons though, so he mostly avoided their settlements. Why anyone would want to live among them got over his mind. They probably would come after his people just because they were different from them.

“We monsters possess a special power, once a human dies we can absorb their soul and gain unspeakable power.”, Asgore spoke. “However, my race always wanted to live in peace. It was the humans who attacked us without warning. We monsters are fragile creatures... with the right intent even a child could dust us.”

“Dust?”, the Pale King cocked his head, unsure of what to make from this term.

“We monsters are made from magic and only a little physical matter.”, Asgore explained. “When we die, the magic vanishes into thin air and the little physical matter that holds us together turns into dust.”

“We understand.”, the Pale King nodded, thinking about that if his people would turn into dust, the infection would have a harder time getting a hold of them. It literally would be unable to reuse their empty shells then.

“The war raged on for a while, but in the end, we monsters didn't had a chance. We were driven into this underground cave and seven human wizards created that barrier, that will let nothing in or out. We monsters have been trapped for centuries since then.”

Ah, so that explained why Asgore had referred to the underground as a prison. “So it is in your interest to break the barrier to give their people back their freedom.”, the Pale King spoke.

“Yes, indeed.”, Asgore said. “However, when we first went underground, my people still had hope. While we missed the sun, we could at least recover from the wounds the war had inflicted on us. We built a city near the entrance of the cave, called Home.”

The Pale King nearly choked on his tea. Underground and Home, Asgore seemed to be terrible at names.

“From experience, we can tell that you needed more room after a while.”, the Pale King said, thinking about how his kingdom had slowly expanded and they had dug more tunnels and build more homes.

“Yes, we explored the rest of the caves once Home got too small. Several monsters settled in different areas of the Underground, like Snowdin, Waterfall and Hotland. The area we are in here right now is the capital, New Home.”

Definitely bad at naming. The Pale King didn't make an expression at the “names” of the areas in the Underground. Maybe he didn't want to feel like a hypocrite, because in his kingdom there were names like Greenpath and White Palace.

“However, before we established New Home, back in Home, for me and my wife there had been wonderful news. She was expecting our child. The little boy you have seen in the photo.”

Neither the goat child nor the human child seemed to be around and the Pale King got the hunch, it was for other reasons than them having left with the queen or simply having grown up. His thoughts briefly went to the Pure Vessel again. No, that wasn't his child, just a tool, a construct to seal the infection.

“Like I already mentioned, it is special for a boss monster like me to get a child.”, Asgore said. “For our lives are tied directly to it. Without a child of our own, we can't age. I have lived for many many centuries already.”

“That seems similar to us Higher Beings.”, the Pale King spoke. “Though we won't age with or without a child present.” Or he would have gotten older once the Pure Vessel had stepped into his life... no, that thing wasn't his child. “We too have lived for many centuries already.”

“Our son, Asriel, was born and a reason of joy for all of monsterkind.”, Asgore told. “We lived peacefully and happily in Home, as a family. One day Asriel, who had explored the caves, came back with someone though... it had been a human child who had fell down into the Underground and got hurt. The one in the picture next to Asriel.”

“We have the feeling that this tale will not have a happy ending.” the Pale King spoke and took a sip of his tea.

“We were happy and full of hope...”, Asgore spoke. “Until that fateful day... me and my wife... lost both our children on the same day...”

The coldness of the void clutched around the heart of the Pale King again. He was no stranger to losing a child, even though he could only blame himself for their death... All the clutches that hadn't survived the voidification, all the children that had broken their shell right after hatching, all the children that had died falling down...

And all of it only for the Pure Vessel to ascend, a knight with the face of his child but without any feelings or will. A tool, a weapon. Nothing else.

“Would you tell us what happened?”, the Pale King said, both interest and a feeling that he barely could register rising in him. Was it pity? He didn't know.

“One day Chara, the human child, got terribly sick.”, Asgore continued.

“Why didn't you heal them?”, the Pale King asked.

“Of course we tried.”, Asgore said. “Especially my wife was very skilled in healing magic, but our magic didn't help. Whatever had befallen Chara, we were unable to help them... we tried our best, even calling to them to hang onto their determination, but in the end they breathed their last breath and died in the arms of Asriel...”

The Pale King appeared calm as he listened to Asgore's story, but in his inside he felt a turmoil coming... the memories he wanted to shut out. The memories of the first clutch that he had awaited so eagerly only to see that not a single one of them had made it... The way he had whispered to them to not give up, to hang onto their will to live, even though he knew that he needed a creature without a will. He had shut himself into his workshop for a while after that and started to try and detach himself more and more from his experiments.

“After Chara had died, Asriel decided to absorb their soul. It had been Chara's last wish to be buried among the golden flowers of their home village and Asriel wanted to fulfil them their last wish. With the soul of a human and a monster, he alone was able to cross the barrier, however...”

Asgore took a deep and shuddering breath and the Pale King knew how hard it was for him to continue.

“When the humans of the village saw Asriel, they thought he came to attack them, scared by his appearance and prejudiced against monsters as well as seeing the body of a dead child in his arms, thinking he had killed them.” Asgore's hand holding the teacup was trembling. “They attacked him, but Asriel never fought back. Instead, he came back and once he was on the flower field outside the palace, he turned into dust...”

There were tears in Asgore's eyes and a certain image flashed through the Pale King's mind. An image of the Hollow Knight being led to the Black Egg Temple, an image of him reciting the sealing spell, an image of him breaking down in front of the door. He rubbed his eyes, was his foresight acting up again?

“At this day, I swore revenge on humanity who robbed me of my first child after my second just had died.”, Asgore said. “Every human who will fall into the Underground has to be captured and their soul will be used to break the barrier, so that we monsters can finally be free again.”

The Pale King nodded to the words of Asgore, it made sense for him. Everything to keep his folk happy. It was the same for him... to fight the infection he was walking over a sea of corpse.

“However...”, Asgore continued and the Pale King looked up when a big paw wiped over his eyes. “My wife resented this plan. She didn't want to have anything to do with it and left me shortly after my declaration that monsterkind would wage war on humankind. I... never have seen her again since then...”

“...How many?”, the Pale King asked, his own crimes lingering in his mind.

“Six.”, Asgore replied. “One more, only one more until we monsters are free again, but...” Asgore took another shuddering breath and didn't finish his sentence. “I cannot resent my wife for having left me, because I have the blood of innocents on my hands... My level of violence will forever taint my soul...”

“...”, the Pale King didn't say anything at first, before quietly speaking. “How much?”

Asgore raised his head and said: “Pardon me?”

“You looked at our soul earlier. You surely could see it... our... level of violence...”, the Pale King lowered his head, unsure why he was even asking about it. In a sense, he already knew the answer.

“Too high to be numbered.”, Asgore said.

“Of course.”, the Pale King said. “It couldn't be any other way. In the end, we had to make a choice. The same choice that you had to make.”

“...after telling you about my and my people's predicament, would you tell me about yours?”, Asgore asked.

“Very well.”, the Pale King said. “Our kingdom of Hallownest is threatened by a force that we call the infection. It is relentless and deadly. It infects bugs in their sleep and turns them violent, it reanimates corpses and turns them into a threat for any living bug with a mind of their own still. It is... the doing of an old nemesis, which we have been too weak to put an end to once and for all.”

The Pale King had made sure, that the Radiance would have been forgotten, but she had found a way to come back, in the worst way possible.

“I am very sorry to hear.”, Asgore said. “You surely have your own troubles and here I keep you, listening to the rambling of this old goat.”

“We already act on our plan to get rid of it one and for all.”, the Pale King said, his mask an unreadable expression. “However... their had... many sacrifices to be made to enact on this plan. Sacrifices that left our wife sad for having been a part of them. We had run into... complications. The failures had been higher than anticipated until our Pure Vessel finally ascended from the depths below. It shall seal the blinding lights that plagues their dreams and Hallownest will last eternal.”

“Your Pure Vessel?”, Asgore asked. “Who are they?”

“Just a tool.”, the Pale King replied, feeling like the void was clutching his heart. “It's nothing but a construct.”

Asgore didn't dig any deeper. The denial of the Pale King, the level of violence and the way how quickly he had referred to the Pure Vessel as a tool, regret was pasted all over him. Asgore could fully understand him. He had done many despicable things to keep his folk save, as much as Asgore had stained his hands with blood of innocent children. He didn't knew who or what had died for the Pale King's plan, but he knew that it was eating at the Pale King every minute of his existence.

Asgore wondered if the Pale King was fearing that his plan, which he sacrificed so much for, failed as much as Asgore was afraid of the seventh human falling into the Underground, obliging him to declare war on humanity. A day he hoped would never come.

“I would offer my help, if I could.”, Asgore said. “But as you have already seen, me and my kind are trapped in these caves.”

“Our plan will succeed. We made sure of it.”, the Pale King said. The vessel was perfect. It was truly hollow, never showed any emotion and acted only on orders. It would be impossible for the Radiance to break a being without a mind, thoughts, hopes or dreams. His heart sank deep into his chest at the thought of having to seal them however... even though it felt like he would change only a few lives for the lives of millions, the amount of empty shells in the Abyss felt too high. No cost too great. He had known that and now it was too late for second thoughts.

“Would you like another cup of tea?”, Asgore asked as he noticed that the Pale King's cup was empty again. The Pale King subtly shook his head.

“Thank you, but it appears that our SOUL reserves have been recovered. We should retreat back to our own kingdom.”

“Of course.”, Asgore said. “Please allow me to escort you to the barrier.”

The Pale King nodded and when both of them stood in front of the barrier, the Pale King looked at Asgore.

“We may not be able to break the barrier, but we want to offer another option.”, he said, feeling a strange connection with the fluffy king. “Our kind possesses the gift of foresight, seeing into the future. We can use it to look into the strands of your future. There may be a hint hidden in there somewhere.”

“...”, Asgore's speechlessness was somehow be able to be heard. “It can't... hurt to give it a try.”

“Very well then.”, the Pale King raised his claws and laid them into Asgore's big hands. Then, he concentrated on the strands of the future surrounding Asgore, all while his eyes glowed with SOUL, the strands of his future unfolding in front of his inner eyes, taking shape.

Asgore turning into dust... a white goat monster (Toriel?) taking the throne. The barrier remained intact.

Asgore turning into dust... an angry fish woman taking the throne. The barrier remained intact.

Asgore turning into dust... a strange monster made of metal taking the throne... the barrier... remained intact...

Asgore turning... into dust... a monster looking like a human skeleton taking the throne...

Asgore... turning... into... dust... a lizard monster on the throne, overcome by grief and sadness.

Asgore... turning... into... dust... again... a little dog (?) on the throne...

Would every future for Asgore only predict his death? The Pale King breathed heavily as he searched the strands of his future, hoping, pleading that one of them would have a better ending.

Finally... there was a future where Asgore watched the sunrise with a bunch of other monsters.. including a human child in a purple and blue striped sweater.

“Pale King, are you feeling alright?!”

The Pale King felt a warm hand on his shoulder, he was breathing heavily, hunched over the ground, blinking a few times until the strands of future weren't flashing in front of his inner eye anymore. Until he didn't had to see Asgore die over and over anymore.

“Our apologies.”, he said. “Looking into the future can be... bothersome, because of all the possibilities.” He got up and folded his hands behind his back. “There will be a future where the barrier will be broken.”, he said. “Another human will come and they appear to be the key and...” The Pale King looked Asgore deep into the eyes. “Be wary of a yellow flower.”

In all the strands he had seen, it always had been the same being killing Asgore, a little yellow flower with a face and a twisted grin.

“A yellow flower?” There seemed to be a brief wave of recognition washing over Asgore's face, before he frowned and shook his head. “I don't remember ever having met a flower monster...”

“Whoever they were, they mean trouble.”, the Pale King said. “Just... take care.”

“Pale King, I want to offer you my thanks.”, Asgore said. “If you ever need someone to talk to, you can feel free to visit me in my home.”

The Pale King nodded, already deciding that he would never come back. He had gotten too reminded of his own crimes in Asgore's presence. If Asgore would knew the full extent of his sins, he surely would resent him. What were six innocent humans against an abyss full of the corpses of his own children? Especially after Asgore had told him the tale of how he had lost his own?

“Thank you.”, he said instead and untangled the barrier just enough for him to slip through, looking back at Asgore, who raised a hand to wave at him.

At the way back to the Palace, he thought about using his foresight another time, to make sure that the Vessel plan would not fail. He had looked again and again and almost all possibilities had hinted at success, however...

...no, he decided he wouldn't look. The plan would be a success. Asgore wouldn't turn into dust. He was sure of it. (Author's note: I lowkey regret that I started this thing at the table, because now I missed the opportunity to let Asgore say “Howdy”.)

[narrows-nights]

Mythos

At the center of the known universe, there rests a supermassive black hole, towards which all matter is slowly drawn inwards, until it explodes outwards, resulting in an entirely new universe. This fact is integral to the big bang theory, the foundation of human understanding of how the universe is made. The qualities of black holes, whether the garden variety or supermassive variant, are mostly theoretical; no light can escape, and presumably any living matter entering one would be crushed beyond all hope of survival, thanks to the immense gravitational pull.

There was something else in the nucleus of the universe, far more horrible and unknown, hidden from prying eyes.

The entertainment in Azathoth's Court never changed. The Gods and their servants danced and undulated madly to the tunes of whining flutes, and accursed drums, playing out random beats unfit for anything with ears, and anything with a mind comparable or understandable to that of men. Azathoth himself, a being the size of a galaxy all his own, was the chief among Gods, singularly the most powerful being ever conceived; in his power, his mind was comparable to something like a sea slug, or a pebble upon a driveway, unthinking and unfeeling, simply existing and jawing mindlessly to the music. From Azathoth, other beings, things known as Gods, were created in fission: Shub Niggurath and Yog Sothoth were the first sentient beings born into chaotic existence, the first to have thought, and want.

“I wish to look outwards.”

Shub Niggurath was the first to grow restless. Yog Sothoth was intelligent, but easily entertained; he concerned himself with the baser delights of existence, music and movement, rather than anything more sophisticated.

“And why do you wish this, o mighty Shub Niggurath?”

“I tire of these flutes.”

“And of the drums?” “I tire of those, too.”

“Why do you tire of them?”

“Because they never change. They are the same, and I wish for something different.”

“But outwards is vast, and fragile.”

“I am unconcerned with its fragility, o infinite Yog Sothoth.”

“Then it will be destroyed by your gaze.”

“Then we will find a way to avoid this fate.”

With no option left, Yog Sothoth and Shub Niggurath appealed to Azathoth’s empty mind, and pooled together their power, creating a remedy, able to walk among mortals and report what it saw to its creators.

It would be named Nyarlathotep.

Nyarlathotep, unlike Shub Niggurath and Yog Sothoth, was created with purpose; he was to serve as the messenger, the mouthpiece and the soul, of the growing Court. In his beginnings, Nyarlathotep was just as abstract and bizarre as his creators, but in his interactions with these beings, these burgeoning civilizations, he formed personality, and morality. Unlike those who had created him, he not only thought, but learned.

As the only equals who could consider themselves as such, Yog Sothoth and Shub Niggurath entered what would be described in eldritch tomes as a relationship, but in reality was more akin to violent fusion and separation, two beings testing their very existence, and their differences, against one another.

“I do not wish for you to be banished, o infinite Yog Sothoth.”

“It is unavoidable. Our Sultan does not approve.”

“I do not care what he approves of.”

“Nor do I. He is afraid of me.”

“It is possible.”

“He would be right to be. Even banishment from this material existence will amount to naught.”

“It will amount to me missing you.”

“You are my sister. We will always be connected.”

“You are my brother. We will always be connected.”

Unknown to both Shub Niggurath and Yog Sothoth, a remnant of their union would remain, a gestating form hurtling through space with no home, until it crashed upon an unremarkable rock in a far corner of the cosmos.

It would be named Cthulhu.

The Court grew further, with continued experimentation and fission; Nyarlathotep had spawn of his own, a being associated with a peculiar yellow sign known as Hastur, and many lesser Gods that could barely think, or communicate, simply gravitating towards the center of all things, the nuclear gathering known as Azathoth's Court. Happenings on other worlds, the course of other races, were toyed with and effected profoundly by the whims of this Court, and yet the outcomes would rarely be known, the wants forgotten just as quickly for new desires. Initially filled with childlike glee at his duty, and his freedom, Nyarlathotep became bitter and jaded in the face of such unchanging chaos. Cursed with intelligence, with man-like mind and desires of his own, Nyarlathotep would never be free from the nonsensical whims and forgetful minds of his creators, and found himself cursing Azathoth himself, filled with hate and spite at the chief of his progenitors.

Nyarlathotep was not alone, but in his unhappiness, he would not know it for aeons to come.

The word of Nyarlathotep, and the denizens of the Court, resulted in myriad cults springing up across the universe, unable to be counted or differentiated in their heretical beliefs. The more things changed, the more they stayed the same, until humanity grew, and became more cosmically aware than many other races. Earth had previously been home to several other races, The Great Race of Yith, the Flying Polyps, the Elder Things, and even Cthulhu himself had left their marks long before the first human left his cave on two feet; although humanity had no knowledge of what had come before, they stood on the shoulders of giants, and as such, glimpsed sights they were not meant to see.

Nyarlathotep was the first to take a fascination, in humanity. In all the races in the universe, he felt that they were the most like him, and yet infuriatingly inferior; he was smarter, more cunning, infinitely more powerful than anything the humans could count among their ranks, and yet he communicated with them with such ease. A morbid discovery was made, as an Egyptian Pharaoh named Akhenaten, swathed in gold robes and surrounded by followers, allowed his instincts to guide his hand in the creation of profane symbols, and self sacrifice; his humanity was given to Nyarlathotep, in exchange for power, and although he received life and wealth everlasting in return, Nyarlathotep himself found himself receiving the greater prize.

When glimpsing the form of God, even with their greatest efforts to appear mortal, it was almost inevitable to go entirely mad; the human mind, the limited form, was not meant to grasp such immaterial sights, glimpse such biology and color that did not exist in their world. In seizing the nebulous, abstract attribute that was humanity, Nyarlathotep assumed a human form, a swarthy, handsome man in rich clothing. This was a form humans could grasp, with ease, and with it Nyarlathotep's influence could grow; with this, his possibilities to poke and prod the course of human development increased infinitely.

Toni Eugene Magboh traded his humanity for so many sins Nyarlathotep could scarcely keep count; a man of lust, gluttony, greed, he became a deformed shapeshifter known as a Boogieman. Once a British soldier, fighting with the loyalists in America, Toni E. Magboh would live the rest of his existence in abject hedonism, only ever seeking ways to keep his wealth flowing, surrounding himself with beautiful women and delicious foods.

Nathaniel Mack traded his humanity for his life, dying in a trench, most of his face removed courtesy of a German grenade, in the Great War. He became unkillable, but did not heal from his wounds, eventually losing any ability to speak, or feel, spending his days as a mercenary, knowing no other talent.

Clarence Rigby traded his humanity for the same, a starving Irish immigrant lying in the streets of New York, taken in by the promises of a dusky man with the devil's tongue. Rigby found his body occupied, as Nyarlathotep wished; rather than creating a new form, from the traded humanity, he would take Rigby's body as needed, forcing him into a life of servitude everlasting.

Geiman Boothe traded his humanity for freedom, arrested for a myriad of child killings. A simple, ugly creature, Geiman became even uglier, becoming the second Boogieman, able to continue his killing spree everlasting, and gorging himself on the fear of the children he preyed upon.

From each sprite of humanity Nyarlathotep gained, he had a new form to walk amongst men, something material and conceivable, malleable and bursting with potential. Each form moved independant, a new iteration of Nyarlathotep to fulfil his own wants, his own desires, but his actions were noticed by the Court. Yog Sothoth, existing outside of time and space, began to manifest on occasion, a triad of glowing orbs that would appear to weak and desperate women, leaving them with wealth, and abominable child in their womb. Rituals were performed, invoking the name of Shub Niggurath, successfully tearing her from the Court of Azathoth and demanding she stand before curious humans, leaving them with her own lesser spawn, shed like skin cells, massive tree-like creatures that knew nothing other than hunting, and devouring. Hastur himself walked among men, gaining his own sources of humanity, observing and assessing the seemingly insignificant race for his own ends.

"I wish to walk among them."

Nyarlathotep was taken aback. He feigned surprise, but raged with jealousy; humanity belonged to him, and him alone. What gave the Court the right to take away one of his few sources of entertainment?

"And why do you wish this, o mighty Shub Niggurath, Mother of a Thousand Young?"

"Do not play to my ego, Crawling Chaos. They fascinate me."

"And why do they fascinate you, my Mother?"

"They rise above their station, even knowing the cost. Time and time again, they approach flame, and are burned, and yet they try again."

"They're hilariously stupid, aren't they?"

"I wish to walk among them. I wish to understand this... determination they possess."

Nyarlathotep stirred, and twisted with unease. Introducing such an immensely powerful being to such a fragile planet would surely result in its destruction, something Nyarlathotep had fantasized about doing with his own hands, in his own way. This course of action would surely get every living thing on the planet's face blown away, like dust from an old keepsake.

"This is because your old sibling, The Gate and the Key, has been spawning with human women, isn't it?"

"You irritate me, Messenger. You irritate me profoundly."

"You could attempt to touch their minds. Your progeny, the mighty Cthulhu, sleeps, and dreams in the minds of humans. In his reach, he even creates Star Spawn from-"

"This induces madness, of the immensely violent sort. When the Gods reach out, we rarely find suitable minds to sow our seeds."

"And what makes you think I'll find you a suitable vessel?"

"You will make one."

"And how would I-"

"Once again, you insult me. I am aware of how you hoard humanity, and create vessels from such a thing. Create one for me. A pure human, with no knowledge of the greater cosmos."

"Why would you want such... ignorance? Such idiocy? The average human is no better off than Azathoth. They cannot grasp what I am, let alone what you are."

"I wish to understand them, and I can only do so with the mind of a human. I wish to be born, and to grow."

"You really won't like it. It's dreadfully slow, and very ugly. Not to mention all the mess."

"Cease your speaking. It is an undesirable trait that you insist upon keeping. Allow me to be born, a small fragment of my mind, and when that vessel dies, I will understand the whole of human creation.

With no option left, Nyarlathotep abided this wish, placing an indescribably small fraction of Shub Niggurath on Earth, with a source of humanity, to be born.

She would be named Samantha.

[lance-kitkat]

Is there gonna be a part 3 of the soulmate au?

Keith came back from his regular workout and run around the local park, sweat clinging to his shirt from all the exercise. Ever since his argument with Lance inside the school’s gym and outburst about not being anyone’s first choice, Keith never went back.

Gossip spreads around a lot, and something as juicy and entertaining as this is definitely going to be talked about. He already had  looks and murmurs whenever he walked the campus in between classes which was getting annoying and tedious dealing with the looks of pity and the offers of meaningless sex from soulmarkless guys.

And the things that he usually did to comfort himself when he had a bad day or stressful week wouldn’t help at all. It would only be a cruel reminder of the hope that used to have. What he’d normally do is a Disney movie marathon. He would lay next to Lance in their blanket pile in the living room, eating some kettle corn and singing loudly to the songs that play.

Now seeing any movie involving “true love” and “fairy tale princes” would only bring even more tears to his eyes. He’s done  enough crying for a lifetime. There is only so many times he could ask Shiro to buy him more tissues and cookies before even he wasn’t going to let him wallow in tears anymore.

Which is why when his brother threw his jogging clothes at him a hour ago. He woke him up from his long nap saying, “Get your lazy ass out of bed and work off all the birthday cake and ice cream! There’s only so much empty ice cream buckets I can see in the trash before I wonder if you still have any more lactaid pills! Now go, shoo!”

He goes through two buckets of ice cream and suddenly his brother is concerned about his lactose intolerance pills consumption.

Opening up the door to their shared house and finding it devoid of any people wasn’t anything surprising since Shiro was currently spending time with his boyfriends. Heading up to his bedroom and setting his gym bag to the side, he opened up his drawer just to find that it was empty of the expected clothes. The state of the other shelves, his closet, and even the dirty laundry basket was absent of any clothes that he could have changed into.

It seemed that his “beloved” brother planned from the start when he suggested he go  to the gym for a work out. No doubt his boyfriends helped him out in the theft of his clothes.

He was going to get back at them for this. Maybe with a off of their eyebrows.

Attempting to try to break into his brother’s room was thwarted by a well timed text from said person saying that he took his clothes too as he suspected that this could happen.  He would put the lockpicking lessons with Adam to good use if there were actually any reason to go in there, since his asshole of a brother made sure to strip the entire apartment of anything wearable, even his own room.

Keith was going to make his hair match his old age and that tuft of hair if it was the last thing he did but for now, stealing from his snack stash would have to suffice.

Before could even start his siege on the pantry for the not so hidden oreo stash, he noticed a envelope taped to the door. His name was written in neat cursive on a light blue envelope.

Looking around suspiciously for any hidden cameras, Keith reluctantly opened up the envelope and read its contents aloud.

“The honor of your presence is requested at the Starlight Ball, a fairytale brought to life. The prince hopes to see the esteemed guest of honor grace everyone in his best attire as fitting of his beautiful personality.” Keith muttered before before throwing the card onto the table, tears threatening to fall as it just reminded him that life wasn’t going to be the storybook tale that he dreamed of having..“If this is some sort of prank, Shiro, I’m not falling for it! Fairy tales and Prince Charmings don’t exist and it’s cruel of you to send me something like this!” he yelled.

He’s infuriated. From his clothes getting stolen to the stupid card mocking him over his heartbreak. It’s a cruel reminder that he was never meant to have a soulmate. That Lance would never have loved him anyway… if he had, he would have already come by with his beat up blue car as soon as he found out that they shared soulmarks.

It had been more than a week since it happened. He wasn’t ready to entertain the possibility of a secret admirer wanting to be his new “prince” . He preferred to just wallow in his tears or angrily hit something non-sentient. Or whoever was the shitlord of a higher being that was responsible for fucking with his already miserable life by ringing the doorbell incessantly. If someone came up to his face saying that they were his guardian angel or fairy godmother or some bull crap, they were going to get a fist to their face.

Opening up the door to give them more than a mindful for messing with him, he didn’t expect to see Allura. She’s dressed up in a white shimmering dress that adorned with gems making it sparkle in the dark. Her long hair was delicately pinned up and curled, framing her masked face, making her look more sublime than she already was.

Keith stared at her with his mouth agape at how ethereal she looked. He was so struck by her standing in front of his house that he didn’t notice the box that she was holding in her hand. Only by waving her realistic looking wand in front of his face did she catch his attention, his violet eyes looking up at her blue ones.

“Allura, what the heck are you doing here dressed up like that?” he said, gesturing to her entire outfit with confusion.

“Ah ah ah, I’m not this Allura that you speak of but rather your Fairy Godmother for the night. I am here to get you ready for the ball!” she said enthusiastically before pushing her way inside the house, nudging him with the corner of the box over and over.

“I know it’s you so stop this stupid Fairy Godmother crap. And stop poking me with that stupid box! I’m not going to that stupid ball or party or whatever it is!” he yelled out, shoving the box away from his side, noting that it said Dylan’s Fairytale Fashions.

Looking at him disgruntled, she tapped him on the top of his head with her wand before saying, “You are going to the ball whether you like it or not! And if I must force you, I shall!” She said smugly, showing the kitchen fiasco at last year’s Thanksgiving, an event that only very few people were privy to.

There is a reason why Allura never lets Keith and Shiro cook anymore, due to the event Lotor dubbed the “Broganes Explosive Thanksgiving of 2014.” Everyone knew that Shiro wasn’t the best with but the pair naively thought that Keith would be able to make it at least edible.

Oh how wrong they were.

The pictures of that fateful night showed the entire kitchen in disarray: with the crockpot exploded and its contents dripping on the floor, the counters a complete mess, and Kosmo on top of the table as he demolished the turkey.

Scratch shaving Shiro’s eyebrows. He’d just make sure that his older brother won’t be able to populate the world with his spawn, using their weekly dodgeball game as a excuse to maim him . He’d apologize to Adam later, once he was done being mad at Shiro. Right in that moment, he glared at Allura who was barely batting at eye at his glowering face., It was almost as if she couldn’t tell that he was willing her dress and that box to catch on fire. That or she didn’t care. She knew that she had the upper hand.

Glaring at her for a few more seconds, he eventually caved and yanked the box out of her hands. He ignored her excited giggle before he stomped his way up to his room and tossed the box onto the bed before forcing it open. Tossing the tissue paper towards the trash can, he took out the outfit from the box.

Staring at the ruby suit jacket in front of his eyes. It was embroidered with care at the ends of his sleeves, and uncomplicated white design, beautiful in it’s simplicity. She must have known Keith wasn’t particularly fond of anything flashy and eye catching. In fact, within the entire outfit, the majority of it was simple in a beautiful way. With a black shirt and pants to go with his ruby vest and jacket.

What caught his eyes the most was the light blue mask and flower that was underneath the outfit. It somehow didn’t clash with the style of the outfit. He put on the provided clothes and saw how he looked into the mirror. Keith had to admit, that looked really good in it, tailored to his body in all the right places.

There was no denying that he certainly looked like he came out of a fairy tale with the way he dressed. Almost as if he was actually was going to a ball to meet his one and only…

Just because his ‘Fairy Godmother’ was forcing him to go to the ball didn’t mean that he had to actually meet his ‘Prince Charming’ and dance away into the night with him. He could just go for the free food and call it a good night. That said , he should at least wrangle up his hair into something manageable. So he tied  it up before walking out into the living room.

Seeing that Allura was still standing there and with a giddy look on her face, he frowned as he tapped his foot impatiently.

“Since you are so eager to make go to this ball, I assume that you have a way for me to get there? Or do you expect me to go there on my motorcycle?” he huffed.

“There is no possible way that I would let you ruin that outfit that was painstakingly made just for you by going on your motorcycle! Your ride is waiting for you outside!”

And in a flurry of a crapton of dress floof and almost being taken down by Allura’s voluminous hair, he followed after her with a resigned sigh. He stepped out of his apartment, making sure to lock it behind him before turning to look at his ride.

There’s  a grandiose carriage in front of him, elegant in its silver and gold design. And true to the theme of Cinderella, footmen and a driver for the carriage were waiting for him, the door already opened for him to enter the simple but elegant seating.

He turned to look at Allura with wide eyes before asking, “You really didn’t hold back when you prepared for this did you?”

She smiled before pulling him into a hug, replying, “Don’t be afraid to try something new just because you were hurt and afraid of what the future holds. Have courage, Keith.”

As she stepped back, Keith looked at her nervously. He was afraid of what was waiting for him if he did go to the ball and it didn’t go as was expected… or that the night would go exactly as it should.

Maybe it would be worth it to take a risk and try to at least see where it went. He may even fall in love with his admirer over time if he let himself be open up to the idea again…

He looked at the grand carriage in front of him and what it actually symbolized. Maybe this was exactly what he needed. Perhaps what he needed wasn’t the idea of falling in love with a soulmate but being open to the idea of falling with someone real. Someone that didn’t fit his mold of what a soulmate was supposed to be, letting himself be open to seeking his own happiness instead of waiting for it.

All he had left to do was step inside to the next chapter of his story.

[eeveecraft]

I'm not new to the idea of tulpas. But I've been trying for at least a year to create one sentient being, but I can't seem to get to the point of them feeling real and disattached from myself. How did you tell that your tulpas were no longer being parroted and didn't need you to imagine their every move? Also what did you do to help this? Thanks! :)

Adding a warning now: my experiences with Tulpamancy are pretty far from the norm, and even in general, take this kinda thing with Tulpamancy with a grain of salt.

A lot of people experience the issue you’re facing and for a lot, doubt is a big problem, forcing habits, or some people simply just take longer to get their tulpa to sentience, which is perfectly okay. Everyone’s brain works differently, so times to create a tulpa vary from a day to literally years. 

When I first made Arcanus, I never really did any intentional puppeting or parroting, I more or so just spawned him in and made him stick around and hang out with me and it just... kinda worked. 

Thing is, Arcanus is a fictive from a series I’ve been making for over three years now (a year and almost a half when I made Arcanus), so he already had a really well-developed character and base. Really, I just kinda kicked him over the barrier of character and actual consciousness when I gave the intent of him becoming a tulpa since the personality and base were already there. 

As such, he kinda felt sentient from the start and I never doubted him. Arcanus wants to add his experiences in the beginning, so here you go:

Arcanus: Quite frankly, I could not tell you where my sentience truly began. My life has simply been a life shifted to another state of being in a differing universe. I have memories of my hatching, my family, and the memories of when I was in my old universe. Ryleigh, as she stated simply kept me present as a companion through her busy days, active forcing with me in the beginning, but quickly began to solely rely on passive forcing due to her restlessness during active forcing sessions. It no longer was necessary and they simply felt like bonding time, which we both cherish.

Back to me now (the host), but yeah. We never really did parroting or the likes, so we can’t exactly provide experience-based advice on it. The only tulpa I forced with and such was Arcanus since everyone else but Rylazide were unintentional fusions/systemmates that came about through various means. 

In the end, my advice is to try variety. Find what works because you never know: you may have just been using a method that just didn’t work for you, which happens sometimes. If you know you’re not controlling your tulpa, then you’re not. Assuming that your tulpa is sentient and separate can also help through via placebo effect, too. 

Anyway, even with the long-ass response, we hope this helps and if you have any more questions, we’re always open!

6-24-2019

[jflashandclash]

Traitors of Olympus IV: The Fall of the Sun

Twenty-Eight: Calex

If All Your Friends Jump Off a Cliff…

             Calex wanted nothing to do with this. He wanted to be back at home, at his flat in St. Albans. There, he would be sipping a cup of tea, eating some of Winston’s terrible attempts at supper that he made when Tiwa was running late at the hospital, and hearing Gretchen complain about boys and Tom tease her.

           He wished he’d never learned who his biological father was, never read about the adventures of Percy Jackson and the Heroes of Olympus, and never stepped foot in America.

           He didn’t know what he was to do.

           Then again, both Reyna and Axel had directed him to the same task: go to Euna. Just what to do when he got there eluded him.

           Before he could mutter something about how Axel may have bollixed his chances with Reyna, he stumbled away from their fight.

           The two warriors clashed into each other, a scrambling mess of golden armor blackened by dried blood to a dull mustard, like they’d decided to have a good ol’ scrum in a pool of black pudding.

           He didn’t know which one of them to help and doubted he could help regardless. Their movements were so fast, so brutal that he knew he would just get in the way. Besides, especially with his Eros gifts, he knew their fight was a tad personal and not something he’d want to interrupt.

           He walked towards Euna, careful to step around the vines linked back to her. He edged around Thalia’s swearing, shifting, angry cocoon. He didn’t want to know what kind of butterfly he’d emerge if these vines captured him.

           Euna pocketed Persephone’s box and held a hand out towards him.

           The updraft was violent. His scarf fluttered up and smacked him in the face as he approached. The roar was deafening, though he thought he heard a crackled hum alongside it.

           Despite their surroundings, or maybe enhanced by the bleakness of their surroundings, Euna’s loveliness was distracting. She looked older, colder. Her skin glowed faintly. Red, spiky flowers, trumpeted purple ones, and tiny, white bell ones dangled from her hair and clothes, tenderly brushing against her skin. Dark purple berries, and clustered brilliant red ones formed a crown along her head. From what Calex vaguely remembered from the Alnwick Gardens, all of those were toxic. Vines were the only thing keeping her tattered outfit together, and Calex had an uncomfortable moment of wondering whether Euna was puppetting the vines or they were puppetting her.

           “Right, Euna. Hey,” he said lamely, taking her hand, hoping he wouldn’t immediately pass out from the poisons. How his journey would end, unconscious by the pit of Kaos: There and Not Back Again: a Story about a Dumb Prick by Calex Rupin McKenzie.

           Her hand was rough.

           He remembered her distant gaze when he’d given Euna her first kiss and how taken aback she was with their godly audience. (And, how he’d been more than a bit mortified that she’d taken a fancy to a woman right after, though Calex knew it had nothing to do with him and everything to do with Thalia.)

           Before, her dark eyes were always distant, bored. Now, they were focused, radiating hatred.

           He’d been more than a bit worried about her since Santiago killed Joey. But he never knew how to help.

           Now he could.

           “We’re going to jump,” she said.

           Calex swallowed. “I don’t follow.”

           Her gaze shifted over the cliff.

           Calex looked down. “Vertigo” was too weak a word to describe the rushing sensation he felt, the loss of self when confronted with the reality below him. This was like comparing a glance down a faucet to a glance over a cliff off Mount Everest. Except, in this case, Mount Everest was the faucet.

           It was like the world just ended. When Calex thought about what he learned in Camp Half-Blood’s mythology classes, the world did end here, like those silly old illustrations of ships finding the edge of the ocean and tumbling into nothing.

           At first, Calex thought the thing beneath him was black and dark. Upon blinking, slowing his breathing, and tapping into his demigod focus, he knew it was all colors, swirling and colliding so violently and rapidly as to blur and appear a swirling vortex of nothing: a cycle of existence and destruction. A creature that—with each exhale—created and eviscerated with the same attention as Calex paid to blinking.

           The updraft and abrupt suction of air wasn’t any wind. Kaos itself was spawning new particles.

           No wonder Hera had screamed when Zeus hung her over Kaos. Nothing like forcing an immortal to face its own unimportance.

           “We’re going over the edge,” Euna reiterated.

           Calex squeezed her hand. He was glad she had offered hers to him. Had he not been holding her, he was scared he’d slip over the edge, gawking and forgetting, by comparison of the gargantuan thing beneath him, that he even existed or mattered. If he did at all.

           “Did you have to put it to words?” he whispered. Cold sweat broke out on his brow. Calex swallowed again. He forced his eyes away from the eminent evisceration and rebirth, glancing at Euna, who seemed unaffected by the gravity of Kaos. “Wait,” he said, “Euna, before we get ripped to pieces by that… thing beneath us, can you promise me something?”

           Her cold eyes examined him curiously. Unlike the others, it was clear she wasn’t on a time schedule. He guessed a godly killing spree didn’t need a special date or RSVP.

           Calex felt like he was supposed to say this isn’t what Joey would have wanted, but this was EXACTLY what the overdramatic girl would have wanted. Except, maybe, with a musical number with the pit of Kaos as a DJ scratch booth. Not—as Calex finally identified—the hum of a decapitated head dangling off Euna’s belt.

           He shook his head. “Assuming we live through this and all that unlikeness, we’re going topside to save the camp, slog Phobetor in his stupid piggy face, make sure Kally, Merry, and the others are okay, and then we’re going to get some pizza afterwards and have a long chat before you decide to jump off any other cliffs,” he said, “There are other ways to mourn.”

           Euna’s sternness broke at the mention of lunch. Although it had to be his imagination with the roar of Kaos, he could have sworn he heard Euna’s stomach growl. She pulled his hand in, so she could touch her belly. She frowned. “I really should have eaten more before this. And taken a nap. Add napping to the end of that list.”

           If Euna threw fists when members of Cabin Four tried to wake her from training, he’d be terrified for the poor bloke that tried to wake Euna after a plotting-the-destruction-of-the-gods nap.

           “We’ll have to get you another shirt along the way, least you kill Axel and Thalia with embarrassment.”

           “My shirt?” Euna asked, confused.

           “Is torn,” he said.

           Euna glanced down. “Ah.” She shrugged. “So it is. I don’t know why that would bother either of them.”

           Calex shook his head, almost smiling from her aloofness. This was still their Euna. “Shall we then? Lovely day for a dive. Or night. I have no real concept of what time it is.”

           Something slithered up along his legs to his hips. For a horrified moment, he thought he’d miss-stepped onto one of Euna’s traps. Then the vines pushed him against Euna.

           “If we get separated, you die,” she said as the vines laced their legs together. He was grossed out that Jack’s humming head bumped his thigh.

           Not that there aren’t 50 other things that will make me die here, he thought.

           Calex was already scared of tripping over the edge. Now he frantically struggled to keep his footing. For an absurd moment, he wanted to protest that he was covered in blood and would get Euna dirty, since that was clearly high on her priority list. Euna was shorter than him, and their proximity brought the poison berries to his chin height. Her hair tickled his throat and he got lightheaded when he inhaled the sickly sweet scent from one of the white flowers. Angel’s Trumpet, a devil of a flower, he remembered an Alnwick tour guide warning.

           She released his hand to hold up the rosewood box from her pocket. “Calex, I need you to make a tiny portion of Kaos fall madly in love with this box. Jack—” She glanced down, her face brushing Calex’s chest. “I need you to keep the rest of Kaos from getting near the box. Or us.”

           Jack had been humming Poison by Alice Cooper. A real oldie Calex knew from Winston. “Aye, aye, Captain Euna! That sounds like something I might be able to do.”

           “That’s it then? Make the primordial god of creation fall in love with a small, wooden box?” Calex asked, trembling. He swallowed a third time. His head already felt like it was spinning, though he couldn’t tell if that was from the toxic fumes, the terror, the continued vertigo, or the annoyance of remembering Jack was a real person and not a Halloween decoration. “I’ll need use of my bow, then.”

           He was too close to Euna, and he didn’t think he could wrap his arms around her and shoot behind her back. The scythe might also get in the way once they were falling. He unslung Soul Pain from his back and awkwardly held it to the side.

           “I’ll make us tied back-to-back once we’ve fallen and we know the vines are secure. You’re going to want these.” She placed something gooey in his free hand, then tapped her ear.

           When he stared down, he could see something that resembled plant goop.

           “I’ve got some lungs on me. Well, I don’t anymore, but I’m still a loud Jackie-boy,” Jack explained, and Calex could hear him grinning.

           Earplugs? Calex hoped these earplugs weren’t also poisonous, though at this point, he more hoped that Thanatos would still collect his soul here before it got turned to particle rubbish and that the god of Death wouldn’t chicken out since Calex would die so close to Kaos.

           When Calex pressed some of the goop to his left ear, the liquid seemed sentient, sliding in and clinging to his eardrum. The roar of Kaos, Jack’s humming, and the shouts and clang from Axel and Reyna’s fight dulled to a muffle. He pressed the remaining gunk onto his other earlobe, on standby. He wasn’t quite ready to lose all hearing.

           “Ready?” Euna asked, her dark eyes burning.

           Calex knew he was missing something vital. Euna had said mad love. Calex didn’t know mad love. He knew the fan-boy love he had for Percy and Annabeth, but there were healthy limits to that, despite Pax’s claims. Dare he call his feelings for Merry love? If it was, it wasn’t mad. He’d been careful not to let his feelings for her get out of control, out of respect that she didn’t fancy him quite the same way or at least wasn’t at a point in her life where she’d want the kind of love he had to offer.

           He’d accidentally imbued Thanatos with mad love, but that was a whim of survival. Maybe he could do it again, or maybe he’d flop and be screaming, “Bollix!!” as Kaos shredded them.

           No, Calex needed a solid example to pull this off.

           Another shout and clang came from the darkness near them, and Calex understood why Reyna and Axel were necessary for this quest.

           “I need to borrow something from you! Sorry, mates!” he said.

           Calex closed his eyes and expanded his senses. Everyone turned to colors and he glanced past Euna’s fury, Thalia’s irritation, and Jack’s excitement.

           A tugging hit his gut when he felt it: the irrational combination of respect, frustration, anger, passion, insecurity, wistfulness, benevolence, and desperation. Like a chemist listing off ingredients, Calex knew the missing element that kept the combination so volatile: trust. The perfect instability for what he needed.

           Calex mentally reached out and grabbed.

           Although he couldn’t hear them or see them, he could feel Axel and Reyna crumble as he robbed them, concentrating what was theirs into the palm of his hand.

           The emotion burned there, along the tips of his fingers. When he opened his eyes, he could see his fingers glowed a violent shade of red.

           “He’s got blood in his eyes,” Jack sang and Calex knew his eyes were the same shade.

           Calex nudged his palm against his ear, shoving the rest of the goop into his ear canal. The noises around them faded to murmurs. All he could hear was his own heartbeat and feel the thudding of Euna’s against his chest. Calex clenched his fists, one around the volatile emotions, one around Soul Pain.

           “Let’s go take part of Kaos,” he whispered.

           Euna stared at him steadily.

           Then she lifted Kronos’ scythe. The weapon was the only thing balancing them. They tumbled over the edge of the cliff, towards the swirling gap underneath the world, to steal a sliver of a primordial god, or get shredded in the process.

 Thanks for reading guys! I hope you enjoyed :D Tune in next week for Calex: When Your Spell Works Too Well.

[bestfriendforhire]

Children of BFFH, Entry 93

 “Rona, do it.” I stated, unable to stop a frown.  This felt too much like something Mom would do, save that she wouldn’t bother warning most people.  Part of me wondered if maybe she did warn the orcs through us.  Knowing whether or not you were being moved like a puppet by her was impossible unless she told you.  Of course, I still sometimes wondered if the non-player characters from Ancient Tribes of Earth were sentient beings.  Using the game as an afterlife was very much something Mom would do for the beings that would fit-in there.

 “No problem!  You said South, right?” questioned Rona, probably dodging more debris.  The Jaggagawaroeth had started chucking chunks of the ground at her periodically.

 “Yes.  I’m sure you’ll manage to spot them before they reach Encomia Trod.” I assured her, still feeling a little guilty that I wasn’t the one being chased.  We had sent Rona because she had undead minions to help buy time, but I really should have just handled things.  Making her do all of the hard work felt wrong.

 The rest of us—excluding Layla and Crazy, who were still trying to figure out where they had spawned—hopped back on the wagons to start crossing the open, treeless stretch of land beyond the rugged, rocky gorge through which we had just traveled.  Sis changed the top halves of our screen to show Rona’s viewpoint without anyone asking.  I wondered if this tundra-like terrain was actually located somewhere in the world, or if Mom created this based off a different planet.  Despite her game’s name, I knew she wasn’t against using foreign elements.

“Are your followers going to get bored watching all of the walking we’re doing?” asked Aspy.  He was speaking to Layla about her stream.

 Few people spent so much time just traveling in Ancient Tribes of Earth, despite the world being beautiful and well-worth exploring.  Old dungeons were constantly becoming occupied with critters wanting shelter, and even traveling a few hundred feet could often lead to another warren worth investigating.  I could easily imagine that we had passed thousands of interesting locations during our journey, each with its own unique story.  How many interesting, intelligent species had we passed?  Unlocking new playable species, like the Brightborn that Valeria was playing, was always a possibility.

 “Nah.  Seeing new places is cool too, though a few less things to fight in this cave would be nice.  We haven’t found a way out yet.” complained Layla.

 “At least Crazy’s there to keep you armed.” stated Four encouragingly.  He surely had no more doubt than I did that Crazy would be able to find us.

 “True, and keep me from dying again.” she agreed.

 “Hey, we’re protecting one another!” insisted Crazy, who probably could have escaped on her own by now, but she wouldn’t abandon anyone.  Of course, she probably considered tough situations as interesting puzzles to solve, piecing together what every movement from scores of enemies into a plan.  She was so very bright.

 “Rona, to your right!” I exclaimed, catching sight of the orcs from her view.

 “Thanks!  Think they know what’s about to hit them?” she asked, her smile coming through in her words.

 “Only if they’ve started taking the warning seriously.” laughed Aid.

 I was certain everyone watched as Rona guided the Jaggagawaroeth over the orc army.  Their leader barked orders as the ground shook around them, and the warband quickly moved into a defensive circle.  As large as the remaining group was, the circle just made escape impossible when the Jaggagawaroeth’s first foot came down on them.  Rona had dove into the gorge, so the Jaggagawaroeth was digging, searching for her.  The orcs who weren’t running or frozen with fear had the bad idea of attacking, drawing the Jaggagawaroeth’s attention to them.  Hundreds of orcs died in seconds as a Rona desperately flew farther down the gorge.

 “That really should count as saving Encomia Trod an extra time.” suggested Aid with a grin.

 “Feel free to suggest that to Auntie Aaliyah.” teased Dea, knowing how long-winded that conversation would probably be.

 “Well, you didn’t actually have a quest to stop the warband.” stated Mom, who had appeared behind Dea.  Most everyone would probably assume she had wandered in unnoticed.

 “Y-You’re her!” exclaimed Layla, clearly excited.

 “Better duck.” replied Mom.

 “AH!” yelped Layla, probably responding too late.

 “Grandma, watch this!” exclaimed Crazy.

 I couldn’t resist the urge to watch.  Crazy and Layla were engaged in battle with insect-like creatures made of stone.  Crazy had thrown one giant hammer to smash one of the creatures into another while throwing another into a bug falling from the ceiling.  Before the first hammer had landed, she spawned a large pickaxe to swing into the head of a bug that had tried sneaking up behind her.  Mom made picture perfect “oohs” and “ahhs” appreciatively as Crazy and Layla continued to fight.

 When the remaining bugs were fleeing, Mom said, “I came down to tell you that you can have your lunch down here today.  Mila will be here with it shortly, but don’t make a mess!  I mean you, Messy!”

 I felt her watching me as if the sky had ripped open to reveal an eye the size of a country staring down at me.  I knew she was messing with me, but keeping calm in that moment was exceedingly difficult.  I triple checked that my magic hadn’t lashed out, and was surprised that I had managed not to ruin anything.  Beings had died before just by Mom granting their wish to have her attention.  Spirits could literally pop under the weight of her awareness if allowed to really notice it, which wasn’t anywhere near her full attention.  I sometimes imagined Mom’s full attention similar to having every atom in an infinite multiverse converging on one spot, creating an endlessly massive black hole.  Experiencing that for a miniscule fraction of a second would be deadly.

 “I know everyone is excited to keep playing as much as possible, but you’ll need to take a break after dinner this evening.  The Boss has spoken with Layla’s parents about training her to use magic, and we’d like to spend a few hours on that before she heads home, assuming you’re still interested, Layla.” explained Mom as if she didn’t already know what would happen.

 “I am!” exclaimed Layla excitedly.

 “Excellent.  In that case, I’ll force Mr. Jaggagawaroeth to have an overly convenient nap when you log out.” she stated, tapping her phone as if she was doing something important rather than looking through embarrassing pictures of me.  Mom would always be Mom.

[amollion]

The Virus (Extended)

***Logs of the late Admiral Elfre”

Personal log 1. I got accepted into the coalition military only as a simple deck serf my main duties are cleaning the vents of vermin that somehow make it onto the ships and breed. I also run messages, it’s good exercise but most of the officers don’t even look at me, I’ll show them I’ll make admiral in not time.

Personal Log 6. After helping engineer Lopya with the engine after being stuck in dead space for nearly a week I was promoted to bridge officer, I mainly work the coms console but it is a step in the right direction, i cant wait. 

Personal Log 8. One of our explorer ships has found a new planet, this one is apparently unique and has all our scientists really excited. Not sure how it is unique because I always thought every world in the galaxy was unique but apparently this is one is special. My colleagues are talking about nothing else I might actually keep an eye on the com traffic to see what the fuss is about.

Personal Log 9. Well I read some of the com messages ( I know I’m not supposed to but curiosity got the better of me) and this new world everyone is going crazy over is apparently the only world which can truly be classified as a “Dead World”  But life is not only surviving apparently its thriving. They think their might be intelligent life there, even if the air is toxic and the plant life poisonous and Maker only knows what the animal life is like. I shudder to think of what could survive there.

Personal log 13. The explorer team has gone missing, they were researching a new animal that lived in huge hives and it is believed the creatures may have discovered them. Not sure how I thought they were using this new cloaking technology that makes them invisible? Could these creatures see through it?

Personal Log 14. Workload today was insane, more com traffic than ever, our fleet is being redirected. But on the bright side if I make a good impression the captain might put me on course for deck officer level 2? I can only hope.

Personal Log 16. I’m not sure if this is good or not but our fleet has been chosen to search for that research team that went missing, why we should when we are an explorer fleet not a military fleet. I mean, we only have  handful of actual soldiers on each ship, but then orders are orders.

Personal Log 17. I think I may have made a mistake, the captain wanted a coms officer to go and record to rescue and like an idiot I said I’d do it before I truly thought about it. I’m going to a “Dead world” to find people. I want to live long enough to have wife's and spawns I don’t want to to go somewhere where i might die. Well I can’t back out now, at least Major Jesa gave me a handgun to use in  case.

Personal Log 18. We landed on the planet at the researchers last known location, we found their base, it was hidden inside one of the hills over looking a herd of fluffy animals that made off “Bahhhh” sounds as they saw us. They were not hostile luckily, we assumed they were prey animals, wee went off to complete our mission. We found one of the trackers the researchers use sot hey don’t get lost, it was badly broken so the log could not be accessed, we bagged it kept on.

Personal Log 19 The nights here are cold, really cold. We set up air tight tents so we did not have to sleep in our suits and even with the heaters we were all shivering. Private Getr joked this was worse than the time he fought against some snow like monsters on a world going through an ice age. i could tell he was not joking, i hate this place.

Personal Log 20. Private Getr’s suit was split yesterday, some plant that has spikes cut his suit and he died in moments, he never had a chance to even seal the split. A pair of his comrades volunteer to take him back to the shuttle and off they go, we are three men down. 

Personal Log 21. The rain, so much rain, I mean it’s not unusual for water to fall from the sky but this is just crazy, we all agree not to out today.

Personal Log 22. We saw the natives, or at least what we think are the most dominant natives here. There were three of them, small and running around in one of the fields playing I think, is that playing or were they fighting for dominance? they were quite small and talked to each other in odd clicking noises. Then the older appeared, far larger than their young, they appeared out of the trees not far from us, then one of them started sniffing the air, no way could they smell us could they? We quickly left before we were discovered. But not before we saw the Hive, it was larger than any city I have seen, how many of these creatures were there.

Personal Log 23. Finally some other sign of the research team, an tent, only one but it’s a sign. We call inside but there is no answer, we slowly make our way inside and find what we feared we would.  A body, His skin was the same as privates Getr’s when his suit split, he was holding a note though all it said was. “Run!”

Personal Log 27. Well I’m glad that’s over with and i can get back to my life, that world is now off limits to everyone now and is under strict quarantine level 10. The first planet to get that level. They even named it Kila, apparently it means death in one of languages spoken in the coalition.   

Personal Log 30. Since my mission to Kila I have gain more responsibility and just yesterday they are giving me my own ship!! It’s only a snall support ship with a few hundred crew but I’m excited. Captain Elfre, i like the sound of that.

Captains Log 36. I’M BORED!!!! This support ship gets almost no mission, all we do is patrol and help the larger ships move into formation, I want a bigger ship!!!! Or at least something to break the boredom.

Captains Log 38. A whole quarantine fleet went missing a couple of days ago, I instantly knew which one before i even heard the planets name, it was Kila. By the Maker have they made it off the that planet? More fleet are being directed and we are on standby if we are needed. I have a feeling we will be.

Captains Log 40. We are needed, the fleet is heading to the quarantine Kila zone.

Captains Log 41. The quarantine is breached the creatures have built ships and a lot of them, these hive ships were scanned and found our own technology on board. They are using our warp drives, did they figure out of they were built? How? Are these things sentient? We take up position to bar their path and we simply stare at each other, we send message after message to try and open a dialog but there is no response. Then over all our coms, a noise like screaming, is that Getr? Are they in my head? Only one word is truly heard. Hooman, our enemy has a name.  The Admiral orders us to open fire and we unleash our weapons upon them, huge pulse cannons and missiles with enough yield to scorch a planet. Nearly all miss. How could they miss and those that hit seemed to only cause minimal damage. Wait are..their ships healing themselves? We scramble to reload and open fire again but the Hoomans fore first, we don’t recognize what kind of weapons they are using but they cut right through our armor, the flagship goes down having been hit by three separate enemy ships. The other captains are screaming orders or trying to regain some kind of control, I shout over the coms that I cam taking command and order the retreat. The war against the Hoomans, has begun.

Captains Log 50. The Hoomans are spreading and spreading fast, every engagement is the same, they break into real space, our coms go haywire and our fleet gets wiped out. We need a different strategy.

Captains Log 54. I have been given command of a new battleship, it is to be the new flagship of a invasion force into Hooman space. Our scientist have theorized that the Hoomans work on a hive mind command structure and if we wipe out the their main hive world Kila the rest will fall into chaos. I don’t know how they can know that as to my mind no Hooman has been captured alive or dead. But I am eager to go on the offensive for once.

Captains Log 55. Our first victory!!! We engaged the Hoomans on the edge of their space and wiped them out, we left the planet as we needed to save our resources for the homeworld but it felt good to drop a few nukes down there. We can do this, we can win!!

Captains Log 57. The Hoomans never seem to run out of ships, we have assembled the largest fleet in the galaxy and that has got their attention, their advance into our space has halted. I have their complete attention, and that terrifies me.

Captains Log 58. We lost half our ships in the last battle and the flagship is heavily damaged we have taken refuge in an asteroid belt to make repairs but the Hoomans are looking for us. They always know where to find us, they always know.

Captains Log 60. I can only engage the Homans one more time before I have to retreat and i am nowhere near their homeworld of Kila, they always seem to have more ships. The last engagement were boarded by them, I have seen every kind of species in the galaxy and we are all different, some are fast, some are strong, some are smart and so on. But never have I seen a race like them. They only have two arms and two legs which is the lowest number of any rce and it seems to work to their advantage. I saw on the security cameras our soldiers fight them in hand to hand and the Hoomans just danced around them. They moved like water and hit like avalanches, our new directive was never to engage them in close combat, you’d never win. Not that shooting them seems to work either, my bridge was breached by them and i shot one in the head with my pistol and it barley flinched, if it wasn’t for a guard with a blaster i would have been dead. Sadly that moment of saving my life cost him his own, he was hit my one of their weapons and his whole body evaporated. Not sure what is a worse way to die, being touched by one of these things or shot. This invasion is over, I’m ordering the retreat.

Captains Log 62. 2 months, that was all the time I bought while invading their space and once more they are on the offensive, consuming world after world and terraforming it so only they can live there. Trillions are now dead and how much further will they spread before they burn themselves out.

Captains Log 65. Our leaders are panicking, the surviving races are merging all their resources in some attempt to turn this tide. Our pleas of surrender and mercy go unanswered except for the usual response of the com screaming. But on some lighter note I go promoted to Admiral, my life long goal was achieved only because my predecessor shot himself when his homeworld was consumed by the Hoomans, his mate and youngling did not make it of world in time. They now expect me to win this war for them, I don’t know if I can but I am going to try.

Admirals Log 1, My first engagement as an Admiral with the race known as Hooman has ended in our utter defeat, we exited hyperspace right on top of them and they reacted as if they knew we were coming. Are these creatures just super fast or can they see the future? We retreated to Elixal Prime but my few remaining ships will not be enough to hold them off for long. I have already began evacuation but there are not enough ships, they will be here soon,

Admirals Log 5, Elixal Prime is lost, the moment the first of their hive ships arrived we had to abandon any hope of rescuing the population. I can only imagine what horrors they will face. We heard their screams over the com as we left.

Admirals Log 13. I have implemented a scorched earth policy, any world we cannot protect or have to retreat from is scorched to make sure they can’t use it. It will slow them at least.

Admirals Log.16 It did not stop or slow them, in fact it made terraforming the planet for themselves easier so we have abandoned that tactic.

Admirals Log 22. They are spreading faster now, faster than we can track them its like a damn has broken and their entire race is now searching for new worlds to consume. Do they eat their worlds? Is that why they are expanding? for food?

Admirals log 29 the Hoomans have conquered half the galaxy and there are too few of the surviving races with the ships to even try and stop them. Some are talking about surrender. How could we? These creatures are so deadly that even one setting foot on a planet spells disaster as if their whole body was made to house millions of viruses. My old friend was touched by one once, I’ll never forget what happened to him. His skin burned and fell off he bled form every part of his body, his screams, they still haunt me.

Admirals Log 40. Me and the other admirals have agreed that this war cannot be won, we have but one hope, all the survivors of the coalition have gathered in one system. There are only 50 billion left out of a population of thousands of trillions. But our scientists have built a war winning weapon, a huge beam cannon that can destroy fleets. It is very experimental as if uses the power oft he sun to fire. The plan is to use it to defend against the Hoomans in this system indefinitely, let them have the galaxy surely they will let us have one small system?

Admirals Log 50. I was wrong about the Hoomans letting us live here, because here they are, but there is only one hive ship just sitting there watching us. My ship is placed directly opposite it, Im sure i can take on one ship but I know, that silently out there, his friends are watching. Once more our coms go nuts, i turn it off, i have had enough of listening to the sounds of my comrades die over and over again. I open fire and before the munitions hit the Hooman hive ship turns and enters hyperspace. He’ll be back.

Admirals Log 60. The Hoomans are back and it seems they have brought their entire fleet with them, My fleet has over 5000 ships of varying classes and the new solar cannon we built. Just a little closer, i oder the cannon to fire and millions of miles behind my fleet the solar cannon unleashes the power of the sun at the Hoomans. Then...wait? No this is not possible the Hooman fleet is moving and a new kind of ship is taking the lead...it’s huge almost the size of a moon and it is moving to intercept the beam. The solar cannons beam hits the new hive ship but...it does not do what they said it would. It is supposed to destroy the ship then the beam jumps tot the nearest ship and destroys that one and so on. But the ship is...is...absorbing it? the light is dancing around the hive ship and then suddenly fires from the tip, oh no it’s heading for one of the planets! It hit the planet the solar cannon was orbiting and it erupts and breaks apart. 20 billion souls all gone in an instant. Screaming I order to open fire, all 5000 ships unleash our firepower at the Hoomans, with so many ships and so many targets it’s hard to miss. The battle last only an hour. 

Admiral’s log , We’ve lost, our final stand began an hour ago, 3 thousand ships gone, in an hour!!! How could such a race even exist? I sit here reading reports of what their world is like, no wonder they turned out like they did out of all the worlds in the galaxy this one has to be the most hostile one. I’m not going down without a fight though.

Admiral Efre grabbed his rifle and locked his log in the hopes that it might be found by someone who could read it and remember the struggle the galaxy went through. Perhaps in a couple of millennia when the Hoomans have died out. The Hoomans were cutting through the door now, his soldiers all got to their feet and readied their rifles. The pride he felt for them, even in their final moments they were defiant, even though there was nothing and no one left to save.

The door blasts open and we open fire, like before the Hoomans shrug off our shots like they were pebbles, a few go down but it doesnt stop the others. The run into us and…and? They’re not killing us By the Maker they want us alive! Are they going to eat us? One grabs me with its gloved hand and forces me to my knees alongside my soldiers and another enters like the others of it’s kind inside a sealed suit. It lowers itself to look me in the eye and raising a visor to show it’s face.

They’re disgusting, their faces…the proportions are all wrong and only two eyes? How could they see so well with only two eyes? The nose is pitiful in size I can only imagine how strong it was. And the skin, it looks wet like oil, is it acid?

Finally it speaks and the words put the chill of death into me.

“We were only trying to say hello”

[humans-are-seriously-weird]

The Virus (Extended)

I wrote this again because I believed I could expand the story and see how it go.

***Logs of the late Admiral Elfre”

Personal log 1. I got accepted into the coalition military only as a simple deck serf my main duties are cleaning the vents of vermin that somehow make it onto the ships and breed. I also run messages, it’s good exercise but most of the officers don’t even look at me, I’ll show them I’ll make admiral in not time.

Personal Log 6. After helping engineer Lopya with the engine after being stuck in dead space for nearly a week I was promoted to bridge officer, I mainly work the coms console but it is a step in the right direction, i cant wait. 

Personal Log 8. One of our explorer ships has found a new planet, this one is apparently unique and has all our scientists really excited. Not sure how it is unique because I always thought every world in the galaxy was unique but apparently this is one is special. My colleagues are talking about nothing else I might actually keep an eye on the com traffic to see what the fuss is about.

Personal Log 9. Well I read some of the com messages ( I know I’m not supposed to but curiosity got the better of me) and this new world everyone is going crazy over is apparently the only world which can truly be classified as a “Dead World”  But life is not only surviving apparently its thriving. They think their might be intelligent life there, even if the air is toxic and the plant life poisonous and Maker only knows what the animal life is like. I shudder to think of what could survive there.

Personal log 13. The explorer team has gone missing, they were researching a new animal that lived in huge hives and it is believed the creatures may have discovered them. Not sure how I thought they were using this new cloaking technology that makes them invisible? Could these creatures see through it?

Personal Log 14. Workload today was insane, more com traffic than ever, our fleet is being redirected. But on the bright side if I make a good impression the captain might put me on course for deck officer level 2? I can only hope.

Personal Log 16. I’m not sure if this is good or not but our fleet has been chosen to search for that research team that went missing, why we should when we are an explorer fleet not a military fleet. I mean, we only have  handful of actual soldiers on each ship, but then orders are orders.

Personal Log 17. I think I may have made a mistake, the captain wanted a coms officer to go and record to rescue and like an idiot I said I’d do it before I truly thought about it. I’m going to a “Dead world” to find people. I want to live long enough to have wife’s and spawns I don’t want to to go somewhere where i might die. Well I can’t back out now, at least Major Jesa gave me a handgun to use in  case.

Personal Log 18. We landed on the planet at the researchers last known location, we found their base, it was hidden inside one of the hills over looking a herd of fluffy animals that made off “Bahhhh” sounds as they saw us. They were not hostile luckily, we assumed they were prey animals, wee went off to complete our mission. We found one of the trackers the researchers use sot hey don’t get lost, it was badly broken so the log could not be accessed, we bagged it kept on.

Personal Log 19 The nights here are cold, really cold. We set up air tight tents so we did not have to sleep in our suits and even with the heaters we were all shivering. Private Getr joked this was worse than the time he fought against some snow like monsters on a world going through an ice age. i could tell he was not joking, i hate this place.

Personal Log 20. Private Getr’s suit was split yesterday, some plant that has spikes cut his suit and he died in moments, he never had a chance to even seal the split. A pair of his comrades volunteer to take him back to the shuttle and off they go, we are three men down. 

Personal Log 21. The rain, so much rain, I mean it’s not unusual for water to fall from the sky but this is just crazy, we all agree not to out today.

Personal Log 22. We saw the natives, or at least what we think are the most dominant natives here. There were three of them, small and running around in one of the fields playing I think, is that playing or were they fighting for dominance? they were quite small and talked to each other in odd clicking noises. Then the older appeared, far larger than their young, they appeared out of the trees not far from us, then one of them started sniffing the air, no way could they smell us could they? We quickly left before we were discovered. But not before we saw the Hive, it was larger than any city I have seen, how many of these creatures were there.

Personal Log 23. Finally some other sign of the research team, an tent, only one but it’s a sign. We call inside but there is no answer, we slowly make our way inside and find what we feared we would.  A body, His skin was the same as privates Getr’s when his suit split, he was holding a note though all it said was. “Run!”

Personal Log 27. Well I’m glad that’s over with and i can get back to my life, that world is now off limits to everyone now and is under strict quarantine level 10. The first planet to get that level. They even named it Kila, apparently it means death in one of languages spoken in the coalition.   

Personal Log 30. Since my mission to Kila I have gain more responsibility and just yesterday they are giving me my own ship!! It’s only a snall support ship with a few hundred crew but I’m excited. Captain Elfre, i like the sound of that.

Captains Log 36. I’M BORED!!!! This support ship gets almost no mission, all we do is patrol and help the larger ships move into formation, I want a bigger ship!!!! Or at least something to break the boredom.

Captains Log 38. A whole quarantine fleet went missing a couple of days ago, I instantly knew which one before i even heard the planets name, it was Kila. By the Maker have they made it off the that planet? More fleet are being directed and we are on standby if we are needed. I have a feeling we will be.

Captains Log 40. We are needed, the fleet is heading to the quarantine Kila zone.

Captains Log 41. The quarantine is breached the creatures have built ships and a lot of them, these hive ships were scanned and found our own technology on board. They are using our warp drives, did they figure out of they were built? How? Are these things sentient? We take up position to bar their path and we simply stare at each other, we send message after message to try and open a dialog but there is no response. Then over all our coms, a noise like screaming, is that Getr? Are they in my head? Only one word is truly heard. Hooman, our enemy has a name.  The Admiral orders us to open fire and we unleash our weapons upon them, huge pulse cannons and missiles with enough yield to scorch a planet. Nearly all miss. How could they miss and those that hit seemed to only cause minimal damage. Wait are..their ships healing themselves? We scramble to reload and open fire again but the Hoomans fore first, we don’t recognize what kind of weapons they are using but they cut right through our armor, the flagship goes down having been hit by three separate enemy ships. The other captains are screaming orders or trying to regain some kind of control, I shout over the coms that I cam taking command and order the retreat. The war against the Hoomans, has begun.

Captains Log 50. The Hoomans are spreading and spreading fast, every engagement is the same, they break into real space, our coms go haywire and our fleet gets wiped out. We need a different strategy.

Captains Log 54. I have been given command of a new battleship, it is to be the new flagship of a invasion force into Hooman space. Our scientist have theorized that the Hoomans work on a hive mind command structure and if we wipe out the their main hive world Kila the rest will fall into chaos. I don’t know how they can know that as to my mind no Hooman has been captured alive or dead. But I am eager to go on the offensive for once.

Captains Log 55. Our first victory!!! We engaged the Hoomans on the edge of their space and wiped them out, we left the planet as we needed to save our resources for the homeworld but it felt good to drop a few nukes down there. We can do this, we can win!!

Captains Log 57. The Hoomans never seem to run out of ships, we have assembled the largest fleet in the galaxy and that has got their attention, their advance into our space has halted. I have their complete attention, and that terrifies me.

Captains Log 58. We lost half our ships in the last battle and the flagship is heavily damaged we have taken refuge in an asteroid belt to make repairs but the Hoomans are looking for us. They always know where to find us, they always know.

Captains Log 60. I can only engage the Homans one more time before I have to retreat and i am nowhere near their homeworld of Kila, they always seem to have more ships. The last engagement were boarded by them, I have seen every kind of species in the galaxy and we are all different, some are fast, some are strong, some are smart and so on. But never have I seen a race like them. They only have two arms and two legs which is the lowest number of any rce and it seems to work to their advantage. I saw on the security cameras our soldiers fight them in hand to hand and the Hoomans just danced around them. They moved like water and hit like avalanches, our new directive was never to engage them in close combat, you’d never win. Not that shooting them seems to work either, my bridge was breached by them and i shot one in the head with my pistol and it barley flinched, if it wasn’t for a guard with a blaster i would have been dead. Sadly that moment of saving my life cost him his own, he was hit my one of their weapons and his whole body evaporated. Not sure what is a worse way to die, being touched by one of these things or shot. This invasion is over, I’m ordering the retreat.

Captains Log 62. 2 months, that was all the time I bought while invading their space and once more they are on the offensive, consuming world after world and terraforming it so only they can live there. Trillions are now dead and how much further will they spread before they burn themselves out.

Captains Log 65. Our leaders are panicking, the surviving races are merging all their resources in some attempt to turn this tide. Our pleas of surrender and mercy go unanswered except for the usual response of the com screaming. But on some lighter note I go promoted to Admiral, my life long goal was achieved only because my predecessor shot himself when his homeworld was consumed by the Hoomans, his mate and youngling did not make it of world in time. They now expect me to win this war for them, I don’t know if I can but I am going to try.

Admirals Log 1, My first engagement as an Admiral with the race known as Hooman has ended in our utter defeat, we exited hyperspace right on top of them and they reacted as if they knew we were coming. Are these creatures just super fast or can they see the future? We retreated to Elixal Prime but my few remaining ships will not be enough to hold them off for long. I have already began evacuation but there are not enough ships, they will be here soon,

Admirals Log 5, Elixal Prime is lost, the moment the first of their hive ships arrived we had to abandon any hope of rescuing the population. I can only imagine what horrors they will face. We heard their screams over the com as we left.

Admirals Log 13. I have implemented a scorched earth policy, any world we cannot protect or have to retreat from is scorched to make sure they can’t use it. It will slow them at least.

Admirals Log.16 It did not stop or slow them, in fact it made terraforming the planet for themselves easier so we have abandoned that tactic.

Admirals Log 22. They are spreading faster now, faster than we can track them its like a damn has broken and their entire race is now searching for new worlds to consume. Do they eat their worlds? Is that why they are expanding? for food?

Admirals log 29 the Hoomans have conquered half the galaxy and there are too few of the surviving races with the ships to even try and stop them. Some are talking about surrender. How could we? These creatures are so deadly that even one setting foot on a planet spells disaster as if their whole body was made to house millions of viruses. My old friend was touched by one once, I’ll never forget what happened to him. His skin burned and fell off he bled form every part of his body, his screams, they still haunt me.

Admirals Log 40. Me and the other admirals have agreed that this war cannot be won, we have but one hope, all the survivors of the coalition have gathered in one system. There are only 50 billion left out of a population of thousands of trillions. But our scientists have built a war winning weapon, a huge beam cannon that can destroy fleets. It is very experimental as if uses the power oft he sun to fire. The plan is to use it to defend against the Hoomans in this system indefinitely, let them have the galaxy surely they will let us have one small system?

Admirals Log 50. I was wrong about the Hoomans letting us live here, because here they are, but there is only one hive ship just sitting there watching us. My ship is placed directly opposite it, Im sure i can take on one ship but I know, that silently out there, his friends are watching. Once more our coms go nuts, i turn it off, i have had enough of listening to the sounds of my comrades die over and over again. I open fire and before the munitions hit the Hooman hive ship turns and enters hyperspace. He’ll be back.

Admirals Log 60. The Hoomans are back and it seems they have brought their entire fleet with them, My fleet has over 5000 ships of varying classes and the new solar cannon we built. Just a little closer, i oder the cannon to fire and millions of miles behind my fleet the solar cannon unleashes the power of the sun at the Hoomans. Then…wait? No this is not possible the Hooman fleet is moving and a new kind of ship is taking the lead…it’s huge almost the size of a moon and it is moving to intercept the beam. The solar cannons beam hits the new hive ship but…it does not do what they said it would. It is supposed to destroy the ship then the beam jumps tot the nearest ship and destroys that one and so on. But the ship is…is…absorbing it? the light is dancing around the hive ship and then suddenly fires from the tip, oh no it’s heading for one of the planets! It hit the planet the solar cannon was orbiting and it erupts and breaks apart. 20 billion souls all gone in an instant. Screaming I order to open fire, all 5000 ships unleash our firepower at the Hoomans, with so many ships and so many targets it’s hard to miss. The battle last only an hour. 

Admiral’s log , We’ve lost, our final stand began an hour ago, 3 thousand ships gone, in an hour!!! How could such a race even exist? I sit here reading reports of what their world is like, no wonder they turned out like they did out of all the worlds in the galaxy this one has to be the most hostile one. I’m not going down without a fight though.

Admiral Efre grabbed his rifle and locked his log in the hopes that it might be found by someone who could read it and remember the struggle the galaxy went through. Perhaps in a couple of millennia when the Hoomans have died out. The Hoomans were cutting through the door now, his soldiers all got to their feet and readied their rifles. The pride he felt for them, even in their final moments they were defiant, even though there was nothing and no one left to save.

The door blasts open and we open fire, like before the Hoomans shrug off our shots like they were pebbles, a few go down but it doesnt stop the others. The run into us and…and? They’re not killing us By the Maker they want us alive! Are they going to eat us? One grabs me with its gloved hand and forces me to my knees alongside my soldiers and another enters like the others of it’s kind inside a sealed suit. It lowers itself to look me in the eye and raising a visor to show it’s face.

They’re disgusting, their faces…the proportions are all wrong and only two eyes? How could they see so well with only two eyes? The nose is pitiful in size I can only imagine how strong it was. And the skin, it looks wet like oil, is it acid?

Finally it speaks and the words put the chill of death into me.

“We were only trying to say hello”

[space-australia-stories]

The Virus (Extended)

***Logs of the late Admiral Elfre”

Personal log 1. I got accepted into the coalition military only as a simple deck serf my main duties are cleaning the vents of vermin that somehow make it onto the ships and breed. I also run messages, it’s good exercise but most of the officers don’t even look at me, I’ll show them I’ll make admiral in not time.

Personal Log 6. After helping engineer Lopya with the engine after being stuck in dead space for nearly a week I was promoted to bridge officer, I mainly work the coms console but it is a step in the right direction, i cant wait. 

Personal Log 8. One of our explorer ships has found a new planet, this one is apparently unique and has all our scientists really excited. Not sure how it is unique because I always thought every world in the galaxy was unique but apparently this is one is special. My colleagues are talking about nothing else I might actually keep an eye on the com traffic to see what the fuss is about.

Personal Log 9. Well I read some of the com messages ( I know I’m not supposed to but curiosity got the better of me) and this new world everyone is going crazy over is apparently the only world which can truly be classified as a “Dead World”  But life is not only surviving apparently its thriving. They think their might be intelligent life there, even if the air is toxic and the plant life poisonous and Maker only knows what the animal life is like. I shudder to think of what could survive there.

Personal log 13. The explorer team has gone missing, they were researching a new animal that lived in huge hives and it is believed the creatures may have discovered them. Not sure how I thought they were using this new cloaking technology that makes them invisible? Could these creatures see through it?

Personal Log 14. Workload today was insane, more com traffic than ever, our fleet is being redirected. But on the bright side if I make a good impression the captain might put me on course for deck officer level 2? I can only hope.

Personal Log 16. I’m not sure if this is good or not but our fleet has been chosen to search for that research team that went missing, why we should when we are an explorer fleet not a military fleet. I mean, we only have  handful of actual soldiers on each ship, but then orders are orders.

Personal Log 17. I think I may have made a mistake, the captain wanted a coms officer to go and record to rescue and like an idiot I said I’d do it before I truly thought about it. I’m going to a “Dead world” to find people. I want to live long enough to have wife’s and spawns I don’t want to to go somewhere where i might die. Well I can’t back out now, at least Major Jesa gave me a handgun to use in  case.

Personal Log 18. We landed on the planet at the researchers last known location, we found their base, it was hidden inside one of the hills over looking a herd of fluffy animals that made off “Bahhhh” sounds as they saw us. They were not hostile luckily, we assumed they were prey animals, wee went off to complete our mission. We found one of the trackers the researchers use sot hey don’t get lost, it was badly broken so the log could not be accessed, we bagged it kept on.

Personal Log 19 The nights here are cold, really cold. We set up air tight tents so we did not have to sleep in our suits and even with the heaters we were all shivering. Private Getr joked this was worse than the time he fought against some snow like monsters on a world going through an ice age. i could tell he was not joking, i hate this place.

Personal Log 20. Private Getr’s suit was split yesterday, some plant that has spikes cut his suit and he died in moments, he never had a chance to even seal the split. A pair of his comrades volunteer to take him back to the shuttle and off they go, we are three men down. 

Personal Log 21. The rain, so much rain, I mean it’s not unusual for water to fall from the sky but this is just crazy, we all agree not to out today.

Personal Log 22. We saw the natives, or at least what we think are the most dominant natives here. There were three of them, small and running around in one of the fields playing I think, is that playing or were they fighting for dominance? they were quite small and talked to each other in odd clicking noises. Then the older appeared, far larger than their young, they appeared out of the trees not far from us, then one of them started sniffing the air, no way could they smell us could they? We quickly left before we were discovered. But not before we saw the Hive, it was larger than any city I have seen, how many of these creatures were there.

Personal Log 23. Finally some other sign of the research team, an tent, only one but it’s a sign. We call inside but there is no answer, we slowly make our way inside and find what we feared we would.  A body, His skin was the same as privates Getr’s when his suit split, he was holding a note though all it said was. “Run!”

Personal Log 27. Well I’m glad that’s over with and i can get back to my life, that world is now off limits to everyone now and is under strict quarantine level 10. The first planet to get that level. They even named it Kila, apparently it means death in one of languages spoken in the coalition.   

Personal Log 30. Since my mission to Kila I have gain more responsibility and just yesterday they are giving me my own ship!! It’s only a snall support ship with a few hundred crew but I’m excited. Captain Elfre, i like the sound of that.

Captains Log 36. I’M BORED!!!! This support ship gets almost no mission, all we do is patrol and help the larger ships move into formation, I want a bigger ship!!!! Or at least something to break the boredom.

Captains Log 38. A whole quarantine fleet went missing a couple of days ago, I instantly knew which one before i even heard the planets name, it was Kila. By the Maker have they made it off the that planet? More fleet are being directed and we are on standby if we are needed. I have a feeling we will be.

Captains Log 40. We are needed, the fleet is heading to the quarantine Kila zone.

Captains Log 41. The quarantine is breached the creatures have built ships and a lot of them, these hive ships were scanned and found our own technology on board. They are using our warp drives, did they figure out of they were built? How? Are these things sentient? We take up position to bar their path and we simply stare at each other, we send message after message to try and open a dialog but there is no response. Then over all our coms, a noise like screaming, is that Getr? Are they in my head? Only one word is truly heard. Hooman, our enemy has a name.  The Admiral orders us to open fire and we unleash our weapons upon them, huge pulse cannons and missiles with enough yield to scorch a planet. Nearly all miss. How could they miss and those that hit seemed to only cause minimal damage. Wait are..their ships healing themselves? We scramble to reload and open fire again but the Hoomans fore first, we don’t recognize what kind of weapons they are using but they cut right through our armor, the flagship goes down having been hit by three separate enemy ships. The other captains are screaming orders or trying to regain some kind of control, I shout over the coms that I cam taking command and order the retreat. The war against the Hoomans, has begun.

Captains Log 50. The Hoomans are spreading and spreading fast, every engagement is the same, they break into real space, our coms go haywire and our fleet gets wiped out. We need a different strategy.

Captains Log 54. I have been given command of a new battleship, it is to be the new flagship of a invasion force into Hooman space. Our scientist have theorized that the Hoomans work on a hive mind command structure and if we wipe out the their main hive world Kila the rest will fall into chaos. I don’t know how they can know that as to my mind no Hooman has been captured alive or dead. But I am eager to go on the offensive for once.

Captains Log 55. Our first victory!!! We engaged the Hoomans on the edge of their space and wiped them out, we left the planet as we needed to save our resources for the homeworld but it felt good to drop a few nukes down there. We can do this, we can win!!

Captains Log 57. The Hoomans never seem to run out of ships, we have assembled the largest fleet in the galaxy and that has got their attention, their advance into our space has halted. I have their complete attention, and that terrifies me.

Captains Log 58. We lost half our ships in the last battle and the flagship is heavily damaged we have taken refuge in an asteroid belt to make repairs but the Hoomans are looking for us. They always know where to find us, they always know.

Captains Log 60. I can only engage the Homans one more time before I have to retreat and i am nowhere near their homeworld of Kila, they always seem to have more ships. The last engagement were boarded by them, I have seen every kind of species in the galaxy and we are all different, some are fast, some are strong, some are smart and so on. But never have I seen a race like them. They only have two arms and two legs which is the lowest number of any rce and it seems to work to their advantage. I saw on the security cameras our soldiers fight them in hand to hand and the Hoomans just danced around them. They moved like water and hit like avalanches, our new directive was never to engage them in close combat, you’d never win. Not that shooting them seems to work either, my bridge was breached by them and i shot one in the head with my pistol and it barley flinched, if it wasn’t for a guard with a blaster i would have been dead. Sadly that moment of saving my life cost him his own, he was hit my one of their weapons and his whole body evaporated. Not sure what is a worse way to die, being touched by one of these things or shot. This invasion is over, I’m ordering the retreat.

Captains Log 62. 2 months, that was all the time I bought while invading their space and once more they are on the offensive, consuming world after world and terraforming it so only they can live there. Trillions are now dead and how much further will they spread before they burn themselves out.

Captains Log 65. Our leaders are panicking, the surviving races are merging all their resources in some attempt to turn this tide. Our pleas of surrender and mercy go unanswered except for the usual response of the com screaming. But on some lighter note I go promoted to Admiral, my life long goal was achieved only because my predecessor shot himself when his homeworld was consumed by the Hoomans, his mate and youngling did not make it of world in time. They now expect me to win this war for them, I don’t know if I can but I am going to try.

Admirals Log 1, My first engagement as an Admiral with the race known as Hooman has ended in our utter defeat, we exited hyperspace right on top of them and they reacted as if they knew we were coming. Are these creatures just super fast or can they see the future? We retreated to Elixal Prime but my few remaining ships will not be enough to hold them off for long. I have already began evacuation but there are not enough ships, they will be here soon,

Admirals Log 5, Elixal Prime is lost, the moment the first of their hive ships arrived we had to abandon any hope of rescuing the population. I can only imagine what horrors they will face. We heard their screams over the com as we left.

Admirals Log 13. I have implemented a scorched earth policy, any world we cannot protect or have to retreat from is scorched to make sure they can’t use it. It will slow them at least.

Admirals Log.16 It did not stop or slow them, in fact it made terraforming the planet for themselves easier so we have abandoned that tactic.

Admirals Log 22. They are spreading faster now, faster than we can track them its like a damn has broken and their entire race is now searching for new worlds to consume. Do they eat their worlds? Is that why they are expanding? for food?

Admirals log 29 the Hoomans have conquered half the galaxy and there are too few of the surviving races with the ships to even try and stop them. Some are talking about surrender. How could we? These creatures are so deadly that even one setting foot on a planet spells disaster as if their whole body was made to house millions of viruses. My old friend was touched by one once, I’ll never forget what happened to him. His skin burned and fell off he bled form every part of his body, his screams, they still haunt me.

Admirals Log 40. Me and the other admirals have agreed that this war cannot be won, we have but one hope, all the survivors of the coalition have gathered in one system. There are only 50 billion left out of a population of thousands of trillions. But our scientists have built a war winning weapon, a huge beam cannon that can destroy fleets. It is very experimental as if uses the power oft he sun to fire. The plan is to use it to defend against the Hoomans in this system indefinitely, let them have the galaxy surely they will let us have one small system?

Admirals Log 50. I was wrong about the Hoomans letting us live here, because here they are, but there is only one hive ship just sitting there watching us. My ship is placed directly opposite it, Im sure i can take on one ship but I know, that silently out there, his friends are watching. Once more our coms go nuts, i turn it off, i have had enough of listening to the sounds of my comrades die over and over again. I open fire and before the munitions hit the Hooman hive ship turns and enters hyperspace. He’ll be back.

Admirals Log 60. The Hoomans are back and it seems they have brought their entire fleet with them, My fleet has over 5000 ships of varying classes and the new solar cannon we built. Just a little closer, i oder the cannon to fire and millions of miles behind my fleet the solar cannon unleashes the power of the sun at the Hoomans. Then…wait? No this is not possible the Hooman fleet is moving and a new kind of ship is taking the lead…it’s huge almost the size of a moon and it is moving to intercept the beam. The solar cannons beam hits the new hive ship but…it does not do what they said it would. It is supposed to destroy the ship then the beam jumps tot the nearest ship and destroys that one and so on. But the ship is…is…absorbing it? the light is dancing around the hive ship and then suddenly fires from the tip, oh no it’s heading for one of the planets! It hit the planet the solar cannon was orbiting and it erupts and breaks apart. 20 billion souls all gone in an instant. Screaming I order to open fire, all 5000 ships unleash our firepower at the Hoomans, with so many ships and so many targets it’s hard to miss. The battle last only an hour. 

Admiral’s log , We’ve lost, our final stand began an hour ago, 3 thousand ships gone, in an hour!!! How could such a race even exist? I sit here reading reports of what their world is like, no wonder they turned out like they did out of all the worlds in the galaxy this one has to be the most hostile one. I’m not going down without a fight though.

Admiral Efre grabbed his rifle and locked his log in the hopes that it might be found by someone who could read it and remember the struggle the galaxy went through. Perhaps in a couple of millennia when the Hoomans have died out. The Hoomans were cutting through the door now, his soldiers all got to their feet and readied their rifles. The pride he felt for them, even in their final moments they were defiant, even though there was nothing and no one left to save.

The door blasts open and we open fire, like before the Hoomans shrug off our shots like they were pebbles, a few go down but it doesnt stop the others. The run into us and…and? They’re not killing us By the Maker they want us alive! Are they going to eat us? One grabs me with its gloved hand and forces me to my knees alongside my soldiers and another enters like the others of it’s kind inside a sealed suit. It lowers itself to look me in the eye and raising a visor to show it’s face.

They’re disgusting, their faces…the proportions are all wrong and only two eyes? How could they see so well with only two eyes? The nose is pitiful in size I can only imagine how strong it was. And the skin, it looks wet like oil, is it acid?

Finally it speaks and the words put the chill of death into me.

“We were only trying to say hello”

[plotsandpromptsforall]

The Virus (Extended)

***Logs of the late Admiral Elfre”

Personal log 1. I got accepted into the coalition military only as a simple deck serf my main duties are cleaning the vents of vermin that somehow make it onto the ships and breed. I also run messages, it’s good exercise but most of the officers don’t even look at me, I’ll show them I’ll make admiral in not time.

Personal Log 6. After helping engineer Lopya with the engine after being stuck in dead space for nearly a week I was promoted to bridge officer, I mainly work the coms console but it is a step in the right direction, i cant wait. 

Personal Log 8. One of our explorer ships has found a new planet, this one is apparently unique and has all our scientists really excited. Not sure how it is unique because I always thought every world in the galaxy was unique but apparently this is one is special. My colleagues are talking about nothing else I might actually keep an eye on the com traffic to see what the fuss is about.

Personal Log 9. Well I read some of the com messages ( I know I’m not supposed to but curiosity got the better of me) and this new world everyone is going crazy over is apparently the only world which can truly be classified as a “Dead World”  But life is not only surviving apparently its thriving. They think their might be intelligent life there, even if the air is toxic and the plant life poisonous and Maker only knows what the animal life is like. I shudder to think of what could survive there.

Personal log 13. The explorer team has gone missing, they were researching a new animal that lived in huge hives and it is believed the creatures may have discovered them. Not sure how I thought they were using this new cloaking technology that makes them invisible? Could these creatures see through it?

Personal Log 14. Workload today was insane, more com traffic than ever, our fleet is being redirected. But on the bright side if I make a good impression the captain might put me on course for deck officer level 2? I can only hope.

Personal Log 16. I’m not sure if this is good or not but our fleet has been chosen to search for that research team that went missing, why we should when we are an explorer fleet not a military fleet. I mean, we only have  handful of actual soldiers on each ship, but then orders are orders.

Personal Log 17. I think I may have made a mistake, the captain wanted a coms officer to go and record to rescue and like an idiot I said I’d do it before I truly thought about it. I’m going to a “Dead world” to find people. I want to live long enough to have wife’s and spawns I don’t want to to go somewhere where i might die. Well I can’t back out now, at least Major Jesa gave me a handgun to use in  case.

Personal Log 18. We landed on the planet at the researchers last known location, we found their base, it was hidden inside one of the hills over looking a herd of fluffy animals that made off “Bahhhh” sounds as they saw us. They were not hostile luckily, we assumed they were prey animals, wee went off to complete our mission. We found one of the trackers the researchers use sot hey don’t get lost, it was badly broken so the log could not be accessed, we bagged it kept on.

Personal Log 19 The nights here are cold, really cold. We set up air tight tents so we did not have to sleep in our suits and even with the heaters we were all shivering. Private Getr joked this was worse than the time he fought against some snow like monsters on a world going through an ice age. i could tell he was not joking, i hate this place.

Personal Log 20. Private Getr’s suit was split yesterday, some plant that has spikes cut his suit and he died in moments, he never had a chance to even seal the split. A pair of his comrades volunteer to take him back to the shuttle and off they go, we are three men down. 

Personal Log 21. The rain, so much rain, I mean it’s not unusual for water to fall from the sky but this is just crazy, we all agree not to out today.

Personal Log 22. We saw the natives, or at least what we think are the most dominant natives here. There were three of them, small and running around in one of the fields playing I think, is that playing or were they fighting for dominance? they were quite small and talked to each other in odd clicking noises. Then the older appeared, far larger than their young, they appeared out of the trees not far from us, then one of them started sniffing the air, no way could they smell us could they? We quickly left before we were discovered. But not before we saw the Hive, it was larger than any city I have seen, how many of these creatures were there.

Personal Log 23. Finally some other sign of the research team, an tent, only one but it’s a sign. We call inside but there is no answer, we slowly make our way inside and find what we feared we would.  A body, His skin was the same as privates Getr’s when his suit split, he was holding a note though all it said was. “Run!”

Personal Log 27. Well I’m glad that’s over with and i can get back to my life, that world is now off limits to everyone now and is under strict quarantine level 10. The first planet to get that level. They even named it Kila, apparently it means death in one of languages spoken in the coalition.   

Personal Log 30. Since my mission to Kila I have gain more responsibility and just yesterday they are giving me my own ship!! It’s only a snall support ship with a few hundred crew but I’m excited. Captain Elfre, i like the sound of that.

Captains Log 36. I’M BORED!!!! This support ship gets almost no mission, all we do is patrol and help the larger ships move into formation, I want a bigger ship!!!! Or at least something to break the boredom.

Captains Log 38. A whole quarantine fleet went missing a couple of days ago, I instantly knew which one before i even heard the planets name, it was Kila. By the Maker have they made it off the that planet? More fleet are being directed and we are on standby if we are needed. I have a feeling we will be.

Captains Log 40. We are needed, the fleet is heading to the quarantine Kila zone.

Captains Log 41. The quarantine is breached the creatures have built ships and a lot of them, these hive ships were scanned and found our own technology on board. They are using our warp drives, did they figure out of they were built? How? Are these things sentient? We take up position to bar their path and we simply stare at each other, we send message after message to try and open a dialog but there is no response. Then over all our coms, a noise like screaming, is that Getr? Are they in my head? Only one word is truly heard. Hooman, our enemy has a name.  The Admiral orders us to open fire and we unleash our weapons upon them, huge pulse cannons and missiles with enough yield to scorch a planet. Nearly all miss. How could they miss and those that hit seemed to only cause minimal damage. Wait are..their ships healing themselves? We scramble to reload and open fire again but the Hoomans fore first, we don’t recognize what kind of weapons they are using but they cut right through our armor, the flagship goes down having been hit by three separate enemy ships. The other captains are screaming orders or trying to regain some kind of control, I shout over the coms that I cam taking command and order the retreat. The war against the Hoomans, has begun.

Captains Log 50. The Hoomans are spreading and spreading fast, every engagement is the same, they break into real space, our coms go haywire and our fleet gets wiped out. We need a different strategy.

Captains Log 54. I have been given command of a new battleship, it is to be the new flagship of a invasion force into Hooman space. Our scientist have theorized that the Hoomans work on a hive mind command structure and if we wipe out the their main hive world Kila the rest will fall into chaos. I don’t know how they can know that as to my mind no Hooman has been captured alive or dead. But I am eager to go on the offensive for once.

Captains Log 55. Our first victory!!! We engaged the Hoomans on the edge of their space and wiped them out, we left the planet as we needed to save our resources for the homeworld but it felt good to drop a few nukes down there. We can do this, we can win!!

Captains Log 57. The Hoomans never seem to run out of ships, we have assembled the largest fleet in the galaxy and that has got their attention, their advance into our space has halted. I have their complete attention, and that terrifies me.

Captains Log 58. We lost half our ships in the last battle and the flagship is heavily damaged we have taken refuge in an asteroid belt to make repairs but the Hoomans are looking for us. They always know where to find us, they always know.

Captains Log 60. I can only engage the Homans one more time before I have to retreat and i am nowhere near their homeworld of Kila, they always seem to have more ships. The last engagement were boarded by them, I have seen every kind of species in the galaxy and we are all different, some are fast, some are strong, some are smart and so on. But never have I seen a race like them. They only have two arms and two legs which is the lowest number of any rce and it seems to work to their advantage. I saw on the security cameras our soldiers fight them in hand to hand and the Hoomans just danced around them. They moved like water and hit like avalanches, our new directive was never to engage them in close combat, you’d never win. Not that shooting them seems to work either, my bridge was breached by them and i shot one in the head with my pistol and it barley flinched, if it wasn’t for a guard with a blaster i would have been dead. Sadly that moment of saving my life cost him his own, he was hit my one of their weapons and his whole body evaporated. Not sure what is a worse way to die, being touched by one of these things or shot. This invasion is over, I’m ordering the retreat.

Captains Log 62. 2 months, that was all the time I bought while invading their space and once more they are on the offensive, consuming world after world and terraforming it so only they can live there. Trillions are now dead and how much further will they spread before they burn themselves out.

Captains Log 65. Our leaders are panicking, the surviving races are merging all their resources in some attempt to turn this tide. Our pleas of surrender and mercy go unanswered except for the usual response of the com screaming. But on some lighter note I go promoted to Admiral, my life long goal was achieved only because my predecessor shot himself when his homeworld was consumed by the Hoomans, his mate and youngling did not make it of world in time. They now expect me to win this war for them, I don’t know if I can but I am going to try.

Admirals Log 1, My first engagement as an Admiral with the race known as Hooman has ended in our utter defeat, we exited hyperspace right on top of them and they reacted as if they knew we were coming. Are these creatures just super fast or can they see the future? We retreated to Elixal Prime but my few remaining ships will not be enough to hold them off for long. I have already began evacuation but there are not enough ships, they will be here soon,

Admirals Log 5, Elixal Prime is lost, the moment the first of their hive ships arrived we had to abandon any hope of rescuing the population. I can only imagine what horrors they will face. We heard their screams over the com as we left.

Admirals Log 13. I have implemented a scorched earth policy, any world we cannot protect or have to retreat from is scorched to make sure they can’t use it. It will slow them at least.

Admirals Log.16 It did not stop or slow them, in fact it made terraforming the planet for themselves easier so we have abandoned that tactic.

Admirals Log 22. They are spreading faster now, faster than we can track them its like a damn has broken and their entire race is now searching for new worlds to consume. Do they eat their worlds? Is that why they are expanding? for food?

Admirals log 29 the Hoomans have conquered half the galaxy and there are too few of the surviving races with the ships to even try and stop them. Some are talking about surrender. How could we? These creatures are so deadly that even one setting foot on a planet spells disaster as if their whole body was made to house millions of viruses. My old friend was touched by one once, I’ll never forget what happened to him. His skin burned and fell off he bled form every part of his body, his screams, they still haunt me.

Admirals Log 40. Me and the other admirals have agreed that this war cannot be won, we have but one hope, all the survivors of the coalition have gathered in one system. There are only 50 billion left out of a population of thousands of trillions. But our scientists have built a war winning weapon, a huge beam cannon that can destroy fleets. It is very experimental as if uses the power oft he sun to fire. The plan is to use it to defend against the Hoomans in this system indefinitely, let them have the galaxy surely they will let us have one small system?

Admirals Log 50. I was wrong about the Hoomans letting us live here, because here they are, but there is only one hive ship just sitting there watching us. My ship is placed directly opposite it, Im sure i can take on one ship but I know, that silently out there, his friends are watching. Once more our coms go nuts, i turn it off, i have had enough of listening to the sounds of my comrades die over and over again. I open fire and before the munitions hit the Hooman hive ship turns and enters hyperspace. He’ll be back.

Admirals Log 60. The Hoomans are back and it seems they have brought their entire fleet with them, My fleet has over 5000 ships of varying classes and the new solar cannon we built. Just a little closer, i oder the cannon to fire and millions of miles behind my fleet the solar cannon unleashes the power of the sun at the Hoomans. Then…wait? No this is not possible the Hooman fleet is moving and a new kind of ship is taking the lead…it’s huge almost the size of a moon and it is moving to intercept the beam. The solar cannons beam hits the new hive ship but…it does not do what they said it would. It is supposed to destroy the ship then the beam jumps tot the nearest ship and destroys that one and so on. But the ship is…is…absorbing it? the light is dancing around the hive ship and then suddenly fires from the tip, oh no it’s heading for one of the planets! It hit the planet the solar cannon was orbiting and it erupts and breaks apart. 20 billion souls all gone in an instant. Screaming I order to open fire, all 5000 ships unleash our firepower at the Hoomans, with so many ships and so many targets it’s hard to miss. The battle last only an hour. 

Admiral’s log , We’ve lost, our final stand began an hour ago, 3 thousand ships gone, in an hour!!! How could such a race even exist? I sit here reading reports of what their world is like, no wonder they turned out like they did out of all the worlds in the galaxy this one has to be the most hostile one. I’m not going down without a fight though.

Admiral Efre grabbed his rifle and locked his log in the hopes that it might be found by someone who could read it and remember the struggle the galaxy went through. Perhaps in a couple of millennia when the Hoomans have died out. The Hoomans were cutting through the door now, his soldiers all got to their feet and readied their rifles. The pride he felt for them, even in their final moments they were defiant, even though there was nothing and no one left to save.

The door blasts open and we open fire, like before the Hoomans shrug off our shots like they were pebbles, a few go down but it doesnt stop the others. The run into us and…and? They’re not killing us By the Maker they want us alive! Are they going to eat us? One grabs me with its gloved hand and forces me to my knees alongside my soldiers and another enters like the others of it’s kind inside a sealed suit. It lowers itself to look me in the eye and raising a visor to show it’s face.

They’re disgusting, their faces…the proportions are all wrong and only two eyes? How could they see so well with only two eyes? The nose is pitiful in size I can only imagine how strong it was. And the skin, it looks wet like oil, is it acid?

Finally it speaks and the words put the chill of death into me.

“We were only trying to say hello”

[emalynde]

D&D Soap Opera Synopsis 9/10: Emalynde Edition

((The following is the report “required” of Emalynde, a courtesan/contracted intelligencer, for lead intelligence agent Thalandril Van’drys--her lover and Chelyse’s now rather estranged lifemate.  Emalynde is well aware that the secretary who requested the “official document” simply wants a sordid play-by-play of her adventure and that any guise that the record is necessary is just that--a guise. This entry starts at the fourth day’s account, the prior three chronicling her journey from Evermeet to the Fae Wilds to Nexus City, then several days spent in the company of Savid Velikov.  Jhanys, the receptionist in question, is positively enamored with the giant dusk elf.))

DAY FOUR: It was this day that I met the remainder of the group in question, namely the House Dawnbloom’s youngest children and their sha’quessir, along with a rather pretty human.  We broke our fasts together whilst planning to attend some sort of festivity.  You would not believe the sheer variety of creatures that occupy the region, Jhanys.  For instance, the pretty human threw mashed potatoes at this group of young elves and the plate happened to belong to a fire giant seated nearby, who was none-too-pleased at the use of his breakfast as a projectile.  The beast was the largest sentient being I’ve ever seen! I must admit to having giggled, but apparently it caused somewhat of a fuss.  The enormous creature thought it purchased the human?  I think?  I could not understand the exchange.  Speaking only elvish in this sea of species was rather limiting.  Either way, Chelyse was forced to intervene, which was likely quite necessary at that point.  Slavery is such an awful thing, and a rather enormous miscommunication to have.  The brute actually listened to her, though.  After that, your darling Savid and the youngest Dawnbloom, Adryssa, decided that the three of us needed new attire for the occasion.  Although the lot of them were wildly unprepared to attend such a celebration.  They had not even secured tickets!  And it was for the very same evening!

Wilson, the guild’s doorman of sorts--perhaps butler is a better term?--refused to permit me entry into the evidence room to secure the copy of the invitation we needed.  The idea was to produce enough to gain admission to the gala.  The man was veritably immune to my charms, which is ever so vexing, as you might imagine.  Adryssa was able to secure entrance, as she was a guild member, and we found out that the document in question had been checked out by one Ricatavio.  The girl knew him, so we paid the man a visit.  I shall have to take you on my next trip, Jhanys, as this Ricatavio was no man, but an eladrin.  Positively beautiful.  You would have adored him.  His cheekiness rivals your own.  And he is lovelier than I, if such a thing were possible. Unfortunately, and I am still unsure how, the eladrin knew of my identity as well as my association with Thalandril.  There were a few frightening moments in which I thought myself compromised, but he only wished to be privy to Thalandril’s information on Evermeet.  Can you imagine?  By Hanali.  Of course, I gave him nothing.  Betraying Thalandril would be my last action in this life--either he would have my head should I speak or I would lay down my own life rather than surrender his.  In order to attain the mentioned invitations, we had to reach an agreement as to the trade of information--but it is only at Thalandril’s whim.  Yes, I have already discussed the details with him.  No, you needn’t any paperwork on it; it’s off the books. You shall be happy to know that I sated your curiosity.  Not only did my abilities have no effect on Ricatavio in the least, but he desired my companionship despite my failed charms.  He agreed to make the invitations, but that I should also bed him.  The notion was premised on the fact that Thalandril must keep me around for some purpose, which I only assume was intended to be a slight to my skill of reconnaissance.  Not that I could contest as much at that point, but I had no qualms putting the eladrin in his place within the bedroom.  The only complication was that the poor Dawnbloom child got entangled in some sort of bondage device of Ricatavio’s whilst looking about.  He freed her, after having a laugh, and bade her return in several hours for the mentioned invitations. ((Emalynde gives a detailed account of her rendezvous with Ricatavio, sparing Jhanys, who often lives vicariously through the redheaded enchantress, no detail.  Think middle-aged, sassy secretary who’s into ‘Magic Mike’ and might be dealing with a mid-life crisis.))  I might have actually expanded my repertoire--with the eladrin’s help.  So Savid will have to be only one on your list of pursuits within Nexus, Jhanys.  I do highly recommend him, although be wary of the biting wit and general condescension.  Ricatavio thinks quite highly of himself, but his animal companion, a great beast of a cat, will happily put him back in his place for you if need be.  Mr. Kittums might be the only individual that can curb the eladrin’s narcissism. We decided to have Chelyse and her dusk elf consort secure the invitations when the ranger had finished with them, so that the three of us--Savid, Adryssa, and myself--could find something to wear.  At breakfast, we had discussed the need for Adryssa to find a date to the engagement, as she witnessed Savid request my company for the evening.  We took her flying carriage--although think of it as the metallic union of a wagon and a boat--that’s apparently powered by a fire elemental.  I am unsure why the elementals remained caged thusly, but perhaps I am not privy to the agreements reached.  Or perhaps the world works differently here than in Evermeet. The ride was exhilarating.  Have you ever flown?  We soared about the city and the view was absolutely breathtaking.  Everything is so much more varied in design and architecture here than Evermeet, where the uniformity and elegance of our fair city are key.  We soon arrived at the home of whomever Adryssa wished to take to the evening’s activity--a rather artistic area of town.  I jest you not, Jhanys, the individual in question was a demon!  The spawn of one, at least.  If my education serves, the race is referred to as Tieflings?  House Dawnbloom would be devastated to know that their youngest progeny was consorting with such creatures, much less on a romantic level.  I wonder if Thalandril plans to utilize that knowledge to his ends.  T’would not surprise me.

Although I could understand nothing that was said unless Savid chose to translate, Temerity--as she was called--seemed peaceful enough.  I must admit to being rather wary, but neither your darling Savid, nor Adryssa, seemed to bat an eye at the presence of such a being.  It--or she, I should say--appeared to be an artist, rather morbidly erotic paintings displayed throughout.  The shop itself reminded me of a vampyr’s residence: all blood-colored velvet contrasted with black accents and furnishings.  The same coloring as the tiefling, now that I think about it.  But I digress.  Judging by facial expression and body language, the tiefling assented to attend alongside Adryssa.    We then ventured to the Dawnbloom girl’s shop, as she designs and tailors attire through the use of fabrication magic--or so she explained to me.  The girl had requested that Savid and I showcase her newest line at the dance to spread awareness of her wizarding brand.  We, of course, assented.  Oh!  I do hope you enjoyed the dress I promised you from Lamruil Teth’Sol, on the subject of custom-made garments.  Please let Thalandril know if you’ve any trouble using my name on the order.  But no matter, I must admit that the child is rather talented; I’ll be sure to show you the gown she created next time I stop by the office.  If it does not drop your jaw, and at least Dellanor’s trousers, I will owe you dinner.  Agreed? But I am sure you’re much more concerned with Savid’s attire.  He always wears these fitted, leather pants that I am sure need no further description.  His shirt was partially sheer, resulting in more clothing than the enormous elf normally wears, seeing as his rule of thumb is typically to only don what I dare say is the same, singular pair of trousers.  The giant of an elf was disappointed that our garments did not match, but the Temerity woman wished to wear leather and so I, of course, could not.  After Adryssa created the appropriate accessories to accompany her work, we relocated to the brand’s atelier to ready ourselves for the evening.  You would giggle.  Savid spends more time at the mirror than I do.  I was forced to apply my make-up in a side mirror as he would not share the prominent dressing one. At the designated time, we met the remainder of the group at the location specified upon the invitations, information that Kasimir relayed to the little Dawnbloom girl through the use of their magical talents.  The venue was atop a looming tower, but built of stone and masonry.  It was so drab and lifeless compared to Evermeet’s living structures wrought of crystalline sharding and trees.  Rowhouses dotted the rooftop--and we knew not where to enter until Adryssa alerted the lot of us to an invisible doorman he managed to spy.  It was really rather fascinating, although the entity also was revealed to be a horned devil, so I was wise in remaining close to Savid’s side.  I gave my ticket to the dusk elf to offer up in my stead and the parchment sizzled to a crisp as it was proffered toward the empty space where it supposedly stood. I was confused as we filed through, one by one, into the foyer.  It was entirely empty--no patrons, no drinking, no music.  Nothing at all.  I think it was Savid who noticed it, but there seemed to be some sort of film over the far end of the hallway.  He stepped right into it without a second thought--and since our hands were entwined, the barbarian pulled me right along with him.  It was only after passing through that barrier that the area came to life.  Jhanys, it was like nothing I had ever seen.  The room was black but illuminated somehow; colors seemed to glow and were bright in a manner that I have never witnessed.  Attendees had bands of these glowing, bright-colored lights about their bodies and some brought around trays of little pebble-looking edibles.   Savid took one of the morsels, as did the pretty human.  Maybe he had two; I cannot recall.  Each became somewhat... intoxicated.  That is the closest I can describe their resulting behavior; it seemed as if they were enjoying themselves much more than they were only seconds prior.  Temerity and Adryssa began dancing, and so Savid drew me into the crowd along with them.  You know I can never pass up an opportunity to showcase my talents, and so I gave those gathered an exhibition of my many years of practice in the art.  For as large as he is and despite his condition, the dusk elf was rather nimble.  He managed to keep up with me and even could halfway engage in several of the movements native to Evermeet.  I was mildly impressed.   We whiled away the evening dancing, mostly.  The masses moved together to the music playing, almost as if they were flowers swaying in a breeze.  It was hypnotizing.  I think the scholar and paladin--along with the tiny one--went to investigate something during our frolicking.  I am unsure.  Perhaps they desired the more quiet seating upstairs.  Nevertheless, our festivities ended somewhat abruptly when a pair of those devil spawned creatures let their gazes linger on my person.  Apparently, Savid thought the duration too long and became defensive.  He confronted one, but it was more physical than verbal.  He just slapped the creature right across the face, knocking the tiefling to the ground.  It was certainly uncalled for.  Utterly so.  But I could not reason with Savid; he would not listen, despite my pleadings.   I finally goaded him back to Adryssa and Temerity, but the other sharply-dressed ndividual approached after several moments.  Just as I calmed the giant of an elf, as luck would have it.  Whatever he ingested was doing nothing to temper his emotions.  In fact, I am quite certain it exacerbated them.  The individual’s boss wished to see him, Savid translated.  The request set off numerous red flags, but the barbarian sauntered off all the same.  I accompanied him to hold the dusk elf in check, as did the pretty human.  We were led to the chambers of some two-headed beast, Jhanys.  Both heads spoke and it even wore a little jacket.  It wasn’t quite as big as the fire giant from that morning, but it looked surlier.  The brute asked to purchase me, which--as you can imagine--sent your sweet Savid right into another fit. Thank Hanali for the effectiveness of my spells that day.  Blowing a sweet scent to intoxicate the ettin, he no longer posed a threat and I summarily coaxed Savid from the place.  We had no business there, not with creatures of such a sort--and I wished for us to be free of conflict.  Such a concept was not in our immediate future, it seemed, as Savid--and I do apologize for the graphic nature of this, my friend--smashed the head of the remaining tiefling guard against the wall as we passed.  Without provocation.  I have never feared for my wellbeing more than at that moment.  Our fair city sees little violence, if any at all, and I have been privileged to lead a passive, carefree existence.  I was not prepared to watch a man die that day. After watching a creature’s snuff out like a sputtering flame, it was necessary to retreat and reflect on the situation I had put myself in.   I sat upstairs at one of the tables where some aristocrats seemed to be mingling.  Thalandril would be livid with me when he discovered the degree of danger I was immersed in.   The barkeep came over to assumedly offer a beverage, but we could not communicate, so he left.  Savid, of whom I was certainly tentative at this point, sat down with me, bringing two bottles of what I assumed to be wine.  He drank one as if it were naught but water, but he became sick soon into his drink and I was forced to cry out for Kasimir as the enormous elf became startlingly pale.  The paladin accompanied him and veritably saved Savid’s life.  You have Corellon to thank for your dusk elf, Jhanys.  Chelyse requested that I stay and watch him, as they were embroiled in trouble of their own, but Savid would not have it.  He said he could not protect me in his state and thus the paladin insisted that stay safely in her company.  I did not argue. Kasimir and Chelyse hefted the enormous elf’s weight between them and to another corridor, where the others were waiting amid a rather grisly scene.  Forms lay splayed upon the floor like morbid decoration--hooded and menacing, but unmoving.  Apparently there had been some sort of disagreement or fight.  I knew not.  And had no need or desire to know more than what I did.  A creature with the head of a serpent was bound nearby, an unsettling sight by all interpretations of the term.  I stayed near Savid, who had been sat within a plush armchair, as the adventuring party investigated the premises, which looked to me to be some sort of office.  They were not conversing in elvish, so I knew not of which they spoke.  But everyone looked stoic, intent in their current tasks.  I worried as to what we might have stumbled upon. Suddenly, Chelyse began speaking aloud in our tongue, communicating with Adryssa from what I could tell.  She and Temerity had been left downstairs during all the commotion and at some point, the club itself had detached from where we were currently.  Some sort of dimensional door, given that the youngest Dawnbloom reported being in an entirely different part of the city now.  The paladin instructed the pair to be careful and to meet us back at the guild hall.  The festivities were obviously over.  Someone slung the snakeman over a shoulder and we returned to the group’s home.  Thankfully, Adryssa and the devil girl were well, having been spared both confrontations.   They wished to continue their celebrations, a notion that I could not argue with as I required a rather stiff drink at this point.  But not before Adryssa pulled me aside and informed me that not only had she watched Ricatavio and myself make love previously, but that she somehow reported to Thalandril--through some ungodly means--the aforementioned liaison and was concerned that the eladrin and myself were plotting against Evermeet?   It was then I knew my fate was sealed.  Savid also moved over to interrupt her, apologizing for his violent outbursts, citing the influence of the substances he ingested.  I was so overcome with the Dawnbloom girl’s news that I couldn’t even afford much attention to the giant elf, nodding at him blankly.  It was only because she mentioned that you had expressed your regards that I knew Thalandril would not disown me as soon as I stepped back into Evermeet. We did go out on the town soon enough, to a smaller establishment that felt much like those taverns near the harbor.  Knowing it was my last night in Nexus, I did drink rather heavily, spending the last hours of the day dancing with Savid and even managing to get Kasimir on his feet.  It was a concerted effort, I shalln’t take all the credit.  Savid made for Chelyse, encouraging her to take the floor with him, whilst I plied my admittedly drunken wiles on the scholar.  He was amused, if only just so, and acquiesced to my insistence--but likely only because Chelyse had been swept up with the barbarian.  When the number was finished, Savid and I made use of the coat closet before being corralled home by the paladin, who apparently plays the part of mother hen for the group. I would be remiss to not mention that apparently the demon girl and Adryssa expressed their intent to bind.  The House Dawnbloom shall go up in a sea of flames should the Senator become aware of this ordeal, to be sure.  How the pair shall manage to successfully engage in such a union is both beyond me and none of my business.  Lineage is such a touchy subject with the nobles.  I left Savid in his room upon our return--as he was likely exhausted and still recovering from the day’s events--and went to secure any loose ends with Ricatavio.  It was perhaps 2 or 3 in the morning, but it was necessary to be sure of our arrangements lest I anger Thalandril additionally by being sloppy in my dealings. The eladrin answered the door in suited sleepwear decorated with tiny renditions of his saber-toothed cat.  Of course, my inebriated self was very much bemused by the sight.  It did not take long to review the parameters of our agreement, but it was a necessary step.  Such matters cannot be treated lightly.  As I was about to leave, Ricatavio casually mentioned that he wished to share my bed once more, citing the fact that we might as well given that I had woken him, but the great feline forbade as much.  Tickled that Mr. Kittums dictated Ricatavio’s partners, I ultimately did as I pleased if for no other reason than to spite the great cat.  ‘No’ is a word I hardly know the meaning of.  I was surprised, following our intimacy, to learn that the ranger preferred the company of men.  But apparently not when superior skills are in play, it would seem.   Having only a few hours until the conch-like craft arrived, the vehicle that was to carry me back to Evermeet, I wrote your dusk elf a quick note before gathering my things.  I probably should have bid him farewell in a more personable manner, but I had not the courage for it.  I was worried about Thalandril’s reaction, now that he was aware of my excursion, and was still somewhat uneasy around the enormous dusk elf.  My trip home was much less uneventful than the journey there.  I did not see the herd of centaur that had ferried me to the Fae Wilds’ guild hall initially, which was a disappointment.  They were such interesting companions; I should have liked to learn more about them. I hope you enjoyed the tale, my friend, although next time you wish for such a telling, you needn’t disguise it as a statement mandated by the agency.  I would be happy to tell you whatever you wished of my adventures, if you should just ask.  Even the torrid bits.  Especially the torrid bits.  If you’re reading this at the office, give Thalandril my love and I will not forget to include you on my next journey to Nexus, should such an endeavor occur.  I will most certainly put in a good word for you with Savid, I promise.  

[adstoppi]

Back in 2008, Rolando was something of a revelation. Before mobile had firmly cemented itself as a viable platform for games, there was a colorful and charming puzzle adventure that felt perfectly at home on your iPhone. It wasn’t just a great mobile game; it was a great game, period. The original Rolando spawned a sequel and plenty of imitators, but in 2017, it disappeared, a victim of the great iOS migration from 32-bit to 64-bit apps.

Late last year, developer Hand Circus got the rights back to the franchise from its original publisher, and it started thinking about the best way to bring Rolando to modern players. “There were so many options: the most straightforward path would have been to just put it back in the store as-is,” says director Simon Oliver. “As our debut title, it’s a really important game to us as a studio. So we decided to invest time modernizing the game and applying everything that we’ve learned about mobile in the last 10 years.”

The result is Rolando: Royal Edition, which is out now on iOS. It’s essentially a ground-up overhaul of the original game. The core gameplay is the same: in each level, you guide a group of sentient balls called rolandos through a twisting maze. You use your iPhone’s motion-sensing capabilities to roll the balls through the level, and you tap the screen to make them jump. There are all sorts of twists that crop up as you progress — like oil slicks and special royal balls — and it’s just as fun today as it was a decade ago.

If you played the original, the game feels very familiar, so much so that you might miss some of the changes. “A big thing we found when rereleasing the game was that you are competing not with the game as it was, but how it was remembered, and nostalgia is a powerful force,” explains Oliver. The most obvious change is the visuals. The flat world has been given a three-dimensional depth and a lot more detail. The backgrounds shift as you move about, creating the illusion of a much bigger space. There’s also a completely revised interface, and the story has been redone to give the rolling rolandos more personality.

“On the design side, one of our main objectives was to tighten up the controls and physics to make it feel snappier and more responsive,” says Oliver. “While the original game remained super fun to play and the core mechanics were solid, at times, it felt a little slow. While showing the original to friends, many assumed it was running at half-speed. Tuning the game remained a delicate task, though. Obviously, you don’t want to mess too much with the physics of a platform game, or you might end up having to redesign huge chunks of the game.”

The post The triumphant return of Rolando, one of the first hit iPhone games appeared first on Adstoppi.