EliteCommander

The Eye of the Needle (where Fantasy and Sci-fi collide)

@EliteCommander

A fair point, to save both of us any grief. I was thinking of going with my original idea. And go with a faction/race that are mostly assassins or are skilled in covert ops. I was thinking their whole culture would be based around jesters and or clowns. I'm unsure If they should be knowledgeable in magic, or are more tech focused. But they could be other professions to try and fit into being part of the crew. So my character specifically could be the bartender or maybe part of security.

@Eviledd1984

To clarify, the Jotunheim and her crew are Humans from Earth. There is no magic in their universe, and they've only encountered one other alien species. All of the other playable races are natives of Kanth-Aremek. They are a late-medieval society which has discovered magic in the last few centuries. The Jotunheim is about to (unintentionally) cross over to their universe.

The Eye of the Needle (where Fantasy and Sci-fi collide)

@Catharyn

I am interested in joining this roleplay. I just had a few questions, firstly would we be able to create our race to be a part of the crew? Secondly would an undead character more specifically a skeleton be able to join the crew?

@Eviledd1984

You can create a character who is a native of Kanth-Aremek. They wouldn't start out being associated with the Jotunheim's crew, naturally (The Jotunheim is only just about to cross over into their world).

We are early enough in the story that I am fine with people creating their own custom race. The major political powers on the continent are set in stone, but it is established that there are multiple smaller nations and other factions. Unfortunately, though, being an undead, or any thinking magical construct, is something that would be particularly difficult to integrate into the story. Kanth-Aremek, for most of its history, has been "normal". There was no magic or anything supernatural. Magic became known to the world a few centuries ago, and fully-conscious undead are not something that works easily with the magic as I have written it. At least, not in a way that isn't very exceptional. One could use Force magic to "animate" a construct, and Thought magic to give it a simple mind (emphasis on simple). To be able to create a fully thinking mind is a kind of power that I am not sure I would wish to be possible. And if it was, there would probably be exactly one person on KA who would be powerful enough to accomplish it.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

There is just one more scene for me, I think. Everything else is being tied up well.

The Eye of the Needle (where Fantasy and Sci-fi collide)

For Kareet especially Shirik’s decisive attack was blinding. Her eyes were well-adjusted to the dark, so the fireball had her turning her head and covering her eyes. She blinked a few times when the light finally subsided, then squinted as she tried to get a good view of the aftermath. Right before the fireball had come down, the Glen had taken a hard hit from the beast. At the very least, that had launched him clear of the blaze. After a few moments, he finally came into view for her. He had been knocked up against a nearby tree, but he was still moving. Still alive.

Kareet stumbled forward carefully. She still felt half-blind, but she could navigate well enough. However, she was halfway to the Glen when she heard yet another, enraged screech from the direction of what should have been the creature’s corpse. How could it be anything except dead? A fireball like that, right after being frozen? There was nothing alive that could survive that kind of thermal shock. Anything less than death was impossible. Unthinkable. Yet, when she turned her head, she would not deny feeling terrified when she saw the body moving.

Fortunately, it seemed the universe was taking at least some mercy on them when she saw the state the creature was in. The freezing and heating had torn its hide apart across much of its upper body, allowing its insides to be burned to its core. There were some traces of dark green blood, but much of what she could see on half its body was charred beyond recognition. One of its arms was simply gone, while with the other was desperately trying to pull it towards Kareet. It shrieked and tried to snap its remaining mandible at her, though made little progress with either.

“Oh, come on.” Kareet grunted. She reached back and slid her hammer back into her backpack. Now that she had the time to do so, she traced a few signs in the air, then extended both hands forward as the feathers on her arm started to stand up from the static. There were a few small arcs of electricity between her hands and the creature, which, after a moment, erupted into a sustained storm of lightning focused squarely on its head. With its hide no longer protecting it, the electricity was able to have far more of an effect. She kept it up until the beast finally stopped moving. Still, for this thing to have had any life in it after being hit with such power…there was no animal she knew of that could possibly fit its description.

“Just…stay dead.” Kareet muttered at the creature’s corpse before turning her head to the others. “You, Glen. How hurt are you? Can you speak? Can you move?”

The Eye of the Needle (where Fantasy and Sci-fi collide)

The intense cold that struck at the creature’s core was rather immediately effective against it. Its scream this time seemed to be one of pain. It stumbled forward, half-collapsing in front of J’eon. Even without eyes, the way its body shifted towards him felt like it was glaring down upon the Glen.

From the start, Kareet had not wanted to get involved in a fight, but now that she was committed to being here, it was her training that quickly took over. It was easy to identify the exceptionally quick, and equally precise movements of a trained war caster. She could manage to mix in spellcasting seamlessly into swings, parries, or in this case, a throw. As she reared her hammer back, she moved two fingers along its haft at just the right angle and speed to imbue it with an electric charge.

The hammer came flying in, magnetically guided and accelerated, over the Glen to slam straight into the front of the creature’s head. The hard, sharp mandibles had been frozen to the point of becoming brittle, and so the one the hammer struck shattered upon impact, followed by a discharge of lightning all down its head and neck. The electricity only heated small, concentrated areas, but in the places it affected, it seemed the otherwise tough hide did not fare well through such rapid swings between cooling and heating. The hide actually appeared to be cracking in places.

“Hit it hard, all together!” Kareet shouted as her hammer flew back into her hand.

The creature, however, would not be stunned forever. With as massive as it was, J’eon’s spell had only affected part of its body so far, and the Glen had not yet ran, so he was still within its reach. With a roar, it made a powerful backhanded swing of its massive arm straight at J’eon.

The Eye of the Needle (where Fantasy and Sci-fi collide)

J’eon’s spear was well-aimed as the creature charged. Even as the beast tried to maneuver around it, the spearhead did manage to connect on the side of its head, piercing and burning its flesh. However, J’eon would immediately notice just how tough its hide really was. Even with a good thrust, the spearhead only partially pierced into its head. With even more force, he might have been able to do more, but the hide put up enough resistance that the creature was able to jerk its head back before the spear could push deeper. At the very least, it had forced the creature to step back so it could not trample the Glen right away. Still, this creature was both absolutely massive and dangerously close. A single, solid hit from it could easily kill.

Bizarrely, the creature’s overwhelming aggression did not seem to subside in the slightest. Fire was generally a powerful deterrent to wild animals. Merely by showing it, Heat mages could often go undisturbed in the wilderness, which made this creature’s apparent indifference to it all the more unusual.

As soon as they had come upon the scene, Shirik had decided to get involved, which meant Kareet had to make that choice as well. The last thing she needed right now was for Shirik to be hurt. She reached back and, with a brief motion, formed a magnetic link between her hand and the weapon stowed away in her backpack. With a thought, the connection strengthened and her war hammer magnetized into her hand. Though, she did not move any closer for the moment. Instead, she breathed out, pointing her hammer’s head at the creature as she ran her fingers down the metal haft. An electric charge built and amplified through the metal, and when she finally flicked her hand away, it all discharged at once, sending a bolt of lightning straight at her target. It lasted but an instant and was accompanied by a crack of thunder.

The bolt struck the creature’s raised hand and sent a shock through its body…though the effect was much less than Kareet had hoped. Its flesh was blackened on the point of impact, but not burned as much as Kareet would have expected. The best she could say at the moment was that she had hurt it enough to interrupt its attack and give the Glen more of a chance to evade.

The Cradle

Nirann let out a quick laugh. “I would just like to say, I think that robotic avatars are quite useful. We’ve got all sorts of features we can pack into them.”

“Regardless, if they can make their mobility suits compatible with the holographic disguises, then there is no problem.” Vreta spoke up quickly. He was quite familiar with this particular technology, so he could explain offhand what they would need to keep in mind in order to use it effectively. “I suppose I should go ahead an explain to everyone how it works. The device projects a weak energy shield along the outside of the hologram in order to allow you to mimic physically interacting with the world with the holographic body, even if it has a very different body shape than yourself. However, there are some limitations to keep in mind. Like I mentioned before, if you have a very different way of moving through the world than what you are imitating, then the illusion will not be able to convincingly replicate that. It can imitate things smaller than you, but you can’t be too much larger than the subject. Also, the space between your body and the energy shield needs to be kept clear of anything that moves around freely that can disrupt the hologram. Avoid loose clothing, and if you have hair, make sure it is restrained. At a reduced size, we could have the device treat a Qalian-Vosh mobility suit as if it were your skin, just make sure it does not…fluctuate too much.”

The Eye of the Needle (where Fantasy and Sci-fi collide)

To J’eon, there were no sounds that would hint at creatures from other directions, only to the front. Though, for what finally emerged from the forest, it was frankly surprising that it had managed to get as close as it had without notice. This creature was massive, almost double J’eon’s height. It vaguely resembled some kind of giant insect, but it was quite unlike any animal he would have ever seen. It had no eyes that could be observed, yet it was quite obviously aware of J’eon’s location, with the way it seemed to stare him down. Its behavior also felt strange for an animal. If it was a predator hunting prey, it would not be screeching the moment it sensed its quarry. Whatever it was, though, it made its intentions quite unmistakable. It clicked its mandibles together, then let out another shriek as it came barreling straight at him, seemingly enraged.

---

Yet again, the shriek was plainly audible to Kareet and Shirik. It was just a bit closer than before, as their path seemed to be taking them towards it. Kareet, on her part, was starting to look more and more annoyed at the fact that she could not recognize the sound. “Okay, that’s the second time we’ve heard that. I will be honest, I don’t recognize it. Have you ever heard anything like it?” She asked.

The Cradle

Vreta looked over the pair of Qalian-Vosh, humming to himself in thought. Even for the Rothians, perfect holographic disguises were trickier than they seemed on the surface. In this context, every little detail needed to be able to stand up to the kind of inspection that the minds of the natives would perform instinctually. Even small details being wrong could trigger an “uncanny valley” response in an observer. “I do not wish to exclude you, but holographic disguises do have limits we need to keep in mind. With your mobility suits included, not only are you larger than one of the natives, but more importantly, the way you move and interact with your environment is exceptionally different. There would be this large, seemingly empty space around your projected form that, nevertheless, still interacts with its environment. Even the best-programmed disguise will struggle to make it convincing.”

Again, Nirann soon chimed in before anyone else could reply. “Vreta is right on that one, but there could still be a solution. Remotely operating a robotic avatar on the surface could still let the two of you participate without any undue risk.”

“Unfortunately, making robotic facsimiles of the natives is something that would take time, and we don’t have them already prepared. We wouldn’t be able to fabricate them in time.” Vreta pointed out.

Nirann grinned. “Correct, but we don’t have to. We can just put a holographic disguise on a normal robotic avatar, and it would accomplish the same thing.”

The Eye of the Needle (where Fantasy and Sci-fi collide)

The sun had only set an hour or so prior, so there was still plenty of night left for Kareet and Shirik to travel. Kareet had made all the notes she could for the moment, so she had no reason to hold up the start of this journey. Arcaeda was quite far, and depending on the path they chose, it could be weeks before they reached the capital. Internally, Kareet was hoping that nothing might happen that could make Shirik change their mind on their plans. This Iriad was an entirely unique being, and just the historical insights alone they could provide would be of immense value. They claimed to have experience an awakening centuries before the fall of the Kolodon Empire. Admittedly, Kareet was still skeptical, but if that could somehow be confirmed, that would challenge some established notions on the nature of magic and its history in Kanth-Aremek. The prestige that unearthing such a discovery would bring to a Seeker would make her a household name in the Ascendancy. Or even beyond, in some circles.

The pair of them, however, had not managed to get all the way back to the town when they heard an ear-piercing screech fill the air. The sound was…bizarre. It felt like it might come from some kind of animal, but it was nothing Kareet was familiar with. Fauna may not have been her specialty, but these mountains were still her homeland and she was educated, yet she could not place what this might have been. She glanced to Shirik, but despite how well-traveled as the Iriad was, even they would not be able to recognize it.

To the Glen, J’eon, though, the screech was even closer. It sounded like it came from within the forest out of sight, just beyond his camp. The sounds of rustling leaves and signs of movement just at the edge of his vision would certainly make it seem as if he had heard correctly.