It's the holiday break, brother haha! Did you forget? You can post if you want, but you don't have to.
xenon Member
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- Old Guild Username: xenon
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Most Recent Posts
I'm all out already, but if you have anymore, by all means: Carry on.
Don't let desp-air cloud your judgement, Ava. This is a good thing!
I don't think another pun war is going to take off, Saiyan.
Will be posting today! Sorry meant to post either Friday or Saturday but had my flight block moved around so I flew both evenings.
As partial compensation, enjoy my crappy night flight pictures I took:
This is really cool, Ava! I accept your compensation haha!
Clarissa was in a veritable state of paralysis as she stood, straight as an arrow on the podium. If one could see inside her mind, it would likely resemble the light-projected screen on the glass in front of her that showed an enlarged magnified image of the smaller holoscreen of the main computer. Whereas that enlarged screen showed the computer rapidly combing through the foriegn programming code of the cube, Clarissa's mind was reprocessing every event and finding that she, James and her team had gathered so far.
She registered James' voice, but it was not enough to break her state. Her head turned slowly and she stared at him for a moment, her eyes briefly scanning his hands to see if he'd brought her anything. Then after an uncomfortable amount of time, perhaps 20 seconds, her eyes went to Alison. She also checked the hands.
"We could do it manually," she mused, mulling it over before nodding to herself, still staring at the two adventurers. Then her posture broke and she stepped down off the podium as if to properly greet them. "One thing our generation is missing..." she addressed Alison. "Real hackers. I mean REAL hackers - Clarissa Shields, nice to meet you" (the scientist left the smallest gap to allow Alison the option to introduce herself) "- the golden age of programming is over. Everything is now prefabricated hacking software designed with algorithmic instruction to do all the heavy lifting for us. Sure, we have studied to the highest qualification to be able to bend these programs to our will and do amazing things with them, our manpower spent on higher machinations and ambitions. No longer do we waste 4 programmers and 3 weeks building the simplest piece of software. Our computers can do the same grunt work in a matter of hours. Why would we bother ourselves? Of course, we learn in class what it is that is taking place at the foundational level." She opened and closed her fists in front of her. "But unless you've spent time laying those foundations, brick by brick, yourself. Made the mistakes, wasted entire days pouring through your own code to figure out that you've misplaced a single digit in the sea of macros... it's hard to really respect a fellow programmer's feel for the discipline."
And finally the neurodivergent rant was over.
"Sirius," she looked sharply at James, her tone no longer distant. "Where've you been? I needed you." It was an admonishment. Not that she didn't acknowledge just how much time James had devoted to the cause of the Cube. She knew, and while not grateful in the slightest, she did understand that not everyone was a complete robot like herself. Normal people needed time to mentally decompress on occassion. "We have work to do. I don't suppose you know how to read code? Not Source Code. Computer code." (Again, the gap left for James to answer was incredibly small.) "No matter, your inspiration and creativity will be useful nonetheless." As she folded her arms, her thumb, ring and pinky casted a high-level Identify while her index and middle fingers modified the spell for stealth-magic. A habit of hers when sizing up another Source Crystal User, honed almost to an illusionists level of sleight-of-hand. "Time is of the essence," were her last words for James.
"Alison," she looked at the Rogue. Whether or not the woman had introduced herself by name, Identify was filling Clarissa in on the newcomer. "I'm glad you're here - well, not really, I need Sirius - but it is nice to meet you. I trust you must be interesting, if Sirius would bring you here. Perhaps we can have a proper chat under less pressing circumstances. But, it is quite the convenience that you are of the Rogue Class. If you would kindly follow me." She didn't care what James did, but she waited for Alison to follow and led her out of the room. "I trust you know of The Thieves' Guild," she said as she led Alison down the hall. Each door they passed had a sign above.
[Shields 4]...
[Shields 5]...
"My associate, Titus Hart is from the Guild. I've been letting him use one of my labs for a project that might help us get out of this siege problem with our lives - such an inconvenience. The siege, not Titus - but I do believe he has some toys lying around that someone of your calibre may be able to make use of. Perhaps you could take a look and see if any tickle your fancy. You may aswell. No point in waiting for official patents to come through when extermination is on the horizon."
[Shields 11]
"Here we are," she announced and went straight in without knocking. "Hart." Titus was leaned over a table, welding mask glowing brightly as he worked. He stopped what he was doing, put his tools down and took off the safety mask. Chin raised slightly, he held his wrist behind his back as he awaited them closing in.
"Shields," he said politely.
"We have a volunteer for field-testing some of your weapons." Titus looked at Alison and bowed his head slightly in greeting. "I will leave her in your capable hands."
Clarissa inclined her head to Alison in a silent thank you and left. Now, it was time to toss fancy software applications to one side and get into some old-fashioned hacking. James had arrived with perfect timing.
The Enemy Encampment - General Saladin’s Pavillion
Saladin's mustache twitched. Wolfmen stink was almost as bad The Corpse Dropper.
"Is everything ready?" the General asked.
Captain Hrond Lewell, Chieftan of the Luna Clan, responded with his deep, snarling raspy voice. "My unit is in position. We will wait for the signal and strike with ferocious haste."
Saladin noticed some trepidation in the wolfman's face after his response. "What is it?"
"You can depend on me for strict timing and adherence to the plan. I have complete control over my soldiers. But..."
Saladin knew. "Zacharius." Captain Hrond growled low in his throat. Saladin smiled and turned his back on the captain.
Zacharius, Drinker of Divine Blood. Much like Zigmund Mugba-Zarak, Zacharius was a Source Crystal User who had undergone The Witch Queen's Hybrid Project. Using high-end technology and Dark Domain expertise, Her Majesty had created a procedure called a Soul Fusion, taking Crystal Bearers, captured Djinn's and fusing them together to create extremely powerful Demi-Djinn Mortals. It was not called a Soul Fusion because it was the souls of the two creatures from different planes that were fused. No, it was because the 'glue' by which the creatures were fused was tortured souls. A large amount of tortured souls.
Zigmund and Zacharius were of the 1st Generation of successful results from Project Hybrid. Demi-Djinn mortals, who reaped the benefits of powers from the Fey Plane, while being able to walk in this world and keep their own strength. But while Zigmund Mugba-Zarak was, and had always been, a scout and assassin, well before he volunteered for the Soul Fusion... Zacharius was once a Paladin, resulting in a mighty force far more suited for open combat. And thus, it was proved when Zacharius killed Userper-Emperor Quinitus Young's brother at the battle for Dantuin, drinking his blood in victory afterward.
"Don't worry about him," Saladin told the Wolfman captain. "You need not give him any commands. He will remain in your company for the first strike at least. Left to his own devices, he will be of great benefit to our assault."
"Very well, General."
Capitol City - The Atrium Supra Magus
The 3 largest towers in Capitol City represented the 3 branches of the Imperium, able to be seen from almost anywhere in the city. Largest of them all, the Central Tower was The Sword of Ileandra, representing the Divine Bloodline. To the east of that was The Spire of Mytheria, representing the Senate. To the west, The Spear of The Source, representing the Church. All three were feats of great beauty and craftsmanship, but they were not just mere symbols of power and decorations of magnaminty. They were also powerful conduit towers reserved for the most powerful magical rituals and ceremonies.
The Spire of Mytheria connected to The Atrium Supra Magus, office of the highest magical authority in the Empire. Archmage Teclis was stood in the highest room of the tower, a room with missing walls, no glass in the windows, allowing the winds of altitude to rush throughout. The Archmage’s robes rippled with the gale as he stood dangerously close to the edge, only a hand on the stone column next to him for balance. He would always come here to think, when a problem or puzzle seemed insurmountable.
The prediction that The Wellsprings would remain asleep for several months was wrong. They had stirred already. Not quite awake yet definitely on their way back to full power. To be so incorrect was concerning on it’s own. The Free People’s ability to interpret the Source Code correctly and have faith in academic journals from The Mythic Age, was a fundamental pillar upon which The Empire leaned. But something else had also happened. In addition to their miscalculations: Yesterday, the moment that the Wellspring stirred was marked by a surge of Source that almost killed one of the city’s best Code Readers, leaving the woman permanently blind to boot.
“It is all so irregular,” Teclis mused as he went over the pieces to the puzzle. Academics were not known for tolerating inconsistencies.
His thoughts were interrupted by none other than Dante Valeron, leader of the Adventurer Party, The Good Fight, and Chairman of The Council of Heroes.
“Archmage.” Teclis returned the greeting but did not turn around. Dante came to stand next to him, the man’s silver hair and polished silver armour both glistening in the sun. “Valhiem is under attack.”
The Archmage bristled. “An unfortunate development. What do we know?”
“Nothing,” was the reply, Dante’s tone and expression as if the very word tasted foul. “It hasn’t been confirmed yet, but I feel it in my bones. Contact with the city has been magically blockaded. I have put in requests for Code Readings on the city and surrounding area.”
“I will go to The Basilica Magna Decoris at once. Expedite the process and make sure that our very best are on the job.”
“There is something else too,” Dante added. “I have received word from Fornost, from the party True Grade, who were at Valhiem only weeks ago, that there is a strange and uniquely powerful party that have seemingly appeared out of nowhere.”
Teclis’ eyes grew wide. Dante nodded knowingly.
“They call themselves Second Chance.”
“Could it be…?”
“I think so. We know that the The Summoning was completed. They had to turn up somewhere. It stands to reason that they would land perfectly between here and Azeroth.” There were no more than a dozen people who knew about The Summoning. All of them were in Capitol City, with the exception of The Witch Queen, of course. Which meant that if this really was the heroes that had been brought from another world, Valhiem would not have a clue. “Whatever is happening in Central Mytheria, we must pray that they survive it.”
“We have gambled so much on them. May The Mother protect their souls and The Warrior smile on their battles.”
Ugh, this post fought me all the way and I am still not happy with it. Got a lot of stress cuz some bad news lately and I can't focus properly on writting. But anyway, post up.
I'm sorry to hear that, brother. Bad news is never good, but it seems to feel worse so close to Christmas.
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