BQ 10: Of Customer Service, Cosmology, and Kobolds
Mr. Cloak
Orchestrator of Paradoxical Apocalypse
- Pronouns
- I
-
As usual, vote options will appear in the following post. And, as usual, I love your comments, questions, and theories.
-
Speaker-Of-Thunderheads was… Very, very nervous. He was a kobold, and even with his patron (who had a LITERAL castle in the sky), he still was afraid of heights.
There was a reason why one of the magic items on his person was a Ring of Feather Fall.
So, even with the prospect of potentially getting his patron's greatest request fulfilled- and fulfilled on a significant scale- he was very, very nervous. He had stayed away from Spelljammers for a long, long time…. And he was not comfortable flying under the control of a machine.
The flying machine was under the control of someone, but the fact that that someone only had ONE arm (or two tentacles, which was unsettling in it's own right) and sat on a wheeled chair because they didn't have ANY LEGS was not that encouraging. Even less encouraging was the fact that he was being taught how to fly the ship by a half-orc that could snap and try to eat them any second.
(Speaker-Of-Thunderheads had a tragic backstory involving a family of orcs, half-orcs, human barbarians, a cheesegrater, a cooking pot, and the corpses of his siblings. It was NOT a pleasant story, and he knew it- and he also knew that he was a bit racist. Or speciesist. But he was more than a little scared of heights, and did not really care about not being racist.)
"Okay, now Lex, make sure to keep the keel steady."
His claws were digging into the wood on the railing as his red-scaled-knuckled visibly whitened. It wasn't even a LARGE spelljammer- it was the equivilant of a lifeboat, with enough room for four people, where one was driving it and the other three had their own benches.
It didn't even have a proper HULL! Just a mass of crystal gears, glowing bits, and eye-twisting bends that hurt to look at if he tried, with a rowboat nailed to the top of it… But it flew.
The Half-Orc looked down over the side, her eyes slightly glowing, and nodded to the person- Lex was it?- who was driving this boat. "There it is. Stop here." Then she turned to Speaker-Of-Thunderheads, frowning slighly. "You don't need to be so nervous- none of our practice skiffs have ever malfunctioned."
*Ah.* Speaker-Of-Thunderheads thought. *It's trying to be comforting.* "I am fine…" He ground out between clenched teeth. "I assume the corpse is down here? How am I supposed to move it?"
The Half-Orc blinked. "That will be dealt with- once your provide contact with the final collector."
"Right…" Speaker-Of-Thunderheads grumbled. He forced one hand to let go of the railing, pulled out his patron's bottle, and rubbed it while doing the unthinkable- directly getting his patron's attention. "Afu the Joyful, I have your order ready, but I, small and mortal, am unable to move it to your for delivery. Your mighty attention is nessesary to deliver the Dragon-Turtle shell as you wished."
The bottle wasn't particularly intricate, but it had a certain feel that most magic-users could feel and instinctively shyed away from.
It shook a little, and his patron responed like she did every time he contacted her- she send through an arm.
A stream of blue smoke shot out of the lamp, whisps spiralling off into small arms that, once it reached a good twenty-feet in length, shaped itself into a whispy elbow, forearm, and blue-skinned hand.
His patron's voice echoed out through the sky around them. "ͫSͯERV̰̀A̍N͋T-͉͋ ̖̆WH̠Ḙ̈́R̔E ͂İ̞S ̫̑T̗H̑Ẻ͕ ̼PR̻Õ͖ḌȔC͖͐T̮ YO̺U͖̇ ͔̐PRͩO̱M̊I͛SͦE̩ͫD̤?"͑
hIs sOul aCHEd. "Mistress, please, your presence-"
The Half-Orc reached out, and touched the hand. It stopped moving, and he felt… Confusion, at least at first, through his link. Then satisfaction, and joy. "͙̋I S̑EE̜.̲ ̖R̼ͪǍ̯I̯S͂Ẹ ̂TH̉E ̾ͅC̐O̎RPSE̻͋,̹ ̻I ̟W͐I̹͑L̳Lͫ ̎T̖̔AKͪE̜ ̖͋W̠̊H̱̾A̲T̾ ̩I WI̬S̗H͆,̪ A̝̍N̽D̰ ̰̒T͕ͬH̝̎E̬N̯̋, ̓M͙Y͔ ͩS̠͐E̘͆RͮVA̘̎N͊ͅT͔ W̦I͛L̝ͪL L̫ͬĔA̲V͙̆E̒,̥ ͆ͅA̞S̈́ ͯH̿Ȋ̬S͈ PUͮR̻͗PͅO̗SͦE͐ ́I̙ͫS̃ ̜F̅U̘L͙FͅI̮͆L͊ḶE͕ͫD͉.͉̓"̘̍
The half-orc nodded, and turned to look at the water. From below, the water began to fountain, as a the water began to move like it was falling upwards- or something else was pushing from below.
After a minute, a shadow beneath the surface became visible. Two minutes later, it was a collosal shadow, larger than even the cave that the dragon, Ulhamjalanbaladarrh, had called his lair.
As the mind-bogglingly large shell of the dragon-turtle surfaced, surrounded by upwards-drifting water, Speaker-Of-Thunderbolts reflected that he may have done some things in the recent past that *may* have not been wise- such as attacking a villiage with people in it that could kill a living creature the size of a SMALL ISLAND.
He mentally gt himself back under control, and nodded. "That is more than large enough."
"İ͚N̙̏DEED̦ͬ. ̘N̲O̯Ẁ̪,̾ BR̗̋I͆N̅G̲ ͣM͔Ḙͥ ǏT'͔Ś̘ ͈H͑Ë̼AͧR̯T͋-͒Ș̃C̦͊ALͩE͑.͚ͩ" Rumbled the somehow-feminine voice of his patron.
The great corpse flipped over, exposing the neck of the dragon-turtle, and then the boundry between the shell and it's long neck. In the exact middle, a single elongated scale, wider than it was long by some magnitude, shimmered in the noon light and it's edge seemed to have ripples that defied mortal eyes.
"That's…." Speaker-Of-Thunderstorms breathed. Every kobold knew what that was- the Heart-Scale. A single scale that made a dragon a dragon- more so than the wings or breath-weapon, for it connected to the heart of the dragon-gods themselves.
Then his eyes narrowed suspiciously. What could his patron want with a Heart-Scale?
"I̲̿ ̦ͫG̲̈A͆VE͇ ͔Y̰͒O̍U̩͋ A̬N̠ ̓O͉R̄DE̙͐R̥ͫ,͎ ̾WA͉̽ŘLO͂CK͕ͬ.͈ ͕B̥E̜̿ ̥ͭB͉̓LḘS̮͂SĔ̬D̔ ̻Ẅ́IT͈̾H̩̒ ͙́FLͦIGḢT͕ Ú̪NT̳̅I̘L̖͆ T͚ͬH̳̀E͇͒ ͍͂OBJ̭͒ECͬT ̚ͅIȘ͗ P͖̾R̤̚E̗ͪSͩEŃ̼T̳̑Ȅ̪D.̯" Demanded the djinn.
He felt the familliar spell ignite under his skin, and he lifted off to get the patron the object that he had spent over a decade attempting to retreive.
-
Several hours later, the kobold warlock sat outside a pub.
The people had begun to return to the city, trickling through the Psionic Gates that the Enclave was providing- free of charge.
Speaker-Of-Thunderstorms was…. Angry. And dissapointed. Again.
Genies were mercurial at the best of times- and djinn the most mercurial, if the best-tempered and least likely to immediately enslave you after being freed. It was why he had forged a pact with a Djinn, rather than, say, an Efreet, Dao, or Marid.
But really? She wanted the Heart-Scale… THE HEART-SCALE! As the base material for… A comb.
Just… Why?
Eventually, she decided that no, the Heart-Scale would not be the right part of the exceptionally large dragon-turtle to use for a comb, instead taking one of it's teeth-like barbs on the building-sized tongue.
The resulting comb, which formed WHILE HE WATCHED from the extracted peice of flesh and bone, was taller than the half-orc and their flying skiff. The comb eventually turned to smoke with the rest of the blue hand of his patron, and vanishing through the bottle into the gateway within that led to the elemental plane of air.
Over a decade, for a COMB.
Speaker-Of-Thunderstorms needed a drink.
Badly.
The Tavern's owner and family came around the corner and stared at the grumbling kobold. When he didn't make any movements in aggression or greeting, the owner shrugged, unlocked the door, and walked in.
Speaker-Of-Thunderstorms only had to wait a few minutes before the sign in the door was flipped from 'closed' to 'open'. He wasn't the first to walk in, but he was one of the first of the evening- and was willing to pay as much as he needed to in order to imbibe sufficent alcohol to forget how ditzy his patron was.
-
Journal Entry 24:
It's been a few days since my last entry, but I have been rather busy with training.
Turns out, learning how to twist reality with your mind alone (without the Weave) and harness the cosmic power that I now have partial access to (through a restricting device nonetheless), is very time-intensive. BUT I have managed to successfully, drive a 'psionic mage hand', although it feels like wringing my brain through a sieve, and it can only lift ten pounds (by weight anyway), I now have the equivilant of two hands if I don't try to do anything else!
Or two tentacle-arms and one floaty orb of green-purple eye-twisting light that can manipulate things.
Whoo!
Anyway, with the current emergencies having been dealt with, normal training resumes, and I will have a bit of free time for the next few weeks. I, and all newly-empowered Broadcasters were offered the chance to ask questions of the different departments that deal with business in the Enclave, so I'm going to spend some time taking them up on this offer.
I also have run of the library and some other areas, so I'm going
Sorry about the abrupt stop there, my kobolds Rux, Riva, and Ula have been feeling out their new state, and as they are psionic as well, I'm going to see if they can get any training. Sure, it will add to my debt a bit, but I had an idea- there is very little escapism here. As in, very little fiction. And my memories of different books that I read, movies I watched- all of those might have value.
I might be able to sell my memories and imagine videos for the various fanfics to the Enclave for a profit- or share of the profit. I use the PRINT effect to write these entries now (it's why my handwriting looks so much better, future me, in case I forget), and I could transcribe the stories I remember (I have a few memorized- mostly).
Something to consider later- and my memory since becoming an Elan is AMAZING. It's like I cannot forget anything if I just want to remember it!
Now though- I'm gonna get my kobolds tested! See what talents they have a talent of developing.
-
Adjudicator-Seeker Thydus Onyxear looked up from his paperwork as heard a strange sound approaching his office.
It reminded him of squeaking wheels, and clawed talons on stone- which was puzzling.
As one of the Adjudicator-Seekers, he had been personally responsible for bringing in a great number of recruits, and overall, their work area had almost every single psionic in the enclave pass through at least once.
But why would someone be bringing a cart in here?
He put down his paperwork, walked over to the door, and pulled it out to reveal- a hooded figure, sitting in a chair with two large and two small wheels on it, while one long blue and one long orange tentacle propelled the chair down the hallway. This strange sight was surrounded by three kobolds- all of which had the slight mutations of a psionic-reptilian race.
Instead of spines or horns, all three kobolds had slightly-discolored patches of scales in a pattern that, if Thydus remembered right, would be unique for each of them.
*Must be some of those kobolds the broadcasters took in…* Thydus was closing the door before his brain supplied something familliar. *Wait- broadcaster, no legs, and… Those are prosthetic arms!* He opened the door again, this time walking out to greet the man he had only met once (well, twice- once before the ritual to stabilize the man, and afterwards to make sure his fee was collected). "Lex, was it?"
"Yes, Adjudicator-Seeker." His voice, like all Elan, managed to sound ever-so-slightly wrong to Thydus's dwarven ears, but that didn't mean anything. Elan were like humans- just more patient (in his experience anyway). "It is good to see you again."
The Elan's tentacles vanished, weaving together on the right side of his body to form a single, humanoid hand- which Thydus shook.
"Indeed my wheeled friend!" Thydus was of the opinion that it was good to foster friendships as often as he could, as he did get a 'finders fee' if he helped establish some psionically-inclined being for training. "How can I help?" He led them into his office, and closed the door.
For a dwarf, his office was very roomy- but he had received half-giants in here before, and while they had to crouch through the hallways a lot, they could at least sit with a straight back in his office!
Crystal lights illuminated the walls, and a set of crystaline projectors illuminated the ceiling, showing the sky as it was over the mountain they sat underneath. Normally, the ceiling was just illuminated slightly (dueguar didn't have an issue with low illumination, but it made the paperwork easier), but when he brought in guests, it automatically lit up to make the room feel larger.
That alone had been a pricy peice of kit, but worth it.
Thydus pulled up a few chairs for the kobolds, and Lex wheeled himself before the desk- gesturing for the kobolds to take a seat.
"My wards have discovered that they seem to have several, seperate talents with the power gifted to them by the Master-Broadcaster. I was wondering…" The Broadcaster-in-Training didn't seem sure how to phrase his question. "Can I get them trained? Formally?"
Thydus nodded solemly as the kobolds looked confused (and somewhat intimidated). "I see… Well then, little ones-" The kobolds looked very, very uncertain… Like small children. "Show me what you can do?"
He felt that they had accessed their psionic sparks already- exposure to a broadcaster training might have done that-, but he was surprised when all of the kobolds turned to the Broadcaster in question.
Lex nodded. "Sure. I'll introduce y'all too. Rux is male- yes, I had to ask. Go on!"
The (male) kobold sheepishly reached out to his desk, and placed his hand on it, smoothly moving accross the surface until it reached a specific spot, and then a purple-green light began to shine from between his fingers. Rux slowly pulled his hand away to reveal a… Miniscule point of light- but the burn it had left in the SOLID GRANITE desk told the Adjudicator-Seeker what he needed to know.
"I see..." Grunted the dwarf.
"Riva?" One of the other kobolds, the slightly taller of the more slender ones than the first, closed her eyes, and began to hum- causing the light to begin emitting from her scales to be brighter than before.
"Hmmm…"
"She's a sweety." Lex said as an aside, and Riva swished her tail a little as a ripple of light swished up and down her body. "Now Ula?"
The last (probably female) kobold took a deep breath, and then strained, grunting slightly as she grasped at the air- causing light to begin flickering out from between her fingers like short-lived forge-sparks. She wasn't able to hold it long, and, after a few seconds the effect faded, while she panted with the exertion.
Thydus nodded in his most sagely manner.
One of the two slight kobolds (Ula) got out of their chair, walked over to the Broadcaster, and muttered something very quietly to him. He hummed, and nodded, before turning his attention back to the seated dwarf. "So…?" He prompted.
The dwarf Psion nodded. "Well, Rux is a Soulknife- or had the potential to be one at least. Ula is a potential Psion, like I had when I was a wee karn, and Riva…" He peered at the kobold, who was wiggling on the chair like she had something wrong with her. "I need to make a call."
Thydus cast a feeler from his mind towards the only communication stone he had ever made- one that was sitting in the local stack, and 'poked' the one he was thinking of with a brief message.
Soon, there was a knock on the door, and one of his coworkers strode in.
"GOOD EVENING MY FRIENDS!" His voice reverberated through the room at just-barely-below-a-shout levels. "AND HOW ARE YOU DOING TODAY?!"
"Very well Adjudicator-Seeker Harmonious-Epitaph." Thydus grinned- Harmonious-Epitaph was always cheerful. "I wanted a second opinion on a potential delver- it's been a while since I found one with talent." He turned to Riva, who looked frozen on her seat, bioluminescant scales flickering slightly in surprise and possible fear. "Go on Riva- show him what you showed me."
Harmonious-Epitaph sat down on the floor immedatly, making him as tall as a normal human- which was impressive for the half-giant.
Riva didn't move until Lex put a tentacle on her shoulder. "It's alright." He murmured to the kobold. "He just wants to see your lightshow. It's okay- it's very pretty."
Riva nodded, and closed her eyes again, this time humming a slightly different tune under her breath as her scale-pattern brighted more and more until it was illuminating the room more than the lamps were- only to stop as she had to take a deep breath and nearly fell off her chair, eyes jittering as though she had just been spun around repeatedly.
"GLORIOUS DAY!" Boomed the half-giant, although it was quieter than usual. "IT IS SO RARE TO FIND ONE WITH DELVER POTENTIAL FROM THE RECENTLY AWAKENED! IT WAS GOOD OF YOU TO CALL ME- NEW DELVERS CAN OFTEN FIND THEIR POWERS DO NOT QUITE MESH WITH OTHER PSIONICS, AND IT DRIVES MANY TO FRUSTRATION!"
He extended a hand bigger than the Riva's head, and held it, palm out, and let light dance over it.
"I HEREBY INVITE YOU, RIVA THE KOBOLD, WARD OF LEX THE BROADCASTER, TO BE TAUGHT THE WAYS OF THE DELVER! TO DEVELOP UNDERSTANDING OF THE SELF THROUGH REFLECTION ON CONTRADICTING CONCEPTS, DELVING INTO HOW SYMMETRY IS INTRINSIC TO ALL THINGS, FROM FEELINGS TO METAPHYSICS!"
Thydus pulled a booklet from one of the shelves along the hewn stone wall. "I will leave you with this booklet, and let you talk it over with your wards to determine whether or not it's a good idea to work on these new talents."
-
Journal Entry 24-a:
Wow that was a trip.
So, I think I will mention it here- those three kobolds I am now responsible for? They have psionic potential.
Rux, the male kobold, has the potential to become a Soulknife, a rogue/fighter/ranger-like specialist in close-combat, who could use energy-blades of various flavors. Riva has the potential to become a Delver- sort of like a cleric, focusing on the causal duality of counterpointed concepts and their metaphysical/physical applications. And Ula has the potential to become a Psion.
Of course, this training would take a year, and cost around 1 platinum bar per kobold, and would increase my debt- but it would pay off for my new wards, and they might be able to learn some independant methods of thought too.
I'd have to think on it.
Rux took this rather well, and is practicing to exhaustion on summoning the tiny pinprick that allowed the adjudicator-seeker to ID him as a Soulknife. Riva and Ula have been talking to each other in what I think is draconic (but I can't understand it), so I think they would appreciate the lessons.
I have to get to the carving class- tenticles like mine make quartz-carving a lot easier than one would think.
-
Journal Entry 25:
Today was F*CKING WEIRD.
I decided to look into the customer service department- yes, they have one in this enclave- and all of them looked like very attractive female humanoids (and a few svelte nonhumans).
Yeah- turns out, to work in customer service for the enclave, you usually undergo an Alter Flesh ritual. It changes around how you appear, can add things like fangs, claws, gills, fur, what have you, and can reshuffle musculature, organs… Genitals.
Frankly, it's a genius idea- most of the people here are humans, and all of them are… Well, let's say in terms of sexual partners, they wouldn't be starved for choice, given their current equipment loadout.
For any of them.
On a seperate subject, it looks like I, as an Elan, will be able to reshape my own flesh once a year. Elan in human cities use this to make them look like their aging, or change appearance after faking their own death- but it's also used to 'adjust' their own bodies for various… Reasons.
Yeah, even in my own journal I can't write this without being circumspect.
-
Journal Entry 26:
First: WHAT!
Second: THE FUCK?!
I decided to look into the current state of the cosmology here, and I think I now have a migraine.
I think I'd rather be in the Mass Effect universe. There, at least, the cosmic horror is expected. Hells, DEAD SPACE might be better- there at least, I know how to retrofit WMD's from the spaceships there!
Okay, I'm calm. I'm calm….
To start this fustercluck: there are TWO overgods. That are known.
I talked with some Phlogitrologers (think astronomers but for the phlogiston) earlier today, and as far are they are aware, the names of said beings are Thuul, and Ao.
Ao is responsible for all of the panthions within the assembly of Crystal Spheres that have been charted by our spelljammers, and is the source of all godly domains INCLUDING MAGIC in a very, very fundimental way. See, the Enclaves actually KNOW where Ao's body is in the phlogiston, and they were able, in this most recent cycle, to see the creation of a Crystal Sphere.
See, Ao is like… A river of Stellar Material, several million crystal-sphere-diameters long. From my description of distance and some math, they were able to tell me that a Crystal Sphere is roughly one light-year in diameter (they tested it once).
On a seperate note, spelljammers can exceed the speed of light through various means that I should look into later. (THEY HAVE REALSPACE AND UNREALSPACE FTL SQUEE!)
When Ao (or Thuul) do *something* (no, they don't know what it is), the phlogiston around them would abruptly condense into a ball twice the size of a city before expanding out and filling with gas, which, over the fullness of time, become a planetary system. Some of these develop life (yes, there are a few dino-planets out there), but ones that do not develop life don't 'crack' (or are enterable via magic or spelljammer since the begining of the second cycle), and eventually implode into a crystaline orb a few feet across that flashes like a supernova.
There are several theories as to why the overgod creates this- and the one that makes the most sense is as a form of reproduction. See, every sphere with life in it develops gods of some form- but those that don't develop life, cannot develop gods. From accounts extracted from Illithids (after torture and mind-extraction), they know that Ao, the current overgod of the mapped crystal spheres, 'hatched' out of one of the crystal spheres laid by Thuul, their crystal sphere's overgod.
Moreover, they are a lifeform that comes from near the 'end' of a crystal sphere's cycle, and the illithids as a species are convinced that they will eventually farm every form of intelligent life like they already do in their own sphereSpace. Incidentally, this is where the Gith races are from- they were created by the illithids by splicing their favorite food source traits into half-elves via the illithid-equivilant of the Alter Flesh ritual.
It's pretty messed up. It's also why I was accepted into the Enclave at all (besides my latent psionic potential)- they wanted to get some readings of an extra-crystal-sphere-space orginating creature.
Apparently, there is a slight difference between me and normal humans (or Elan)- I have even less magical potential than they thought was possible. Which was none. My potential is at the point where I am passively damaging the Weave as I move through it, to the point where, in theory, if I stayed in a house for a few years, I would create a null-magic zone just with my presence. I'm never going to be able to use attunable magic items…
Even normal psions can, although the items sometimes disconnect randomly.
Anyway, back to the subject of cosmology:
- Ao and Thuul are two known 'overgods', unique beings that create crystal spheres.
- Gods develop within these spheres, as a byproduct of life, always within the boundries common to the overgod in question.
- At some point (according to the illithids), a new overgod will hatch (Ao) from a crystal sphere (egg) left behind by the passing of another, older, overgod (Thuul).
This implies that a) life is a nessesary part of the overgod life-cycle, and b)… The D&D universes are cosmic horror stories. Maybe.
This knowlege is ONLY kept within the enclave, and only usually with specialists, although some non-psionics have been shown this before… Though it tends to drive people crazy. Apparently, the sense of scale disturbs the crap out of normal people.
Most psionics can't deal with it either- they tend to have nervous breakdowns. Not a problem for me- I went through the whole 'the universe is F*CKING HUGE and we are motes of dust' epiphany thing when I was 8, so the sense of scale was nothing new.
There a lot of other stuff to learn, but according to Ula who just stabbed me with a claw (OW), it's time to get some food. There are several cafeterias in the Enclave, and I found one that is willing to try to make my cajun seafood pasta sauce recipe.
-
-
Legendary Great Ancient Dragon-Turtle rolls to intimidate: d20+cha modifier. 20 (19+1).
Metaconcert save: 22, 21, 14, NAT 20, 18, 6, 5, 3, 8, 7, 12, 23, 29….. Average*2 due to metaconcert will-bolstering: 22
No effect
Broadcaster (20) Kirin has active Veiwing (no attack roll needed), and casts Migrain(Spike) from 3 bodies on each body's turn.
Migraine(Spike) (1): Targets INT. 8d4 INT damage. Casting cost: 8 power points for damage + 10 to increase save DC (18 total). 18 INT damage + DC 23 save.
Migraine(Spike) (2): Targets WIS. 8d4 WIS damage. Casting cost: 8 power points for damage + 10 to increase save DC (18 total). 23 WIS damage + DC 23 save.
Migraine(Spike) (3): Targets CHA. 8d4 CHA damage. Casting cost: 8 power points for damage + 10 to increase save DC (18 total). 14 CHA damage + DC 23 save.
Target has 10 INT, 12 WIS, and 12 CHA. Saves: 4, 21, 2. Target takes 18 INT damage, 23 WIS damage, and 14 CHA damage.
Target is in a coma. Target has 6100 HP, with legendary resistance.
*POP* ability activates- target takes 32d8 damage per round until out of coma. Head-splosion option not selected.
Turn 1: 151/2 damage to body.
Turn 2: 138/2 damage to body.
Turn 3: 155/2 damage to body.
Turn 4: 145/2 damage to body.
Turn 5: 132/2 damage to body.
Turn 6: 146/2 damage to body.
Turn 7: 101/2 damage to body.
…
Turn 183: 32/2 damage to body. (NO WAY IN HELL AM I GOING TO WRITE OUT 183 TURNS OF NUMBERS COUNTING)
HP=0. Death saves auto-fail due to lack of mind or soul connection.
Legendary Great Ancient Dragon-Turtle dies.
Loot collected by enclave: 1x Legendary Great Ancient Dragon-Turtle corpse.
Metaconcert save: 22, 21, 14, NAT 20, 18, 6, 5, 3, 8, 7, 12, 23, 29….. Average*2 due to metaconcert will-bolstering: 22
No effect
Broadcaster (20) Kirin has active Veiwing (no attack roll needed), and casts Migrain(Spike) from 3 bodies on each body's turn.
Migraine(Spike) (1): Targets INT. 8d4 INT damage. Casting cost: 8 power points for damage + 10 to increase save DC (18 total). 18 INT damage + DC 23 save.
Migraine(Spike) (2): Targets WIS. 8d4 WIS damage. Casting cost: 8 power points for damage + 10 to increase save DC (18 total). 23 WIS damage + DC 23 save.
Migraine(Spike) (3): Targets CHA. 8d4 CHA damage. Casting cost: 8 power points for damage + 10 to increase save DC (18 total). 14 CHA damage + DC 23 save.
Target has 10 INT, 12 WIS, and 12 CHA. Saves: 4, 21, 2. Target takes 18 INT damage, 23 WIS damage, and 14 CHA damage.
Target is in a coma. Target has 6100 HP, with legendary resistance.
*POP* ability activates- target takes 32d8 damage per round until out of coma. Head-splosion option not selected.
Turn 1: 151/2 damage to body.
Turn 2: 138/2 damage to body.
Turn 3: 155/2 damage to body.
Turn 4: 145/2 damage to body.
Turn 5: 132/2 damage to body.
Turn 6: 146/2 damage to body.
Turn 7: 101/2 damage to body.
…
Turn 183: 32/2 damage to body. (NO WAY IN HELL AM I GOING TO WRITE OUT 183 TURNS OF NUMBERS COUNTING)
HP=0. Death saves auto-fail due to lack of mind or soul connection.
Legendary Great Ancient Dragon-Turtle dies.
Loot collected by enclave: 1x Legendary Great Ancient Dragon-Turtle corpse.
POLL CURRENT LEVELS:
What shall our MC study? (pick two)
5-a) Customer Service
5-b) The Cosmology
1-c) Casting
1-d) Write-In (Animal Training)
What shall out MC's 3 Kobolds do with their new power? (pick two, vote like ##)
0-1) Break things (Kobold gains Breaker class)
4-2) Make pretty lights (Kobold gains Psion class)
5-3) Think thoughts (Kobold gains Delver class)
1-4) Run (Kobold gains Runner class)
2-5) Feel flaws in the stone (Kobold gains Soulknife class)
Result:
MC spends some of his spare time studying what Broadcasters do with the communication stones, and studying the local cosmology.
The MC's kobolds are evaluated and their new psionic classes are: 1 Soulknife, 1 Psion, and 1 Delver.
What shall our MC study? (pick two)
5-a) Customer Service
5-b) The Cosmology
1-c) Casting
1-d) Write-In (Animal Training)
What shall out MC's 3 Kobolds do with their new power? (pick two, vote like ##)
0-1) Break things (Kobold gains Breaker class)
4-2) Make pretty lights (Kobold gains Psion class)
5-3) Think thoughts (Kobold gains Delver class)
1-4) Run (Kobold gains Runner class)
2-5) Feel flaws in the stone (Kobold gains Soulknife class)
Result:
MC spends some of his spare time studying what Broadcasters do with the communication stones, and studying the local cosmology.
The MC's kobolds are evaluated and their new psionic classes are: 1 Soulknife, 1 Psion, and 1 Delver.
Current Environs status:
City (Athakatla): People are returning to the city, it's 'safe'.
Enclave-By-Athakatla: Is dealing with the massive Dragon-Turtle corpse that is now held in stasis.
Plot-lines engaged:
Part 1 Result: Cult of Demonic worshipers (worshipers killed, demons killed) make their move as the Colossal Dragon
*Fusion Result for part 1: Due to the number of issues present that the Enclave is dealing with right now, the MC will NOT be fully healed.*
Mallus gained: **I used to be right-handed…** Limbs: 1 (unique prosthetic- has semi-freeform flexibility)
Hidden MC Plot: You want to do WHAT to my liver?! (fell through accidental portal that appeared, and the cult wants the chosen vessel back)
Debt: 126,700 gold pieces (12,670 platinum pieces, or 12.67 Platinum Bars) (-1000 gp for valuable knowlege relating to sea turtles, -800 gp for valuable knowlege relating to constructing artificial beaches.)
City (Athakatla): People are returning to the city, it's 'safe'.
Enclave-By-Athakatla: Is dealing with the massive Dragon-Turtle corpse that is now held in stasis.
Plot-lines engaged:
Part 1 Result: Cult of Demonic worshipers (worshipers killed, demons killed) make their move as the Colossal Dragon
*Fusion Result for part 1: Due to the number of issues present that the Enclave is dealing with right now, the MC will NOT be fully healed.*
Mallus gained: **I used to be right-handed…** Limbs: 1 (unique prosthetic- has semi-freeform flexibility)
Hidden MC Plot: You want to do WHAT to my liver?! (fell through accidental portal that appeared, and the cult wants the chosen vessel back)
Debt: 126,700 gold pieces (12,670 platinum pieces, or 12.67 Platinum Bars) (-1000 gp for valuable knowlege relating to sea turtles, -800 gp for valuable knowlege relating to constructing artificial beaches.)
As usual, vote options will appear in the following post. And, as usual, I love your comments, questions, and theories.
-
Speaker-Of-Thunderheads was… Very, very nervous. He was a kobold, and even with his patron (who had a LITERAL castle in the sky), he still was afraid of heights.
There was a reason why one of the magic items on his person was a Ring of Feather Fall.
So, even with the prospect of potentially getting his patron's greatest request fulfilled- and fulfilled on a significant scale- he was very, very nervous. He had stayed away from Spelljammers for a long, long time…. And he was not comfortable flying under the control of a machine.
The flying machine was under the control of someone, but the fact that that someone only had ONE arm (or two tentacles, which was unsettling in it's own right) and sat on a wheeled chair because they didn't have ANY LEGS was not that encouraging. Even less encouraging was the fact that he was being taught how to fly the ship by a half-orc that could snap and try to eat them any second.
(Speaker-Of-Thunderheads had a tragic backstory involving a family of orcs, half-orcs, human barbarians, a cheesegrater, a cooking pot, and the corpses of his siblings. It was NOT a pleasant story, and he knew it- and he also knew that he was a bit racist. Or speciesist. But he was more than a little scared of heights, and did not really care about not being racist.)
"Okay, now Lex, make sure to keep the keel steady."
His claws were digging into the wood on the railing as his red-scaled-knuckled visibly whitened. It wasn't even a LARGE spelljammer- it was the equivilant of a lifeboat, with enough room for four people, where one was driving it and the other three had their own benches.
It didn't even have a proper HULL! Just a mass of crystal gears, glowing bits, and eye-twisting bends that hurt to look at if he tried, with a rowboat nailed to the top of it… But it flew.
The Half-Orc looked down over the side, her eyes slightly glowing, and nodded to the person- Lex was it?- who was driving this boat. "There it is. Stop here." Then she turned to Speaker-Of-Thunderheads, frowning slighly. "You don't need to be so nervous- none of our practice skiffs have ever malfunctioned."
*Ah.* Speaker-Of-Thunderheads thought. *It's trying to be comforting.* "I am fine…" He ground out between clenched teeth. "I assume the corpse is down here? How am I supposed to move it?"
The Half-Orc blinked. "That will be dealt with- once your provide contact with the final collector."
"Right…" Speaker-Of-Thunderheads grumbled. He forced one hand to let go of the railing, pulled out his patron's bottle, and rubbed it while doing the unthinkable- directly getting his patron's attention. "Afu the Joyful, I have your order ready, but I, small and mortal, am unable to move it to your for delivery. Your mighty attention is nessesary to deliver the Dragon-Turtle shell as you wished."
The bottle wasn't particularly intricate, but it had a certain feel that most magic-users could feel and instinctively shyed away from.
It shook a little, and his patron responed like she did every time he contacted her- she send through an arm.
A stream of blue smoke shot out of the lamp, whisps spiralling off into small arms that, once it reached a good twenty-feet in length, shaped itself into a whispy elbow, forearm, and blue-skinned hand.
His patron's voice echoed out through the sky around them. "ͫSͯERV̰̀A̍N͋T-͉͋ ̖̆WH̠Ḙ̈́R̔E ͂İ̞S ̫̑T̗H̑Ẻ͕ ̼PR̻Õ͖ḌȔC͖͐T̮ YO̺U͖̇ ͔̐PRͩO̱M̊I͛SͦE̩ͫD̤?"͑
hIs sOul aCHEd. "Mistress, please, your presence-"
The Half-Orc reached out, and touched the hand. It stopped moving, and he felt… Confusion, at least at first, through his link. Then satisfaction, and joy. "͙̋I S̑EE̜.̲ ̖R̼ͪǍ̯I̯S͂Ẹ ̂TH̉E ̾ͅC̐O̎RPSE̻͋,̹ ̻I ̟W͐I̹͑L̳Lͫ ̎T̖̔AKͪE̜ ̖͋W̠̊H̱̾A̲T̾ ̩I WI̬S̗H͆,̪ A̝̍N̽D̰ ̰̒T͕ͬH̝̎E̬N̯̋, ̓M͙Y͔ ͩS̠͐E̘͆RͮVA̘̎N͊ͅT͔ W̦I͛L̝ͪL L̫ͬĔA̲V͙̆E̒,̥ ͆ͅA̞S̈́ ͯH̿Ȋ̬S͈ PUͮR̻͗PͅO̗SͦE͐ ́I̙ͫS̃ ̜F̅U̘L͙FͅI̮͆L͊ḶE͕ͫD͉.͉̓"̘̍
The half-orc nodded, and turned to look at the water. From below, the water began to fountain, as a the water began to move like it was falling upwards- or something else was pushing from below.
After a minute, a shadow beneath the surface became visible. Two minutes later, it was a collosal shadow, larger than even the cave that the dragon, Ulhamjalanbaladarrh, had called his lair.
As the mind-bogglingly large shell of the dragon-turtle surfaced, surrounded by upwards-drifting water, Speaker-Of-Thunderbolts reflected that he may have done some things in the recent past that *may* have not been wise- such as attacking a villiage with people in it that could kill a living creature the size of a SMALL ISLAND.
He mentally gt himself back under control, and nodded. "That is more than large enough."
"İ͚N̙̏DEED̦ͬ. ̘N̲O̯Ẁ̪,̾ BR̗̋I͆N̅G̲ ͣM͔Ḙͥ ǏT'͔Ś̘ ͈H͑Ë̼AͧR̯T͋-͒Ș̃C̦͊ALͩE͑.͚ͩ" Rumbled the somehow-feminine voice of his patron.
The great corpse flipped over, exposing the neck of the dragon-turtle, and then the boundry between the shell and it's long neck. In the exact middle, a single elongated scale, wider than it was long by some magnitude, shimmered in the noon light and it's edge seemed to have ripples that defied mortal eyes.
"That's…." Speaker-Of-Thunderstorms breathed. Every kobold knew what that was- the Heart-Scale. A single scale that made a dragon a dragon- more so than the wings or breath-weapon, for it connected to the heart of the dragon-gods themselves.
Then his eyes narrowed suspiciously. What could his patron want with a Heart-Scale?
"I̲̿ ̦ͫG̲̈A͆VE͇ ͔Y̰͒O̍U̩͋ A̬N̠ ̓O͉R̄DE̙͐R̥ͫ,͎ ̾WA͉̽ŘLO͂CK͕ͬ.͈ ͕B̥E̜̿ ̥ͭB͉̓LḘS̮͂SĔ̬D̔ ̻Ẅ́IT͈̾H̩̒ ͙́FLͦIGḢT͕ Ú̪NT̳̅I̘L̖͆ T͚ͬH̳̀E͇͒ ͍͂OBJ̭͒ECͬT ̚ͅIȘ͗ P͖̾R̤̚E̗ͪSͩEŃ̼T̳̑Ȅ̪D.̯" Demanded the djinn.
He felt the familliar spell ignite under his skin, and he lifted off to get the patron the object that he had spent over a decade attempting to retreive.
-
Several hours later, the kobold warlock sat outside a pub.
The people had begun to return to the city, trickling through the Psionic Gates that the Enclave was providing- free of charge.
Speaker-Of-Thunderstorms was…. Angry. And dissapointed. Again.
Genies were mercurial at the best of times- and djinn the most mercurial, if the best-tempered and least likely to immediately enslave you after being freed. It was why he had forged a pact with a Djinn, rather than, say, an Efreet, Dao, or Marid.
But really? She wanted the Heart-Scale… THE HEART-SCALE! As the base material for… A comb.
Just… Why?
Eventually, she decided that no, the Heart-Scale would not be the right part of the exceptionally large dragon-turtle to use for a comb, instead taking one of it's teeth-like barbs on the building-sized tongue.
The resulting comb, which formed WHILE HE WATCHED from the extracted peice of flesh and bone, was taller than the half-orc and their flying skiff. The comb eventually turned to smoke with the rest of the blue hand of his patron, and vanishing through the bottle into the gateway within that led to the elemental plane of air.
Over a decade, for a COMB.
Speaker-Of-Thunderstorms needed a drink.
Badly.
The Tavern's owner and family came around the corner and stared at the grumbling kobold. When he didn't make any movements in aggression or greeting, the owner shrugged, unlocked the door, and walked in.
Speaker-Of-Thunderstorms only had to wait a few minutes before the sign in the door was flipped from 'closed' to 'open'. He wasn't the first to walk in, but he was one of the first of the evening- and was willing to pay as much as he needed to in order to imbibe sufficent alcohol to forget how ditzy his patron was.
-
Journal Entry 24:
It's been a few days since my last entry, but I have been rather busy with training.
Turns out, learning how to twist reality with your mind alone (without the Weave) and harness the cosmic power that I now have partial access to (through a restricting device nonetheless), is very time-intensive. BUT I have managed to successfully, drive a 'psionic mage hand', although it feels like wringing my brain through a sieve, and it can only lift ten pounds (by weight anyway), I now have the equivilant of two hands if I don't try to do anything else!
Or two tentacle-arms and one floaty orb of green-purple eye-twisting light that can manipulate things.
Whoo!
Anyway, with the current emergencies having been dealt with, normal training resumes, and I will have a bit of free time for the next few weeks. I, and all newly-empowered Broadcasters were offered the chance to ask questions of the different departments that deal with business in the Enclave, so I'm going to spend some time taking them up on this offer.
I also have run of the library and some other areas, so I'm going
Sorry about the abrupt stop there, my kobolds Rux, Riva, and Ula have been feeling out their new state, and as they are psionic as well, I'm going to see if they can get any training. Sure, it will add to my debt a bit, but I had an idea- there is very little escapism here. As in, very little fiction. And my memories of different books that I read, movies I watched- all of those might have value.
I might be able to sell my memories and imagine videos for the various fanfics to the Enclave for a profit- or share of the profit. I use the PRINT effect to write these entries now (it's why my handwriting looks so much better, future me, in case I forget), and I could transcribe the stories I remember (I have a few memorized- mostly).
Something to consider later- and my memory since becoming an Elan is AMAZING. It's like I cannot forget anything if I just want to remember it!
Now though- I'm gonna get my kobolds tested! See what talents they have a talent of developing.
-
Adjudicator-Seeker Thydus Onyxear looked up from his paperwork as heard a strange sound approaching his office.
It reminded him of squeaking wheels, and clawed talons on stone- which was puzzling.
As one of the Adjudicator-Seekers, he had been personally responsible for bringing in a great number of recruits, and overall, their work area had almost every single psionic in the enclave pass through at least once.
But why would someone be bringing a cart in here?
He put down his paperwork, walked over to the door, and pulled it out to reveal- a hooded figure, sitting in a chair with two large and two small wheels on it, while one long blue and one long orange tentacle propelled the chair down the hallway. This strange sight was surrounded by three kobolds- all of which had the slight mutations of a psionic-reptilian race.
Instead of spines or horns, all three kobolds had slightly-discolored patches of scales in a pattern that, if Thydus remembered right, would be unique for each of them.
*Must be some of those kobolds the broadcasters took in…* Thydus was closing the door before his brain supplied something familliar. *Wait- broadcaster, no legs, and… Those are prosthetic arms!* He opened the door again, this time walking out to greet the man he had only met once (well, twice- once before the ritual to stabilize the man, and afterwards to make sure his fee was collected). "Lex, was it?"
"Yes, Adjudicator-Seeker." His voice, like all Elan, managed to sound ever-so-slightly wrong to Thydus's dwarven ears, but that didn't mean anything. Elan were like humans- just more patient (in his experience anyway). "It is good to see you again."
The Elan's tentacles vanished, weaving together on the right side of his body to form a single, humanoid hand- which Thydus shook.
"Indeed my wheeled friend!" Thydus was of the opinion that it was good to foster friendships as often as he could, as he did get a 'finders fee' if he helped establish some psionically-inclined being for training. "How can I help?" He led them into his office, and closed the door.
For a dwarf, his office was very roomy- but he had received half-giants in here before, and while they had to crouch through the hallways a lot, they could at least sit with a straight back in his office!
Crystal lights illuminated the walls, and a set of crystaline projectors illuminated the ceiling, showing the sky as it was over the mountain they sat underneath. Normally, the ceiling was just illuminated slightly (dueguar didn't have an issue with low illumination, but it made the paperwork easier), but when he brought in guests, it automatically lit up to make the room feel larger.
That alone had been a pricy peice of kit, but worth it.
Thydus pulled up a few chairs for the kobolds, and Lex wheeled himself before the desk- gesturing for the kobolds to take a seat.
"My wards have discovered that they seem to have several, seperate talents with the power gifted to them by the Master-Broadcaster. I was wondering…" The Broadcaster-in-Training didn't seem sure how to phrase his question. "Can I get them trained? Formally?"
Thydus nodded solemly as the kobolds looked confused (and somewhat intimidated). "I see… Well then, little ones-" The kobolds looked very, very uncertain… Like small children. "Show me what you can do?"
He felt that they had accessed their psionic sparks already- exposure to a broadcaster training might have done that-, but he was surprised when all of the kobolds turned to the Broadcaster in question.
Lex nodded. "Sure. I'll introduce y'all too. Rux is male- yes, I had to ask. Go on!"
The (male) kobold sheepishly reached out to his desk, and placed his hand on it, smoothly moving accross the surface until it reached a specific spot, and then a purple-green light began to shine from between his fingers. Rux slowly pulled his hand away to reveal a… Miniscule point of light- but the burn it had left in the SOLID GRANITE desk told the Adjudicator-Seeker what he needed to know.
"I see..." Grunted the dwarf.
"Riva?" One of the other kobolds, the slightly taller of the more slender ones than the first, closed her eyes, and began to hum- causing the light to begin emitting from her scales to be brighter than before.
"Hmmm…"
"She's a sweety." Lex said as an aside, and Riva swished her tail a little as a ripple of light swished up and down her body. "Now Ula?"
The last (probably female) kobold took a deep breath, and then strained, grunting slightly as she grasped at the air- causing light to begin flickering out from between her fingers like short-lived forge-sparks. She wasn't able to hold it long, and, after a few seconds the effect faded, while she panted with the exertion.
Thydus nodded in his most sagely manner.
One of the two slight kobolds (Ula) got out of their chair, walked over to the Broadcaster, and muttered something very quietly to him. He hummed, and nodded, before turning his attention back to the seated dwarf. "So…?" He prompted.
The dwarf Psion nodded. "Well, Rux is a Soulknife- or had the potential to be one at least. Ula is a potential Psion, like I had when I was a wee karn, and Riva…" He peered at the kobold, who was wiggling on the chair like she had something wrong with her. "I need to make a call."
Thydus cast a feeler from his mind towards the only communication stone he had ever made- one that was sitting in the local stack, and 'poked' the one he was thinking of with a brief message.
Soon, there was a knock on the door, and one of his coworkers strode in.
"GOOD EVENING MY FRIENDS!" His voice reverberated through the room at just-barely-below-a-shout levels. "AND HOW ARE YOU DOING TODAY?!"
"Very well Adjudicator-Seeker Harmonious-Epitaph." Thydus grinned- Harmonious-Epitaph was always cheerful. "I wanted a second opinion on a potential delver- it's been a while since I found one with talent." He turned to Riva, who looked frozen on her seat, bioluminescant scales flickering slightly in surprise and possible fear. "Go on Riva- show him what you showed me."
Harmonious-Epitaph sat down on the floor immedatly, making him as tall as a normal human- which was impressive for the half-giant.
Riva didn't move until Lex put a tentacle on her shoulder. "It's alright." He murmured to the kobold. "He just wants to see your lightshow. It's okay- it's very pretty."
Riva nodded, and closed her eyes again, this time humming a slightly different tune under her breath as her scale-pattern brighted more and more until it was illuminating the room more than the lamps were- only to stop as she had to take a deep breath and nearly fell off her chair, eyes jittering as though she had just been spun around repeatedly.
"GLORIOUS DAY!" Boomed the half-giant, although it was quieter than usual. "IT IS SO RARE TO FIND ONE WITH DELVER POTENTIAL FROM THE RECENTLY AWAKENED! IT WAS GOOD OF YOU TO CALL ME- NEW DELVERS CAN OFTEN FIND THEIR POWERS DO NOT QUITE MESH WITH OTHER PSIONICS, AND IT DRIVES MANY TO FRUSTRATION!"
He extended a hand bigger than the Riva's head, and held it, palm out, and let light dance over it.
"I HEREBY INVITE YOU, RIVA THE KOBOLD, WARD OF LEX THE BROADCASTER, TO BE TAUGHT THE WAYS OF THE DELVER! TO DEVELOP UNDERSTANDING OF THE SELF THROUGH REFLECTION ON CONTRADICTING CONCEPTS, DELVING INTO HOW SYMMETRY IS INTRINSIC TO ALL THINGS, FROM FEELINGS TO METAPHYSICS!"
Thydus pulled a booklet from one of the shelves along the hewn stone wall. "I will leave you with this booklet, and let you talk it over with your wards to determine whether or not it's a good idea to work on these new talents."
-
Journal Entry 24-a:
Wow that was a trip.
So, I think I will mention it here- those three kobolds I am now responsible for? They have psionic potential.
Rux, the male kobold, has the potential to become a Soulknife, a rogue/fighter/ranger-like specialist in close-combat, who could use energy-blades of various flavors. Riva has the potential to become a Delver- sort of like a cleric, focusing on the causal duality of counterpointed concepts and their metaphysical/physical applications. And Ula has the potential to become a Psion.
Of course, this training would take a year, and cost around 1 platinum bar per kobold, and would increase my debt- but it would pay off for my new wards, and they might be able to learn some independant methods of thought too.
I'd have to think on it.
Rux took this rather well, and is practicing to exhaustion on summoning the tiny pinprick that allowed the adjudicator-seeker to ID him as a Soulknife. Riva and Ula have been talking to each other in what I think is draconic (but I can't understand it), so I think they would appreciate the lessons.
I have to get to the carving class- tenticles like mine make quartz-carving a lot easier than one would think.
-
Journal Entry 25:
Today was F*CKING WEIRD.
I decided to look into the customer service department- yes, they have one in this enclave- and all of them looked like very attractive female humanoids (and a few svelte nonhumans).
Yeah- turns out, to work in customer service for the enclave, you usually undergo an Alter Flesh ritual. It changes around how you appear, can add things like fangs, claws, gills, fur, what have you, and can reshuffle musculature, organs… Genitals.
Frankly, it's a genius idea- most of the people here are humans, and all of them are… Well, let's say in terms of sexual partners, they wouldn't be starved for choice, given their current equipment loadout.
For any of them.
On a seperate subject, it looks like I, as an Elan, will be able to reshape my own flesh once a year. Elan in human cities use this to make them look like their aging, or change appearance after faking their own death- but it's also used to 'adjust' their own bodies for various… Reasons.
Yeah, even in my own journal I can't write this without being circumspect.
-
Journal Entry 26:
First: WHAT!
Second: THE FUCK?!
I decided to look into the current state of the cosmology here, and I think I now have a migraine.
I think I'd rather be in the Mass Effect universe. There, at least, the cosmic horror is expected. Hells, DEAD SPACE might be better- there at least, I know how to retrofit WMD's from the spaceships there!
Okay, I'm calm. I'm calm….
To start this fustercluck: there are TWO overgods. That are known.
I talked with some Phlogitrologers (think astronomers but for the phlogiston) earlier today, and as far are they are aware, the names of said beings are Thuul, and Ao.
Ao is responsible for all of the panthions within the assembly of Crystal Spheres that have been charted by our spelljammers, and is the source of all godly domains INCLUDING MAGIC in a very, very fundimental way. See, the Enclaves actually KNOW where Ao's body is in the phlogiston, and they were able, in this most recent cycle, to see the creation of a Crystal Sphere.
See, Ao is like… A river of Stellar Material, several million crystal-sphere-diameters long. From my description of distance and some math, they were able to tell me that a Crystal Sphere is roughly one light-year in diameter (they tested it once).
On a seperate note, spelljammers can exceed the speed of light through various means that I should look into later. (THEY HAVE REALSPACE AND UNREALSPACE FTL SQUEE!)
When Ao (or Thuul) do *something* (no, they don't know what it is), the phlogiston around them would abruptly condense into a ball twice the size of a city before expanding out and filling with gas, which, over the fullness of time, become a planetary system. Some of these develop life (yes, there are a few dino-planets out there), but ones that do not develop life don't 'crack' (or are enterable via magic or spelljammer since the begining of the second cycle), and eventually implode into a crystaline orb a few feet across that flashes like a supernova.
There are several theories as to why the overgod creates this- and the one that makes the most sense is as a form of reproduction. See, every sphere with life in it develops gods of some form- but those that don't develop life, cannot develop gods. From accounts extracted from Illithids (after torture and mind-extraction), they know that Ao, the current overgod of the mapped crystal spheres, 'hatched' out of one of the crystal spheres laid by Thuul, their crystal sphere's overgod.
Moreover, they are a lifeform that comes from near the 'end' of a crystal sphere's cycle, and the illithids as a species are convinced that they will eventually farm every form of intelligent life like they already do in their own sphereSpace. Incidentally, this is where the Gith races are from- they were created by the illithids by splicing their favorite food source traits into half-elves via the illithid-equivilant of the Alter Flesh ritual.
It's pretty messed up. It's also why I was accepted into the Enclave at all (besides my latent psionic potential)- they wanted to get some readings of an extra-crystal-sphere-space orginating creature.
Apparently, there is a slight difference between me and normal humans (or Elan)- I have even less magical potential than they thought was possible. Which was none. My potential is at the point where I am passively damaging the Weave as I move through it, to the point where, in theory, if I stayed in a house for a few years, I would create a null-magic zone just with my presence. I'm never going to be able to use attunable magic items…
Even normal psions can, although the items sometimes disconnect randomly.
Anyway, back to the subject of cosmology:
- Ao and Thuul are two known 'overgods', unique beings that create crystal spheres.
- Gods develop within these spheres, as a byproduct of life, always within the boundries common to the overgod in question.
- At some point (according to the illithids), a new overgod will hatch (Ao) from a crystal sphere (egg) left behind by the passing of another, older, overgod (Thuul).
This implies that a) life is a nessesary part of the overgod life-cycle, and b)… The D&D universes are cosmic horror stories. Maybe.
This knowlege is ONLY kept within the enclave, and only usually with specialists, although some non-psionics have been shown this before… Though it tends to drive people crazy. Apparently, the sense of scale disturbs the crap out of normal people.
Most psionics can't deal with it either- they tend to have nervous breakdowns. Not a problem for me- I went through the whole 'the universe is F*CKING HUGE and we are motes of dust' epiphany thing when I was 8, so the sense of scale was nothing new.
There a lot of other stuff to learn, but according to Ula who just stabbed me with a claw (OW), it's time to get some food. There are several cafeterias in the Enclave, and I found one that is willing to try to make my cajun seafood pasta sauce recipe.
-
N/A
My kobolds have discovered their classes.
- Rux a male (Soulknife)
- Riva is female (Delver)
- Ula is female (Psion)
Cosmology and Customer Service has been covered.
- Rux a male (Soulknife)
- Riva is female (Delver)
- Ula is female (Psion)
Cosmology and Customer Service has been covered.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/59985717/unnamed.0.png)
