The CHALLENGE chugs on!

[jseah]

1835 for Hero's War

Spoiler

Show

The two men squatted in front of the hissing contraption, watching the lines on the chart recorder on the bottom.
Both men cursed the rebuild that shifted the output location of the sensors to the knee height position it was stuck in now.
"Well, Bashal, it seems you have achieved something great here," Cato congratulated him, "I estimate you've nearly doubled the efficiency of the steam engine with this. How I never thought of cooling the cold side with magic, I don't know. "
The ironworker guffawed, "it's not a steam engine any more. It's an air engine! No water in the boiler!"
"Indeed. "
"I was inspired by your equation, the colder the cold side, the more efficiency possible in the engine! So I just used magic to cool it and wanted to test if it would pay off and it did! And the engine compresses its own magic to run the cold side so it does not need magic power inputs. Plus magical inputs allows magical valve controls to make the engine more reliable than ever before!"
"Indeed. Bashal, I believe I already congratulated you. I never thought of using magic on the condenser because Earth always used cold water. "
The two men watched the engine drive the flywheel along a few more powerstrokes.
"Why only cold water though? Why not something colder than that?" Bashal asked after a moment.
Cato shrugged, "Earth didn't have magic remember? Cold water is simply the cheapest available cooling source. It's everywhere after all. "
"I'm still meeting issues with the valve sealants though, I need to ask Kalny for better heavy oils. The furnace can't run beyond a few hundred degrees before the oil in the hot valves becomes too runny while the cold valves freeze when below negative fifty. They also tend to carbonize or cake even at this temperature. And this prototype can't run for more than a day or two before everything starts gumming up with ice. "
Cato nodded. Unfortunately there was no easy solution to that problem beyond testing different formulations until something was found. In this sense, the steel technology had outstripped nearly everything else, Bashal had apparently liquefied air in his very first attempt on this design. The steel walls had held up even under cryogenic conditions because the Ironworkers were already using magical cooling for steel hardening.
Bashal of course had to calibrate the pistons and cylinders to their cooled dimensions, the cold cylinder of this prototype literally could not run at room temperature, it was just too loose.
The hot cylinder was also limited. Coal furnaces of Ironworker designs could melt steel. Pressurized thousand degree air input to the hot cylinder was theoretically possible for the furnace to achieve. Actually doing it ran into issues with the steel becoming soft, the lubricating oil catching fire and assorted mechanical failures due to extreme heat.
Despite the demanding operating conditions, need for a costly cooling of the cold side before starting operations and running at less temperature difference than the energy inputs could achieve, the third generation steam engine was still far more efficient than before. The fundamental improvement being the lowered heat sink temperature was significant.
As they stood up and dusted themselves off, Bashal commented casually, "I do have another strange observation for you. "
"Hm?"
"We do know that the magic energy collected by the power boxes and are used for spells are not the same thing as the magic density that is built up in magic compression engines and the mana wells. However, we tried using the cooling cylinder to perform magic compression to power the same cooling spell, we ran into an interesting effect when channeling the magic energy collected back into the high density internal cylinder volume. " Bashal paused dramatically, enough that Cato had to hurry him up with an impatient gesture, "it appears that under high magic energy ratios and high magic densities, mana crystals form very quickly. Much more than the natural formation rate in the mountains. "
The ironworker grinned as Cato, "but it gets better! The mana crystals that formed was the high density variant that the explorers found in the mountains six months ago. Not just that, these high density crystals contain magic energy, not just high density mana! Sure, we lost magic energy in what appears to be a magical material formation, but the formation actually caused our compression cylinder to lose pressure! Once the formation started, our piston went all the way to the bottom, turning all the compressed density into a single flat crystal. "
The pair was silent for a long moment. Then Cato spoke up, "it appears that some high energy experiments are warranted. To think that magic crystal formation needed magic energy on top of magic density. I really should have thought of that. Can the University loan a magic compression engine again? I'd build my own but yours are better. "
Bashal grinned, "as long as I get credit as first discoverer, of course you can borrow one!"
With the agreement made, Cato practically ran back to the University to arrange a new testing area. Neither of them noticed that this was the first time anyone had asked for academic credit over commercial benefit.


That said, a power infrastructure has to take into account the characteristics of magical power. For that purpose, I shall detail recent findings with our experiments in high energy magic.
Magic Energy and Magic Density are terms coined since my last journal entry. Magic Energy is what we call a "charge" or scalar property of the mana that carries it, this magic energy is what is consumed when a magical effect is activated. Magic Energy is measured as magical power units and 1 unit is sufficient to counter the weight of one kilogram of mass against the force of gravity for 5 seconds.
Magic Density refers to the amount of mana within a unit volume, here our units were also in magical power units before the difference between the two was discovered. This now referred to as magic density, where 1 unit is the ambient density at sea level in Minmay. Currently, this measurement is not widely used except in University records.
A common method of measurement is through pressure, the weight on a magical barrier piston that a certain magic density can support against ambient. A 2 magic density volume supports about 250 tons of weight per square meter. Obtaining magic energy from magic density differences yields about 170 magic power units from a 1 liter volume of 2 magic density. Rather like pressurized gas, the yield in magic energy scales proportional the magic density.
At current technology, a magic density containment vessel is limited by the physical materials that contain the pressure. Since the containers are often made of steel, powerful enchantments reinforced against the magical pressure can be supported, enough that the physical vessel fails first as pressure increases. With the appropriate 2 magic density safety margin, the best containment vessels can achieve about 5.5 magic density. The Borehole outputs at 1.05 magic density with just under 1 liters per second of volume, mana wells range from 1.005 to 1.02 increasing with depth and volume rates of 0.01 to 0.05 liters per second increasing with diameter. By having the bottom of the shaft actively pump magic density at the cost of magic energy, recouped at the surface, the Borehole now outputs nearly five times the power of what it did before, about 480 magic power units per minute.
Related to these measurements is a composite called the Energy Density Ratio. This refers to the ratio of magical power units relative to magic density and is therefore related to the amount of magic energy each bit of mana is carrying. This ratio does not affect the operation of magical effects, which are limited to the total magic energy even in high magic density environments.
However, since magic energy can also be stored in high magic density storage vessels, a high ratio means more net energy can be stored within the same volume of the vessel. Since magic does not contribute to the weight of the containment vessel, the most weight efficient storage of magic is high magic density, high energy density ratio. This is of course important for the development of the flight project, having weight and volume efficient power storage.
Energy density ratio when transferring magic energy between spells or effects stays exactly the same even if moving to a spell of greater or lesser volume. Spells have been noted to have a maximum power level for a given volume equal to their energy density ratio times volume since power transfer will not work once that amount is reached.
Energy density ratio can be increased by deploying a spell forming wand and creating spells in a low magic density container, skipping the spell boundary formation. In essence, just the energy charging component of a spell forming wand, that transfers magic energy from the wand into the environmental mana. This can incur a penalty in magic energy of up to thirty percent. The final energy density ratio is thus the magic energy successfully transferred to the magic density within the target volume.
Interestingly, introducing uncharged magic (zero energy density ratio) into the mix does not reduce the energy density ratio of any transferred power. Thus the conclusion that mana does not appear to transfer magic energy partially, charged bit of magic either transfers all of it's energy to an interacting bit or it transfers none.
The problem with creating both high magic density, high energy density ratio storage is that this requires dedicated facilities since the output of processes to increase the energy density ratio is highly charged magic density that is below ambient. Using that as input to a magic compression engine is thus very inefficient and requires multiple staging to get to the highest magic density levels.
The conditions for catalyzing conversion into the high density magical crystal seems to be a magic density above 4 and an energy density ratio of more than 300. Properties of this high density artificial magic crystals are still being investigated.
Of interest to the summoner clans is that since the magic density of a human body is fixed at around 1, and the past experiment had shown spellcasting expels magic from the caster of which the safe amount is also fixed at around 1.5 liters a day, the energy density ratio of the spell output is the definitive measure of the caster's magical power. A "common" knight has energy density ratios around 70, Landar achieves 150 on a good day. Ereli, the Hero's companion and currently regarded as the strongest caster alive reaches nearly 600. Barely trained humans manage 25 or so, Fukas are similar but can output almost 2 liters before fainting, Elkas have energy density ratios at less than 10 but can output almost 30 liters and recover that in half an hour. Elkas however gain energy density ratio very slowly even when trained, I suspect a different biological mechanism for their magical power recharge is responsible.

[Finlam]

I hope I'm still in time

My entries this week are a single article and a bunch of Fantasy Images.

1 article: 964 words

A Wizard's House

A Mountain Range

A Ravine

An Altar with a Planar Portal Hidden in a Forest*

*I've since re-done that image; I'll be posting the new version online somewhere later.

[jseah]

Btw, since it's Wednesday, I'm claiming for the next week (after the 1835 for Hero's war).

2970 for an Ar Tonelico X Harry Potter crossover
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/1288352...ional-Transfer

[Lycunadari]

Status for March 19 to March 25!


Glass Mouse didn't upload/send me anything.

Lycunadari passes with 12 spring photos.

jseah passes with 1835 words for A Hero's War.

Xiander passes with 1510 words of Midnight Mist.

InkisRatticus is out due to disappearance.

Jormengand passes with 19 song covers and 1794 words of Dishonour Before Death.

Subproject54 passes with a 964 words of article and four fantasy pictures.


Thus Glass Mouse FAILs this round!

Lycunadari, jseah, Xiander, Jormengand and Subproject54PASS this round!



Current standing:

Spoiler

Show

Glass Mouse
Current run: -
Longest run: 290 weeks
Themes: -

Lycunadari
Current run: 272 weeks
Longest run: -
Themes: -

jseah
Current Run: 111 weeks
Longest Run: 33 weeks
Themes: -

Xiander
Current run: 90 weeks
Longest run: -
Themes: -

Jormengand
Current run: 3 weeks
Longest run: -
Themes: -

Subproject54
Current run: 2 weeks
Longest run: -
Themes: -



InkisRatticus
Longest run: 1 week

3WhiteFox3
Longest run: 1 week

LeSwordfish
Longest run: 44 weeks

Icewalker
Longest run: 31 weeks

Lovely Vulcan
Longest run: 3

[jseah]

Somehow AT fanfiction makes my muse catch fire.

2807 for AT x HP crossover.
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/1288352...ional-Transfer

3375 for AT x HP crossover.
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/1288352...ional-Transfer

9152 total.

[Jormengand]

I sang some songs. They're in the folder.

Duel of the Fates (from Star Wars)
Roses for the Dead (Funeral for a Friend)
Sick Like Me (In This Moment)
Supposed to Be (Icon for Hire)
Taking You There (Broods)
The Rains of Castermere (from Game of Thrones)
Viva La Vida (Coldplay)
Wrong Side of Heaven (Five Finger Death Punch)

Slowly working on some 3.5 brew. Bunch of fixes and new content for my old classes.

Spoiler: 254 words of Sword Versus Spell

Show

Relic Bearer [Asc, Ber, DD, MT, Vet]
Sometimes the old ways really are the best, but most warriors rely on at least some magical equipment to fight. You are no longer an exception.
Prerequisites: Ascetic, Berseker, Daredevil or Mundane Trickster level 5, or Veteran level 3
Benefit: Your Righteous Desperation's drawback does not apply to items which only enhance your existing capabilities and/or grant resistance to and/or protection from some type of damage or effect, such as weapons that only change the result of an attack made with them, almost all armour, cloaks of resistance and monk's belts, but never spell trigger or completion items, nor bags of holding or winged boots.
Normal: You cannot use magic or psionic items regardless of their effects.

Totem Warrior [Asc, Ber, DD, MT, Vet]
You have grown accustomed to your magical companions and their abilities.
Prerequisites: Ascetic, Berseker, Daredevil or Mundane Trickster level 6, or Veteran level 4
Benefit: Your Righteous Desperation's drawback does not apply to any ability used on you which has no effect on you except for healing you, and/or enhancing your existing capabilities, and/or granting you resistance to or protection from some type of damage or effect, such as bless, break enchantment, cure light wounds, endure elements, foresight (which only affects the caster, not you), and freedom of movement but not darkvision, enlarge person, fly or polymorph any object.
Normal: You must try to save against all spells directed at you, even if they heal you, protect you or affect your existing abilities.

Made a new faction for one of my games.

Spoiler: 832 Words of Battles in the Rust

Show

The Originators

“The horrors never leave. The hallucinations never end. The madness never goes. I've lost track of how long it's been since we left here. Time passes slower for me, I think. Not that it hasn't been a long time – it must have been at least a century.

I've changed since I was here. I'm one of the lucky ones – the changes are telekinesis and lightning bolts from my fingertips rather than turning into a many-armed abomination against God and nature – but my mind is in tatters. Occasional moments of lucidity are mostly filled with self-reflection. It's not as though there's anyone else to talk to except for the hallucinations, and they don't make for very good conversation...

What was that?

Wait…

YOU'RE not a hallucination!”

Sometimes, it's best to let sleeping horrors lie.

The Originators were once human. Some of them are still mostly humanoid; others have become something else entirely. All of them are quite insane. Originally, they were the scientists, crew and security personnel aboard the Iridium, which – with the advent of stringspace teleportation – left in search of other planets and systems. Something went wrong, however, and the Iridium simply disappeared for a hundred and twenty-seven years. Now, it's back, and so are the Originators.

Of course, their isolation was at an end nearly the moment the Iridium returned to standard space – not surprising, since almost every faction in the galaxy had an interest in reclaiming the Iridium. When they arrived, though, they found more than they'd bargained for: creatures with exceptional powers that defied reality itself. The Originators considered this their home now; they'd lived here longer than an ordinary human's lifetime, after all.

What to Expect from the Originators

The Originators are specialists in either dizzying arrays of stringspace powers or inhuman martial prowess. Conversely, there aren't many of them: they usually have a single, powerful commander with a few squads of overwhelmingly strong infantry. They have a small variety of special entities, whether the living manifestations of the hallucinations of an over-active mind or someone who has mutated beyond human size, let alone appearance. Originators rely on wise use of exceptional troops. Their commanders are mostly powerful due to their own abilities, but are more than capable of giving a few well-placed orders as well.

Originator Special Rules

Some Originators have the following special rule:

Archmage (X): This combatant is so skilled at using stringspace powers that they cost X less, to a minimum of zero.

Some Originators have the ability to choose powers from the Originator power list, or a sub-set of that list. The following are the Originator powers:

Bitter End
Cost: 35
Timing: When one or more of your models would be removed as casualties from a combatant within 25U.
Effect: Prevent all damage that would be dealt to the combatant. Then, each of the models which would have been removed attacks as though it were the fighting step if they were in close combat or the shooting step if they weren't.

Haste
Cost: 50
Timing: At the start of the I10 count in the movement step.
Effect: Choose an allied combatant within 30U. For this turn, that combatant gets I10, moves twice as far, and can shoot and/or fight twice.

Hostile Teleportation
Cost: 30
Timing: At the start of the I10 count in the movement step.
Effect: Choose a combatant (friend or foe) within 30U and put it anywhere else within 30U that is a legal position to occupy and isn't within 3U of any of the target combatant's enemies.

Resurrection
Cost: 80
Timing: Any time except for the priority step.
Effect: Choose a combatant in your army which has been completely destroyed. Return it to the battlefield anywhere within 30U that's a legal position to occupy and isn't within 3U of any enemies. If any model in that combatant has T7 or more, deal damage to it equal to its toughness minus 6.

Time Stop
Cost: 75
Timing: Any time except for the priority step.
Effect: Choose a combatant within 30U. That combatant immediately takes an entire turn by themselves except for the priority step of that turn. They can't manifest any powers during that turn.

Oh, and I did fifteen models for the same game: the Genesis Enclave monk squad (filename: GE Monks) are some funky future-tech monks ready to kick some butt.

So, we're totalling out at 27. I may do a bit more tomorrow to try to top 36, because I won't be outdone, dammit, but this is what I have so far.

[jseah]

4th chapter is up.
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/1288352...ional-Transfer

Word Count redone to account for edits:

Chapter 1 - 2998
Chapter 2 - 2807
Chapter 3 - 3376
Chapter 4 - 2320

Total: 11 501

[Xiander]

1509 Words for Midnight mists.

Spoiler: Midnight mists, part 2

Show

I could have shut the the door, and stranded Carol on my doorstep with the stranger. I could have decided not to play, to just crawl back in my cave, curl up in my comfy chair and ignore the whole thing. I would come to regret not doing that.
“I can probably spare five minutes.” I said, and when Mr. Stilkins eyes narrowed to tiny slits, I added: “Come on in.”
His reaction was instant. The moment the words where out Mr. Stilking swept forward and pushed past Carol. She looked slightly surpriced, but before she got a word out, Mr. Stilkin had stepped paste me into my appartment.
Slightly surpriced myself, I blinked twice, then thanked Carol for her help and closed the door, before she could start asking questions.
When I returned to the big room which made up most of my appartment, Mr. Stilkin was looking around appraisingly. It was like he was going to auction off all my stuff, and was trying to judge what he could reasonably expect to get for it.
His eyes dwelled on my bookshelves, then traced to my bed and from there back to me. He tapped his cane thoughtfully on the wooden floor be fore he spoke.
“How have you been Annie?” He asked as if it was the first question on an exam.
“Fine…” I hesitated trying to put his opening question into context. “Do I know you? Have we met before?”
“Once or twice.” He said with a sharp smile. “Long ago.”
“How long ago?” I asked, perplexed. I was sure I didn’t remember him.
“When you were still crawling on all fours.” There was a glimmer in his eyes when he said those words, a longin, almost possessive expression on his face.
“I really don’t remember.” I pointed out. “I don’t remember anything that far back.”
“Pity.” Said Mr. Stilkin. “I would have liked to reminice about the old days, but I suppose we must go straight to business.”
“Business?” I asked, not knowing what to expect from the strange man who stood in the middle of my appartment.
“Yes.” He said with an overeager zeal. “You see, I have worked with your father once loong ago. Though, I am told you would not remember.”
“You said my Father didn’t send you.” I felt a bit of anger bubbling up inside me, just from the mention of the man.
“And that is the truth.” Mr. Stilkin replied. “I know your father and through him, I know you. Still, he has no knowledge of the current situation.”
“Look.” I said, feeling my cheeks heat up with frustration. “I don’t know you. I don’t really care why you are here, but I am not speaking to my father. And I don’t tend to hang out with his friends.”
“I expected you to say as much.” Mr. Stilkin admitted.
“So why show up at my door and be all cryptic?” I snapped. “Why couldn’t you just leave me alone?”
“There isn’t a short answer to that question.” Mr. Stilking showed his teeth in a humorless smile.

I clenched my teeth. Talking about my father never helped my mood, and I had enough worries in my head already. I also found myself growing more and more irritated with Mr. Stilkin. I wasn’t hard for me to pin down why.
“You have a proporsition for me?” I could hear the sneer in my voice as I spoke.
“I do.” Stilking said. “There are things in motion…”
He was going to continue, but I cut him off.
“I don’t care.”
“What?” He seemed genuinely suprised at my resistance to hearing him out.
“You can’t just show up and expect me to dance to your tune.” I snapped. I stepped closer to him and jabbed one finger at his chest. “I don’t care if you know my father, I don’t care what you are selling. I don’t want a part of it, and you can get out of my appartment now.”
“But you haven’t given me a chance to explain.” Mr. Stilkin objected.
“And I don’t intend to.” I countered. “You haven’t told me anything straight since you first turned up on my doorstep. Why should I assume you’ll suddenly start now?”
His smile disappeared, and his eyes seemed to grow duller as he glared at me.
“Young miss.” He said in a voice like ice on a winter night. “I never lie, and when I choose to omit details, it is because you have no need to know them.”
“Bull****.” I said, getting more and more annoyed with his insitance.
“Believe me or don’t believe me.” Mr Stilkin spoke in a terse clipped monotone. “The truth cares not for your oppinion. Still, I came to call certain truths to your attention, and I intend to see that errand through.”
“What?” I threw up my hands in frustration, I had been done with this conversation for a while now.
“Someone is missing, and you have the means to find them.” He said, as if that explained everything.
“Is that all?” I snapped. “Is that what you wanted to say? Is that why you riled me up like this.”
Without a word, he spun around to face the door, which led out of my appartment. His walking cane clicked against the floor, and he had almost taken the first step to leave, when he paused and looked over his shoulder at me.
“All is not what it seems.” He stated, with a dark certainty in his voice. He lifted his cane from the ground and pointed with it at the window.
I half turned to see what he was looking at and I saw the thick souplike fog hanging right outside the window. There was an otherworldly quality to the white soup of mist. And as i watched, the mist pressed close against my window, and did something impossible.
A long thin strand of mist reached out and pushed straight through the window, as if the glass pane hadn’t even been there.
I stared at the long grasping tendril of mist, unable to move, net really grasping what was happening. I felt my heart rise to my throat and try to hammer it’s way out of my chest. What ever this mist was, I wanted no part of it, but it clearly had a vested interest in me.
The tendril reached through the usless glass and stretched closer and closer to me. By reflez, I jerked back.

*******************************************

I woke with a start, emitting a small scream as my uncoordinated motion pushed me out of the comfy armchair.
Colliding with the floor jarred me awake enough to realise that I must have been sleeping in my chair again. I looked up from the floor, at the window, and saw the morning light shining in and settling on my bed.
I had expected something else, but I wasn’t sure exactly what. I had dreamt something strange and foreboding, but what it was escaped me for the moment.
While I lay there on the floor, still confused and slightly off ballance, my alarmclock started beeping, and informing me that it was nine in the morning.
I pushed myself off the floor and shambled over to the over eager, beeping device. My brain was still struggling to catch up as i shut off the alarm. Why was it beeping at nine?
I stretched as I podered what the alarm was for, and halfway through the stretch I realised. My clock wasn’t suppsed to wake me at nine.
I should have been up an hour before, in time to get ready for my first day at work. I was supposed to be there in half an hour, and I had litterally just fallen out of my chair.
In a panicked frenzy, I ran around my appartment, putting on work clothes and trying to make my hair look proper.
Ten minutes later, I hit the stairs at a sprint. I flew down four floors and out the door, just in time to see the bus leaving the nearest stop without me.
I cursed, looked at my watch and tried to make a plan. Was there a different bus I could catch? Or should I call in that I was going to be late?
“In a piclke?” Asked a rough voice from behind me.
I turned to see a short unshaven man standing in the door to my building. He was a bit shorter than me, thin and wiry of build, and at least fifty years old. Dressed in a set of well worn overalls, he looked like a garbageman.
I hadn’t met him before, but going on what Carol had told me of the other tenants, this would be the building’s janitor.
“Mr. Franklin?” I asked, hoping I remembered the name right.
“Don’t be so formal girl.” He said and smiled. “Call me Hank.”
“I’m Annie.” I said, struggling not to check my watch again.
“The new girl on the top floor.” Hank nodded. “Are you in a hurry Annie?”

[Glass Mouse]

Guess who's back, back again...!

I have roughly 1200 words of roleplaying notes and roughly 600 words of Døde Ting på Havets Bund, totalling exactly 1806 words. Both are in the usual document.

And yesterday I put in quite a lot of work on my own Cthulhu campaign so I'll probably pass this week too. Feels good to be back!

[Finlam]

Guess who's back, back again...!

I have roughly 1200 words of roleplaying notes and roughly 600 words of Døde Ting på Havets Bund, totalling exactly 1806 words. Both are in the usual document.

And yesterday I put in quite a lot of work on my own Cthulhu campaign so I'll probably pass this week too. Feels good to be back!

/highfive!


For me, I did very little writing, but I generated a few images:

A Holy Tower

A line drawing

A Cursed Tower*

A Badass Castle

A Radiant Tower In Midst of Summoning Something

A Beautiful Mountain at Night Under Northern Lights
*Since be re-worked to be a bit prettier

[jseah]

5th Chapter is up.

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/1288352...ional-Transfer

Since it's a new week, I'll restart the count.

3767 words.

I do believe I might only manage one more chapter at most on this before I either go back to Hero's War or slow down greatly.

[Lycunadari]

Status for March 26 to April 1!


Glass Mouse passes with 1806 words of roleplaying notes and Døde Ting på Havets Bund.

Lycunadari passes with one nature photo, one sushi photo and 8 painted eggs.

jseah passes with 11 501 words of Ar Tonelico/Harry Potter crossover fanfiction.

Xiander passes with 1509 words of Midnight Mist.

Jormengand passes with 8 song covers, 254 words of Sword Versus Spell Show, 832 words of Battles in the Rust and 15 monk models.

Subproject54 passes with a three tower pictures, one castle picture, one landscape painting and one drawing.


Thus nobody FAILs this round!

Glass Mouse, Lycunadari, jseah, Xiander, Jormengand and Subproject54 PASS this round!



Current standing:

Spoiler

Show

Glass Mouse
Current run: 1 week
Longest run: 290 weeks
Themes: -

Lycunadari
Current run: 273 weeks
Longest run: -
Themes: -

jseah
Current Run: 112 weeks
Longest Run: 33 weeks
Themes: -

Xiander
Current run: 91 weeks
Longest run: -
Themes: -

Jormengand
Current run: 4 weeks
Longest run: -
Themes: -

Subproject54
Current run: 3 weeks
Longest run: -
Themes: -



InkisRatticus
Longest run: 1 week

3WhiteFox3
Longest run: 1 week

LeSwordfish
Longest run: 44 weeks

Icewalker
Longest run: 31 weeks

Lovely Vulcan
Longest run: 3

-----
Sorry for the late status post! I was quite busy this week with Easter, my grandma's funeral and my brother visiting. And I got a new haircut + hair colour. :D

Here are my things from last week- painted eggs, sushi and moss!

[jseah]

jseah passes with 11 501 words of Harry Potter fanfiction.

I would rather prefer this to be listed as Ar Tonelico fanfiction (since the main plot involves them more than HP), but it's a crossover so =/

[Lycunadari]

I would rather prefer this to be listed as Ar Tonelico fanfiction (since the main plot involves them more than HP), but it's a crossover so =/

Whoops, sorry about that, I changed it now.

[Jormengand]

I've been working more on Battles in the Rust, and more on the Originators. Here's 4 points:

Spoiler: 1031 words, zero formatting

Show

Some originator combatants have a number of beneficial mutations (the ones with mutations which are a significant drawback are assumed to have died out). This allows them to gain an extra special rules related to those mutations. Mutations refer to “The combatant”, which in this case does not include any squad the commander has joined or any commander that has joined the squad. Each member of the combatant benefits from the mutation (except Living Hallucinations, which doesn't benefit them directly), but if a combatant can pick multiple mutations, they must be different ones. The mutations are:

Extra Arms: Each fireteam in the combatant can make an additional attack with a combat pistol in addition to its other attacks, even if the combatant doesn't normally come with a combat pistol.
Living Hallucinations: At the start of each movement step, set up a combatant of 3 phantasms within 5U of the combatant.
Natural Armour: The combatant gets +1D and gets another +1D against Area and/or Melee attacks (but not another other +1D against Melee Area attacks, nor a +1D against Pistol attacks made in close combat unless they have Area.)
Regenerative Tissue: Each model in the combatant has Immortal (1) in addition to any other Immortal that combatant might have.
Stringspace Connection: The combatant has Void Mastery (1) and knows Burning Ambition and Inferno.
Unstable Metabolism: The combatant gets +1P to attacks made in close combat, as well as Uncontrollable and Volatile (1).
Wings: The combatant gets +2M and Fly.

[...]

Weird
Cost: 40
Timing: At the start of the movement step.
Effect: Set up a combatant of 12 phantasms within 15 units of the manifester and out of combat. These phantasms are under your control and are yours to command; they can move during that move phase.

Weapon
R
P
H
Type
Dimensional Wail
∞
0
5
Area (2), Cost (35), Pistol
Fire Storm
30
1
2
Area (1), Cost (50), Storm
Lightning Bolt
40
3
6
Line (2), Cost (40)
(∞ means infinity)
Storm: When you fire this weapon, you get twice the normal number of attacks that you would normally be entitled to, as though you had twice as many fireteams using it.
Originator Commanders

Ascendant
Some of the scientists aboard the Iridium used their knowledge of stringspace technology to make themselves as gods. Their abilities are exceptional, and they are almost blithely fearless in the face of danger.
Combatant
F
I
O
E
Class
Ascendant
T10
8
-
6
Commander
Model
M
S
D
B
T
Ascendant
7
1
4
8
12
Special Rules: Archmage (10), Command (1), Hover, Immortal (3), Void Mastery (5)
Commands: Take Heart, Reposition
Powers Known: Burning Ambition, Confusion, Crushing Cage, Heal, Telekinetic Sling, Teleportation. In addition, the Ascendant knows any two of Bitter End, Dimensional Wail, Haste, Hostile Teleportation and Lightning Bolt.
Mutations: Any 1 other than Stringspace Connection.
Equipment: An ascendant is equipped with a combat pistol, just in case they aren't attacking with a power for whatever reason.

War-Leader
The original commanders of the militant wing of the Iridium have become warped and harrowed by their time on the Iridium, if they even survived. Now, their many mutations are testament to the horrors they have endured.
Combatant
F
I
O
E
Class
War-Leader
T3
9
-
7
Commander
Model
M
S
D
B
T
War-Leader
7
1
5
10
15
Special Rules: Command (2), Immortal (3), This Time It's Personal.
Commands: All Ahead Full, Divert Power to Weapons, Take Heart, Reposition
Mutations: Any 2.
Equipment: A war-leader carries either a flamer and a soul eater, or a combat sword and a cursed rifle.

Originator Squads

Mutants
While an ordinary mutation is usually minor and only occasionally beneficial, the accelerated evolution and nonsensical warping that occur on the Rust are able to twist almost anyone into a mutated monstrosity with extra arms, functional wings, or even rapid healing. Some of these mutations do have drawbacks, but most of those with them die out before they make it to the battlefield.
Combatant
F
I
O
E
Class
Phantasms
3
6
70
4
Special Entity (TE)
Model
M
S
D
B
T
Mutant
6
1
3
4
2
Übermensch (Sergeant)
6
1
3
5
2
Mutations: Any 1.
Equipment: Mutants are equipped with combat rifles. One mutant in each squad (not the Übermensch) carries a flamer instead.

Originator Special Entities

Apotheosis
An apotheosis is an ascendant who has left the physical realm almost entirely, and has only a small spark of corporeality left in them. The apotheosis is a terrifying foe to behold, even if they fight with none by their side save for their own nightmares made manifest. When supplanted by real allies, the apotheosis is even more terrifying, crushing physics with one hand to stop time dead in its tracks and biology with the other to bring defeated allies back from death itself.
Combatant
F
I
O
E
Class
Apotheosis
T10
9
-
-
Special Entity (SO)
Model
M
S
D
B
T
Apotheosis
8
1
5
-
20
Special Rules: Hover, Immortal (5), Void Mastery (7)
Powers Known: Burning Ambition, Confusion, Crushing Cage, Heal, Inferno, Mind Shriek, Telekinetic Sling, Teleportation, Void Touch. In addition, the apotheosis knows any three of Bitter End, Dimensional Wail, Haste, Hostile Teleportation or Lightning Bolt and any two of Fire Storm, Resurrection, Time Stop and Weird.
Mutations: Living Hallucinations
Equipment: An apotheosis is equipped with a combat pistol, just in case they aren't attacking with a power for whatever reason.


Phantasms
Phantasms are the remnants of psychic dreams, the forgotten faces of those long dead, or the memories of places that never existed and events which never took place. A phantasm isn't conventionally real, but that doesn't stop it inflicting mortal wounds on those who are. Whether summoned to the battlefield as a result of deliberate summoning or living dreams, they follow the Originators around to torment them and their enemies alike. While their attacks are powerful, their slow speed and limited defensive capabilities make them unreliable.
Combatant
F
I
O
E
Class
Phantasms
1
1
60
3
Special Entity (TE)
Model
M
S
D
B
T
Phantasm
6
1.5
0
4
3
Special Rules: Hover, Pierce, Swarm

I've also added 8 Originator War-Leader models and 12 Originator Phantasm models to the folder, which is another 20 points, total 24 points. I've done other bits and pieces of things but really, doing the extra copying and pasting for no other reason to prove that I did more work than the 24 points I don't even need isn't going to happen.

Be sure to vote for your favourite monk, war-leader and phantasm, because for some reason I've decided I wanna know what people's favourites are.

[Xiander]

1759 Words for midnight mists.

Spoiler: Midnight mists, Part Tree

Show

I tried to keep a straight face, to hold it together and come up with a plan, but I couldn’t do it. Getting up late and missing the bus had flustered me, but it was Hall’s friendly question who cracked me.
“I missed my bus.” Frustration bled into my voice. “I’m late for work. It’s my first day.”
Hank nodded his understanding, then smiled a crooked smile.
“Where are you going?” He asked, with a sparkle in his eyes.
I didn’t quite know what to make of the question, was he just being curious? Or was he offering to help out? Did I have the time to stand here chatting?
I decided I had the time to give the man an answer, pulled myself together and told him where I was heading.
He stroked his stubbled chin thoughtfully, then cracked a mischivous grin.
“You know what?” He said cheerfully. “I need to get rid of some stuff today, I was going to do it later, bit if I go now, I can drop you off at your work.”
“I don’t want to be any trouble.” The words came out of my mouth, while my inner voice was screaming for me to accept the offered help. It wasn’t like I had a lot of better options.
“Nonsense!” He said, leaving no space for argument. “I am going sooner or later, might as well go sooner and lend you a hand. You can owe me one if it’ll make you feel better.”
My politeness and my sense of practicality slammed together in a wrestlingmatch of epic proportions. In the end I managed to wrest control of my mouth.
“Thank you.” I said, trying for a smile.
“Come on then.” He grinned. “You can help me load the truck. When do you need to be at work?”
“In twenty minutes.” I said hopefully.
“Lets get moving then.” He wasn’t even done talking, when he started walking.
I followed, a little overwhelmed by the whole thing.

****************************************

Ten minutes later, I was riding in Hanks beat up old Pickup truck. We had stacked several bags of unknown contents into the bed of the truck, before taking off. He assured me he could handle offloading it all on his own, and I decided to believe him.
“Are you planning on staying for long?” He asked without preamble.
“In the car?” I asked back, surprised by his sudden question.
“In the city.” He elaborated, letting out a chuckle at my question.
“I dunno.” I admitted. “For now my plans don’t really stretch that far into the future. I’m here now, who knows about tomorrow?”
“That’s the priviledge of the young.” Hank said with a smile. “You get to my age, you want to know where you can take your naps, for as long into the future as possible.”
“I suppose.” I nodded. “I am not quite there yet, though.”
“True enough.” He said. He stopped for a red light and looked at me, a meassuring glint in his eyes. ”What brings you to the city then? You must know that.”
I thought about that question. Memories of my father flashed across my mind, followed swiftly by a barage of other painful thoughts. There were so many reasons I had left for the city.
“I had to go somewhere.” I shrugged.
“Carol was right.” Hank mused. “You are pretty tight lipped.”
“Carol?” I asked. “Does she just gossip about everything all the time?”
“That’s probably a fair description.” Hank chuckled.
A half remembered bit of a dream rose to my attention. Carol looking curious, as she overheard me talking to a strange man. What in the world had that dream been about?
“She told me a lot of things about everyone in the building.” I volunteered, in an attemt to get away from my own wierd dreams.
“Can’t say that surprises me.” Hank said. “What did she say about me?”
“Not much.” I frowned trying to remember. “She said you’d been in the army. And that you had no family.”
“She has her facts straight.” He said, then he pulled the car up tp the sidewalk, and stopped right in front of an ragged looking building. “This is your stop.”
“Right!” I said, slightly surprised. I checked my watch and found out i had two minutes before work started. “Thanks a lot for the ride.”
“Anytime.” He said smiling broadly. “But try to catch your bus tomorrow, right?”
“Right!” I agreed.
I fuzzed a bit with the seat belt and got out of the car. Hank lifted his hand in a goodbye greeting and the dented old pickup took off in a rumble.
I looked at the brass sign in front of the store. In all capital letters it let people know that anything could be bought and sold in here, no matter how well used it was. It wasn’t a glamorous job, but it would pay my bills.
I had only been here once before, for the interview. Now, standing on the sidewalk, I felt nervous and jittery. Checking my watch let me know I had one minute to go. So I took a deep breath and stepped through the door.
“Good morning Annie.” Said Mr Spencer, my new boss, from behind the till. “Cutting it a little close aren’t we?”
“I missed the bus.” I admitted.
“Well you made it just in time.” He sounded just as relieved as I felt. “For a bit there, I thought I would be here alone today.”
“Alone?” I asked perplexed.
“Max was supposed to come in two hours ago and help me open.” Mr. Spencer explained. “But I haven’t seen the shadow of him, or heard a peep of explanantion.”
I walked up to the counter, trying to figure out what to say to that. Mr. Spencer peered at me, through the small, wound glasses, which perched a bit too far down his nose. The glasses, combined with the twwed shirt he wore, made me think of the steriotypical librarian. In the second hand shop, he seemed slightly out of place, which was oddly apropriate in a place where everything was in between owners.
“Have you tried calling him?” I asked, when no other answer presented itself.
“Around twenty times.” Mr. Spencer shook his head. “He’s normally very good about calling in if he is sick or late.”
I nodded, unsure how to react. I had met Max once, when I was here for the job interview. He was a short, energetic guy, with a permanent cocky grin and a face noone could honestly dislike.
“I’m sure he’ll show up soon.” I said, not really feeling sure at all.
“I hope you are right.” Mr. Spencer said seriously. “Until that happens though, The show must still go on.”
I smiled at the cliché, but there was something about Mr. Spencer’s manner, which made me think he meant it seriously.
With the matter of Max out of the way, we got to work. Mr. spencer was friendly and helpful, and even though I still had a lot to get used to, I fell into a good rytm, with the work ebbing and flowing around me.
Before I knew it, afternoon had settled on the city and work was done for the day. I was about to leave, when I noticed that Mr. Spencer was wearing a worried frown. I paused in the door, turning to look at him.
“No word from Max?” I asked softly.
“Not yet.” He spoke the word with an air of stubborn hope.
“You’re worried about him?”
“Of course.”
“Look.” I hesitated for a moment, then mae up my mind. “I’m not busy today, I can swing by his place and se if he is around.”
He turned to look at me, giving me an oddly appraising look.
“You offer that, although you barely know the boy, and have only spend one day in my company?” He asked.
“It won’t really cost me anything.” I said. “And you seem to be taking this seriously, so I thought I should as well.”
His smile was both grateful, tired and stil a little worried. He took a long moment to think it over, and looked at his watch several times, before he answered. I got the feeling that he was unsure how to act. He was clearly worried for Max, but he didn’t seem sure he should start sticking his nose into the boy’s business just yet.
“I guess it couldn’t hurt if you took a look at his appartment.” He said finally.
I smiled as confidently as I could, and he returned a sligtly less worried smile this time.


**************************************

The bus took a windy path through the city, twisting and turning through small streets instead of staying on the main road. If I’d been driving my own car, I could have done the trip to Max’s place in ten minutes. With the bus, it took me half and hour to get there, and it would take just as long to get home.
When I got off the buss, I found myself in a part of the city I didn’t know at all. I was new in my own neighborhood, but there I at least had some Idea about where things were. Here I was completely lost.
All I had was a slip of paper with an adress on it, and a positive attitude. I set out to find the building where Max lived, and it took me on a rather long tour of the area. After twenty minutes of searching, I finally figured out that I had taken a right turn one road to early.
It was with a certain sense of accomplishment that I pushed the Buzzer next to Max’s name. The feeling sied in my chest, when a full minute passed with no answer.
I tried the buzzer again, but I didn’t really expect anything this time.
I was about to talk myself into giving up, when a woman, opened the door from the other side, smiled at me as she passed and bustled on down the street.
Before I had time to think about it, I grabbed the closing dor, and pushed it open again. I stepped into the stairwell, loked around and took a deep breath.
What had I planned on doing now? If Max wasn’t answering the door buzzer, what made me think he would respond if I knocked on his door?
I stamped one foot and spoke out loud to myself.
“Go up there and find out what you can.”

[jseah]

2367 words for the AT x HP crossover

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/1288352...ional-Transfer

Count: 6134

[Finlam]

Not a lot of writing again this week, but I'm hoping to buck that trend soon.

Here are 6 art works I made in the last week (the theme was Horror):

He Cometh by Air

Spirit Wolf Under Bloodmoon

A Desecrated Spring

A Storm of Souls*

Cursed City in Bloodmist

Wisps Over the Bloodfield

*Since re-worked to be much prettier

[jseah]

Since it's a new week, I'll restart the count.

2134 words for Hero's War, completing a chapter.

https://www.fictionpress.com/s/3238329/110/A-Hero-s-War

[Lycunadari]

Status for April 2 to April 8!


Glass Mouse didn't upload/send me anything.

Lycunadari passes with nine nature photos.

jseah passes with 6134 words of Ar Tonelico xHarry Potter crossover fanfiction.

Xiander passes with 1759 words of Midnight Mist.

Jormengand passes with 1031 words of Battles in the Rust, eight War-Leader models and twelve Phantasm models.

Subproject54 passes with six horror pictures.


Thus Glass Mouse FAILs this round!

Lycunadari, jseah, Xiander, Jormengand and Subproject54 PASS this round!



Current standing:

Spoiler

Show

Glass Mouse
Current run: -
Longest run: 290 weeks
Themes: -

Lycunadari
Current run: 274 weeks
Longest run: -
Themes: -

jseah
Current Run: 113 weeks
Longest Run: 33 weeks
Themes: -

Xiander
Current run: 92 weeks
Longest run: -
Themes: -

Jormengand
Current run: 5 weeks
Longest run: -
Themes: -

Subproject54
Current run: 4 weeks
Longest run: -
Themes: -



InkisRatticus
Longest run: 1 week

3WhiteFox3
Longest run: 1 week

LeSwordfish
Longest run: 44 weeks

Icewalker
Longest run: 31 weeks

Lovely Vulcan
Longest run: 3

-----
Finally a punctual status post again– can't let you get used to late upload deadlines!

Here are last week's nature pics.

[Jormengand]

7 new songs:

Castle of Glass (Linkin Park)
Decode (Paramore)
Future is Now (The Offspring)
Good Riddance (Green Day)
The Hanging Tree (2) (From The Hunger Games: Mockingjay)
The Promise (2) (Emma Blackery)
The Rains of Castermere (From Game of Thrones)

A bunch of words of BitR:

Spoiler: 625 words of Originators for Battles in the Rust

Show

Cyborgs
The Iridium is full of strange technologies, and the medical bay contains the capabilities to replace lost limbs, lost sensory organs and even parts of your brain. Someone who replaces an eye they've lost, or a missing finger or even arm, is generally considered just to be a human with a prosthetic. The moniker of cyborg is generally bestowed on those who have multiple replacements, including their synapses, brain, or another important part of their central nervous system. Some of these cyborgs deliberately chose to replace parts of their body, while others did so as recovery from loss of those limbs or organs. Either way, there's no doubt that their new limbs allow them to make impossibly-accurate shots on a regular basis.

Sergeant Ravayne Darksun was one of the military officers on board the Iridium when it left. It doesn't remember much of its life as a human, though, because around half of its brain has been replaced with cybernetics. It also has a missing left hand, which has been replaced with an experimental multi-tool which includes breaching equipment, and wears two sets of experimental armour: an infiltration suit which can render Darksun into a mist-like form, underneath a heavy set of body armour which is almost impervious to small-arms fire.
Combatant
F
I
O
E
Class
Cyborgs
5
4
70
4
Squad
Model
M
S
D
B
T
Cyborg
6
1
3
2
1
Cyborg Officer (Sergeant)
6
1
3
3
1
Sergeant Darksun*
6
1
4
6
4
*A cyborg squad including Sergeant Darksun will specify that it includes it.
Special Rules: Precision.
Special Rules (Sergeant Darksun Only): Command (1), Infiltration, Legendary
Commands (Sergeant Darksun Only): All Ahead Full, Divert Power to Weapons
Equipment: Each cyborg is armed with breaching equipment and a lightning rifle. Darksun is also equipped with a CFU-X04 Experimental Combat Field Uniform and a CYB-S37 Specialist Cybernetic Attachment.

Monstrosity
A few too many mutations can turn anyone from a human with some alterations into a creature which is no longer possible to consider human. With a variety of differences from a standard human, the monstrosity is one of the biggest, toughest and meanest, and while it lacks a war-leader's charisma, it is still a cunning foe as its human intelligence remains although its body has changed.
Combatant
F
I
O
E
Class
Monstrosity
T4
1
-
-
Special Entity (TE)
Model
M
S
D
B
T
Monstrosity
8
2
4
-
16
Mutations: Any 3 other than Extra Arms or Wings.
Equipment: A monstrosity carries a monstrous weapon.

Originator Weapons


Weapon
R
P
H
Type
Breaching Equipment
1
4
3
Melee, Hunter (MO 2 TK 3 Obstacle 6)
Cursed Rifle
20
4
3
Cursed Bullets
Lightning Rifle
30
2
3
Pierce
Soul Eater
3
5
4
Melee, Swallow Soul

Cursed Bullets: A combatant which is attacked by a model with Cursed Bullets gets -1 to I and M during the next turn. This penalty is cumulative from multiple attacks but can't lower the target's I or M below 1.

Swallow Soul: When the model with Swallow Soul deals at least one point of damage to a model with T5 or less, that damage is lethal. For example, an attack against a squad with T3 D3 will cause two casualties instead of marking two points of damage on a single model.

Originator Equipment

CFU-X04 Combat Field Uniform: The minimum damage dealt to a model with CFU-X04 is 1/4, not 1.

CYB-S37 Specialist Cybernetic Attachment: The user of the CYB-S37 can destroy any Neutral obstacle it touches, allowing it and its squad to move straight through interposing obstacles and destroy them en route. Neutral here means that the obstacles aren't owned by a faction, such as The Iridium's blast doors.

Spoiler: 2569 words of Defensor Universalis for Battles in the Rust

Show

Defensor Universalis

“Earth is dying, but we can save it.

Instead, our first thought is to flee the wreckage, attempting to find some other planet to ruin. Not only did we not manage this, but now we have brought forth the demons of the void against us. As though this were not enough, humanity now races to make this spaceship operable again. But some of us have decided to go against this trend: the Iridium must be destroyed.”

Defensor Universalis are those who have decided, for one reason or another, that the Iridium is a threat to the rest of the universe. Some believe that there is still hope for Earth: others believe that it is a lost cause and the best that humanity can do is end the rest of their existence without destroying the rest of the universe too. Either way, the Iridium represents nothing more than the ability to make everything worse.

Unfortunately, the Iridium's unparalleled size and partially-intact armour plating make it a difficult target to take down just by shooting it with conventional weapons, particularly from the outside. Therefore, sabotage from the inside is necessary.

Defensor Universalis use a variety of unorthodox weapons and tactics, but their real strength comes in two things: one is their ability to work together to produce results that none could achieve alone or separately. The other is the fact that they simply refuse to die, and have gone to great lengths to build in “Sustainability circuits” which allow them to return even from the brink of death.

What to Expect From Defensor Universalis

Defensor Universalis use a variety of specialised troops and vehicles to make hard-hitting attacks, and their mobility is the key to their survival – where they care about their survival at all. They don't know how to use Stringspace technology, nor do they want to. They rely on their superior speed and ability to master the battlefield in order to succeed. Because many of their troops regenerate in lieu of having strong defensive abilities in the first place, they rely on forcing enemies to split fire instead of allowing them to focus down individual targets. Most importantly, though, each combatant has the ability to empower other combatants nearby, rather than the faction having dedicated commanders.

Defensor Universalis Special Rules

Defensor Universalis have two special rules, Reduce, Reuse, Regenerate and Celestial Allegiance. They are as follows:

Reduce, Reuse, Regenerate (X): At the end of each turn, remove up to X points of damage marked on the combatant with Reduce, Reuse, Regenerate. If some of the models in the combatant suffered lethal damage and were thus removed, they can be put back on the board within a unit of the target's squad leader, with lethal damage marked on them, and the user then heals the resurrected models from there, but you can only do this if there are no models in the unit with any damage marked on them. Because Defensor Universalis models tend to have just one point of toughness, this usually means that X models are returned to the combatant at the end of the turn.

Ignore commanders joining squads for the purpose of determining who's in the combatant – so a commander who for some reason has Reduce, Reuse, Regenerate can't heal the squad they're in, nor can a squad with it use it to heal the commander. Commanders tend to have Immortal instead, making this a little easier.

This special rule is given to combatants, not individual models.

Celestial Allegiance (Allegiance): A combatant with Celestial Allegiance gives a certain benefit to itself and other allied combatants with any Celestial Allegiance within 20U, but no combatant can claim the benefits of the same celestial allegiance twice. For example, a combatant within 20U of any combatants with Celestial Allegiance (Saturn) gets +1M +1I. A combatant within 20U of three combatants with Celestial Allegiance (Saturn) still only gets +1M +1I. The benefits last for as long as you are in range.

The benefits of Sol and Saturn allegiances are not represented on the combatant or model profiles at all, so you must add them to the listed numbers. If a model has multiple possible allegiances of which you must pick one, you choose which allegiance it has when you select your army. If it has multiple allegiances with no indication that you must choose one, it has all of them and grants the benefits of all of them. The celestial allegiances are as follows:

Sol: Combatants in range get +2E +2B
Luna: Combatants in range get +1D against attacks from range.
Mercury: Combatants in range run triple their M, not just double it.
Venus: Combatants in range get +1D against attacks in close combat.
Earth: Combatants in range add 1 to the X value of any Immortal or Reduce, Reuse, Regenerate special rule they have. If they have both, add 1 to the X value of Reduce, Reuse, Regenerate only. If they have neither, this rule has no effect on them.
Mars: Weapons of combatants in range get +1P when used in close combat.
Jupiter: Weapons of combatants in range get +1P when used out of close combat.
Saturn: Combatants in range get +1M +1I.
Uranus: Combatants in range can declare a Run move (but not an Advance move) that causes them to leave close combat.
Neptune: Combatants in range aren't slowed down by difficult terrain, and get an additional +1D from any cover they are in.

Defensor Universalis Squads

Solar Priests
Solar Priests are the spiritual leaders of Defensor Universalis, and their presence inspires other soldiers to feats of great bravery. In combat, they fight with burning weapons and zealous fanaticism – they teach the radical view that the only way to stop humanity from destroying other planets is to destroy the tools with which it might do so, even if the fires they produce cause more immediate damage. Their insurmountable faith is infectious, and soon the entire army of Defensor Universalis is fearless in their advance.
Combatant
F
I
O
E
Class
Solar Priests
5
5
70
5
Squad
Model
M
S
D
B
T
Solar Priest
6
1
2
3
1
Helios Priest (Sergeant)
6
1
2
4
1
Special Rules: Celestial Allegiance (Sol), Reduce, Reuse, Regenerate (2).
Equipment: Solar priests carry flame hammers and fireblasters. One solar priest (not the Helios priest) carries a solar flaregun instead.

Lunar Vigilantes
Lunar vigilantes are hunters in the dark, who are difficult to hit at range and loathe to approach in close combat. Their weapons are designed to kill important individuals whom they believe to be the cause of humanity's strife – to be the vigilantes' target is a death sentence for a normal human, and their mastery of the shadows allows them to direct their allies to the best positions to avoid attacks at range.
Combatant
F
I
O
E
Class
Vigilantes
5
4
60
3
Squad
Model
M
S
D
B
T
Vigilante
6
1
3
2
1
Disciple of Selene (Sergeant)
6
1
3
3
1
Special Rules: Celestial Allegiance (Luna), Infiltration, Reduce, Reuse, Regenerate (1).
Equipment: Vgilantes are equipped with moonbeams.

Heralds
Change is coming, or so say the heralds. Mercurial heralds carry powered staves which make a powerful impact in close combat, but eschew ranged weapons – or any sense of personal safety – to run headlong into the enemy ranks, daring their allies to do the same. Rather than rely on armour, they use their exceptional speed and regenerative abilities to avoid being defeated as swiftly as they attack.
Combatant
F
I
O
E
Class
Heralds
5
7
60
2
Squad
Model
M
S
D
B
T
Herald
7
1
1
2
1
Messenger of Hermes
7
1
1
3
1
Special Rules: Celestial Allegiance (Mercury), Reduce, Reuse, Regenerate (3), Wide Formation
Equipment: Mercurial heralds are equipped with caducei.

Venus' Faithful
Venus' faithful are those who fight for love, whatever or whoever that love is towards – there is a dark side to this, of course, and they are often jealous and fierce fighters. They are more than happy to rush into the thick of combat, and defend their allies with either their giant battle-axes, forcefields in their necklaces, or their defensive teachings.
Combatant
F
I
O
E
Class
Venus' Faithful
5
3
60
3
Squad
Model
M
S
D
B
T
Venus' Faithful
6
1
3
3
1
Aphrodite's Chosen (Sergeant)
6
1
3
4
1
Special Rules: Celestial Allegiance (Venus), Reduce, Reuse, Regenerate (2)
Equipment: Venus' faithful wield battle-axes and wear force necklaces.

Earth's Saviours
Earth's saviours are tougher than tough, though their attacks are short-ranged. They represent the defence of the world, and their regenerative implants interface with the others of Defensor Universalis. Each soldier in the entire army has a variety of modifications designed to make their fighting style more sustainable by actually regenerating the person inside, and the Earth's saviours carry a device which allows the surviving soldiers to provide a better template for the regeneration, improving it noticeably.
Combatant
F
I
O
E
Class
Earth's Saviours
5
4
60
3
Squad
Model
M
S
D
B
T
Earth's Saviour
6
1
2
2
1
Gaia Disciple (Sergeant)
6
1
2
3
1
Special Rules: Celestial Allegiance (Earth), Reduce, Reuse, Regenerate (4)
Equipment: Earth's saviours are equipped with globe bombs.

Freedom Fighters
Freedom is the goal for many, but the disciples of the red planet are among the few willing to fight for it. Their spears are mighty weapons, and are backed up by a shield which protects them from powerful attacks. Such is their fury in combat that they inspire others to great feats of strength.
Combatant
F
I
O
E
Class
Freedom Fighters
5
5
60
4
Squad
Model
M
S
D
B
T
Freedom Fighter
7
1
2
2
1
Champion of Ares (Sergeant)
7
1
2
3
1
Special Rules: Celestial Allegiance (Mars), Reduce, Reuse, Regenerate (2)
Equipment: Mars freedom fighters have a powered spear and a combat shield.

Thunder Gunners
Thunder gunners are the heavy support of Defensor Universalis, carrying giant electrical guns which rain down destruction onto the enemy forces. Their accuracy provides their allies with a guide point to aim their attacks, and they are quick to fire on anyone who attacks their allies.
Combatant
F
I
O
E
Class
Thunder Gunners
5
4
60
3
Squad
Model
M
S
D
B
T
Thunder Gunners
5
1
2
2
1
Hand of Zeus (Sergeant)
5
1
2
3
1
Special Rules: Celestial Allegiance (Jupiter), Reduce, Reuse, Regenerate (2)
Equipment: Thunder gunners have shock cannons. One thunder gunner (not the hand of Zeus) carries a megataser instead.

Progress Reapers
While the conflation of Kronos – who is Saturn – and Chronus – who is time – was never intentional, the similarities have been noted since they were both still extant. Now, the progress reapers carry scythes much like the one with which Saturn is depicted, but also represent the inexorable progression of time and advancement of peoples. They allow their allies to move faster through their mastery of time management – and perhaps a little inspiration too.
Combatant
F
I
O
E
Class
Progress Reapers
5
6
60
3
Squad
Model
M
S
D
B
T
Progress Reaper
7
1
1
2
1
Servant of Kronos (Sergeant)
7
1
1
3
1
Special Rules: Celestial Allegiance (Saturn), Reduce, Reuse, Regenerate (2)
Equipment: Progress reapers carry warscythes and combat pistols.

Sky Sweepers
Uranus' sky sweepers are agile and fast, but they also set an example to their fellows as they dodge and weave their way out of combat. Those who dream of soaring through what's left of the clean air instead commit themselves to the battlefields of the inside of the Rust. Their ability to escape from almost anything is legendary, and they have both powerful spears and fireblasters, representing their patron deity's power over both the sun and war combined.

Interestingly, but of little significance to Defensor Universalis, Uranus is the only planet whose name is derived from the Greek name of the deity, and not the Roman one – otherwise it would be called Caelus.
Combatant
F
I
O
E
Class
Sky Sweepers
5
4
60
3
Squad
Model
M
S
D
B
T
Sky Sweeper
7
1
2
2
1
Eye of Ouranos (Sergeant)
7
1
2
3
1
Special Rules: Celestial Allegiance (Uranus), Fly, Reduce, Reuse, Regenerate (1)
Equipment: Sky sweepers have powered spears and fireblasters.

Tide Scourers
The tide scourers of Neptune are devoted to water, and humanity seems to make water unfit for use wherever it goes. These reckless fighters have the courage to climb through any obstacles to get to their enemies, and the knowledge to make use of these obstacles as cover, and will happily avail their allies of this knowledge. They fight in combat with powered tridents, and have a net-launcher to snare enemies.
Combatant
F
I
O
E
Class
Tide Scourers
5
5
60
3
Squad
Model
M
S
D
B
T
Tide Scourer
6
1
2
2
1
Poseidon's Oracle
6
1
2
3
1
Special Rules: Celestial Allegiance (Neptune), Reduce, Reuse, Regenerate (2)
Equipment: Tide Scourers wield tridents which are fundamentally equivalent to powered spears, and also carry net launchers.

Defensor Universalis Special Entities

Eclipse
The Eclipse is the flagship of Diana Hyperios, a powerful leader of Defensor Universalis' Solar, Lunar and Terran sects. Styled after the chariots of Selene and Helios, the Eclipse is a fast, manoeuvrable hovercraft which provides Diana with a powerful platform from which to lead.

Interestingly, because Defensor Universalis have no real rank structure, Diana doesn't lead from any actual position of authority. Instead, her exceptional charisma and inspiring presence see her through.
Combatant
F
I
O
E
Class
The Eclipse
T4 (1)
5
-
- (4)
Special Entity (TK)
Model
M
S
D
B
T
Eclipse
8
*
4
-
16
Diana Hyperios
5
1
2
5
4
*The eclipse is 2.5 units long by 1.5 units wide.
Special Rules: Celestial Allegiance (Sol and Luna and Earth), Legendary
Special Rules (Eclipse only): Immortal (3), Weapons Crews.
Escape the Wreckage: When the Eclipse is removed from play, place Diana within 1 unit of the location that the Eclipse was removed from.
Equipment: The Eclipse is equipped with a solar flaregun, a fireblaster, a moonbeam and globe bombs. Diana is equipped with a fireblaster and a flame hammer.

Liberator Tank
A liberator is Defensor Universalis' primary tank, which supports nearby troops with its weapon. Many of its components are designed to regrow even as they take damage, and a commander who can fend off the enemy for long enough for the tank to repair itself can easily get multiple uses out of it.
Combatant
F
I
O
E
Class
Liberator Tank
T5
5
-
-
Special Entity (TK)
Model
M
S
D
B
T
Liberator Tank
6
*
4
-
15
*A liberator tank is 3 units long by 2 units wide.
Special Rules: Celestial Allegiance (Luna or Mercury or Earth or Jupiter or Saturn), Immortal (2), Weapons Crews
Equipment: A liberator has two thorn guns, which are mounted on sponsons on either side of the vehicle and do not have line of effect through the liberator itself, and one sonic cannon, which is mounted on the front of the vehicle and does not have line of effect through the liberator itself.

Spoiler: 334 words of The Iridium for Battles in the Rust

Show

Gun Emplacement
A gun emplacement is one of The Iridium's interior defence weapons. These tough guns are armed with either missile launchers to destroy enemy vehicles, or heavy blasters to rip through infantry.
Combatant
F
I
O
E
Class
Gun Emplacement
T7
4
60
5
Special (TK)
Model
M
S
D
B
T
Gun Emplacement
-
3
5
5
14
Special Rules: Goes Haywire
Protocols: Assassination or Execution.
Equipment: The Gun Emplacement has either a missile launcher or a heavy blaster. It also uses desperate flailing.

[...]

Stringspace Fluctuations
The teleportation drive of the Iridium is still partially functioning, but erratic and unpredictable. The malfunctions are as likely to throw objects around the room or fry an unfortunate soldier's mind as to do anything useful.
Legendary
Uses: Infinite
Timing: As power
Effect: The Iridium itself can manifest stringspace powers. It has Void Mastery (2) and always counts as having one fireteam. It knows Crushing Cage, Confusion, Mind Shriek and Telekinetic Sling and may cause the powers to originate from anywhere so long as the target would be a valid target from that location. Weapon-like powers can be used at any initiative count in the fighting step, but only one attack can be made per turn.

[...]

Detachment: Hazardous Conditions
An army traversing the Iridium has to deal with all sorts of dangers, whether malfunctioning doors and turrets or the whole floor collapsing under them. The invading army will not have an easy time crossing the ship...

This detachment focuses on using hazards to great effect, as well as a pair of praetorian squads. If you use your hazards carefully, you can cripple the enemy army enough for the guns to take them down. If not, you can quickly be overwhelmed.

This detachment contains:
5 Praetorian Robots
5 Praetorian Robots
It contains any six of the following, including duplicates:
Collapsing Floorboards
Fire on Board
Slamming Door
It contains either:
A gun emplacement
Or any three of, including duplicates:
Collapsing Floorboards
Fire on Board
Slamming Door

=21 points. Grr.

I guess I can write some short poems up quickly...

Remember, remember,
I never forget,
Alone in the embers,
Forever regret.

Hmm. Okay. That's definitely a poem. Or it might be a lyric at some point. Either or.

My life is a neverending callous debate,
But I'm the one who must live it
"Oh what hath the snowflakes designed to create?
And how can we ever forgive it?"

Man, these are depressing. How about...

There is an emotion called love,
Which flies on the wings of a dove,
Or the claws of a hawk,
Or with us as we walk,
While all kinds of birds follow above.

That's my twenty-four. I blame not having a better offering on my depression.

[Xiander]

409 words of midnight mist, but that story is loosing interest. So I have started a new story and done 1154 on that.

Spoiler: Midnight mist, part four

Show

Going up the stairs, I had time to think the through the whole situation. Something about it wasn’t making sense to me. I had volunteered to go to the othere side of town and check up on Max, and now I was infiltrating his building without an invitation.
Why was I pushing this so far?
I had seen how worried Mr. Spencer was, though he tried to hide it. And sure, I was trying to help him out, but on the stairs in this unfamiliar building, that didn’t seem to be reason enough.
I reached Max’s floor, before I reached any conclusions. I was feeling apprehensive about the whole thing, as I looked at the two appartment doors, and tryed to figure out which one belonged to Max. Inspecting the name tags, revealed the answer, and I was somehow unsurprised to that find Max’s door wasn’t properly closed and locked.
I pushed at the door tentatively, and it swung halfway open. Peering in, I could see part of the entry hall. It didn’t give me a lot of insight into Max’s current whereabouts, but the fact that the door was unlocked didn’t seem like a good sign.

As I stood there, trying to make any sense of it all, I heard footsteps coming up the stairs. My heart jumped into my throat, and I glanced around, desperately seeking an explanation to why I was here.
Not hing was apparant and the steps where coming closer, so I took a deep breath, stepped into Max’s appartment and closed the door behind me.
I pressed my back against the door, breathing rapid shallow breaths, and listened, as the footsteps passed Max’s door and continued up the steps.
“Why am I so nervous?” I asked myself. Talking to myself was probably a bad sign, but I didn’t really have time to pause and examine that.
Why hadn’t I just stayed out there? Standing in a hallway and looking at an open door isn’t exactly illegal. Why was I so nervous about this whole thing? Well at this point I was technically tresspassing, maybe even breaking and entering. Though I hadn’t actually broken anything, just entering then?
I realised with a sinking feeling, that I was stalling myself with technicalities. There was no point in standing around, I should either get out of here or get on with it.
“Well,” I said to myself, hoping I sounded determined. “I have come this far.”

Spoiler: Lost and found, part one

Show

Walking in the Between gets monotonous after a while. There is nothing much to see, no sense of time or direction. All you can do is put one foot in front of the other and keep pressing on.
People weren’t really meant to see the between, Pilgrim decided. Any normal mind would be hard pressed to accept so much nothingness. Add in the complete lack of spacial coherence and most people would break after a minute or two.
When Pilgrim walked through the Between, he made sure to step aside, into the real world once in a while. At this point he had no real idea how long he had been walking. Days maybe.
It was probably time for a break.
He didn’t really relish the thought of returning to the world. There was nothing much to draw him back to reality. Then again, he had been told that staying Between for too long could drive a man from his sanity. And he needed his sanity, at least he was pretty sure he did.
Thinking thoughts like that, he decided, was a good sign that he needed to return to the real world for a bit.
So he stopped walking, sighed deeply and stepped slantwards from the empty space in Between and into a true space somewhere in the world.
There were trees, he noted as he came back to the world. He saw the greens and browns of a late summer forest, before he felt any of the side effects of returning from between. It was a beautiful sight, afternoon sun filtered through the canopy, falling on the leaf covered ground.
Then he was hit full force by the dissonance. The shock of going from not being to being. It was never easy to return to the physical, and now he felt his entire body squirm under the pressure of actually existing.
He let out a heavy groan and sank to his knees. The whole world tilted sideways, and something hard and unyielding hit the entire right side of his body. It took him a couple of seconds to realise that it was the ground that had collided with him when he fell.
He didn’t have the will to fight it, to try and rise, or even to call out for help. It wasn’t the first time he had felt this pain, and so he knew the cure.
He had to wait.
“Mister.” Said a thin voice from somewhere above him. Was he halucinating? “Are you alright?”
Blinking twice, slowly, he came to the conclusion that he really had heard a voice.
“I am fine.” He tried to say. It came out more like: “Urrgh.”
“Uhmm…” Said the voice. Then there was a pause, like the speaker was trying to figure out what to say, before he spoke again. “Are you allright?”
Something in the thin worried voice, made Pilgrim’s mind snap back into working condition. He ground his teeth, took a deep breath and pusshed off the ground.
With a clumsy effort, he rose to a sitting position, and looked at the owner of the voice.
The boy couldn’t have been more than fourteen years old. He was a thin kid, with a face that might grow handsome one day, but wich was still young enough to look gawky and akward. He was wearing a thin summer jacket and a backpack.
“Where are we?” Pilgrim asked, his voice was dry and rough, like he had been walking through a dessert for a month or two.
“Uhm..” The boy said again. “Are you lost?”
“I’m not lost.” Pilgrim corrected. “I just don’t know where I am.”
“Isn’t that…” The boy began.
“Not the same.” Pilgrim cut him off.
“What is the difference?” The boy pressed him.
“Knowing maps, and streetnames and stuff like that.” Pilgrim explained and pointed to his forhead. “It all good and well, but it is all up here.”
“Yeah?” The boy didn’t sound convinced.
“Being lost.” Pilgrim continued. “Is down here.”
He rested his hand over his stomach.
“Not the heart?” The boy looked puzzled.
“No.” Pilgrim shook his head. “You heart is a romantic idiot. Trust your guts instead.”
“Why can’t I trust my head?” The boy took a stubborn tone.
“Because your head is a romantic too.” Pilgrim stretched his back and started scrambling to his feet.
It was a fight to get off the ground, but the world seemed to be spinning les now, and he managed to rise.
“My head is romantic?” The boy aked, confused. “Isn’t the head supposed to be all logical?”
“That’s what we tell ourselves.” Pilgrim said, dusting off his long coat.
“You don’t think so?” The kid asked.
“That’s a romantic notion too.” He shrugged and looked around. “That we can be objective, that we can percieve the world as it truly is, and that we could actually deal with it if we did.”
“Okay…” The boy relented. ”I’ll trust my guts.”
“Good.” Pilgrim smiled down at the kid. Standing up, he was much taller than the boy, but he still wanted to seem friendly. “Now, why are you out here?”
“I..” The boy stuttered slightly. “I think I’m lost.”
Pilgrim took his eyes from the forest around them and rested them on the boy again. The kid was looking pretty nerveous, now that Pilgrim took a good lok at him. And he was so young. Surely there would be no harm in helping out a little.
“Are you lost?” He asked with a grin. “Or is it just that you don’t know where you are.”
“I don’t know where I am.” The boy admitted, there was some hesitation in his voice. As if there was more he felt he should say, but he was holding it back.
“Where are you trying to go?” Pilgrim asked.
“Back to my class.” The boy explained. “We were walking to the old watchtower somewhere in the woods, but I got sepparated from them.”
“A watchtower?” Pilgrim mused. “That should be easy to find.”
He Looked around once more. They were standing on a rough dirt road, cutting through the forrested area. He couldn’t hear trafic, or any sounds people might make, but that didn’t mean that they were far away from people or trafic, just far enough that he couldn’t hear them.
“Easy?” The boy asked perplexed. “I’ve been looking for an hour.”
“You’ve been looking in the wrong places.” Pilgrim pointed out. “Come with me.”
With that, he spun on his heel and started walking uphill. His path took him off the road and straight into the surrounding woods.
“Shouldn’t we stay on the path?” The boy asked.
“Did that help you when you tried?” Pilgrim answered.
He strode threoug the underwood, pushing aside brambles and branches to let the boy follow him. The boy did follow, but with a nervous look on his face.
For a while none of them spoke.

[jseah]

1274 word for AT x HP fanfic.

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/1288352...ional-Transfer

Total count: 3641

[Lycunadari]

Status for April 9 to April 15!


Glass Mouse didn't upload/send me anything.

Lycunadari passes with nine nature photos, one anxiety drawing and one Allura doodle.

jseah passes with 3641 words of Ar Tonelico xHarry Potter crossover fanfiction.

Xiander passes with 409 words of Midnight Mist and 1154 of Lost and Found.

Jormengand passes with seven song covers, 3528 words of Battles in the Rust and three poems.

Subproject54 didn't upload/send me anything.


Thus Glass Mouse andSubproject54 FAIL this round!

Lycunadari, jseah, Xiander and JormengandPASS this round!



Current standing:

Spoiler

Show

Glass Mouse
Current run: -
Longest run: 290 weeks
Themes: -

Lycunadari
Current run: 275 weeks
Longest run: -
Themes: -

jseah
Current Run: 114 weeks
Longest Run: 33 weeks
Themes: -

Xiander
Current run: 93 weeks
Longest run: -
Themes: -

Jormengand
Current run: 6 weeks
Longest run: -
Themes: -

Subproject54
Current run: -
Longest run: 4 weeks
Themes: -



InkisRatticus
Longest run: 1 week

3WhiteFox3
Longest run: 1 week

LeSwordfish
Longest run: 44 weeks

Icewalker
Longest run: 31 weeks

Lovely Vulcan
Longest run: 3

-----
Flowers, a therapy drawing and a doodle for a friend.

[Jormengand]

Daredevil for 5e is 6244.

EDIT: Ish. Some edits have changed the exact word count a little, not that it changes how many points it's worth.

[Glass Mouse]

Eek, forgot to upload my GM notes from last week. But this week I definitely passed, with 2483 words of novel writings.

[Xiander]

Argh! I forgot to post my haul for this week before i went to work. Will post it when i come home.

[jseah]

777 words for Shattered Alliance

Spoiler

Show

Two bright lights concealed the third person behind them. Approaching at four times the speed of sound, the twin stars fell down towards the planet below.
Blind interplanar transitions, without a receiving pad on the other end, couldn't be targeted more accurately than roughly the size of a planet and had a tendency to miss if the planet's motions were not fully accounted for. Most such transitions were targeted to a space nearby the planet to avoid the need for their Bubbles to start deleting portions of a planet before the Explorers could teleport out.
For better or worse, this meant that every mission began with a teleport to the edge of atmosphere followed by a careful insertion. A few mishaps had quickly taught Explorers not to teleport into a planet with possibly unknown magical effects. For some reason yet unknown, moving physically into the atmosphere usually met less problems.
This gave Explorers the nickname 'shooting stars'.
For NAP72-2 however, they already knew where they were going due to the previous NAP72-1 Contact expedition and the shooting stars fell right into the middle of the capital of the largest native kingdom on the plane.
Ana flared her thrusters to kill the last of her speed at twice the height of the tallest structure, which being the three storey tall castle, wasn't very high. Beside her, the atmosphere burned around Katie's similar equipment. In contrast, Kokie's gravity drive, a complicated balancing act that he always loved to show off, was both invisible and silent. At least if one ignored the inevitable crack of their sonic booms.
"Kokie, any esoterics?" Katie asked as she referred to the Explorer's checklist.
His Bubble blinked and Kokie scanned through the False Magic analysis. "Not that I can tell from a cursory scan. At least no short-term effects. We should be good for at least six hours. The system here does not support memetics overtly though it has some strange quirks, possibly probability manipulation. "
Ana could almost here Katie sigh in time her own. Of the various effects that were most feared throughout the Alliance, probability manipulation was second only to memetic effects. Memetic effects being effects that activated merely upon certain knowledge being known, rightly feared because some of the nightmare examples triggered on knowledge of the effect's existence or more insidiously, on knowledge of its solution. The Alliance had quarantined a plane or two simply because of memetics. Probability manipulation was about achieving large effects from small but very precise changes ahead of time. Whether this was achieved via active correction of events over time, actual time loop travel or just extremely precise simulations of the future, in all cases, probability manipulation was extremely subtle and hard to detect and could result in nigh unavoidable and long term effects if employed correctly.
The study of these, as well as the ethically problematic effect category of Mentality, was collectively called Esoterica. These were the most dangerous and most difficult challenges that any off-plane expedition could face.
The fact that Kokie studied these as a hobby was something Ana could never understand. Just the thought of ending up in a memetic trap gave her the shivers.
"Shall I scan?" Ana asked Katie as Kokie ran his checks.
Katie looked at Kokie, who shrugged, "you can. The local system is similar to Core-1, though I'm detecting locks and other complex structures. Possibly an intuitive guidance structure built on top of the lock, it's maybe a channel for mental effects? Not sure. I do know they'll detect your scan however, your particle scanner can be felt by any human included in the lock. "
The squad leader nodded at Ana, "do it. I won't risk going down without knowing if there's Antagonist presence or not. "
Around Ana, a circle of magical power built up outside her bubble. While marrying different systems to produce the Explorer's kit, each magical system tended to be able to do different functions better than others. Core-1, also known as mana-based, was excellent at rearranging, detecting and moving energy and physical matter.
The magical ping was rather a lot like a sonar pulse, the wave sweeping across the entire city while passing through walls, the ground and most magical barriers. All while it fed back a detailed map of the city to Ana.
She considered the data as it returned, no known Antagonist matches, but that was expected. Most Planes did not share the same Antagonist characteristics unless a cross-planar invasion was occurring. Still, there were no major concentrations of magic that might threaten them.
"

1350 for the AT x hp fanfic

Spoiler

Show

Trudging through the light forest was mostly boring, Rachel was used to that however.
The nyo, as she decided to call it after its cry, curled up in her arms in a blanket was not however. The little animal was still a wondrous mystery even after observing it for hours.
Docile enough towards humans, the nyo did not protest her picking it up once she enticed it into her spare blanket. Nights would get cold without using it for fear of fleas but Rachel would bear her hardship gladly if it kept the nyo by her side.
Bribes of biscuits and water had been sufficient to get the nyo to heal Rachel's other scrapes and that alone had been worth the food and trouble. Its cuteness in her recordings was worth far more.
The nyo purred gently against her chest and Rachel smiled down at it. Perhaps this one might want to come back with her if the Cielans would allow it. Having an alien exotic pet might be interesting if it turned out to be disease free.
Her musings were abruptly cut off when the undergrowth to the front rustled. The bush was about waist height and the rustle seemed to indicate whatever caused the disturbance was big. Possibly dog sized or larger.
Palming her gun, Rachel slowly let the nyo down. It shook itself awake and yawned cutely.
The animalistic growl coming from the bush made the nyo scamper off into the forest without a single glance back. Rachel decided to heed its behaviour and took a few steps back. Had she stepped into the domain or nest of some predator?
The question was answered as a flash of blue darted out of the bush and leapt at her face.
Rachel's gun barked once then twice as her hands snapped up almost without thinking. The blue blur shot past her as she dived to the side and rolled to face the... wolf? The animal whined as it scrambled to its feet and checked itself before snarling up at her again.
It looked like a wolf with blue fur.
And more importantly, no wounds.
Rachel winced as the wolf eyed her warily but eventually decided to pounce again. Her pistol cracked twice again, hitting it in the body and the head. Instead of the spray of blood she expected from gunshots, the high caliber bullets seemed to whiz straight through the animal!
In fact, as the blue wolf was blown backwards much further than two bullets had any right to do, Rachel could see two bullets drop out of the air where she had hit it mid-jump.
It shook itself and scrambled to its feet, dried leaves sticking to its fur. No blood or wounds.
What was with this continent? First she ran into a small furry squirrel that could heal wounds and now she was fighting for her life against a wolf that was immune to bullets.
Rachel unslung the rifle from her back with one hand while the wolf was still making sure it was unharmed. Perhaps a hunting rifle would work?
Probably not.

Tuata and his partner reyvateil, Nema, were on a standard patrol near Cello Forest when he heard a muffled crack in the distance. Nema looked up towards the source.
Gunfire. And not really far away.
He unsheathed his sword and nodded to Nema, "we'll investigate. Stay behind me. "
A light hum resonated in his heart as the tension raised without him needing to spell it out. Nema had been his partner for years now and they understood each other easily.
Harmonics protected them both as Tuata crashed through the undergrowth. Branches and bushes whipped at them but bounced off his church-issued armour. They wouldn't even reach Nema through her thin robe that would normally not provide protection, instead sliding off her skin or clothes without catching.
It bled their harmonics field and cost both of them stamina but there could be someone needing their help. Cello forest was not friendly to civilian travellers, as most did not carry around missiles or any non-physical attack methods, guns were usually sufficient for self-defence but not when this was the habitat of the blue wolves. Wolves that could phase partially out of reality to disperse the energy of physical hits required more than just normal weapons.
Guided by the occasional gunfire, they burst onto a small trail to find a strangely dressed woman blasting away with a rifle at a blue wolf.
"Get behind me!" Tuata shouted at the woman, "Nema! Fire Shield!"
Nema nodded and began to sing, the song magic resonated in their harmonics. Protection from heat, and with the install, also added a heat coat to his weapons; a preparation she had made for this patrol. Rather than take her place in front of Nema, like any civilian would know to do, the woman moved to the side away from them.
Clicking his tongue in exasperation at the stupid civilian, Tuata sized up the blue wolf. It was a young adult, bright and energetic. It had probably thought the woman would be prey, especially after she had failed to damage it. Still, no songstones or other surprises were visible on it, Tuata just had to hope it was a normal specimen.
The wolf scrambled to its feet, recovering from the woman's last shot, right as Tuata charged at it with blade drawn. The heat haze around his sword burned into the coat even as Tuata's sword slashed through it.
The wolf dodged back from the dangerous weapon, taking the hit on its flank. A dangerous but not fatal wound. Then instead of running away or going after him, the blue wolf ran around, heading straight to Nema. Who was too busy singing to notice.
"Nema!" Tuata shouted as he tried to give chase. Protecting his reyvateil was hard enough but he wanted to pin the wolf in case it went after the civilian. But the wolf was faster than normal and Tuata couldn't reach it-
There was a crack from the civilian's rifle, the fire coated bullet was a streak of red that pierced into the wolf's belly, throwing it down to the floor and dealing yet more damage. It wouldn't survive that shot but Tuata would take no chances. He didn't slacken his sprint until he reached the downed scrabbling wolf and his sword had chopped its head off.
The harmonics around them died down to its quiescent mode as Nema opened her eyes and smiled at him gratefully.
"Nema, are you all right?"
She smiled back as Tuata checked her for wounds. He didn't find any. "I'm fine, Tuata. Thank you for protecting me again. "
Good. Now then.
"What were you thinking!?" He turned to the civilian, who was watching them wide-eyed. "You should know that you are supposed to protect the reyvateil! And coming into Cello Forest without bringing a flame weapon? Are you looking to feed the wolves?"
"Not fighter!" the woman said, raising her hands and letting her rifle fall on its straps. "Do not have flame weapon. Reyvateil? Do not understand. "
Her broken speech brought Tuata up short. She even tended to drop her pronouns and speak with weird grammar but to not understand the word 'reyvateil'? That was impossible. Did she come from some isolated village that had lost contact with the Tower's nations?
"Where are you going?" he asked.
"Town, that way," the woman pointed.
Nema had already taken out her map and nodded, "that's towards Karulu Village. "
Tuata frowned. "I'll report this to the squad leader and we'll escort her there," he decided eventually. In any case, he wouldn't be able to leave a civilian with no heat weapons alone in Cello Forest so his patrol was canceled by her mere presence. Nodding at his decision, Tuata booted his grathnet communicator.
In the mean time, he could find out where she had come from and try to fix her horrendous accent.

[Xiander]

I have returned to place 1518 words of Lost and found into your waiting hands.

Spoiler: Lost and found, part two

Show

They stepped into a clearing, near the top of the hill. Pilgrim walked to the middle of the open space, and took in the place. There were a few benches and wooden tables standing around, and a path ran through the open space. This seemed like a place people would go for a picnic.
The boy paused at the edge of the trees, breathing heavily. His face was flustered, and there were leaves in his hair. All in all, he looked like he wasn’t having a great time.
“Not far now.” Pilgrim said.
“To what?” The boy demanded. “You have no idea where my class is do you?”
“Likely at the watchtower.” Pilgrim suggested.
“And where is the watchtower?” The boy was angry, but to exhausted to really show it. The uphill treck through the underbrush had taxed him.
“I don’t know precisely.” Pilgrim admitted.
“You don’t know.” The boy huffed, trying to catch his breath. “You have no idea where we are. Just admit that we are lost!”
“Not lost.” Pilgrim said and looked up the hillside. “We can take the path from here.”
“Go ahead.” The boy planted his feet stubbornly. “I’m not coming.”
“Why not?” Pilgrim asked. “You’ll be no more or less lost on the top of the hill than you are here.”
“You’re a stranger, I met in a forest, and you haven’t even told me your name.”
The boy did have a point, but before Pilgrim could admit as much, he felt a chill pass down his spine. He was suddenly certain that he and the boy, were not alone in the woods.
Some thing must have shown on his face, judging by the boy’s reaction. Until a moment ago, the kid had been all anger and contrary stubbonrness. Looking at pilgrim now, he seemed to deflate and nervousness crawled onto his expression.
“What is it?” The kid asked.
“Not sure.” Pilgrim tilted his head, listening intently.
Something moved out in among the trees. Something quiet. Something old and powerful.
Even though none of his senses could find the thing, Pilgrim knew in his bones that it was there. And he had a good guess at what it was after.
“Kid.” He said, looking the boy straight in the eyes. “Things just got a lot less innocent. I want you to know, that you might be in real danger now.”
“W-what?” The boy stammered.
“There is something out there, hidden among the trees.” Pilgrim spoke in a flat, heavy tone. “I can take you to safety, but you have to work with me.”
For a second the boy looked like he was about to object, but then he just nodded seriously.
“What should we do?” He asked quitely.
“We take the path, to the top of this hill.” Pilgrim explained. “If my guess is right, we should be able to see the watchtower from there.”
“The watchtower?” The boy asked confused.
Pilgrim turned and started walking as he explained. The kid hesitated, then followed hurriedly along.
“If your class is there, you will be safe with them.” Pilgrim told him. “It won’t attack when you are with other people.”
“It…” The boy aborted the question before he finished it, and asked another question instead. “But you are here now, shouldn’t that leep it away?”
“I don’t count.” Pilgrim said.
They stepped from the clearing and onto the path. Pilgrim took long determined strides, and the boy had to halfrun to keep up. They moved quickly up the top of the hill.
“Why don’t you count?” The boy huffed.
“That’s complicated.” Pilgrim said, scanning the trees and seeing nothing. “And not all that important.”
“What is it?” He still sounded a little sceptical, but Pilgrim could tell, that the kid could feel the pressense of the beast. “What is out there, in the trees?”
“Remember little red ridinghood? The three pigs?” Pilgrim asked.
“Fairytales?” The kid asked, between heavy breaths.
“Yes.”
“Sure, but why..”
“It’s the wolf.” Pilgrim cut him off. “The big bad wolf.”
“There isn’t any wolves in…” The kid began to object.
“Doesn’t matter.” Pilgrim said firmly. “It’s the beast that hides in dark, waiting to eat you.”
The kid didn’t answer that, instead he picked up the pace, and they hurried to the hilltop.
There was another small clearing on the top of the hill, and a fine view of the surrounding woods. Pilgrim pointed out over the rolling landscape, at the solid form of the watchtower.
“There it is.” he said. ”On the hill over there.”
“How did you know?” The boy panted.
“Watchtowers need to rise over the landscape, or they are no good.” Pilgrim explained. “So it stood to reason, that any hill with a view, would give us a straight line of sight to the tower.”
“So that’s why we went uphill?” The boy managed to catch his breath a bit, and looked like he mostly understood Pilgrim’s plan.
“Yes.” Pilgrim said, distractedly.
While explaining the plan to the kid, he had felt the pressense of the beast draw nearer. It still hid from his actual senses, but the thing was closer now, and hungry. He had to act fast, he had to do something.
“Run away.” He said, and turned to face the path they had come from.
The boy stood frozen for a long moment, evidently surprised by Pilgrims sudden command. The thing in the trees roiled and snarled and came closer. The boy must have felt it too, the pressense of the thing. He tore himself out of his fearstricken reverie and started moving.
“Get to the watchtower.” Pilgrim shouted as the boy fled.
Then, without looking away from the path where the creature lurked, he reached under his coat and into his inside pocket. His hand closed around a short length of metal and he planted his feet.
The sound of the boy running faded to nothingness, as the sense of the creature grew to an overwhelming dread in his bones. Then, without warning or fanfare, the creature came for him.
It rushed forward snarling and spitting. It only had shape in the vaguest sense. It was there, though it was obvious it shouldn’t be. It was made of darkness and teeth and it made no sound as it came.
Pilgrim narrowed his eyes at the beast, waiting feet planted for his moment. That perfect moment, when it would be to late for the beast to rereat, but before it’s fangs could touch him.
Just before the beast reached him, he tore his hand from his pocket, brandishing the small flute like a great weapon. He put it to his lips and as the first note issued forth, a shimmering light flared in the air between Pilgrim and the beast.
Teeth and darkness met sound and light, and there was a cracling sound, like a thunderclap. The monster finally made a sound, a deep growling whine. And it drew back, away from the light.
Pilgrim stood completely still, only moving his fingers as he played. The song was sweet and sad, even without words it would grip the heart and touch the soul.
Faced with the shimmering light and the roling notes of the flute, the beast hesitated. It prowled back and forth twice. Then without a sound it disappeared back into the trees.
With the beast gone, Pilgrim wasted no time. He lowered the flute, turned and ran. Hurtling down the path, he hoped desperately he could make it to the watchtower before the beast had its will.
He still felt it’s pressense, lurking, prowling. He knew the nature of this beast. It was darkness and hunger. It would not be disuated by a single song.
He felt it when the beat struck again. Just before it’s fangs rend his back, he stopped and blew a note on the flute.
There was a snarl and a rustle of claws on leaves, and the creature was gone again. Pilgrim wasted no time, he was running again within a breath.
And then he felt the trap close. There was something up ahead, something dark and hungry. The beats behind him had a partner, and he had been hearded into a trap. He just had time to worry what had happened to the boy, and then he was face to face with the second beast.
It was a lean thing, dark and sinister like it’s partner, but smaller, more wit than muscle Pilgrim felt. He felt the first beast close up behind him, while the second prowled towards him, showing fangs in a horrible parody of a smile.
Could he hold of two with one song? He wasn’t sure, but what choice did he have?
He raised the flute to his mouth and waited for them to strike. His mind was racing, trying to find a way out. He had hoped to ward off the single beast for long enough that he could retreat to the safety of the watchtower. That wouldn’t work with two beasts, they could herd him, cut him of and wear him down, even if he escaped at first.

[Finlam]

Oh dear... I missed a week.

But it was because I got waaayyy too distracted working on something ...

AWESOME!

My first Game/Visual Novel/Parody!
=)

If we count the writing for the visual novel, it was approximately 4390 words.

But if that doesn't count, no worries.

I also have some articles:

Inventory and Stats in RenPy - 741 words
Starting with RenPy - 1060 Words

Then I have some art:

Spoiler

Show

The gracful elf was, in fact, Tauriel from Tolkein's work

I had a lot of fun this last week
=)